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PA\(*4 THE 



PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA 



OF 



THE SOCIETY 



FOR THE 



DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



VOLUME IV. 
BASSANTIN BLOEMAART. 




LONDON: 

CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE STREET. 



MDCCCXXXV. 



Price Seven Shillings and Sixpence^ bound in cloth. 



COMMITTEE. 

CWr«m-TW Rigbt non, LORD BROUGHAM, F.R.S, Mewber of tho Nstlnnal Ir.Mtule of Franee. 

r<Cf-CA«imM-Tkt Rigbt Hn«. LORD JOHN RU3SKI.L, *-^ 

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ir. *%*♦*•*, r.R. i»i r-aj. 

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Ree. Jab* Lodge, M.A. 

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R.U\Rvtbmts K*q n M.A,P.R,A.S.Aa.S. 

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William Roberts, Kaq. 
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Tb»»aa Fateoner. Eaq. . 

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H. Maiden, Esq. A. M. 



LOCAL COMMITTEES. 

DrotmnoW awtStonehouse— Jnhn Cole, E*q, 

— Norman, Kaq. 

Lt.CoL C. Harolltoa Smith, F.R.S. 
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MMCttr— J. Tyrrell, Esq. 

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Professor Mylne. 

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teed*— J. Marshall, Eaq. 
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J oho Case, Eaq. 
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i BenUmln Heywood. Esq., Treawrr. 
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Sir O. Phlllna, Bart, M.P. 



Ben). Oott, Kaq. 
J/jiVj*— Ree. Orarre Waddiogton, M^. 



»f i ncAinAaasp /on— John G. Ball, Esq. 
i/waiaoafA— j. II. Moggrldge, Esq. 
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T. Cooke, Jun., Esq. 

R. O. Klrkpstrick. Esq. 
Nntjmt PmgntU-i. Millar, Eaq. 



A.T. Mslkln. Esn-A.M. 

James Manning, Kaq. 

J. Herman Mcrlealc. Esq., A.M., F.A.S.' 

James Mill. Kaq. 

The Right Hon. Lord Nugea.. 

\V. II. Ord. Esq. M P. 

The Right lit 11. Sir II. Parnell. dart , M.P. 

Dr. Beget, Sec. It.S . F.ll.A.S. 

Sir M. A. Shee, P R.A.. F.H.S. 

John Abel Smith. Esq., M.P. 

Right Hon. Karl Spencer. 

John Taylor. Esq. F.R.S. 

Dr. A.T. Thomson, F.I..S. 

H. Waymouth, Esq. 

J. Whlahnr, Esq., A.M., F.R.S. 

John Wood, K.sq. 

John Wrottesley, Esq., A.M., F.rt.A.S.* 



JVeWotrn, J/on/f omery»Atr«— W, Pugli, Esq. 
Noruie A— Richard Bacon, Eaq. 
Or$ett, JSuer— Dr. Ci.rbelt, M.D. 
Oxford— Dr. Dauheny, F.lt.S. Frnl. nl Cbem, 

Ree. Prof. Powell. 

Ree. John Jordan, B.A. 

E. W. Head, Esq., M.A. 

W.R.IIroirnc, Esq., B.A. 
i>eaa*o— Sir B. H.Malkln. 
Plymouth— H. Woollcombe, Esq , F.A.S.,CA, 

Snnw Harris, Esq.. F.lt.S. 

E. Moore, M.D., F.L.S., SecreMrv. 

G. Wlghtwlck, Esq. 
/*r«(ei>i— Dr. A. W. Daeles, M.D. 
nipon— Ree. II. P. Hamilton, M.A., F.R.S. 
and G.S. I 

Ree. P. Ewarl. MM. 
Huthtn—Uft. the Warden of. 

Humphreys Jones, Esq. 
*>«>. /. of /right— S\t Rd. Slmenn.BL, M.P. 
Sheffield— J. H. Abraham, Eaq. 
SheptoH MnUet—G. F. Burrougha, Esq. 
SAreirrowry— R. A. Slaney, Esq. 
South Pet her t on— John Nleholella, Kaq. 
St. Aiaph—ntv. George Strung. 
Stnekport— H. Marti and. Esq., Trr/warer. 

Henry Cop pock, Esq., Secretary. 
Tavntoek— Ree. W.Erana. 

John Hundle, Esq. 
Traro— Rlehard Taunton, M.D. 

Henry Sewell Stokes, Esq. 
Tunbridoe IVetU-Vr. Veois, M.D. 
rVnrui'cA— Dr. Conollv. 
.' The Ree. Wllllnni Field, if. earning tn.) 
Wnttrford— Sir John Newjjort. Bt. 
Wolverhampton— J.Penrson, Esq. 
rForeeifer— 

Dr. Haatlnga.M.D 

C. H. Hebb, Esq. 
Wrexhnm— Thiimaa Edgworth, Esq. 

J.E.Bowman, Esq., F.L.3., Treuittrer. 

Major William Lloyd. 
FamoaM— C. E. Rumbold, Eaq. M.P, 

Dawaon Turner, Eaq. 
York— Ker. J. Kenrick. M.A. 

J. Phlltlpa, Esq., F.R.S., F.O.S. 



THOMAS COATE9, Esq.. Secretary, Nn. «, Lincoln'i Inn Field*. 






U*4mi W&uas Cl«vs« Asatoa«,rriV«r*, ttvafar* Itretk 



THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA 



OF 



THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF 
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



B A S 

BASSANTIN, or BASSINTOUN, JAMES, son 
of the * Laird of Bassintin in the Mers,* (Merse?) (Biog. 
Brit.) He was educated at Glasgow, and afterwards tra- 
velled, but finally settled at Paris, where he taught mathe- 
matics and astronomy. Of his' personal h'fe we know no- 
thing, but that he was addicted to astrology, and gave Sir 
Robert Melville (see his memoirs or Biog. Brit.) some pre- 
dictions a little after the time of Queen Mary's escape into 
England. He returned to Scotland in 1562 and died 1568. 
(See Astronomy, and place the date there given, 1557, in 
brackets ; it is the date of publication of a work.) He was 
of Murray's party, and a zealous Protestant 

He wrote various works, as follows:— 1. Paraphrase sur 
{Astrolabe, Lyons, 1555, reprinted at Paris, 1617. 2. Ma- 
thematica Genethliaca. 3. De Mathesi in Genere. 4. Mu- 
sica secundum Ptatonem. 5. Arithmetica. To these works 
we eaiinot find dates. 6. A work on Astronomy, in French, 
(presently to be noticed,) translated into Latin by Dc 
Tourncs (Toruesins), under the title of Astronomia J. Bas- 
saniini Scott, &c, reprinted 1613. 

There is also a Discours Astronomique, published in 1557, 
at Lyons, and Lalande gives the title of a Latin version pub- 
lished at Geneva in 1599, and again in 1613. Delambre 
doubts whether this Discovers Astronomique be any other 
than the original of No. G in the list above ; and we inclino 
to think he is right, for, independently of the coincidence of 
editors and dates, this Discours Astronomique appears to 
be the work of Bassantin's whicb was best known. It was 
the only one in De Thou's library, and is the only one in that 
of the Faculty of Advocates, at Edinburgh. It is the only 
work mentioned by Weidler, while No. 6 is the" only one 
mentioned by Vossius. Vossius observes that the original 
was written in very bad French, and that the author knew 
• neither Greek nor Latin, but only Scotch/ 

The trigonometry of Bassantin uses only sines. His 
planetary system is that of Ptolemy, and he was mueh in- 
debted to Purbach. He adopted the trepidation of the 
equinoxes. (See Astronomy.) lie used the sphere in 
actual computations; and, in his treatise on the planisphere, 
appears to have followed the plan, if not the work, of Apian. 
(See Biog. Brit. ; Delambre, Hist, de VAstron. Mod., Sec.) 

BASSEIN, a town and port in tbe province of Aurunga- 
bad, situated on tho point of the continent of Hindustan 
opposite to the north end of the island of Salsette, in 19° 20' 
N. lat., and 72° 56' E. long. Basse in was once a city and 
fortress of importance, but, sharing the fate of many places in 
India, it lias suffered from the wars and revolutions to which 
that country has been exposed, and is now fallen into decay. 

In the year 1531 Bassein was ceded to tbe Portuguese, 
under the provisions ' of a treaty concluded by them with 
the sultan of Cambay, and for more than two eenturics it 
remained in the undisturbed possession of that nation. In 
1 750 the town was taken by the Maharattas, from whom it 
was captured by the British in December, 1774 ; and in the 
following March was formally yielded to its conquerors by a 
treaty made with the Maharatta ehief, Ragoba. By the 



BAS 

treaty of Poonah, Bassein was, however, again relinquished 
to the Maharattas. In November, 1 785, the fortress was 
regularly besieged by the British army under General 
Goddard, and, after sustaining the attack for four weeks, 
surrendered at discretion. By the treaty concluded in May, 
1782, with the Maharatta chiefs, Bassein was once more re- 
stored, together with Ahmedabad and our other conquests 
in Gujerat, and the town long remained in possession of the 
Maharattas. In 1802 the Peishwa Bajee Rao fled to Bas- 
sein from his rival, Holkar, and sought the protection of tho 
British government, with whom he concluded a treaty on the 
last day of that year. It was hoped tbat this treaty would 
have broken up the federal union of the Maharatta chiefs, 
by separating from it the Peishwa, who had been its nominal 
head ; but this ehief having subsequently been induced to 
join his former rivals and to organize with them a plan of 
hostility to the English, the whole of his territories were de- 
clared forfeited, and were taken into possession by tho Com- 
pany's government in June, 1818, he becoming a stipendiary 
of that government, and recognizing this appropriation of 
his territories. Bassein has since that time remained in 
the hands of tho English, under whom the fortifications 
have been allowed to go to decay, and the town and port 
have become of little importance. At a recent date, tho 
town contained a great number of houses in ruins. 

The state of cultivation exhibited in the surrounding 
eountry is, on the contrary, nourishing. To the north and 
north-east of Bassein are forests of teak-wood, from which 
the ship-building establishments at Bombay are supplied. 
A considerable part of the agricultural population are pro- 
fessors of tho Roman Catholic religion, which it is probable 
was introduced among them by the early European settlers 
from Portugal. 

(Rennells Memoir of a Map of Hindustan; Mills's His- 
tory of British India ; Treaties presented to Parliament by 
command of his Majesty, 1819; Report of Committee of the 
House of Commons on the Affairs of India, 1832, political 
division.) 

BASSETERRE is the capital of the island of St. Chris- 
topher's in the West Indies. The town is situated on the 
south side of the island, at the mouth of a small river. It 
contains about 800 houses, many of wbich are very good, a 
spacious square, and a small church, and is defended by 
three forts. It was founded in 1 623. The district of Basse- 
terre contains 17 square miles, with a population of 6620 
souls. It is divided into two parishes, St. George's and St. 
Peter's, and sends six members to the assembly — the for- 
mer four,- the latter two. This name was given by the 
French to the distriet from its being the lower portion of the 
island. The vale of Basseterre is exceedingly beautiful and 
well cultivated. The anchorage is in an open bay, and a con- 
tinual heavy surf beats on the shore, which is a sandy beach. 
As this prevents any wharf or quay being erected, the goods 
are shipped in a boat ealled a * moses,' manned by expert 
rowers, who, watebing the lull of the surf, pull on shore, 
laying the broadside of the boat to the beach so as to roll 



No. 205. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV -B 



B A S 



B A S 



out or admit the cargo. Those articles which arc packed in 
water-ti^ht casks, as rum, &c., are generally floated off or 
on shore The town lies iu 17° 19^ N. lat., 62° 49f W. 

long. rSccCllRlSTOPHKR's, St.] 

BASSETERRE (Guadaloupc), tho most considerable 
town of tho western island, and the centre of iu commerce, 
lies on the western side, near tho south end of the island. 
It consists of ono principal long street, running along the 
sea-shore, and is defended by Forts Royal and Matilda. 
The anihora^o is in an open road, quite unsheltered, and 
very incommodious, and there is a constant swell. 

Tills western Island is divided longitudinally into two 
parts, of which the western division is called ijasseterrc, 
and the eastern Cabestcrre. » 

The town lies in 15° 59 J> N. lat. t 61° 47J' W. long. [Sec 

GUADALOKPB.] 

BASSETERRE, a small town on tho south-west point of 
the island of Mario Galantc. It Is defended by a small fort, 
which lies in 15" 52' N. lat, 61° 22' W. long. [See Marie 
Galantk.] 

(Jcfferics's West Indict; Bryan Edwards's West Indies; 
Colombian Navigator,) 

BASSET-HORN, a musical instrument, which, notwith- 
standing its name, is a clarinet [sec Clarinkt] of enlarged 
dimensions and extended scale, said to have been invented 
in Germany in 1 770, but known to havo been produced in 
an improved stato twelve years later by M. Lotz of Prcs- 
hurg ; and subsequently, in its present perfect condition, by 
the brothers, Anthony and John Stadler, of the imperial 
Austrian chapel. The basset-horn is longer than tho clari- 
net, and tho bell end is wider. On account of its length, the 
tube, which consists of five pieces, is bent inwards, forming 
a very obruso angle. The scale of this instrument embraces 
nearly four octaves, — from c the second space in (he base, to 
o in altissimo, including every semitone ; but its real potcs, in 
relation to its use in the orchestra, are from x belgw the baso 



staff, 



m 



to c, the second leger 
line abovo tho treble, 






gE 



Tho basset*horn takes an intermediate place between the 
clarinet and bassoon, and, on account of its vast compass, 
may perform the functions of both. Its capabilities and 
beauty are strikingly displayed in Mozart's Requiem; and 
iu the aria, Nan piu dijtore, in his Clemenza di Tito ; as 
well as in other works of the same great composer, who well 
understood its value. 

The Italian name for this instrument, and that by which 
it is generally designated in scores, is corno bassetto, or 
rather low horn, the termination etto being a dhninutivo. 
The unfitness of this term must at once be obvious : but, 
unhappily, tho musical nomenclature abounds in obscurity, 
absurdities, and contradictions. 

BASSEVELDE, a commune and market-town in the 
province of East Flanders, four leagues north of Ghent. 
Jlio market occurs weekly, and a fair is held every year in 
tho month of September. Tho tanning of hides and oil- 
crushing arc carried on here, and lacc-making gives em- 
ployment to the females of the place. Tho soil consists, for 
the most part, of clay and sand. Towards tho south-cast of 
tlte commune, the land is marshy, and a considerable num- 
ber of cattle are kept. Tho population in 1831 amounted to 
3750. (Meisscr's Dietionnaxre Qcographiquc de la Ilartdre 
Orientate, 1834.) 

BA'SSIA, a genus of tropical plants, belonging to the 
natural order Sajjotear, containing several interesting spe- 
cies. It has a calvx of four or fivo leaves, a monopctalous 
fleshy corolla, with its border generally eight-parted, and a 
great number of stamens. Tho ovary terminates in a long 
taper stylo, and contains from aix to eight one-seeded cells. 
The fruit has a pulpy rind, with not moro than three or four 
cells, tho remainder being abortive. 

The •peeics aro found in the East Indies and in Africa, 
where th»y aro of great economical importance on account 
of tho abundance of a sweet buttery substanco which is 
yielded by their *ccds when boiled. We shall mention briefly 
all of which anything useful is known. 

/Tattia butyracca % the Indian buttcr-trec, also tho Fuhca, 
or Phu(\cara : tree t is found wild on the Almora hills in 
India, whero it grows to a considerable size, its trunk some- 
times measuring fifty feet tn height, and five or six feet tn 



circumference. It has broad, oval, long-stalked leaves, 
from six to twelve inches lonp, smooth on their upper sur- 
face, hairy on their undor. The flowers, which aro largo 
and pale yellow, hang down, near the tips of the branches, 
from the axils of the leaves, and generally grow three to- 
gether. They are succeeded by smooth, pulpy fruits, about 
as large as a pigeon's egg, usually containing two or thrco 
roundish light-brown seeds. From these is produced a 
fatdikc substance, which is a kind of vegetable butter, 
concerning which we find tlie following information iu 
the Asiatic Researches, by Dr. Roxburgh :— * On opening 
the shell of the seed or nut, which \i of a fintf'chcstnut 
colour, smooth and brittlo, the kernel appears of tho size 
and shape of a blanched almond. The kernels are bruised 
6n a smooth stone, to the consistency of cream, or of a fine 
pulpy matter, which is then put into a cloth bag, with a 
moderate weight laid on, and left to stand till the oil ox fat 
is expressed, which becomes infraediately of the consistency 
of hogVlard, and is of a delicate white colour. Its uses are 
in medicine, Doing highly esteemed in rheumatism and con- 
tractions of the limbs. It is also much valued, and used 
by natives of rank, as an unetion, for which purpose it is 
generally mixed with an utr (aromatic oil) of soino kind. 
Except the fruit, w f hich is not much esteemed, no other part 
of the trco is used. After the oil has been expressed, tho 
dregs are employed by the poor as food. This phulwara 
butter will keep many months in India without acquiring 
any bad colour, taste, or Smell, and might no doubt be sub- 
stituted advantageously for animal butter. The timber is 
of no value, being nearly as light as that of the Scmul, or 
cotton-tree (Bombctx heptaphyllum)* 




[Baubt tralyraoetO 

Bassia longifolia, the Indian oil-tree, fs a large tree, a 
good deal liko tho last, but its leaves are narrower, and its 
(lowers much more flcshv. It is a native of tho peninsula of 
India, and Is found in plantations along the southern coast 
of Cororaandcl, where it Is called tho ltlu}rie*trce* Its fruit 
is yellowish, and yields by pressure a valuable oil, which is 
used by the poorer natives of India for their lamps, for soap, 
and, instead of better oil, for cookery. Tho flowers also are 
roasted and eaten by the Indian peasants, or bruised and 
boiled to a jelly, and made into small balls, which aro sold 
or exchanged for fish, rice, and various sorts of small grain. 
The wood is as hard and durable as teak, so that this is ono 
of tho most generally useful trees found on tho continent of 
India. 

Bassia lati folia, tho Mahwa, Madhaca, or Madhookb 



B A S 



B A S 



tree, has oblong leaves, and a corolla with a very protube- 
rant tube. It is a native of the mountainous parts, of the 
Circars and of Bengal, where it forms a middling-sized tree. 
Its wood is hard and strong, and proper for' the naves of 
wheels; its flowers are eaten raw by the natives and by 
jackals, and they yield by distillation a strong intoxicating 
spirit. From their seeds a considerable quantity of greenish 
yellow oil is obtained, which is found "useful for the supply 
of lamps; it is, however, inferior to that of the last species. 
It is curious that this oil stains linen or woollen cloth as 
animal oil does, while the fatty substance of the B. buty- 
racea possesses no such property, but when rubbed on cloth 
leaves no trace behind. 

A fourth species is believed to be the Shea-tree, or African 
butter-plant, which is so very important an article of African 
internal commerce ; and which it would apparently be ex- 
tremely desirable to introduce into the West Indies and 
Bengal, as a new source of internal wealth. This is the 
plant which is frequently spoken pf by Park, particularly at 
pages 202 and 203 of his Travels in Africa: — 

* The people were everywhere employed in collecting trie 
fruit of the shea-trees, from which they prepare a vegetablo 
butter, mentioned in the former part of this work. These 
trees grow in great abundance all over this part of Bambarra. 
They are not planted by the natives, but are found growing 
naturally in the woods ; and in clearing wood-land for culti- 
vation every tree is cut down but the shea. The tree itself 
very much resembles the American oak, and the fruit, from 
the kernel of which, first dried in the sun, the butter is pre- 
pared, by boiling the kernel in water, has somewhat the ap- 
pearance of a Spanish olive. The kernel is enveloped in a 
sweet pulp, under a thin green rind ; and the butter pro- 
duced from it, besides the advantage of it$ keeping the 
whole year without salt, is whiter, firmer, and, to my 
palate, of a richer flavour than the best butter I eve^r tasted 
made of cow's milk. The growth and preparation of this 
commodity seem to be amongst the first objects of African 
industry in this and the neighbouring states, and it consti- 
tutes a main article of their inland commerce. 

BASSIGNY, in France, a district partly included in the 
former province of Champagne, and partly in Le Barroia, 
now forming part of the department of Hiuto Marne. It 
was bounded on the north by the district pf Vallage in 
Champagne, on the east by Le Barrois and La Tranche 
Corate*, on the south by Bourgogne, or Burgundy, and on the 
west by Champagne. It was, according to Expflly (Dic- 
tionnaire des Gaules, 1762), 16 leagues, or 44 miles long, 
and 13 leagues, or 35 miles broad ; but he does not stato in 
what direction these dimensions were taken. The superficial 
contents he gives at 155 squaro leagues*, or U84 square 
miles. In the Dictionnaire Universe! de la France, the 
greatest length is given at 20 leagues, or 55 miles, from 
north to south, and the greatest breadth at 16 leagues, or 
44 miles; and these dimensions are independent of a small 
portion of the district separated from tho rest by a part of 
the province of Burgundy. Several important streams, as 
the Meuseand the Aube, take their rise in this district. The 
surface is varied with hills and plains. The air is temperate 
and healthy, and the soil produces corn, wine, and fruit. 
There is a considerable extent of wood, and good pasture 
land. Game, poultry, and fish are abundant. 

There are tho vestiges of several Roman roads in this 
country. In tho time of the Romans, Bassigny was inha- 
bited by the tribe of the Lingones, from whom the city of 
Langres derives its name. Lahgres (population in 183*2, 
5960 for the town, or 7460 for the commune) was considered 
as the capital, but Chaumont (population in 1832, 6104 for 
the town, or 6318 for the whole commune) disputed this 
title with it. Tho most important places after theso are 
Montigny le Roi and Nogent le Roi (population in 1832, 
2314 for the town, or 2401 for the whole commune), Le Val 
des Ecoliers, and Bourbon les Bains. The last-mentioned 
town contains about 3500 inhabitants, and is celebrated for 
its mineral waters, and its vast military hospital for more 
than 500 men. [Sco Langres, Chaumont, and Bourbon 
les Bains.] (Dictionnaire Universel de la France; Ex- 
pilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules, fyc.) 

BASSO-R1L1EVO. The Italian terra hasso-rilievo, or 
tho French bas-relief, is commonly applied to any work of 
sculpture connected more or less with a plane surface or back- 
ground, anrl in this general sense is opposed to insulated 

• The tf-ii« commune, or common league of tho French, b the twenty fifth 
fait of* degree. 



detached figures, or sculpture in the round. In its more par. 
ticular meaning basso-rilievo, low or flat relief, is Visually 
appropriated to figures which have a very slight projection 
from the ground. Alto-rilievo, on the other hand, is not 
only rounded to the full bulk, but has generally some portions 
of the figures quite detached; and mezzo-rilievo (a style 
between the two), although sometimes rounded to a con- 
siderable bulk, has no part entirely unconnected with the 
plane surface or ground. A more accurate definition of the 
styles to which these designations refer will result from the 
explanations that follow. The terms used by the Greeks 
and Romans to distinguish these kinds of relief cannot per- 
haps be determined with complete accuracy ; and it may be 
here remarked, that those writers are mistaken who sup- 
pose the word Toreutike (roptvriieri) to have been applied 
by the Greeks exclusively to alto-rilievo, since Heyne, and 
indeed other writers before him, have proved that the terra 
was appropriated to earving, ano\ chiefly chasing in metal, 
in any kind of relief. The Latin word corresponding with it 
is ccelatura. The Greeks seem to have employed the term 
anaglypta to denote works in relief in general ; and the 
ectupa scalptura of Pliny (xxxvii. 10) also means work in 
relief. The term glypta (from yXu^w, to cut into, to hollow 
out), wjth other words formed from the same verb, appears 
to denote sculpture in the concave sense, intaglio. He- 
rodotus, in a passage of his second book (cap. 138), where 
wo have little doubt that he is speaking of the sunk 
Egyptian reliefs (which will be mentioned in another part 
of this article), couples a word formed from the verb yXu^w 
with the word typus (ru7roc) : typus irUelf (perhaps) always 
means a work in relief properly so called. (See Herod, iii. 
88. Cicero ad Atticum, i. 10.) Italian writers of the time 
of Vasari, it appears, used the term mezzo-rilievo for the 
highest relief, basso-rilievo for the less prominent, and 
stiacciqto for the flattest or least raised. Whatever the 
origin of this kind of sculpture may have been, and there 
is no doubt of its being very antient, an idea will be best 
formed of its style, as practised by the Greeks, by supposing 
it to be derived from the partial insertion of a statue in a 
perpendicular plane. Alto-rilievo is often literally nothing 
more than this. Applied, however, to a flat surface, the 
disposition pf the limbs, and the actions of the figure become 
necessarily moro or less parallel with that surface, in order 
sufficiently to adhere to it. Tho attitude is thus, in a cer- 
tain degree, adapted or selected. In inserting or embedding 
a figure in a flat ground, it is obvious, that although it may 
be buried less than half its thickness, as in alto-rilievo, it 
cannot be buried more, nor indeed (the structuro of the 
figure strictly considered) quite so much, without ceasing to 
present the real boundary or profile of the form. In the less 
prominent kinds of rilievo it is therefore still required that the 
outline should present the real form, and this principle in its 
further application excludes, in a great measure, the unreal 
forms of perspective and foreshortening, which would sup- 
pose that the objects are no longer parallel with the surface 
on which they are displayed. Attempts at foreshortening 
must in most cases fail to satisfy the eye. The work can 
only be seen in front, and the appearance it presents is 
therefore required to be at ouce intelligible, for no uncer- 
tainty can be removed by an inspection from another point 
of view, as in walking round a statue. The bulk, or thick- 
ness, need not, however, be real, provided it appear so. The 
compression of the bulk, which constitutes the various de- 
grees of mezzo and basso rilievo, thus follows the compres- 
sion or flattening of the action, the characteristic of alto- 
rilievo. Lastly, the modifications of which this branch of 
sculpture was susceptible, were adopted, as we shall see, 
according to the varieties of light, situation, dimensions, 
and use. 

The Greeks, as a general principle, considered tho ground 
of figures in relief to be the real wall, or whatever the solid 
plane might be, and not to represent air as if it was a picture. 
The art with them was thus rather the union of sculpture 
with architecture than a union of sculpture with the con- 
ditions of painting. That this was founded on the most ra- 
tional principles will be evident from a few simplo considera- 
tions. The shadows thrown by figures on the surface from 
which they project at once betray the solidity o( that surface. 
In tho attempt to represent, together witb actual projection, 
the apparent depth of a picture, or to imitate soaee, figures 
which aro supposed to be remote are reduced in size ; but 
although thus diminished in form, they cannot have the 
strength of their light and shado diminished, and if deprived 

B 2 



B A S 



BAS 



of shadow by inconsiderable relief, they cease to be apparent 
at all when the work is seen trora it* proper point or new, 
thai is, at a sufficient distance ; having no distinctness 
whatever in the absence of colour, but by meaus of light and 
shade. In short, the art, thus practised, has no longer an 
independent style, and only betrays in inferiority by pre- 
senting defects which another mode of imitation can supply. 
A passage in Vitruvius proves that the antients were not 
unacquainted with perspective ; and tho same author states 
that perspective scenic decorations were first employed by 
Agatnarcns at Athens, in the timo of >lisch>lns. How- 
ever greatly tho science may have been advanced by the 
modems, this may be sufficient to prove that the absence of 
perspective in Greek bassi-rilicvi was not from an absolute 
ignorance of its principles, but from a conviction that they 
would be misapplied in sculpture. 

In carefully keeping within the limits, however narrow, 
which defined the style of rilievo, the great artists of anti- 
quity failed not to condense into that style the utmost per- 
hxtibn compatible with it, while the various applications of I 



the works suggested abundant variety in their treatment and 
execution. The British Museum contains unquestionably 
the finest existing specimens of this branch of sculpture in 
tho rilicvi which decorated the Parthenon, or Tcmpjo of 
Minerva, at Athens. Wc have here to consider tho judi- 
cious adaptation of their styles for the situations they occu- 
pied ; but in regard to their general excellence as works 
of imitation, it may also be well to remember that these 
sculptures were the admiration of the antients themselves. 
Seven hundred years after they were produced Plutarch 
spoke of them as * inimitable works.* 

The figures which adorned the pediment are separate 
statues, although in their original situation, casting their 
shadows on the tympanum, they must have had the effect 
of bold olti-rilievi ; the circumstance of their beinj* thus 
completely detached must have given tho greatest distinct- 
ness to lhcir forms, and as they occupied tho highest part 
of the building, their gigantic size and complete relief made 
them fully effective at a considerable distance. The sculp- 
tures which adorned the metopes, or spaces between the 




triglyphs, arc in alto-rilievo. Those in the British Museum, 
representing combats with Centaurs, were taken from the 
south side of the building: the subjects were varied on the 
other sides, but they mostly related to the warlike exploits 
of the Athenians. It has been well observed that tho subjects 
of combats, usually chosen for the metopes in Doric temples, 
afforded opportunities of composing the figures so as to pro- 
duce diagonal lines, which effectually distinguished the 
groups from the architecture, and at the same time had tho 
effect of reconciling the vertical forms of the triglyphs with 
tho horizontal line3 of tho epistylium and cornice. The 
compositions in question all fully occupy the space destined 
for them, and are calculated, from their treatment and relief, 
to produce tho utmost possible effect. Those works which 
recti ved the open light were thus boldly relieved from their 
ground to insure tho masses of shadow which make them 
conspicuous: tho principle, applicable to external architec- 
ture, that projection commands shade, was thus extended to 
external decorations; and caro seems to have been taken 
to keep the light on the figures as unbroken as possible, 
especially as the whole series of metopes occupying the 
external frieze was more or less crossed by the shadow 
of the cornice. This precaution necessarily limits the atti- 
tudes, for many actions equally natural with those adopted 



would havo projected shadows on the figure itself, thus 
tending to confuse the forms. A statue which can be seen 
from various points, nnd sometimes in various lights, might 
thus be unfit as to its composition for that intclligiblo 
display in one view and under a constant light which 
rilievo requires. On the principle that high relief is fittest 
for tho open light, the rilicvi of tho temple of Phigalcia, 
which are also preserved in the British Museum, are bold 
in their projections. These works ndorncd tho interior of 
the eel la, but as the temple was hypojthral, or lighted from 
tho open sky, the principles of external decoration were 
applicable. Had the temple been imperfectly lighted, a 
tlatter kind of relief would have been preferable, and this 
leads us to consider tho stylo of basso-rilicvo, properly so 
called, the most perfect existing specimen of which is also 
in tho British Museum. It adorned the external wall of tho 
cella of tho Parthenon, within the peristyle or colonnade, 
and was consequently always in shade : the strongest light 
it could ever receive would probably Imj the rejection from 
the pavement below when the snn was highest ; hut as re- 
flected lights are uncertain, and may proceed from various 
points, tne sculptures in question wcro calculated to bo 
equally distinct in whatever direction the light was thrown. 
Their great elevation, and the peculiar angle at which they 



B A S 



B A S 



were seen, owing to the narrowness of the space between 
the exterior columns and the cella, may also be mentioned 
in considering the reasons which rendered projection unad- 
visable. That this confined view was not, however, the sole 
reason, may appear from the bold relief of the Phigaleian 
marbles, which, in the interior of the narrow cella of the 
temple they adorned, must have been seen, on the side 
walls, at a very inconsiderable distance compared with their 
height. The Phigaleian temple was built, according to 
Pausanias, by Ictinus, the chief architect of the Parthenon; 
and although the sculptures are inferior, 'as works of art, 
to the generality of Greek specimens, their style of relief 
is precisely the point where the architect maybe supposed 
to have influenced their execution. 

As projection commands shade, so flatness commands 
light, and the flattest relief is hence fittest for an invari- 
ably dark situation. The same principle is observable in 
architecture in the treatment of mouldings in interiors, 
the form and projection of which differ materially from the 
corresponding members in the open light, and which are 
intended to be seen at a distance. The flatness which in- 
sures light would, however, be altogether indistinct and 
formless unless the outlines were clear and conspicuous 
at the first glance." The eontrivanee by which this is effected 
is by abruptly sinking the edges of the forms to the 
plane on which they are raised, instead of gradually round- 
ing and losing them. The mass of the relieved figure 
being sometimes very little raised in its general surface, 
its section would thus almost present a rectangular pro- 
jection. In many instances the side of this projection 
is even less than rectangular; it is undercut, like some 
mouldings in architecture which require to be particularly 
distinct, and thus presents a deeper line of shade. But 
if the figure ean thus command distinctness of outline, not- 
withstanding the inconsiderable light it may receive, it 
is obvious that its lowncss or flatness of relief will in sueh 
a light greatly aid its distinctness : above all, this contri- 
vance gives the work thus seen in an obscure situation the 
effect of rotundity. Indeed, it is a great mistake to suppose 
that the flat style of relief wa3 intended to appear flat, and 
it is a great mistake to apply it in situations, as in the open 
air, where it must appear so, and bo indistinct besides. The 
conventions of the arts are remedies, adopted in eertain 
situations and under particular eircumstanees, and aro sup- 
posed to be coneealed in their results : their ultimate resem- 
blance to nature, and their successful effect in those eireum- 
stanees, arc the test of their propriety and necessity. The 
absence of all convention in alto-rilievo (as opposed to the 
flat style), thus fits it for near situations, if not too near to 
expose it to aceidents. The excellent sculptures whieh de- 
corate the pronaos and posticum of the Temple of Theseus, 
although under the portico, are in hold relief. They were 
not only nearer the eve, and seen at a more convenient 
angle than the flat rilievi of the cella of the Parthenon, 
but the reflected light whieh displayed them would neces- 
sarily be much stronger. 



Lateral portico of the 
Parthenon. 



End portico of the Temple 
of Theseus. 




It is also to be remembered that only the end portieoes, 
where the seulpture could be more conveniently seen and was 
belter lighted, were decorated with rilievi ; the side walls of the 
cella were unomamentcd, and undoubtedly bold relief would 
have been less adapted for them. The Temple of Theseus 
was built about thirty years before the Parthenon ; and it 
is not impossible that the satisfactory effect of the (lat rilievi 
on the cella of the latter might have suggested a similar 
treatment, or some modification of it, in the Temple of 
Theseus, had it been ereeted later. It may be observed in 
general, that alto-rilievo ean seldom be fit for interiors, not 
only from its liability to accident, but from the difficulty of 
displaying it by the full light which it requires. A super- 



ficial light, especially if in a lateral direction, necessarily 
throws the shadows of one figure on another. Instances of 
this occur in some of the palaces in Rome where works of 
sculpture have been injudiciously placed. A room, for ex- 
ample, lighted in the ordinary way will have its walls (at 
right angles with that occupied by the windows) adorned 
with a frieze in considerable relief; the figures nearest the 
light consequently project their shadows so as to half conceal 
the next in order. 

The conditions of proximity and distance, as well as the 
quantity and direction of light, were carefully attended toby 
the Greek sculptors, and suggested new varieties of relief. 
The end of the art, as far as relates to execution, is accom- 
plished when the work is distinct and intelligible at the 
distance whence it is intended to be viewed. Hence the 
conventions which are intended to correct the defeets of 
distance, of material, want of light, &c, are evidently un- 
necessary where the work admits of close inspection. The 
style of raezzo-rilievo, which in its boldest examples pre- 
sents about half the thickness of the figure, is, on many 
accounts, least fit for a distant effect: the figure is nowhere 
detached from its ground ; at a very little distance its sha- 
dowed side is lost in its cast shade, and its light side in the 
light of its ground ; the outline, in short, soon becomes in- 
distinct; but the semi-roundness of the forms is directly 
imitative, and thus again the absence of all conventional 
treatment fits the work for near situations. The style was 
preferred to alto-rilievo in such eases, as the latter would 
have been more liable to accidents, find would besides in 
some measure deform the outline or profile of any object 
which is circular in its plan. The figures which adorn 
sculptured vases are thus in mezzo-rilievo : these works pro- 
bably ornamented interiors where any indistinctness in their 
distant effect or in an unfavourable light might be obviated 
by closer inspection. Two specimens may be seen in the 
second room of the Gallery of Antiquities in the British Mu- 
seum. The celebrated Medicean and Borghesan vases, the 
finest known examples, are in like manner ornamented with 
mozzo-rilicvo. The same consideration applies to all works, 
however unfit for a distant effect, which ean, or in their ori- 
ginal situation eould, only be seen near. Even the mixed 
style of relief in the sculptures which occupy the inrernal 
sides of the Areh of Titus at Rome, would hardly be objected 
to, sinee the objeets representee: are distinctly seen, and can 
only be seen, at the^distanco of a few feet. The style of 
semi-relief (mueh purer than that of the Arch of Titus) 
adopted by Flaxman in front of Covent Garden Theatre may 
be defended on the same principle, since the utmost width of 
the street is hardly a more distant point than a spectator 
would naturally retire to in order to see them conveniently. 
The still flatter style which has been introduced on the ex- 
terior of several buildings in London eannot, however, be de- 
fended on any grounds ; and there can be no doubt, from the 
reasons addueed, that bold relief is generally fittest for the 
open light. The mezzi rilievi on the miniature choragie 
monument of Lysierates (easts from them are in the British 
Museum) may be admitted to have been fitly ealeulated for 
their situation beeause they must have been seen near; but 
there was* in this' case an additional consideration to be 
attended to ; tho building is circular, and alto-rilievo was 
avoided in order to preserve the architectural profile: on the 
other hand, the frieze of the small temple of Victory, which 
was rectangular, was ' adorned with alti-rilievi; and in this 
case it appears that they did not even extend to the angles. 
The objections to sculpture on monumental eolumns will be 
obvious from these considerations; it has been observed, 
that in attempting to preserve the architectural profile, as in 
the Trajan column,* and its modern rival in the Place Ven- 
dome at Paris", tho sculpture thus slightly relieved soon 
becomes indistinet, nor indeed would this indistinctness bo 
obviated at a "considerable height even by alto-rilievo, the 
figures being necessarily small, while the evil is only in- 
creased by substituting the dark material of bronze for 
marble. , 

We proceed to consider the varieties of style in this art as 
affecting composition. In rilievo, and in sculpture generally 
(a eolourlcss material, or a material of only one colour being 
always supposed), it is evident that shadow is the essential 
and only souree of meaning and effect. In works placed in 
the open air, and visible in one point only, as in tho ease of 
alto-rilievo, a eertain open display of the figure is generally 
adopted ; the shadows, or rather the forms which project 
them, are so disposed as to present at the first glance an 



HAS 



G. 



B A S 



intelligible ami easily recognised appearance, and the im- 
possibility of changing the point of view, or changing tho 
light, as Wore observed, limits the attitudes more than in a 
statue, and, as will also appear, more than in a bas>o-riliovo. 
For in the latter, howover distinct the outline is in which 
the chief impression and meaning of the figure reside, 
the shadows within tho extreme outlines are in a great 
measure suppressed ; it is, in fact, by their being go sup- 
pressed that tho general form becomes so distinct. This is 
also the ca^e when ono form is relieved on another ; it will 
bo seen that tho nearest object is very much reduced and 
flattened m order that its shadow may not interfcro with the 
mora important shadows of tho outlines on the ground, and 
hence it may often happen that the nearest projection is 
least reliovpd. It will thus bo evident that, owing to this 




power of suppressing the accidental shades and preventing 
them from rivalling or being confounded with the essential 
ones, the choice of attitudes becomes less limited, and many 
a composition which in full relief would present a mass 
of confusion from its scattered and equally dark shades, 
may be quite admissible and agreeable in basso-rilievo. 
Accordingly the attitudes of statues, which arc generally 
unfit for alto-rilievo, frequently occur in the flat style. 
Visconti even supposes that certain figures in the basfei- 
rilicvi of the Parthenon suggested the attitudes of cele- 
brated statues afterwards executed; as, for instance, the 
Jason, or Cincinnatus, and tho Ludovisi Mars. As a re- 
markable proof how much the attitudes wero limited in allo- 
rilicvo compared with tho flat style, it may be observed, that 
the contrasted action of the upper and lower limbs, winch 
gives so much energy and motion to the figure, is perhaps 
never to be met with in the fine examples of alto-riliovo, 
whereas in the flat style it is adopted whenever tho subject 
demands it In the annexed sketch of an early Greek 
basso-rilievo, representing Castor managing a horse (from 
tho third room of tho gallery of the British Museum), tho 
action of the upper and lowor limbs is contrasted, as is tho 
ease in all statues which aro remarkable for energy and 
elasticity of movement : the statue called tho Fighting Gla- 
diator may be quoted as a prominent example. This dis- 
position ofthe lower limbs, or the alternate action in which 
ono of tho arms would cross the body, never occurs ia alto- 
rilicvo, because the shadow of the arm on tho body or of ono 
of tho lower limbs on the other could then no longer be 
suppressed, as it is in this case, but would rival the shadows 
of the whole figure on tho ground. Among tho metopes 
of the Parthenon, the Phigalcian marbles, and tho nlti- 
rilievi of tho Temple of Theseus, there is not a singlo in- 
stance of the contrasted action alluded to ; while in the two 
latter examples, the contrary position, or open display of the 
figure, reocotedly recurs, even to sameness, It must however 




be admitted, that this open display ofthe figure, although not 
presenting the most energetic action, is as beautiful us it is 
intelligible, and hence the finest cxiiibitions of form wcro 
quite compatible with the limited attitudes to which the 
sculptors thus wisely confined themselves. Tho objections 
which compelled this limitation being however entirely ob- 
viated in basso-rilievo, by the power of suppressing at plea- 
sure the shadows within the contour, wc find the fullest ad- 
vantago taken of tho latitude which was thus legitimately 
gained. 

A better example cannot be referred to than tho flat 
rilicvi already mentioned from the ccllaof the Parthenon. 
(Soo the next illustration.) The subject represents the 
Panathcnaic procession, and although no pcrspcetivo dimi- 
nution is admitted, several equestrian figures are some- 
times partly relieved ono upon the other. The confusion 
which results from the number of similar forms in the repe- 
tition of the horses 1 limbs, as well as in the actions ofthe 
horsemen, must be admitted ; but perhaps the subject is 
thus better expressed than by a simpler arrangement, and 
this treatment contrasts finely with tho single figures. In 
a procession of horsemen moving two or three abroast, we 
aro at once awaro that the figures arc similar, and tlic eye 
is satisfied, as it would be in nature, not in searching out 
each individual figure as if it had a separate principlo of 
action, but in comprehending the movement and the mass, 
for ono indicates tnc whole. Where the figures thus cross 
each other they aro treated as a mass ; the outline of tlio 
whole group is distinct and bold, being more or less abruptly 
sunk to the ground, but tho outlines which come within 
the extreme outline aro very slightly relieved. In short, 
tho principlo hero applied is precisely tho same as that 
observable in a single figure in the same sttlc of relief: the 
outline of the whole form is distinct, or rat her most distinct 
where it is most important, and the internal markings arc 
seldom suffered to rival it, but arc made subservient to this 
peneral effect. The relative importance of tho objects is, 
indeed, the only consideration winch is suffered to interfere 
with this principle: thus loose drapery is sometimes slightly 
relieved on the ground, while a significant form is now and 
then strongly relieved even on another figure. In com- 
paring the slight varieties of treatment in these rilicvi, it is 
to be remembered that the end porticoes wcro a little wider 
than tho lateral colonnades. It is undoubtedly to this cir- 
cumstance that the difference of treatment alluded to is to 
be referred; tho figures in tho end friezes arc more sepa- 
rated from ono another, and consequently somewhat more 
relieved than tho compact processions on tho sido walls. 

Tho fact that these bassi-rilicvi, as well as most of the 
sculpture of tho anticnts, wcro partially painted, has been pur- 
posely left out of the account, because the very contrivances 
rosortod to are calculated to supply tho absenco of colour. 
Tho custom in tho best ago of Grecian art of painting archi- 
tecture and sculpture may be defended or excused else- 
where; it may be, however, here remarked, that while tho 
antient sculptors added colour after having employed every 
expedient which could supply its want, tho moderns, in 
altogether rojecting it, often fail to make use of thoso >cry 
conventions which its absence demands. 

It appears that tho principle of suppressing tho relief 
within the extreme contour winch, with the strong marking 
of the out lino it*clf, maiuly const it utos the style of basso- 
rilievo, was employed by the anticnts in works of consi- 
derable relief, in interiors, in particular lights, and probably 



B A S 



B A S 







at some distance or elevation. The real projection which 
works thus strictly belonging to the class of bassi-rilievi 
may sometimes present, points out tho essential difference 
between basso and mezzo rilievo : a work, even if In very 
slight general relief, which has the parts that are nearest 
the most relieved, belongs to mezzo -rilievo ; while a work 
which has the nearest parts least relieved, constitutes basso- 
rilievo, whatever its general projection may be. In the 
former, the outline is thus less apparent than tho forms 
within it ; in the latter, the outline is more apparent than 
the forms within it. The early Greek and Etruscan rilievi, 
which, however tlat, havo the nearest parts the fullest, while 
tho outline is scarcely, if at all, rectangular in its section, 
have thus the principle of mezzo-rilievo. They are even 
fitted for near inspection, and cannot be said to present any 
unsatisfactory convention ; for the bulk, howover really thin, 
is proportionate in its relief, and is so far directly imitative; 
inasmuch as the eye consents 1o a diminished sealo of bulk 
as easily as to a diminished scale of height, while the indis- 
tinctness of tho outline has the effect of rounding the form. 
Such works are besides fitted for near examination, be- 
cause they can scarcely command any shadow. Various 
specimens may be seen in the British Museum. 

The antique vases of Arczzo were ornamented with 
figures in this kind of relief. Certain silver vases mentioned 
by Pliny wero of the same description. The Egyptian in- 
taglio, for so it may be called, rather than rilievo, belongs to 
the same style. The Egyptian artists, instead of eutting away 
the background from the figure, sunk the outline, and 
slightly rounded the figure, on the principle of mezzo-rilievo, 
within. Thus no part of tha work projected beyoud the ge- 
neral surface, and tho architectural profile was preserved. 
There are, however, many very antient examples at Thebes 
of figures slightly relieved from the ground, soraowhat on the 
principle of basso-rilievo as practised by the Greeks, — that 
is. with the nearest parts least relieved, and with outlines 
rectangular in tho section. Many of them, probably, in 
their original situations, and when the buildings were entire, 
ornamented interiors. Some Persian rilievi, in the British 
Museum, approach the same style. The Egyptian rilievi 
were painted In brilliant colours, and would have been in- 
effective in the open light without sueh an addition. 

The distinctions of tho three styles of relief, according to 
the Greek examples, may now be thus recapitulated. In the 
highest relief, however decided tho Bhadows muy and must 



of necessity be, oh the plane to which the figure is attached, 
the light on the figure itself Is kept as unbroken as possible, 
and this can only be effected by a selection of open atti- 
tudes; that is, such an arrangement of the limbs as shall 
not bast shadows on the figure itself. In basso-rilievo tho 
same general effect of the figure is given, but by very dif- 
ferent means : the attitiide Is not selected to avoid shadows 
on tho figure, because, while the extreme outline is strongly 
marked, the shadows within it may be in a great measure 
suppressed, so that the choice of attitudes is greater. Mezzo- 
rilievo differs from both : it has neither the limited attitudes 
of the first, nor the distinet outline arid suppressed internal 
markings of tlio secoftd: on the contrary, tho outline Is 
often less distinet than tho forms within it, and hence it re- 
quires, and is fitted for, near inspection. Its imitation may 
thus be more absolute, and its execution more finished, than 
those of either of the other styles. 

Most of the coins of antiquity are executed on the prin- 
ciple Of mezzo-rilievo; arid though often far bolder in this 
relief than modern works of the kind, are treated in a modo 
corresponding with their minute dimensions, which require 
close examination. The diitlirie thus gradually rounds into 
tho ground, and is never abruptly sunk, while the nearest 
parts are most relieved. Thus, conventional methods aro 
always wanting In works that admit of close inspection, 
whero the eye can be satisfied without such expedients. 
The comparatively strong relief of the heads on the antient 
medals is again a contrivance for their preservation, and 
presents a new variety in tho style of rilievo. Coins are 
exposed to friction, and the forms they bear are thus liable 
to be soon effaced. The earliest means adopted to prevent 
this was by sinking the representation in a concavity, in 
which it was thus protected. This plan was soon aban- 
doned, for obvious reasons; and the method ultimately 
adopted was that of raising tho least important parts most. 
Accordingly, the parts that are rubbed away in many fine 
antique coins are precisely those which can best be spared ; 
tho hair has generally a considerable projection, so that the 
faeo and profile are often perfectly preserved after 2000 
years : a better specimen cannot be adduced than the celo- 
brated Syracusan coin representing the head of Arethusa 
or Proserpine. In addition to the propriety of its style, 
this head is remarkable for its beauty ; and is elassed by 
Winkelmann among the examples of the highest character 
of form, 



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8 



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The ordinary stylo of mezzo-rilievo was alio used for gems, 
and indeed for nil work* in this branch of sculpture which 
required clo*o inspection, and needed no conventional con- 
trivance. A flat stylo of relief, which is sometimes observ- 
able in cameos, was adopted only for the sako of displaying a 
subject on a different coloured ground; the layers of colour 
in tho stono employed, generally tho sardonyx, being very 
thin. Tho difference of colour in the ground has, however, 
tbo effect of giving roundness to the figures rolicved on 'it, 
as if, their whole effect becoming apparent, tho internal 
markings disappeared. The figures on the Portland Vase 
are treated on this principle ; and as it was intended to 
imitate a precious stono (tor which indeed it was at first 
taken), tho thinness of tho outer layer of colour is also 
imitated. Such works, however, reduced to one colour in 
a cast or copy, are totally, wanting in effect and style. The 
impressions from intagli, or engraved gems, which were used 
for seals, are never in the flat style of relief ; but however 
slightly raised, are on tbeprincipioofraczzo-rilievo a* above 
defined. The j*ems of Dioscorides, tho finest of antiquity, 
are in mezzo-rilievo, and often of tho fullest kind ; as for 
instance, the heads of Demosthenes and Io, and tho figures 
of Mercury and Perseus. Tho same may be observed of 
other celebrated gems, such as the Medusa of Solon, tho 
Hercules of Cneius, &c. It is supposed that tho same 
artists who engraved on gems, and who frequently inscribed 
their names, also executed the dies for coins. The latter 
are among the finest antiqno works of art ; but of the many 
thousand existing specimens there is but ono which bears 
the name of tho artist, viz., tho eoin of Cydonia in Crete, the 
inscription on which proves it to be the work of Nevantus. 
It was observed, that in the antique coins tho least important 
parts aro the most raised, and the reasons which dictated 
this practice limited the view of the head to tho profile ; 
but as the same reasons were no longer applicable in en- 
graved gems, the impressions from which could be renewed 
at pleasure, the front, or nearly front view of the head was 
occasionally attempted, and seems to have been preferred by 
Dioscorides and his school. Tho head of Io before men- 
tioned, considered with reference to this specific propriety 
of its style, as well as with regard to its general merits, is 
placed byVisconti in the first class of antiquo engraved 
gems. Thus the most skilful artists of antiquity seemed 
.to consider the style of any one of the arts to consist chiefly 
in those points which were unattainable by its rivals. It 
may be here observed too, that they generally limited their 
representation to the most worthy object, viz., tho human 
figure, when the dimensions on which they were employed 
were necessarily confined. Iudeed tho principles of imita- 
tion itself were, as it were, condensed, and true character 
often exaggerated as the materials appeared less promising ; 
so that the genius of antient art is as conspicuous in minute 
engraved gems as in colossal sculpturo. 

Mezzo-rilievo of the fullest kind was also fitly employed 
(as well as alto-rilievo, when in situations not exposed to 
accidents) to ornament tombs and sarcophagi. These 
works, placed in the open air, decorated the approaches to 
cities, as the sepulchres were always without the walls. 
The Appian Way was the most magnificent of these streets 
of tombs in tho neighbourhood of Rome, and must have 
exhibited, literally, thousands of sepulchral monuments. 
Though generally the work of Greek artists, and often 
interesting from being copies of better works now lost, the 
haste and inattention with which sueh prodigious numbers 
were executed,' tended to degrade the style of their sculp- 
ture. In theso riliovi, even in tho better specimens, build- 
ings and other objects are occasionally introduced behind 
the figures, thus approaching the spurious style of relief 
in which the effects of perspective are attempted to be 
expiessed : a great variety, of various degrees of excellence, 
arc to be seen in the British Museum. The greater part 
of what aro called Roman bassi-rilicvi are of this kind, 
and may be considered a middle style between the pure 
Greek rilievo and tho modern Italian. It was from antique 
sarcophagi, fine in execution, but with these defects in style, 
that Niccola da Pisa, in the 13th eenturv, first caught 
the spirit of antient art. Many of the works from which 
he is believed to have studied aro still preserved in Pisa. 
D'Agiucourt gives a representation of ono of the best 
In imitating the simplicity of arrangement, and, in a remote 
degree, tho purity of forms which theso works exhibited, 
the artist was not likely to correct the defects alluded to 
which had been already practised in Italy and elsewhere. 



Various degrees of relief, background figures and objects, 
and occasional attempts at perspective, are to bo found 
in tho works of tho I'isani and their scholars; yet their 
works, which aro to be regarded as the infancy of Italian 
art, and which undoubtedly aro rudo enough in work- 
manship and imitation, are purer in stylo than those of 
tho succeeding Florentine masters, who attained so much 
general perfection in sculpture. The rilievi of Donatello 
are mostly in the style called by tho Italians stiaeciato, 
the flattest kind of mezzo-rilievo, according to the definition 
beforo given, which he probably adopted, as he worked in 
bronze, from the facility of casting; yet in such a style, 
commanding little distinctness from its inconsiderable pro- 
jection, he introduced buildings, laudscape, and the usual 
accessories of a pieturo. But this misapplication of inge- 
nuity was carried still farther by Lorenzo Ghiberli, in the 
celebrated bronzo doors of tho baptistery, or church of San 
Giovanni, at Florence, which exhibited such skilful com- 
positions, in which tho stories are so well told, and in which 
the single figures are so full of appropriate action. In these 
works the figures gradually emerge from the stiacciuto 
style to alto-rilievo. They arc among the best specimens of 
that mixed style, or union of basso- rilievo with the prin- 
ciples of painting, which the sculptors of the fifteenth cen- 
tury and their imitators imagined to be an improvement on 
the well-considered simplicity of the antients. In these and 
similar specimens the unreal forms of perspective buildings, 
and diminished or foreshortened figures, which in pictures 
creato illusion when aided by appropriate light and shade, 
and variety of hue, are unintelligible or distorted in a real 
material, where it is immediately evident that the objects 
are all on tho same solid plane. Even Vosari, who wroto 
when this mixed style of rilievo was generally practised, 
remarks the absurdity of representing the piano on which 
the figures stand asceuding towards the horizon, according 
to the laws of perspective ; in consequence of which * wo 
often see,' ho says. ' the point of the foot of a figure, 
standing with its back to the spectator, touching the middle 
of the leg,* owing to the rapid ascent or foreshortening of 
the ground. Such errors, he adds, are to be seen ' even 
in the doors of San Giovanni/ Lorenzo Ghiberli, like other 
Florentine sculptors, first learnt the practice of his art from 
a goldsmith, and the designs of the artists who competed 
with him for the honour of executing tbo doors of San Gio- 
vanni were submitted to the judgment of goldsmiths and 
painters as well as sculptors* 

The taste of the Florentines in basso-rilievowas thus greatly 
influenced by the prevalence of a style most applicable to 
the precious metals, in which a general sparkling effect is 
best insured by avoiding uniformly violent relief, which 
projects considerable shadows, and especially by avoiding 
unbroken flatness. Tho background is thus filled with 
slightly relieved distant objects, so as to produce everywhere 
a more or less roughened or undulating surface. The same 
end seems to have been attained in the antique silver vases, 
by the introduction of foliage. The style continued to bo 
practised with occasionally greater absurdities than those 
before alluded to, and perhaps less redeeming exrollencc, till 
tho close of the last century. Tho sculptor Falconet says 
of the antique bassi-rilievi, that * however noble their compo- 
sition may be, it does not in any way tend to the illusion of 
a picture, and a basso- rilievo ought always to aim at this illu- 
sion.' He leaves no doubt as to the literal meaning he intends 
by eiting the Italian writers who applied the term quadru 
indiscriminately to picturo and basso-rilievo. Sculpturo in 
this country was indebted principally to Flaxman for tho 
revival of a puicr taste in the application of basso-rilievo 
to architecture. In works of decoration, intended to bo 
executed in the precious metals, in which, as before ob- 
served, moderately embossed and general richness of surface 
is so desirable, in order to display the material as well as 
the work, he, however, united his own purity of taste and 
composition with an approach to the mixed style of relief 
practised by the Florentine masters, who, in this branch of 
sculpture, perhaps never equalled his shield of Achilles. 

BASSOMPIERRE. FRANCOIS DE, Marshal of 
France, and Captain-General of'the Swiss Guards, was 
born in Lorraine, on the 12th of February, 1579, Tho 
family name was originally Betstcin, or, as Mr. Croker con- 
jectures, Bassenstein— galliciscd into Bissompierre. His 
education was, all things considered, excellent for the times 
in which ho lived: it reminds us, in many particulars, of 
Montaigne's education, whieh that amusing writer has 



BAS. 



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described in his Essays, being, like it, domestic, conducted 
in a feudal castle in a remote district, and embracing a 
much greater range of subjects than is comprehended in 
our modern * courses of study/ Bassompierre tells us, for 
example, in his memoirs, among other particulars of his 
studies, that in his seventeenth year he devoted one hour a 
day singly to the study ' of law, of casuistry, of Hippocrates, 
the ethics and politics of Aristotle,' and that, like our own 
Lord Herbert of Cherbury, whom he resembled in his ad- 
miration of the usages of chivalry, he prided himself on his 
early proficiency in" martial exercises, particularly 'riding 
the great horse/ 

In 1598 Bassompierre arrived, in the course of his 
travels, at Paris, having first visited Italy and Germany. 
His reception at the court of France was flattering beyond 
example. Jits family was of the highest order of nobility : 
his father liad commanded a regiment of cavalry, called 
reiters (riders), under the French king, Henry IV., and, 
like his master, had been wounded at the battle of Ivry; 
and Bassompierre's person and address were those of a 
knight of romance. Bassompierre was first introduced to 
the French king's notice in a ballet, which some young 
courtiers had got up to amuse Henry on his recovering from 
an illness, in which the illness, and still more the mode of 
cure, were held up to laughter. Bassompierre took a part 
in the ballet, and quickly caught the attention of Henry. 
The result was a warm friendship on both sides ; and Bas- 
sompierre became for life a devoted Frenchman. 

The incidents of Bassompierre's career are only interest- 
ing to the general reader so far as they illustrate the man- 
ners of the times. Bassompierre was young, ardent, and 
accomplished, and distinguished for his personal beauty and 
courage ; and tho court of France was at that time one 
scene of gaiety, intrigue, and licentiousness. His career 
may accordingly be briefly described as that of a 'chartered 
libertine," who united the wily arts of the courtier with the 
intrepidity of a soldier. In many respects the court of Henry 
resembled that of Charles II. of England. It is but justice, 
however, to the French king to state, Uiat unbridled as he 
was himself in the indulgence of bis amorous propensities, 
and baneful as was the effect of such an example upon the 
morals of his court, the general features of its profligacy 
were less sordid and disgusting than those which disgrace 
the history of -the English court during the times which fol- 
lowed the Restoration. 

In 160 ( J Bassompierre was on the point of being married 
to the most beautiful woman in France, the daughter of the 
Constable do Montmorency. Ho was preferred among a 
host of suitors by Mademoiselle de Montmorency herself, 
and had obtained tho consent of her father and the king, 
who had not then seen the lady. In a few days afterwards 
Henry saw her, and, though then fifty-seven years of age, 
becamo * madly and desperately * in Ioyc with her him- 
self. After a sleepless night the king sent for Bassom- 
pierre to attend him in his cabinet. * I was thinking, 
Bassompierre/ said he, * that the best thing you can do is to 
marry the Duchess of Aumale and revive the dukedom in 
your awn person/ * What, sire, would your Majesty have 
me marry two wives?' was the answer. 'The truth is, my 
friend,' said Henry, 1 1 am myself desperately, madly in love 
with Mademoiselle do Montmorency, and should hate you 
if you obtained her heart, while you would be sure to hato 
me if she fixed her affections on me. Now, I have too great 
a regard for you to risk our friendship by your^ union with 
her/and therefore I think it better to give her in marriage 
to my nephew tho Prince of Conde, who is young and a 
hundred times fonder of the chace than of the ladies. This 
union will be the solace of the old age upon which I am 
just entering, and I shall seek no thanks from her but her 
affection. I assure you I seek no more/ {Memoires, torn. i. 
p. 224.) Bassompierre knew that it was useless to refuse 
his consent to this proposition, and he was too prudent a 
courtier to incur the loss of the king's friendship. 

Bassompierre served in all the civil wars, mostly of a ro- 
ligious character, in which France was engaged in his time, 
and ro3e through successive stcp3 to the highest military 
• honours, having been appointed by Henry captain-general of 
the Swiss Guards, a high court appointment, and promoted 
to tho rank of marshal in the next reign. lie does not seem 
to have possessed much military talent, and was distin- 
guished in the camp chiefly by his playful humour and 
courage. He assisted at tho siege of Rochelle, under the 
eye of Cardinal Richelieu, and is reported to have said on 



that occasion, * AVe shall be fools enough to take the plaea 
for the cardinal/ meaning that the capture of that Last 
fortress of the Huguenots would so strengthen the hands of 
Richelieu as to place the party of the queen-mother and the 
Guises at his mercy ; and the result proved that Bassom- 
pierre was right. 

Bassompierre stood so high in the favour of the indolent 
monarch, Louis XIII., as to convert the favourite Luynes 
into a fierce enemy. After some coqueting and countermin- 
ing on both sides, Luynes succeeded in inducing Louis to 
give Bassompierre a cold reception at court. Bassompierre 
sought an explanation with the favourite. Luynes told him 
frankly that he was jealous of his influence with the king ; 
that he (Bassompierre) must see, from the reception he had 
met with, that he had now a superior in influence, and there- 
fore he must make up his mind to take a military appoint- 
ment at a distance, an embassy, or be forbidden from the 
presence. Bassompierre accepted the offer of an embassy, 
and Luynes declared himself his devoted friend. lie was 
accordingly sent ambassador extraordinary to Spain, and 
afterwards to the Swiss, in the years 1624 and 1625. The 
particulars of these embassies are detailed in his Ambassades 
and his Memoires, but do not possess general interest. In 
1626 he was sent to England, at the instance of the Car- 
dinal Richelieu, in order to enforce the observance of the 
treaty of marriage between Henrietta Maria and Charles I., 
so far as it applied to the toleration of the Roman Catholic 
worship. The circumstances which gave rise to this embassy 
arc explained by the following letter: — 

'Stcenie [Buckingham], — I have refc'eaved your letter by 
Die Grcame, this is my answer. I command you to send all 
the French away tomorrow out of the toune if you can by 
faire mcancs (but stike not long in disputing), otherwise 
force them away, dryving them away lyke so manie wylde 
bcastes untill ye have shipped them, and so to the Dcvill go 
with them. Let me heare no answer bot of the performance 
of my command. So I rest, 

1 Your faithfull, constant, loving friend, 

'August 7th. 1626/ 'Charles Rex. 

(Ellis's Original Letters, first scries, vol. iii. p. 244.) 

This violent dismissal of the queen's household was re- 
sented as an affront by the king of France, her brother, and 
Bassompierre was despatched as ambassador extraordinary to 
seek an explanation. Charles refused to givo him an audience 
till he had dismissed Father Sancy (concerning whom see 
D'Isracli's Commentaries on the Reign of Charles /., vol. L), 
who had come over in his train. Bassompierre firmly re- 
fused, and stood upon his privileges as an ambassador. The 
king was placed in an awkward dilemma, dreading, in par- 
ticular, * a scene with his wife,* should he admit Bassom- 
pierre to a publie audience. Buckingham explained to 
Bassompierre the difficulties of his master's situation, and 
threw himself upon the Frenchman's good nature to extri- 
cate hiin from them. Bassompierre accordingly suggested 
that the king, * after allowing me to make my bow, and 
having received with the king's letter my first compliments, 
when I should^ commence to open to him the occasion of my 
coming, the king may interrupt me and say, " Sir you are 
come from London (to Hampton); you have to return thither; 
it is late, and this matter requires a longer time than I can 
now give you. I shall send for you at an earlier hour," &c, 
&c, and after some civil expressions about the king, my 
brother-in-law, and the queen, my mother-in-law, the king 
will add, " I can no longer delay the impatience of the queen, 
my wife, to hear of them from yourself," &c/ Charles had 
the meanness to go through this humiliating ceremonial to 
the letter. A few days afterwards he admitted Bassompierre 
to a private audience, in which he gave vent to his angry 
feelings. Bassompierre replied with equal warmth, and 
taunted Charles with a breach of the treaty of marriage, 
Charles, whose pride refused to plead tho real cause, the 
necessity of yielding to the religious prejudices of his par- 
liament, contended that tho treaty was 'one of state and not 
of religion/ Angry threats and recriminations followed, 
which induced Charles to exclaim, * Why then do you not 
declare war at once?' AVith great firmness and dignity 
Bassompierre replied, ' I am not a herald to declare war, 
but a marshal of Franco, to make it when declared/ 

The remainder of Bassompierre's career is soon told. He 
attached himself warmly to the interests of the house of 
Guise, and the queen-mother Mary de* Mcdicis, who was 
the great obstacle to Richelieu's attaining absolute power, 
and he paid the penalty of his adhesion. The imme- 



No. 20G. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOP/EDIA.] 



, Vol, IV.-C 



B A S 



10 



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diato cause of hi* Incurring tho cardinal's displeasure 
was, as lie folk us in Ills Mf moires, his neglecting to keen 
an appointment to dinner. On tha day preceding tho 
memorabla Day of the l)ui>e$ (la Journde des Dupes), the 
30th of November, 1G30, Bassompierre met the cardinal 
in ono of the passagoi oftheLouvro. Ho accosted him, 
and Richelieu feigned to receive the courtesy as a favour to 
a ' poor disgraced minister/ Basaomplerro, in tho fulness 
of his benevolence, condescended to invita himself to dine 
with the cardinal, and tho offer was accepted. It happened, 
however, unfortunatoly that two noblemen, enemies of the 
cardinal, met Bassompiorre in the course of the day, and 
• debauched ' him to dine with them, and tho * poor disgraced 
minister' was forgotten. 

On the 23rd of February, 1631, Bassompierro was ar- 
rested, by Richelieu's orders, and sent to tho Bastille, 
where ho was confined for twelve years; that is, till the 
death cf tho cardinal. He tells us, that tho day before he 
was arrested ho burned upwards of 6000 love -letters which 
he had received at diflfcront times from his femalo admirers 
—a preltv decisive proof of the reputation which induced 
Madamouo Montpcnsier, when recalling tho brilliant visions 
of her youth, to designate him as 'cet illustre Bassompierre.* 
(Sec the Preface to tha translation of Bassompierre s Eng- 
lish Embassy, ascribed on personal knowledge by Mr. Dis- 
raeli to the Right Hon. J. W. Crokcr.) 

He employed his timo during his imprisonment in writing 
his Memoir es and revising his Ambassades ; but both are so 
very dull and jejune, that we cannot help regarding him as 
one of those men whoso fame has been mainly owing to the 
advantages of a good person and address. There is not a 
single passaga in all his writings which would load us to 
concludo that he was ' the wittiest man of his timo ;' and 
even those anecdotes and bons mots which arc attributed to 
him in tho French Ana, are not calculated to impress us 
with a high notion of his mental accomplishments. 

Bassompierre died of apoplexy on the 1 2th of April, 1C46, 
three years after his liberation from prison. It is alleged 
that he was offered the guardianship of the young monarch 
"Louis XIV., hut age* or, as Mr. Crokcr conjectures, the 
wholesome discipline of the Bastille,' had cured him of all 
ambition as a courtier, and he declined the perilous honour. 

(Memoires de Mareschal de Bassompierre, 4 tomes, Am- 
sterdam, edition 1723; Bassompierre's Embassy to Eng- 
land, translated, with notes, London, 1819; Memoirs of 
Henry th& Great of France, 2 vols. London, 1829 ; and the 
works referred to in tho text.) 

BASSOON, a musical instrument of the pneumatic kind, 
blown through a reed. It consists of four pieces, or tubes 
of wood, bound together and pierced for ventages, of a brass 
cranpd neck, in which the reed is inserted, and of several 
lceys. The whole length of tho tubes is 6J feet, but by 
doubling up, this is reduced to four. It may be considered 
as a base oboe [see Ouoe] ; and its compass fs from b flat 



below the base staff, 



SE 



tow flat in the 
-j±— treble staff. 



\r* 




Tins instrument is used in every kind of music, for the 
richness of its tono and extent of its scalo render it invalu- 
able to the composer. Handel seems to have been the first 
who gave importance to it, and in the air Thou didst blow, 
In tho oratorio of Israel in Egypt, exhibited its qualities in 
so advantageous a manner, that it immediately afterwards 
began to assume a rank in tho orchestra which has ever 
since been increasing. 

The bassoon was invented as early as the year 1539, three 
years after Luscinius had published his Musttrgia. who con- 
sequently does not mention tho instrument. Mcrscnne 
describes it and all its varieties ; but a long time elapsed 
before it came into use. Tho word is derived from tho 
Italian bassone, which is now^ rarely used. Tho common 
Italian terra is fagotto, a fagot, or bundle of sticks, because 
the tubes of which the instrument is composed aro bound 
together. The Italian word/a#o//o is always employed in 
musical scores. 

BASSOON, DOUBLE, a bassoon of increased dimen- 
sions the scale of which is an octave below that of tho ordi- 
nary bassoon. Tho double-bassoon was introduced at the 
commemoration of Handel in 1 794, but not found to answer 
the intended purpose, and has now fallen into utter disuse, 



the Serpent [see Serpkxt] well supplying tire place which 
it was meant to fill. 
BASSOUAI1. [Sco Basra.] 

BASS US, in entomology, a genus of the order Hymen- 
opt era, and family Braconidtr. These are four- winged 
fifes, with long nnd narrow bodies. They frequent tha 
flowers of umbelliferous plants. 

BAST, 'FREDERICK JAMES, a scholar of consider- 
able eminenco, was born in the state of Hesse-Darmstadt, 
nbout tho year 1772. Ho received his earliest instruction 
from his father at Bouxviller, but afterwards studied in tho 
University of Jena, under Professors Griesbaoh and Schiitz. 
His first literary essay was a commentary upon Plato's 
Symposion, which was followed in 1 796 by a specimen of nn 
intended new edition of tho Letters of Aristametus. lie 
lived at this tiraa at Vienna, where he was in the suite of 
M.do Jan, the resident from Hesse-Darmstadt; and where, 
in tho Imperial Library, ho had found a manuscript of 
AristoDnctus, which afforded most important readings for 
improving the text of that author. 

The landgrave of Hesse- Darmstadt afterwards mado him 
secretary of legation at tho congress of Radstadt; and 
finally placed him in the same capacity with tho Baron dc 
Pappenheira, his minister at Paris. To mark his approba- 
tion of Bast's literary studies, the landgrave also bestowed 
upon him tho reversion of the kecpership of the Library of 
Darmstadt, a post which ho preferred to more brilliant 
honours that he might have claimed, but which wore less 
suited to his literary taste. 

Bast, uniting the labours of philology with those of diplo- 
macy, profited vory much during his stay in Paris by the 
collation and copying of a considerable number of Greek 
manuscripts. It was a most advantageous residence for 
him, as tha best classical treasures of the Vatican had at 
that time been recently transported to France. 

Of tho importance of his criticnl researches some estimate 
may be formed from his Lettre Critique d M. J. F, 7?oi>*o- 
nade sur Antoninus Liberalis, Partnenius, et Aristfaete, 
8vo. Paris, 1 805. This work, of rather more than 250 page?, 
was originally intended for insertion in Mfllin's Magasin 
Encyclopediqtte, and was on that account written In French, 
bnt growing upon the author's hands, it became a book, 
and stands in tho first rank of treatises on verbal criticism. 
It was in a volume of tho Vatican, No. 398 of the Greek 
manuscripts, which had once belonged to the electoral library 
at Heidelberg, that he found the manuscripts of Antoninus 
Liberalis and Parthcnius ; and the same volume contained 
seventeen other manuscripts, some of them incditcd, of 
each of which, in the Letter to M» Boissonade, Bast has 
given a notice, 

Schccfer's edition of Gregorius of Corinth, and some other 
grammarians, published at Leipzig, 2 vols. 8vo. 1611, con- 
tains Bast's Notes on that author, with a Palceographleal 
Dissertation (accompanied by seven Plates of fac-suuiles 
from Greek manuscripts), which is considered to be a mas- 
ter-picco of erudition. Tho remarks of Bast relative to the 
various kinds of connections and contractions which he met 
with in the numerous MSS. which ho consulted, have been 
extracted from the body of his works by John llodgkin, the 
editor of the Calligraphia et Paecilographia Grccca, and 
will shortly bo published for the use of those who arc en- 
gaged in the labour of reading or collating Greek MSS. 

Bast died of apoplexy at Pans, Nov. 15, 1811. His Notes 
upon Aristamctus were publislied in a variorum edition of 
that author by his friend M. Jo. Fr. Boissonade, 8vo. Lute- 
tian, 1822. (See the Biographic Univcr&elle, Supnlem, 
torn. lvii. 8vo. Paris, 183 4, ana the works above quotea.) 

BASTAN. [SceBAZTA*.] 

BASTARD. Tho conjectures of etymologists on the 
origin of this word are various and unsatisfactory. Its root 
has been sought in several languages: — the Greek, Saxon, 
German, Welsh, Icelandic, and Persian. For tha grounds 
on which the pretensions of all the*o languages are respec- 
tively supported, we refer the curious to the glossaries of 
Ducange and Spclman, the more recent ono of Boucher, 
and to the notes on tho titlo Bastard in Dodd and Gwillim's 
edition of Bacon's Abridgment, vol. i. p. 74C. 

Am one English writers it is applied to a child not born 
in lawful wedlock ; and as such ho is technically distin- 
guished from a mulier (filius mulieratus), who is the legi- 
timate ofisnring of a mulier or married woman. 

Our ancestors very early adopted strict notions on tho 
subject oflegitimacy; and when the prelates of the 13th 



6 A g 



ir 



BAS 



century were desirous of establishing in this country the 
rule of the canon law, by which spurious children are legi- 
timated upon the subsequent intermarriage of their parents, 
the barons assembled at Merton (a.d. 1235) replied by the 
celebrated declaration, ' that they would not consent to 
change the laws of England hitherto used and approved.' 

It has been observed that this sturdy repugnance to in- 
novation was the more disinterested, inasmuch as the lax 
morality of those days must probably have made the pro- 
position not altogether unpalatable to many to whom it was 
addressed. The opposition, therefore, seems to have been 
prompted by a jealousy of ecclesiastical influence whieh was 
at that time ever watchful to extend the authority of the 
church by engrafting on our jurisprudence the principles of 
the Canon Law. 

On another point eur ancestors were less reasonable ; for 
it was very early received for law not only that the fact of 
birth after marriage was essential to legitimacy, but that it 
was conclusive of it. Hence it was long a maxim that no- 
thing but physical or natural impossibility, sueh as the con- 
tinued absenee of the husband beyond seas, &c., eould pre- 
vent the ehild so born from being held legitimate, or justify 
an inquiry into the real paternity. 

Their liberality in the case of posthumous ehildren was 
also remarkable : for in the ease of the Countess of Glou- 
cester, in the reign of Edward II., a child born one year and 
seven months after the death of the duke, was pronounced 
legitimate; a degree of indulgence only exceeded by the 
complaisance of Mr. Serjeant Rolfe, in thjreign of Henry 
VI. t who was of opinion that a widow might give birth to 
a child at the distanee of seven years after her husband's 
decease, without wrong to her reputation. (See Coke upon 
Littleton, 123, b. note by Mr. Hargrave; Rolle's Abridg- 
ment, Bastard; and Le Marchant's Preface to the case of 
the Banbury Peerage.) 

The law now stands on a more reasonable footing, and 
the fact of birth during marriage, or within a competent 
time after the husband s death, is now held to be only a 
strong presumption of legitimacy, eapable of being repelled 
by satisfactory evidence to the contrary. 

Another curious position of doubtful authority is also 
found in our old text writers; namely, that where a 
widow marries again so soon after her husband's decease 
that a child born afterwards may reasonably be supposed to 
be the child of either husband, then the ehild, upon attaining 
to years of discretion, shall be at liberty to choose which of 
the two shall be accounted his father. It was to obviate 
this embarrassing state of things that the civil law prescribed 
an ' annum luctus,' or year of grief, during whieh the widow 
was prohibited from contracting a second marriage; and 
our own law provided the now obsolete proceeding on a writ 
de ventre insjneiendo. 

The legal incapacities under which an illegitimate ehild 
labours by the law of England are few, and are chiefly con- 
fined to tne eases of inheritance and succession. He is re- 
garded for most purposes as the son of nobody, and is therefore 
heir-at-law to none of his reputed ancestors. He is entitled 
to no distributive share of the personal property of bis parents, 
if they die intestate ; and even under a will he can only take 
where he is distinctly pointed out in it as an object of the 
testator's bounty, and not under the general description of 
" son/ * daughter/ or ' child/ by which legitimate children 
alone are presumed to be designated. He may, however, 
aequire property himself, and thus beeome the founder of a 
fresh inheritance, though none of his lineal descendants can 
elaim through him the property of his reputed relations. If he 
dies without wife, issuo, or will, his lands and goods eseheat 
to the crown, or lord of the fee. In the former event it is 
usual for the erown to resign its elaim to the greater part of 
the property on the petition of some of his nearest quasi 
kindred. 

Strictly speaking, a bastard has no surname until he 
has acquired one by reputation, and in the meantime he is 
properly called by that of his mother. 

The first English statute whieh provides for the mainten- 
ance of illegitimate ehildren, is the 18th of Elizabeth, cap. 3, 
which conferson justieesof the pcaee the power of punishing 
the parents, and of requiring from one or both of them a 
weekly or other payment for their support. Under this and 
later acts of parliament, the usual practice has been for the 
mother to ^ apply for relief to the parish officers, by whom 
she is carried before certain magistrates to be interrogated 
respecting the paternity of the child. An order of filiation 



"is then made, in which the male offender is adjudged to be 
the reputed father, and is ordered to contribute a weekly, 
payment, or is bound to indemnify tho parish against the 
ftiture expenses of maintenance. » 

In this state of things, the commissioners lately appointed 
by his Majesty to inquire into the administration of the 
poor-laws, recommended the total abolition of punishment, 
and the exemption of the reputed father from all liability 
to the support of the child. The proposal was supported 
by arguments not devoid of plausibility, and is said to be 
sanctioned by tho favourable experience of other countries ; 
it was however strenuously opposed in both Houses of Par- 
liament, and was eventually so modified as to leave the law 
nearly as it stood before the passing of the late aet. (See 
tho Report of the Commissioners, p. 165, 343, 8vo. ed., and 
stat. 4 and 5 Will. IV„ ehap. 76.) 

According to late official tables, the proportion of illegiti 
mate to legitimate births was in the year 1830 as one t 
twenty in England ; the proportion in France is as one to 
thirteen, and in Paris alone as one to three. The proportion 
in Wales was as one to thirteen in the year 1830 ; but in 
no eity or town in the British islands is the proportion com- 
parable with that of Paris. In Denmark the illegitimate 
are one in ninety-six ; in Norway one in fourteen ; and 
in Hamburgh one in five. {Reports of PoonLaw Com 
mmioners.) i 

The civilians and canonists distinguish illegitimate child- 
ren into four or five classes not recognised in the English law ; 
it may however be worth while to remark, that the familiar 
term natural, applied by us to all children born out of wed- 
lock, is in that classification confined to those only who are 
the offspring of unmarried parents, living in concubinage, 
and who labour under no legal impediment to intermarriage; 
Children of the last-mentioned class are oy tne eivil and 
canon law, capable of legitimation by the subsequent union 
of the parents, or by other acts which it is needless here to 
particularize. (See Heineccius, Syntag, vol. i., p. 159; Rid- 
ley's View, &c, p. 350, ed. 1675 ; Godolphin'c Repertorium 
Canonicum, chap. 35.) 

By the Athenian law (passed in the archonship of Eu- 
cleide3, B.C. 403), as quoted by Demosthenes (Against 
Macartatus, eap. 12), illegitimate ehildren were eut out from 
all inheritance and succession ; nor could a man, who had 
legitimate male offspring, leave his property to other per- 
sons, and consequently not to his illegitimate children. A 
previous law of Pericles (see his Life by Plutarch, cap. 37) 
declared that those only were legitimato and Athenian 
citizens who were born of two Athenian parents. This 
law, which was repealed or violated in favour of a son of 
Perieles, was re-enacted in the archonship of Eucleides. 
(Athentous, xiii. 377. Demosthenes Against Eubulides, 
cap. 10.) 

The repute in which spurious children havo been held 
has varied in different ages and countries. In some they 
have been subjected to a degree of opprobrium whieh was 
inconsistent with justice; in others the distinction between 
base and legitimate birth appears to have been but faintly 
recognised, and the ehild of unlicensed love has avowed his 
origin with an indifferenee whieh argued neither a sense of 
shame nor a feeling of inferiority. When the Conqueror 
commenced his missive to the Earl of Bretagne by the words, 
■ I, William, surnamed the Bastard," he can have felt no 
desire to eonceal the obliquity of his deseent, and little fear 
that his title would be defeated by it. Accordingly, history 
presents us with many instances in which the succession 
not only to property, but to kingdoms, has been successfully 
claimed by the spurious issue of the ancestor. It is, how- 
ever, very improbable that in any state of society where the 
institution of marriage has prevailed, children born in con- 
cubinage and in lawful wedlock should ever have been re- 
garded by the law with exaetly equal favour. (See Dueange, 
Glossary, tit. Bastardies.) 

Those who may be curious to learn what fanciful writers 
have urged in proof of the superior mental and physical 
endowments of illegitimate issue, may refer to Burton's 
Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. ii., p. 16 (ed. 1621) ; Pasquier 
Recherches, chap. * De quelnues memorables bfttards ;' and 
Pontus Heuterus de Libera llominis Nativitate. See also 
Shakspearo's Lear, act 1, scene 2 ; and the observations of 
Dr. Elliotson in his edition of Blumenbaeh's P/ty«o/o#y, in 
notes to ehap. 40. 

BASTARDY. The Scottish law of Bastardy differs con- 
siderably from the English, ehiefly in eonscquence of its 

C 2 



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12 



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having adopted much of tho Roman and pontifical doctrines 
of marriage and legitimacy. 

Thus, in England, in the oaso of a divorce in tho spiritual 
court, * d vinculo matrimonii? tho issue born during the 
coverture axe bastards. But agreeably to the judgment of 
the canons Decret, Grc%. t lib. iv., tit. t7, c. 14, the Scottish 
writers, proceeding on tbe bona fides of the parties, incline 
to a different opinion, in/avorem prolis; ana it will bo re- 
collected that when Secretary Lcthinglon proposed to Mary 
Queen of Scots a divorce from Darnlcy, James Earl of 
Both well, to quiet her fears for her son, ' allcgit tho 
cxampill of himself, that he ccissit not to succeid to bis 
father's heritage, without any difHcultic, albeit thair was 
divorce betwixt him and his mother/ The point has not, 
however, received a judicial determination, ana cannot there- 
fore bo regarded as settled, though of tho tendency of tho 
law there can be little doubt. Even in the ease of a mar- 
riage between a party divorced for adultery and the adul- 
terer, which by stat 1600, c. 20, following tbo civil law, is 
declared 4 null and unlawful in itself, and the succession to 
oe gotten of sik unlawful conjunctions unliable to sneecid 
as heircs to their said parents ;* the issue are not accounted 
Dastards, f though/ as Stair adds, b. hi., tit. 3, sect. 42, 
' they may bo debarred from succession.' Of course, the 
issue of every legal marriage are lawful, and thcrcforo the 
children not only of marriages regularly solemnized, but 
also of every union acknowledged by the'law as a marriage, 
are alike legitimate. The same may be said of children 
legitimated by the subsequent intermarriago of their pa- 
rents; but the situation of these is, as we shall immediately 
see, somewhat anomalous. 

. The Scottish law has adopted two species of legitimation, 
which, in tho language of tho civil law, they call legitima- 
tion per subsequent matrimonium, and legitimation per re' 
serif turn fjrincipis. 

The former of these was introduced into the Roman 
jurisprudence by a constitution of the Emperor Constan- 
tino the Great, but did not become a permanent method of 
legitimation till the time of Justinian. It was afterwards 
taken up by tho Roman pontiffs and disseminated by the 
ecclesiastics throughout Europe. At the parliament of 
Merton, however, the doctrine met with a repulse from the 
barons of England. 

Though the English law was preserved inviolate, yet the 
ecclesiastics did not cease to press the point among tbe people. 
and to this day we may remark traces of the custom in some 
of the remoter districts of the island. The doctrine was cer- 
tainly no part of the antient common law of Scotland any more 
than of England ; but it is now settled law there, and its 
rise and establishment are at onee accounted for, when we 
consider the former strong or rather paramount influence of 
the eanon and civil laws in that country. The principle on 
which the doetrine rests is the fiction of law that the parents 
were married at their child's birth. If therefore the parents 
could not have then legally married, or if a mid impediment 
has intervened between the birth and the intermarriage, 
the fiction is excluded, and previous issue will not be legi- 
timated by marriage. Further, it is held that if the child 
was born, or if the intermarriage took place, in a country 
which does not acknowledge the doctrine of legitimation by 
subsequent marriage, tho child will remain a bastard; the 
character of bastardy being in the one ease indelible, and 
tho marriage in the other ineffectual to create legitimacy. 
On the other hand, n child legitimated per subsequent ma- 
trimonium is entitled to all the rights and privileges of 
lawful issue, and will, as respects inheritance and the like, 
take precedence of subsequent issue born in actual wedlock : 
yet in England the judges have held, that a child born in 
Scotland before marriage and legitimated in Scotland by 
subsequent marriage, though in point of fact tho first-born 
son, and in status and condition, by comity, legitimate 
in England, will not succeed to land in England. (Sec 
Doe dcm. Birtwhistlo r. Vardill, 5 Barn, and Cress. 433 ; 
and opinions of tho judges in dom. proc. 10th June, 
1830.) 

Legitimation per rcscriptum principis proceeds on a less 
abstract and more generally-acknowledged principle than 
the preceding. Though therefore it is said to havo been 
invented by Justinian, and copied by one of the popes of 
Rome, yet concessions in the nature of'lettcrs of legitimation 
are not peculiar to the Roman law. Tho form of these letters 
seems to have been borrowed by tho Scots immediately out 
of the old French jurisprudent : their clauses arc usually | 



very ampl«, capacitating the grantee for all honours and 
offices whatsoever, and to do all acts in judgment or outwith. 
and, in short, imparting to him all the public rights of lawful 
children and natural born subjects, together with a cession of 
tho crown's rights by reason of bastardy ; but as the crown 
cannot affect the rights of third persons without their consent, 
letters of legitimation do not carry a right of inheritance to 
tho prejudice of lawful issno. 

As, in tho Mosaic law, a bastard was debarred from the 
congregation, so, according to the canons, he is, in strictness, 
incapable of holy orders ; and, indeed, it has been the policy 
of most nations to incapacitate bastards in divers ways, that 
if men will not be deterred from immorality by a sense of 
the injury accruing to themselves, they may by a consi- 
deration of the evils resulting to their offspring. But what- 
ever, may be the operation of those incapacities, they are 
folt by all to be wrongs inflicted on the innocent, and as 
Justinian properly observed when he made legitimation per 
subsequent ma trimonium a perpetual ordinance, * indigni 
non sunt qui alicno vitio laborant/ Accordingly the doc- 
trine is now obsolete in England and ncarlv so in Scot- 
land. Tho only remaining incapacity in Scotland seems to 
bfc want of power to make a testament in the particular ease 
of the bastard having no lawful issue. Letters of legitima- 
tion wcro formerly nceessary in all eases ; but it is now held 
that as the erown's right of succession is excluded hy tho 
existence of issue, a bastard who has lawful issue may dis- 
pose of his goods by testament in any way ho tl links fit. 
With the above exception only, then, there is no distinction 
between a bastard and another man ; and so ho may dispose 
of his heritage in liege poustte, and of his moveables inter 
vivos, and (if he has lawful issue) by testament, and he 
may succeed to any estate, real or personal, by special des- 
tination. To his lawful children also he may appoint tes- 
tamentary guardians; and his widow has her pro\isions 
like other rcliets. It is to be noted, however, that in the 
cyo of law a bastard is nitlims ftlius ; and being thus of kin 
to nobody, he cannot be heir-at-law to any one, neither can 
he have such heirs save bis own lawful issue. Where a 
bastard dies, leaving no heir, the crown, as ultimus hcrres, 
takes up his property, which, if it be land holden in capite. is 
at once consolidated with the superiority : but if it be holden 
of a subject, the crown appoints a donatary, who. to com- 
plete his title, must obtain dcerco of declarator nf bastardy, 
a process in the nature of the English writ of escheat* and 
thereupon he is presented by the king to tho superior as 
his vassal. 

But though bastards are legally nullius filii % yet the law 
takes notice of their natural relationship to several purposes, 
and particularly to enforce tho natural duties of their 
parents. These duties aro comprised under the term 
aliment, whieh here, as in the civil law, comprehends both 
maintenance and education ; including under this latter term, 
as Lord Stair savs (b. 1, tit. 5, sec. 6), * the breeding of them 
for some calling and employment according to their capacity 
and condition/ These were at least the principles on which 
the courts proceeded in awarding aliment to children. In 
determining who is the father of a bastard, the grots 
courts again proceed on the principles of the civil law. In 
Scotland there must first be semi-plenary evidence of the 
paternity, and then, when such circumstantial or other 
proof of that fact is adduced as will amount to semijtfena 
probatio, the mother is admitted to her oath in supplement. 
Tho whole aliment is not due from one parent but from 
both parents. This is the principle ; and thercforo in de- 
termining what shall be payable by the father, the ability 
of tho mother to contribute is also considered. The abso- 
lute amount of aliment, however, is in the discretion of the 
court, as is likewise its duration. AVhcre the parties arc 
paupers, tho bastard's settlement is not the father's but the 
mother's parish, and if that is unknown, the parish of 
its birth. 

The mother of a bastard is entitled to its custody during 
its infancy ; and it would seem that afterwards the father 
may take tho rearing of the child into his own hand, and 
also, perhaps, nominate to it tutors and curators. This last 
power has been denied* if it docs not exist it ought to be 
now bestowed by act of parliament, and by the same means 
the last remnant of a bastard's civil incapacity removed by 
his being permitted to make a testament, though he have 
no lawful issue. 

BASTENNES, a nil age in France, in tho department 
of Landcs and in the canton of Amou, whieh is a small 



B A S 



13 



B AS 



town near the southern boundary of the department, on the 
Luy de Beam. 

This village is remarkable for a kind of earth which has 
the property of bitumen when used with wood, and which 
forms an excellent cement for stone. It is easily worked, 
as warm bitumen is worked, without attaching itself to the 
finders ; and as it is impervious to water, it is used for 
sealing bottles of liquor : but it is chiefly as a cement for 
stone tbat it is valuable. It acquires, when exposed foi 
some time to the air, such hardness, that tbe stones joined 
by it cannot be parted, but must be broken when it is re- 
quired to demolish the structure in which they have been 
used. 

This bituminous earth is found on the slope of two hills, 
which extend in a direction N.E. and S.W. It is covered 
with common eartb, which is easily removed ; for the slope 
of the hills being pretty steep, the earth, when disturbed, 
rolls down by its own weight, leaving the surface of the 
bituminous substance bare. This bitumen has the appear- 
ance of a hard black stone, and considerable labour is re- 
quisite to detach pieces of it from the mass. {Encyclopedic 
Methodique, Geog. Physiquo ; Expilly, Dictionnaire des 
Gaules et de la France.) 

BASTI'A is the principal town in the island of Corsica, 
and was formerly the residence of the governor, but of late 
years the prefect of the department of Corsica has resided 
at Ajaceio. Bastia is situated on the eastern coast of the 
island, in 42° 43' N. lat., arid 9° 26' E. long. Its port is not 
very safe, nor adapted for vessels of large burden : a singular 
rock at its entrance has verv much the appearance of a lion 
in repose. The natives call it * II Leone ;* it is of very con- 




[Rock called the Lion of Butuu] 

siderable dimensions, and lies completely isolated in the sea. 
Its shoulders and neck aro covered with creeping plants, 
which invest them with the appearance of a bushy mane ; 
the fore-legs are thrown forward, the neck is raised, and 
the head has an air of fierceness about it. This singular 
object has every appearance of boing the M'ork of nature ; 
indeed there is no evidence at all to show that art was in 
any way concerned in giving the rock this singular form. 
The composition of the rock is a calcareous stone, of the 
same character as the rock on which the citadel of Bastia 
is huilt ; and there can be little doubt that they are parts 
of the same mass, though the sea appears to cut off the 
connexion. This lion is of much use as a breakwater when 
the north winds drive the waters before them. The town is 
fortified with walls and bastions, but it has large suburbs 
outside the fortifications. High hills rise behind the town, 
above which the higher range whieh runs through the 
island from north to south is seen. The view from Bastia 
over the Tuscan Sea is very fine. It embraces the islands 
of Elba, Capraja, and Monte Cristo, and the distant coast 
of Tuscany. The streets of Bastia are narrow, and the 
houses lofty, and built after the Italian fashion. The popu- 
lation of Bastia is about 10,000. The Cour Royale, or court 
of justice, eivil and criminal, for the whole department, sits 
at Bastia. There is also a society of instruction whieh has 
been for some years actively employed in spreading informa- 
tion, especially among the eountry-peoplc. Bastia has also 
a college, or superior school. The cathedral of Bastia con- 
tains nothing remarkable, but there is a new small church 
called CappclU di Santa Croce, the construction of which is 
remarkably elegant. The people of Bastia speak Italian, 
but most of ihem are also acquainted with French. Bastia 
carries on a little trade, chiefly with Leghorn. It exports 
wine, timber, and cattle. Tobacco and English manufac- 



tures are smuggled into Corsiea from Leghorn.- A road 
leads from Bastia to Ajaceio across the island, and another 
leads along the eastern coast to Bonifacio, at the southern 
extremity of Corsica. Bastia is 32 miles W. by S. from the 
nearest point of the island of Elba, and 56 from Piombino 
on the coast of Tuscany. (Benson's Sketches of Corsica.) 
* BASTIDE, LA, the name of a number of places in 
France, all of them in the southern departments. * The 
Dictionnaire Universel de la France enumerates sixty- 
one villages and three towns, of greater or less importance, 
bearing this designation ; and in the Dictionnaire des 
Gaules, &c. of Expilly fifty-six are enumerated. The word 
bastide is derived from the verb balir, to build (whieh was 
formerly written bastir), and is applied to a gentleman's 
country seat. The most considerable places bearing this 
name are as follows : — 

La Bastide de Clarence, or Clairknce, a town in 
the department of Basses Pyrenees (Lower Pyrenees), a little 
way S.E. of Bayonne: 43 6 25' N. lat, 1° 15' W. long. It 
is on the right bank of tho little river Joyeuse, that Hows 
into the Adour. It was built by Louis X. (Hutin) before 
he ascended the throne of France, while he was yet only 
King of Navarre. The district belonging to the town con- 
tains two mines, one of copper, the other of iron. This last 
yields spathose ironstone {fer spathique—sce Aikin s Diet, 
of Mineralogy and Chemistry.) The population, as given 
in the Dictionnaire Universel de la France, 1804, our latest 
authority, was 2071. 

La Bastide de Seron is in the department of Arriege, 
between St. Girons and Foix, a short distance W.N.W. of 
the latter town. It had, in 1832, a population of 1652. The 
whole commune contained 291 1 inhabitants. Several of 
the small streams in the neighbourhood bring down par- 
ticles of gold. A grey argillaceous earth is found near this 
place, which, from the goodness of the colour, is used in 
colouring tho houses. It is also used to make crucibles for 
glass-works : 43° l' N. lat, 1° 28' E. long. 

La Bastide, St. Amans, or St. Amand, in the depart- 
ment of Tarn, S.E. of Castres, near the bank of tbe Taur6, 
had a population in 1804 of 2140 : 43° 29' N. lat, 2° 27' 
E. long. 

BASTILE, or BASTILLE, the name used in France 
to denote a fortress or state- prison. Tbere have been three 
of that name at Paris, the Bastile du Temple, the Bastile 
of St, Denis, and that of the Rue'St. Antoine. We shall 
only treat of tho last, which has obtained historical cele- 
brity, and is usually denominated The Bastile. This for- 
tress stood at the east end of Paris, on the north side of the 
Seine. It was originally intended for the protection of tho 
city, but afterwards was used as a state-prison. Hugues 
d* Aubriot, Prevost des Marchands in the reign of Charles V., 
laid the first stone on tho 22nd of April, 1369, by tbe order 
of that king. There -had previously been a fortified en- 
trance to Paris on the same spot, on a small scale, which was 
built by Etienne Marcel, the predecessor in office of Hugues 
d'Aubriot. The Bastile consisted at first of two round 
towers, with an entrance between them : afterwards, to 
render it stronger, two additional towers, parallel to the two 
first, were built, and the whole connected by walls. The 
building, however, was not completed till 1383, in the reign 
of Charles VI., when four more towers were added, of the 
same dimensions, and at equal distances from the first four, 
and tho whole eight were united by masonry of great thick- 
ness, in which were constructed a great number of apart* 
ments and offices. The entrance to tho city by tho original 




[View of tho BaitUe, from a Print in the Britiia Muteum.J 



BAS 



It 



BAS 



gate was closed* And tno road carried without the building. 
In tC34 a fosse. 120 feet wide and 25 feet deep, was dug all 
round ; and beyond that a stone wall. 36 feet high, was 
built all round! Thus the Bastile became, from a fortified 
pate, ono of the strongest fortresses of tho kind in Europe. 
The towers contained several octagonal rooms one above the 
other, each having one window pierced in the walls, which 
wero rather moro than six feet thick. This window was 
without any glazing, was wido internally, but narrow liko a 
Joop-holo on the outside : in the centre was a pcqwrndicular 
bar of iron, and two cross-barred gratings between that and 
the internal part. The entranco to each of these rooms was 
secured by noublo doors eight inches thick, strapped with 
iron, and placed at thodistanoe of the thickness of the walls 
from eaeh other. There wero no fire-places or chimneys in 
these rooms. Tho only article of furniture, if it may be so 
called, was an iron prating, raised about six inches from 
the floor, to receive the prisoner's mattress, and prevent its 
decay from the damp of the stone lloor. To eaeh tower 
there was a way by a narrow winding staircase. The apart- 
ments constructed in the walls, connecting the towers, were 
larger and more commodious than tho others, and were pro- 
vided with fire-places and chimneys, but with similar pre- 
cautions for preventing the cscapo of prisoners. They were 
usually assigned to persons of some importance, or to those 
who were treated with indulgence. Tho rest of tho Bas- 
tile consisted of two open courts: the larger, 102 feet by 
72, called the Great Court ; the smaller, 72 by 42 feet, French 
measure, called the Court of the Well, was soparatod from 
the first by a rawre of buildings and offices, having a passage 
through them. The height of the building within was 73 feet, 
but greater on the outside next the fosse. (See tho plan 
in tjie British Museum.) 

In modern times the establishment of the Bastile consisted 
of a governor, a deputy-governor or lieutenant du roi, a major, 
an aide-major, a physician and surgeons, a certain number of 
invalid soldiers and Swiss in the pay of France to perform the 
military duty of the fortress, with* turnkeys to watch over 
the prisoners, and cooks and other domestics. The office of 
governor was very lucrative, and the pay and perquisites 
supposed to amount to G0.000 francs perannum. The other 
officers were but indifferently remunerated. No officer or 
soldier could dine out without permission of the governor, or 
sleep out without an order from tho priino minister. The 
invalids were usually about tOO men, with two captains and 
a lieutenant, who wero woll paid. Tho men had ton sols 
per diem, with wood, candles, washing, and other allowances. 
The average expense of the Bastilo is said to have boon 
60,000 francs nor month. Tho governor and deputy-governor 
superintended tho general management of tho fortress, the 
major and his deputy kept all the accounts, including a par- 
ticular list of all the prisoners, in seven columns, containing, 
1. Name and quality of tho prisoner; 2. When ho entered ; 
3. By whem the ordor for his detention signed ; 4. Whon 
discharged ; 5. By whom tho order of discharge signed ; 
G. Cause of detention; 7. Observations or remarks. The 
last is said to have been filled up only under tho direc- 
tion of the minister or of the lieutenant of police. Pri- 
soners were almost always taken to tho Bastilo by an exempt 
of police and two or three armed men in a hackney coach, 
to avoid observation, and were conducted direct to the go- 
vernor at his house, to whom the exempt delivered the 
let Ire dt cachet and took a receipt for it. The prisoner was 
'.hen led into tho body of the fortress, a sign being first 
made to all the soldiers on duty to cover their faces with 
their hats during his passage. This was invariably done 
whenever a prisoner entered or left the Bastile. On his 
arrival at his "room tho prisoner was requested to empty his 
pockets. A list was made of the contents by the major, and 
signed by tho prisoner. His watch, rings, and every other 
article wore taken from him. He was then left for some 
days without the means of writing; after which he under- 
went an examination before the lieutonant of police, or some 
othor olficer. The interrogators usually began hy Inform- 
ing the prisoner that his life was in great danger, and that 
to savo it depended on hlmsolf; that if he would freely con- 
fess, they wero authorised to promise his discharge, other- 
wise ho would be given over to an eMraordinary coin mis- 
sion; that thoy had written and oral testimony against 
him; that his accompliceship friends, his relatives, had 
owned overy thing ; that the king was indulgent ; and that 
they advised him, as his friends, not to conceal the least par- 
ticular. I f by thes* moans thoy succeeded in extracting tho 



evidence they wished, they then informed him that they had 
not yet a precise authority for his discharge, but that they 
hoped shortly to obtain it, would even solicit it, and that ho 
should shortly hear moro abont it. According to eircum- 
stanoes these examinations were repeated, and no means 
which cunning could suggest wore omitted to entrap and 
intimidate the prisoner, to draw from him his secret if ha 
had one, or to make him commit himself, or his family, or 
friends, by dangerous admissions or indiscreet replies. The 
treatment of the prisoners depended entirely on tho will of 
the governor, who was interested in their being detained, as 
ho contracted with the government for their maintenance, 
and derived a profit from it; and he being the only channel 
by which the prisoners could communicato with their friends 
or with the government, ho could suppress their applications 
if he thought fit. We have the concurrent testimony of 
almost all the prisoners who have written their memoirs, 
that the food was bad and scantily supplied, and that all 
other necessaries were of the worst description. The dura- 
tion of a prisoner's detention was arbitrary. No term was 
ever specified. Tho longest we havo been able to discover, 
from the registers published after the taking of the Bastile, 
is that of Isaac Arinct dc la Motte, who was removed to 
Charenton (a lunatic asylum and prison), after a confine- 
ment in the Bastile of fifty-four years and fivo months. In 
this registry there aro several others of thirty years and 
upwards. The first historical mention of any imprisonment 
in this fortress is that of Hugues d'Aubriot himself, who 
having given offence to the clergy, and being accused by 
them of blasphemy and impiety, was sentenced to be im- 
prisoned for life, but being transferred to another prison, he 
regained his liberty in the insurrection of a faction called 
the Mailliotins. The only prisoners who ever cfieeted their 
escape from the Bastile were two persons of the name of Do 
la Tude and D'Aligre. They were confined together in ono 
of the apartments constructed in the walls of the Bastile. 
By unravelling their linen, stockings, and other parts of 
their clothes, and by saving from tiroo to time tho billets of 
wood allowed fer their firing, they contrived to make two 
ladders, one a rope-ladder, near 160 feet long, with rounds 
of wood covered with flannel to provent any rattling noise 
against the walls ; the other a wooden ladder, about 30 feet 
long, consisting of a centre niece, in joints, to be fastened 
by tenons and mortices, ana through which passed wooden 
pegs to hold it together. The first was to enable them to 
descend from the platform, or tho top of the Bastile, into 
the fosse ; the second to ascend tho rainpurt into the garden 
of the governor. The ladders, as well as the tools they had 
formed for making them, were concealed, when the turnkeys 
visited them, under the floor of their apartment They 
cut through the iron gratings in tho chimnoy, which they 
ascended, and taking advantage of a dark night, got 
upon the platform. Having first lowered their wooden 
ladder, they fastened that of ropo to one of tho cannons of 
the fortress and descendod into the fosse. Finding a natrolo 
with a light in tho governor's gardon, they altered their 
plan, and with a handspike formed of ono of the iron bars of 
tho chimney grating, mado a holo in the wall next the Rue 
St Antoine, through which they effected their escapo on 
the 20th of February, 1756. Aftor tho revolution of 17S9 
La Tude claimed and received these ladders, and they were 
publicly exhibited at Paris in tho autumn of that yoar. Of 
all the prisoners in the Bastilo none have excited curiosity 
so strongly as tho person usually called the Man with the 
Iron Mask. Tho extraordinary secrecy observed with re- 
spect to this person, and tho attention said to have been 
shown hlra, have given rise to a variety of conjectures con- 
cerning him, more especially as no person of importance 
was at that timo missing in Europe He has been supposed 
to have been a twin-brother of Louis XIV., the celebrated 
Due dc Boaufort, the unfortunate Duko of Monmouth, the 
Intendant Fououct, and Krcolo Matthloli, primo minister to 
the Duke of Mantua. Our space does not permit us to 
investigate theso opinions, or to enter Into details respecting 
them, farther than to observe that the last mentioned seems 
to rest on the best fonndation. 

Tho Bastile was besieged and taken threo times: in 1418, 
by tho Bonrgignons ; in t594, by Henry IV. ; and on the 
14th July, 1789, by the Parisians, from which day the 
French Revolution may bo dated. Its demolition was de- 
creod bynhe Permanent Committee of Paris on the IGth, 
and corriod into immediate effect. Tho materials wero cm- 
ployed in tho construction of a new bridge, called the Bridge 



BAS 



15 



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of Louis XVI., and there is not now remaining the smallest 
vestige of this ediftee. 

(Dulaure, Histoire de Paris; Remarques Historiques 
sur la Bastille; La Bastille devoilee ; Memoires de Lin- 
guet ; Memoires d6 la Tude.) 

BASTIMENTOS, a port in Colombia, in the department 
of Istmo, to the north-east of Porto Bello, and near this 
harbour, 10° W N. lat., and 79° 40' W. long. It is formed 
by some islands whieh line the coast at a distanee of about 
500 paees : two of them arc tolerably large, but the rest so 
small that they rather deserve the name of roeks. They 
are all uninhabited, the soil being in general barren, but in 
some places it is overgrown with wood, in whieh fine timber 
oeeurs. The harbour formed by them is safe, and resorted 
to by vessels in distress, ahd in time of war by cruisers. 
The bottom of the narrow sea between the islands and the 
shore is quite level, and affords excellent anchoring ground. 
(Alcedo.) 

BASTINA'DO is derived from the Italian bdstOne, a 
stiek, bastonare, to beat with a stiek, &c. The word would 
have been more correet in the form bastona/a, but long use 
has confirmed our ctymologieal error. 

The bastinado is the enief governing instrument of a 
great part of the world, from Core a and China to Turkey, 
Persia, and Russia. It is administered in different ways, 
and ealled by different names, as the bamboo in China, the 
knout in Russia, &e. 

According to our modern 'acceptation, the term bastinado 
does not include all these methods of stick-beating, but is 
eonfined to the Turkish and Persian method, which is to 
beat the soles of the feet with sticks. This excessively painful 
punishment is thus inflicted. Two men support between 
them a strong pole which is kept in a horizontal position; 
about tho middle of the pole are some cords with two run- 
ning knots or nooses; through these the naked feet of the 
sufferer are forced, and then made tight in such a manner 
that the soles are fairly exposed ; the sufferer ts then thrown 
on his baek, or left to rest on his neek and shoulders with 
his feet inverted, which are forthwith beaten by a third man 
with a heavy tough stick. When the presiding offieer or 
magistrate gives the Word, the heavy blows eease, the maimed 
feet are Ca3t loose from the cords and pole, and the victim is 
left to crawl away and cure himself as best he cAn. 

According to tho letter of the penal codo of the Ottoman 
Empire, this punishment ean only be inilieted on the men of 
the fourth and last class of soeiety, whieh comprises the 
slaves, and the rayahs or tributary subjects of tho empire, 
as Jews, Armenians, Greeks, &e. The other three elasses, 
viz.: 1. The Emirs, or issue of tho raee of the prophet 
Mohammed, and the Oulemas, or men of the law ; 2. Publie 
functionaries, eivil and military ; 3. Free citizens and private 
individuals who live on their rents or the proeeeds of their 
industry, were all exempted by law from this cruel and de- 
grading bunishment. By the original code the number of 
blows to be given was from three to thirty-nine ; but a later 
elause permitted them, in certain cases, to be earried to 
seventy-five, and in praetice, when the passions arc inflamed, 
the Turks seem to dispense with tho eeremony of keeping 
any account of the blows, and the men lay on till they are 
tired, and the sufferer's feet rcdueed to an unsightly jelly. 
As late as 1828, it was a very eommon thing to see a poor 
Greek or Jew erawling about the streets of Constant inoplo 
on his hands and knees, in the greatest agony, and unable 
to use his wounded feet many days after the infliction; at 
times they were erippled for life. 

The punishment, ealled zarb in Turkish, was generally 
inilieted in a summary manner, without examination or any 
form of trial, at tho will or caprieo of the sultan, his repre- 
sentatives, and the officers of justiee and police. The most 
frequent dispensers of it were probably the Meuhtcssibs, or 
the commissaries of poliee at Constantinople, eaeh of whom, 
from time to time, and always unexpectedly, made the round 
of the quarter of the eity assigned him, to seo that tho pro- 
visions were sold at the exact prices despotically and most 
absurdly fixed by the government, and to ascertain whether 
the weights and measures in use by the dealers were all just. 
This officer generally went on horsebaek, followed by an 
armed mob of irregular soldiers, and preeeded by his basti- 
nado-men (falacadjis), whose ofliec was to exceutc the sen- 
tence the moment it was uttered. If the offending dealer 
were absent, then his shopman or journeyman was punished 
as his substitute, the commissary only requiring a victim ad 
terrorem, and not having patience to await the return or 



arrest of the master. The punishment was always inflieted on 
the spot, in front of the shop in the open street. Sometimes, 
instead of being bastinadoed, the offender or his journeyman 
(accomplice or not as it might be) was nailed by the ear to the 
door-post of his shop, and so exposed till sun-set ; at other 
times there was substituted the punishment of the portable 
pillory, ealled khang or cang by the Chinese (who make 
great use of it as well as of the bamboo), and styled tahta- 
kulah by the Turks, who probably derived the instrument 
from the Tartars, who may either have borrowed the inven- 
tion from or given it to the Chinese. [See Gang.] 

Under the old system the greatest violence, capriee, in* 
justiee, and corruption prevailed in the administration of 
justice. The man With money in his hands eould always 
save the soles of his feet by bribing the authorities, and the 
pain of the bastinado Was seldom inflieted exeept on the 
very poorest of the baccals, or shop-keepers, and destitute 
and unprotected rayah subjects of the Porte, Sultan Mali* 
moud is said to have reeently introduced somo improve- 
ments; but under adespotie government, like that of Turkey, 
a summary and rapid mode of proceeding will always obtain 
more or less. 

> Although the privileges of the free Turks, or Osmanlis, 
eivil and military, were not always respeeted, yet their pashas 
and men of authority or dignity were never subjected to the 
bastinado like the khans, begs, and others in Persia, where 
the shah would frequently have his vizier, or prime minister, 
cudgelled on the feet in his presenee, and the vizier would 
do the like with the highest of the ministers and officers 
under him. The Osmanlis were always a more sturdy and 
proud-spirited People than the Persians, and thought that 
only Jews, Christians, and other tributary subjeets eould be 
beaten with propriety. It appears, however, that in the 
time of Busbequius the Janissaries were 'basted with elubs.' 
That excellent old traveller says— 'Their lighter offences 

are ehastised by the elub And here let me aequaint 

you with the patienee of the Turks in receiving that punish- 
ment: they will reeeive sometimes a hundred blows on their 
legs, their feet, and buttocks, so that divers clubs are broken, 
and the executioner eries out, " Give me another ! ** Yea, 
sometimes the ehastisement is so severe, that several pieces 
of torn flesh must be cut off from the wounded parts before 
anything can be applied to cure them. Yet, for all this, 
they must go to the officer who commanded them to be 
punished; they must kiss his hand, and give him thanks; 
nay, they must also give the executioner a reward for beating 

them As some relief to their misery, they count 

those parts wounded with the rod or club to bo free from 
any purgations and expiations after this life.' 

(See D'Ohsson, Tableau General de I Empire Othoman; 
Busbequius, Embassy to Solyman the Great ; and Modern 
Travellers in Turkey, &c.) 

BA'STION. This term is applied to a species of tower 
whieh constitutes tho principal member of the fortifications 
immediately surrounding a town, or position to bo defended. 
The rampart by which it is formed is disposed on four sides 
of a pentagon, two of whieh, technically ealled the faces ', 
meet in an angle whose vertex projects towards the coun- - 
try ; the other two, denominated the flanks, eonncet the 
opposite extremities of the faces with the curtain, or that 
part of the rampart which coincides in direction with the 
sides of a polygon supposed to inelose the town: the fifth 
sido of the pentagon is generally unoecupicd by a rampart, 
and is called the gorge of the bastion. 

From tho infancy of the art of war the defenders of a 
fortress must have felt the necessity of having the walls 
disposed so as to afford means of observing the enemy 
when very near their foot; for, when these means were 
wanting, the enemy was enabled to plant his sealing- 
1 adders against, or even to make a breach in the wall itself, 
with almost perfect security. This was inevitably the case 
when the ground- plan of the enceinte, or inelosing rampart, 
was a simple polygon, since the men stationed on the ram- 
part for its defence, behind the parapet by which they were 
protected, were ineapable of seeing tho exterior ground 
whieh lay near the base of the walls. Thus, according to 
the old story in Pausanias (iv. 20), when the Messenians 
wero besieged in their hastily ereeted fort on Mount Ira, the 
guards being driven from their posts by violent rains, and 
there being no towers or projections from the walls to shelter 
them, the Spartans gained possession of the parapets by 
escalade, lo avoid sueh a surprise, it was tho praetice Oi 
the antient engineers to construct either machicoulis on 



13 A S 



1G 



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the top of, or projecting towers at certain intervals along, 
the walls of fortresses, that from thence the besieged might 
pet a \iew of and bo ablo to annoy tho enemy, when at 
the latest and most critical period of the sicgo the latter 
should have gained the otherwise undefended ground. The 
walls of Messonc, built by Epaminondas (Paus. iv. 31), 
which were all of stono, and furnished with battlements 
and towers, were reckoned by Pausanias among tho best 
specimens of Grecian fortification. 

From tho accounts given by anticnt writers of their forti- 
fied places, and particularly from tho precepts of Vitruvius 
(Architectural lib. i. cap. 5), we learn that tho projecting 
towers were sometimes square or polygonal, but generally 
circular, and that their distance from each other along the 
walls was regulated by the rango of the weapons employed 
in the defence. In the fortifications of cities this distance 
seems to have varied from 80 to 100 paces, according to local 
circumstances, and the power of annoying tho enemy by 
tho arrows and javelins discharged from the towcra; but, 
from the greater distance at wlneh modern arms will take 
effect, tho bastions, measuring from tho vertices of their pro- 
jecting angles, aro now generally, and agreeably to the rules 
of Vauban, placed at 360 yards from each other. It was a 
maxim with the anticnt engineers that the projecting 
quoins of walls were detrimental to tho defence, from the 
facility with which they might be destroyed by the battering- 
ram ; and it is on this account that Vitruvius recommends 
the towers to be circular, or to have faces formiugwith each 
other obtuse angles. These towers were plaeed indifferently 
at the angles, or at any part on the line of the inclosing ram- 
part: in the latter ease, when they were of a square form, 
one side was parallel to the length of the rampart, nnd in 
the former, ono face was almost always perpendicular to a 
line bisecting the angle between two adjacent bides of the 
polygon surrounding the town ; that is, to what would be 
now called the capital of the bastion. It must have fre- 
quently happened, therefore, that this face was nearly un- 
seen from any other part of the rampart, and that the enemy 
made his assault against it in order to avoid, as much as 
possible, being exposed to annoyance from the defenders of 
the neighbouring works. It is true that the smallness of 
the towers rendered it impossible for the enemy to bo wholly 
concealed at their front; but the desire of entirely depriving 
the enemy of tho benefit arising from the undefended nature 
of that ground probably induced engineers to dispose the 
faces of their towers like those of a modern bastion, so that 
two of them might form a projecting angle, whose vertex 
was on the capital. 

There is no reason to believe that any material change 
took place in tho manner of constructing the towers of for- 
tresses during all the long period in which the antient arms 
were employed ; but it is easy to conceive that the invention 
of fire-arms would render it "necessary to enlarge the tower 
for the purpose of receiving tho guns, and to increase the 
thickness of the rampart, that it might bo able as well to 
resist the concussion produced by the discharge of the ord- 
nance placed upon it, as the shock of the enemy's artillery 
when fired against it. On this account, also, the ramparts 
wcro constructed of earth, and their exterior surface was 
formed at such an inclination to the ground as would enable 
it to stand unsupported, except where it becarao necessary to 
prevent an escalade ; in which caso a facing of stone, brick, 
or timber was mado sufliciently high and steep to crcato 
a serious impodiment to any attempt of that nature. An 
opinion that the bastions arc tho weakest parts of a fortress 
remained in force, however, long after tho modern artillery 
was introduced in sieges. On this account they wcro at first 
made very small, when compared with tho extent of the 
wall between them ; and the line of each faco, when pro- 
duced towards tho town, was mado to intersect that wall, in 
order that tho fire from the part intercepted between this 
produced line and the flank of tho next bastion might co- 
operate with that made from tho latter in defending the 
ditch in front of the former bastion. But when the ramparts 
of a town were found to disappear almost instantly under 
the weight of shot discharged from large ordnance, it be- 
came necessary to employ ordnaneo of corresponding sizo on 
the walls; and the dimensions of the bastions were finally 
augmented to those at present assigned. Tho lengths of 
the faces vary from 100 to 120 yards, and the Hanks arc 
usually about 50 yards long; but the magnitude of the pro- 
jecting angle in front, called the salient oxJUinhcd angle, to 
distinguish it from tho angles formed by the faces atid 



Hanks which are denominated shoulder angles/ ovitHouiiy 
depends upon the kind of polygon on which the enceinte U 
constructed. Knch faco of a bastion, if produced towards 
the town, now falls at the interior extremity of tho Hank of 
the collateral bastion, so that the defence of a bastion de- 
pends wholly upon tho fires from those on its right and 
left. 

It is to Italy that we must look for the invention of tho 
modern bastion : the wars which raged in that country from 
the commencement of tho twelfth century, and which wero 
more systematically conducted there than in any other part 
of Europe, gave rise to this, as well as to many other inden- 
tions for military purposes. Tho precise date of its firht 
formation is quito unknown; but if we omit the improlmblc 
story related by Folard, that the Turkish commander, Ach- 
met Pacha, caused bastions to be constructed about Oirauto, 
when he took that place in 1480. we may observe thut it is 
spoken of under the name of Balvardo t as an im prove raoi it 
of great importance in the military art, by Tartagliu, in his 
Quesiti ed in vent i diversi, which was published in 1 54G; 
and in the same work is given a plan of the fortifications of 
Turin, which exhibits a bastion at each of the four angles of 
the rampart. Both Vasari, in his Lives of the Architects* 
and MnlTci, in his Verona lllustrata, ascribe the invention 
to San Michccli of Vorona: one of the bastions of this city 
has on it the date 1527, and its construction is still ascribed 
to that engineer, who, in fact, was about that time employed 
in the erection or repair of several of the fortresses in Italy. 
From the word Balvardo, denoting a stronghold, the earliest 
French engineers gave to this work the appellation of Boule- 
vard ; and such is its designation in tho treatise of Krrard, 
which was published in 1594. The term Bastion appears 
to have been taken from the Italian writers, for Maggi, in 
his treatise Delia Fortificatioyte delle Citta, applies the term 
Bastioni to redoubts constructed of earth; and, according 
to Pere Daniel, the French subsequently gave to such 
works the name of Bastilles, or Bastides. Froissart also 
uses these terms in speaking of the forts executed during 
the siege of Vcntadour by the Due dc Bcrri, under Charles 
VI. It should be remarked, however, that Errard applies 
the name ofBastiott indifferently to works in the situalion 
of those now so called, and to those to which the name of 
Ravelin is generally given ; and doubtless it denoted origi- 
nally any work of earth constructed on the exterior of ouo 
more anticnt. 

It appears that it had been the practice from the earliest 
times to form a rampart, or bank of earth, in front of the 
walls of fortresses, in order to secure the latter from the 
destructive effects of the ram ; and it is easy to conceive 
that, by forming such a bank in front of tho old towers of a 
place, so as to connect those previously existing in front of 
the adjacent curtains, the work would assume a figure like 
that of a modern bastion ; and indeed would very much 
resemble one of tho detached bastions in what is called tho 
second system of Vauban ; the original tower of the fortress 
occupying the place of the interior bastion of that system, 
and constituting a sort of retrenchment to the new work. 
The construction was proposed in 1584 by Castriotto, seem- 
ingly as if it had been his own idea ; but probably he meant 
only to recommend the adoption of a kind of work which 
must have been then a novelty. 

Tho Italian engineers, immediately after the invention of 
the bastion system of fortification, became celebrated for 
their skill in military architcctnro, and they seem to have 
been extensively employed in tho construction or repair of 
fortresses beyond the Alps: one of the first of their labours 
in the north of Europe was the fortification of Landrcci, 
with bastions, for Francis I. ; and the like works were exe- 
cuted about New Hcsdin, on the frontiers of Artois, for 
Charles V. In 1*68, the Duke of Alva employed Pacciotto 
in the construction of the citadel of Antwerp, a regular for- 
tress, whoso bastions still exist within those subsequently 
erected at that place; and, during the reign of Elizabeth, 
Gcncbella was brought from Flanders to this country in 
order to superintend the formation of a bastioncd enceinte 
about the anticnt castle of Carisbrook, in tho Isle of Wight. 

Albert Durcr, tho celebrated engraver, proposed, in 1527, 
to fortify places with circular towers only, like those of tho 
anticnts, but of larger dimensions ; and in most of the plans 
published during the sixteenth century by Italian engineers, 
thcro appears to be a union of tho old and new methods: 
for the angles of tho polygons arc furnished with round 
towers, and these arc protected exteriorly by bastions. 



B A S 



17 



B A S 



The guns mounted on the flanks of a bastion, by firing 
along the ditch in front of the curtain and of the neigh- 
bouring bastions, ereated a serious impediment to the pas- 
sage of the enemy across the ditch in attempting an assault, 
antl it became necessary for him to silence that lire by a bat- 
tery placed for the purpose in the direction of the ditch; but 
the" establishment of tbis battery necessarily compelled the 
defenders to augment the number of guns in their bastions. 
To get room for these guns, engineers were induced to form 
their bastions with a double And even a triple flank on each 
side, the flanks receding from each other, from below up- 
wards, in the manner of terraces, towards the interior of the 
bastion ; and, to prevent the enemy from dismounting the 
guns in the lower flanks by other batteries raised in the 
prolongations of those flanks, it became necessary to mask 
them by extending the rampart of the face beyond them, 
and giving it a return towards the eurtain ; this return was 
frequently rectilinear, but generally in the form of an arc of 
a eircle, like a portion of a round tower, and the projection 
with its return received the name of orecchione or orillon. 
Besides masking tbe lower flanks from the effect of any en- 
filading, or lateral fire, it concealed one or more guns on the 
upper flank from the fire of an enemy's battery directly op- 
posed to that flank, while it permitted those guns to defend 
the main ditch and the breach made by the enemy in face 
of the collateral bastion. 

The desire of avoiding the exposure of the flanks of the 
bastions gave rise to the practice of making them form aright, 
and even an acute, angle with the curtain; but a better judg- 
ment subsequently rejeeted this disposition, as the musketry 
fire from the defenders of the flank was thereby liable to in- 
jure the men stationed on the curtain. Tbe lower flanks, 
also, were eventually suppressed, because they contracted too 
much the interior of the bastion to which they belonged; and 
because the enemy's fire, soon destroying the parapets of 
those above, masses of brickwork fell among the defenders 
below, and obliged them to quit their guns at the very time 
that their service was most required. The orillom, moreover, 
are now considered useless, as they contract the length of the 
flank ; and the guns which they protect from a fire in their 
front are liable to be dismounted by a fire from their rear. 

In what are called the second and third systems of Vau- 
han, the principal bastions arc detached from the enceinte 
by a ditch in their rear, and consequently the capture of 
those works would not immediately compel the surrender of 
the fortress. Tn these systems, a small bastion of brickwork, 
closed by a parapet wall at its gorge, is constructed at each 
of the angles formed by the polygonal wall surrounding the 
place. The fire from the parapets of these tower bastions, as 
they are called, would have a powerful effect in preventing 
the enemy, after he has breached and stormed the great 
bastions, from erecting batteries in them to destroy the in- 
terior walls ; and, in order to preserve the artillery of their 
flauks uninjured till tho end of the siege, engineers placed 



it in casemates [see Casemate], from w hence the guns 
might pour a destructive fire upon the assailants when 
crossing the ditch of the enceinte. In one of the systems 
of Coehorn, each principal bastion is attached to the cn- 
ceinie t and contains an interior one for the purpose of pro- 
longing its defence. At the shoulders of the former are 
constructed towers of masonry, serving as orillons and con- 
taining galleries whose front walls are pierced with loop- 
holes, to allow a fire to ^be directed along the interval 
between the parallel faces of the two bastions. 

Bastions are now made either solid or hollow: that is, 
either the interior is filled with earth up to the level of the 
platforms of the guns, or it is left coincident with that of the 
natural ground. Of the two methods, the former is generally 
preferred, because it affords some facilities for the formation 
and defence of interior parapets or retrenchments. In almost 
every system of fortification the ramparts of the faces and 
flanks of bastions have been made rectilinear on the plan ; 
a few cases, however, occur in which the flanks have been 
curved, with their convexity towards the interior of the work. 
This seems to have been devised to allow room for a few 
more men to fire over their parapets than a straight wall 
could afford, and to prevent the distant batteries of the 
enemy from easily dismounting their artillery by firing along 
the interior side of tbe parapet. On some occasions tbese 
advantages may be worth obtaining, but as the soldier plaeed 
behind a parapet always fires nearly in a direction perpen- 
dicular to its length, it is evident that the curved flank may 
cause the lines of fire to tend towards the right or left of 
the main ditch, and thus endanger "the safety of the de- 
fenders stationed in the neighbouring works. 

The desire of lessening the effect of what is called the 
enfilading fire, or that which an enemy may direct along 
the interior side of any parapet, has led Bousmanl to give a 
small curvature to the faces of his bastions, the concave part 
being towards the interior ; but it is evident that, by this 
construction, the lines of fire directed from the collateral 
flank for the defence of the face, instead of grazing the latter 
in its whole length, can only be tangents to the curve, each 
line of fire meeting it in but one point. It is therefore pro- 
bablo that tho injury inflicted on the enemy would be found 
so much less than that arising from tho usual construction, 
as to neutralize entirely the advantage of the diminished 
enfilade fire of the enemy. 

This last mode of firing would be most effectually pre- 
vented by the formation of semi-circular bastions, detached 
from the enceinte, in the manner lately proposed by Mr. 
Bordwine ; but the ingenious author of that system is, in 
consequence, compelled to abandon, in a great measure, the 
advantage of having the exterior of his walls well defended 
from those which are in collateral situations. The batteries 
however which he proposes to raise in the interior of his 
bastions cannot fail to produce a powerful defence towards 
the rear, for the rampart of his enceinte. 



Fis. 1. 




No. 207. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.) 



Vol. IV.-D 



B A T 



IS 



BAT 



Fig. 1. The lino A B represents ono side of the polygon 
supposed to Ineloso tho town fortified. The semicircular 
work at A is half a round tower; and A C is part of tho 
curtain, or connecting wall between two such tower*, ac- 
cording to the antient manner of fortifying places ; d c re i 
presents a sort of fausse braye, or elevation of earth pro- 
tecting the antient walls of a place. D represents half a 
bastion constructed at the anglo, A, of the polygon, aceord- 
ins to tho method ottho first llalian and French engineers, 
with an orillon and triplo (lank. The pentagonal figure 
about B is the plan of a modern bastion, of wlueh the part 



on the left of the capital, B R, represents what is called a 
hollow, and that on tho right a solid bastion. An imaginary 
line from/ log is tho gorge, and tho rampart, ef is the 
curtain joining the right (lank of one bastion to thy left of 
tlio next, Tho space, F G E, is the main ditch; and II 
and K are respectively tho positions of a counter and enfi- 
lading battery which might bo constructed by the enemy to 
silcnec the fires from tho triplo Hank of D. Tho outworks, 
P> G, Q» U, S, [Trnailme, CAPOrtMtRK, Ravelin, Oo- 
YKRKti^vAY, and Glacis] will be described under thoso 
words. 




Fig. 



Fig. 2 represents a section supposed lo be 'made from 
B to L, perpendicularly across the rampart on the left faee 
of B, and tho main diteh in its front. M and N are scetioii3 
through the revetments, or walls which support lho earth 
on the sides of the diteh. 




In M. 3, V rejprescnU tho plan of a detached bastioh ; T 
13 a tower bastion at an angle of tho polygon which sur- 
rounds the place. 

(Vitruvius, De Architectural; Maggi, Delia Fortifica- 
tione deUe CitUi, Vehetia, 1584; Errard, La Fortification 
rcdm'te en art. Par. 1G00; Do Ville, Vlngtnieur Par/ait, 
Par. 1G72; Vauban, XEuvrcs Militaires, par Foissac, Par. 
1795; Belidor, La Science de VIngenieur, Par. 1729; Fri- 
taeh, V Architecture Militaire, Par, 16G8; Cormontaigne, 
QZuvres Posthumes, Par. 1809; Montalembert, La Forti- 
fication Perpendiculairc, Par. 1776-98; Bousmard-, Essai 
General de Fortification, Par. 1814 ; St. Paul, Traitf Com- 
plct de Fortification, Par. 1806 ; Savarl, Cours Elementaire 
de Fortification, Par. 1 830 ; Mandar, De I Architecture des 
Fort cresses, Par. lfcOl ; Dufour, De la Fortification Per- 
manetite, Geneve, 1822; Carnot, De la Defense des Places 
Fortes, Par. 1812; Col. Pasley, Course of Elementary For- 
tification, Lond. 1822; Malortie, Permanent Fortification , 
Lond. 1821; Capt. Straith, A Treatise on Fortification^ 
Croydon, 1S33.) 

BAT. [See Cheiroptera.] 

BATA'KA (Zoology). D'Azara's namo for tho Bush- 
shrikes, forming tho genus namnophilus of Vieillot. A 
very good aceount of these birds, which appear to have been 
found between the northern and southern points of Canada 
and Paraguay, will be found in tho Memoirs of Dr. Such 
and Mr. Swainson, published in the Zoological Journal, 
The latter zoologist considers the typical group to consist of 
the species with long tails ; and of this division, 7'hamno- 
philus Vigortii, Sueh (Van^a striata, Quoyand Gaimard), 
may be taken as an illustration. 

Dr. Such states this to be the largest species yet known, 
and gives thirteen inches as tho length of the body. The 
bill is black and very rnueh compressed. In tho malo 
(which is the sex here figured) tho back, wings, and tail are 
black, broadly banded with fulvous, and tho under part of 



tuc body is a dirty whitish -brown. On the head is a rufous 
crest which is blackish at the apex. In the female the 




[ThmmnophUui VlgorslL] 




tThimoophilui nxriu*.. 



BAT 



19 



BAT 



bands are whitish and tho crest blackish, and the under 
part of the body ash-colour. 

Thamnophilus ncevius, tbe spotted shrike of Latham, is 
an example of the round and comparatively short-tailed 
division. 

Leach thus describes it from a specimen in the British 
Museum; Black ; back and belly ash- coloured; the former 
anteriorly spotted with white ; quills of the wings externally, 
and the tips of those of the tail, white ; under part of the 
body ash-colour, of which colour the back partakes in a 
considerable degree. 

BATATAS, the Malayan name of a convolvulaceous 
plant, the root much eaten in the south of Europe before 
the cultivation of the potato, which both became a substitute 
for it and appropriated its name. It has generally been 
considerod a species of convolvulus ; but Professor Choisy, in 
his recent classification, has erected it and a few others into 
a peculiar genus, distinguished by having an ovary with 
four cells, in each of which there is only one seed. 




[Batata*.! 

The only species of any general interest is the Batatas 
edufiif the Convolvulus Batatas of authors. This plant, 
originally found wild in the woods of the Malayan archipe- 
lago, has been gradually dispersed over all the warmer parts 
of the world, where it is still an object of culturo for the sake 
of its roots, which, when roasted or boiled, are mealy, sweet, 
and wholesome, but slightly laxative. It is a perennial 
plant, with long creeping stems, leaves variously lobed and 
angled, and pale purple flowers about an inch long. It is 
impatient of cold, and consequently unfit for cultivation in 
the northern parts of the world; but it is a productive agri- 
cultural plant in many warm countries. It is partially cul- 
tivated In the south of Spain and of Franco, whenco its roots 
nro sent to the markets of Madrid and Paris, where they aro 
held as a delicacy. They, however, have the great fault of 
keeping badly, being very apt to becomo mouldy and to de- 
ray, unless extraordinary pains are taken to preserve them 
dry. Sometimes they are raised in the hothouses of eurious 
persons in this country, by planting them in rich soil in a 
bark-bed, wben plenty of roots weighing from one to two 
pounds are easily obtained. 
BATAVI, or BATA'VI (the forms Badai and Betavi 



also occur in inscriptions), the name of the antient in- 
habitants of South Holland, and some adjacent parts. 
The Batavi were a Germanie tribe of the race of the 
Catti, who, some time before the age of Cajsar, left their 
native district, and settled on the banks of the Vahalis, the 
present Waal, a branch of the Lower Rhine. They occupied 
the district between the Vahalis and the Mosa above their 
junction, and also the island formed by the northern arm of 
the Rhine (or Rhine of Leyden), the Vahalis and Mosa 
after their junction, and the ocean; which island now con- 
stitutes part of the province of South Holland. Caesar {De 
Bell. Gall. iv. 10), who mentions their country by the name 
of Insula Batavorum, appears to consider it as belonging 
to Germany, and not to Gaul ; the limits of Belgic Gaul on 
that side being placed at the southern branch of the Rhine, 
or Waal, after its junction with the Mosa, or Maas. They 
seem to have occupied also a small portion on the banks of 
the Rhine, and not within the island. Csesar did not carry 
the war into the country of the Batavi. Under Augustus 
the Batavi became allies of the Romans. Drusus, the 
brother of Tiberius, resided for a time among them, and 
dug a canal, Fossa Drusiana, which connected the Rhine 
with the modern Yssel. Besides the Batavi thore was ano- 
ther people on the same island, prohably in its north-western 
extremity, called by the Roman historians Canninefates. 
Tboy were of the same origin as the Batavi (Tacitus, Hist 
iv. 15.), but not so numerous, and their name became gra- 
dually lost in that of the larger tribe. 

Tho chief place of the Canninefates was Lugdunum Bata- 
vorum, now Leyden ; and that of thelBatavi was Batavodu- 
rum, afterwards called Noviomagus, and now Nymegen. 
This is Mannert' s opinion, though others have placod Bata- 
vodurum at Duurstedo, and made it a different placo from 
Noviomagus. The other towns of the Batavi were Arenacum, 
generally supposed to bo Arnheim, but placed by others near 
Werthuysen : Carvo, on the northern branch of tho Rhine, 
probably near Arnheim; Grinnes, near the junction of 
the Waal with the Maas ; Trajectum, the modern Utrecht ; 
and Forum Hadriani, in the western part of the island near 
the sea. The name of the Batavi can be traced even now 
in that of Betuwe, which is a district of the antient Batavo- 
rum Insula, between the Rhine, the Waal, and the Lek. 
[SeeBKTUWK.] Beyond the n* .hern branch of the Rhine, 
and between that and the Flewum, or Yssol, in the pro- 
vince now called North Holland, were tho Frisii and the 
Frisiaboni, tribes belonging to tho great Frisian stock which 
inhabited tho land north-east of the Yssel. Pliny places 
two other tribes, the Sturii and the Marsucii, on tbe inlands 
off the western coast at the mouth of the Mosa, which islands 
now form part of Zealand. 

After tho death of Galba, the army of the Rhine leaving 
proclaimed Vitellius, and followed him on his way to Italy, 
the Batavi took the opportunity of rising against the Romans, 
whose alliance had become very burthensome to them. 
Claudius Civilis, a man belonging to one of their principal 
families, though bearing a Latin name, acted as their leader. 
At one time the insurrection seems to have spread among 
the neighbouring tribes of Germans as well as of Belgian 
Gauls, but the speedy return of the legions suppressed the 
movement. Civilis resisted for a time, but |he Batavi were 
at last subdued. Still it would appear that they pbtainod 
conditions, for we find them afterwards restored to their for- 
mer state of free allies of Rome. (Mannert, Qeschichte der 
alien Deutschen.) It appears, however, that subsequently, 
under the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, the Romans had 
completely established their dominion over the Batavi ; for we 
find in the Antonine Itinerary and the Peutinger Table, two 
Roman roads across the country, one from Lugdunum east- 
ward to Trajectum, and following tbeeoursc of the northern 
Rhine to its separation from tbe Vahalis, and another from 
Lugdunum southward across tho island to tbe Mosa, and 
then eastward along the bank of that river and tho Vahalis 
to Noviomagus. We also find places named after the 
emperors, such as Forum Hadriani, and fortified camps, 
sucn as Castra Batava, which some, however, suppose to 
havo been the same as Batavodurum. (See Mannert, Geo- 
graphic der Griechen und Romer.) There was another 
place in Upper Germany, or, more properly, in Noricum, 
called also Castra Batava, near the confluence of the Inn 
and the Danube, which was eolonized by Batavi, apparently 
in conformity with the policy which led the Romans to 
transplant their subjects and allies from their homes to 
foreign countries, [See Army.] The Batavi were em- 

D2 



BAT 



20 



BAT 



ployed by Agricola in his wars in Britain. (Tacit, Agric. 
xxx vi.) In somo inscriptions they are called * friends and 
brothers of tho Roman people,' or of tho * Roman emperors/ 
The dato of one of these inscriptions is determined by tho 
name of tho Emperor Aurelius. (Grutcr. Ixxi.) 

In tho latter part of the third century, during tho civil 
war which desolated tho empire, the Salian Franks invaded 
the country of the Batavi, and established themselves in it. 
They armed pirate vessels, which were encountered and 
defeated at sea byCarausius. Constantius and Constantino 
waged war against tho Franks of the Batavian island, but 
could not drivo them out of it. Tho Franks lost it, however, 
undor Julian, by an irruption of Frisians, who came from 
the northorn country near the Zuidcrzco, and drove tho 
Salian Franks beyond tho Maas. After this the Insula 
Batavorum formed part of tho country called Frcsia, which, 
in thjB time of the Merovingians, extended southward as 
far as the Scheldt. Under Charlemagne it formed a duchy 
bearing allegiance to the empire, * Ducatus Fresias usuuo ad 
Mosam.' It afterwards became divided into Western Frisia, 
called Frcsia Hereditaria, which was subject to hereditary 
counts; and IJastern Frisia, or Frcsia Libera, which remained 
independent. The Yssel formed the division between the 
two. About the eleventh century we first find Western 
Frisia called by the name of Holland, some say from hohl 
land, * a low hollow land/ and its counts took the name of 
Counts of Holland. The country of tho antient Batavi 
formed the southern part of their dominions; but the islands 
at the mouth of the Maas, and between it and the Schcldc, 
were the subject of frequent contentions and wars between 
them and tho Counts of Flanders. (D'Anville, Etats formes 
en Europe apres la Chute de t Empire Romain; Meyer, 
Res Flandricce.) Although the namo Batavi has fallen into 
disuse, it has always been employed by modern authors 
writing in Latin to signify the Dutch or Hollanders generally. 

BATA'VI A, one of the districts, or residcnces.of the island 
of Java. It is bounded on the north by the Java Sea, on the 
west by the regency of Bantam, from which it is divided by 
the river Tjikandtf, on the south by the residence of Buiten- 
zorg, and on the cast by the river Tjitarum, which forms 
the western boundary of the district of Crawang. The di- 
mensions of the district of Batavia are about twenty-four 
leagues from cast to west, and about six and a half leagues 
from north to south, the capital being situated nearly in the 
middle of the northern boundary*. 

The district of Batavia is divided politically into four de- 
partments, one of which consists of the city and its suburbs. 
Near to the sea-shore the country is Hat, but rises with a 
gentle acclivity towards the south to the mountain* range, 
which intersects the island from the western to the oastcrn ex- 
tremity. This district is well watered. Tho river Jaccatra, 
which joins the sea at the town of Batavia, dividing it into 
nearly equal parts, has a bank or bar at its mouth which 
prevents the entrance of any but the smallest boats. This 
disadvantage generally attends all the rivers on the north 
coast of Java, which, as they have their sources on the 
north side of the mountain-range, and flow in a pretty 
direct line to the sea, aro not of great length. They serve, 
however, together with numerous rivulets, to irrigate tho 
lands, and this is of the greater benefit, as one of tho chief 
productions of tho district is rice. There are many sugar 
plantations in the district of Batavia, and their number has 
f>ecn very greatly increased of late years since the island was 
restored to the Dutch. This species of cultivation has been 
encouraged by the local government, as affording the means 
of remitting to the parent state the surplus revenue of the 
colony. Cotton, pepper, and coflec (the last to a considerable 
extent), are likewise produced in this district. Tho popula- 
tion, according to the census taken in 1821, was 182,654. 

Stavorinus's Voyages; Count Hogcndorp's Coup d(Eil 
sur tile de Java* #c., 1830.) 

BAT A' VI A is a city on the north coast of Java, situated 
at the bottom of an extensivo bay, about CO miles E.S.E. of 
the Straits of Sunda. It was formerly a native village called 
Jacatra, and though probably visit ed by the Portuguese, 
they did not form any commercial settlement here. The 
English and Dutch had factories, the former of which was 
established in 1618, and the latter in 1612; but the Dutch, 
having conquered the country, founded tho present town 
under tho namo of Batavia, and removed the government 
from Bantam in 1G 10. It finally became the capital of their 
East Indian empire, and the residence of the governor gene- 
ral ; and tho English, having taken part with the natives in | 



opposing the Dutch, retired from the place. Being called in 
to aid various parties in their civil wars, the Dutch obtained 
still more power on tho island, but they did not enjoy undis- 
turbed possession for several years, and were frequently at- 
tacked by the natives. The town rose rapidly to importance, 
and becamothe emporium of all the produce of India, China, 
and Japan, as no ship was allowed to proceed direct to Hol- 
land without first touching at this port, except tho coffee 
ships from Mocha. It remained unintcnuptedly in the 
hands of the Dutch till 1811, when Holland having become 
a province of the French empire, Batavia fell into the hands 
of the French, from whom it was taken by the English, and 
by the tr6aty of 1 8 15 was restored to the Dutch, who returned 
to the government in the following year. 

1 lata via is an important place, from its excellent bay and its 
advantageous position for European commerce. It stands at 
the mouth of the river Jacatra, in the midst of swamps and 
marshes, surrounded by trees and jungle, which prevent tho 
exhalations from being carried ofTby a free circulation of the 
air, and render the town peculiarly obnoxious to marsh mias- 
mata. Besides this, all the principal streets are traversed 
by canals, planted on each sido with rows of trees, over 
which there arc bridges at the end of almost every street. 
They have also booms, which are drawn across at sunset to 
prevent the passage of boats in and out. Thcso canals are 
the common receptacles for all the filth of the town. In the 
dry season their stagnant and diminished waters emit a 
most intolerable stench, while in the wet season they over- 
sow their banks, and leave a quantity of offensive slime. 
From these united causes it is not surprising that Ba- 
ta\ ia has been considered the most unhealthy spot in tho 
world, and has been designated the storehouse of disease. 
According to Itayual, the number of sailors and soldiers 
alone who died in the hospitals averaged 1400 annually for 
sixty years, and the total amount of deaths in twenty-two 
years exceeded a million of souls; but this looks very like 
an exaggeration. During the French occupation, the walls 
of the town were removed by General Daendcls with the 
view of admitting a freer circulation of air, and with the 
materials the cantonment of Wcltevrecdcn was built, a short 
distance from the town inland. , 

The city is about three quarters of a mile in length, north 
and south, and about half a mile wide. It was enclosed by 
a wall of coral rock, with a stream of water on each side, 
within and without. There arc now only three churches in 
the town, and one theatre: at the southern part is a large 
square where the stadthaus stands, in which the courts of 
law arc held, and all public business transacted. The 
streets arc generally at right angles to one another, and 
the houses mostly of brick stuccoed. They arc well built, 
clean, and spacious, and their construction is suited to the 
country. The doors and windows arc lofty, and tho ground 
floors aro covered with flags of marble, which are kept con- 
stantly wet, and impart a coolness to the dwelling. Few 
Europeans, however, sleep within tho town, as the night 
air is considered very baneful. The inhabitants (possibly 
as an antidote against the noxious effluvia arising from 
the swamps and canals) continually burn aromatic woods 
and resins, and scatter about a profusion of odoriferous 
flowers, of which there aro great abundance and variety. 
During the prosperity of the Dutch East India Company. 
Batavia obtained the title of Queen of the East, as the re- 
sources of alj other districts were sacrificed to its cxclusivo 
commerce ; but its splendour has greatly decreased, owing 
chiefly to the increase of tho British empire in India. 
Whole streets also have been pulled down in consequence 
of tho European settlers removing their residences from tho 
town to the high grounds in the neighbourhood. 

In tho north-cast quarter of the town is the citadel, a 
largo square inclosure with a bastion at each angle, but 
without any outworks; within the citadel aro residences 
for tho Governor- General and chief officers, with warehouses 
for the most valuable of the Company's goods in case of 
danger. In addition to these defences there are several 
small batteries and redoubts in and around the town, besides 
fortified houses, so placed as to command the navigation of 
the principal canals. Most of these works are merely for 
the purpose of keeping the natives in awe, and arc ih-calcu* 
lateu to withstand an invading army, as was proved in 1811. 
But if the fortifications of Batavia are not formidable in 
themselves, they become so from their situation among 
swamps and morasses, where, by the destruction of a few 
roads that cross them to the town, the approach of heavy 



BAT 



21 



BAT 



artillery would be impracticable ; and towards tbe bay the 
water is too shallow to admit even of a boat coming within 
gunshot-range of the castle, except by the narrow entrance 
to the river, which may be closed by booms. 

The diversified population of Batavia and its suburbs 
within two miles, according to the census of 1815, amounted 
to 47,417, and consisted of Dutch, English, Portuguese, 
Chinese, Moors, Arabs, Malays, Javanese, and negro slaves : 
of these classes the Chinese are by far the most numerous 
and important. In 1824 another census was taken, when 
the number was 53,861, of whom 14,708 were Chinese. This 
does not include the military establishment at Weltevreeden. 
The Chinese farm the revenues, are the principal artisans, 
and exclusively manufacture the sugar and arrack. They 
have a separate quarter outside the town, the suburbs of 
which occupy a larger space than the city itself: they suffer 
greatly from disease, and the mortality among them is very 
great, owing to the closeness of their apartments and their 
gross manner of living. Many junks arrive annually from 
China, bringing about 1000 settlers. In 1742, in conse- 
quence of a supposed organised plan of insurrection on the 
part of the Chinese, the Dutch government perpetrated a 
most cold-blooded massacre, in which more than one half of 
the Chinese were murdered. 

The country around Batavia is very beautiful and fer- 
tile, though flat in the vicinity of the town. Markets are 
regularly held, one within and the other outside the eity, 
which are remarkably well supplied with fruit, which is the 
most abundant article of vegetable luxury ; the principal 
sorts are, pine-apples, oranges, shaddocks, lemons, limes, 
mangoes, bananas, grapes, melons, pomegranates, custard- 
apples, papaws, mangosteens, and rombusteens, with many 
others mostly unknown in Europe. Fowls, ducks, and 
geese, are plentiful and cheap ; turkeys, pigeons, and wild- 
fowl are, in general, very scarce, and butcher's meat inferior 
and dear : of fish there is an abundant supply, and turtle 
are sometimes found. The chief imports are opium and 
piece goods; the exports sugar, coffee, and spices: salt 
also forms an important article of colonial commerce ; near 
Batavia there are some very extensive works for making 
salt from sea-water. 

Tho anchorage of Batavia is a bay, about eleven miles 
long and six deep, eapablo of containing any number of 
vessels of the largest sue ; it is studded with coral knolls 
and protected by several small islands, averaging half 
n mile in diameter, all of which are occupied, and have 
their different appropriations ; one is a convict establish- 
ment ; another an hospital ; a third is covered with ware- 
houses for articles of small value ; a fourth (Onrust) is the 
naval arsenal, which is well fortified. 

These islands protect the bay from any heavy swell ; and, 
as the bottom is very tenacious, it becomes a perfectly safe 
anchorage. But when the sea-breeze blows strong it causes 
a cockling sea, which renders the communication with the 
town unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous, as the only 
landing-place is up the river; the channel of which is 
formed by wooden piers, projecting half a mile into the sea, 
and across it is a shallow bar. The river Jacatra abounds 
in large alligators. During the easterly monsoon, which 
blows from April to October, the weather is uniformly fine 
and warm ; but the north-west monsoon is always accom- 
panied by heavy rains and strong winds. The summer range 
of tho thermometer is from 70 to 74 in the mornings and 
evenings, and 80 at noon. The rise of tide is about six feet. 

Batavia lies in 6° 9' S. lat., and 106° 52' E. long. 

( Raffles' s History of Java; Staunton's Embassy (o 
China ; Cook's Voyages ; Crawfurd's History of (he Indian 
Archipelago; Horsburgh's East India Directory ; Hogen- 
dorp's Coup dCEilj &e. There is a plan of Batavia, for the 
year 1G69, in Mandelslo's Travels,) 

BAT AVIAN REPUBLIC. [See Holland.] 

BATH, the chief city of Somersetshire, celebrated for its 
natural hot springs, is about 108 miles from London, in 
51° 22' 32" N. lat, and 2° 31' 30" W. long. The town lies 
in a valley, divided by the river Avon. Geologically it is 
placed upon the great western oolitic range, which attains 
its greatest elevation on Lansdown, above Bath, where its 
summit is 813 feet above tbe level of the sea. This range 
is intersected in tho neighbourhood of the city by deep 
transverse valleys, but re-appears on tho south of the Avon, 
where its elevation is so broken that its continuity is de- 
stroyed. Its fection near Lansdown is a bed of upper, or 
great oolite, varying from 40 to 150 feet in thickness, form- 



ing the brow of the hill; then a gradual slope of fullers - 
earth-clay; next a terrace of inferior oolite with its under- 
lying sand and sandstone, which falls with a precipitous slope 
and rests on lias clay, or blue marl, and then on lias rock. 
The freestone or oolite, worked from quarries situated to 
the east and south of Bath, has furnisned almost entirely 
the chief building materials for the city. The soil upon the 
declivities of the hills is generally rich, and the lower grounds 
afford very fine pasturage. The country about is wooded ; 
and from the inequality of the ground presents a great va- 
riety of agreeable landscape. From the sheltered position 
of the city, its temperature is mild. The following table 
is made up from observations continued through fifteen 
years, the temperature being noted from a thermometer 
placed in a north aspect, and fifteen feet from the ground, 
compared with tables given by Dr. Clark in his work on 
climate 

Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. 

Near London . 40*93 37"GG 34*16 39*78 41*51 
Oxford . . 43*G0 37*00 3G*90 37*10 4-2*10 
Bath . . 45*35 42*25 37*75 41*25 44 40 

In the summer months, the same observations give the 
mean temperature of Bath at Gl*20 in June, 64*20 in July, 
and 62*70 in August. The mean annual depth of rain 
which falls there is 35*30 inches, and the number of days 
on which rain or snow falls is 1G2, every day being noted 
wet on which sufficient rain fell to mark the pavement. 

This city was a Roman station, mentioned by Ptolemy, 
under the name of Aqua; Calidce t and by him placed with 
Venia and Ischalis in the country of the^Belga;. It is also 
placed in the Nth Iter of Antoninus, in connexion with 
other stations, thus, Ab Isca Vcnta Silurum, M.P. ix. 
Abone, M.P. ix. Trajectus, M.P. ix. Aquis Solis. M.P. 
vi. Verlucione, M.P. xv. Cunetione, M.P. xx. Spinis, 
M.P. xv. Calleva, M.P. xv. Hie stations preceding anil 
following that of Bath are much disputed, and their actual 
position is very doubtful. In the Notitia, Bath is not 
mentioned. It was intersected by the antient Roman road 
leading from London into Wales, and by the road called the 
Fosse, which ran from Lincolnshire to the south coast of 
England. These two roads joined near the bridge crossing 
a small stream in the parish of Bath Kaston, about two 
miles from Bath. They then continued in one course 
through a great portion of the parish of Walcot, separating 
again near Walcot church. The Fosse entered the norfh 
gate of the city from Walcot- street, passed through the 
town, up Hollowayand on to llchester. The other road ran 
up Guinea Lane, and on to the station of Abone. Close 
to the spot where these roads separated, and towards the 
river, numerous coins, vases, and sepulchral remains have 
from time to time been found. The Roman remains dis- 
covered in Bath and in its neighbourhood have been con- 
siderable. At Box a tessellated pavement of large dimen- 
sions is at this time lying open, proof of the existence of a 
villa on the spot. Several sueh remains have been found 
in the country around Bath, especially at Bath-Ford, Dithe- 
ridge, Horsland near Warley, and at Wellow. In the city of 
Bath itself, the foundations of extensive buildings have often 
been traced. On the eastern side of tho Fosse, near the - 
north end of Stall-street, portions of a large temple were 
discovered, and are still preserved in the Bath Institution. 
Its front was towards the west, and consisted of a portico 
with fluted columns, crowned with Corinthian capitals. 
Towards the east of this building stood the principal 
baths, the remains of which were discovered in 1755. In 
other parts of the city, altars with inscriptions, tessellated 
pavements, ornamented bricks, urns, vases, lachrymatories, 
fibula), coins, 8cc, have been turned up, but none of the 
inscriptions throw any light upon the history of the place. 
No city in England can produce such a collection of local 
Roman remains as is now deposited in the Bath Literary 
and Scientific Institution : there is nothing like it in the 
kingdom, except at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where the col- 
lection is from tho whole of the northern field. The new 
town is many feet above its antient level ; in somo places 
more than twenty. The walls, as they existed until a late 
period, are presumed to have been built, to a great extent, 
upon the base of the Roman walls. There are accounts 
and engravings of Roman inscriptions and sculptures incor- 
porated in the walls, none of which are now existing. 

The modern eity of Bath is of great beauty. Its streets 
are very regular, clean, and, at night, well-lighted. Its 
best buildmgs, sueh as the Upper Rooms, the north Bid* 



BAT 



22 



B A T 



of Quecn-square, the Crescent, and Circni, were built al*out 
tho middle of the last century, from designs of the two 
"Wood*. Tho last forty \oars havo hardly produced a build- 
ing of any architectural value, though tho materials for 
building arc cheap, and the stone is worked with great ease. 
Tho architecture of the later buildings is generally of a 
bald character. 

The eity is governed by a corporation, under charters 
granted by Queen Elizabeth, Sept. 4, 1590, and by George 
III., 1794. The first of theso charters direets that the 
corporation shall consist of a mayor, aldermen, not exceed- 
ing in number ten, nor fewer than four, and a eoinmon 
council of twenty members. Thcro are. also a recorder, 
town-clerk, and two scrgeants-at-macc. The local court of 
record has cognizance of all personal aetions whatsoever 
arising within tho city and its suburbs or preeincts, without 
restriction as to the amount of the sum in dispute. The 
non-residence, however, of the recorder, the legal adviser of 
the magistrates and one of the presiding judges; tho attor- 
neys of the court being tho two sergcants-at-maco and un- 
professional persons; and tho case with which a eausc may 
l>e removed to any of the superior eourts, by writ of cer- 
tiorari or habeas corpus, destroy all its advantages. A 
court-leet, and eourt of quarter-sessions aro also held by 
the magistrates, who, though without power to try persons 
charged with felonies under tho charter of the eity, arc 
perhaps enabled to try them under tho 4 and 5 Will. IV. 
c.27, sec. 3. By the charter of 1794, eleven instead of two 
members of the corporation are empowered to act as jus- 
tices of tho peace within the eity. Tho members of the 
corporation, though self-elected, must be ehoscn from the 
freemen ; and as tho freemen by purchase were consi- 
dered to have a claim to be elected before the freemen 
by servitude, the priee of the freedom, shortly before the 
Reform Act passed, was 250/. The property of the body 
is very extensive, including lands and houses in the best 
part of the eity ; all the hot- springs but one ; nearly all 
the eold -springs which supply the town with water ; and 
the tolls of the market ; altogether producing, in 1832, a 
rental of moro than 12,000/. per annum. In 1832 the publie 
debt of the corporation amounted to 55,863/. 

The charter boundaries of the eity include part of tho 

Parishes of 'Walcot and Bath wick, and the parishes of St. 
*eter and St. Paul, St. James, and St. Michael. The 
parliamentary boundaries of the eity, under the Boundary 
Act. include, in addition, the remaining parts of the parishes 
of Walcot and Bathwiek, and the parish of Lyncombe and 
Widcombe. The new limits comprised, in 1831, a popu- 
lation of 50,800 persons (21,035 males and 29,765 females), 
charged with assessed taxes to the amount of G2.000/. 
a-year ; 3310 acres of ground, and above 7000 houses, more 
than 5000 of which were taxed at the annual value of 10/. 
Tho power of electing the parliamentary representatives of 
the city was formerly in the corporation only. Under the 
Reform Act, the number of registered electors, in each of 
the last three years, has been about 2800. The inhabitants 
of Bath are exempt from serving on the juries of the county. 
A community of Ucligious existed here from the earliest 
ages of Christianity in Britain, who had their house near to 
the springs and baths, The constitution of the society 
underwent several ehanges, and at last the house and all its 
possessions, which were extensive and valuable, were sur- 
rendered to the crown by William Ilolloway, the last prior, 
June 29, 1539. What is now eallcd the Abbey Church was 
the church of this community, and was connected, on tho 
south side, with the eonv.entual dwellings. An older church 
having fallen into decay, the building of the present edifice 
was begun by Bishop Oliver King, in the reign of Henry 
VII., at the time of whose death it was unfinished, and 
continued to be so when the priory was dissolved. After 
haying been in a dilapidated state for many years, its re- 
pairwas undertaken by Chapman, in 1572, continued by the 
munificence of Thomas Bellot, steward of the household of 
Queen Elizabeth, and was nearly completed by Bishop 
Montague, about the year 1C09. This edifice is of the 
fthape of a cross, with a very handsome tower rising from 
the centre. Its length from east to west Is 210 foet, and 
from north to south 126. Tho west front lsdocorated with 
numerous figures, now much impaired by time, intended to 
represent Jacob's dream. Tho east window is renin rkable 
for being square, and was until very lately appropriately 
supported In two square towers which have been converted 
kto Ill-designed oetagonal pinnacles, Tho building itself 



U an oxnmplo of tho pointed style at the latest pcri«nl in 
which It prevailed, and was completed with great simplicity 
and taste. In 1&34 its whole doign and character were 
materially changed, and its most peculiar features de- 
stroyed. " The interior is entirely disfigured by tho multiiude 
of monuments with which it is covered. It is the parish 
church of the parish of St. Peter and St. Paul. 

The ecclesiastical division of Bath is into tho parishes 
already named, each of which has its parochial church. 
Thcro aro also the following chapels connected with the 
Established Church:— Queen Square, Margaret's, All 
Saint*, Kensington, Octagon, Laura, St. Mark, Trinity, 
St, Saviour, Christ Church, Magdalen's, St. John's Hos- 
pital. Records also exist of eleven chapels which have 
i>cen destroyed. The Independents, Quakers, Moravians, 
Methodists, Unitarians, Koman Catholics, Jews, and Bap- 
tists, have all places of worship in tho city, the majority 
of which aro large and handsomo buildings. 

There aro charitable institutions in this city of anticnl 
and modern date of every kind. Tho oldest is the hospital 
of St. John, founded in 1180 by Reginald Fitzjocclync. as 
it Is said, for the benefit of the sick poor resorting to Bath. 
The beneficiaries now are a master, six brethren, and six 
sisters. The patronage of the mastership was granted by 
Queen Elizabeth to lhe corporation of Bath. Its endow- 
ments arc large, and the annual valuo of its property in 
1818, ehiefiy leased on lives, in consideration of fines, was 
11,395/. The master receives two-thirds of the fines and 
income, and the brethren and sisters the remainder. The 
chief establishment, however, for tho sick poor is called the- 
General Hospital. It was opened in 1748, and is regulated 
by act of parliament. No patient ean be admitted unless 
his ease has been certified as proper for the trial of the hot 
waters, previous to his coming to Bath, and no inhabitant 
of Bath is admitted into It, This last regulation, though 
wisely framed, is to some extent evaded by the admission 
of persons dwelling in the suburbs, but beyond the charier 
limits of the city. The eharity is well endowed, and its re- 
cords havo had "the character of having been kept with great 
eare, fidelity, and exactness. There is also another large 
hospital called the United General Hospital, or Casualty 
and Dispensary, which affords to the sick poor of the city 
the advantages of the use of the hot waters, and gives 
assistance in eases of ordinary illness and casualty. It is 
well governed, and the whole of its arrangements are good. 

There is a small collection of books in the vestry of the 
abbey church and some antient MSS. In the year 1826 a 
literary and scientific institution was founded, comprising, 
partly by purchase and partly by benefactions, an extensive 
and well-selected library of Veferenco both in science and 
litcratnro. The institution also contains a small museum 
and laboratory, with rooms for the delivery of lectures. 
There is also a Mechanics' Institute, which has a tolerable 
collection of books, and which has been almost entirely sup- 
ported for some years by the class for whose use it was 
designed. 

The ehief institution for instruction is the free grammar- 
school, founded by Edward VI., and endowed with part of 
the lands of the dissolved priory of Bath. It was designed 
for tho gratuitous instruction of tho children of the inha- 
bitants of the town without distinction. The school-house 
Is a largo and handsome building with spacious premises. 
The schoolmaster may be a layman ; but if in holy orders, 
must be presented to the rectory of Charleombe, the value 
of which was, in 1S34, about 300/. a-ycar. His salary, as 
master, is 84/. a-year ; but as the school is well attended, 
and only ten free scholars are admitted, the value of tho 
oflicc is much increased by the payments of day-scholars 
and boarders. Tho lands of the school aro very badly let, 
producing, in 1834, a rent of only 376/. a-year, though their 
annual value, in 1822, was about 1238/. There arc several 
other schools which afford the elements of education, such 
as reading, writing, and arithmetic, supported chiefly by 
voluntary subscriptions. 

The * ever memorable* John Hales, of Eton, was born 
In St. James's parish, and Benjamin Robins, said to have 
been tho actual writer of Anson s Voyage round the World, 
was a native of this city, which also claims Adelardus de 
Bathonia, who passed some timo in the cast during the 
reign of Henry I„ and brought to England, among some 
Arabic MSS., a translation of Euclid, being the first copy 
of tho work known in this country. 

The gaieties of Bath are celebrated, but have much do- 



B A T 



23 



BAT 



dined during the last twenty years. The Assembly Rooms 
are a handsome snite, the ball-room being nearly 106 by 
nearly 43 feet, and 42 feet C inches high, and the tea-room 
70 by 27 feet : they were erected by Wood. The theatre is 
probably one of the best of its size in England ; for it Mr. 
Palmer obtained tbe first act of parliament passed in this 
country for the security of theatrical property. It Is justly 
remarked by Seneca, * Ubicunque scatebunt aquarum ca- 
lentium venoo, ibi nova divcrsoria luxuriro excitabuntur : ' 
* wherever warm springs abound, new places of amusement 
arc sure to arise up.* 

There is no manufacture of importance in this city. It 
was formerly celebrated for its cloth, and at tbe Restoration 
no less 'than sixty broad looms were employed in the parish 
of St. Michael's. The paper-mills in the neighbourhood 
are of some note, and paid, in 1832, to the excise 10,575/. 
The city is well-supplied with coal from extensive beds 
lying a few miles distant. The river Avon was made navi- 
gable to Bristol under an act of the 10th Anne, and there 
is a water-communication with London by tbe Kennet and 
Avon Canal, which joins the Thames at Reading. 

The remarkable peculiarity of Bath is its natural hot 
springs. They are four in number, and rise near tho eentre 
of the city ; and, with the exception of a spring belonging to 
Lord Manvers, are vested in the corporation. The tempera- 
ture of three of the springs is as follows :— Hot Bath 1 1 7°, 
King's Bath 114°, and Cross Bath 109° of Fahrenheit, 
yielding respectively 128, 20, and 12 gallons a minute. 
The specific gravity of the water is 1*002. As it flows 
from the earth it is transparent, but in a short time yields 
a slight precipitate and loses its transparency. "When fresh 
drawn it has a slight chalybeate taste. The King's Bath 
is 60 feet 11 inches in length, and 40 feet in breadth, and 
tho Queen's Bath, a square of 25 feet, is supplied from it. 
The daily quantity of water discharged into these basins is 
184,320 gallons. There are private baths attached to the 
Hot and the King's Bath, admirably arranged and con- 
structed, and capable of having their temperature regu- 
lated. Bathing is far from heing a practice among the 
inhabitants. The public baths are not much frequented, 
and tbe private baths, though they occasion few charges for 
their support, but that of linen and attendance, are expen- 
sive. Tho encouragement of their general use, and the 
effect of low prices, as connected with the advancement of 
local interests, are not yet understood. Tbe baths yielded 
to the corporation, in 1831, a rent of 1442/., and the pump- 
room a rent of 416/. a- year. The waters have been very 
accurately analyzed by Drs. Falconer and Gibbes, and by 
Mr. R. Phillips. According to the last of these writers, 
whose experiments wero very carefully made, a quart of 
water taken from the hot springs contains — 
Carbonic acid . •. -. 2*4 in. 

Sulphate of lime . . 18* grains. 

Muriate of soda . . -.6*6 „ 
Sulphate of soda . . 3*0 „ 

Carbonate of lime . . 1 • C „ 

Siliea . . •♦ , *4 „ 

Oxido of iron . . . '00394 



Loss 



29*60394 
39606 



30 



Estimating the muriate and sulphate of soda in a crys- 
tallized state, a pint of water contains — 

Carbonic acid . . •. . l£ in. 
Sulphate of lime ... '9 grains. 

Muriate of soda . » 3£ „ 

Sulphate of soda . . . 3i „ 

'Carbonate of lime . . . ft » 

Silica .....£„ 
Oxide of iron . . . • ?W »> 

A considerable quantity of carbonic acid gas escapes through 
the water. 

Taken internally the water acts as a stimulant. Its use 
is most successful in cases of palsy, rheumatism, gout, le- 
prosy, cutaneous disease, ami especially in cases of scrofula 
affecting the joints, such as the knee, elbow, hip. It cannot 
bo used without danger in cases accompanied with fever, 
cough, or pain in the chest, open sores or ulcers, or in cases 
where there is reason to suspect internal suppuration, he- 
morrhage, rupture, mania, or plethora. From its improper 
internal use mischievous results are frequently produced. 



The earliest w6rk on the hot springs is by W. Turner, 
dated 1562. The writer, a divine and doctor of medicine, 
and the first English writer on natural history, was born at 
Morpeth, and was imprisoned for preaching "the doctrines 
of the Reformation. Obtaining his liberty, he went abroad, 
where he continued during the greater part of the reigu 
of Henry VIII. On his return he was preferred, and re- 
ceived from Edward VI. the deanery of Wells. Other 
treatises have been written by Venner, 1617; Guidott, 
1691, 1708: Pierce, 1697; Oliver, 1716; Cheyne, 1725; 
Wynter, 1728; Quinton, 1734; Kinnier, 1737; Randolph, 
1752; Charleton, 1754; Lucas, 1756; Steven, 1758 ; Suther- 
land, 1763; Falconer, 1770, 1789; Gibbes, 1800; Wilkin- 
son; Phillips, Iff06 ; Daubeny, 1834. 

(See Collinson's History of Somersetshire* vol. i. ; War- 
net's History of Bath; Lysons's Reliquiae Romano*; 
Wood's Essay towards a Description of Bath, 1742, 1749, 
1760; Charity Commissioners' Reports ; * On the Climate 
of Bath,' Bath Magazine, vol. iii. p. 289; On the Oolitic 
District of Bath y by Lonsdale; Transactions of the Geolo- 
gical Society, vol. iii. p. 241 ; Municipal Corporation In- 
quiry, 1833; Turner's History of England, 8vd. vol. iv. 
p. 438 ; MS. Communication from Bath,) 

BATH, a town in Lincoln county, state of Maine, in the 
United States of North America, situated in 43° 54' N. lat, 
and 69° 47' W. long. This town is built on the west side 
of the river Kennebec, at the head of the ship-navigation on 
that river, and sixteen miles from the sea. It is distant thirty- 
five miles north-east from Portland, which town was, until 
1832, the seat of government in the stafte. With the ex- 
ception of Portland, Bath has more shipping belonging to 
its port than any other town in Maine ; the amount of re- 
gistered and licensed tonnage in 1831 was 26,237 tons: 
the population, according to tbe census of 1830, was 3773. 

BATH, KNIGHTS OF THE, so called from the an- 
tient custom of bathing previous to their installation. The 
origin of this order of knighthood has been described as of 
very remote antiquity ; but as Camden and Seldcn agree 
that the first mention of an order of knights, distinctly called 
Knights of the Bath, is at the coronation of Henry IV. in 
1399, there can be little doubt that this order was then 
instituted. That bathing had been a part of the discipline 
submitted to by esquires in order to obtain the honour 
of knighthood from very early times, is admitted ; but it 
does not appear that any knights were called Knights of the 
Bath till tnese were Created by King Henry IV. 

Froissart (see Lord Bemers's Translate edit. 1812, vol. ii. 
p. 752), speaking of that king, says, ' The Saturday before 
his coronation he departed from Westminster, and rode to 
the Tower of London with a great number; and that night 
all such esquires as should be made knights the next day, 
watched, who were to the number of forty -six. Every esquire 
had his own bayne {bath) by himself; and the next day the 
Duke of Lancaster made them all knights at the mass-time. 
Then had they long eoats with strait sleeves, furred with 
mynever like prelates, with white laces hanging on their 
shoulders/ 

It became subsequently the practice of the English kings 
to create Knights of the Bath previous to their coronation, at 
the inauguration of a Prince of Wales, at the Celebration of 
their own nuptials or those of any of th3 royal family, 
and occasionally upon other great occasions or solemnities. 
Fabyan {Chron. edit. 1811, p. 582) says that Henry V., in 
1416, upon the taking of tbe town of Caen, dubbed sixteen 
Knights of the Bath. 

Sixty- eight Knights of the Bath were made at the coro- 
nation of King Charles II. (see the list in Guillim's He- 
raldry,^ Lond. 1679, p. 107); but from that time the 
order was dis6ontinued, till it was revived by King George I. 
under Writ of Privy Seal, dated May 18, 1725, during the 
administration of Sir Robert Walpole. The statutes and 
ordinances of tho order bear date May 23, 1 725. By these 
it was directed that the order should consist of a grand- 
master and thirty-six companions, a succession of whom 
was to be regularly continued. The ofiicers appropriated to 
the order, besides the grand-master, were a dean, register, 
king of arms, genealogist, secretary, usher, and messenger. 
Tbe dean of the collegiate church of St. Peter, Westminster, 
for the time being, was appointed ex officio dean of the 
Order of the Bath, and it was directed that the other officers 
should be from time to time appointed by the grand-master. 

The badge of the order was directed to be a rose, thistle, 
and shamrock* issuing from a seeptr© between three im- 
perial eiwns, surrounded by the motto Triajuncta in two 



BAT 



24 



BAT 



to bo of pur© fold, chased and pierced, and to bo worn 
bv the knight-clcct, pendant from a red riband placed 
ooliaucly over tbo -right shoulder. Tho collar to bo of gold, 
wcigning thirty ounces troy weight, and composed of nino 
imperial crowns, and eight ro*cs, thistles, and shamrocks 
issuing from a sceptre, enamelled in their proper colours, 
tied or linked together by seventeen gold knots, enamelled 
white, and having the badge of the order pendant from it. 
The star to consist of three imperial crowns of gold, sur- 
rounded with tho motto of the order upon a circle gules, 
with a glory or ray issuing from tho ccntro, to be embroi- 
dered on the left sido of the upper garment. 

The installation dress was ordered to be a surcoat of whito 
satin, a mantle of crimson satin lined with^fchito, tied at the 
neck with a cordon of crimson silk and gold, with gold 
tassels, and tho star of the order embroidered on the left 
shoulder; a white silk hat, adorned with a standing plume 
of white ostrich feathers ; white leather boots, edged and 
heeled ; spurs of crimson and gold ; and a sword in a white 
leather scabbard, with cross hilts of gold. 

Each knight was to be allowed three esquires, who are to 
be gentlemen of blood, bearing coat-armour ; and who, 
during the term of their several lives, are entitled to all the 
privileges and exemptions enjoyed by the esquires of the 
sovereign's body, or tnc gentlemen of the privy chamber. 

In 1815, the Prince Regent, being desirous to comme- 
morate the auspicious termination of the long and arduous 
contests in which tho empire had been engaged, and of 
marking, in an especial manner, his sense of the valour, 
perseveranco, and devotion manifested by the officers of the 
king's forces by sea and land, thought (It to advance the 
splendour and extend the limits of the Order of the Bath: 
upon which occasion his Royal Highness, by virtue of the 
royal prerogative, was pleased to ordain that thenceforward 
the order should be composed of three classes, differing in 
their ranks and degrees of dignity. 

The first class to consist of knights grand crosses, winch 
designation was to be substituted for that of knights com- 
panions previously used. The knights grand crosses, with 
the exception of princes of the blood-royal holding high 
commissions in the array and navv, not to exceed seventy- 
two in number; whereof a numocr not exceeding twelve 
might bo nominated in consideration of services rendered in 
civil or diplomatic employments. To distinguish the mili- 
tary and naval officers upon whom the first class of the said 
order was then newly conferred, it was directed that they 
should bear upon the onsign or star, and likewise upon tho 
badge of the order, the addition of a wreath of laurel en- 
circling the motto, and issuing from an escrol inscribed 
Jch dien ; and the dignity of the first class to be at no timo 
conferred upon persons who had not attained the rank of 
major-general in tho army, or rear-admiral in the navy. 

The second class was to be composed of knights com- 
manders, who wcro to have precedence of all knights 
bachelors of the United Kingdom : the number, in tho 
first instance, not to exceed ono hundred and eighty, ex- 
clusive of foreign officers holding British commissions, of 
whom a number not exceeding ten may be admitted into 
the second class as honorary knights commanders ; but in 
the event of actions of signal distinction, or of future wars, 
the number of knights commanders may be increased. No 
person to be eligible as a knight commander who docs not, 
at the timo of his nomination, hold a commission in his 
Majesty's army or navy; such commission not being below 
the rank of lieutenant-colonel in tho army, or of post-captain 
in the navy. By a subsequent regulation in 1815 no per- 
son is now eligible to tho class of K.C.B. unless ho havo 
attained tho rank of major-general in the army or rear- 
admiral in the navy. Each knight commander to wear his 
appropriate badgo or cognizance, pendent by a red riband 
round the neck, and his appropriate star, embroidered on 
the left sido of his upper vestment. For the greater honour 
of this class, it was further ordained that no officer of his 
Majesty's array or navy was thenceforward to be nominated 
to the dignity of a knight grand cross who had not been 
appointed previously a knight commander of the order. 

flie third class to be composed of officers holding com- 
missions in bis Majesty's servico by sea or land, who shall 
be styled companions of tho said ortlcr; not to bo entitled 
to the appellation, stylo, or precedence of knights bachelors, 
but to take precedence and place of all esquires of the United 
Kingdom. No officer to be nominated a companion of tho 
order unless he shall previously have received a medal or 
other badge of honour, or shall have been specially men- 



tioned by name in despatches published in tho London 
Gazette as having distinguished himself. 

Tho bulletin announcing the re*inodelling of the Order 
of the Bath was dated Whitehall, January 2, 1S15. 

By another bulletin, dated Whitehall, January 6, 1815, 
the Prince Regent, acting in tho name and on behalf of 
his Majesty, having taken into consideration the eminent 
services which had been rendered to the empiro by tho 
officers in the service of the Honourable East India Com- 
pany, ordained that fifteen of tho most distinguished offi- 
cers of that sen* ice, holding commissions from his Ma- 
jesty not below that of lieutenant-colonel, might be raised 
to the dignity of knights commanders of the Bath, exclu- 
sive of tho number of knights commanders belonging to 
his Majesty's forces by sea and land who had been nomi- 
nated by the ordinaneo of January 2. In the event of future 
wars, and of actions of signal distinction, tho said number 
of fifteen to be increased. His Royal Highness further or- 
dained that certain other officers of the same service, holding 
his Majesty's commission, might bo appointed companions 
of the Order of the Bath, in consideration of eminent services 
rendered in action with the enemy ; and that the said officers 
should enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immunities se- 
cured to the third class of the said order. 

(See Observations introductory to an Historical Essay 
upon the Knighthood of the Bath, by John Anstis, Esq. 
4to. Lond. 1725 ; Selden's Titles of Honour, fol. Loud. 1672, 
pp. 678, 679; Camden's HHttmnia, fol. Lond. 1637, p. 172; 
Sandford's Genealog. Hist. fol. 1707, pp. 267, 431, 501, 562, 
578; J. C. Dithmari, Commentatio de llonoratissimo Or- 
dine de Balneo, fol. Franc, ad Viad. 1729; Mrs. S. S. 
Banks's Collections on the Order of the Bath* MSS. Brit. 
Mus. ; Statutes of the Order of the Bath, 4to. Lond. 1725, 
repr. with additions in 1812; Bulletins of the Campaign 
1815, pp. 1-18.) 

BATH, a place for the purpose of washing the body, 
either with hot, warm, or cold water: the word is derived 
from the Saxon bab. The Greek name is balancion (fiaka- 
vaor), of which the Roman balineum, or balneum, is only a 
slight variation : the elements bat and bad in the Greek 
and English words arc evidently related. The public baths 
of the Romans were generally called Therm<v f which lito- 
rally means 'warm waters.' 

The bath was also in common use among the Greeks, 
though we are not well acquainted with the construction 
and economy of their bathing-places. At Athens there 
were both private and public baths : the public baths appear 
to have been the property of individuals, who kept them for 
their own profit or let them to others. (Sec Isreus, On the 
Inheritance of Dic&ogenes* cap. vi. ; ditto of Philoctemon 7 
cap. vi.) Lucian, in his Hippias (vol. iii. ed. Hcmstcrh.), 
has given a description of a magnificent bath. Though ho 
docs not tell us whether it was built in the Roman or the 
Greek style, wc may safely conclude that he is speaking of 
a bath in a Greek city. His description is not precise enough 
to render it certain that this bath in its details agrees with 
those of Romo and Pompeii ; but the general design and 
arrangement appear to be nearly tho same. 

We learn from Seneca that tho Roman baths were 
very simple, even mean and dark, in the time of Scipio 
Africanus ; and it was not until the age of Agrippa, and 
tho emperors after Augustus, that they were built and 
finished in a stylo of luxury almost incredible. Seneca 
(Epist. lxxxvi.), who inveighs against this luxury, observes 
that ' a person was held to be poor and sordid whose baths 
did not shine with a profusion of tho most precious mate- 
rials,— the marbles of Egypt inlaid with those of Numidia ; 
unless tho walls were laboriously stuccoed in imitation of 
painting; unless the chambers wcro covered with glass, tho 
basins with the rareThasinn stone, and the water conveyed 
through silver pipes.' These it appears were the luxuries 
of plebeian baths. Those of freedmen had ' a profusion of 
statues, a number of columns supporting nothing, nlaccd as 
an ornament merely on account of the expense : tnc water 
murmuring down steps, and the tloor of precious stones.' 
(Sen. Epist. lxxxvi.) Thcso baths of which Seneca speaks 
were private baths. 

Araminnus Marccllinus reckons sixteen public baths in 
Rome. Tho chief were thoso of Agrippa, Nero, Titus, 
Domitian, Antoninus Caracnlla, and Diocletian. Thcso 
edifices, differing, of course, in magnitude and splendour, 
and in the details of the arrangement, were all constructed 
on a common plan. They *tood among extensive gardens 
and walks, and wcro often surrounded by a portico, The 



BAT 



25 



BAT 



main building contained large halls for swimming and 
bathing, some for conversation, others for various athletic 
and manly exercises, and some for the declamation of poets 
and the lectures of philosophers ; in a word, for every species 
of polite and manly amusement. These noble rooms were 
lined and paved with marble, adorned with the most valu- 
able eolumns, paintings, and statues, and furnished with 
collections of books for the studious who resorted to them. 
(See Pompeii, published by the Society for the Diffusion of 
Useful Knowledge, vol. i.) Tbese baths, which were ealled 
Therms , are now all in ruins. Tbe host preserved are 
those of Titus, Diocletian, and 'Antoninus Caracalla. (See 



Life of Anton. CaracalL by 2E\. Spaitiamis.) Wc bete 
subjoin a plan of the baths of Caracalla. which were finished^ ' 
according to Euscbius, in the fourth year of that em- 
peror's reign. The most complete and elegant baths had 
generally the following apartments:— An apodytcrium, or 
room for undressing; an unctuarium, for the ointments; 
a sphsoristeriuin, or large room for exercises; a calida 
lavatio, or warm bath ; a laconicum, or hot room for sweat- 
ing; a tepidarium, or warm room with a tepid bath; and 
a frigidarium, which contained the cold bath : to these may 
be added rooms for feasting and conversation. (Cameron On 
Roman Baths.) 





j@n&, 





mmsmmmmfwmwmmwm 

oooo oooooooocoooooo OOOOO 000 OQOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOO 

[Plan of the Balhi of Came alia from the measurements of Palladio.] 




Scab tf EnflUh fYrf. 
too too 



A, a 'circular room, over which was a roof of copper; B, the Apodytcrium; C. the Xystus; D, the Piscina 
which served for the spectators and to contain tfie clothes of those who bathed ' 



, E, Vestibules on the side of the Piscina, 
F, Vestibules at entering the Thermae; on each side were libraries; 



G, O. Rooms where the wrestlers prepared for the exercises of the Palaestra, with a staircase to ascend to tlie upper story; II, H, the Peristyles, which 
we And In all tbe Roman Therms', having in the middle a Piscina for bathing; 1, 1, the Ephebium or place of exercise; K. K, the Elieotheslum, or 
Ehrothekiom (EXaj#*$i#7*ySnx'e*); L, L, Vestibules, over which there Is snothcr room with a Mosaic pavement j M, M, Laconicum; N, N, Warm 
Rath; O, O, Tepidarium ; P, P, FrlgMarium ; Q, Q. Rooms for the spectators and for the use of the wrvstlers; R, R. Exhcdrre for the philosophers; S, 
Stadium; T. T. Places tor heating the w«ter; U, U, Cells for bathing; W, W, Rooms for conversation ; X. X. Cisterns of three stories to receive 
rain-water: Y, Y, the Conisterium ; Z. Z, Recesses for ornament, and which served for the spectators to ait in; 1, Thcutre for the spectators to see the 
exercises In the open air; 3. Apartments of two stories for the use of those who had the care of the baths; 3,3, Exltednc, where the gymnastic exercises 
were tanght; 4,4. Rooms for those who exercised in the Stadium; 5,5, Atria to the academies; 6, fl. Temples; 7. 7* Academies; 8, 8, Arcades for the mas- 
ters to walk in, detached from the noise of tbe Pahcstra; 9,9, Coveted Baths; 10, 10, Stairs, &&, which led to the top; II, II, Stairs by which you ascended to 
the Pstastr*. 



Flaminius Vacea informs us that in 1471 there was to be 
seen in these baths an artificial island formed of marble, full 
of the remains of figures which had been caned on it. Near 
the island was a ship, with many figures in it, much broken. 
There was also a bathing vessel of granite. Two labra of 
granite, found in the same place, are now employed as 
fountains in the great square before the Farnese Palace at 
Rome. In these baths were also found the Farnese Her- 
cules and the great group of statues known by the name of 
the Farnese Bull. Besides the great granite eolumn now 
in the palace of S. Lorenzo at Florence, Pirancsi tells us 
that he saw, in the peristyle, two fountains enriched with 
the remains of bos reliefs. 



The provincial towns had also their baths, both publie 
and private. The public baths of Pompeii, which were dis- 
covered in 1 824, in a very perfeet state, throw much light 
on what the Roman writers, and especially Vitruvius, have 
written on the subject. The following description of them 
is taken from the second volume of the Pompeii, (published 
by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge), with 
a few verbal alterations, and sotno omissions. These baths 
occupy a spaco of about 100 feet square, and are divided 
into three separate and distinct parts. One of them was 
appropriated to the fire-places and to the servants of tbe 
establishment ; the other two were occupied eaeh by a set 
of baths contiguous to each other, similar, and adapted to 



No. 208. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol,IV\— E 



HAT 



26 



RAT 



tlto samo purposes, and supplied with lteat and water from 
the samo furnace, and from tlto same reservoir. The apart- 
ments ami passages are paved with whtto marblo in mosaic. 
It ts conjectured that the moro spacious of tho two sets of 
baths was for the use of tho men, the smaller for the women. 



Vitruvius (lib. v. cap. 10) says that the caldanum for tho 
women should be contiguous to that for tho men, and he 
exposed to tlto saroo aspect ; for thus tho same hynocauslutn, 
or stovo, may sufllcc fjr both. Auncxed is the plan of 
these Fompctan baths, situated near the Forum. 

1 VUcina, 




[Plan of tho Baths discovered in Pompeii* from the Museo Iiorbonico,] 



r 1. Piscina; 9. Street, over which vu an aqueduct to convey the water from 
the Piscina to tho bwilu ; 3, Entrauco to the baths of the men ; 4, Waterciosct { 
5, Cor tile, court, or vestibule to the baths; 6, Channel to collect tho rain- 
water from tho portico; 7, Colonnade round three sides of tho vestibule; 8, 
Seati under tho colonnade (£cAo/ir) ; 9, Occus or cxhedra ; 10, Pa wage toad* 
lng out of the baths; 11, watercioset ; 13, Entrance from the street of For- 
tune; IS, Passage leading into Uie Apodyterium ; 14, Apodyterium ; 15, Seats; 
16, Postage leading to the street; l7. tutronco from the street of th* arch ; 
18, Wardrobe; 19, Friuidarluna ; 90. Niches In the Frijiidarium ; 81, Alveus 
or v>ise of the Frigidarium ; 5?2, a bronze spout, through which tbe water rau 
Into tho AWeus ; 23, Pipe out of which the water escaped ; 84, Passages which 
tead from the Apodyterium to tho furnaces; i!5. Apartment for the utokert \ 
£6, Doorwav leading from this apartment to tho street of tho arch; 97. Fur- 
mice; 99, Calldarium, or boiler for liot water; 99, Tcpidariuro, or rcceptacic 



for tepvd water ; 30, Frtgidarium, or renerroir for cold water ; 31, Stairs leading 
to the boilers ; 33, Passage which leads from tho boilers to the court, where 
the fuel for Uie stoves was kept; 33, the court for fuel ; 34, Columns which 
supported the roofof tho conrt ; 35, Stairs which lead to the arched roofs of tho 
baths ; 36, Door opening into the street of tho Forum ; 37. Tepidarium ; 3", 
Place where the bronze brazier was found ; 39, Caldnrium, haTiim* a suspended 
or hollow floor ; 40, Laconlcum ; 41, I*abrom; 49, Hot Hath; 43, Eutrance 
to the baths for the women ; 44, Vestibulo with seats ; 45, Taj sage leading to 
tho Apodyterium; 46, Apodyterium; 47, Seat* In the same; 48, Frigldarium; 
49, Tepianrinm ; 50, Caldarfum with a hollow pa rem cut ; 61, Laconicum ; 
52, Labrnm ; 53, Hot Bath; 54, a small room, use unknown; 55, Street, called 
tho street of tho arch; 56, Stairs; 57* 53, Two small void* without any com- 
munication. 




[Section of lha Apodyterium and Frtgidarium of tho Men's Bath*. J 



1, Wmdow eloted wilh ©o« greal pana of glass; 2, Decorated ArchiTolt | Z. a place for a lamp | 4. SeaU of the Apodyterium with a raised step, serving 
as a footstool; 6, Hoiet in which wcra pegs lor tho dresses; 6, a Window; 7. Conical Celling of tha Frigidarium; 8, Niches; 9, Alveus or marble vase. 



Tlto piscina or reservoir wns separated at Pompeii from 
the baths themselves by the street which opens tuto tho 
forum. Tho pipe* which communicated between lite reser- 
voir and the bath passed over an arch thrown across lite 



street. There were three entrances to the furnaces which 
heated the warm and vapour-baths. Tho chief entranco 
opened upon a court of an Irregular figure, fit for containing 
wood and other necessaries for tho use of the establishment, 



BAT 



27 



B A T 



covered in part by a roof; the rafters of the roof rested at 
one end on the lateral walls, and at the other on two co- 
lumns, constructed with small pieces of stone. From henee 
a very small staircase led to the furnaces, and to the upper 
part of the baths. Another led to the small room, called 



the prcefurnium, into which projects the mouth of a furnace. 
In this room were the attendants on the furnace, or stokers 
(fornaearii), whose duty it was to keep up the fires. Here 
was found a quantity of pitch, used by the furnace-men to 
enliven the fires • the stairs in the room (25) led up to the 




[Section of the Caldarium of lhe Men'i Bath*.] 

ure by which the temperature wu regulated; 3, another window; 4, Laconicum; 5, 
hi 
pi 
13, Steps to ascend the batb. (i/««o BoHxmko, voL li.) 

coppers. The third entrance led from the apodyterium of 



1 , Window ; 9, a circular a] 
7, Leaden pipe 
covered with Mosaic ;" 10, Small 



lar aperti 
through which the water of the Labrum was either introduced or made its escape ; 8, HoUow walls of the Caldarium; 9, 



a place for a lamp ; 
u Caldarium; 9, Hollow pi 
iters which tnpport lhe pavement; 11, The communication between the hollow pavement and the furnace; 12, Hot Bath 



6, Labrum ; 
ollow pavement 



the men's haths bf means of a corridor (23). There is no 
communication between these furnaces and tho bath of the 
women, which was heated from them. The furnace was 
round, and had in the lower part of it two pipes, which trans- 
mitted hot air under the pavements, and between the walls 
of the vapour-baths, which were built hollow for that purpose. 
Close to the furnace, at the distance of four inches, a round 
vacant space still remains, in which was placed the copper 
{caldarium) for boiling water ; near which, with the same 
interval between them, was situated the copper for warm 
water {tepidarium) ; and at the distance of two feet from 
this was the receptacle (30) for cold water (frigidarium), 
wbieh was square, and plastered round tho interior, like the 
piscina or reservoir. A constant communication was main- 
tained between theso vessels, so that as fast as hot water 
was drawn olf from the caldarium, the void was supplied 
from the tepidarium, which being already considerably 
heated, did hut slightly reduce the temperature of tho hotter 
boiler. The tepidarium in its turn was supplied from the 
piscina, and that from the aqueduct. The term* frigida- 
rium, tepidarium, and caldarium were applied to the apart- 
ments in which the cold, tepid, and hot-baths were placed, 
as well as to tbe vessels already described under these re- 
spective names. The furnace and the coppers were placed 
between the men's baths and the women's baths, as near 
as possible to both, to avoid the waste of heat consequent 
on transmitting the fluids through a length of pipe. The 
coppers and reservoir were elevated considerably above the 
haths, to cause tho water to flow more rapidly into them. 

The men's hath had three public entrances (3,12,17). 
Entering at tbe principal one (12), which opens to the street 
leading to the forum, wc descend three steps into the (5) 
vestibule, cortile, or portico of the baths, along three sides of 
which runs a portico (ambulacrum). The seats (8), which 
are arranged round the walls, were for the slaves who ac- 
companied their masters to the baths, and for the servants 
of the baths themselves, to whom also the apartment (9) 
appears to have been appropriated. In this court was found 
the box for the quadrans, or piece of money, which was paid 
by each bather. Another door (17) leads to the same ves- 
tibule hy means of a corridor. From the Street of the Arch 
(55) we proceed through the passago (17) into tho apodyte- 
rium, or undressing-room £14.), which is also aeecssiblo by 
another corridor (13) from a street called the street of the 
arch : a vast number of lamps were found here. The eeiling 
of this passage is decorated with stars. The apodyterium has 
three seat3, made of lava, with a step to placo the feet on ; 
holes still remain in the wall, in which (it is conjectured) pegs 
were fixed for the bribers to hang their clothes upon. This 
room is highly decorated with stuccoed ornaments, relieved 
by colour. In tho centre of the end of the room is a small 
opening or recess, once covered with a piece of glass ; in this 
reeess, as is plain from the appearance of smoke, a lamp has 
been placed. In the arehholt, or vaulted roof, immediately 
* above, is a window two feet eight inches high, and tlirco 



feet eight inches broad, closed by a single pane of east glass 
two-fifths of an inch thick, fixed into die wall, and ground 
on one side : the floor is paved with wbitc marble worked 
in mosaic, and the eeiling divided into panncls. In this 
room there are six doors, one leading to the praefurnium, 
another into a small room, perhaps designed for a wardrobe, 
the third by a narrow passage into tbe street; tbe fourth 
to the tepidarium ; the fifth to the frigid ari urn ; and the 
sixth, along the corridor »o the v-'atib-ile or portico of the 
hath. 

The frigidariura (19), or cold-bath, is a round chamber, 
with a eeiling in the form of a truncated cone; near the 
top is a window from wbich it was lighted. The plinth, 
or base of the wall, is entirely of marble, and four niches are 
disposed round the room at equal distances; in these niches 
were seats (seholaj) for the convenience of the bathers. 
The basin (alvcus) is twelve feet ten inches in diameter, 
two feet nine inches deep, and entirely lined with white 
marble; two marble steps facilitate the descent into the 
basin, and at the bottom is a sort of cushion (pulvinus), also 
of marble, to enable those who bathed to sit down. The 
water ran into this bath in a copious stream, through a 
spout or lip of bronze four inches wide, placed in the wall 
three feet seven inches from the edge of the basin. At 
the bottom of the alvcus is a small outlet, for the purpose of 
emptying and cleansing it ; and in the rim thero is a waste 
pipe to carry off the superfluous water : like the apodyte- 
rium, the frigidarinm has been highly decorated, and is 
remarkable for its preservation and beauty. Tbe tepidarium 
(37), or warm-ehamber, adjoining the apodyterium, was so 
called, from a warm but soft and inild temperature, which 
prepared the bodies of the bathers for the more intense heat 
of the vapour and hot-baths, and vice versa, softened the 
transition from the hot-bath to the external air. This apart- 
ment is decorated with niches, divided hy tclara6nes [see 
Atlantks]. The room was highly enriched, both with stucco 
ornaments and colour, and was lighted by a window two 
feet six inehes high and three feet wide, in the bronze 
frame of which were found set four very beautiful panes of 
glass, fastened by small nuts and screws, very ingeniously 
contrived with a view to their being removed at pleasure. 
In this room a large bronze brazier and three bronze 
benches were found. A doorway led from the tepidarium 
into the caldarium, or vapour-bath (39) ; at one end was the 
laconicum, where a vase (41) for washing the hands and 
face was placed, called labrum ; on the opposite side of the 
room was the hot- bath, called lavacrum. Vitruvius, in ex- 
plaining the structure of the apartments, says, (cap. xi. 
lib. v.) *IIcre should be placed the vaulted sweating-room, 
twice the length of its width, which should have at one end 
the laconicum, made as described above, at the other end 
tho hot-hath.' This apartment is exactly as described, 
twice the length of its width, exclusively of the laconicum 
at one end, and the hot-bath at the other. The pavement 
and walls of the whole were made hollow, to admit the heat. 
Vitruvius never mentions the laconicum as being separated 

E 2 



B A T 



23 



BAT 



from tho vapour-bath ; it may thcreforo be presumed to 
have been always connected with it in his time, although in 
tho thermro constructed by the later emperors it appears 
always to havo formed a separate apartment. In tho baths 
of Pompeii they are united, and adjoin the tepidarium, in this 
respect exactly agreeing with the description of Vitruvius. 

The laconicum is a largo semicircular niche, seven feet 
wide, and three feet six inches deep, in tho middle of which 
was placed a vase, or lab rum. The ceiling was formed hy a 
quarter of a sphere; and it had on ono sido a circular open- 
ing one foot six inches in diamotcr, over which, according to 
Vitruvius, a shield of bronzo was suspended, which, hy means 
of a chain attached to it, could be drawn over, or drawn 
aside from tho aperture, and thus regulato the temperature 
of the bath. 

The laconicum at Pompeii docs not oxactly correspond 
with tho laconicum painted on tho walls of tho baths of 
Titus, and tho laconicum described by Vitruvius. In the 
laconicum of Pompeii there is no cupola, such as we see 
represented in the painting of the baths of Titus, nor aper- 
ture in the (loor, although the due in the hypocaustum runs 
beneath it. The brazen shield also is applied to regulate 
the escape of heat through the roof, not to admit or exclude 
tho smoke and llamo coming direct from "the furnace, as 
appears to have hecn the case in tho baths of Titus. The 



latter was a clumsy and dirty way of heating a room, and 
strangely at variance, if it wero really practised, with tho 
finished cleganco and luxury prevailing in every part of the 
Roman baths. Tho cupola in tho baths of Titus might, 
however, havo been a contrivance similar to our modern 
stoves for heating with hot air. Whero this cupola did not 
exist, tho room probahly was heated, as at Pompeii, by a 
larj»o brasier. Tho proper meaning of the word laconicum, 
whether it should bo applied to the cupola and clypeus, or 
to the room in which they wero placed, has been much 
disputed. It seems pretty certain that tho name laconicum, 
which meant,' in tho first instance, the small cupola with 
the clypeus, became afterwards the name for that part of 
the room for which it was originally placed, even aficr the 
cupola had fallen into disuse, possibly from the discovery of 
a better method of heating the room. 

"Where the ceiling of the laconicum joined tho ceiling of 
tho vapour-bath, there was immediately over tho centre of 
the vase, or labrum, a window three feet four inches wido ; 
and there were two square lateral windows in the ceiling of 
the vapour-bath, one foot four inches wide, and one foot 
high, from which the light fell perpendicularly on the labrum 
as recommended by Vitruvius, 'that the shadows of those 
who surrounded it might not be thrown upon the vessel/ 
(Vitruv.) 




^Representation of ) lathi, from the painting! discovered In the Balh» of Titus.} 



The labrum was a great basin, or round vase of white 
marble, rather more than five feet iu diameter, iuto which 
the hot water hubhlcd up through a pipe in its centre ; it 
served for the partial ablutions of those who took the vapour- 
hath. It was raised about three feet six inches above the 
level of the pavement, on a round base, built of small pieces 
of stone or lava, stuccoed and coloured. In the Vatican 
them is a magnificent porphyry labrum, found in one of the 
imperial baths; and Baeeius, a great modern authority on 
baths (oce his work De T/iennis* Venice, 1583, and Rome, 
1-02*2), speaks of labra made of glass. This apartment, 
liko the others, is highly enriched. The hot bath (42) on 
lho plan, occupied tho whole end of tho room opposito the 
laconicum and next to the furnaco. It was four feet four 
inches long, and one foot eight inches deep, constructed 
entirely of marhlc, with only one pipe to introduce the water, 
and was elevated two steps above tho (loor, while a single 
step led down into tho hath itself, forming a continuous 
bench round it for tho convenieneo of tho hathers. 

The Rinnans, who, according to Vitruvius, called their 
vapour-baths caldaria, or sudationcs concamcratro, con- 
structed them with suspended or hollow doors, and with 
hollow walls communicating with tho furnace, that the smoke 
and hot air might be spread over a large surface, and rea- 
dily raise them to the required warmth. The temperature 
was regulated by the clypeus or bronzo shield already de- 
scribed, which acted as a Ventilator. 

In tho baths of Pompeii, the hollow floors are thus con- 
structed : upon a (loor of cement, made of limo and pounded 
bricks, wero built small hrick pillars, nine inches square, 
and one foot seven inches high, supporting strong tiles, 
fifteen inches squaro; tho pavement was laid on these tiles, 
and incrusted with mosaic. The hollow walls, the void 
spaces of which communicated with tho hollow of the sus- 
pended pavement, wero constructed in the following man- 
ner. Upon tho walls large square tiles were fastened, by ■ 
inoans of iron clamps. Theso tiles were inado in a curious j 
manner; while tho clay was moist, some circular instrument [ 



was pushed through tho tiles, so as to make a hole, at the 
same time forcing out the clay, and forming a hollow pro- 
jection or pipe, about three inches long, on the inside of tho 
tile: theso being made at tho four corners, iron clamps 
passed through them, and fastened them to the wall. 
The sides of the apartments heing thus formed, were after- 
wards carefully stuccoed and painted. The hollow space in 
the walls of the bath at Pompeii reaches to the top of the 
cornice; but the ceilings are not hollow, as in the baths 
which Vitruvius described, and which he distinguishes, for 
that reason, by the name of concameratcc. The ceilings of 
the ttpodytcrium, tepidarium, and the ealdarium aro arched. 




fTtanivrrwj Section of the ApodyUrhim.} 

The women's bath resembles very much that of the men, 
and differs only in heing smaller and less ornamented : for 
au account of it, we refer to Gell's Pomjyeii, the Museo Bor- 
bom'co, and Pompeii published by tho Society for the Dif- 
fusion of Useful Knowledge. 

YitruviuB recommends a situation for baths, which is de- 
fended from tho north and north-west winds, and he says 
that the windows should bo opposite the south, or, if the 
nature of the ground will not permit this, at least towards 
the south, becauso the hours of bathing among the Romans 
being from after mid-day till evening, those who bathed 



BAT 



29 



BAT 



could by these windows have the advantage of the rays and 
the heat of the declining sun. Accordingly the batbs just 
described have the greater part of their windows turned 
to the south, and are constructed in a low part of the city, 
where the adjoining buildings served as a protection from 
the north-west winds'. 

The baths at Rome were on a much larger scale. Tbe 
public baths of Caracalla were 1500 feet in length, and 
1250 in breadth- 'at each end were two temples, one to 
Apollo, and another to Esculapius, as the tutelary deities 
of the place {genii tulelares), sacred to the improvement of 
the mind, and the care of the body; the two other temples 
were dedicated to the two protecting divinities of the Anto- 
nine family, Hercules and Bacchus. In the principal build- 
ing were, in tbe first place, a grand circular vestibule, with 
four halls on each side, for cold, tepid, warm, and steam 
baths ; in the centre was an immense square for exercise, 
when the weather was unfavourable to it in the open air; 
beyond it a great hall, where 1600 marble seats were placed 
for the convenience of tbe bathers ; at each end of this hall 
were libraries. This building terminated on both sides in a 
court surrounded with porticos, with an odeum for music, 
and in the middle a spacious basin for swimming. Round 
this edifice were walks shaded by rows of trees, particularly 
the plane ; and in its front extended a gymnasium for run- 
ning, wrestling, &c. in fine weather. The whole was 
bounded by a vast portico, opening into exhedrae or spacious 
halls, where the poets declaimed, and philosophers gave 
lectures to their auditors. This immense fabric was adorned, 
within and without, with pillars, stucco-work, paintings, and 
statues. The stucco and paintings arc yet in many places 
perceptible. Pillars have been dug np, and some still re- 
main amidst the ruin ; while the Farnesian bull and tbe fa- 
mous Hercules, found in one of these halls, announce the 
multiplicity and beauty of the statues which once adorned 
the Thermso of Caracalla/ (Eustace's Classical Tour, vol. 
i. p. 22G.) For an account of the baths of Titus and Dio- 
cletian, see the same author. 

On entering these baths the bathers first proceeded to 
undress. Tlieynext went to the elacothesium (the oil-cham- 
ber), as it was called in Greek, or unctuarium, where tbey 
anointed themselves all over with a coarse cheap oil before 
they began their exercise. (Plin. xv. c. 4 & 7.) Here the 
finer odoriferous ointments which were used on coming out 
of the bath were also kept (Plin. 1. ii. Epist. 41.) and the 
room was so situated as to receive a considerable degree of 
heat. This chamber of perfumes was full of pots, like an apo- 
thecary's shop ; and those who wished to anoint and perfume 
the body received perfumes and unguents. In the repre- 
sentation of a Roman bath, copied from a painting on a 
wall fprming part of the baths of Titus, the unctuarium, 
called al>o eloeothesium, appears filled with a vast number of 
vases. Tbe vases contained a great variety of perfumes and 
balsams. When anointed, the bathers passed into the 
sphacristerium, a very light and extensive apartment, in 
which were performed the various kinds of exercises to 
which this part of the baths was appropriated. (Plin. lib. 
i. Epist. 101.) When its situation permitted, this apartment 
was exposed to the afternoon sun, otherwise it was supplied 
with heat from tho furnace. (Plin. 1. 11. Epist. 41.) After 
the exercise, they went to the adjoining warm-bath, wherein 
they sat and washed themselves. The seat was below the 
surface of tho water, and upon it they scraped themselves 
with instruments [called strigiles, which were usually made 
of bronze, but sometimes of iron or brass. (Martial, lib. xiv. 
Epig. 51.) This operation was performed by an attendant 
slave. The use of the strijjil is represented on a vase, 
found lately on the estate of Lucicn Buonaparte at Canino. 
The vase is large and shallow, and painted within and 
without. (Vol. i. p. 183. Pompeii.) From the drawings on 
it we learn that the bathers sometimes used the strigils 
themselves, after which they rubbed themselves witb their 
Hands, and then were washed from head to foot, by pails 
or vases of water being poured over them. They were 
then carefully dried with cotton and linen cloths, and 
covered with a light shaggy mantle, called gausape. Effe- 
minate persons had the hairs of their bodies pulled out with 
tweezers. When they were thoroughly dried, and their 
nails cut, slaves came out of the elceothcsium, carrying 
with them little vases of alabaster, bronze, and terracotta, 
full of perfumed oils, with which they had their bodies 
anointed, by causing tho oil to be slightly rubbed over 



every part, even to the soles of their feet. After this they 
resumed their clothes. On quitting the warm-bath tbey 
went into the tepidarium, and either passed very slowly 
through or stayed some time in it, that they might not too 
suddenly expose their bodies to the atmosphere in thefrigi- 
darium; for these last rooms appear to have been used 
chiefly to soften the transition from the intense heat of the 
caldarium to the open air. 

'It is probable that the Romans resorted to the baths, 
at the same time of the day tbat others were accustomed to 
make use of their private baths. This was generally from 
two o'clock in the afternoon till the dusk of the evening, at 
which time the baths were shut till two tbe next day. Tins 
practice however varied at different times. Notice was given 
wben the' batbs were ready, by the ringing of a bell; the 
people then left the sphseristerium, and hastened to the 
caldarium, lest the water should cool. (Martial, lib. xiv. Epig. 
163.) But when bathing became more universal among 
the Romans, this part of the day was insufficient, and they 
gradually exceeded the hours that had been allotted for tbat 
purpose. Between two and three in the afternoon was, how- 
ever, tbe most eligible time for the exercises of tbe pa- 
laestra. Hadrian forbade any but those who were sick to 
enter the public baths beforo two o'clock. Tbe therm as 
were by few emperors allowed to be continued open so late 
as five in the evening. Martial says, that after four o'clock 
they demanded a hundred quadrantes of those wbo bathed. 
This, though a hundred times the usual price, only amounted 
to nineteen-pence. We learn from the same author, that 
the baths were opened sometimes earlier than two o'clock. 
He says that Nero's baths were exceeding hot at twelve 
o'clock, and the steam of the water immoderate. (Mart, 
lib. x. Epig. 48.) Alexander Severus, to gratify the people 
in tbeir passion for bathing, not only suffered the thermae 
to be opened before break of day, which had never been 
permitted before, but also furnished the lamps with oil, for 
tbe convenience of the people/ (See Cameron On Roman 
Baths, p. 40.) 




[Coin representing the Baths of Alexander Severus.] 

The thermsowere constructed at avast expense, and prin- 
cipally for the use of the poorer classes, though all ranks 
frequented them for the sake of the various conveniences* 
which they contained. 

1 Nothing relating to the thermic has more exercised the 
attention of the learned than the manner of supplying the 
great number of bathing vessels made use of in them with 
warm water. For, supposing each cell of Diocletian's baths 
large enough to contain six people, yet, even at that mode- 
rate computation, 18,000 persons might be bathing at the 
same time; and as no vestiges remain of any vessels in the 
therma;, to give the least foundation for conjecturing iu 
what manner this was performed, it has been generally re- 
ferred to the same, process described b? Vitruvius on a 
similar subject. 

* Baccius has more professedly treated this subject than 
any modern author. He imagined that tbe water might be 
derived from the castella, which he observed to be situated 
without the tbermac ; but as these castella were upon a level 
with tho therma) themselves, he thinks for that reason they 
were obliged to make use of machines to raise the water to 
such a height, as he observed it to have been by tbe ruins 
of Diocletian's baths. What led Baccius into this way of 
thinking was tbe number of pipes which he saw dug up 
under the open area, where there had never been any build- 
ings, all of them surrounded with flues from the hypo- 
caustum. He therefore imagined that the water was heated 
on the outside of the therma) ; but this supposition appeared 
so full of diflicultics, as, upon reflection, to discourage him 
from inquiring any farther into the subject.' (Cameron.) By 
the assistance of two sections of the castella of Antoninu-s 



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30 



B A T 



drawn l>y Pirane&i, Cameron endeavours toshon tho method I ' To have a dear conception of the manner in which this 
adopted by the Romans to heat tho larce bxlics of water was executed, it will be necessary to refer to a plate of these 
which their extensive thonruo must have required. | two sections. 




iar ir 45T If-lii 





tKlfcs to the Floor* »n4 Wait*. — [Specimen of Hollow Pave- 
From CnmiTou] tnent.— From Camcroo.] 

' Tlic castellum of the therm© of Antoninus Caracalla 
was supplied with water by tho aqueduct of Antoninus. 
Two of the arches of this aqueduct are represented at A J 
B is a cistern which received the water from tho aqueduct; 
C is an aperture for permitting the descent of tho water from 
the receptacle to tho chamber below ; D is a receptacle with 
a mosaic pavement, wherein the water was exposed to the 
heat of the sun ; E is another aperture through which tho 
water passed into the lowest chambers placed immediately 
over the hypocaustum ; F, the hypocaustum ; O ( doors 
for introducing the fuel. A transverse section through the 
middle of the samo eastcllum is given at H. 

4 By the plan of this eastcllum, it appears that there were 
twenty-eight of these vaulted rooms placed over the hypo- 
caustum : they were placed in two rows, fourteen on a side, 
and had all a communication with each other. The sections 
show, (hat over these were twenty-eight other rooms, having 
likewise a communication with each other, although only 
ono of them had any communication with the chambers 
below, through the aperture at E. Upon the top of all was 
a spacious receptacle, not very deep, but extending the 
whole length of the eastcllum, in which tho water was con- 
siderably heated by the influence of the sun, before it passed 
.into the several chambers. This receptacle received its 
water from the cistern B, and not immediately from the 
aqueduct. The use of this cistern appears to havo consisted 
in promoting a more gentlo tlow of the water into the re- 
ceptacle, that its surface might not be milled by the least 
agitation, as that would very much have counteracted the 
purposes to which the receptacle was applied, nothing con- 
tributing so much as tranquillity in the water to acquire all 
the advantages from the influence of the sun its situation 
would permit "When there was no efflux from the inferior 
chambers, there could be no demands for water from tho re- 
ceptacle, which would have been liable to overllow wero 
there not an aperture in the sirto of the cistern, through 
which the water ran off in different directions from that 
which was used for bathing. During all this time the 
water in tho receptacle would be in the most perfect state of 
rest Tho cistern, therefore, answered two material pur- 
poses, as it prevented any agitation in the water of the re- 
ceptacle, and likewise carried off what was superfluous. 
Tho twenty-eight vaulted chambers, placed immediately 
over tho hypocaustum, would now begin to be heated, which 
heat they would acquire so much tho quicker, as only ono 
of them had any communication with the cxtcriral air by 
the apertures C and E 
strueted upon tho same 
strength of the walls an' 
the force of tho rarefaction of the air in tho water, and con- 
sequently to prevent any loss from evaporation. Flues were 
still necessary to give the water a heat sufficient for bathing. 
The arched chambers wero also supplied with Hues, N N, from 



Trntmrrio 
A ditto. 



* o- 

*,ScetIoni of Ihe CantcUum of An Ionium C«r«calb-— From Cameron. 1 

the hypocaustum, and served as a reservoir of tepid water for 
those below. The water they received was likewiso heated 
by the sun. When tho time for bathing was come, the eoelcs 
were turned to admit the hot water from the lower chambers 
into the labra of the baths, to which it would run with great 
velocity, and ascend a perpendicular height in tho thcrmce, 
equal to the surface of the receptaclo in the castellum. The 
current would be accelerated by the great tendency the 
water would have to expand itself after having been eon- 
fined in tho ehamhers. The pressure of tho column of tepid 
water was equal to, if not greater than the diameter of the 
column of hot water which ran out from the chambers below. 
To prevent the water cooling as it passed through tho tubes 
underground, they were all carefully gurrounded with flues 
from the prcefumium, so that these tubes were in the centre 
of a funnel, and always considerably heated before the water 
entered them. Each of these chambers was, within the walls, 
forty-nine feet six inches long, by twenty-seven feet six inches 
wide, and about thirty high ; the numher of superficial feet 
in the bottom of the rooms being 38,1)5. If we allow thirty 
feet for the mean height, the whole quantity of water in 
these lower rooms will amount to t, 143,450 cubic feet, and 
the like quantity must be allowed for the upper rooms ; 
allowing, therefore, eight cubic feet of warm water as suffi- 
cient for one man to bathe in, and that water preserved in a 
bathing heat in the lahrum half an hour, the whole con- 
sumption of hot water, in this given time, for IS.000 people, 
would be 144.000 enhic feet By this calculation there 
would be a sufficient quantity of water for three hours, or 
until five in the evening, for 1 08,000 people. The water, 
however, would gradually cool as it flowed in from the higher 
chambers. 

•We have no intimation from tho anticnts when they firs* 
fell upon this expedient for heating such large 1 todies of 
water, whether it was the invention of the Romans or brought 
from tho East We may reasonably suppose, that ns it was 
not necessary before the public warm-baths wero built in 
Home, it was not more antient than the time of Augustus, 
in whose reign we are told by Dion Cassius (lib. lv.) thnt 
Mecicnas first instituted a swimming-bath of warm water, 
or a calida piscina.* (Cameron.) 

But few Roman citizens in easy circumstances were with- 
out the luxury of a private bath, which varied in their con- 
struction according to tho taste or prodigality of their owner. 
•Amongst many articles of luxury for which l'liny censures 
the ladies of his time, he takes notice of their bathing- rooms 
being paved with silver. Even tho metal tines of the hypo- 
caustum wero gilt* (Sec Cameron On Roman Baths* For 
an account of the privato baths, seo Pompeii, vol. i. p. 1 99.) 

The Persian manner of bathing, in some respects, is not 
unlike that adopted by tho antient Romans. Sir It. Kcr 
Porter describes it in the following terms:— 'Tho bather 
having undressed in the outer room, and retaining nothing 



BAT 



31 



BAT 



about him but a piece of loose cloth round bis waist, is con- 
ducted by the proper attendant into the hall of the bath ; a 
large white sheet is then spread on the floor, on which the 
bather extends himself; the attendant brings from the cis- 
tern, which is warmed from the boiler below, a succession of 
pails of water, which he continues to pour over the bather 
until he is well drenched and heated; the attendant then 
takes bis employer's head upon his knees, and rubs in with 
all his might a sort of wet paste of henna plant into the 
mustachios and beard ; in a few minutes this pomado dyes 
them a bright red. Again he has recourse to the little pail, 
and showers upon his quiescent patient another torrent of 
warm water ; then, putting on a glove of soft hair, yet pos- 
sessing some of the scrubbing-brush qualities, he first takes 
the limbs and then the body, rubbing them hard for three- 
quarters of an hour: a third splashing from the pail prepares 
the operation of the pumice stone ; this he applies to the 
soles of the feet. The next process seizes the hair of the 
face, whence the henna is cleansed away, and replaced by 
another paste called rang, composed of the leaves of the in- 
digo plant. To this succeeds the shampooing, which is done 
by pinching, pulling, and rubbing with so much forco and 
pressuro as to produce a violent glow over the whole frame. 
This over, the shampooed body, reduced again to its pro* 
strate state, is rubbed all over with a preparation of soap con- 
fined in a bag till it is one mass of lather. The soap is then 
washed off with warm water, when a complete ablution suc- 
ceeds by his being led to the cistern and plunged in. He 
passes five or six minutes enjoying the perfectly pure ele- 
ment; and then, emerging, has a large dry sheet thrown 
over him, in which he makes his escape back to the dressing 
room/ (Sir R. Ker Porter's Travels, vol. i. p. 231.) For a 
representation of shampooing in a Turkish bath, see the 
first volume of plates belonging to the great Frenoh work 
on Egypt. {Etta Moderne.) 

The Russian baths, as used by the common people, bear 
a close resemblance to the laconicum of the Romans. * They 
usually consist of wooden houses, situated, if possible, by the 
sido of a running stream. In the bath-room is a large 
vaulted oven, which when heated makes the paving-stones 
lying upon it red hot, and adjoining to the oven is a kettle 
fixed in masonry, for the purpose of holding boiling water. 
Round about tho walls are three or four rows of benches, one 
above another, like the scats of a scarrold. The room has 
little light, but here and there are apertures for letting the 
vapour escape ; the cold water that is wanted is let in by 
small channels. Some baths have an ante -chamber for 
dressing and undressing, but in most of them this is done 
in the open court -yard, which has a boarded fence, and is 
provided with benches of planks. In those parts of the 
country where wood is scarco they sometimes consist of 
wretched caverns, commonly dug in the earth close to 
the bank of some river. In the houses of wealthy indi- 
viduals, and in the pa/aces of the great, they are constructed 
in the same manner, but with superior elegance and con- 
venience. The heat in the bath-room is usually from 32° to 
40° of Reaumur, and this may be much increased by throw- 
ing water on the glowing hot stones in the ehamber of the 
oven. Thus the heat often rises to 44° of Reaumur. The 
bathers lie quite naked on one of the benches, where they 
perspire more or less, in proportion to the heat of the humid 
atmosphere in which they are enveloped ; while, to promote 
perspiration, and more completely open the pores, they are 
first rubbed, then gently flagellated with leafy bunches of 
bircb. After remaining" for some time in this state, they 
come down from the sweating-bench and wash their bodies 
with warm or cold water, and at last plunge overhead in a 
tuh of water. Many persons throw themselves immediately 
from tbc bath-room into the adjoining river, or roll themselves 
in the snow in a frost of 10° or more. The Russian baths 
am therefore {coneamerata* sudaiio?ies) sweating-baths; not 
of a moderate warmth, like the Roman tcpidaria or caldaria, 
but very violent sweating-baths, which, to a person not 
habituated to tho practiec, brins on a real, though a gentle 
and almost voluptuous swoou? (Tooke's Russia.) [See 
Bathing.] 

The savage tribes of America are not wholly unacquainted 
with the use of the vapour-bath. Lewis and Clarke, in their 
voyage up the Missouri, have described ono of them in the 
following terms :— * We observed a vapour-bath or sweating- 
house in a different form from that used on the frontiers of 
the United States or in tho Roeky Mountains. It was a 
hollow square of six or eight feet deep, formed in the river 



bank by damming up with mud the other three sidos, ant) 
covering the whole completely, except an aperture about 
two feet wide at the top. The bathers descend by this hole, 
taking with them a number of heated stones and jugs of 
water ; and, after being seated round the room, throw the 
water on the stones till the steam becomes of a temperature 
sufficiently high for their purposes. The baths of the 
Indians in the Rocky Mountains arc of different sizes, the 
most common being made of mud and sticks like an oven ; 
but the mode of raising the steam is exactly the same. 
Among both theso nations it is very uncommon for a man 
to bathe alone ; he is generally accompanied by one, or some- 
times several, of his acquaintance ; indeed it is so essentially 
a social amusement, that to decline going in to bathe when 
invited by a friend is one of the highest indignities that can 
be offered to him. The Indians on the frontiers generally 
use a bath which will accommodate only ono person, and is 
formed of wicker-work, about four feet high, arched at the 
top and covered with skins, Almost universally, these baths 
are in the neighbourhood of running water, into which the 
Indians plunge immediately on coming out of the vapour- 
bath, and sometimes return again and subject themselves to 
a second perspiration ; and the bath is employed by them 
either for pleasure or health, being in esteem for all kinds of 
disease.' 

In France there are baths in .all the towns ; and bathing 
is practised more than in Germany or England, where baths 
are rare. There are but few baths in London, and those 
established there- would not suffice for a small fraction of 
tho population, if bathing were a common* practice. Still of 
late years baths have increased both in London and Eng- 
land generally. 

Antient Roman baths have been found in several of the 
Roman villas in England; that at Northleigh in Oxford- 
shire, near Blenheim, is the most perfect. (See the account 
of the villa at Northleigh, Oxfordshire, by Mr. Hakewiil.) 
Baths have been discovered also at Wroxeter in Shropshire, 
and near Arundel in Sussex. In the former, the suspended 
pavement was very perfect : in the centre of a chamber in 
that near Arundel is an octagon bath sunk in the floor, the 
pulvinus of which is quite perfect. There are also some 
curious Roman baths at Vallogne in Normandy. 

(Seo Montfaucon, Antiq. t. lii. pi, 2 ; Cameron's Roman 
Baths ; Gell's Ponmeii; Museo Borbonico; Pompeii, by the 
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; Eustaco's, 
Classical Tour.) 

BATHGATE, a burgh and parish in the county and 
presbytery of Linlithgow, 18 miles west of Edinburgh, 24 
east of Glasgow, and 6 south of Linlithgow. The great road 
between Edinburgh and Glasgow passes by the southern 
extremity of the town. This road is distinguished for its 
singular levclncss and firmness, and it may also claim a not 
inconsiderable antiquity, it being no doubt the same passage 
which was travelled by the monks of the abbey of Newbotie 
under the grant mado to them in 1333, by Walter the 
Steward of Scotland, that they might freely pass with their 
carriages through his barony of Bathgate from their mo- 
nastery to the monkland. (Chalm. Caled. vol. ii. p. 863.) 
Bathgate has been on the inerease for many years past, 
wbieh may be ascribed to a branch of the Glasgow eotton 
manufactures being established in it; to. extensive eoal 
and lime works in the immediate vieinity; to its admi- 
rable situation for grain and cattle markets (both well 
attended) ; to the great intercourse through it between the 
two cities above mentioned ; and to other causes. It is a 
very healthy place, hns a fine southern exposure, and is 
seen at a considerable distance to the west and south. The 
streets of the town arc well-paved, the houses generally 
well-built and covered with slates or tiles, and the inhabit- 
ants are copiously supplied with excellent water, brought 
from the neighbourhood in leaden conduits. Gas-works 
were lately erected for lighting the town. The publie build- 
ings are, the parish church, a very plain edifice; three eha- 
pclsfor Dissenters (Rcliofand Burghers) ; a fine academy; 
parish school ; jail ; two masonic lodges, &c. The Earl of 
Hopetoun is patron of the parish. The academy, which 
stands on an elevation, a little to the south-east of the town, 
overlooking the great road, was erected about two years ago 
from funds hcqueathed by the late John Newlands, Esq., of 
Kingston, Jamaica, a native of the town. These are vested 
in the parish minister, and three neighbouring proprietors 
(Sir William Baillie, Bart., Mr. Majoribanks, and Mr. 
Gillon, M.P.), whose attention to the trust reposed in them 



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32 



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is deserving of much praise. The system of education 
adopted in this institution is of the most apposed kind, and 
the manner in which it is conducted reflects great credit on 
the rector and other teacher*. Instruction, in all the useful 
and learned branches, is obtained gratis ; ample funds, for 
paying tho teachers' salaries, being placed by Mr. Newlands 
in his trustees* hands for that benevolent purpose. All the 
youths of the parish, with the exception of such as have 
hot been three years resident, enjoy the benefit of it. The 
railway, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, is to pass close to 
the town, and will, when completed, bo of incalculable ad- 
vantage to the district. The population of tho town in 1831 
was 2492, and it has increased since; the population of the 
parish was 3593. Under the Reform Act, tho voters in the 
burgh join those in the county in electing a representative in 
parliament. Tin's circumstance has tended much to raise 
the place into importance. 

Bathgate has been a ' free burgh of barony ' since 1663, 
in which year King Charles II, granted its charter ; and in 
1S24 an act of Parliament was obtained, erecting it into a 
* free and independent burgh/ and vesting tho magistracy 
in a provost, three bailies, a treasurer, twelve councillors, 
town cleric, and procurator fiscal. These are chosen by the 
free votes of the burgesses : the qualification is less than 
that fixed by tho Reform Act. Nowhere, in so short a 
spaco (ten years), have the benefits of popular and annual 
election of magistrates been so well exemplified. At a small 
expense to the inhabitants, the streets and wells aro now 
kept in the best order, and the police of the town properly 
preserved. Bathgate has been a sheriffdom from a remote 
period. In 1530-1 Sir James Hamilton, of Finnart, ob- 
tained a charter of the office of sheriff of Renfrew, within 
the parish and barony of Bathgate, on the resignation of 
William Lord Scmpil, hereditary sheriff of Renfrewshire ; 
and in June, 1663, King Charles II. granted the barony to 
Thomas Hamilton of Bathgate, with the office of sheriff of 
Bathgate. In 1747, when the heritable jurisdictions were 
bought up, the sheriffship of Bathgate was hereditary in 
the noble family of Hope of Hopetoun, heritable sheriff of 
the shire of Linlithgow; and since the Jurisdiction Act 
tlio two shires have been under the same sheriffs, whoso 
commission from the Crown styles him ' Sheriff of the 
Sheriffdom of Linlithgow and Bathgate/ In tho immediate 
vicinity, and near to the new academy, is tho site of an 
anticnt castle, traditionally said to have been given by King 
Robert the Bruce to his daughter Marjory, along with ex- 
tensive possessions in the neighbourhood, as part of her 
dowry, upon her marriage with Walter, the Great Steward 
of Scotland. From these illustrious persons the Stuart race 
sprung ; and from them the present royal family of Great 
Britain. {Communication from Bathgate,) 

(Further particulars will be found in Sir John Sinclair's 
Statistical Account of Scotland; Penney' s Linlithgow- 
shire; Chambers's Gazetteer, <£-c, <J*c.) 

BATHING, means the temporary surrounding of the 
body,or a part of it, with a medium different from that in which 
it is usually placed. The means employed for this purpose 
arc generally water, watery vapour, or air of a temperature 
different from that of the common atmosphere. The objects 
for which these are employed aro usually the prevention of 
disease, the cure of disease, or the pleasure derived from 
the operation. To understand in what way these ends aro 
accomplished, we must observe that the human frame is 
endowed with a power of maintaining, within certain limits, 
a nearly uniform temperature in whatever circumstances it 
is placed. The general temperature of an adult in a state 
of perfect health is from 97° to 98° of Fahrenheit's thermo- 
meter ; that of a new-born infant about94°. In some cases 
of disease the temperature rises far above this standard, 
even to 106°, whilo in others it sinks far below it. Tho 
power by which the body maintains a uniformity of tempo- 
rature is the property of "developing animal heat, the perfec- 
tion of which function is intimately connected with the state 
of the nervous system, and through that, with the circulation. 
When the body is well nourished and the circulation vigorous, 
the temperature is high, and nearly equal over all parts of the 
body, provided the supply of nervous energy bo adequate. 
If anything impairs the vigour of the circulation generally, 
or of an artery going to a particular limb (as when it is tied 
in tho operation of aneurism), the temperature of the whole 
or of the part will be low. On the other hand, if the whole 
nervous system be impaired, a lower temperature will prevail 
generally, and especially at the extremities ; or if a particular 



limb, such as a paralysed limb, havo an imperfect share of 
nervous energy, a lower temperutnre of the part will exist. 
The respiratory function is also intimately connected with 
the development Of animal heal, and the skin assists in re- 
gulating it, especially in reducing it when too high. When 
the body is placed in a medium of a tempcraturo much 
lower than itself, the heat is abstracted from the surface with 
more or less rapidity, according to the difference of tempera- 
ture, and, if the medium be air, according to its state of 
humidity or dryness; the effect of which would be a reduction 
of the temperature of the whole body, were it not counteracted 
by an increased development of animal heat. Again, when 
the body is surrounded by a medium much higher than 
itself, the exhalation from the surface, both of the skin and 
lungs, is greatly augmented: that from the former being 
thrown off in the form of perspiration, that of tho latter in 
tho form of vapour. ' The evaporation attending these pro- 
cesses causes a reduction of temperature. As illustrations 
of tho truth of these two positions, we need not do more 
than alludo to the nearly equal temperature of the body 
maintained by Sir Joseph Banks, Sir Charles Blagdcn, Dm. 
Fordyce and Solandcr, in their experiments, when the heat 
of the room was 2C0° of Fahrenheit (see Animal Physiology, 
Library of Useful Knowledge, part i. p. 3), and that main- 
tained during the winter by the members of the expeditions 
under Captains Ross, Parry, and Franklin, when the ther- 
mometer frequently fell to 51° below zero of Fahrenheit. 

In a moderate temperature the animal heat is generally 
prevented from rising too high by means of the insensible 
perspiration, the quantity of which varies with circumstances. 
According to the experiments of Seguin, the largest quan- • 
tity from the skin and lungs together amounted to thirty-two 
grains per minute, or three ounces and a quarter per hour, 
or five pounds per day. The medium quantity was fifteen 
grains per minute, or Uiirty-tbree ounces in twentv-four 
hours. The quantity exhaled increases after meals, during 
sleep, in dry warm weather, and by friction, or whatcvci 
stimulates the skin ; and it diminishes when digestion is 
impaired, and the body is in a moist atmosphere. These 
last-mentioned circumstances prove the sympathy which 
subsists between tho skin and the internal organs. l*be skhi 
must not, therefore, be regarded as a mere covering of the 
body, but as an organ, the healthy condition of which is of 
vast importance to the well-being of the whole frame, but 
especially of the stomach and lining membrane of the lungs, 
with which, as mucous membranes, it has the closest sym- 
pathy. It also sympathizes with the kidncjs, the quantity 
of discharge from which is regulated by the action of the 
skin. Hence in summer, when the perspiration from the 
skin is abundant, the secretion from the kidneys is less ; and 
when, in winter, the secretion from the skin is diminished, 
that from the kidneys is increased. 

The perspiration is the' channel by which salts and other 
principles, no longer useful in the system, are removed from 
it. According to Thenard, it consists of a large quantity of 
water, a small quantity of an acid, which according to cir- 
cumstances may be cither the acetic, lactic, or phosphoric; 
and some salts, chictly hydro-chlorates of soda and potass. 
Taking the lowest estimate of Lavoisier, the skin appears to 
be endowed with the power of removing from the system, in 
the space of twenty-four hours, twenty ounces of waste : the 
retention of this in the system is productive of great injury, 
and the inconvenience is only lessened by the increased 
action of some internal organ, which becomes oppressed by 
the double load thus cast upon it Even the retention of 
tho perspired matter close to the skin, from neglect of 
changing the clothes, is the source of many cutaneous dis- 
eases, particularly in spring and summer. 

The great vascularity of tho skin, and the manner in 
which the vessels of this part are influenced by affections of 
tho mind, as in blushing, when it becomes red from more 
blood being sent to it, and during fear when less blood goes to 
it, and more to the vicarious organs, as the kidneys, point out 
how an exposure to a cold and damp atmosphere and how 
mental emotions arc concerned in producing morbid action of 
this organ. The skin must also be regarded as a net-work of 
nervous filaments, and the most extensive organ of sensa- 
tion : in this way it enables us to judge of heat and cold, 
though not with absolute certainty, as the sensation con- 
veyed will depend upon tho temperature of the medium in 
winch the l>ody or any of the limbs may have been placed 
immediately before. To understand this doctrine, it is ne- 
cessary to be acquainted with the action of heat and cold on 



BAT 



33 



BAT 



the human system ; in our explanation of which, we will 
endeavour to be as concise as possible. We treat first of 
cold ; in doing which it is necessary to distinguish between 
the immediate primary action of cold on the organ or part 
with which it is brought into eontact, and the secondary 
action, depending upon the organic activity residing in the 
part, or that train of effects usually denominated re-action. 
The primary effect is always the same, consisting in the 
abstraction of heat from the part, and the consequent re- 
duction of its temperature, while the internal development 
of heat becomes greater, so that the organic life strives ever 
to maintain an equilibrium between the conflicting powers, 
in order that it may not be limited or disturbed in its 
healthy action. Yet it must be remembered, that both the 
external and internal degree of the primary action of cold, 
as also the period in which it slowly or suddenly shows 
itself, and the time, whether longer or shorter, that it lasts, 
occasion a variety of effects, both in the part to which 
it is applied, and those more immediately sympathizing with 
it, as well as in the whole system. The degree of primary 
action of cold can vary in endless degrees, from the lowest, 
where it scarcely affects the sensibility, to the highest, when 
it utterly destroys life. This difference of degree depends 
upon the concurrence of several circumstances, partly re- 
lating to the action of the cold itself, and partly to the nature 
of the organic life upon which the cold operates. The essen- 
tial conditions which must be here borne in mind are, that 
the eontinual evolution of animal heat is closely connected 
with the development or exercise of animal life ; and that 
the power or extent of action of external media, having a 
lower temperature than that of the animal they surround, 
depends less on the absolute degree of their temperature 
than upon the quantity of caloric which they ean abstract 
in a given time. 

The relative power and quickness of abstracting heat, 
with which different external media are endowed, depend 
upon different properties, such as their density, conducting 
power, eapacity for heat, &e., and display themselves through 
the diversity of sensations which, at the same absolute tem- 
perature, they oecasion. Thus, air at the temperature of 65° 
Fahr. feels pleasant, while water at the same degree feels 
somewhat eold. The organs of the body also differ in their 
power of sustaining the same temperature ; hence, in the 
employment of vapour-baths, it is of importance to know 
whether the watery vapour is to be breathed or not, sinee, 
where it is to be breathed, the temperature must be much 
lower. The following table is given by Dr. Forbes as an 
approximation to what maybe deemed eorrect as a measure 
ot sensation in the eases where water and vapour are used. 





Water. 


Vapour. 




Not braithed. 


Breathed. 


Tepid Bath . 
Warm Bath . 
Hot Bath . 


85° to 92° 
92 „ 98 
98 „ 106 


90° to 106° 
106 „ 120 
120 „ 160 


90° to 100° 
100 „ 110 
110 „ 130 



As a full exposition of the subject of the temperature 
of animals will be given under the article Heat, Ani- 
mal, we must refer to it for further details, confining our- 
selves here to remark that the ultimate action of cold, when 
extreme, is a sedative to the nervous system, and alters the 
circulation from external to internal ; and that moderate 
eold continued causes the same consequences as severe cold 
of short duration (See Beauprd On Cold, Edinb. 1826.) 
Heat, on the other hand, is a stimulant to the nervous system, 
and alters the distribution of the blood from internal to ex- 
ternal. Taking these principles as our guide, we proceed 
now to consider the different kinds of baths, and their action 
on the system in different states both of health and disease. 

First, of water-baths. The common division is into cold 
and warm ; but various subdivisions are formed, marked by 
a certain range of temperature, which are designated 

1. The cold-bath, from 40° to 65° 

2. The cool „ 65 „ 75 

3. The temperate „ 75 „ 85 

4. The tepid „ 85 „ 92 

5. The warm-bath „ 92 „ 93 
G. The hot-bath „ 98 „ 112 

We shall treat first of the cold-hath, as applied to the 
whole surface of the body. 

A healthy person upon entering a cold-bath experiences 
a sensation of cold, followed by slight shuddering, and if 



the immersion has been sudden, a peculiar impression on 
the nervous system, called a shock. The skin becomes 
cooler and paler, the respiration hurried and irregular, the 
action of the kidneys increases and the bladder contracts. 
In a few moments the eolour and warmth return to the 
skin, and a glow is felt, especially if assisted by rubbing the 
surface. If the person remains more than five or ten mi- 
nutes in the bath, the glow disappears, and paleness returns, 
which again gives place, though less quiekly and perfectly, 
to a renewed glow. During the existence of the primary 
action of the cold, the bulk of the whole body, but especially 
of the more eontraetile parts, diminishes. Should the stay 
in the water be greatly prolonged, no reaction ensues, but a 
general feeling of ehilliness prevails, with quick feeble pulse, 
convulsive breathing, eramps of the limbs, or fainting. If 
the person quit the hath after the few first minutes, as in 
prudence he should, the blood returns to the surface, accom- 
panied with a sensation of pricking, itching, and sometimes 
throbbing of the arteries : the elasticity of the muscles being 
increased, more animal power is felt, accompanied with a 
general feeling of enjoyment. * 

Very young or feeble individuals are either incapable of 
bearing the shock, or the reaction is so slight that they can- 
not endure to stay in the hath beyond a very short time. If 
they unwisely stay or are held in the bath longer than one 
or two minutes, the heat never regains its proper height, 
the extremities remain contracted, and they, as well as the 
lips, nose, &e., are of a livid hue. In such cases either 
artificial means must be used to bring about reaction, or the 
bath must be relinquished, as improper for such persons, 
as we shall show at a future part of our observations. 

The phenomena just described generally accompany eold 
bathing; and it is elear that we ean recognize in them 
a series of three or even four distinct actions ; viz., 1st, 
The shock ; 2nd, The eooling effect ; 3rd, The contrac- 
tion or astringent effect ; and, 4th, The re-action. Cold 
bathing may be employed, therefore, in such a way as to 
ensure the predominance of one action over any of the rest, 
according to eirenmstanecs, whero all are not desired. They 
vary with the degree of cold and the suddenness of the ap- 
plication, as well as from the body being plunged into the 
water, or the water dashed against the body. Where the 
shock, as a stimulus to the nervous system, is desired, the 
water should be very cold, and where practicable should he 
dashed against the body, or, if the contrary, the stay in the 
bath should be momentary. . This mode of using it may be 
either general or local. It has hcen employed generally, i.e. 
the whole body exposed to the action of the water, in mania, 
with occasional success, and in the early stage of the com- 
mon continued fever (under certain regulations, for which 
see Currie's Medical Reports), sometimes with great success, 
eutting short the train of morbid actions which constitute 
the fever. It has been employed also iu nervous affections, 
accompanied with a convulsive action, or deficient action of 
the muscular system, as in hysteria, in lockjaw (see Paper 
by Dr. Wright, London Medical Observations and Inquiries, 
vol. vi. p. 143) : in some eases of obstinate constipation, 
dashing cold water on the person, or the eold bath fre- 
quently repeated, has been of great service. 

Its stimulating effect is sometimes best procured by a 
local application, in the form of a stream of water falling on 
the head, from a considerable height. The simplest ex- 
ample of this is the common practice of sprinkling the face 
with cold water in case of a tendency to faint ; and in many 
diseases of the most dangerous character, it is a remedy 
superior to any other. It is called the cold dash, or douche, 
or douse, and is beneficially employed in fever, particularly 
when the brain continues the seat of inordinate action of 
the blood-vessels, after depletion has been carried as far as 
prudence will allow. (See the instructive case of Dr. Dill 
in Dr. Southwood Smith's Treatise on Fever,*o. 398.) It re- 
quires to be used with the greatest caution. Also in the 
state of stupor or coma which occurs in the. last stage of 
hydrocephalus acutus, or water in the brain, it often succeeds 
in rescuing the patient from imminent danger. (See Abcr- 
crombie On Diseases of the Brain, first edit. 1828, p. 157.) 
Its utility is well known in the East in rousing drunken 
soldiers from their stupor so effectually as to enable them to 
rise up and appear immediately on parade. In the melan- 
choly and mania which overtake habitual drunkards it is of 
great efficacy, and also in cases of loss of nervous power from 
excessive mental exertion. In apoplectic stupor it has also 
been very advantageously employed. In the sinking stago 



No. 209. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.- F 



n a r 



li A T 



of crcnp, when all other remedies have failed , eold affusion 
bas sometimes restored the functions of life to new action. 

The cooling or refrigerating effect of eold bathing is most 
desired in diseases where tbe animal heat rises above the 
proper standard, as In fever*, both continued and cruptivo, 
especially scarlet fever ; also tn somo local Inflammations, 
particularly of the brain* For the principles which should 
regulate our practice in this application we must refer to l>r. 
Currio and other writers, only remarking that in the hot and 
restless stage of scarlet fever, when the heat is steadily above 
the natural standard, the skirt hot and dry, and neither sleep 
nor perspiration can bo procured, a plunge into cold water 
will be followed by both, to the relief and often recovery of 
the patient. (See B atom an On Cutaneous Disease *, edit. 
1S*.!9, p. 120.) In applying cold locally, as in inflammation 
of the brain, one rule is of the utmost importance to bo ob- 
served, viz., that the application of the cold shall bo continu- 
ous ; therefore a second set of eold cloths or bags of ice should 
be applied before the former bas become warm. This plan, 
especially pursued during the nlgbt, along with judicious 
internal treatment, will save many children from perishing 
under the most insidious and fatal disease of childhood — 
water in the brain. 

The cases already mentioned are mostly aeuto diseases, 
where tho cold nffusion is employed to avert an imminent 
but temporary danger. It is generally in chronic diseases 
that tho cold bath is employed for a length of time, and 
in theso it Is chielly tbe secondary effect, the glow or reac- 
tion, which is desired. The rules to bo observed in order to 
obtain this effect are founded upon the strength, which is 
generally inferred from the age, of the individual. The de- 
gree of reaction is, for the most part, dependent upon the cold- 
ness of the water and the length of time the person remains 
in tho bath. Very cold water, in which the person remains 
but a short time, will, in general, produce a greater degree 
of re-action than a more moderate temperature in which he 
remains longer. But here everything depends upon the 
general power of the individual, the state of tho system, 
especially of the skin at the moment of immersion, and the 
natnrc of the bath, according as it is fresh or salt water, and 
also the season of the year. As the immersion of infants and 
young children in tubs of water must bo considered *s bath- 
ing, wc deem it necessary here to explain the principles 
upon which the temperature of tbe bath for them should be 
regulated, especially during winter. The experiments of 
Dr. Edwards (see Edwards On the Influence of Physical 
Agents on Life, London, 1832) have proved that ' the power 
of producing heat in warm-blooded animals is at itsminimum 
at birth , and increase* successively to adult age: It is clear, 
therefore, that water of a higher temperature than what feels 
cool to the hand of the nurse should bo used, particularly in 
winter, when the power of regaining a proper degree of heat 
*s neeessarily less. Tbe attempt to harden children by ex- 
posure to too great a degree of cold is of tbe most injurious 
nature ; it cither produces acute disease of the lungs, which 
are then very sensible to external impressions, or disease 
of tho digestive organs, leading to disease of the mesenteric 
glands, scrofula, water in tbo brain, or, if they survive a 
few years, to early consumption. Delicate and fecblo per- 
sons of all ages require a higher temperature of the batb, 
and a shorter stay in it than others. If tho re-action 
does not speedily take place, means must be employed to 
ensure its so doing, or the \ise of the cold bath must be 
abandoned. A tepid or temperate bath may be used in the 
early treatment of feeble persons, and the eold bath gradu- 
ally substituted for it, or a glass of wine, or, what is far 
preferable, strong coffee or chocolate may be taken before 
entering the bath. Where the arrangements are such as to 
admit of it, a brief stay in a warm bath before going into the 
co!d has a good effect. Nor, in general, is danger to be ap- 
prehended from such a proceeding. Though in most cases 
moderato exercise is advantageous before bathing, unless 
the person has an opportunity of springing out of bed into 
the bath, still he should never think of undressing and 
going into the wntcr when fatigued, or when the skin is 
eovercd with perspiration. It is a good rule to wet the head 
before taking the plunge. For a person in good health, 
early in the morning is the best time to bathe ; for one more 
delicate, from two to three hours after breakfast is prcfcrablo; 
but no ouo should bathe immediately after a full meal, par- 
ticularly if there be a tendency of blood to the head, and a 
disposition to apoplexy. 

Exercise while in the bath, such as friction of the limbs 



and chest, or swimming, is advisable, but not even this can 
prOvent evil eonscqnonces if the bather remain too long In the 
water. To say nothing of the risk of cramps and convul- 
sive action of the respiratory muscles, from trie blood being 
pent up in the large Internal vessels, which may occur while 
the person is In the water, the foundation may bo laid for 
future internal discaso If the blood do not soon revisit the 
surface, either from the natural powers of re- action, or from 
friction with coarse dry cloths. Friction should follow the 
use of the bath In most instances, except where the bath has 
been in the sea, In which case the salt particles, if allowed 
to remain in contact with tho skin, stimulato it more. 

The cases of disease for wblch eold bathing is a valuable 
remedy are, morbidly increased irritability and sensibility, 
accompanied with general debility. If the sensibility be 
extremely high, It is best to begin with the tepid or cool 
bath, and pasa gradually to tho eold. Where there is a 
tendency to colds and rheumatism, tho cold bath is an ex- 
cellent preventive ; for this purpose It should be used con- 
tinually throughout tho year, and tho chest should be sponged 
with cold water, or vinegar and water may be substituted in 
winter, when there are not facilities for using the completo 
bath. Before beginning this practice, careful investigation 
of tbe state of the mucous membranes of tho ehest and In- 
testinal canal should be made, as it will certainly prove 
hurtful where chronic inflammation of these organs exists. 
If tubercles arc suspected to exist in the lungs, eold bathing 
should be dispensed with. Though cold bathing is very 
useful in a tendency to scrofulous diseases, it is very hurt- 
ful when these are really developed, though tepid and warm 
bathing are allowable. 

Where tbe increased irritability shows itself in the mental 
functions or in the muscular system, as in hypochondriasis 
or hysteria, eold bathing is very useful ; and especially in 
the hypochondriasis of literary persons, accompanied with a 
disposition to indigestion, and a dry harsh skin. In actual 
indigestion, especially if complicated with snb-aeute inflam- 
mation of the mucous membrane of the stomach or intes- 
tines, cold batbing is very injurious. 

In eases of torpor and loss of power, cold bathing is Of 
much service; in a relaxed state of the skin, subject to de- 
bilitating perspirations, it is often the most effectual 
remedy ; in weakness of the limbs, or of any member, and 
after sprains or paralysis, the local eold bath is very useful. 
The astringent as well as tonie effect of tho cold hath is 
employed to prevent the prolapsus or descent of different 
parts : hence, in a tendency to hernia (or even when it has 
occurred, iee laid upon the tumor, and frequently renewed, 
has restored tbe bowel to its place, or at least warded off tho 
inflammation till other means eould be tried) ; in loss of 
power of tho sphincter muscles, or of the contractile power 
of the bladder, pumping eold water on the back is very 
useful ; but it should be used only for a minute ot a time. 
In chronic hemorrhages, cold applied locally or generally 
has a good effect 

The cold batb, like every other powerful agent, when im- 
properly used, is capable of producing much mischief; in 
some states of the system it must be carefully avoided. In 
infancy and very advanced age it is less admissible than at 
other times, and even quite improper if the debility be great. 
It is inadmissible during, or immediately before, certain 
conditions of the female system ; also when there is conges- 
tion of blood in the veins or internal organs: henec it is 
not suited to chlorosis. In any organic affection of tbe 
heart, or aneurism, it is altogether improper. 

Of the cold sbower-bath and douche we shall only observe 
here, that their effects aro more speedy, and extend moro to 
the internal organs: consequently tbey are only to be used 
for a very short time, whenever recourse is had to them. 
A glow of the surface is sooner felt after the shower 
than the common bath ; and as soon as this Is perceived 
the person should withdraw himself from the stream. If 
the doucho falls upon tho head, it produces almost in- 
stantaneous and most powerful effects. If its use be pro- 
longed, it quickly lowers, then destroys, the sensibility, 
induces faintings,and places the patient in the most immi- 
nent danger. Medical superintendence is therefore required 
through every stage of its employment. 

When the body is surrounded by media of a temperature 
in some eases lower, and in some higher than its own, it re- 
ceives calorie, instead of parting with it. Tho differeneo of 
density and humidity is tho cause of its receiving it from 
some media which are of a lower temperature than its own, 



BAT 



35 



BAT 



as well as from most which are higher. This depends upon 
the eapacity for caloric, and the conducting power of the 
surrounding medium. Thus, dry air at 70° Fabr. will impart 
heat to the body, while water at 92° will abstract it, though 
water at 96° may impart heat. The tepid bath, therefore, 
being so close upon the limit of abstracting or imparting 
heat, cannot exercise a very powerful effeet upon the func-* 
tion of the development of animal heat; neither does it 
much affect the circulation, which it rather retards than 
quickens ; but its influence is mostly confined to the skip, 
which it cleanses, softens, and renders -more fit to execute 
its duties. The cases in which the tepid bath is to be pre- 
ferred to that of a different temperature, are those of a febrile 
character joined to an irritability of the skin, whicb is gene- 
rally dry and harsh ; some cutaneous diseases, where, by 
friction, the scales are removed and a new surface presented ; 
and, lastly, as preparatory to the cold bath in delicate per- 
sons, or for those whose peculiarities of system render them i 
unable to bear a warm bath of a high temperature. It is of 
much uso in the form of tepid sponging of the surface in the 
advanced stage of fevers, and in convalescence from acute 
diseases. In this case vinegar is often added to the water 
with increased good effect. 

The primary effect of the application to the surface of the 
body of water of a tempera ture varying from 93° to 98°, is, 
in consequence of the communication of warmth, the same 
as that of dry heat, viz., a stimulating, enlivening, and 
expanding effect. Hence there is a quickening of the cir- 
culation and respiration, as well as the direction of a greater 
quantity of fluid to the surface, manifested by the swelling 
and redness of the part. There results also a freer and 
more lively action of the muscular system, and increased 
sensibility and activity of the nervous system. Diminished 
exhalation from the skin takes place, while a greatly in- 
creased absorption occurs ; the exhalation from the lungs, 
however, is increased. An increased quantity of heat is 
thus introduced into the system, felt first in the superficial, 
but afterwards in the most internal parts of the body. 

The secondary or ultimate effect is somewhat different. 
The increased action of the arteries gradually subsides, the 
pulse becomes fuller and slower, and the greatest quantity 
of the blood lodges in the veins, particularly in the great 
venous centres, such as the vena porta and the liver, which 
it stimulates to increased secretion of bile. Corresponding 
changes occur in all the other organs ; and if the application 
of the warmth be continued for a longer time, the increased 
energy and elasticity of the muscles disappear, and ft sense 
of fatigue, with atony, and a tendency to sleep, succeeds. 

The final result of the action and re-action is an aug- 
mented secretion from the skin, and a corresponding diminu- 
tion of urine, and of the secretion from the mucous surfaces. 

The warm bath may be employed to effect two opposite 
ends, to stimulate, or calm and soothe. It accomplishes the 
first when its temperature is high (98°), and its use is con- 
fined to five or ten minutes ; the second when it is about 
93°, and continued for three-quarters of an hour, or an hour. 
Employed in this last way, Marcard found that it always 
diminished the velocity of the circulation, and that the 
longer the bath was continued the slower the pulse be- 
came ; also, that the more the pulse deviated from a state 
of health, the more it is diminished by the warm bath. The 
bath may even be prolonged till it induce fainting and other 
consequences of a depressed circulation. Short of actual 
fainting it may be beneficially employed to produce great 
relaxation of the muscular system, so as to enable disloca- 
tions or hernias to be more easily reduced. The state of re- 
laxation bordering upon fainting is very favourable to the 
process of absorption ; it may, therefore, be advantageously 
employed in dropsy arising from weakness of the absorbents. 
As the warm bath has generally the effect of equalizing the 
circulation, and relieving internal congestion, it is much re- 
sorted to as a remedy in spasmodic and convulsive diseases ; 
but here the ntmost caution and discrimination are necessary. 
If the spasmodic actions result from an inflammatory state 
of any of the nervous centres, more harm than good will be 
done by a bath. The inflammatory condition must first be 
removed or greatly lessened by bleeding, purgatives, and 
other appropriate means, before the bath can be safely used. 
These cautions do not so strictly apply to the convulsive ex- 
citement which often precedes the eruption of small-pox, or 
even measles, which is often greatly relieved by the warm 
bath, which may also be repeated during the early stages of 
the eruption, (See Marcard, Uber die Ba<kr, Hanover, 



1 793, or Duncan's Med. Comm. 2nd Decade, part x. p. ] 53.) 
The convulsions of infants during teething are almost in- 
variably attempted tQ be removed by the warm bath, but in 
many instances more harm than good is done. The con- 
dition of the brain must be carefully inquired into by the 
medical attendant, and the state of the gums investigated 
before this measure should ho had recourse to. If there be 
congestion of blood in the brain this must be removed before 
any good can result from a bath, and after its removal the 
convulsive actions will generally subside. The same good 
effect will follow free scarification of the gums, if a tooth be 
preparing to protrude. [See Antispasmodics.] Even 
when the bath is properly applied, the good which might be 
derived from it is often frustrated by inattention or igno- 
rance. Tbe bath is prepared at random, and the tempera- 
ture is never sufficiently regarded. If above 96° it cannot 
fail to bo injurious. 

During the existence of all active inflammation, at what- 
ever age, the warm bath may be pronounced an unfit mea~ 
sure ; and even after the acuteness may have been reduced 
by active antiphlogistic means, the warm bath is a doubtful 
remedy, if we except a very few cases. Of these, inflam- 
mation of the' peritonaeum is the best marked exception ; 
but even here the bath is a very secondary means towards 
lowering the action of the system, though \t may assist the 
flow of blood from leech bites, and may be continued till a 
tendency to faint show itself. 

In acute rheumatism, after venesection, the warm bath 
may perhaps be employed, if we can ensure its being fol- 
lowed by copious perspiration. For this purpose the patient 
should have the bath close to his bed, remain in it for half 
or three-quarters of an hour, be well rubbed with warm 
flannel cloths, replaced in bed between warm blankets, take 
diaphoretic medicines, and drink bland, warm fluids, such as 
gruel or weak tea, and maintain the perspiration for twenty- 
four or forty-eight hours. 

In a disposition to gout or rheumatism the warm bath is 
more proper than when a paroxysm of these diseases occurs. 
In such cases the natural warm baths are preferable : those 
of the Queen's Bath, or Cross Bath at Bath, the temperature 
of which is from 94° to %°, are well calculated for such cases. 

In few chronic inflammatory diseases are warm baths al- 
lowable, if we except some of those of the digestive organs, 
especially sub-acute inflammation of tho mucous membrane 
of the stomach and intestines. Indigestion is often the most 
common symptom accompanying this state, and it is almost 
always benefited by a course of warm or tepid bathing. 

The other states to which warm bathing is unsuited are 
great general torpor, but especially of the skin; also when 
there is a tendency to profuse secretion from the skin ; when 
there is great plethora or fulness of the vascular system, 
especially of the veins; in tendency to active haemorrhage; 
in aneurism, or any disease of the heart; also in cases of a 
tendency to apoplexy : lastly, in extreme atony, or exces- 
sive irritability of tbe nervous system. In the very extreme 
eases of derangement of the nervous system the warm bath 
is unfit;' in more moderate derangements of it, a more ap- 
plicable or useful remedy cannot be found. In cases of ner- 
vous exhaustion from intense literary employment, or 
official or parliamentary duties, the warm bath is of great 
service, more particularly when, in addition to the warm 
bath, the cold douche is employed, directed upon the head 
for a few seconds, while the patient is in the bath. In tbe 
milder eases of mania it has been found of great use. 

In cases of contractions of the joints from rheumatic or 
gouty inflammation, the warm bath, or, what is better, the 
local vapour bath, is of service in restoring the flexibility of 
the limb. 

It may be briefly stated that the warm bath is much 
more serviceable when there is a tendency to disease, con- 
stitutional or accidental, or in convalescence, than in any 
other circumstances. It is therefore rather to be considered 
as a preventive than remedial measure. But its value in 
this point of view is very great ; and it is to be regretted 
that it is not sufficiently appreciated and used. *It is ex- 
ceedingly beneficial as a means of allaying the irritation of 
the vascular system, which occurs in young persons dis- 
posed to consumption, when the disease is beginning slowly 
to impair the integrity and health fulness of the lungs or 
other important organs. To prevent the development of 
the morbid deposit in the lungs is of infinite importance j 
and this will be best accomplished by keeping tip a more 
Vigorous action of the skin. Tho hath must bo perse\ ercd 

F2 



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in for a length of time. Proper bathing-rooms should exist 
in every well-constructed house; but as this is rarely tho 
case in "this country, a good substitute may bo obtained by 
using some of tne recently-invented batbing-machiues, 
which combine facilities for using the different kinds of bath 
in the same apparatus. The best which we have seen is 
that made by Read, Regent Circus, which possesses an 
apparatus for applying the douche while in tho warm bath; 
and may bo used as a cold, a shower, a warm, a douche, or 
a \apour-bath: it is therefore called The Universal Rath. 
Eaths should be attached to all largo manufactories, as a 
refreshment for the workmen, to ensure cleanliness, and as 
a means of warding off many diseases: in lead-works, 
painters' and plumbers' establishments, they would pro-" 
tect tho men from painters cholic ; and in otl>er establish- 
ments, tbey would preserve the workmen from many cu- 
taneous diseases. ' A multitude of chronic inflammations 
of the skin are produced by unclcanliness, or other agents, 
which directly irritate the skin; and it is to tho want 
of cleanliness in the inferior classes that Willan attri- 
butes the frequency of cutaneous diseases in London. In 
France, advantages are placed within the reach of the poor 
to which the rich alone aspire in other countries. The num- 
ber of gratuitous baths which arc given at the hospitals of 
St. Louis and La Charite" is truly prodigious: in 1822 it 
amounted to 127,752 for the out-patients only of the hosni- 
tal of St. Louis.* (Raycr On Diseases of the' Skin.) Why 
some portion of the funds of hospitals and dispensaries in 
London, and other large towns, should not be applied a in a 
similar way, we can see no good objection. There is as 
much philanthropy and benevolence in preventing disease 
as in curing it 

A partial warm bath, such as the foot-bath, is of much 
service in warding off many complaints. After getting the 
feet wet, plunging them into warm water will often prevent 
any ill consequences; and even when the first chill and 
slight sbivcrings, which usher in colds, fevers, and other 
inflammatory complaints, have been felt, the disease may 
be cut short by the use of a foot-bath, continued till free 
perspiration occurs. In inflammatory diseases where the 
head and throat are much affected, the employment of a 
foot-bath, at a later period, often gives great relief, by 
causing a revulsion of the blood from the upper to the lower 
part of tbe body. 

"Water of a temperature from 90° to the highest which 
can be endured, is termed the hot-bath. When a person in 
health enters such a bath, it greatly excites the nervous sys- 
tem, and, through that, the heart and arteries ; causes heat 
and constriction of the skin, with disturbance of the internal 
organs generally, but especially those of secretion. This 
state of uneasiness is lessened by the breaking out of 
perspiration, which is succeeded by great languor, torpor, 
and disposition to sleep. In sucb a bath littlo absorption 
takes place through the skin, and the body is found to 
have lost weight. The hot-bath is a powerful stimulant, 
and can never be used by persons in a state of health. 
The same cautions which were stated under the head 
of tho warm-bath apply to it in a greater degree. The 
few cases to which it is suited arc chronic affections of 
the nervous system, such as paralysis, when all vascular 
fulness of tho brain or spinal chord has been removed. 
The waters of the King's bath at Bath, and some of the 
hot-baths on the continent, arc very beneficially employed 
in such cases; but careful discrimination must be made 
to suit the temperature to the degree of sensibility remain- 
ing in the paralysed part. Whero the power of motion 
is lost, the sensation is sometimes increased. Here the 
hot-bath would be very hurtful. On the other hand the 
sensation may be lost, while the power of motion icmains. 
Hero equal care must be observed not to use too high a 
temperature. Erythema, erysipelas, mortification, or death 
may follow the use of too high a temperature or a stay too 
prolonged even in a proper temperature. 

Sudden retrocession or repulsion of some cutaneous or 
eruptive diseases is relieved by the use of a hot-bath for a 
few minutes, the eruption often coming out favourably after 
it. Somo chronic cutaneous diseases, in which great thick- 
ening or torpor of the skin exists, aro benefited by tho hot- 
bath. 

Vapour-baths are cither natural or artificial. Several 
natural vapour- bat lis exist in tho Neapolitan States, in 
Switzerland (Pfeffcrs in tho country of the Orisons), and in 
Ischia, The artificial vapour-baths arc much in use in the 



East and in Russia, whero they are public, or intended for 
several persons to use at the same time ; and occasionally in 
Britain, where they arc always solitary or for a singlo indi- 
vidual. The Russian baths are described in Lyall's Cha- 
racter of tfte Russians, p. 112— U5. The buthing-room 
contains tiers of benches, like an amphitheatre, the scats 
nearest tho bottom being the coolest, those higher up hotter. 
The tempcraturo varies from 112° to 224°. Persons com- 
mencing the use of such baths occupy the lower seats, and 
ascend as they become accustomcu to them. While ex- 
posed to the vapour, the body is washed or rubbed with soap 
or bran, and beaten with fresh birch-twigs. The head is 
surrounded with a cold cloth, or ©old water .is dashed over 
the head. When the person does not wish to breathe the 
heated vapour, a sponge which has been dipped in cold 
water is held to the mouth and nose. On first employing 
tho vapour-bath, the .person usually remains about fifteen 
minutes, but afterwards three-quarters of an hour, and at 
Pfcffers the temperature of which is only 1 00, sometimes four, 
eight, ten or sixteen hours. After coining out of the bath, 
tho bather goes into a room heated with dry air, where he is 
rubbed, puts on a flannel dress, and then reposes upon a couch 
for some time, where he may drink warm drinks to proraoto 
the perspiration. 

'As soon,* says Dr. E. D. Clarke, 'as the inhabitants of 
these northern nations have endured the high temperature 
of their vapour-baths, which is so great that Englishmen 
would not conceive it possible to exist an instant in them, 
they stand naked, covered with profuse perspiration, cooling 
themselves in the open air. In summer they plunge into 
cold water, and in winter they roll about in the snow, with- 
out sustaining injury, or even catching cold. When the 
Russians leave a bath of this kind, they moreover drink co- 
pious draughts of mead, as cold as it can be procured.* 
{Travels in Russia, part i. p. 143.) The absence of all 
risk in exposing the person to such extremes of temperature 
is explained by the experiments of Dr. Edwards, who found 
that ' after an exposure to cold, sufficient to diminish the 
power of producing heat, continuance in a high temperature 
tends to the recovery of this power ; for, in exposing ani- 
mals to successive applications of cold, their temperature' 
will fall the more slowly the longer they shall have been 
subjected to the influence of warmth. It follows, therefore, 
that the effect of the application of a certain degree of heat is 
continued after the cessation of the cause. Hence, we sec 
that those who are liable to frequent exposure of severe cold 
are rendered more capable of supporting it, by subjecting 
themselves, in the intervals to a high temperature,— a 
practice adopted by northern nations, and justified by facts.* 
(Edwardson the Influence of Physical Agents on Life, p. 125.) 
The vapour-bath is distinguished from all other means of 
introducing more heat into the body, chiefly by the circum- 
stance, that as a portion of tho vapour is converted into 
water, by coming in contact with the surface of the body, it 
communicates a quantity of sensible caloric to it. It is 
without doubt the most powerful means of supplying a great 
heat to tho greatest portion of tho surface of the body, in- 
ternal as well as external ; for when breathed, tho extensive 
surface forming the interior of the lungs is influenced by it 
in the same way as the skin. On the skin it exerts a pecu- 
liar influence. It does not cause that constriction of the 
skin, which follows the application of dry air, nor does it 
exert that pressure upon the surface, which, in the case of 
warm water, retards the breaking out of the perspiration. 
On the contrary, moisture of the skin, followed by profuse 
perspiration, occurs immediately upon entering the vapour- 
bath. 

In Russia, where such baths are usod on a large scale, 
their employment is not found to be productive of weakness. 
The subsequent exposure to cold restores the tone of tho 
skin which had been lost, and the process leaves the person 
with a general sense of good health, strength, and power, 
both of the internal organs and of tho skin. 'These prac- 
tices,* says Dr. Clarke, ' seem to delight them, and to add 
strength to their constitution.' 

Tho vapour-bath, by attracting the blood more speedily 
to tho surface, and by being followed by more profuse per- 
spiration, is more powerful than the warm water-bath. It 
"is employed as a remedy in gout and rheumatism, and in 
tho numerous consequences of these when they have as- 
sumed the chronic form. Many cases of rheumatic and 
gouty contraction of the joints have been removed by 
persevering in tbe use of vapour -baths, as employed by 



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37 



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the continental nations. In scrofulous diseases, especially 
when they affect the skin and the glands, benefit is derived 
from the vapour-bath, unless there be a manifest J tendency 
to active inflammation, and great irritability of the nervous 
system. In some chronic affections of the nervous system, 
especially when connected with the repulsion or imperfect 
development of cutaneous diseases, the vapour-hath, is of 
great use : and also in some affections of the respiratory 
organs, such as dry catarrh, asthma, spasms of the muscles' 
Of respiration, if these are not complicated with inflamma- 
tion or organic disease of the lungs or heart. . 
c * The use of the vapour-hath would he found ^o ward off 
many acute diseases' resulting from exposure to cold, if had 
recourse to immediately after exposure to the exciting cause ; 
as after travelling, or falling into the water in winter. 

The local application of warm vapour is very serviceable 
in many recent diseases. Catarrhs, sore throats of an in- 
flammatory kind, inflammations of the eyes and ears,' are 
greatly alleviated by such means. ' But when the lungs are 
inflamed, though Mudge's or other inhaler is much recom- 
mended, yet the effort required to draw in the vapour is in- 
jurious. .The head, from which a flannel cloth may fall 
down, in such a way as to hinder the vapour from escaping, 
should be held over a bason full of warm water,' and the 
vapour inhaled in the ordinary mode of respiration. The 
vapour-bath is Very improper for plethoric persons, those 
predisposed to congestion, or to apoplexy, and also for indi- 
viduals in a state of great debility. 

The employment of heated air, as an application to the 
hody, causes the primary action of heat to manifest itself 
more than' the secondary. The hot air-hath is therefore 
powerfully stimulant to the skin and nervous system, and 
is of great service in all cases where the production of animal 
heat is less than natural, as in the cold stage of fevers, and 
exhaustion of the ' nervous power. It has heen employed 
beneficially" in congestive fever, and after great and conti- 
nual mental exertion. It proved less useful in the Asiatic 
eliolera than was anticipated. A convenient apparatus 
for applying it was invented by the late Dr. Gower, called a 
Sudatorium, ami also others by Jones of the Strand/London. 
* Medicated haths rarely possess greater power than that 
possessed hy the water alone ; but there are a few exceptions. 
The admixture of common salt makes the water more sti- 
mulating and tonic. 

) Sulphurous vapour-haths fall under the head of medicated 
baths, and a few remarks may bo here made respecting 
them. Nightmen, and other individuals who live much in 
an atmosphere charged with sulphurous exhalations, are 
rarely affected with ehronie diseases of the skin, while other 
trades seem to predispose to their development, such as the 
haker's itch and groeer's itch. It is ehiefly for the cure of 
cutaneous diseases that the sulphurous vapour-baths' are 
employed., In many of these they are very useful,' espe- 
cially' those belonging to the genus scabies and' genus 
impetigo of Bateman. A caution is requisite for their safe, 
employment, that tho vapour should not be applied to, more 
than a fourth part of the body at one time,' lest the disease 
should be suddenly cured, and the internal organs suffer by 
the repulsion. The person who uses the sulphurous vapour- 
hath must be eareful not to breathe any of the vapour. 
This kind of hath has heen used in rheumatic affections, 
some' diseases of the stomaeh, and in chronic paralysis. ' It 
may sometimes he a useful addition to internal treatment, 
but alone can be of little avail; till the state of the internal 
organs be improved, especially the liver, the action of which 
is almost always faulty in gout and rheumatism." 

The nitro-muriatic bath of Scott is of use in ehronie in- 
flammation- of the liver, such as oeeurs in warm eliraates. 
The iron-baths in Nassau and the Hartz 'are more tonie 
than the simple eold-bath : hut none of the iron can be ab- 
sorbed at the low temperature of these baths; it is only there- 
fore by their, direct action upon tho skin, and the sympa- 
thies of this with tbe internal organs, that they are more 
beneficial. We have no knowledge of the effects of the mi- 
neralized mud haths, , ealled by the Italians' Lulatura. 
(See Gairdner On Mineral Springs, p. 404.) 

Though unacquainted with tho results of employing hot 
sand or aahesi as done hy the Turks, we can conceive them 
useful in allaying eramps and neuralgie pains, as heat ge- 
nerally does in whatever way applied. A collection of the 
opinions of antfent writers on tho subject was published in 
the sixteenth century. (De balneis omnia quce extant apud 
Grccco*, Latinos, et Arabes, fol, Vcnet apud Junt. 1553.) 



The best modern treatiseis that of Marcard, in German, an 
abstract of which may be found in Dr. Beddoes's Treaties 
on Consumption. A French translation of it was published 
in'1802. The natural baths will he treated of under the 
article Waters, Mineral. (See Osann, Encyclopmdis- 
ches Worterbuch derMed. Wissenschaft, art. 'Bad,' vol. iv. 
Berlin, 1830, and Osann ,* Darstellung der Heilquellen Eu- 
ropas; 1829.) 

BATHURST, ALLEN, EARL BATHURST, eldest 
son of Sir Benjamin Bathurst, governor of the East India 
Company in the years 1688-9, and treasurer of the house- 
hold to the .Princess Anne of Denmark, was horn at West- 
minster in November, 1684.,, His descent was from an 
antient family of Luneburg, who resided at a place called 
* Batters,* and settled in England in very early times at 
1 Batters Hurst' in Sussex. Of their property at this place 
the family of Bathurst were deprived, and the castle de- 
molished during the civil wars of York and Lancaster. 
In 1699 Allen Bathurst was entered at Trinity College, 
Camhridge, of which his uncle, Dean Bathurst, was then 
master ;. and, six years after, commenced his political life 
as representative for the borough of Cirencester. As a mem- 
ber of the legislature he actively promoted the union of tho 
two kingdoms, and concurred in the opposition to the Duke 
of Marlborough and his adherents, of which Harley and St. 
John were the leaders. In pursuing this course he pro- 
hably acted from conviction and not as a political partizan, 
since, upon the dismissal of the Whig ministry, he accepted 
no place under, government, though his abilities and con- 
nexion with some of the principal Tories entitled him to notice. 
He was, however, in 1711, made a peer of Great Britain by 
the title of Lord Bathurst, Baron Bathurst of Battlcsden, 
in the county of Bedford. "In the upper house he exerted 
himself in the debates on many of the important quesiions 
that were there agitated. In 1716 he opposed, as a violation 
of the constitution, the Septennial Bill. He distinguished 
Limself in 1 723 as a zealous defender of Bishop Atterbury, 
when the bill for ' inflicting pains and penalties' on that 
prelate was diseussed in the House of Lords. In 1727 he 
opposed a war with Spain which then threatened the coun- 
try; and in 1731 supported the bill to prevent pensioners 
from sitting in the House of Commons. On other occasions 
also of publie interest, — in moving the address to the king 
for discharging the Hessian troops in the pay of Great 
Britain ; in resisting the undue taxation of the poor, on the 
bill for the revival of the salt duty; in advocating the mo- 
tion of tho Earl of Oxford for the reduction of the forces, 
and in the dehate on the mutiny hill, Lord Bathurst took 
an aetive and decided part ; and, during the whole period of 
which this narration is a brief review, he showed himself a 
steady opponent of Sir Robert Walpole's administration. 

Lord Bathurst was married, in 1704, to Catherine, 
daughter and heiress of Sir Peter Apsley, by whom he had 
four sons and five daughters. In 1742 he was made cap- 
tain of his majesty's Band of Gentlemen Pensioners, which 
post he resigned in 1744. He was appointed treasurer to 
George III., then Prince George of Wales, in 1757, and this 
office he held till the death of George II., in 1760, when he 
declined the acceptance of any further employment, on 
aceount of his age. In consideration, however, of his pre- 
vious services, he reeeived a pension of 2000/. per annum 
on the Irish establishment, and was advanced to an earldom 
in 1772. He died at his seat near Cirencester on the 16th 
Septeraher, 1775, aged ninety-one. > 

In his private eharaeter Lord Bathurst was generous and 
afTable ; that he possessed knowledge and acquirements as 
a man of letters may be inferred from his long and intimate 
acquaintance with Pope, Swift, Prior; Rowe, Congreve, 
Aruuthnot, Gay, and Addison ; and the sincerity of his 
political friendships was, manifested in his firm and stre- 
nuous opposition to the attainder of Bolingbroke and Or- 
mond. Mr. Pope acknowledged his obligations by dedicating 
to Lord Bathurst the 3rd Epistle of his Moral Essays, and 
in the following lines pays a happy eompliment to the judg- 
ment and integriiy of his patron :— 

The tense to value riches, with the art 
* . : V enjoy them, and the virtuo to impart, 

Not meanly nor aiabitiouily pursued, 
Not sunk by sloth, nor raised by servitude ; 
% * ** To balance fortune by a just expense, 
Join with economy magnificence ; 
Wilh spleadour. charity ; with plenty, health; 
O teach us, Bathurst I > et unspoit'd by wealth, 
That secret rare, between ihe extremes to move 
Of mad good-nature, and of mean self- love.' 



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The only surviving ion of Lord BathursU Henry, the 
second earl, boro in 1714, was made Chief Justice of the 
Common Pleas in 1754. and in 177] was appointed Lord 
Chancellor with the title of Baron Apslcy. He resigned 
the scab in 1778, and died in 1794. He was the author of 
a pamphlet in 4 to. entitled The Case of Miss Swordfeger, 
and of & work on the Theory of Evidence, 8vo. 

BATHURST, a sottlement of the English on the west 
coast of Africa, is situated on the south-eastern extremity 
of the island of St. Mary, at the mouth of the river Gam- 
bia, in 16° 6' W. long., and 13° 23' N. lat. The greatest 
length of the island is about four miles, but its goneral 
breadth does not exceed one mile and a half, and in some 
places it is much less. The surface of the Island is a jow 
plain, with a slight descent from the north and east sides 
towards the centre, which during the season of rain is much 
inundated. The town itself docs not stand mere than twelvo 
or fourteen feet above the level of high -water mark. The 
settlement, although in its Infancy, has made rapid advances 
in improvement. Many fine and substantial government 
buildings have been erected ; and the merchants residing 
there have vied with each other in the elegant and conve- 
nient arrangement of their dwellings and warehouses, all of 
which are built with stone or brick, and roofed with slates 
or shingles. The population of this settlement has been 
greatly increased, not only by British merchants, but by a 
large influx of the inhabitants of Goree, who have emigrated 
to Bathurst. This emigration was caused by the people not 
finding employment under the French government, and also 
by their being excluded from the trade of the Gambia, 
except through tho medium of St Mary's, or of the small 
factory belonging to the French at Albreda, beyond which 
they were not allowed to ascend the river. The inha- 
bitants are abundantly supplied with beef, mutton, poultry, 
fish, fruit, milk, butter, palm-wine, and all the African 
vegetables, by the natives of the surrounding towns, who, 
sensible of the advantages they derive from the settle- 
ment, flock to it in great numbers, and con sumo a large 
proportion of the European articles imported into the colony. 
Gofd, ivory, bees'-wax, and hides are brought to Bathurst in 
considerable quantities by the native traders, and by the in- 
habitants of Goree who have settled there. These products 
are annually shipped for England by the British mer- 
chants. (Gray's Travels in Western Africa in 1818, 1819, 
1620, and 182].) 

BATHURST, in New South Wales, one of the counties 
into which that part of tho territory of the colony which lies 
we*t of the Blue Mountains has recently been divided. At 
first the whole of this part of the country was distinguished 
by the name of Bathurst, but it is now divided into several 
counties, of which one only retains the original denomina- 
tion. The country west of the mountains was not dis- 
covered until 1813, but has sineo rapidly risen into notice 
on aecount of its excellent cool climate, and its fine rich 
pastures, flats, and downs. The climate and soil are in 
many parts well adapted to agriculture, which has partially 
been attended to, with the very best results in some places ; 
but the distance from a market, and the want of easy access 
to the coast, prevents any settler from raising produce be- 
yond the wants of his own establishment. As all the rivers 
beyond the Blue Mountains run westerly, and terminate in 
the immense interior swamps, the outlet of which is yet un- 
ascertained, the absence of a water communication with 
Sydney and the eastern coast has obliged the settlers to 
confine their attention chiefly to the rearing of sheep and 
cattle. By far the greater proportion of the wool exported 
from the colony comes from this territory, and, with encese, 
forms the only artiele which interior settlers have to give in 
exchange for tea, sugar, clothing, and other things which 
they require. This must be understood as applying gene- 
rally to the appropriated territory beyond the Biue ^loun- 
tuins, including, besides Bathurst properly so called, the 
counties of Westmoreland and Roxburgh at least. The 
census of 1833 seems to include the entire transmontane po- 
pulation under the head of Bathurst, as no mention is made 
of other counties. The result gives a population of 3454, of 
whom 2000 are convicts. The total number of females, free 
ami convicts, docs not exceed 523. In the restricted sense, 
Bathurst is the westernmost county of the colony, extending 
55 miles in length from N.NAV, to S.S.E., with 42 miles of 
extreme breadth from E. to W, 

The small town of Bathurst is 744 yards above the level 
of tho sea, ou the west bank of the Macquaric river, at 



the distance of 122 miles from Sydney, to which there is a 
carriage road. It is yet In its infaney ; but as no situation 
west of the Blue Mountains can bo preferable, it will, no 
doubt, ultimately become a place of considerable import- 
ance— a sort of capital to the iaterior. Its healthiness may 
be estimated from the fact, that only one death took place 
in the first twelve years of tho settlement. It now possesses 
a very fair proportion of respectable settlers in comfortable 
circumstances, who have established a society, called * The 
Bathurst Literary Society,* with the view of forming a 
library for the use of the members, and of promoting the 
improvement of tho community bv the discussion of inte- 
resting topics, A hunt, called * The Bathurst Hunt/ was 
established several years since by the gentlemen of tho 
place, for the purpose of coursing tho native wild dog. 
Tho recent accounts of the ravages of these animals in tho 
pastoral districts of New South Wales show tho great im- 
portance of this objeet beyond the mere purposes of sport. 
Mr. P.Cunningham mentions among the signs of the rapid 
progress which Bathurst has made, that it possessed several 
years ago a boarding-school, in which Greek, Latin, and 
other branches of education, were professed to be taught. 

(Cunningham's 7>co Yean in New South f Fates; Breton's 
Excursions in New South Wales ; Strutt's Expeditions in 
Australia; Dawson's Present State of Australia; New 
South Wales Calendar, 1834.) 

BATHURST INLET is a deep bight on the eastern 
shores of George the Fourth's Coronation Gulf. It runs to 
the S.E. about 76 miles, and was explored by Captain 
Franklin in his overland journey to the Polar Sea in 1819. ■ 
(Franklin's First Journey to the Polar Sea.) 

BATHURST ISLAND, one of the North Georgian 
group, in the Arctic Seas, was so called by Captain Parry, 
who first discovered it in his passage to Melville Island in 
1819. Its appearance was high, barren, and rugged, the 
highest part exceeding 600 feet, and the shores generally 
steep. There was no opportunity of landing on it. The 
soutnern coast only was traced for a distance of 75 miles 
from 97° 50' to J 03° W. long., lying in an E.S.E. and 
W.N.W. direction, on the parallel of about 75° N. lat. 
(Parry's First Voyage in 1819-20.) 

BATMAN (pronounced BAWMAN), a person allowed by 
the government to every company of a regiment on foreign 
service. His duty is to take charge of the cooking utensUs, 
&c., of the company. There is in the charge of tho batman 
a bathorse (pronounced bawhorsc) for each company, to con- 
vey tho cooking utensils from place to place. For the pur- 
chase of this horse the officer commanding the company is 
allowed a sum of money, and forago is also provided at the 
government expense for the horse. For regiments on duty 
in the kingdom the batmen and bathorses become unneces- 
sary, as the soldiers arc billettcd on the inns, public-houses, 
and beer-houses. 

BATMAN, a weight used in Persia, and at Aleppo, 
Constantinople, Smyrna, and other places in the Levant. 
In the Turkish dominions a batman contains six okes, each 
weighing 400 drachms. At Constantinople, silks from 
Persia are weighed by the batman of six okes. In Persia, 
there are two sorts of batman : the batman of Cherrav, and 
the batman of Tauris. The former is exactly double the 
latter. The batman of Cherrav weighs 88,771 English 
grains. (Sec Kelly's Universal 'Cambist, 4to. Lond. 183], 
vol. i. pp. 4, 72, vol. ii. pp. 226, 278.) 

BATN-EL-HAJAR (i.e. 'the Womb of Rocks'), or 
Dfir-el'Hajar ( 4 the Mansion of Rocks'), is the name of a 
stony wilderness, stretching along the Nile from the district 
of Suceot in the south, to AVddi Haifa in the north. In the 
map of the course of the Nile, drawn by Col. W. M. Leake, 
which accompanies Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia, it is 
laid down between 21-22° N. lat. and 30°35'-31° 10' E. Ion. 
of Greenwich ; in Ruppcil'smap, between 2]° ] 0'-50'N. lat., 
and 30°40'-3]° 10' E. long. The Nile, during its prosress 
through the upper part of this dUtriet, as far as Wfldi 
Mershed, is often forced into a narrow channel by the close 
approach of the mountains on both sides ; and towards 
the north of AVAdi Mershed navigation is interrupted by fre- 
quent cataracts, rocks, and nuall islands. A few spots only 
admit of cultivation, which consist of narrow strips of land 
situated along the Niio : but even here tho banks arc gene- 
rally so high, that tho annual inundations of the river do not 
reach tho plains, and the soil must he irrigated by means of 
water-wheels. The mountains of Batn-el-Hajar consist of 
primitive roeks, principally of greenstone and grauwacke, 



BAT 



39 



B A T 



and towards the south of Seras, of granite; they differ 
in this respect from the hills accompanying the Nile below 
Wadi Haifa, where the prevailing rock is sandstone. The 
mountains on the eastern side of the Nile reach their 
greatest elevation towards the south : the Jahal Lamoule, 
above AV3di Ambigo, is noticed hy Burckhardt as one of 
the highest.. Another group of high hills ealled Jahal 
Bilingo, is found farther towards the north, between Wadi 
Attar and Seras. In his route from W6di Attar to W&di 
Ambigo, Burckhardt had to cross over a high mountain pass 
1n the hills, named Jahel Doushe. 

The small strips of level land on the hanks of the river 
were formerly populous and well cultivated, hut are now 
thinly inhabited. The number of the present male in- 
habitants of the whole district of Batn-el-Hajar is esti- 
mated by Burckhardt not to exceed 200. They consist 
partly of Beduins of the tribe Kerrarish ; partly of Arabs, 
who pretend to be Shertfs, or descendants of the family 
of Mohammed, from Mecca. The chief of the latter, who 
is distinguished by the title of melek, or king, is tributary 
to the governors of Nubia, and resides at \Vfidi Altar, or 
Attyu, the principal villago of Batn-el-Hajar. In conse- 
quence, however, of the frequent incursions of the Sheygya 
Arabs (who live on the southern banks of the bend of the Nile 
in Dongola, at a distance of eight days* journey from Succot 
across the desert), the greater part of the Sherifs have now 

3uitted this neighbourhood, and have settled partly in the 
istrict of Succot, and partly in Dongola. Most of the Sho- 
rtfs speak a little Arabic. Tbey are described as being re- 
markably well made, with fine features, and of a dark brown 
colour. They go naked, and the women are in the hahit of 
wearing leather amulets round tho neck, and copper orna- 
ments on their arms and wrists. They dwell chielly upon the 
little islands of the river, where they are less exposed to 
the attacks of the predatory Arabs than on the banks of the 
river. 

Ruppell, who in 1823 passed through the part of Batn-el* 
II ajar situated on the western side of the Nile, describes 
that district as consisting of a chain of syenite hills along 
the hanks of the river, and beyond them, as far as the eye 
could reach, a tract of moveablo sands, the dreary uniformity 
of which was but seldom interrupted by projecting dark 
cliffs of primitive rock. On the western bank of the river, 
towards the south of W&di Haifa, Ruppell found many de- 
serted villages and monasteries: the local appellation of the 
latter is Sullf. Nearly the whole of the western part of 
Dar-el-IIajar is now uninhabited. At Semne (in 21° 30' 
N. lat.) Ruppell saw the ruins of a large and apparently 
antient village or town, with several temples in a mixed 
Roman and Egyptian style of architecture. (See Edward 
Riippeirs JReisen in Nubien, &c, Frankfurt, 1829. 8vo. 
pp. 12, 13.) 

The vegetable productions of Batn-el-Hajar are few. 
Date- trees are occasionally found in the wddis or valleys 
that intersect the hills and slope towards the Nile. At 
Wddi Seras Burckhardt saw a few cotton-fields and bean- 
plantations. Dhourra is scarce. The principal food of tbo 
inhabitants consists of beans, and the grains of a shrub 
ealled kerkedan, which grows wild here. Another legumi- 
nous plant, tbo symka, is used as food for camels, and 
from its grains an oil is prepared which the natives use 
instead of butter. 

At the southern extremity of Batn-el-Hajar, the village 
of Wadi Okame, or Ukme, is situated: this place is often 
visited by pilgrims who perform their devotions at the tomb 
of a Mohammedan saint, Sheikh Okashe, who is buried here. 
At a distance of two hours* ride S.S.W. of Okame is the 
island of Kolbe, the residence of the chief of Succot. 
(J. L. Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia, Lond. 1819. 4to. p. 
42-50.) 

BATOLITES, in zoology, a genus of fossil shells esta- 
blished by Montfort, and placed by him among his coquUles 
univalves cloisonnees. Cuvier, however, who quotes the 
observations of M. Deshayes and of M. Audouin, considers 
tbem as cylindrical and straight hippurites, and places 
them under his family of ostrac^s or ostraceans, among 
thoso fossil bivalves which are supposed to have had tbeir 
valves connected by no ligament but by mere muscular 
adhesion, and immediately before tho oysters. Montfort 
states that these shells acquire a very great length, and that 
they constitute masses of rock in tho High Alps. [See 
Birostiutes and Hippurites.] 



BATRA'CHIANS. [See Frogs.] 

BATRACHOMYOMA'CniA (Bar^o/tuo^a^a), (he 
battle of the frogs and mice, Is the title of a Greek poem, 
consisting of 294 hexameter verses. This poem, though 
generally ascribed to Homer, and printed with the editions 
of the Iliad and Odyssey, undoubtedly helongs to a late 
age, and is attributed by Plutarch and Suidas to Pigres, of 
Halicarnassus, in Asia Minor. Pigres is called by Suidas 
the brofher of that Artemisia who was the wife of Mausolus. 
[See Artemisia.] This poem, however, is probably the 
composition of some still later writer of the Alexandrine 
school. Some critics consider it a satirical poem : as it is 
not very long, the reader may form his own opinion without 
much trouble. (See Parnell's Translation into English 
verse.) 

BATTA, an allowance made to military officers in the 
service of the East India Company, in addition to their pay. 
As the officers of King's regiments serving in India re- 
ceive their pay according to the scale fixed by his Majesty's 
regulations, and which pay is below.. the emoluments derived 
by officers of similar rank in the regiments of the East India 
Company, the allowance of batta is made also to them by 
the Company, and is so adjusted as to preserve an equality 
of income between the two services. 

The scale of allowance under the name of batta varies not 
only with the circumstance of the regiments being in the 
field or in cantonments, but also according to the part of the 
country in which they are stationed. 

Batta was originally given with the intention of enabling 
officers to provide for field-equipment, and for those extra 
expenses which they must incur when marching, but it 
early lost this character when it was continued to officers in 
cantonments. In November* 1828, the distinction was made 
between the amount allowed when in actual service, and 
when in cantonments: before that time no difference was 
made. The efTect of tho alteration is this : that at particular 
stations of the army, where an officer formerly got full batta, 
he now gets half that batta, with an allowance for house-rent, 
which is inferior to what the other half of the batta would be. 
The half-batta of a lieutenant-colonel is 304 rupees (about 
30/.)per month; his allowance for house-rent is 100 rupees. 
A major's half-batta is 228, and for house-rent 80 rupees per 
month; captain's half-batta, 91, and house-rent, 50 rupees; 
lieutenant's, 61, and 30 rupees; ensign's, 46, and 25 rupees. 
Colonels of regiments, not being general officers on the staff, 
nor holding offices specially provided for, are allowed the 
full batta of 750 rupees per month at any station, but they 
have not any allowance for house-rent. It was estimated, 
that by carrying into effect the regulation of November, 
1828, the government of the East India Company would 
savo 12,000/. per annum. (Report o/ Committee of the 
House of Commons on the Affairs of India, 1832, part 5, 
Military.) 

BATTALION. This name is applied to a certain division 
of the infantry ia an army, corresponding, nearly, to the chi- 
liarchia in a Greek phalanx, and to the cohort in a Roman 
legion. The number of men composing a battalion is vari- 
able, but in the British service, according to the present 
establishment, it is, in general, ahout 750. One battalion 
in most cases constitutes a regiment, but some regiments, 
as those of the guards, consist of two battalions, and the 
regiment of artillery consists at present of eight, besides the 
brigade of horso artillery. It seems, therefore, that, origi- 
nally, the name of regiment was applied to the body of 
men organized for a particular district, or a particular 
branch of service ; and that, when the numerical strength 
of the regiment exceeded what was considered convenient, 
it was divided into two or more battalions. 

Tho phalanges of the Greeks, and the legions of the 
Romans, with their respective constitutions and divisions, 
will be described under the words Phalanx and Legiox. 

The destructive effects of fire-arms among dense bodies 
of men necessarily caused the closo order of battle used in 
antient warfare to be abandoned; though, down to the 
middle of the eighteenth century, an opinion that the'troops 
could not otherwise resist effectually a charge of the enemy, 
and the desire to form them with facility into a column for 
attack, induced commanders of armies to draw up the bat- 
talions in a line from four to six files deep. But the nume- 
rous casualties which still occurred, led subsequently to the 
practice of forming the line in three ranks ; and in the latest 
regulations for the disposition of tho British army, it is pre- 



BAT 



40 



BAT 



scribed that the battalions are to be drawn up in two ranks 
only. The argument in favour of this method, which, it 
may be observed, was recommended, in 1 783, by Turpi n, the 
commentator of Vegctius, is, that in action two ranks of men 
only can fire at once, and as the third ranit ean be no othcr- 
wiso employed than in loading, and handing the muskets 
to the men in their front, this service scarcely compensates 
for the loss occasioned by the exposure of so many men to 
the enemy's fire. A foreign writer, however, contends that 
with soldiers as well disciplined as tbose of Russia, three 
ranks would he more advantageous than two ; sinco tho 
men in the middle rank are enabled to fire a second time 
with tho muskets obtained from those in the third rank, 
immediately after they and the front-rank men have made 
their first firo, so that a much less interval takes place be- 
tween the vollies than that which occurs when the line con- 
sists of only two ranks. 

During "the wars which aroso out of tho Revolution in 
France, the armies of that nation becamo habituated to a 
formation in close columns instead of a lino of small depth. 
This practice, which seemed to be a return to the tactics of 
the anticnts, possesses somo advantages when an attack is 
to be directed against an enemy's line which is too far ex- 
tended to allow the divisions to succour each other in time ; 
and the great merit of Napoleon consisted in manoeuvring 
bo as to lead his opponent to fall into this error, and then 
overwhelming him by numerous consecutivo and powerful 
attacks directed against tho weaker part of his line. The 
system, however, seems to have been persevered in too tena- 
ciously by the French generals; for, against steady troops, 
their columns not only suffered serious losses in making tho 
assaults, but wcro incapable of keeping up a fire equal to 
that which might have been produced by a more extended 
order. Such was the error committed by Marshal Soult at 
the battle of Allucra. According to Napier {History of 
the Peninsular TVar)% ' that general persisted beyond reason 
in fighting with dense columns, and thus lost the fairest 
field ever offered to the arms of France. Had the fifth corps 
of the French opencdin time,* thchistorian observes, 'nothing 
could have saved tho British army from a total defeat/ 

A battalion is now generally divided into ten companies; 
and, for convenience in performing the movements which 
may be required, each company is subdivided into two equal 
parts, and each of these into sections. Tho battalion is 
commanded by its own colonel ; and several battalions or 
regiments arc, on service, united under one general ofliccr: 
these constitute a brigade, and may be considered as a small 
legion. According to the present regulations each man oc- 
cupies in line twenty- one inches, and, as no intervals exist 
between the companies, the extent of a battalion formed two 
deep is about 219 yards. Six paces are left between every 
two battalions, and the -same interval only separates one 
brigade from another. 

The company of grenadiers occupies the cxtrcmo right, 
and the light infantry company the extreme left of the bat- 
talion : these are called the (lank companies, and the others 
take their places from right to left, according to tho num- 
bers by which they are designated. Tho captain, or officer 
commanding each company, is stationed in the front line on 
the right of his company ; and immediately behind him, in the 
rear rank is his covering serjeant The lieutenants, ensigns, 
and the Serjeants of the companies form a third, or what is 
called a supernumerary, rank in rear of tho others, at the 
distance of three paces. The two regimental colours are 
placed in the front rank between the two centro companies, 
and two non-commissioned officers are in tho rear rank 
behind them ; a serjeant is stationed in the front, between 
the colours* another stands opposite to him in tho rear rank, 
and a third in a lino with both, in the supernumerary rank. 
Thcso last-mentioned Serjeants servo to direct tho march of 
tho battalion when it moves parallel to its front ; for which 
purpose, on that occasion, they form themselves in a line in 
that direction, and march before tho battalion at the dis- 
tance of six paces. 

The commander of the battalion places himself in front 
when he has to superintend the ordinary exercises, other- 
wise his station is in the rear. The lieutenant-colonel is 
behind the colours in rear of the supernumerary rank; the 
majors are in rear of the second battalion companies on tho 
right and left flanks respectively, and the adjutant in a line 
with them, opposite to the centre. Tho situations of the 
Staff'ofthc battalion, the musician*, Sec., together with the 



particulars abovo briefly stated, are fully described in the 
treatises on the field exercises and evolutions of tho British 
army. 

Originally the grenadiers performed the duty of throwing 
hand-grenades, or small iron shells charged with powder, 
among the enemy ; and tbc firelocks of the fusileers and 
light infantry were different from those of the other troops ; 
hut, except the riflemen, who use pieces with barrels rihed, 
or grooved, all the infantry of the line carry the same kind 
of musket. 

Tho principal evolutions of a battalion consist in revers- 
ing the front of the line, taking a position at right-angles to 
its actual front ; forming a column by bringing the different 
companies or their subdivisions parallel to, and directly in 
rear of each other, cither at open or close intervals ; forming 
a column en echelon, or with the divisions parallel to, but in 
positions receding from, each other towards the rmht or 
left, in tho manner of steps; or, lastly, forming a nollow 
squaro. By changing the front, a retrograde movement in 
line may be made ; by forming the line perpendicularly on 
cither (lank, an attempt of the enemy to turn it may be op- 
posed. Columns arc formed for tho purpose of marching 
along roads or through defiles, or advancing in a body to- 
wards an enemy's position ; a movement en echelon allows 
troops to gain ground obliquely towards tho front or rear; 
and a hollow square is formed in order to resist an enemy in 
every direction, when the battalion is in danger of being 
surrounded. 

A regiment of cavalry now consists of three squadrons; 
each squadron of two troops, and the numerical strength of 
each of these is about 80 men : but from that number one- 
sixth is to bo deducted for the men not under arms. Tho 
cavalry are formed two deep, and each file occupies three feet 
in front; no interval is left between the troops, but that 
between every two squadrons is one-fourth of the actual 
strength of cacb. A regiment of cavalry, when complete, 
will thus occupy about 233 yards in front. 

(Turpin de Criss6, Commentaires sur les Institutions 
Mil it aires de Vegcce ; Daniel, Histoire de la Milice Fran- 
poise ; Okounef, Examen RaisonnS des Propriitte des 
Trois Armes ; Bismark on the Tactics of Cavalry, trans- 
lated by Major Beamish ; Regulations for the Formations, 
Field Exercises , and Movements of his Majesty's Forces, 
corrected to 1833. For many' particulars relative to the 
present state of the British army, the Monthly Ltsts may 
be consulted.) 

BATTARDEAU. [See Cofferdam.] 

BATTAS. Tho large portion of the island of Sumatra 
which is known as the Battas country, is situated between 
the equator and about 2* 30' N. lat. With the exception of 
the principality of Siak on tho nortb-east coast, and of somo 
settlements at tbo moutbs of rivers, which are in possession 
of Malays, this country includes tbo whole of the space be- 
tween those parallels. On the south-east it is bounded by 
the principalities of Rawa and Menancabow, and on tho 
north-west by the kingdom of Atchccn. 

Tho Battas country, which by the inhabitants is called 
BatakAs divided into several provinces, which are subdivided 
into districts. The names of the principal provinces aro 
Toba, Mandeling, Angkola.IIumbang, Si Nambila, Looboo, 
Manambin, Palampungan, Barumim, Sama Jambu, Pan- 
garan, Lain bung, Silendung, Butur, Holbang, Linton, Dairi, 
Alas, Karaw, and Ria. 

Tho most populous of these districts arc those, situated 
about the centre of tho country, and particularly Toba, Si- 
lendung, Holbang, and Linton. The great Tfoba Lake, 
which lies in a direction nearly north-east from the Dutch 
settlement of Tapanooly (which is in 1° 40' N. lat., and 9S° 
50' E. long.), has never yet been visited by any European. 
Messrs. Burton and Ward, Baptist missionaries on the island, 
to whom this lake was pointed out from somo high land at a 
considerable distance, describe it as being from 60 to 70 
miles long, with a breadth of from 1 5 to 20 miles. The sur- 
face of the lake was described to those gentlemen as being 
sometimes so rough as to prevent the passago of boats to 
and from an island in the middle, on which a periodical 
market is held. Several streams, one of them of consider- 
able size, flow into the Toba Lake, and if it bo true, as their 
guide stated to Messrs. Burton and Ward, that its waters 
rise and fall twice in the course of the twenty- four hours, it 
is probablo that further examination would show it to be an 
arm of the sea. 



BAT 



41 



B A T 



Our information with regard to the people forming the 
Battas tribes is so' scanty, that any statemeut we can give 
respecting their system of government must be liable to un- 
certainty. It is said that the supreme government over the 
whole of the districts is exercised by one chief, who lives 
at the north-western extremity of the Toba Lake. By 
this chief a deputy is appointed for each district, who; as- 
sisted by a council composed of the leading inhahitants, con- 
*ducts the political affairs of the district ; he frames laws, 
declares war, makes peace, and administers justice. The 
authority of these deputies is very much controlled by the 
councils with whom they act, so that the different districts 
may be considered as so many oligarchies. The more mi- 
nute functions of government are otherwise performed, each 
village forming, in this respect, a distinct community, and 
possessing within itself the power of framing regulations for 
its own municipal government The inhabitants of the dif- 
ferent districts are so little held together by the authority of 
the chief governor, that it is not unusual for two or more vil- 
lages to be engaged in war again3t each other, while the 
rest of the nation is at peace. It is probably owing to their 
system of government, as well as to their inland situation, 
and to the ease with which their few natural wants can be 
supplied, that these people have retained unaltered their 
primitive habits and character. Compared with the Malays 
of the coast, although they are less enterprising, the Battas 
are more industrious. A great part of the necessaries of 
life required at such of the Malayan settlements as are 
within their reach is supplied from the Battas country. 

These people consider themselves to have been the earliest 
settlers on Sumatra, and they have a tradition that their 
forefathers came from a country lying to the cast of that 
island, but their belief upon this subject is very vague, and 
they exhibit so many points of resemblance to Hindus, 
that it appears more probable they must originally have 
eome from India. The resemblance "hero spoken of is shown 
iu their persons: they are of middle stature, well made, and 
have prominent noses. Their religious notions, likewise, 
savour strongly of Hindu origin. They believe in the ex- 
istence of a Supreme Creator of the world, who has com- 
mitted the eharge of its gov em men t to three sons, who, 
in their turn, have delegated to inferior gods the duties of 
their oflico. The names of these jrods are said to have a 
strong resemblance to those of the Hindu mythology. This 
system of faith is burthened with numerous superstitions. 
The people believe in the constant interposition of good and 
evil genii in their worldly affairs, and every village has its 
peculiar demons or spirits, chiefly composed of the souls of 
the deceased inhabitants. As might be supposed, under 
the influence of sueh a belief, the person who exercises the 
office of priest, and who is frequently the head man or rajah 
of the village, is a person of great consequence, to whose 
ad \ ice and assistance recourse is had upon all occasions. 
The Battas do not appear to have any idea of an existence 
beyond the present, and their religious prejudices and fears 
being thus limited to merely the objects of sense havo littlo 
or no influence over their moral conduct. y 

The well-ascertained fact of their cannibalism has occa- 
sioned them to be considered brutal and ferocious in their 
nature, an opinion which appears to be by no means well 
founded ; they arc, on the contrary, quiet and timid to a greater 
degree than even Hindus. Their principal food is rice 
and batatas. Meat tbey seldom or never taste, but when 
they do indulgo iu it they are not particular as to the de- 
scription or condition of the animals they eat. According 
to Marsden, their indulgence in anthropophagy is limited 
to the devouring of persons slain or taken prisoners in war, 
and of certain classes of crimiuals. Robbers, if taken in the 
fact, are publicly executed and eaten forthwith, but if they 
elude immediate detection, a slighter punishment than loss 
of life is awarded. Men taken in adultery are subjected to the 
same revolting punishment, with this additional circumstance, 
that they may l>e eaten piecemeal without being previously 
put to death. It is not considered lawful to eat the bodies 
of persons taken or slain in the wars or feuds which occur 
between different villages or districts, but only such as fall 
into their power in what may be considered as national con- 
tests. An account has very recently (1835) been received 
in Europe of the killing, and probably also the eating by 
the Battas, of two English missionaries, who were proceed- 
ing through the country in the direction of the great Toba 
Lake. It appears that the tribe among whom the mission- 
aries fell were at the time engaged in war with another 



tribe, and they might easily, under those circumstances, put 
a wrong construction upon the unusual appearance of 
strangers among them. It is said to be the opinion of per- 
sons near to the spot, and therefore better able than we can 
be to form a correct judgment on the case, that if the two 
missionaries had taken the precaution to send a messenger 
before them, to explain the pacific object of their journey, 
they would have met with hospitable welcome, instead of 
the melancholy. fate that has befallen them. Dr. Leyden, 
in his work on the languages and literature of the Hindo- 
Chinese nations, states that the Battas frequently also eat 
their* aged or infirm 'relations, as an act of pious duty. 
When, among them, a man becomes infirm and tired of 
life, he is said to invite his children to eat him : ho ascends 
a tree, round which his friends and descendants assemble, 
and the whole of them join in singing a dirge, the burthen 
of which is 'The season is come, the fruit is ripe, and 
it must descend.' The victim then descends, is deprived 
of life, and his remains are devoured in a solemn banquet. 
This practice of the Battas eating their aged parents has 
been compared with the usage of the Padsei of India men- 
tioned by Herodotus (lib. iii. 99) ; and Dr. Leyden has con- 
jectured, perhaps rather hastily, that the Pada;i and the 
Battas are the same people. A similar practice prevailed 
amongst the Massageta) (Herod, i. 216), and among tho 
antient Tupts of Brazil. 

Slavery exists among, the Battas. The classes who are 
reduced to this state of degradation are their own country- 
men, and generally orphans, prisoners ^aken during their 
intestine wars, or debtors. To satisfy a debt, no matter how 
contracted, and probably tho result of a game of chance (for 
these people arc great gamesters), not only the man himself, 
but his whole family also, may be sold into slavery. 

The custom of the country authorises every man to havo 
as many wives as ho can purchase ; and, as usually is the 
case where sueh a custom prevails, the wives perform all the 
drudgery, and are in fact considered to be littlo better than 
slaves. It is not often that a man has more than two wives 
at the same time. 

, The Battas havo a written language, which bears a con- 
siderable resemblance, both in sound and construction, to 
that of the Malays : it has by some persons been considered 
a dialect of the Malayan tongue. The spoken language is 
somewhat different — a circumstance which may very na- 
turally arise, in progress of time, among a people of whom 
only a very small proportion are able to use or understand 
the written characters. It is said that not more than two 
persons in one hundred among the Battas are able to read. 
Such books as they have are chiefly upon astrology, omens, 
and other subjects of a superstitious nature. Many persons 
among them show skill in poetry ; and it forms part of their so- 
cial amusements to undertake contests in improvising, which 
they keep up for hours together with considerable spirit. 

It is principally in the Battas country that the camphor- 
trees of Sumatra are found : none, it is said, grow south of 
tho equator. The camphor which these trees yield is con- 
sidered to be so good in quality, that it sells in tho markets 
of China for more than ten times the price paid for that pro- 
duced in Japan, and which is yielded by a different plant. 
The camphor-tree of Sumatra grows without cultivation, 
and attains to a size equal to that of the largest timber trees, 
being frequently above fifteen feet in circumference. Cam- 
phor in tho Battas language is called Kapur, of which the 
European name is a corruption. In Eastern markets it is 
known as Kapur Baroos, the latter word being the name of 
the town on the coast of Sumatra whence it is shipped. 

Benjamin, or benzoin, is almost exclusively a product of 
the Battas country. Marsden says that large plantations of 
the trees by which it is yielded (the Styrax benzoin) are 
cultivated by the natives. The other vegetable productions 
of this part of Sumatra are common to the whole island. 
[See Sumatra.] 

The entire population of the Battas country has been esti- 
mated at 1,500,000 souls, but this computation must bo 
altogether conjectural. 

(Marsden's History of Sumatra ; Asiatic Researches; 
Porter's Tropical Agriculturist ; Library of Entertaining 
Knowledge* Vegetable Substances used in the Arts.) 

BATTENS, pieces of wood of various lengths, 7 inches 
wido and generally not exceeding 2| inches in thickness 
when imported. They are used, for floors, and are also 
placed upright against walls to fix the laths on which the 
plastering is set. East-country battens, as imported, are 



No. 210. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.-G 



BAT 



4? 



BAT 



7 inches wide and 2J inches thick, whieh, when planed up 
and shot, are cut into two hoards each lj inch thick. 
Suoh battens are used for the best floors ; but in attics, and 
rooms of less importance, for economy, the batten is cut into 
tlnee boards. When used for walls, the 7 and 2J inch bat- 
ten* are cut into six picecs lengthways, being then some- 
thing less than 2J inches wido and 1J inch thick, allow- 
ance being made for tho sawing. Battens are usually placed 
at the distance of seven inches asunder, but sometimes 
eleven or twelve, which is, however, considered slight work ; 
if double laths are used, it will then bo sufficiently strong 
to earry the plaster. The battons are nailed to the bond- 
timbers of the wall ; or, if there are no bond -timbers, to 
wooden plugs plaeed at ccjual distances. Walls of brick 
and stone, when not sufficiently dry to be finished in the 
usual way, require battens for tho lath and plaster; and it 
is of tbc utmost importance to employ battens in exposed 
situations, especially on the sea coast, where the driving 
rains will often penetrate the walls. 

Battens from the British possessions in North America, 
when 6 and not exceeding 16 feet long, nor above 7 inches 
vide and not above 2fc inches thick, pay a duty of l/. per 
120. Battens of the same dimensions from foreign coun- 
tries pay 10/* per 120. The duty increases with the length, 
and also with the thickness, of the battens. The net re- 
venue from battens in 1833 was 115,215/, The difference 
between battens and deals is this : battens arc never, and 
deals are always, above seven inches wide. Battens are 
always at least six feet long, and batten -ends always under 
that length. The duty on battens and batten-ends is dif- 
ferent: battens, 1/. British North American, 10/. foreign; 
batten-ends, 7*. 6d. American, 3/. foreign. (Government 
Statistical Tables, 1834.) The lwjst battens are from Chris- 
tiania ; the worst, from America. 

BATTERING-RAM. [See Artillkry.] 

B ATTERSE A, a parish in the county of Surrey, situated 
four miles south-west of St. Paul's Cathedral, and forming 
one of the suburbs of the metropolis. In Domesday Book 
it is called Patricesy, and as the same survey mentions 
that it belonged to the abbey of St. Peter, Westminster, 
this probably indicates the true etymology of the name. 
Tho parish comprehends an area of 3020 acres, pretty 
equally divided between arable land and pasture. Much 
of the former is occupied by market-gardeners, Battersoa 
being specially noted for the quantity of vegetablo pro- 
duce which it raises for the London market. Tho manor 
of Battcrsca was given by the Conqueror to Westminster 
Abbey in exchange for Windsor ; after the dissolution of 
monasteries the manor passed through various hands, and 
in the year 1627 it was granted by the king to Oliver St. 
John, Viscount Grantlison, from whom it descended to the 
celebrated St. John, Viscount Bolingbrokc, and in 1763 was 
purchased of the St. John family in trust for John Viscount 
Spencer, and is now the property of the present Earl 
Spencer. A church is mentioned in Domesday Book, but 
the existing parish church is a modern structure, opened in 
1777. It is situated on the banks of the Thames, and is of 
brick, with a tower and small conical spire. It has neither 
aisles nor chancel. A new church has recently been erected 
by the commissioners for building churches. The living of 
Battcrsca is a vicarage hi the diocese of Winchester, rated 
in the kind's books at 13/. 15jt. 2$d, The tithes which accrue 
from the gardens render the living one of the most valuable 
in the neighbourhood of J^ondon. Battcrsca lies too low on 
the Thames to bo one of tho most agreeable suburbs of 
London for residence ; it nevertheless contains a large num- 
ber of respectable houses and neat villas. Lord Bolingbrokc 
was born and died In the family mansion at Battcrsca, of 
which Pope was a frequent inmate. Tho houso was very 
large, having forty rooms on a floor; but it has long since 
been taken down and tho site otherwise appropriated. The 
villago possesses a frco school, which was endowed by Sir 
Walter St- John, in 1700, for twenty boys; and both he and 
his lady afterwards left further sums for apprenticing some 
of the number. Battersea is connected with Chelsea by a 
wooden bridge across the Thames, erected in 1771. The 
population or this extensive parish was 5540 in 1831, of 
whom 3021 were females. (Lyson's Environs of Ijyndon.) 

BATTERY, in Law. [Sco Assault.] 

BATTERY. This name is given to any number of 
pieces of ordnance placed behind an Epaulemcnt, or eleva- 
tion of earth, cither to destroy the works or dismount tho 
artillery of an enemy. 



It may bo said that the antic ntt tnado use of ft species of 
ordnance in tho operations of attack and defence; and the 
battering-rams, thebalista?, and the eatapulurs which, when 
placed on the natural ground, or in buildings of tiinlicr, or 
elevated on mounds of earth, served the besiegers to demolish 
the walls of fortresses, or to drive the defenders from them, 
may he considered as corresponding to the guns, mortars, 
&c.-, which constitute the armament of a modern batter)*. 

Vitruvius states (De Architect urd, lib. x.) that Cctras of 
Chalcedon was the first who covered tho ram with a shed, 
in order to secure the men who worked it from the arrows, 
darts, and stones thrown by the enemy; and he adds, that 
the construction of the shed was subsequently impro\cd by 
the engineers of Philip and Alexander. The testudines 
and helepolet were buildings of this nature, for the protec- 
tion of tho men and military engines, and in this respect 
they correspond to tbc fyaulemens which cover the ordnance 
at present employed in the attack of a fortress. (See the de- 
scription of the helepolis(&ijro\ic) of Demetrius. Plutarch, 
Life of Demetrius* cap. 2 1 .) 

While the same species of artillery continued to be used 
in warfare, it is ovident that no material change could take 
place in tho nature of tho edifices constructed to cover it; 
but from the epoch of the invention of gunpowder, the 
wooden sheds or towers wcresuperseded by masses of earth, 
whose thickness was necessarily made greater than the 
depth to which a cannon-shot can penetrate into them. In 
modern times the designation of a battery varies with the 
purposes to be accomplished, the nature of the ordnance 
employed, and the manner in which the firing maybe made. . 

A breaching battery is one which may be placed at be- 
tween 50 and 1000 yards from any wall or rampart, in order 
to demolish it ; and the effect is produced by firing directly, 
or, as it is called, point blanc at the object : such a battery 
generally has its front parallel to the face of the wall to he 
breached. 

An enfilading battery is one whose epaulcment is per- 
pendicular to the produced lino of the enemy's rampart ; 
so that the shot from the guns may graze the interior side of 
that rampart or its parapet, in the direction of its length. 
When shot discharged from pieces of ordnance make suc- 
cessive rebounds along the ground, the firing is said to be 
d ricochet and the battery a ricochctting batter)* ; and this 
mode of firing is employed when it is intended to dismount 
artillery by enfilading a rampart. The effect is produced by 
giving to the axis of the gun an elevation of between six and 
nine degrees above a line passing from its chamber through 
the crest of the enemy's parapet in front ; and, according to 
the latest experiments, the distance at which a battery 
should be placed from the nearest extremity of the rampart 
to be enfiladed by ricochet firing is between 400 and 600 
7ards : at a greater distance than the latter much of the 
ammunition would be expended without effect. 

A gun battery is one in which guns only are employed, 
for either of the purposes above mentioned, or to defend 
any ground, by a iirc of round, or solid shot. 

A howitzer battery, is one in whieh howitzers arc em- 
ployed. This species of ordnance throws shells, or hollow 
shot, generally at a small elevation of the axis to the horizon ; 
and it serves to produce, by the bursting of the shells, a 
breach in a rampart of earth ; or, when fired a ricochet, to 
destroy the pallisadcs or other obstacles which might impede 
the troops in assaulting an enemy's work. Howitzers arc 
also used in conjunction with guns, to form breaches in 
ramparts of brick or stone. 

A mortar battery is ono in which shells arc thrown from 
mortars at a great elevation of the axis of the piece ; so that, 
by the momentum acquired in falling, they may crush the 
roofs, and by their explosion complete the destruction of 
magazines or other buildings. This is called a vertical fire. 
By employing large charges of powder, a very extensive 
range has been produced by mortars ; for, at tho siege of 
Cadiz, during tho late war, the French are said to have sent 
shells to the distance of more than thrco miles from the 
battery. 

When the battery is mounted on a natural or artificial 
emincnec, in order to allow the guns to fire from above 
downward, or to mako what is called a plunging fire 
against or into the works of the enemy, it constitutes a 
cavalier battery ; and when the guns are elevated on a 
platform, or on tall carriages, so as to ho enabled to fire over 
the superior surface of the parapet or epanlemcnt, the bat- 
tery is said to be en barbette. This kind of battery is 



BAT 



43 



BAT 



usually executed at the most advanced points of a fortress, 
for the purpose of allowing considerable variation in the di- 
rection of tbe artillery towards the right or left; by which 
means the reconnoitring parties of the besiegers may be 
annoyed while at a distance and in motion. 

In tbe formation of any of the field batteries above men- 
tioned, while tbey are beyond the range of the enemy's 
musketry, they may be executed without cover for the 
working parties, like any simple breast- work, after the outline 
has been traced on the ground by the engineers ; but, when 
the men employed in tbe work would be much exposed 
to annoyance from tbe enemy's fire, it becomes necessary 
that they should be protected by a mask of gabions. [See 
Gabion*.] These being planted on their tjases along the 
exterior sido of the intended trench in front of the battery, 
form a cover, even wbile empty, which a musket-ball cannot 
pierce. Within this line of gabions the excavation is com- 
menced, and part of the earth obtained from the trench is 
thrown into and beyond the gabions, till the covering mass 
is thick enough, if necessary, to be proof against a cannon 
ball: the men thus work in comparative security to raise 
the epaulement with earth, which they do generally to the 
height of about seven feet from the ground, and to the thick- 
ness of eighteen or twenty feet, not including the brev'ths 
of the slopes given to the exterior and interior sides. Tbe 
exterior slope is generally left with that inclination which 
earth, when thrown up, naturally assumes, that is at about 
45° to the horizon ; but the interior slope being necessarily 
more steep, in order to allow the guns to be brought closo 
up to it, is retained by a revctement or covering, either of 
fasci7ies [see Fascines] or bags of eartb. 

The embrazures, or openings in the epaulement, through 
which the guns are to fire, are, at the neck or interior ex- 
tremity, about two feet wide, and at the exterior about half 
the thickness of the epaulement : each of tbeir sides or 
cheeks has a small declination from a vertical plane, so that 
the breadth of the opening at top is rather greater tban at 
the bottom, or on what is called the sole of the embrazure, in 
order that the flame from the muzzle of the gun may be 
less liable to damage those sides : for the same reason the 
latter are lined with fascines, or, which is preferred, with 
gabions, at the neck of the embrazure. The interval be- 
tween two embrazures is called a merlon ; and the part 
between the sole and the ground within the battery is called 
the geyiouillere. 

The guns rest on platforms, generally of timber, either of 
a rectangular or dovetailed figure, about fourteen feet long 
and seven feet wide ; each of theso is constructed by em- 
bedding five sleepers in the ground, in the direction of its 
length, and covering them with planks, which are closely 
fitted to each other, and fastened down by screws. 

Besides the epaulement in front of the battery, a wing is 
constructed of the same materials on each side, in order to 
protect the interior from any enfilading fire of tho enemy. 
A magazino is always formed either within or near the rear 
of the .battery, to contain tho ammunitiou for its sorviee; 
tbis is generally a rectangular pit sunk to about three feet 
below, with sides and a roof of timber rising about as inueh 
ah:>ve, the natural ground : tho roof is covered with earth 
of a thickness which may be capable of resisting the momen- 
tum of a shell, and the descent to the floor of the magazine 
is by an inclined plane towards the rear. Traverses, or ele- 
vations of earth, secured at tbe sides generally by gabions, 
are formed at intervals in the interior of the battery, to 
afford protection for the men against such shot or shells of 
the enemy as may fall there. 

Howitzer and mortar batteries are executed nearly in the 
samo manner as the others, but the former of these seldom, 
and the latter never, have embrazures; the level of their 
interior is also generally sunk threo feet below that of tbe 
natural ground, consequently no trench is required on their 
exterior to furnish earth, which can be obtained in suiliciont 
quantity from within. 

B ATTIC ALO'A, an island situated near the entrance 
of an inlet of the sea, on tho east coast of Ceylon, 7 9 44' 
N. lat., 81° 52' E. long. It contains a small fort and gar- 
rison, and is the head station of the assistant government 
agent of the district of Battiealoa. The island cannot be 
approached by ships of any size, as the entrance to tbe inlet, 
which extends north and south nearly thirty miles, is closed 
by a bar, over which the depth of water is only six feet. 
The country in the immediate neighbourhood of Battiealoa 
is flat and fertile ; somo scattered hills appear in the dis- 



tance, among which two called Friar's Hood and Funnel Hill, 
serve as excellent landmarks to those who are sailing round 
the island of Ceylon. It was here that the Dutch admiral 
Spilbergen landed, in 1602, when a communication was 
first opened between the King of Candy and Holland. At 
that time this district was under the immediate rule of a 
petty prince, who seems to have owed a divided allegiance 
to the Portuguese and the Candian emperor. 

Battiealoa is also the name of a district of Ceylon, now 
under tbe charge of an assistant government agent, com- 
prising an area of 13,060 square miles, the population of 
which, according to the census of 1832, amounted to 29,424. 

B ATTICE, a commune and market-town in the province 
of Liege, situated three leagues N.N.W. of Verviers, and 
bounded on the north hy the communes of Mortier, St. 
Andre\ and Charneux; on the east by that of Thimister; 
on the south hy those of Dison, Petit llechain, Grand Re- 
chain, and Xbendelesse ; and on the west by Soumagne, 
Melin, and Bolland. The town has a weekly grain- market 
whicb is much frequented, and two fairs are held there on 
the 15th May and 1 5th November every year. The coun- 
try is well watered by numerous small streams. The soil is 
generally a sandy clay, and in some parts is stony; it pro- 
duces rye, barley, spelt-wheat, oats, beans, and trefoil. A 
considerable quantity of butter and cheese are made and 
sent away, partly to other districts and partly to foreign 
countries. Some coal-mines, which are opened in this dis- 
trict, and clotb -weaving, furnish employment for a consider- 
able part of the inhabitants. A description of sand is found 
in ono part of the commune, very useful in making cement 
for plasterer's work. Tbere arc three very old castles, those 
of Crevecceur, Bosmel, and Xhfinenmont ; the two latter 
are now occupied as farm-houses: population 4280. (Meis- 
ser's Dictionnaire Geographique de la Provwzce de Liege.) 

BATTLE, or BATTEL, a parish and market-town in 
the hundred of the same name in the rapo of Hastings, 
county of Sussex. It is fifty-two miles S.E. from London, 
in a pleasant country, where the land rises in woodod swells 
The name of the place was antiently Epiton, and acquired 
the present denomination in consequence of the great 
battle between tbe English and Normans, in which the 
former wero defeated, and their king (Harold) killed, on 
the 14th October, 1066, The Conqueror commenced, in 
tbe following year, an abbey upon the site where the battle 
had raged most fiercely, the high altar of its church being 
upon the precise spot where, according to some authorities, 
Harold was killed, or where, as others say, his standard 
was taken. But as the whole neighbourhood does not afford 
any other spot equally eligiblo for such a structure, Mr. 
Gilpin is of opinion that accident did not determine tbe pre- 
cise spot, though it might the general situation of the erection. 
When the abbey church was finished, the Conqueror made 
an oflfering of his sword and coronation robe at the high 
altar, in which was also deposited the famous roll or table 
of all the Normans of consequence who attended William 
to England. Copies of this catalogue have been preserved ; 
but modern antiquarians in general concur in the opinion 
of Dugdale, that the list was often falsified and altered by 
tho monks to gratify persons who wished to be considered 
of Norman extraction. The abbey was dedicated by the 
founder to St. Martin, and filled, in the first instance, with 
Benedictine monks from that of Marmontier in Normandy. 
All the land for a league around the house was given to it, 
besides various churches and manors in different counties, 
which were enlarged by royal and private donations in sub- 
sequent reigns. Its prerogatives and immunities were 
placed on the same footing with those of Christ Church, 
Canterbury : the monks and their tenants wero exempt from 
episcopal and other ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; they had the 
exclusive right of inquest in all murders committed within 
tbeir lands, the property of all treasure discovered on their 
estates, the right of free warren, and the cburch was mado 
a sanctuary in cases of homicide, besides other privileges. 
The abbot, who was mitred, and a peer in parliament, had 
also the royal power of pardoning any condemned thief whom 
he should pass or meet on going to execution. In the reign 
of Edward III. the abbot obtained the king's leave to fortify 
the abbey. The Conqueror's intention seems to have been 
that the foundation should maintain 140 monks.butprovision 
does not appear to havo been actually made for more than 
sixty. At tho dissolution of tho monastery, in the 26th 
of Henry VIII., its income was valued at 880/. 14s. 7J$. t 
according to Dugdale, or 987/. 0$. lOH, according to Speed. 



B A T 



44 



B A T 



A pension of 6G/. 13*. Ad. was settled upon the abbot, with 
smaller sums on sixteen other oftieers and monks. The 
bite and demesne* of tho abbey were given to a person 
named Gilmer, who pulled down a considerable portion of 
tho buildings in order to disposo of the materials. He 
afterwards sold the estato to Sir Anthony Browne, who 
began to convert part of tho abbey into a mansion, whieh 
wal finished by his son, tho first Lord Montague. Thw 
afterwards fell to decay ; and when the property was sold 
to Sir Thomas Webster, tho ancestor of Sir Godfrey Wcb- 
bter, the existing proprietor, the present dwelling was erected 
on ono side of tho quadrangle of which tho old abbey 
appears to have consisted. 

Hat tic Abbey stands on a gentle rise, with a fine sweep 
before it of meadows and woods, confined by wooded hills, 
whieh form a valley winding towards Hastings, and there 
meeting the tea. ^Tho ruins show the tintient magnificence 
of the structure; their circuit is computed at about a mile, 
and Gilpin considers that the stylo proves that the greater 
part must have been rebuilt in the time of the later 
Henries, when our architecture began to assume a lighter 
and more embellished form. The remains occupy throe 
sides of a large quadrangle, the fourth having probably 
been taken down to admit a view of the country when 
what is now the middle sido was converted into a dwelling. 
The two wings ore in ruins. The side of the quadrangle 
that faces the town contains the grand entrance, which is 
a large square building, embattled at the top with a hand- 
some octagon tower at eaeh eorner. Tho front is adorned 
with a series of arches and neat pilasters; and this entrance 
is altogether a very rieh and elegant specimen of Gothic 
architecture. This pile is loeally called * tho Castle,* and 
until 1794, when the roof fell in and rendered it unfit for 
the purpose, it was used as a town-hall by the people of 
Battle. The side of the quadrangle opposite this entrance 
consists only of two long, low, parallel walls, whieh formerly 
supported a row of chambers, and terminated in two elegant 
turrets. The remaining side, whieh forms the existing 
mansion, has undergone the greatest dilapidations. Here 
stood the abbey ehurch, though the ground -plan eannot 
now be traeed; the only vestiges of it aro nine elegant 
arches, which seem to have belonged to the inside of a 
cloister ; they are now filled up, and appear on the outside 
of the house. Contiguous to the great church are the ruins 
of a hall, which appears to have been the rcfeetory in ordi- 
nary use by tbc monks. There is another building of the 
same kind a little detached from the abbey, and whieh is 
of great beauty, although its dimensions, 1G6 feet by 35, aro 
not in good proportion. It has twelve windows on one sido 
and six on the other, and is strongly buttressed on the out- 
side. This appears of older date than tho remaining por- 
tions of the abboy : it is now used as a barn ; its original 
purpose was probably to accommodate the numerous tenants 
to whom the monks gave entertainments at stated times. 
The floor of the hall is raised, and there is an ascent to it 
by a llight of steps. Underneath are erynts of freestone 
divided by elegant pillars and springing arches, whieh form 
a curious vaulted building, now converted into a stable. 

The town of Battle owes its origin to the abbey. Under 
the encouragement of the monks, houses to tho number of 
150 were gradually erected in tho vieinity ; and to the town 
thus formed, a market, to be held on Sundays, was granted 
by Henry I. At the commencement of the seventeenth 
century Anthony Viscount Montague obtained an act of 
parliament for changing the market-day to Thursday, on 
whieh it is still held. Tho present town consists of one 
street, running along a valley from north-west to south-cast. 
The ehurch is dedicated to St. Mary, and is a very hand- 
some edifice, consisting of a nave, chancel, two aisles, and 
a substantial tower. The windows of the north aisle are 
decorated with numerous figures, portraits, and deviecs in 
painted glass. The ineumbent is styled ' Dean of Battle,' 
though the living is, in fact, a viearagc in the archdeacon ry 
of Lewes and diocese of Chichester, charged in the king's 
book at 24/. 13#. Ad. Tho lord of the manor is patron. The 
number of houses in tho parish was 515 in 1831, when the 
population amounted to 2999 persons, of whom 1538 were 
females. The only manufaeturo for whieh the place is 
rcmarkablo is the excellent gunpowder, well known to 
sportsmen by the name of Battle powder. It is considered 
to be mrpa«*ed only by that of Dartford : there are several 
extensive mills in the neighbourhood for the manufac- 
ture of it. Besides the weekly market, thero is one on 



the second Tuesday of every month for ealtle, at which, as 
well as at the fairs, on Whit-Monday and 22nd November, 
considerable business is transacted. The town possesses 
a charity-school for forty boys. The Bun-ell MSS. in the 
British "Museum state that tho hundred of Battle * is u 
franchise, the inhabitants whereof are exempt from attend- 
ing assizes and sessions, or serving on juries, and the lord 
appoints a coroner thereof. 1 The petty sessions aro holden 
at Battle. 

(Camden's Britannia ; Dngdalc's Monasticon ; Gilpin's 
Observations on the Coasts of Hampshire, Sutler, and 
Kent; Pennant's Journey from bmdon to the I tie of 
n'izht.) 

BATTLE-AXE, a military weapon of offence used in 
different countries from the remotest times. Sir Samuel 
Mcyriek says, as it was suggested by, so it immediately fol- 
lowed, the invention of the hatchet. The two Greek names 
for the battle-axe AVvtj (axinc), and ttIXikv? (pttekus), occur 
in Homer in the same verse, //. O. 1. 711. What was tho 
precise di fibre nee between the two weapons we are not told 
by ontient writers, but it seems probable that the arine was 
similar to our hatchet, while i\\c petehus, which is usually 
translated in Latin by bipennis, had evidently two heads or 
edges ; for Homer mentions another instrument of the samo 
kind in the 23rd book of the Iliad, called 'H/nrfXfrov (hemi- 
pelekon), or the half-axe. Suidas interprets *H/itiri\fjra 
{hc7nipelelta) t by at fiovScrofiot d&Vm, one-edged axes. (Sco 
Kuster's note on 'H/iir&ira.) The pclekus, or bipennis, was 
also called securis Amazonica, the Amazonian axe, from its 
having been supposed to have been used by those female 
warriors. The best representation of the antient form of 
this bipenuis is probably to be found in Pctit's Dissertatio 
de Amazonibus, 8vo. Amst 1687, where it appears on the 
reverse of a coin of Thyatira, as well as upon the reverses 
of two eoins of Marcus Aurelins. Numerous other coins of 
great antiquity bearing the bipennis are referred to in 
Rasehc's Lextcon Rei NummaH<e f torn. i. eol. 502, et seq. ; 
Supplem. torn. i. p. 596. 

Among the nations and tribes who joined the great expe- 
dition of Xerxes, we find battle-axes among the Saero (He- 
rodot. vii. c. lxiv.), and tho Egyptians (ibid. c. Ixxxix.). 
Brennus, at the siege of the Roman capitol by the Gauls, 
was armed with a battle-axe. The Yindeliei fought against 
Drusus with the battle-axe. (Horat. Carm. iv. 4.) Tacitus, 
speaking of a later period (Hist. ii. 42), describes Otho's 
forces as eutting through helmets and breastplates with their 
swords and axes (gladiis et seenribus). In the Roman 
armies, however, we do not find the battle-axe in ordinary 
use. It seems to have been considered as the weapon more 

fiecnliarly used by uncivilized nations. Ammianus Marcel- 
inus (fol. Par. 1681, lib. xix. e. vi.), under tho year 359, 
describes a body of Gauls as furnished with battle-axes and 
swords. 

The introduction of the battle-axe into this country has 
been frequently attributed to the Danes ; but proofs of an 
earlier use of it in our islands are dedueible. Mr. Hayman 
Uookc, in a memoir printed in the Arrha*ologia of the So- 
ciety of Antiquaries, has engraved a fragment of a battle- 
axe found among some Druidical remains at Aspatria in 
Cumberland, in June, 1789 (Archtrot. vol. x. p. 113); and 
in tho same volume, pi. xl., arc two representations of the 
old Galwegian bill or battle-axe, each two feet six inches 
long, found in a moss near Terrcaglcs. Remains of others 
are stated to have been found among the barrows on the 
downs of Wiltshire, and in the north of Scotland. The Danes 
and Norwegians, however, probably made more use of this 
instrument than any other nations of their time. 

At the battle of Stamford Bridge, between Harold of 
England and Harold Harfagcr of Norway, when the Nor- 
wegians gave way and the English pursued them, a total 
stop is stated to have been put to the pursuit for some hours 
by the desperate boldness of a single Norwegian, who de- 
fended the pass of the bridjjc with his battle-axe. He killed 
more than forty of the English, and was himself at last slain 
only by stratagem. (Hen. Huntingt. 1. vii. 211.) 

That the battle-axe was used in England in the Saxon 
times wc have the authority of different MSS. of the ninth 
century, and the English aro represented as using it, in the 
Bayeux tapestry. The polc-axc, with on edge on one sido 
and a sharp point on tho other, is believed to have eomc in 
with the Normans. 

When King Stephen was taken prisoner by the Earl of 
Gloucester, wo arc told by Gcrva^ of Canterbury that ho 



BAT 



45 



BAT 



had broken his battle- axe in pieces beforo he took to his 
sword, and was even then brought down bv a stone. (Script. 
x. Twysd. eoh 1354.) 

During the middle period of English history weread but 
little of this weapon, though it appears to have been con- 
stantly used. The Welsh infantry at the battle of Agincourt, 
in 1415, found it particularly serviceable in despatching 
those whom the archers had wounded with their arrows. In 
Strutf s Manners and Customs of the English, vol. ii. pi. 
xliv., Henry V. is represented as setting Richard, Earl of 
Warwick, to keep Port Qnartervyle, at the siege of Rouen, 
by the delivery of a battle-axe. 

Toward the close of the sixteenth century, the battle-axe, 
as a weapon of war, seems to have fallen into gradual dis- 
use : although the occasional placing of a pistol in its handle, 
in some specimens which remain, seems to hespeak a wish 
on the part of the warriors of that period that it should 
be retained with an improved use. 

Grose, in his Military Antiquities, vol. ii. pi. xxviii. fig. 
4, and pi. xxxiv. fig. 3, has engraved a Lochaber axe, and 
an antient battle-axe. Sir Samuel Meyrick, in his en- 
graved illustrations of antient armour now at Goodrich Court 
in Herefordshire, pi. lxxxiii., bas engraved numerous spe- 
cimens of battle-axes and pole-axes from the time of Henry 
VI. Fig. 1 represents a German pole-axe of the time of 
Heury VI., furnished with a ring to which a thong might 
be fastened, in order to twist round the arm of the person 
wielding it. Fig. 2, a battle-axe of the time of Henry VIII,, 
to which was once attached a matcb-lock pistol. The whole 
is of iron, and came from Ireland. Fig. 3, a Venetian pole- 
axe of the same period, the blade beautifully engraved, and 
having on it the lion of St. Mark. Fig.4, another specimen. 
Fig. 5, a battle-axe of the close of the reign of Henry VIII. 
Fig. 6, a Jedburg axe, or Jeddart staff of the same period, 
found in a river in Scotland. Such weapons were implied 
by the single word * staves,* which included all kinds of arms 
whose handles were long poles. Fig. 7, a Lochaher axe as 
old as the last described, if not of greater age. Fig. 8, a 
battle-axe of the commencement of the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth. Fig. 9, another of the middle of that period. 
Figs. 10, 11, two of the close of her reign. Fig. 12, one of 
the commencement of the reign of James I. Fig. 13, ano- 
ther of this period, furnished with a wheel-lock pistol. Fig. 

14, a Polish pole-axe, having on the blade a crown, and the 
letter S. twisted round the number III., for Sigismund III. ; 
its staff ornamented with a brass bead, and its form exactly 
like those of the Anglo-Saxons in theBayeux tapestry. Fig. 

15, a Dutch battle-axe, having on it the date 1685, the 
handle being ornamented with ivory. 

In Sir Samuel Mey rick's engraved Illustrations, vol. ii. 
pi. 93, fig. 7, he has given the blade of a battle-axe of 
its full. size of the time of Queen Elizabeth, made in Ger- 
many. 

The battle-axe was used at a very early period in naval 
fights, ehiellv to cut the ropes and rigging of vessels. (See 
Scheffer, Mil. Nav. ii. 7.) 

BATTLE, WAGER OF. [See Appeal.] 

BATTLEMENT, a parapet wall, commonly employed 
in castellated and in ecclesiastical edifices of that kind which 
are distinguished by the general name of Gothic. [See 
Gothic Architecture.] The battlement isofvery remote 
antiquity, as remains of them still exist in Greece and Italy. 
(See Mazois' Pompeii and Stuart's Athens.) The modern 
battlement, however, is better known as belonging to build- 
ings from the eleventh to the end of the sixteenth century ; 
but it was not in general use in ecclesiastical edifices until 
the middle of tbe twelfth century. 

The battlement is generally indented, with a coping 
sloping hoth ways from about the centre; the lower part 
between the coping and tbe cornice of the building is often 
pierced and decorated. Although by tho word battlement 
is generally understood the wbole indented parapet wall, the 
term may perhaps with more propriety be applied to express 
rather the higher part of the wall, in contradistinction to the 
indent, interval, or embrasure. It is possiblo that the term 
battlement may have derived its name from the facility 
afforded to soldiers of doing battle under the protection 
aflorded by the higher part of the indented wall. Battle- 
ments offer in their proportions, and in the details of their 
mouldings and ornaments, a great variety of examples. 
Mr. Rickman has endeavoured to distinguish the different 
periods in which the pointed-arch style of Gothic architec- 
ture ehanged the form of its detail ; and in this endeavour 



he has taken great pains to describe the characteristic fea- 
tures of the Norman, early English, decorated English, and 
perpendicular English styles of battlements. 

As to Norman battlements, he says it is very difficult to 
ascertain what was their precise form. He considers fhem 
to have been only plain parapets ; but remarks that there 
are instances in some castellated Norman buildings of a 
parapet with here and there a narrow interval cut in it, 
which appears original. 

It is more probable, then, that the Norman battlement w&s 
a plain parapet, but without intervals; and, if decorated, 
the decoration probably consisted of the semicircular arch, the 
peculiar feature of the Norman style. In support of this 
opinion we may mention the upper part or rim of a Norman 
font, decorated with semicircular -headed pannels, in South 
Hayling Church, Hampshire. The Norman church of 
l'Abbaye aux Dames, at Caen in Normandy, has a parapet 
decorated witlr pointed-arched-headed pannels, which at the 
introduction of the pointed-arch style most probably sup- 
planted the old semicircular-arched pannel, similar to that 
at Hayling Church, 

Early English Battlements, — During nearly the whole 
period in which this style was in use, the parapet was seldom 
indented ; and in many buildings it was plain, in others 
decorated. At Salisbury it is executed with a series of 
arches and pannels, and in Lincoln Cathedral with quatre- 
foils in sunk pannels. A battlement of equal intervals 





Battlement. 



Trefolled arches 

and corbels under 

battlcmcnl. 



[Salisbury Cathedral.l 

occurs in small ornamented works erected ahout the close 
of this period, when tbe early English style gave way to 
another more decorated, denominated by Mr. Rickman the 
decorated English style. 

Decorated English Battlement. — During this period the 
parapet wall without indentations continued frequently to 
be used ; but it is often pierced through in various forms, 
generally consisting of quatrefoils, and quatrefoils in cir- 
cles. Another form, however, which is not so common, 
may be considered more beautiful. This is a waved line, 
the spaces of which are trefoiled. In St. Mary Magdalen 
Church, at Oxford, there is a good example of this kind of 




[Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford.] 

battlement. Of the plain battlements, that which was most 
in use in this period has the embrasures or intervals narr w, 
and is surmounted with a capping moulding placed in a 
horizontal position as at Waltham Cross; but there are 



.&&&&E 




[Walthara Cross, at reitored from the antient fragments, by W. H. Clarke.* 

some battlements of the same date with the capping run 
ning both vertically and horizontally, of which there is a 
fine specimen in the tower of Morton Chapel, Oxford. In 
some small works of this style a 1 lower is occasionally used 
as a finish above the capping, moulding, or cornice, but it is 
by no means common. The nave of York Cathedral pre- 
sents a fine example of the pierced battlement so prevalent 
during this period : it consists of arches or arched pannels 



BAT 



4G 



H A T 



trefoiled or cinquofoiled, and tho interval is a qnatrcfoil in 
a circle; the whole is covered with a moulding running 
both horizontally and vertically. 

Perpettdicttlar English Battlements.— -In the battlements 
belonging to this period, parapets without indentures still 
continued to be used occasionally; the serpentine line with 
the trefoil was also still in use, but the line dividing the tre- 
foil was more frequently made straight, and tho divisions 
were consequently formed into triangular pannels. But in 
the early and best works tlio trefoils are not divided by 
straight lines. One of tho finest examples of pa nn el led 
parapets is at the Beauchamp Chapel, at Warwick, consist- 
in g of quatrefoils in squares, with shields and (lowers. 
There are many varieties of pierced batt lemon ts belonging 
to this period. Those erected in the early part of it have 
commonly quatrefoils, either in the lower compartments or 
above the pannels of the lower compartments, forming part 
of tho higher pannels. Two heights of pannels aro also 
frequently employed in battlements of this period. At 
Loughborough there is an example of a fine battlement, 
consisting of rich pierced quatrefoils in two heights. Such 
battlements havo generally a moulded cormce running 
round the battlement and the embrasure. A few edifices of 
a later period have pierced battlements ornamented with 
p rimed compartments, as in the tower of Lincoln Cathedral, 




[From the tower or Lincoln dihedral, from a skelch by G. Moore* Arch.} 

the Tomb-house at Windsor, the Lady Chapel at Peter- 
borough, and the great battlement at King's College Chapel, 
Cambridge. Sometimes on the exterior of a building, and 
often within, tho Tudor or three-leaved flower, forming a 
point at the top, is used on the battlement, as at the screens 
in the choir of Exeter Cathedral ; and there are a few in- 
stances of the upper part of a battlement analogous in form 
to it in small works erected long beforo this date, — as at 
Northampton Cross. But Waltham Cross, erected at the 




[Northampton Cross, from an orlginat sketch by G. Moore, Arch.] 

same time, is without this finish. Some battlements of this 
period, especially in very rich designs, have, in lieu of the 
'\\u\or flower, a finial on tho top of piercod quatrefoils, as at 
Woolnit and Blithborough Churches in Suffolk. 
Of plain battlements in tho perpendicular style there are 
many varieties. Somo aro formed with nearly equal in- 
tervals, and with a plain coping placed both horizontally 
and vertically. Castcllatod battlements have tho embrasures 
between the battlements nearly equal to the width of the 
battlements themselves : sometimes they havo wido battle- 



LF1 



=«f= 




ments and narrow embrasures, with the coping moulding 
placed horizontally and the sides cut plain. Another bat- 
tlement consists of a moulding running round the battlement 
and the embrasure, while a capping is set upon the hori- 
zontal part of the embrasure and battlement, as at York 
Minster. Tho most common battlement towards the eloso 




[York Wintter.] 

of this period has a broad cornico consisting of several 
mouldings running both vertically and horizontally, the 
embrasures being very often much narrowed and the battlo- 
ment enlarged. 

As the battlements or the perpendicular style were liable 
to frequent alterations, they cannot alone be depended on to 
determine the age of a building. (Rickraan's Attempt to 
Discriminate the Styles qf English Architecture.) Be- 
tween the periods which are distinguished by the appella- 
tions of early, decorated, and perpendicular linglish, thero * 
are some minute shades of diflercneo in the detail and pro- 
portion of battlements. This will be apparent on an ex- 
amination of the antiont edifices of Great Britain. 

The battlement, which was originally designed for the 
protection of the besieged, became afterwards merely an 
ornament to an edifice. A most remarkable example of 




[Turret of King'* College Chojr', OrobrWge.] 



[Bultreti, wilh batttcmenta, at Loddon Church, Norfolk.] 

the excessive use of it as a decoration is shown in the an- 
nexed cut, representing the top of a buttress at Loddon 
Church, Norfolk. 

(For representations of battlements, seo Brittou's Ca- 
thedrals; and Views of Collegiate and Parochial Churches 
in Great Britain, by J. J\ Keale.) 

BATURIN, a town founded by Stephen Bathory when 
king of Poland, at present situated in tho Russian province 
of Tschernigoff, or Czemiechoff, and in the circle of Konotoss. 
It occupies a picturesque position on a hill, and is skirted on 
ono side by the Seyma, in tho midst of a beautiful cxpanso 
of country which is remarkable for its fertility. The town 
is surrounded by a wall of earth, and contains a handsomo 
convent, eight churches, and about 5000 inhabitants. Tho 
environs are well cultivated. The soil and climate arc fa- 
vourable to the partial growth of the filbert, vino, and mul- 
berry ; and the trade of the district, which is promoted by 
fairs held in the place, depends chiefly on agricultural pro- 
duce. Baturin was for somo timo a favourite residence of 
the Atamans of the Cossacks, amonp whom none has ac- 
quired greater notoriety than the traitor Mazoppa, who sold 
himself to the Swedes in 1708. The Russians, to whom 
tho town has belonged since tho year 1604, afterwards burnt 
it in revenge for the treachery of Mazeppa. It has sinco 
been rebuilt, and was with its dependencies, in eluding at 
that time nearly 9300 male inhabitants, granted by tho 
Empress Elizabeth to Prince RazuinoUVky, whose de- 
scendants are its present proprietors. The palace of tho 
Atamans and its once handsome grounds are now going to 
decay, Baturin lies, according to Ilasscl, in 01° 45' N. Tut., 
and 50° 40' E. long. 



B A U 



47 



B A U 



BAUD, a town in the department of Morbihan on the 
road from Pontivy to Hcnnebon and Lorient, 15 miles from 
Pontivy, and 269 miles W. by S. of Paris; 47° 53' N. lat., 
3° t' W. long. It is near the river Evel, which flows into 
the BLivct a few miles below the town. The population of 
the commune amounted in 1832 to 5120, but what propor- 
tion belongs to the town itself we are not aware. 

In the environs of this town is found the staurolite, a 
mineral composed chiefly of silex and alumine, and whose 
crystals frequently penetrate each other at right angles or 
obliquely, so as to form a cross. It is found also in the ad- 
jacent department of Finisterre, and in one or two places in 
the south of France. 

BAUDOUR, a town and commune in the province of 
Hainault, situated two leagues west of Mons. It is bounded 
on the north by tbe commune of Villerot, on the south- 
west by Hautrage, on the south by Boussu and St. Ghislain, 
on the south-east by Quaregnon and Jemappes, on the east 
by Gblin, and on tho north-west by Erbisoeul. The surface 
of this commune is much varied. Near the town, on the 
west, is a hill covered with wood ; to the south are large 
meadows, and on the north considerable sand-hills. The 
central part contains a coal-mine, but it is not worked. 
Potter's clay is found in considerable quantities, and gives 
employment to many of the population in making earthen- 
ware. In the wood of Baudour, already mentioned, is a con- 
siderable deposit of pulverulent phosphate of iron. The soil 
generally is of very moderate fertility. Wheat can he grown 
only in a few spots. Tbe rotation of crops on such lands 
is wheat, barley, rye, trefoil, oats, and then fallow. Some 
hops are likewise grown, and different kinds of common 
fruits. There are two salt-refineries in the commune. 
Population of the commune, 2577. (Meisser's Dictionnaire 
Geographique de Hainaut, 1833.) 

BAUGE', a town in France in the department of Maine 
et Loire, on a cross-road hctwecn La Flcche and Saumur, 
10 miles S. of La Fleche and 158 miles S. W. of Paris; 47° 
33' N. lat., 0° V W. long. Bauge is on the right bank of 
the little river Couanon or Couesnon. Strictly speaking, it 
consists of two towns, about half a mile or a mile from each 
other. One of these is named Bauge lc Vieil (Old Bauge 1 ), 
or Bauge le Chateau, while the other, which is the principal, 
has for its distinctive name Bauge la Ville. There are some 
manufactures of cloth, serge, drugget, sail-cloth, cotton yarn, 
&c. The chief trade of the place is in its manufactures, and 
in timber and cattle. There is a fine hridge of freestone over 
the Couesnon. 

The English, under the Duke of Clarence, hrother of 
Henry V., were defeated before Bauge le Vieil in tho year 
1421. The French were commanded in this encounter by 
the Mareehal de la Fayette. There is an hospital in this 
place ; and also a castle, built by Foulques, or l ? ulk Nera, 
in the eleventh century. 

Bauge* is the capital of an arrondissement containing 668 
square miles, or 427,520 acres, with a population in 1832 of 
81,690. The population of Bauge, without any distinction 
of the two towns, is given in the samo return at 3553 for the 
commune, or 3433 for the town itself. *VVc suppose this re- 
fers only to Baugd la Ville; for in the Dictionnaire Univer- 
selde la France, 1804, the imputation of this place is given 
at 2904, and that of Bauge* le Vieil at 1874 : together, 4778. 

In the arrondissement a considerable quantity of paper is 
marie. 

B AUIIIN, JOHN, a distinguished botanist, was born at 
Basle according to Sprcngcl, or at Lyons according to others, 
in 1541. His father, who was a physician of great reputa- 
tion, having destined him also for the medical profession, 
placed him, towards the completion of his studies, with 
Fuchsius, a botanist of considerable eminence in his day, 
and afterwards with tbe celebrated Conrad Gesner, whom 
he accompanied in his various excursions through Switzer- 
land. He afterwards visited several other parts of Europe 
for the purpose of hecoming acquainted with their vegetable 
productions, and with a view to collecting materials for his 
Historia Plantarum, afterwards puhlished. In 1566 he 
fixed himself at Basle, where be was elected professor of 
rhetoric A few years subsequently lie was appointed prin- 
cipal physician of tho Duko of Wirtemherg, in which situa- 
tion he died at Montbelliard in 1613. 

During bis life he published little of importance, but he 
occupied himself with great industry in reducing the scat- 
tered knowledge of iho botanists of his day into a single and 
connected hutory of tho whole vegetable kingdom, which 



he arranged upon the plan sketched out by Lovel. This work 
was not printed till nearly forty years after his death, in 3 
vols, folio, published at Yverdun in 1650-1, under the care 
of Dr. Chatre, his brother-in-law. This work, although by 
no means free from errors, was a most important performance 
for the time when it appeared, and may be considered the 
first step towards reducing systematical hotany into order. 
It is now consulted only by those who are curious in the 
history of botanical discovery, hut it will always remain 
the key to the botanical works which preceded it. In the 
words of Sprengel, the author deserves great praise for his 
diligence in collecting and describing plants, disentangling 
their synonyms, and ascertaining with precision their native 
places. 

BAUHIN, GASPARD, the brother of John, was born at 
Basle in 1560. After receiving the usual college education, 
he visited several parts of Europe, with a view to examine 
their vegetable productions, and to render himself conversant 
with the state of medical science. Upon his return to Basle, 
he appears to have gained great reputation as a learned 
man and a skilful naturalist, and he had honours showered 
upon him with a profusion which marks strongly the force 
of public opinion in his favour. We find him descrihed 
as holding the offices of professor of Greek, of anatomy and 
botany, and of the practice of medicine, dean of the faculty 
of medicine, chief physician to the town, and rector of the 
university. He died in 1 624. 

His works consist of several medical treatises, especially 
of a set of anatomical plates, partly original and partly 
copied from Vesalius and Eustachius; but his reputation 
chiefly depends upon his botanical publications. He ap- 
pears to have been better furnished with materials than his 
brother John, and to have had more command of good artists 
for emhcllishing his works, which consist partly of descrip- 
tion and figures of new plants, — in his Phytopinax, pub- 
lished at Basle in 4to., 1596, and in the Prodromus Theatn 
Botanici, which appeared at Frankfort in 1620 ; and partly 
of collections of the synonyms of the botanical writers who 
had preceded him. The latter appeared in his Pinax Theatri 
Botanici in 1623, of which a second edition was published 
in 1671, and which is a complete key to the knowledge of 
the day. He also commenced a very important work, in 
which all tho plants at that time known were to be reduced 
to the natural orders ; but of this, called Theatrum Botani- 
cum t one volume only was published, containing tbe grasses, 
sedges, and liliaceous plants. He also puhlished a catalogue 
of tbe plants growing wild about Basle, a work which hotii 
Haller and Sprengel descrihe as being remarkably complete. 
Although the writings of the two Bauhins are now little 
consulted, except by those who occupy themselves with the 
not very important subject of the history of European species, 
they must be considered as men who, by their zeal, learn- 
ing, and good sense, aided by unwearied industry, have 
largely contributed to the .advance of botany, and have been 
surpassed by no one, unless by Linnaeus, in their own de- 
partment of the scienco. They do not appear, however, to 
have been men of much originality of mmd, or to have in 
any way extended the sphere of botanical science : they can 
only be considered useful pioneers, hut as such they are 
entitled to the gratitude of posterity ; for, as De Candolle 
has well remarked, if they did not succeed in discovering 
any sufficiently methodical manner of classifying their 
knowledge, they at least rendered the want of somo good 
classification more apparent than it had ever heen before. 

BAUHI'NIA,a genus of plants belonging to the natural 
order Leguminosm. Linnccus applied the name very happily 
to commemorate the merits of the two Bauhins, for the genus 
is remarkahle for its leaves being generally divided into two 
twin lobes. 

The species arc usually twining plants, found in the woods 
of hot countries, and often stretching from tree to tree like 
living cahles, forming with other plants an almost insur- 
mountable obstacle to the traveller who would penetrate the 
recesses of a tropical forest. Some of them, however, are 
small trees, as for example B. porrula, whieh is called in 
Jamaica mountain chony, because Its wood is sheathed with 
black. Their flowers are often very beautiful ; for which 
reason they have long been cultivated in the hot-houses of 
Europe, but they are too impatient of the wretched treat- 
ment they receive in the toys which we call stoves to flourish 
and produce their noble blossoms. So long as plants are 
cramped in earthen pots, and are treated like the feet of 
Chinese ladies, wc must not hope to see in Europo those 



BAD 



48 



B A U 




noble (lowers which arc described by the travellers who have 
visited the forests of America and India. 

BAUMANSHOHLE is a remarkable cavern in northern 
Germany, situated in the south-eastern range of the Ilarz, 
not far from the village of Kii belaud, less than two miles 
from Elbmgcrodc, a town of the kingdom of Hanover, and 
nearly six from Blankenburg, a town of the dukedom of 
Brunswick. This, cavern, which is considered one of the 
most remarkable 'natural phenomena of the Ilarz, is in a 
calcareous rock, and consists of six distinct larj^e chambers, 
besides a smaller one. These six caverns taken together 
measure in length nearly 800 feet, and their entrance is 136 
feet above the bed of the Bode, a small river which runs 
through a narrow valley at the foot of the calcareous rocks. 
The first cavern rises to upwards of 33 feet, and is the 
largest and most striking. The water penetrating through 
the rocks which form the roofs of the caverns, brings down 
with it calcareous matter, which hardens and forms stalac- 
tites. These stalactites are of great beauty in the third 
cavern, and among them is the sounding column, which 
emits a loud sound when beaten. This cavern was disco* 
vered in 167-2, by a miner, called Baumann, who entered 
it in hope of finding metallic ores. 

BAUME, orBEAUME, the name of two towns inFrancc, 
and of several smaller places. The towns were distinguished 
as Baumc les Dames, and Banmc les Messieurs, or Baume 
Ics Moines, from celebrated religious establishments which 
existed there : that in the former place was for females, and 
that in the latter for men. 

Bkaumk-lks-Damks is situated on the right or N.W. 
hank of the river Doubs, mid in the department to which 
that river gives name. It is 255 miles E.S.E. of Paris, 
through Besancon, from which it is distant 18 mile3 E.N.E. 
47° 22' N. lat., 6° 21 ; E. long. 

The religious establishment to which this town owes its 
designation was of the order of St. Benedict, and of great 
antiquity. According to some it was formed by two brothers, 
St Komain, abbot of Condat, and St. Lupicin, abbot of 
Leuconc, (both in Tranche Comic, with part of which the 



f Descript 

17252) says its origin is uncertain, and that all that is known 
is that it was considerable in the time of Charlemagne, and 
of his sou Louis le Debonnairc. Tho nuns wero all of noble 
birth, and strict examination into this point was instituted 
when any desired to enter. The abbey however was far 
from rich. There appears to have been also in this town a 
convent of Capuchins 

This littlo placo ha3 been much injured by tho passage 
of troops in time of war; and, though it i3tho capital of an 
arrondissement, had not in 1832 a greater population than 
2209 for the town, or 24G7 for the whole eommuno. It is 
however an agreeable place, surrounded by meadows and by 
vineyards, the produce of which is well esteemed. The pil- 
lars of the high altar of the church attached to the Bene- 
dictine abbey mentioned abovo now adorn the Pantheon, or 
church of St. Genevieve, at Paris, 

Baumc-les-Dames contains ono or two factories of cotton 
good*, considerable iron works, with a manufactory of wire 
and pins, larce potter)* and glass works, and a paper-mill. 
There are a library, a college or high school, and an agricul- 
tural society. In the environs of tho town are quarries of 
marble, gypsum, and slate; and mines of iron and coal. 
Baume-les-bamcs is also called Ban in c-lcs* Nones, and 



Baume-sur-lc-Doubs. Tho arrondissement of Baume com- 
prehends G33 squaro miles, or -105,120 acres, and it had in 
1832 a population of G4,SS4. 

Baume-lks-Moinks is a small place, about four or fire 
miles north-cast of Lons-lo-Sauuicr, capital of the depart- 
ment of Jura. The Benedictine roment from which it 
derived its name was originally a mere cell, when it was 
raised to the rank of an abbey by Count Bern on, abbot of 
Giny, early in the tenth century. Others carry tho foun- 
dation of the abbey higher, and ascribe to Bcrnon a great 
reformation in the establishment. Pope Eugeniu3 III. re- 
duced the establishment to a simple priory, dependent on 
the abbey of Clugni, in 1147, but the title of abbey was re- 
stored some time after. Proof of nobility was necessary, in 
order to be received into this establishment as a monk. 

The population of Baumclcs-Moincs, as given in the 
Dictionnaire Universelde la Franc?, Paris, 1SU-1, our latent 
authority, was 855. 

BAUMGARTEN, ALEXANDER GOTTLIEB, was 
born in 171-1 at Berlin, where his father was preacher to 
the court of Prussia. He studied at Halle, and became a 
warm admirer of WolTs philosophy i though it was at that 
time considered heretical, and Wolf himself had in conse- 
quence been obliged to leave Halle. Bauragartcn npplicd 
himself to the study of logic and of belles lettres, on which 
he afterwards gave lectures at the Orphan institution of 
Halle, Having examined what had been taught till then 
under the name of belles lettres, he endeavoured to reduce 
that branch of study to fixed principles. He invented the 
word (esthetic, which he applied to the theory of taste, or the 
science of the beautiful. Previous writers who had written 
on this subject hnd mostly limited their investigations to 
the beautiful in works of art ; Banmgartcn extended his 
researches to the qualities that constitute the beautiful in 
general, whether in natural or artificial objects, and to our 
faculty of perceiving the same. He divided the science of 
aesthetic into theoretical and practical ? he developed his 
idea3 first in his treatise, Dispittatio de nonmtllis ad Poema 
pertinentibus, Halle, 1735, and afterwards in \m /Esthetica, 
Frankfurt on the Oder, 1750. -/Esthetic has since become 
a distinct so.ience, and is taught as such in the German uni- 
versities, Tho other works of Baumgartcn are Metaphy- 
sial; /Ethica Philosophical Initia Philosophiee PiXtfitictr. 
* He examined chiclly the general rights of man, without 
reference to civil and political law, or to the law of nations, 
and, like Wolf, he confounded the object of natural law 
with that of morality/ Such is Buhle's judgment in his 
History of Modern Philosophy, iv. cli. S. 

In his metaphysics, Baumgartcn maintained Wolf* prin- 
ciple of the * sufficient reason/ and also that of the • harmonia 
prrestabilita* of Leibnitz, though somewhat modified in his 
definition of it In 17*10 Baumgartcn was appointed pro- 
fessor of philosophy at Frankfurt on the Oder. His con- 
stant application undermined his health, and after lingering 
in a weak stato for several years he died in 1762. lie was 
a profound thinker, remarkably methodical in the arrange- 
ment of his thoughts, and precise in his exposition of them. 
His elder brother, James Sigismund, studied also at Halle 
and became professor of theology in that university. He 
wrote Instructions on Moral TJtcology, 8vo, 1733 ; Abridg- 
ment of Ecclesiastical History, 3 vols. 8vo. 17-15 ; Prima 
Linea Breviarii Antiquitatam Chris tianarum, 1747, and 
other works on ecclesiastical studies, lie introduced im- 
portant am cl ia rations into the study cf theology at Halle. 
lie died in 1757, 

Another Baumgartcn, Martin of Breitcnhach, patrician 
of Nuremberg, no relation to the preceding, travelled in the 
cast in the beginning of the sixteenth century and left an 
account of his journev, which was published after bis death 
under the titlo of fieregrimxtio in /Egypt am, Arabiam, 
Palccstinam, et Syriam,fucta annis 1507 et 1508, in lucem 
tdita a Cristophoro Donaver, 4to. Nuremberg, 159-1. 

BAUTZEN, or BUDISSIN (in the Wend language 
BUOISIIYN), a well-built town near tho eastern borders 
of the kingdom of Saxony, situated on the Spree : it is the 
capital of the circle of Upper Lusatia. Bautzen is known to 
have existed before the times of the celebrated Wittikind, 
and to have been defended by a strong castle, now in ruins. 
It is the seat of a provincial government, a consistory, and 
other public establishments; and tho residence of n titular 
Roman Catholic bishop. Among other edifices of note, it con- 
tains a royal palace called the Orlouburg, now used as public 
oifices (which was burned down in 1410, and rebuilt by 



B A V 



49 



B A V 



Math las, King of Hungary) ; a Horn an Catholic chapter- 
house: a spacious town-hall and publie library ; a house of 
assembly for the states ; a flourishing and richly-endowed 
gymnasium ; a seminary for educating teachers, with a 
primary school attached to it ; a lar-^e cathedral church, 
founded in 1213, and used both by the Catholics and Lu- 
therans in common, for which purpose it is divided by a 
screen of trellis-work ; a Protestant church for fhe Wend 
congregation ; three other churches ; an orphan asylum ; 
five hospitals ; a mechanics' school, &c. There are manu- 
factures of woollens, cotton, linen, stockings, yarn, gun- 
powder, paper, copper and iron-ware, beer and spirits, &c, 
in and about Bautzen ; and it carries on considerable in- 
ternal trade. It was the birth-place of Meissner the poet, 
who died in 1805. In the neighbourhood of Bautzen is 
Klein AVelke, a Moravian colony with seminaries for boys and 
girls ; and also the battle-fields of Hochkirch, and Kittlitz 
or Wurschen, the one fought in 1746, and the other, which' 
was attended by the conflagration of thirty villages, on the 
20th and 21st "of May, 1313, between Napoleon and the 
allied Russians and Prussians. The town contains about 
1400 houses and 7*200 inhabitants, but with its suburbs 
nearly 13,000. It is in 51° 10' N. lat., 14° 30' E. long. : 
about 30 miles E.N.E. of Dresden. 

BAVARIA (THE KINGDOM OF) derives its origin 
from one of the most ancient duchies in modern Europe ; 
the name appears to eome from the Boii or Boioarii, its 
early inhabitants, and the appellation is retained in the 
modern German name of Baiern. It is composed of the 
greater part of the former circles of Bavaria and Franconia, 
of certain districts of Swabia, the principalities of Ansbach 
and Baireutb, the bishoprics of Bamberg, Wiirzburg, Augs- 
burg, Eichstiidt, and Freisiogen, and some parts of those of 
Mainz » Fulda, and Speyer (Spires). Its extent is at present 
more than one-half greater than in the year 1 777, when the 
elector Charles Theodore inherited it, and added to it his pa- 
iriinony in the Palatinate, comprising 4240 square miles. The 
electorate itself did not previously exceed 1 6,6 74 square miles, 
but this accession, and the subsequent acquisition of the 
Deux Ponts territory in 1799, increased it to 21,550 square 
miles. Above seven-eighths of the territories which now 
compose it lie in the south of Germany, east of the Khine, 
and form a compact state, eoramonly designated the Terri- 



tory °f the Danube and Main, which extends from 47° 19 r 
to 50 : 41' N. lat., and from 8 3 51' to 13° 44' E. long.; its 
circuit, taken in straight lines, is estimated at nearly 1130 
miles, but followed out in all its curvatures, at upwards of 
1530. This portion of the Bavarian dominions, in which 
seven out of the eight provinces are comprised, is bounded 
on the south by the Tyrol and Vorarlbcrg, and at its south 
eastern extremity by the Austrian circle of the Salzach, 
in the province of the Upper Ens; in the eirst, part of 
the same province and of Bohemia border on it; its north- 
eastern frontier is skirted by the kingdom of Saxony, and 
its northern and north-western, by the principalities of 
Reuss and the states of ducal Saxony; and in the west, 
it skirts the* dominions of Electoral Hesse, Hesse-Darni- 
stadt, and Baden, until its borders reach the Tauber, at 
Mergentheim, whence the whole boundary to its south- 
western point on Lake Constanz is formed by the king- 
dom of Wiirtemberg. The other portion of the Bavarian 
dominions, the Territory of the Rhine, which is si- 
tuated on the west bank of that river, and is completely 
disjoined from the preceding, by the interposition of the 
Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt possessions, extends from 
48° 57' to 49° 50' N. lat. and from 7° 6' to 8°3l'E. long. 
The French departments of the Lower Rhine and Moselle 
bound it on the south, and the Rhine separates it from 
the grand duchy of Baden on the east ; the Rhenish do- 
minions of Hesse-Darmstadt are its north-eastern neigh- 
bour ; the Prussian province of the Lower Rhine borders it 
on the north and south-west; and in the north-west and 
west it adjoins the domain of Meissenheira, belonging to 
Hcsse-Homburg, and the principality of Licbtenberg. 

Area and Subdivisions, — In consequence of the want of 
official details, considerable difiiculty has hitherto attended 
every attempt to estimate the superficial extent of the 
Bavarian territory ; some have reduced it to 28,000 square 
miles, while others have exaggerated it to 37,000; and one 
writer (Jacobi) to nearly 33,000. The documents, how- 
ever, which have been lately brought before the Bavarian 
legislature enable us to submit the following as a correct 
statement of the total area of the kingdom of Bavaria. We 
have availed ourselves of this opportunity to add some other 
details for the purpose of rendering the statement still more 
comprehensive. 





* 


Arrii.Sq. 

Miles. 


it 

a 

K 




Villages 

ana 




Population. 














Provinces or Circles. 

'The Isar, rontaining 31 districts (Land-gerichte) capital! 
Miinchen (Munich) . . / 




H 


^r- 1 


Hamlets. 


1817. 


1823. 


1333. 


& 


5908 


1G 


41 


6350 


489,452 


581,923 


595,363 


3 

e 


Lower Danube, 23 districts, capital Passau 


2964 


12 


42 


4511 


488,442 


539,039 


552,028 


C . 


Regen, 27 districts, capital RegensVurg (Ratisbon) 


3495 


27 


GO 


2G88 


362,021 


407,541 


432,063 




Upper Danube, 4G districts, capital Augsburg 


3914 


23 


72 


2730 


487,840 


505,220 


516,435 


n* 


Retzat, 42 districts, capital Niirnherg or Nuremberg 


3112 


41 


G5 


2764 


361,575 


419,949 


432,172 


>. z 

o 3 


Upper Mnin, 44 districts, capital Baireuth 


3198 


34 


70 


2370 


460,328 


523,789 


547,003 




Lower Muin, 51 districts, capital Wiirzburg 

Province of the Rhine, 12 circles (Land-commis- , j 


3489 


43 


31 


1136 


485,312 


542,4 75 


568,337 


H 


2GOS0 






sariat) each having from 2 to 4 cantons, capital \ 


2355 


12 


29 


713 


429,687 


517,031 


543,984 




Speyer (Spires) . . * .J 
Totat ... . 


















23,435 


203 


410 


23,462 


3,564,757 


4,037,017 


4,187,390 



This area of 28,435 square miles is thus distributed ; 
Arable land . . 8,171,520 acres 

Meadow do. . . 2,325,120 

Vinevante, gardens, dwellings, out- 
buildings, &e. . . 309,120 
AVoods and forests . 5,376,000 
Waters, rivers, and lakes . 420,080 
Grazing and other land . . 1 ,596,560 



18,198,400 
Bavaria is the thirteenth in the list of European states 
with regard to extent and amount of population, and ranks 
next to France, but immediately above Austria, with regard 
to density of population: as appears by Von Zedlitz's com- 
parative tables. 

Mountain*. — The highlands of Bavaria are offsets from 
t:vo great masses, the Alps and Sudete-Hereynian chain. 
To the former belongs that portion of the Norie Alps which 
stretches along the south-east of the circle of the Isar, and 



throws out its arms into that province; the Arlberg moun- 
tains, which enter the circle of the Upper Danube from the 
Tyrol and subside in this province ; the Allgau-Alps, which 
commence near Kempten in the south of the same province, 
and extending north-eastward, terminate near Mindclheim. 
The highlands on the north side of the Danube, beginning 
at the northern part of the kingdom, contain the Spessart 
mountains, a finely wooded chain, separated from the Oden- 
wald by the Main/ They cover an area of 147 square miles, 
and traverse the circle of the Lower Main from north to 
south; their highest summits, such as the Engelsberg and 
Geicrsberg, do not exceed 2000 feet in elevation. The 
Steigerwald, a forest range of inferior altitude, extends south 
of the Main, along the borders of the circles of the Lower 
and Upper Main and the Retzat, and affords a picturesquo 
alternation of woods and fruitful valleys. The Rhongebirge, 
a bleak and desolate ehain of mountains, with llattened 
summits covered half the year with snow, lie in the circle 
of the Lower Main, to the north of the river Main. They 



No. 211. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vot.lW- II 



B A V 



50 



B A V 



we attached on the east to the Fichtelgobirgt* and on the 
west Iwrder on the Spessart ; they attain their highest ele- 
vation in the Kreuzberg, which is 41G2 feet above tho level 
of the sea* Tho Fiehtelgebir^e, which U connected with 
the Bohemian forest chain, lie* in the north-eastern circle of 
the Upper Main : the chief component parts of this mass are 
granite, gneiss, quartz, and clavslato ; tho highest summits 
are the Ocbsonkopf, or Ox's If cad (5230 feet) and some 
points of tho Sehneekopf, or Snow-peak, (3502 rect). Of 
the Thuringcrwald, or forest of Thuringen, an inconsider- 
able portion lies within the circle of the Upper Main, where 
it coos by the name of the forest of Franeonia (Franken- 
wald). On the west side of the Rhine, a branch of the Jura, 
tho ' Vosgesus Mons/ which loses tho name of tho * Vosges' 
on entering Rhenish Bavaria, where it is Germanized into 
tho Wasjpu, stretches in a north-easterly lino deep into the 
centre oi that provin.ee, and terminates in the canton of 
Kirchheim, in which is situated its loftiest summit, the Ko- 
nigsstuhl, one of the group of the Donnersberg (Mountain of 
Thunder), 2142 feet nigh. The composition of this chain is 
chiefly old red sandstone, though in some parts, particularly 
on tho Donnersberg, which is erowncd with a plateau abovo 
100 acres in area, it contains hornblende and porphyry. 

In these masses of Bavarian highlands the most elevated 
points, not before indicated, are, the Zugspitz of the Norie 
Alps, in the circle of the Isar, 9G89 feet, and tho AVettcr- 
schrotTcn, 9387; the Hochvogel of the Allgau range, in the 
circle of the Upper Danube, 847C ; and the Tcufelg'siiss, 
in the same circle, 9283 feet. Tho only Bavarian heights 
which rise into the region of perpetual snow belong to the 
Norie Alps. The Bavarian mountains are generally raw 
and inhospitable, but well wooded. The Sudutsh branch of 
the great Hercynian range comprehends the Bohemian 
forest mountains (Bohmer-Wald-Gcbirge) which run along 
the eastern confines of Bavaria to the extreme eastern 
point where Hobenstcin, about twenty-three miles north of 
the Danube, is situated, and, separating the kingdom from 
the Austrian dominions cast of them, throw out several 
arms into the circles of the Lower Danube and Regen. 
Their highest summits on the Bavarian side are the Arbcr, 
4824 feet, tho Raehcl, 4720, and the Dreisesselberg, 4054 

Bavaria is, on the whole, a mountainous country; not 
only is it walled in by lofty mountains on the north and 
south, but its interior is intersected in various directions by 
elevated ranges. It contains, however, many wide and 
fertile valleys, and numerous extensive plains, tho face of 
which is not nnfrequently disfigured by swamps and mo- 
rasses, here called 4 Moose and ' Filze/ from their surface 
being covered with a thick jungle of lichens (lichen-mmcus) 
and reeds. Of these moors the largest arc the Donaumoos, 
eighty miles in urea, between Sehrobenhausen and Iugol- 
stadt ; tho Erdingermoos, in the circle of the Isar, up- 
wards of 100 miles in area ; the Isarraoos, between Isarock 
and the banks of the Danube, thirty-five miles in length 
and about three in breadth ; the Esehenlohermoos, which 
stretches from the banks of the Laisach to Mornau ; and 
the Rosenheimcrmoos on the Inn. These moors, part of 
which have latterly been drained, have hitherto been entirely 
unprofitable. The greatest extent of plain stretches full 
fifty miles in a south-eastern direction along the Danube 
from Ratisbon to Osterhofcn ; next to this in extent are the 
Konigswieso (Royal Meadow), or Boekinger Heath, spread- 
ing from Becking to Seharding ; the Riefs, in the heart of 
which lies Nordlingcn ; the Hats of tho Regnitz which en- 
circle Nuremberg; and that portion of the valley of the 
Rhine, on its west bank, which spreads into a dead plain 
round Landau, in Rhenish Bavaria. Tho most romantic 
parts of Bavaria are the regions on the south-eastern bor- 
ders, wberc Alpine heights, mountain-torrents, lakes, and 
glaciers, combino to give them the characteristics of the 
Swiss or Tyrolese landscape. 

Rtvcrs, Laftes, cj-c. — The Rhine forms the eastern bound- 
ary of the Rhenish subdivision of Bavaria, from a point 
north-east of Lauterburg to a point a little south of Worms ; 
the principal streams which Tall into it on tho Bavarian side 
aro tbe Lautcr, below Lauterburg; the Klingbaeh, south of 
Sondcrnhcira; the Qucich, close to Germershcim; the 
Sneier, near tho town of Speier or Spires ; the Rchbaeh, See. 
Tho breadth of tho Rhine above Lauterburg is 1400 feet; 
its fall in this part of its course is estimated at four and a 
"half feet in every three miles and a quarter, and it Hows at 
the rate of about 395 feet per minute. 

Tho Danube enters the south west of Bavaria from the 



Wiirtemberg dominions about two miles south of Ulm, and 
in its north-easterly and navigable courso through tho heart 
of tho kingdom as far as Regenshurg (Ratisbon) Hows past 
Giinxburg, Ilochstlidt, Donauworth, Nenburg, and Ingol- 
stadt t between which last town and Ratisbon it has a lull 
of 110 feet. In its courso (which is about E.S.E.) from 
Ratisbon to Passau it has on its right bank Straubing 
and Vilshofen, and between Ratisbon and Nieder-Altaieh, 
a spot five miles below Dcekcndorf, not far from Passau, 
in tho circle of the Lower Danube, a fall of 150 fccL 
Tho courso of this tortuous and impetuous river from 
Ulm to Passau is stated by St. Behlcn to be fifty-seven 
and a half German miles, or about 270 English: the prin- 
cipal streams which aro tributary to it alcng this line aro, 
on its right bank, the Illcr (after the latter has rereived 
the Bleibach), the Lciba, Miindel, Zusain, and Lech, the 
Isar below Deggcndorf (after it has been joined by the 
Loisaeh, Am per, and Wiirm), and the Inn, near Passau 
(after it has been increased by the influx of the Alz, Salz- 
aeh, &e.). On its left bank the chief rivers which fall into 
the Danube are the AVornitz near Donauworth, the Altraiihl 
near Kehlhcim, which rises not far from Ilornan in tho 
Retzat circle, the Rohrbaeh near Bubcnheira, the Sulz 
near Beilingrics, the Naab, which (lows down from the 
Bohmcrwald, is increased bv the waters of the Ueiduab 
from the region of the Fichtclgcbirgc, and joins the Danubo 
abovo Ratisbon ; and lastly the Regen, which also comes 
from the Bohmcrwald, and uniting with tho black, white, 
and lesser Regen, traverses the circle to which it gives its 
name, and discharges itself into the Danube near Stadh-am- 
Ilof, opposite Ratisbon. Daring its course through the Ba- 
varian territory the Danube receives no less than thirty- 
eight rivers. 

The Main originates in two streams, the red and white 
Main, the white springing from the vicinity of Kcubau, and 
the red from tho Ochsenkopf, part of the Fichtelgebirge in 
the circle of the Upper Danube ; these unite at Steinhausen 
below Kuhubach, and tlow in a general western course to a 
point a few miles west of Bamberg. Bamberg is on the Reg- 
nitz, a lanrc stream which joins the Main on the left hank, 
a little below Bamberg. The Main continues a general 
western course to Sebwcinfurth, Kitzingen, Wiirzburg, and 
Aschaffcnburg, whence it passes into the territory of Hesse. 
It is navigable above Bamberg, and in its eeursc through 
the northern circles of the Upper and Lower Main receives 
the Rodaeh near Staflclstein, tho Franconian-Saale at 
Gmiinden, tho Regnitz (as already mentioned), below Bam- 
berg, and many other smaller streams.* There are three 
other rivers of note which rise in the Bavarian territory 
the Eger and Saalc, both come from the Fiehtelgcbirgo, 
the former runs eastward in tho circle of tho Upper Main 
into Bohemia, and the latter northward from the Zettcr- 
wald in the same eirele into Saxony ; and the Fulda, which 
Hows immediately into Electoral Hesse, and after its junc- 
tion with the Werra forms the AVescr. 

Bavaria does not yet possess canals of any magnitude. 
There is a canal in the neighbourhood of the Ainmerscc, 
in the western part of the circle of the Isar, 13,000 feet in 
length, which enables timber-rafts to* avoid the hazardous 
navigation of that lake as well as to save a distance of more 
than five miles. A cut was made in 1818 betweeen Worth 
and Knitlingen (both' on the Rhine), 10,0*24 feet long and 
sixty-two feet broad, with sluice-gates upon the Rhine at 
each extremity. Another canal was finished in 1S07, be- 
tween Rosenheim and Kufstein, which is 7400 feet long and 
thirty-six broad, and by which nearly two square miles of 
highly fertile land have been brought under cultivation, 
There is also a navigablq eanal from Frankenthal to tho 
Rhine. In the year 793 the Fmperor Charlemagne resolved 
upon uniting the German Ocean with the Black Sea by a 
canal which would have run from the Altniiihl to the Reg- 
nitz, and thus have established a navigable line between the 
Danube and the Rhine through the Main ; and there is every 
prospect, from the active exertions of tho Bavarian govern- 
ment to forward this great object, that this undertaking will 
now bo accomplished.* 

* The official proipeclus upon which, at well as upon a law paused in July 
Utl (1834), a company b forming for the purpoie, states, lhal ♦the Junction 
Canal between the Danube and Uhlne,hy means of tho Main, including thu 

Krtton of Ihe r'tver Allmuhl which Is to be made navigable, will l>e 592,543 
tvarian feet, or lwcntjMhroo and a half German mile* In length (abnul 
6C3,y00 KngUth feel, or 1U7 mflet). 11 it to pan tn the direction of ihe two 
jpreal commercial town* Nurcnibvrg Mid Kurlh. ll» proposed dimension* aro 
a breadth of (lay-four feel at lop and thirty-four feet al bottom, and a depth 
of (he feci. Tbe width of lhe chambvrt fur lhe tluicct U lo be fixtccnfcelj 



BAY 



51 



B<AV 



On the Boden See (Lake Constanz) arc situated the 
harbour and fortress of Lindau, the most south-western 
point in Bavaria, but only a small portion of the surface 
of this lake belongs to Bavaria. There are numerous 
lakes within the Bavarian territory. The largest is the 
Chicm-scc (lake Chiem), which lies between the Inn and 
the Alz, about thirteen miles south of Wasserburg and 
twenty miles east of Rosenheim, in the eircle of the Isar; 
its surface is about 22,400 acres; it is about thirty-five 
miles in circuit, and its greatest depth is above 500 feet. 
Three islands, or rather hills, rise above its surface, on two 
of which are the remains of suppressed ecclesiastical com- 
munities ; its fisheries, which belong to the crown, arc ex- 
tremely productive. In the western part of the same circle 
is the Wiirm, or Stahrenbergcr-See, a beautiful lake, about 
sixteen miles south-west of Munich, fourteen miles in length 
and about four in breadth. The Ammer-See, west of the 
AVurm-See, is a beautiful piece of water, about twelve miles 
long and twenty-seven in circuit ; its area contains about 
11,000 acres, and its greatest depth is 269 feet. There are 
seven villages on its western banks ; it abounds in fish, and 
derives its name from the Ammcr, Amper, or Amfrer, which 
falls into it at its southern extremity and quits it in the 
north-cast near Eching. This lake is united by the river 
with the Staffcn or Staflel-See, a lake on the west side of 
the town of Murnau, about five or six miles in eircuit. The 
AValler or AValchen-Sec (Lacus AVallensis), is another large 
lake to the south-east of Murnau, containing about 13,500 
acres. This lake appears to be an old crater, an opinion 
which has gained more general credit from the violent agi- 
tation o? its waters during the great earthquake of Lisbon 
in November, 1755. Its greatest depth is 612 feet, and it 
lies 564 feet higher than the adjoining Koehcl or Keehel- 
See, which is also situated in the south-western part of the 
circle of the Isar, on the roarl from Munich to Innsbruck. 
The surface of the Kochcl-Sec is estimated at about 1200 
acres and its depth at 240 feet; both these lakes are full of 
fish. The most south-eastern of all the lakes in Bavaria 
is the King's (Konig)or Bartholomccus-Sec, in the same 
circle: its banks are precipitous, and it is surrounded by 
mountains. The Konigsbach throws itself into the lake 
from a lofty precipice. South-cast of Munich, between the 
Isar and Inn, about thirteen miles cast of Holzkirchcn, is 
the beautiful lake called the Tcgern-Sec, with a royal resi- 
dence, once a Benedictine monastery, on high ground at 
its south-cast extremity ; it is encircled on all sides by green 
valleys, woods, and mountains, and has an elevation of 
2 187 feet above the level of the Mediterranean: its length 
is about a mile and a half, and its breadth about two 
miles ; its greatest depth is 337 feet. On its east side is 
thcQuirinc spring, a spring of naphtha, discovered in 1430, 
which Hows from a layer of peat ; the liquid is of a greenish- 
brown tint, inllammable, and affords, in some years, a supply 
of about fifteen or sixteen gallons. 

Climate. — Tho climato of Bavaria is, on the whole, tem- 
perate and healthy. It is eold and bleak in the mountainous 
district*, but milder in the plains and valleys through which 
the Main, Altmiihl, and Rcgnitz How, particularly in the 
parts adjacent to the first of those streams, where the Thurin- 
gian and other mountains shelter them from north winds. In 
those parts the chestnut and almond thrive ; and the vine is 
cultivated for wine; but the latter docs not succeed so well 
in the low country about the Danube, which suffers from 
extreme cold in winter and oppressive heat in summer. 
In the elevated regions of southern Bavaria, fruit cannot be 
raised. The Rhenish possessions have a climate as mild and 
salubrious as the eountry traversed by the Main, except 
in some districts of the west, which arc intcrscetcd by the 
\ r o*gcs and their branehes : here the winter still prevails, 
while flowers and fruit-trees arc blossoming in tho rich 
and sunny plains. * In the plains/ says Cromc, c the 
thermometer seldom rises above 86° Fahrenheit, or falls 
below 50°.' AVc give this fact as we find it stated in 
Cromc's work. 

Vegetable Productions. — Few countries possess a more 
productive soil than Bavaria ; yet, until very recently, few 
people have turned their natural advantages to so little 

and their length 150 ; they aro to be dlrtded inlc i\ro part* by an iutrrmediate 
Rale, wo thai the chamber* may be filled for a length of 90 or or 120 feel ; 
the last of these lrn^th* bcir.g deigned fur the use of boa Is, loaded wilh lim- 
ber for bonding, which are extiemely long.* The estimated cost of this under* 
laklng is about 817500/. (ti&*}$Tt floriua), and the Bavarian government, 
without mailing for thf complete formation of the company, have directed the 
woikf upor. the Allmuhl to be commenced. 



account : ignorance and idleness have been the obstacles 
by which the improvement of husbandry has been ehecked. 
It is not many years since nearly one-third of the available 
surface of the circles of the Isar, Lower Danube, and Regen 
was lying waste and uncultivated; but a new spirit has 
sprung up under the present enlightened government, agri * 
cultural enterprise has been roused, and antiquated habits 
and prejudices are rapidly giving way to improved methods 
of cultivation. Large tracts of the Moose or moors have 
already been brought under cultivation ; and the quantity 
of land under the plough has increased to nearly nine-twen- 
tieths of the whole surface of the Bavarian dominions. Of 
this quantity, six-sevenths belong to the provinces of Ba- 
varia Proper, the area of which is more than nine-tenths of 
that of the whole kingdom ; the remaining seventh belongs 
to Rhenish-Bavaria, whose surface is considerably below 
one-tenth of the whole. 

Agricultural industry is principally directed to the culti- 
vation of wheat, rye, barley, and oats . the produce of the 
crops, however, varies considerably both in quality and 
quantity, so much so indeed with respect to the latter, as to 
range from three-fold to twelve- fold: on the average it may 
be estimated at about 5} bushels per English acre. The 
annual quantity of grain, therefore, which Bavaria raises is 
between 5,800,000 and 5,900,000 quarters, which agrees 
closely with the calculation made by Malehus, and is corro- 
borated by the well-known fact, that the eountry produces 
a much larger supply than its own consumption requires. 
The circle of the Lower Danube, which comprises the larger 
portion of Southern Bavaria, is comparatively the most pro- 
ductive in grain ; the circle of the Rctzat, and particularly 
the Ansbach and Baircuth districts, are superior to the re- 
maining provinces, which, with the exception of the Rhenish 
possessions, whence eorn is exported, scarcely raise more 
grain in common years than what is adequate to their own 
demand. In some districts rice, spelt, maize, and buck- 
wheat are also cultivated ; b'ut there arc parts in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Spessart where the climate and soil are 
unfavourable to the growth of almost every kind of corn- 
seed. 

Next to grain, the vine and hop-plant arc important ob- 
jects of cultivation. The former is grown in few districts, 
except the circles of the Rhine and Lower Main. The 
Lower Main produees the Franconian wines, mostly white, 
known by the names of the Main, AVere, Saalc, and Tau- 
bcr wines, which indicate the districts where they arc 
made : the western declivity of the Steigerwald, and the 
Plain of Gcroldshofen, have their vineyards also. The 
celebrated Stcinwein is a produce of the Steinberg, in 
the Mark of AVurzbnrg ; and the no less eelebrated Leis- 
tenwein is from the same quarter, namely, the southern 
slope of the Maricnberg, near the town of AViirzburg. 
Those parts of the eircle of the Rhine which produce 
the ehoiccst wine, arc the vineyards near Forst, Dei- 
deshcim, and AVachenheim, on the declivities oftheHardt 
mountains. In favourable seasons, the quantity of wine 
produced in the Lower Main is estimated at 63,000 fuder 
(about 11,340,000 imperial gallons), and in the Rhenish 
province, at 92,000 (about 16,560,000 gallons): the whole 
amounts to about 27,900,000 gallons. Allowance being 
made for failures in unfavourable seasons, the average yearly 
produce may be estimated at 104,000 to 117,000 fader 
(18,700,000to 21,000,000 gallons), and their value at between 
750,000^. and 850.000A The cultivation of hops has made 
much progress in Bavaria ; and the produce of the plantations 
around Spalt and Heersbriick (in the Retzat), and Hoch- 
stadt, and other parts of the Upper Danube circles, is ac- 
counted scarcely inferior to the finest Bohemian • tho quan- 
tity raised every year is about 80,000 cwt., of which from 
16,000 to 18,000 are exported, and the whole, at the average 
market-price, may be estimated at an annual value of 
about 7,500,000 or 8,000,000 florins (720,000^ to 766,000/.). 
Considerable quantities of tobacco arc grown in the circles 
of the Rhine and Retzat, the former of which produces be- 
tween 7000 and 8000 cwt, and the latter from 20,000 to 
30,000; altogether more than adequate to tho home de- 
mand. The cultivation of jlax and hemp has greatly in- 
creased, particularly in the justiceship of AVasserburg, in 
the south-east of Bavaria: but the country is still dependent 
on foreign supplies of both articles. Oil, extracted from 
linseed, rape, and other seeds, is a manufacture so much 
on the increase, more especially in tho two circles of the 
Main and In the Rhenish territory, that the exportation 

112 



B A V 



52 



frequently exceeds the importation: much oil likewise U 
obtained from puppies in the Lower Main ; but the finer 
descriptions of oils consumed are of foreign growth. The 
raising of *i!M has occupied the attention of the government 
for some year* past, and it Imk to a certain extent suc- 
ceeded. *£\\q cultivation of this articlo ha* been grcatiy 
promoted by the Silk Comraittco of the Society of Agricul- 
ture, who imported some hundreds of mulberry trees from 
Italy, Hungary, and the Rhenish districts, in 1824, and 
distributed them in various quarter*. A hundred thousand 
of these trees havo also been raised from the seed brought 
from Italy, and sown in the royal plantations alxmt 
the English Garden at Munich. Fruit is most exten- 
sively raised in the southern districts of the kingdom ; 
though the finest sorts are probably those which are culti- 
vated in the environs of the Main and the Rhenish terri- 
tory, whence considerable quantities are exported. Liquorico 
(of which the Bamberg sort is considered the fiaest raised in 
German y), aniseed, coriander, eumininsecd, and saffron are 
cultivated in many parts. Madder forms an article of large 
export from the circle of the Rhine; and generally the cul- 
tivation of such roots and plants as afford a dye appears to 
have been successful. The potato is far more generally 
cultivated in the northern and Rhenish districts than in the 
southern: hay and other fodder for cattle arc produced in 
abundance. Iceland moss is also collected in Bavaria. 

Division nf Pioperly.— 'The soil/ says St. Behlen, Ms 
divided in very equal proportions. In the six old circles 
(those of the Retzat, Rcgcn, Upper Main, and Isar, and of 
the Upper and Lower Danube) there arc 2,234,003 estates 
held by 000,989 proprietors. The- same may be remarked 
of the circle of the Rhine ; but of the Lower'Main we have 
no authentic returns. The rare occurrence of large pro- 
perties is shown by the inconsiderable number of individuals, 
who, as possessing freeholds rated to the laud-tax at the 
value of 8000 tlorins (about 7G5/.),arc eligible to scats in the 
legislature; for it appeared at the ftrst election, that exclu- 
sively of noblemen and persons holding property in towns, 
the number of such individuals did not exceed 7181. The 
laws of the land arc favourable to the subdivision of estates. 
In the circles of the Isar, Rcgen, and Lower Danube we find 
many comparatively large properties, between 200 to 400 
tagwerken (1/0 and 340 aeros) in extent; in these quarters 
such subdivisions arc seldomest known, on account of the 
thinness of the population. The state possesses, in landed 
property and ground- rents, to the value of 209,548,415 ilorir.s 
(about 20,087,000/.). which constitutes between a fifth 
mid a sixth part of the entire value of landed property in 
Bavaria.* 

Forest*, Timber^ #c— The proportion of soil occupied 
by woods and forests, as compared with the surface occu- 
pied by arable land, is nearly 60 of the former to 1 00 of the 
latter. Most of the mountains in Bavaria arc finely wooded: 
many of the more extensive plains also contain forests. 
Those of the Spessart and Rhon mountains, in the circle of 
the Lower Main, may he considered as the most valuable : 
the oak obtained from the Spessart is highly esteemed, 
and is exported to a large amount ; but tho beech of the 
Rhiin is very little inferior to it in strength. It may be 
observed, in general, that the woods in tbe lowlands consist 
of oaks and beeches, but, in the elevated regions, of juni- 
pers, with firs, pines, and others of the same species. Ex- 
tensive tracts of wretched woodland occur in some parts, 
as, for instance, in the circle of the Isar, where there are 
upward* of 103,000 acres of such land, intersected by ranges 
of high barren rocks. The yearly produce of the Bavarian 
forests, independently of fire-wood and brush-wood, is esti- 
mated at 2,370,000 klaftcrs, and the quantity of timber thus 
produced is so much beyond the domestic consumption, that, 
in 1821, the value of the exports was 221,350/. (2,309,070 
tlorins) greater than that of the imports. The quantity of 
woodland belonging to the state forms one-third of the whole 
Bavarian woods and forests; and their gross annual value 
for 1821, as reported to the legislature in 1828, was about 
344 ,030/. (3,595,060 florins). In consequence, however, of 
the heavy expenses attending their management, the lights 
jxwsessed by individual* to certain proportions of the fell- 
ings and other burthensome contingencies, the net produce 
accruing to the state docs not appear to have been moro 
than about 100,180/.* or 1,G71,4GG tlorins. In this amount, 
wo should add, no credit is taken for the quantity of timlicr, 
&e. in stock, nor for the produee of the 1C7.000 acres which 
arc appropriated to the consumption of the salt-works, and 



B A V 

to other public purposes. The remaining two-thirds of the 
Bavarian woodlands belong to parishes, endowments, and 
■private individuals. The largest forests are those near 
Kemptcn, which cover a surface of 235,143 acres, and in tho 
region of the Spessart. which arc 91,740 acres in extent 
but in Rhenish Bavaria both timber and fuel arc compara- 
tively scarce. Potashes* tar, turpentine, and juuiper berries 
arc among the other products of the Bavarian forests. 

Animals.— Bavaria is full of rivers and streams, the banks 
of which aro bordered with excellent pastures; and lhcy 
have been rendered still more productive in the two circles of 
the Main and that of the Retzat by artificial irrigation. Tho 
mountains also abound i\\ pastures, which have been im- 
proved in many parts by careful cultivation. No branch of 
grazing, however* is so extensively pursued as the rearing of 
horned cattle ; and in this respect the circles of the Uppor 
Danube and Isar take the lead ; yet the whole stock is in- 
adequate to the wants of the inhabitants, and by no means 
commensurate with the capabilities of the country. In 1&21 
the stock amounted to 1,895,087 beads; aud supposing tho 
annual increase to have been at the rate of one in eiery 
three hundred for the thirteen years since elapsed, the pre- 
sent stock may be estimated at nearly 1,980,000. Il may 
be observed also that the imports of oxen, hides, and cheese 
exceed the exports by about 10,000 oxen, 2000 cwt. of hides, 
and 2500 tons of ehecso. Sufficient exertions havo not yet 
been made to improve the breeds, though much good ha3 
been done by the establishment of agricultural aud veteri- 
nary schools, and the distribution of prizes at tho rural festi- 
vals. Of sheep, the numbers in 1821 wcro 1,238,103, and 
it is calculated that they have increased to about 1,400,000' 
since that timo. Tho neglect of this branch of agriculturo 
during the last forty years, which, wo believe, is without a 
parallel in any other German state, may be inferred from tho 
fact, that in the year 1794, when the Bavarian dominions 
were hut 20,030 square miles, their Hocks contained 1 ,04 G.&81 
sheep: whereas now, when the territory spreads over an area 
of 28,435 square miles, they arc not more than we have stated. 
The majority of the Bavarian tloeks arc of the native breed ; 
but great pains arc at present bestowed upon their improve- 
ment, and lhc result has already been advantageously fell on 
the royal sheep-grounds at Sehleissheim near Munich, and 
Waldbrunn, as well as in other parts of the country. Much 
also remains to bo done, we are told, towards improving 
the domestic breed of horses: their number, which was 
324,991 in tho year 1821, is now said to have risen to 
340,000, cxclusi\o of such as arc employed for military ser- 
vice and in public establishments. The horses imported 
into the country, however, still continue to exceed those 
exported, by .several hundreds annually. Swine are roared 
in all quarters, but more particularly in the neighbourhood 
of the Spessart and Khun mountains, where acorns are 
abundant: though no accurate account of their numbers is 
extant, Malchus is of opinion that they range between 
1,400,000 and 1,500,000. Of goats the stock is not largo: 
and few mules or asses aro bred. Fowl, bolh wild aud do- 
mestic, arc plentiful : the rearing of bees has boon neglected 
until of late years. The lakes and rivers of Bavaria abound 
with fish : in the circle of tho Isar especially, where tho 
largest inland waters exist, and along the banks of tho 
Main and Rhine, thousands derive a comfortable livelihood 
from the fisheries. The most noted species arc the salmon 
of tho Rhine, the trout of the Franconian streams, ami the 
era) fish of. the Altmuhl. Pearls arc found in the 11/ and 
other minor streams. The evolves and bears, which used to 
infest the forests and highlands of Bavaria, are rapidly 
diminishing. 

Metals and Minerals. — Every inducement has been held 
out by the Bavarian government, both to natives and 
strangers, with a view to encourage tho working of the 
mines. The principal products ore iron, coals, and salt; 
gold and silver are found in small quantities, only in tho 
waters of the Inn. Rhine. Danube* and Isar; quicksilver, 
to the amount of 280 or 290 ewt., in tho circle of the Rhine ; 
aud copper, which was formerly raised in several quarters, 
is now confined to the works at Kahl and JKaulsdorf, in 
the circle of tho Upper Main, which produce about 770 
cwt, per niiniun. There arc two mines of cobalt also on 
the latter spot, from which small quantities of tin, lead, aud 
antimony have occasionally been obtained. The Upper 
Main, Rhenish Bavaria, Rcgen, Lower Danube, aud Isar 
territories are the chief mining districts in Bavaria. There 
aro, in tho whole kingdom, 41 iron high-blast furnaces, of 



BAY 



53 



BAY 



which S belong to tho crown; 30 low-heat furnaces, 17 
smelting-works, 332 forges and hammers for beating out 
the metal, &c., 4 steel-works, and 19 wire-mills, the annual 
produce of which is about 11,150 tons of raw and cast-iron, 
6990 tons of wrought-iron, 4300 ewt. of steel, 7200 of plate- 
iron, and 4000 ewt. of wire; but as the whole quantity of 
metal raised is not sufficient for the consumption of the 
country, the deficiency is made good by importations, Of 
this native iron, the Isar mines at Neukirchen average 
yearly about 5500 tons, and the Upper Main about 4000. 
Bavaria possesses likewise 136 pits of iron-stone, which is 
raised in all of its eight circles, to the average' extent of 
41,500 tons a year. The coal-mines are in the districts of 
Stadstcinach and Wundsiedel in the Upper Main, and of 
Kaiscrslautern in Rhenish Bavaria; the number of shafts 
at work in these parts is fifty-one, of which eight are the 
property of the crown, and the remainder of private indi- 
viduals. The whole quantity raised is about 35,000 tons 
a year, which might be greatly increased by working 
the rich beds in which other districts of Bavaria are 
known to abound. Black-lead (or graphite) is worked in 
several places, particularly at Obernzcll, whence much is 
sent to America for the purpose of making crucibles : the 
whole number of mines in activity is thirty-three, and the 
quantity produced, about 200 tons per annum. The sulphur 
raised in various parts is not sufficient for the home con- 
sumption. ' Porcelain-earth is another Bavarian product; 
the best is obtained in the justiceship of Wunsiedel in the 
Upper Main, and of a quality said to be the finest in Ger- 
many, if not in Europe. Salt has been a monopoly of the 
frown for several ages ; and in the last century the pans 
and works of Schcllenberg alone, from which the govern- 
ment supplied the country, produced 2-11,000 tons. The 
public salt-works are at present seven in number, and are 
established ut Berehtcsgaden, Rosenheim, Reichenhall, and 
Trauenstein, in the circle of the Isar (average produce about 
28,600 tons a year), Orb and Kissingen in the Lower Main 
(average about 3000 tons a year), and Tiirkheim in the 
Upper Danube (average about 420 tons a year). The whole 
supply amounts to between 32,000 and 33,000 tons per an- 
num : the expense is estimated at about two shillings and 
sixpence per ton, and the portion retained for domestic con- 
sumption at 30,000 tons. On an average of four years, the 
clear annual profit accruing to tho state appears to have 
been 2,217,375 llorins (about 213,000/.). There are, accord- 
ing to Stein, three hundred different sorts of marble in the 
circle of the Upper Main alone. Alabaster and rock crys- 
tal, the agate, jasper, and garnet, cornelians, and asbestos, 
should be added to the list of Bavarian minerals. , 

Bavaria is abundantly supplied with mineral waters, but 
few of them are of any note. Among the saponaceous 
springs we may instance the well of the Virgin (Man'e?i- 
brunnen) at Mochlingen ; there are alkaline waters at the 
monastery of Ucilsbrunn in the Retzat, as well as at Baklcr 
in the Wirzburg territory ; muriatic springs at Bencdict- 
bcuem and Kissingen, and at the Wildbad at Rothenburg ; 
sulphuretted-alkaline waters at Abach; and chalybeate 
springs in various quarters, particularly the Fokbcrger Baths 
and Alexander Baths in the circle of the Main. 

Inhabitants. — It appears from the tabular statement given 
above that Rhenish Bavaria surpasses every other part of 
the kingdom in density of population, the number of inha- 
bitants to the square mile being 230 ; in the Ix>wer Danube 
it is 180; in the Upper Main, 171; in the Lower Main, 
nearly 163; in the Uetzat, 138; in the Upper Danube, 
nearly 132; in the Regen, 123; and in the Isar, although 
the capital with a population of 80,000 souls and upwards 
lies within it, not quite 100. The comparative numbers of 
the two sexes are as follow : — 

In the year 1819, 1,788,495 malc3; 1,908,900 females. 
1825, 1,929,025 „ 2,052,912 „ 
1828, 1,980,278 „ 2,056,739 

From the average of these three years the proportion of 
males to females is 125 of the former to 132 of the latter, or 
1000 to 1055 ; which is a little less than tho proportion 
given by Malchus, who states the excess of females over 
males as being • not quite 5 J per cent.' According to Rud- 
hart's statement in 1826, the number of dwelling-houses 
was then 019,482, and the number of families inhabiting 
them 787,318; each family averaging between four and 
five individuals. The proportion of the population in towns 
having 500 families or upwards is also estimated by him at 

i 



one-seventh of the entire number of inhabitants ; and so 
low a proportion cannot be matter of surprise in a state which 
is so pre-eminently agricultural. The average proportion 
of births and deaths for the three years 1819, 1825, and 
1828, is 143,576 of the former to 108,345 of the latter; 
whence we have an average increase, on these three vcars, 
of 35,231 souls.. • 

The number of parishes is 8155, and that of public and 
private buildings of all descriptions was, in 1833, 1,271,5G7, 
the value of which was estimated at 778,908,699 florins 
(about 74,G45,417/.). The number of such buildings insured 
against fire was 1,13G,977, and their estimated value was 
551,02G,798 llorins, or 52,80G,730/. 

According to Von Zedlitz, the inhabitants of Bavaria con 
sist of 4, 113,500 Germans, 60,000 Jews, and G500 French, 
or persons of French extraction, who are mostly scattered 
about Landau and in the circle of the Rhine ; the German 
part of the population is divided into native Bavarians, 
Franeonians, Swabians, and Rhinelanders. 
, Religion.— VJq know of no classification of the inhabitants 
according to their religious tenets of a more recent date than 
that given by Von St. Bchlcn for the year 1828, at which 
period they were composed of 

2,880,383 Roman Catholics, 
1,094,G33 Protestants, 
57,574 Jews, and 
4,427 of other persuasions. 

The 'Edict of Religion* of the lGth May, 1818, docs not 
recognize any predominant national church, but establishes 
full liberty of conscience, and gives both/to Roman Catholic 
and Protestant an equality of civil rights; the privilege of 
private worship is secured to individuals of every persuasion, 
and that of public worship may be granted by the king 
upon the application of a sufficient number of families. AH 
matters connected with the temporal concerns of religious 
communities are conducted by the section for ecclesiastical 
affairs in the home department ; but the exercise of judicial 
power in the Catholic Church, with reference to members of 
their own body, is entrusted to the archbishops, bishops, ab- 
bots, and deacons. The king is the temporal head of that 
church, and no laws, ordinances, or other public acts relating 
to it can be promulgated without the royal sanction. 

By the concordat concluded with the Pope, on the 5th 
June, 1817, two archbUhoprics, Munich and Bamberg, and 
six bishoprics, AYiirzburg, Eichstiidt, and Spires, under the 
former, and Augsburg, Uatisbon, and Passau, under the 
latter, were instituted. The Roman Catholic Church in Ba- 
varia possesses 191 deaneries, and 2512 cures of souls. The 
Lutheran Church, which is most prevalent in the circles of, 
the Retzat, Upper Danube, the two Mains, and Rhine, con- 
tains 37 inspections, consisting of 1 036 parishes or ministries, 
under the conduct of the three consistories of Baireuth, 
Ansbach, and Spires, which are subordinate to the 'Inde- 
pendent Superior Consistory' of Munich, the latter being 
itself subject, to a certain extent, to the control of the homo 
department. Wo observe that the king of Bavaria does not 
allow his prelates to use the prrcfix 'Dei gratia* 4 in their 
titles, considering it a peculiar attribute of royalty; but he 
permits them to substitute, as an appendix to their official 
designation, the words * Divina gratia.' The revenues of the 
Roman Catholic Church arise from estates and endowments, 
over which its hierarchs exercise unlimited control : out of 
these revenues the archbishop of Munich receives an annual 
stipend of about 1920/. (20,000 florins), and the archbishop 
of Bamberg, about 1440/. (15,000 florins); the bishops of 
Augsburg, Ratisbon, and Wiirzburg, 9G0/. (10,000 florins) 
each, and those of Passau, Eichstiidt, and Spires, about 
7G5/. (8000 llorins) each. Several monasteries and convents 
have been allowed to spring up again of late years, for the 
professed purpose of instructing young persons in religious 
and worldly knowledge, of assisting in the ministerial office, 
and taking charge of the sick. The present number of reli- 
gious establishments is thirty-four, of which fourteen are very 
recent revivals of suppressed communities. .In the year 
1832 there was not one such establishment in the circle of 
the Retzat ; but tbere were twelve in the Upper and Lower 
Danube, seven in the Isar, four in the Regen, ten in the 
Upper and Lower Main, and two in the Rhenish' territory. 
The higher orders of the clergy, including deans of chapters, 
are nominated by the sovereign; and, on the representation 
o f the bishops, the circulation of such books as they may deem 
adverse to ' the true faith, good manners, or church discipline 
is prohibited. Tho president of the Lutheran Consistory 



B A V 



61 



BAV 



has a seat and vote in the Scnalo or Couneil of the King- 
dom (Reich* rath); and the Protestant clergy are main- 
tained hv the state at an expense of about 28.000/. (290,000 
llorins) a year. An annual grant of about 95,000/. (1,000,000 
llorins), is likewise made for the support of the inferior Roman 
Catholic ministers. Besides the pure Lutherans, there arc 
about 7000 reformed Lutherans in Bavaria; but the mem- 
bers of the two persuasions in Rhenish Bavaria came to an 
understanding in I81S, when tho vote of every individual 
was taken, and it appeared by the result, that 40,167 were 
in fa\our of the union, and only 539 against it. Since that 
period they have formed one single religious community, 
wider the designation of tho * Protestant Evangelical Chris- 
tian Church.' There are a few Mcnnonitcs and Ilcrrn- 
huthcrs in the Bavarian States, and since the elevation of 
the present King's second son to the new throne of Greece, 
a number of Greeks have taken up their abode in Munich, 
where they have a separate school for their children, and 
are allowed the use of one of the churches. The Jewish 
portion of ihc population arc mostly settled in the Rctzat 
and Lower Main ; they enjoy full liberty of conscience, but, 
under the edict of the toth June, 1813, arc not admitted to 
participate in civil rights and immunities, unless they becomo 
naturalized and adopt distinct family names. 

Education. — This important department is under the im- 
mediate superintendence of the 'Superior Board of Educa- 
tion and Ecclesiastical Affairs' (Obcr-Schul-und-Kirchen- 
rath), attached to the ministry of home affairs, and under 
tho subordinate direction of the several provincial govern- 
ments, one member of which has particular charge of all 
matters connected with scholastic institutions. Subordi- 
nate again to the latter are the inspectors of district and 
local schools ; those for the local schools being in general 
the ministers and elders of parishes. No child is excused 
attendance at the schools, except such as have received per- 
mission to pursue their studies under private tutors. There 
are three universities, two Catholic, at Munich and Wiirz- 
burg, and one Protestant at Erlangen ; the two former are 
attended by about 2200, and the latter by about 400 
students. 1'hcse three universities have eighty-six pro- 
fessors, and between twenty and thirty tutors (docenten), 
private lecturers, and others, besides excellent scientific col- 
lections and auxiliary institutions. Next in rank arc the 
seven lycasa, thirty -lour schools of studies, and twenty- 
one gymnasia, of which Munich and Augsburg have two 
each : the gymnasia are conducted by seventy-nine pro- 
fcs>ors and J 47 other teachers. The lyccea arc attended by 
about 700, and the gymnasia by about 3100 pupils. There 
are also twenty-one pro- gymnasia, and sixteen ' preparatory 
Latin sehools' in Munich, Augsburg, Ratisbon, Wiirzburg, 
Landau, Kaiscrslautcrn, &c. ; in tho last (the Latin schools) 
there arc about 2300 pupils. The number of elementary, me- 
chanics', and Sunday schools exceeds 5000 ; hut wo have no 
return of them of a later date than the year 1821, at whieh 
time there were 5008 school-houses, with 7114 masters and 
assistants, and 489,196 pupils attending them. Bavaria 
has eight seminaries for the education of teachers, and its 
legislature annually voles about 3000/. (32,000 tlorins) for 
the ciicoungement of elementary schools, besides about 
2350/. for the inspectors' expenses, and allowances to re- 
tired masters. Tho whole public grant for forwarding 'edu- 
cation and intellectual culture' is 767,811 llorins (about 
73,600/.) The seminaries for educating candidates for ecclo- 
siastical preferment are seven in number. There arc veteri- 
nary schools at Munich and AVurzburg; a royal academy of 
the arts and sciences of nearly 400 members, and another 
of the fine arts with eight professors, and an agricultural 
society, which distributes annual prizes, all in Munich ; an 
academyof physics and medicine at Wiirzburg, and another 
of naturalist*, as well as a medico- physical economical society 
at Erlangen ; a horticultural society (tho Pcgnesian order 
of tlowcrs) in Nuremberg, where there arc also societies for 
the promotion of national industry and the propagation of 
Christianity ; a botanical society at Ratisbon ; a school of 
the fino arts at Augiburg, in connexion with tho academy 
in Munich ; and numerous other associations of a useful cha- 
racter. The largest nublic library in Bavaria is the 'Cen- 
tral Library' in Munich, which contains upwards of 
500,000 volumes, including 16,000 manuscripts, 400,000 
pamphlets and dissertations, and 250,000 distinct works: 
the University Library, in tho same city, has upwards of 
160,000 volumes; that of Wiirzburg, above .10,000; and 
that of Erlangen, between 40,000 and 50,000t No printing- 



press can be established without the previous sanetiou of 
tho king. Piracy of books, as well as the sale of niratcd 
works, is held to be a misdemeanor; and every bookseller, 
dealer in antiquities, owner of a circulating library, printer, 
and head of a lithographic establishment, is placed under 
the control of the local police in every town, aud liable to 
be brought under judicial cognizance for any oflcucc against 
the laws, morals, or the public safety, 

Constitution, — Most of the states, of which the kingdom 
of Bavaria is composed, namely, the former duchy of Bava- 
ria, the upper Palatinate, the duchy of Ncuburg, and the 
principalities of Ansbach, Baircuth, Bamberg, and Wiirz- 
burg, possessed representative constitutions before their 
consolidation under one head. But tho aristocracy in those 
Icrritories had succeeded in rendering these representative 
constitutions a dead letter; and in faet, they had long been 
in a state of abeyance previously to being abrogated by the 
terms of tho constitution promulgated by the late King, 
Maximilian Joseph, on the 1st of May, 1808. The convul- 
sions which subsequently afTeetcd the whole of Europe 
rendered the constitution of Maximilian Joseph incompatible 
with the new order of things ; and the same kin?, therefore, 
on the 26th of Mar, 181 S, granted the Bavarians a new 
constitution, which defines and establishes their rights and 
privileges. Its fundamental principles arc— liberty of con- 
science and freedom of opinion, with the reservation of legal 
provisions against the abuse of either: the right of every 
native-born subjeet to be employed in the public service, 
without exception on account of birth or rank jn society ; 
general liability to personal service in tho national defence; 
equality of all before the law; the impartial and uninter- 
rupted administration of justice; general liability to taxes, 
and an equitable distribution of thctn ; and a legislature, 
eleeted by all classes of resident citizens, and enjoying llio 
right of discussing and approving laws, voting the public 
taxes, and requiring the redress of all infringements upon 
the rights recognised by the constitution. The kingdom of 
Bavaria, by this charter, is declared a ' sovereign monar- 
chical state,* and the legislative power is vested in two cham- 
bers, conjointly with the king, as head of the state. The 
succession is limited to the male line, according to the right 
of primogeniture, with a proviso, that on the extinction of 
direct heirs male, the next male descendants of the female 
line shall succeed. No offices of high rank in the civil or 
military service, nor any office under the crown or in the 
church, nor any ecclesiastical benefice, can be conferred 
upon any individual who is not a native-born citizen or 
legally naturalized. Feudal bondage is abolished, as indeed 
it was previously by the edict of the 3rd of August, 180S. 
No Bavarian, to use the words of the charter, can be de- 
prived of his natural and recognised judges. All endow- 
ments for public worship (Ktiitus) and education, and for 
charitable purposes arc placed under the immediate protec- 
tion of the state. 

The legislature consists of two chambers, namely the Se- 
nators (Reichsriithc) and the Deputies. The former is com- 
posed of the prinees of royal blood, who have attained lhcir 
majority, — tho great officers of the crown,— the heads of 
houses in the eases of such principalities and earldoms as 
were parts of the Holy Uoman Empire, — a bishop named 
by tho king, — the president of the Protestant General Con- 
sistory,— and lastly, of those individuals, whom the king 
may create members of the chamber for life or hereditarily. 
The Chamber of Deputies consists, 1, of such landed pro- 
prietors as exercise judicial powers in right of their proper- 
tics {gutsherrliche Gericfitsbarkcit), provided they have no 
scat or vote in tho upper chamber;— 2, of deputies from the 
universities; — 3, of ecclesiastics representing the Boinan 
Catholic and Protestant churches;— 4, of deputies from 
cities and market-towns;— and 5, of such landed proprietors 
as do not come within the classes already described. Tho 
number of members is in the proportion of one to every 7000 
families: of these members oue-cighth of the whole num- 
ber must bo taken from class t ; one member from each of 
the three universities ; one-eighth from class 3; one-fourth 
from class 4; and two-fourths of the whole number from 
class 5. Tho ehambcr is re-clcetcd every six years, except 
when the king dissolves it, and then the members going 
out arc re-eligible. The chambers cannot proceed to dedi- 
bcrate unless two-thirds of Ihe deputies are present; and 
both eliainbcrs commence and c!o>e their sessions at the 
same time. All motions respecting the public burthens 
arc, in the first place, brought under the consideration of 



B A V 



55 



B A V 



the Chamber of Deputies ; in respect of any other 'Subjects 
the king determines beforo which chamber they shall be 
first brought. No direct or new indirect taxes can be levied, 

J nor any augmentation or alteration of existing taxes be 
made by the king, without the previous sanction of the legis- 
lature ; and the same sanction is required before any new 
law or any alteration, authentic exposition (authentische 
Erlaiiterung), or repeal of an existing law, affecting the 
freedom of persons or properties, can take effect. The 
free right of complaint against violations of the constitution 
is secured to every citizen, or district. The king is bound 
to call the legislature together once at least in every three 
years. Its ordinary session lasts two months; but it may 
be extended or adjourned, or it may be dissolved, as he may 
deem expedient: in the last case, anew election of deputies 
must take place within three months. The ministers, 
though they are not members of the chambers, have the right 
of being present at all deliberations. The king, upon his 
accession to the throne, swears to * govern according to the 
constitution and laws of the kingdom ;' and every prince of 
royal blood, upon attaining his majority, solemnly makes 
oath that he will rigidly observe the terms of this censtitution. 

The Public Administration. — At the head of public affairs 
is a council of state, established by a royal decree of the 
18th of November, 1825; it is composed of the king, the 
crown-prince, if of age, of such princes of royal blood in a 
direct line as are also of age, resident in the capital, and 
appointed ot the council by the sovereign, of the ministers of 
state, the field-marshal, and six councillors nominated by the 
sovereign. The executive authority is vested in the heads 
of the following five departments, — the royal household and 
foreign affairs, — justice, — home affairs,— finance, — and the 
army — whose heads form the cabinet, and are assisted at 
their meetings by a secretary-general. Each of tho eight 
circles or provinces has a provincial government consisting 
of two boards: the one called the Chamber of the Interior, 
takes charge of civil concerns, the police, the schools, &c. ; 
the other termed the Chamber of Finance, manages the 
affairs of tho domains of the state, and every matter con- 
nected with the financial department. The commissary- 
general (Generalcommissair) is president of both boards, 
and in some circles he is assisted by a vice-president ; each 
board consists of a director, and several members, called 
councillors and assessors. The medical-police department 
is attached to the Chamber of the Interior; and a councillor 
of medicine (Kreis-medieinal-rath) superintends it. Each 
circle has also its official architect and surveyor. 

The Legislature. — The members composing the Cham- 
ber of Senators aro at present fifty-one: thirty attend in 
right of hereditary rank or dignities, or from the nature of 
their family possessions; and twenty-one have been no- 
minated by the king cither for life (ten) or as hereditary 
senators (eleven), the latter of whom are always land- 
holders of noble blood, and must pay at least 144/. (1500 
florins) elcar in land or domanial taxes. St. Behlen observes, 
that 'there are few noble families by whom this condition 
is fulfilled.' The numher named for life cannot exceed 
one-third of the whole body of hereditary senators. This 
chamber, which has a President and Vice-President, cannot 
open any sitting unless one-half or upwards of the members 
arc present. The qualifications required for a member of 
the Chamber of Deputies are— that the candidate has com- 
pleted his thirtieth year; that ho is a free and independent 
citizen ; that he is a member of either tho Roman Catholic, 
Lutheran, or Reformed* Lutheran church ; that no charge 
of crime or misdemeanor has been proved against him; 
and that he pays the house or land-tax on property of the 
value of 765/. (8000 florins), at the least. This chamber 
is at present composed of 123 members; namely, fourteen 
landholders, exercising judicial powers on their estates ; three 
deputies from universities ; eleven from the Roman Catholic 
ecclesiastical bodies, and five from tbe Protestant ; thirty from 
cities and towns; and 60 from the body of landholders not 
exercising judicial powers. Its deliberations are conducted 
under a President and Vice-President. At the commence- 
ment of each session, an accurate account of the state and 
appropriation of the public income is submitted by tho 
executive: the national debt cannot bo increased without 
the consent of the legislature, and each chamber appoints 
a commissioner to assist the Board for its liquidation. Con- 
ditions are not allowed by the constitution to bo coupled 
with the voting of any fresh taxes; nor can any subject, 
as to which the chambers aro at variance, bo discussed a 



second time at the samo sitting. District Assemblies wero 
likewise established in the year 1825: these consist of the 
burgomaster, a deputy from each town, or place, where a 
market is held ; of the headsman of each parish (Gemeiride- 
Vorsteher) ; a deputy, being the person who pays moet 
taxes, or a small land proprietor, from each parish ; and a 
certain proportion of landholders, tithing-men, and farmers; 
besides a representative for the financial department of the 
district. A royal commissioner acts as president of these 
assemblies ; the functions of which are to assess the public 
burthens and district rates equitably in each parish, and 
to decide all local questions relating to any matter having 
reference to these burthens and rates ; such as their appli- 
cation in support of establishments for the poor, the sick, 
&c, in making roads, Sec. 

. Finance. — The continued state of warfare, in whieh the 
consequencesofthe French Revolution involved theBavarian 
dominions, and the sacrifices whieh were made first, in 
support of Napoleon, and subsequently in shaking off his 
yoke, involved the state in great financial embarrassments. 
At the time of the peace of 1815, the state paper had fallen 
from forty to fifty per cent, below its nominal value ; many 
financial accounts were twenty years in arrear ; and the 
public income was not only of a precarious nature, and the 
receipts subject to all sorts of irregularities, but seriously 
prejudiced by neglect or obstacles to their collection. This 
unfortunate state of things was aggravated by the failure of 
the crops in 1816 and 1817. The change of ministry, which 
occurred in the last of those years, has proved eminently 
beneficial to the kingdom in a financial j*bint of view, for it 
was the signal for the adoption of a series of judicious mea- 
sures which introduced order and economy and have already 
produced their natural results. It appears that in 1819 tho 
excess of the expenditure over the income was 2,007,800 
florins (about 1 92,4 15/.) ; that the national debt amounted to 
105,740,173 florins (10,133,430/.), and that the surplus fund 
towards tho redemption of this debt was 1,550,000 florins, 
(148,542/.). In thesameyear the financial laws enacted by 
the legislature, fixed the income for the year at 31,126,811 
florins (2,982,086/.), and the expenditure at 31,017,596 
(2,972,519/.). The improved administration of the Bavarian 
finances, however, during the succeeding thirteen years, 
enabled the government to report to the Chamber of 
Deputies, in March last (1834), that the surplus revenue for 
the financial year, 1829 — 1830, which had been 5,032,353 
florins (482,267/.) at the beginning of that year, had 
increased at the close of it to 6,697,731 (641,865/.), which 
surplus had been appropriated subsequently to the current 
servieo of the state. They also reported, that in the year 
1831-1832, the revenues had produced 29,217,009 florins 
(2,799,963/.), and that tbe expenditure had been 27,095,883 
florins (2,596,688/.), leaving a surplus, inclusive of 3534 
florins from former years, of 2,124,660 florins (203,6 f 3/.). 
With respect to the national debt we find, that, between 
the years 1 81 9 and 1829, it had, from various circumstances 
affecting the earlier part of this interval, increased from 
10,133,430/. to 11,392,019/. or 1 18,873,250 florins ; and the 
additions, which raised it to 12,595,276/. (131,428,972 
florins) in the year 1833, havo been chiefly occasioned by 
the extraordinary expenses attendant upon the convulsed 
state of Germany since the change of dynasty in France, 
in August, 1830. The net public income of Bavaria for the 
third financial period, 1832 — 1837*, has been fixed by the 
legislature at 2,738,656/. (28,577,285 florins) ; the charges 
of management, both in collecting the taxes and carrying 
on the crown monopolies (regie-aufwand), being estimated 
at 971,656/. (10,139,025 florins), and having been previously 
deducted. The expenses of management amount, therefore, 
to nearly 26$ per cent, on the gross revenue of 3,710,312/. 
If we assume the population to be 4,200,000, the average 
amount of revenue contributed by each .individual will bo 
found to be 13*. O^d. per annum. The expenditure for the 
same period, with a reserved fund of 52,405/. (546,840 
florins), is fixed at a sum exactly corresponding with the 
income, of whieh 2,329,518/. (24,308,014 florins) are to be 
appropriated to the general expenditure of the state, and 
409,138/. (4,269,271 florins) to the budgets of the several 
circles (kreis-fonds). The subsequent items of receipt are, 
among others, applied to tho purposes of the general ex- 
penditure : namely, from the immediate property of tho 

• For tho *econd financial period, 1823— 1331, the income had been fixed hj 
lho *lateiat 2,971.840/.,oi29,l32,2G0 florins, and tbe expenditure at 2,791,400/. 
or S9,12C t G00 florins, 



BAY 



5G 



U A V 



state (national domains and forests, public farms, crown 
manufactures of glass, mola>scs t and porcelain, as well as 
the pearl- Gshcrics in the Upper Main, Rcgcn, and Upper 
Danube), 719.007/. (7,502,687 florins) ; from national royal- 
ties and establishments (mines and salt-works, tho post- 
otlico, lotteries, mint, and the profit on the publication of 
tho *Law and Government Journal') 373,370/. (3,901,252 
tlorins) ; from indirect taxes, such ns stamps, tolls, &c, 
« 9 2,0 04/. (9,307,874 llorins); and from direct taxes, G 9 9,4 3 9/, 
(7,298,498 tlorins). Among the items of expenditure arc, 
for the royal household and foreign affairs, 48,560/. (506,705 
florins); education and civilization (bildutig) 73,581/. 
(767,811 florins); public worship (viz. Roman Catholic, 
100,269/.,andProtcstanf,27,775/.),inalll2S,044/.(l,336 t 116 
florins); public safety, 39,675/. (414,000 florins) ; the con- 
struction of highways, bridges, &c, 118,087/. (1,232,216 
llorins) ; interest and redemption of the national debt, 
783,255/. (8,193,964 florins) ; civil list, 287,500/. (3,000,000 
florins); and army expenses, 546,250/. (5,700,000 florins), 
independently of the gendarmerie. . 

Military Rcsource*.~T\\c Conscription Law of the 29th 
of March, 1812, rendered every male in Bavaria, up to a 
certain age, with the exception of ecclesiastics and the sons 
of noblemen, liable to the ballot ; but a new law of the 1st 
of May, 1829, allows every Bavarian to enlist between the 
ages of eighteen and thirty; and such as have already 
served six years may contract a fresh engagement in the 
service until they reach their fortieth year. Every Bavarian 
js liable to the Conscription Law after he has completed 
his twenty-first year; and from the first of January suc- 
ceeding the ballot by which he has been drawn, his liability 
to serve in the army, if called upon, continues during the 
two following years : the exemptions arc confined to the only 
son of a parent, who has already lost two sons in the service, 
nnd the surviving sons of every parent who has lost three 
sons in a similar manner. The period of service is six 
years ; no Bavarian can settle or marry, or receive any 
definitive appointment before he has done all that the law 
requires with regard to his liability to bear arms. Certain 
exemptions are granted in the case of ecclesiastics and 
students, as well ns in the cascofsons t without whose aid 
the subsistence of families would become precarious. 

Bavaria, as a member of the German Confederation, 
furnishes the largest contingent of any exclusively German 
state. It forms the seventh corps of the confederate forces, 
and consists of 35,600 men ; namely, 5068 cavalry, 2fi,215 
infantry, 1380 sharpshooters, and 2919 artillery, pioneers, 
Sec. ; to which eighteen howitzers, and fifty-four field-pieces 
and cannon arc to be added. The real strength of the army, 
however, supposing. the present scale of its organization to 
remain, is now, and would, in the event of a war, be as 
follows : 

IVnce. 

1G regU.ofUie Hne -icach 2bnltal. — eachi jq/qq 

Ibiiul. orcharpthnottn/ bmul. 6 romp. / ,y " w;> 

SUSSES*, } «*«• o-"«' 

, 2 r»*jjt*.— each 2 bultnl.ofG eom|H.— -each com}*.! 

being competent to serve a battery of 8> 

cannon . ." J 

2 camp, of nt^pcr*, 1 of mtiier*, t of pontoon- 1 

mcn t and 1 of artificers . , / 



Infintry 
Cavalry , 
ArlUtery 



War. 
41,683 

02 1G I»360 
31 CO 345G 
C50 72< 



The effective strength of the army, however, as laid down 
in the details which form the groundwork of tho military 
budget for the third financial period (t832 — 1837), is of 
a somewhat different character, for they give as 
Constantly present, Officers and others on ser- 
vice, — including. 1 Field-Marshal, 2 Generals, 
15 Licut.-Gcncrals, and 26 Mnjor-Generals, the 
civil and medical employes, &c. . . 2119 

Subaltern officers, engineers, &c, . .4109 

Infantry . . . 6912 

Cavalry . 5032 

Artillery, sappers and miners, &c. . . 1470 



Present for 1 month only. In all 
Constantly on Furlough. In all 



19,642 
21.2M 
17,195 



58,062 

The difference of 2838 men between these numbers and 

those which have been given as the full war complement, 

arises from the omission in the last statement of the civil 

and medical employes, and other.*, not immediately bearing 



arms. The infantry and cavalry form four divisions ( head- 
quarters, Munich, Augsburg, Nuremberg, and AY (im burg, 
respectively), each of which consists of two brigades, or four 
regiments of infantry of the line, one battalion of sharp- 
shooters, a brigade of two regiment'? of cavalry, and two 
batteries of heavy cannon, and one of field-pieces. Tho 
artillery, pontoonmen, nnd artificers, as well as ihc corps of 
engineers, sappers, and miners, constitute distinct divisions. 

The Landwchr, or militia, is, under the ordinance of ilio 
year 1826, composed of all Bavarians, who have not been 
already drafted into the ranks of the active army or battalions 
of reserve, arc not under nineteen or above sixty years of 
age, and arc not noblemen or ecclesiastics. The number is 
determined by the king according to the emergency : but 
this force has not hitherto been completely organized, 
though there are staffs and head-quarters appointed in every 
circle. "On the scale projected it would amount to 250,00*0 
men and upwards, independently of any levies in the 
Rhenish territory. There is a corps of gens-d'armos, also 
consisting of nine companies, one for Munich and one for 
each of the eight circles, and mustering in all about 1700 
men. Bavaria has a right to pass by a military road through 
the territory of Baden, which gives Bavaria direct access to 
its dominions on the Rhine. 

The expense of the military establishment for the six 
years, 1 B25-6— 1 830- 1 , was 4 1 ,7 1 9,9G2 tlorins.w hieh averages 
6,953,327 llorins, or 666.36G/. per annum. In 1824 the 
moveable property belonging to the Bavarian array was 
estimated at 979,415/. (10,219,987 tlorins), and the immove- 
able at 350,905/. (3,661,627 tlorins). The property and 
funds for the relief of widows and orphans, invalids, &c, also 
amounted at that lime to 385,233/. (4,019,821 florins). 

The fortified places in Bavaria arc— Landau, the strongest 
of its fortresses, in the circle of the Rhine : it is also one 
of the fortresses immediately attached to the German Con- 
federation; Passau, on the Danube, in the circle of the 
Lower Danube; Wiirzbnrg, in conjunction with the citadel 
of Marienbcrg; Ingohtadt, at the eontlucnccof the Sen-fitter 
and Danube, in the Regen, at this moment in course of 
construction ; and Vorchheim, in the circle of the Lower 
Main, a place of inconsiderable strength. Bavaria also 
possesses several mountain strongholds, such a» Rosenberg, 
near Kronach, in the Upper Main ; Rothenberg and AYtilz- 
burg, in the Retzat; and YVillibaldsburg, near Kichstadt, 
in the Regen. 

Nobility.— The nobility of Bavaria form 2407 families, of 
whom there arc not 1000 possessed of landed property ; and 
the relative proportion of their property as compared with 
that of the remaining subjects of the crown is as one to nine. 
The registered nobles in 1823 consisted of 1 grand duUc, 13 
princes, 154 counts, 422 barons, and l<i38 of inferior rank, 
using the pnefix of * Von.' In all cases where a nobleman 
enters a menial service, or opens and conduct* a shop or 
warehouse, his title of nobility becomes suspended. In civil 
and criminal matters he is exempt from the jurisdiction of 
local courts of judicature, and none but a noble is entitled to 
establish a scignorial tribunal of justice ; but he does not 
enjoy any advantages, with respect to taxation, legislative 
pre-eminence, or government appointments, which are not 
common to his fellow subjects. The royal title is simply 

* , by I he Grace of God, King of Bavaria. 1 * The order 

of St. Hubert (1444), with 142 members, holds the first 
rank : that of St. George, instituted during the Crusades, 
follows next in precedence; the other orders arc, that of 
Maximilian Jo.-cph (1806), a military, and of the Bavarian 
crown, a civil order; of St. Michaci (lG9i). and the order 
founded bv the present king in 1827 for the faithful dis- 
charge of civil or military duties after a service cf fifty years. 

Matjvfactutrs.-^ln Bavaria, as in many other German 
states, the profits arising from vast establishments, and the 
concentration of productive powers, are comparatively un- 
known; manufacturing industry is mostly diffused over a 
multitude of adrcnturcs on a small scale. Bavaria is also 
essentially an agricultural country, and hence the deficient 
supply in many branches of its manufactures. That of 
linens, for in^ancc, which is the chief, is not confined to a 
few large establishments, but is scattered over the whole 
state, and in many districts the agricultural population 
partly maintain themselves by weaving linen. The ma- 
jority of the articles made arc of the coarser descriptions ; 
and a large proportion of them avc the produce of the Upper 
Main (where upwards of 7000 weavers and 1000 apprentice* 
arc employed upon them 1 ), and of the Upper and Lower 



BAY 



57 



BAY 



Danube, The finer sorts, particularly damask, are inferior 
both in texture and finish to the Saxon or Silesian ; still the 
quantity exported exceeds the quantity imported by about 
12,000/. a year. Linen-yarn is also spun in some districts, 
but not to any great extent, and chicllyfor exportation. 
The manufacture of woollens and worsted hose is carried 
on principally in the circles of the Regen, Damibes and 
Mains, the finest being produced in Ansbach, Baireuth, 
Lindau, Munich, and the Upper Palatinate ; but this 
branch of industry is in the hands of individuals, and not 
carried on in large factories. The supply is very inade- 
quate to the consumption of the country, and sometimes the 
excess of imports over exports has amounted to 40,000/, per 
annum.' There is a similar deficiency in the domestic sup- 
ply of manufactured cottons ; the use of improved machinery, 
however, is gradually increasing in many quarters, and ad- 
ditions are constantly making to the number of spinning- 
mills. The districts about Augsburg, Kaufbeueren, and Hof 
are the most important seats of this branch of Bavarian in- 
dustry, and numbers are also employed in hand -spinning. 
The yearly importation of cotton goods is still said to be 
100,000/., and that of cotton yarns to be 51,000/. more in 
value than the exportation. The leather manufactories are 
of considerable importance, but mostly carried on by num- 
bers of small manufacturers, particularly in the minor towns 
in the circles of the Retzat, Isar, Upper and Lower Danubes, 
and of the Rhine. Bavarian calf-skins are in great repute 
and largely exported, but sole leathers are not produced in 
sufficient quantity for the home demand. Between the years 
1819 and 1824, the yearly value'of the leather exported 
(20,396 cwt.) rose to 53,G40/., and that of the same article 
imported (17,133 ewt.) to 49,260/. The supply of paper, of 
which AsehafTenburg, Nuremberg, Fiirth, Augsburg, and 
Schwabaeh furnish many fancy sorts, is beyond the domestic 
consumption ; though the usual descriptions are indifferent, 
there are still about 2800 ewts. exported to the value of about 
rOoo/. The number of paper mills is 150, of which 29 are 
in the circle of the Upper Danube, 25 in the Lower Main, 27 
in the Rhine, and 23 in the Regen. Schweinfurt and 
Mainberg possess large manufactories of paper-hangings, 
which arc of excellent quality and in much demand in other 
German states. Straw-platting has increased considerably 
of late years ; even in 1 824 the exportation amounted to 
3312c\vt. and 16, 740/. in value ; and there are some districts, 
such as that of Weiler in the Isar, which gain between 
3S00/. and 4800/. a year by this branch of industry. The 45 
glass-houses in Bavaria, of which there are 13 in each of 
the circles of the Regen and Lower Danube, and 8 in the 
Upper Main, produce window- glass, bottles, and other ordi- 
nary glass-ware to such an amount, that the exports ex- 
ceed the imports above 19,000 ewt. and 55,000/. in value. 
In the finer sorts the quality is much inferior to the Eng- 
lish, and even the French or Bohemian. The number of 
works for grinding and polishing looking-glasses is up- 
wards of 100 ; they export on an average 1 1,70U ewt, of the 
article in a finished, and 5100 cwt. in an unfinished state. 
Nuremberg, Fiirth, Bamberg, and Augsburg are the prin- 
cipal seats of this manufacture. The whole value of the 
glass exported is upwards of 100,000/. per annum. 'No op- 
tical instruments made on the Continent are more highly 
valued than those made by Utzschn eider and Frauen- 
hofer's establishment at Munich, The manufacture of 
articles in wood, and the felling, hewing, and general ma- 
nipulation of timber occupy thousands of hands. There 
are nearly 2000 saw ing-m ills in Bavaria for the preparation 
of boards, deals, and laths; and almost as many families 
are wholly supported in Amraergau and Berehtesgaden by 
the manufacture of articles in carved wood, some of which 
are very beautiful. There aronine porcelain manufactories at 
work ; that at Nymphenburg, not far from Munich, produces 
china which may bear comparison with the finest in Europe. 
The number of earthenware manufactories is 14, but the 
articles which they make are inferior to the English in 
strength and finish. The Bavarian crucibles are in much 
request; and the potteries employ nearly 2000 master-work- 
men, besides labourors, &c. Of slate-works there arc above 
350. The working of the metals chiefly consists ii\ exten- 
sive manufactories of iron-ware, especially nails and needles, 
the export of which is considerable, Schwabaeh alone pro- 
duce* annually 14 0,0 00,0 00 sewing, and above 300,000 
knitting needles. There is a manufactory of arms at Am- 
ber % which supplies the army. The gold and silver-smiths 
of Munich, Wiirzburg, Nuremberg, and Augsburg, ore ih 



great repute. Fire-arms, fowling-pieces, &c M employ 1C7 
workmen at Burglingenfeld and Neustadt Nuremberg is 
celebrated for its brass-wares. Munich and Augsburg pos- 
sess cannon and other foundries. Fiirth contains manv 
beaters of gold and silver, &:c.J and exports leaf-gold and 
silver for gilding and plating to most European markets. 
The brewing of beer, in many respects the most important 
branch of manufacture in Bavaria, employs upwards of 
5000 establishments, or taxed brewers, by whom more 
than 9,300,000 aulms (95,790,000 gallons) of beev are 
made, and more than 980,000 Bavarian bushels (759,500 
quarters) of malt are consumed. A very favourable im- 
pulse has been given to national industry by the institution 
of the Polytechnic Society at Munich in 1S1G : its mem- 
bers consist of operatives, men of science, and official per- 
sons in all parts of the country; and its principal object 
is to afford instruction, in their respective branches, to 
mechanics and other work-people. An annual exhibition of 
domestic products and manufactures, and an award of prizes, 
form part of its plan. Similar societies exist in Augs- 
burg, Nuremberg, and other towns. The Bavarian govern- 
ment has likewise established mechanics' schools (Gewerbs- 
Schulen) in most of the larger places ; and there are va- 
rious other institutions in Munich, Bamberg, Augsburg, 
Ratisbon, Fiirth, Passau, Nuremberg, as well as elsewhere, 
for the promotion of trade and manufactures. The royal 
decree of the 25th September, 1825, which granted full 
liberty to individual skill and industry, has done much to 
remove the tyranny of corporate monopolies ; but, owing to 
peculiar circumstances, this decree has jjot hitherto come 
into full operation. 

Trade. — Though Bavaria is an inland country, its trade 
is greatly favoured by its geographical position, which has 
rendered it in some degree a central point between the 
Mediterranean, the Baltie, and the German Ocean, and a 
medium of intercourse between the west and east of Europe. 
This advantage is increased hy its natural productiveness, 
and by the navigable lines of the Danube, Rhine, Main, and 
other streams, over which above 1600 larger and smaller 
bridges have been thrown ; as well as by the constant atten- 
tion which the government has paid of late years to the 
lhaintenance and multiplication of public roads, the length 
of which is estimated at upwards of 5500 miles. The 
treaties of reciprocity, which have thrown the markets of 
many neighbouring states open to the industry and enter- 
prise of the Bavarians, have also given an additional sti- 
mulus to their commercial activity. Though an agricul- 
tural state, the export of its wrought produce and manu- 
factures exceeds in value that of its raw produce by more 
than one-half; a strong proof, observes Von St. Behlen, that 
the mechanical industry of the country is more advanced 
than its agricultural. The system of duties has been placed 
on a liberal footing; great facilities are given to importation, 
and scarcely any obstacles are thrown in the way of expor 
tations. Salt is the only article the introduction of which 
is wholly prohibited ; and most articles imported from 
countries with which commercial treaties have been formed 
are treated on the same terms as native products, with re- 
ference to internal duties or excise imposts. In the list of 
duties, which for the period 1832 — 1837, are taken at a 
yearly averago of 178,790/., we may instance foreign wines 
and liqueurs, which pay 10 ilorins per 100 tons; silks CO 
llorins per ewt,; china 40 florins; vegetable oils 10 liorins ; 
coffee J 5 ilorins ; sugar 12 florins, &e. The transit trade has 
latterly declined, though it is still estimated to leave several 
hundred thousand pounds of profit in the country: the lines 
which it takes are, from Saxony into Switzerland; from the 
northern states of Germany, through Ratisbon, and theneeby 
the Danube into Austria; from Strasburg into Saxony; from 
the countries on the Rhine into Italy ; and from Frankfort 
into Austria ; and the places through which it passes' aro 
Bamberg. AViirzburg, Ratisbon, Augsburg, Hof, Nurem- 
berg, Marksteft, and some minor towns. The principal 
articles of export are grain, about 380,000 quarters, in value 
about 750,000/. ; salt; timber, of which about 48,000/. from 
the Upper Main alone ; potashes, whereof 1 70 tons to France; 
fruit ; liquorice-root, of which the Upper Muin exports 
17,000 lbs. to Austria; seed; hops; cattle, the whole export 
of which amounts to 10,000 heads of oxen, and 200,000 
sheep and swine; fish; ilax, 500 tons; yarn and coarse 
linens, of which the circle of the Regen supplies to the 
extent of 50,000/. in value; glass; leather; Nuremberg, 
Fiirth, and Berehtesgaden light fabrics, beer, See, The 



No, 212. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA,] 



Vol. IV— I 



n a v 



58 



1) A V 



imports are principally wines; cotton, 450,000 lbs.; coffee, 
1700 tons; sugar, 80,000 cut. ; rice, 8000 cwt. ; tobacco, 
10,000 cwt,; drug*, 5000 ewt; sea- fish, 5200 ewt.; copper, 
410 tans; oil, 1*2,000 cwt,; hides and skins, 560,000 lbs. ; 
hemp and flax, 750 tons; silk and silk poods, 230,000/. ; 
woollens, 93,000/, ; lead, 175 tons; furs, honey, and cheese. 
On tho whole, the value of the exports is estimated at about 
3.350,000/., and that of the imports at 3,250,000/. With 
respect to the former, the relative -proportion of raw native 
produce exported is said to be about 700,000/., and of manu- 
factures, inclusive of salt, 1,150,000/. 

History. — Our accounts of the antient Celtic Boii are few 
and of little importance. If tradition, however, is to be cre- 
dited, they migrated from Gaul and took possession of the 
country between the Upper Danube and the Alps, after 
subduing the native inhabitants, about COO years before the 
Christian ccra. Shortly before this last epoch the land of the 
Boii fell under the Roman yoke, and a considerable portion of 
the present territory of Bavaria became a constituent part of 
tho Roman empire/under the name of Vindclioia, during the 
following 1 50 years. In the second century, when the North 
poured down its barbarians upon the South, there was no 
country in Germany which felt the pressure more severely 
than the land of the Boii ; and its inhabitants were long 
kept in a state of wretchedness and slavery by a con -it ant 
succession of barbarous invaders, till at last, between the 
middle of the fifth and sixth centuries, the Ilcruli, Marco- 
man ni, Thurinjii, and other tribes, established themselves 
permanently in Noricum, which constitutes part of tho 
Bavaria of the present day, adopted the name of Boioarii, 
and forced the owners of tho soil to abandon their native 
language and customs for those of the German race. The 
country received the appellation of Boioaria, which has 
since been corrupted into Baiern and Bavaria. On the dis- 
solution of the Roman empire, Bavaria became a vassal of 
the Ostrogothic empire, and, at a later date, of that of the 
Franks, whose yoke however was so easy that the people 
were permitted to elect their own dukes out of the patri- 
cian line of the Agilol fingers. These princes, whose sway 
lasted for more than 250 years, were so little dependent 
upon their foreign masters, that they exercised every prero- 
gative of sovereignty except tho right of making laws and 
alienating lands, which were acts that required the sanction 
of a body of legislators, consisting of priests, counts, judges, 
and elders of the people. Thassilo, the last duke of the 
Agilolfingian line, was, in the year 783, compelled to submit 
to Charlemagne after an obstinate resistance, and was con- 
demned to death at the assembly of May in that year, but was 
subsequently pardoned and shut up in a monastery. From 
this time, which was at the close of the eighth century, 
the kings of the Franks and Germans governed the country 
by their lieutenants, who wero dukes or counts taken from 
various families. In 1070 it passed, by imperial grant, into 
the possession of the Guelphs ; and in 1 1 SO, upon the ex- 
pulsion of Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, 
it was transferred by the Emperor Frederic to Otho, Count 
of Wittelsbach, a native prince, from whom the present 
king is descended. One of the most important acqui- 
sitions subsequently made was that of the earldom of tho 
Rhenish Palatinate, with which the Emperor Fredcrie III. 
invested this family in 121C. Their dominions were after- 
wards divided between contending relatives at various times, 
until the dukedom of Bavaria was fullv severed from the 
Upper and Rhenish Palatinates in 1329. Several other par- 
titions ensued. In 1607 the right of primogeniture in the 
royal family was introduced, and finally received as the law 
of the land in 1573. The treaty of Westphalia not only re- 
cognised the title of tho Bavarian princes to the Upper 
Palatinate, of which they had ro-posscssed themselves in 
1621, but confirmed them in the electoral dignity, to which 
they had been raised by the emperor of Germany in 1623. 
Upon tbe extinction of the direct Wittclbach line in the 
person of Maximilian Joseph III. in 1 777, the Elector Pala- 
tine, Charles Theodore, succeeded to tbe sovereignty, and 
ceded the districts of the Inn, containing an area of 840 
square miles, ta Austria; but by adding his patrimonial 
possessions (the Palatinate, and the duchies of Juliers and 
Berg) to the Bavarian territory, ho increased its superficial 
extent to upwards of 21,000 square miles, and its popula- 
tion to 2,38t,000. To these acquisitions the treaty of 
Luncvillc in 1801 added tho lands on tho left bank of the 
Rhine; but tho re-settlement of Germany, two years after- 
ward*, deprived Bivarts of the palatinate on the right bank, 



to the extent of about 4G00 square miles, while it transferred 
to it in exchange 6720 square miles, including the dissolved 
bishoprics of Augsburg, Bamberg. Wiinburg, and Froi- 
singen, parts of the domains of Eich&tadt and Passou, Sec, 
The treaty of Pressburg, which raised the electorate to tho 
rank of a kingdom in )803, transferred certain possessions 
of Austria to the Bavarian crown, among which were several 
districts in Swabia, tho Tyrol, Vorarllwrg, Brixen, and 
Trent, as well as the cities of Augsburg, Lindan, 6cc. Tho 
additions thus made were about 12, ISO square miles, from 
which, however, a deduction of about 2040 is to be made for 
the abandonment of the Wiir7burg territory. 

All these changes and accessions increased the area of 
Bavaria, in 1800, to nearly 31,500 square miles. In the 
same year, Bavaria relinquished the duchy of Berg in ex- 
change for the margraviatc of Ansbach, became a member 
of the Rhenish Confederation, and received tho city of 
Nuremberg, and the sovereignty over tho mediatised terri- 
tories of several former princes of the empire, as a compen- 
sation for the cession of some inconsiderable districts to 
Wiirtcmbcrg. By the treaty of Vienna in 1800, the Bava- 
rian dominions attained the greatest extent of territory 
which they ever possessed. One of the consequences of 
this treaty was, that, upon giving up the sovth of the Tyrol 
to the Italian crown, and certain domains to Wiirtcm- 
bcrg and Wiirzburg, Bavaria acquired nearly the whole 
of Salzburg, Bcrchtesgaden, the Austrian circle of the Inn, 
and part of that of the Hausruck, Baireuth, and Ratisbon, 
by which "exchange her possessions were increased to about 
35,700 square miles. In conformity with the treaty ofNicd 
in 1812, the settlement with Austria on the 19th June, 181*1, 
and the negotiations concluded with the same power on the 
14th of April, 1S1G, Bavaria restored to Austria the Tyrol, 
Vorarlberg, the districts of the Inn and Hausruck, and 
those portions of Salzburg which lie to the cast of the 
Salzach and Saale. Bavaria received in return Wiirzburg, 
and certain parts of Eulda, of the grand duchy of llcsse, of 
Baden, and of the territories of the old palatinate, Spires, &c. 
(formerly constituting portions of the Wench departments of 
Donncrsbcrg, Saar, and the Lower Rhine.) 

The following nobles have seignorial domains within 
the Bavarian dominions, extending over an area of about 
1500 square miles: — The Princes of Eichstlidt, Schwarzen- 
bcrg, tuggcr-Babcnhauscn, Leinin<jon-Amorbach, Lowen- 
stein-Roscnbcrg, Lowcnstein-Frcuacnberg, Ottingen-Ot- 
tingen, Ottingcn-Wallerstcin, Hohcnlohc, Schillingsfiirst, 
Thurn-and-Tuxis, and Estcrhazy, besides thirteen counts. 

The first King of Bavaria was Maximilian Joseph, who 
assumed the royal dignity on the 1st of January, 1806, and 
was succeeded by his son Lewis Charles Augustus 1., the 
present king, on the 13th of October, 1825. 

(Rndhardt's State of the Kingdom of Bavaria, from 
official sources ; Liechtenstein's History and Statistics of 
Bavaria ; Von St, Behlen's History, Statistics, ik.,o/M« 
Kingdom of Bavaria; Von Schlicbcn's Bavaria; Cam- 
merer; llassel ; Stein; llorschelmann ; Malchus ; West- 
enricder ; Eiscnmann, Sec.) 

BAVAY, a small town in the department of Nord, in 
France, between Valenciennes and Maubcugc, 13-1 miles 
N.E. of Paris, through St.Quentin and Landrecics, 50° 18' 
N. lat., 3° 4 7' E. long. 

This place, though now decayed, was once of considerable 
importance; and, under the name Bagacum, was the chief 
town of the Nervii, one of tho nations of Gaul, who made an 
obstinate resistance to the Romans under Julius Ca?sar. Its 
importance is testified by the fact, that the Romans brought 
water to it across the valley of the Sambrc by means of an 
aqueduct, from springs in tho village of Flor6sics, distant 10 
or 11 miles. Bavay is at the junction of several Roman ways 
which traversed the surrounding country; these roads led 
respectively from Bagacum to Turnacum (Tournav), toCa- 
maracum (Cambray), to Durocortuin or Remi (Reims), and 
to Atuatnea or Tungri (Tongrcs): another road, known under 
the title of tho Chaussle de Brttnehaut (because repaired 
by Brunchaut, queen of Austrasia), afforded a communica- 
tion from Bagacum to the road frcm Samarobriva (Amiens), 
to Augusta Veromanduorum (St. Qucntin) ; and a sixth led 
from Bagacum, in the direction of Mons and Antwerp. In 
tho Encyclop. Methodiqtte, a seventh road is mentioned, 
leading to Augusta Trevirorum, or Trbves, but D'Anvillc 
does not notice this, nor is it marked in his map; though 
the existence of a seventh road seems to be implied by the 
seven faces of the stone mentioned below, Bagacum lost 



B AX 



59 



B A X 



its rank of capital early in the fifth century, and was suc- 
ceeded by Turnaeum and Camaraeum. Some have sup- 
posed that it was destroyed about this time by the barbarians, 
The name was variously written, Bagaeum in the Itinerary 
of Antoninus, Baganum by Ptolemy, and Basiaeum, Bava- 
eum, and Bacaeum in later authorities. In the middle ages 
it was a mere castle. (D'Anville ; Le Grand Dictionnaire de 
Martiniere.) 

Bavay retains seareely any monuments of its former great- 
ness. A stone of seven faces, in the middle of the place (or 
square) of the town, marks the eonvergenee of the roads above 
mentioned. It was substituted in the third eentury for a 
more antient one of great height. Many exeavations in the 
neighbourhood, called trous jSarrasins, two subterraneous 
passages for conveying provisions to the neighbouring for- 
tresses, and a great number of wells from 8 to 12 feet dia- 
meter, serve to show the former extent of the plaee. These 
remains extend half a mile or moro each way. The Dic- 
tionnaire Universel de la France speaks vaguely of inscrip- 
tions, tombs of Roman generals, and the ruins of an amphi- 
theatre; but other authorities do not mention the last two. 

The town in 1832 contained 1635 inhabitants. 

BAWTRY, a market town and township whieh is gene- 
rally considered to be in the West Riding of Yorkshire ; part 
of the town is, however, in Nottinghamshire. Bawtry is 
partly in the parish of Blyth, and partly in that of Scrooby. 
That portion whieh is in Yorkshire belongs to the lower 
division of the wapentake of StrafForth and Tickhill ; the 
portion whieh is in Nottinghamshire belongs to the wapen- 
take of Bassetlaw. It is 153 miles N. by W. of London, 8 
miles S.E. of Doneaster, and 44 miles S. by E. of York. 

Bawtry is situated on a slight eminenee whieh gradually 
slopes towards the river Idle, eastward of the town. Tins 
river was considered an important ono previous to the im- 
provements in inland navigation. Falling into the Trent, 
the Idle formerly eonveyed in boats the lead of Derbyshire, 
the hardwares of Sheffield, and the agricultural produce of 
the vale of the Don, to Gainsborough, Hull, &e. A better 
' conveyance for these goods is now found by the navigation 
of the Don and the Ouse. The road from London to York 
passes through the main street of Bawtry, in whieh there 
are some very respectable houses. The whole town is cleanly 
and cheerful in its appearance. The population is 1149. 
The ehief employments of the people are those connected 
with agriculture ; and the retail shops are ehielly supported 
by the neighbouring rural district. The market day is 
Thursday. The church, which is small, is subordinate to 
that of Blyth. There is a national sehool at Bawtry, whieh 
is supported by subscription, and which furnishes instruction 
to about 100 ehildren; and there are two dissenting meet- 
ing-houses. The mansion of the Dowager Viscountess 
Galway is situated at the southern extremity of the town. 
It is adorned with pleasure-grounds, whieh are interspersed 
with flower-gardens, groves and plantations. An elegant 
aviary on tbe lawn contains a ehoice selection of birds. (Com- 
munication from a correspondent in Yorkshii'e.) 

Dr. Hunter says {History of the Deanery of Doneaster) 
that * The position of Bawtry, on the great north road, occa- 
sions it to have the appearanee of activity and business. 
Formerly, when the sovereign, or any member of his family, 
travelled with more state than at present, they were usually 
met at Bawtry by the sheriff of the county with a train of 
attendants/ 

BAXTER, WILLIAM, an eminent grammarian and 
eritic, nephew of the eeleb rated Riehard Baxter, was born, 
inlGSO, at Lanlugan in Shropshire. His education is stated 
to have been so entirely negleeted in his early years, that 
at the age of eighteen, when he went to the school at Har- 
row-on-the-Hill in Middlesex, he knew not one letter in 
a book, nor understood one word of any languago but 
Welsh : but he soon retrieved his lost time, and became a 
man of great learning. He applied ehielly to the study of 
antiquities and philology. 

His first publication was upon Latin grammar : De Ana- 
logue site Arte Latina Linguce Commentariolus : in usum 
Provectioris Adolescentics, 12mo. Lond. 1G79. In 1695 he 
edited Anacreon : Anacreontis Tcii Carmina, Gr. Lat. Sub- 
jiciuntur etiarn duo vctustissima Poctrits Sapphus elegan- 
tissima OJaria t una cum corrcctione Isaaci Fossil : et Ilieo- 
criti Anacreonticum in mortuum Adonin, 12mo. Lond. 
1695; reprinted with improvements in 1710. In 1701, his 
edition of Horace made its appearanee, typis /. L. ; of 
whieh 9 seeoud edition was finished by him but a few days 



before his death, and was published by his son John, under 
the title of Q. Horatii Flacci Eclogce, una cum scholiis per* 
petuis r 8vo. Lond. 1725. This for a long time was consi- 
dered the best edition of Horaee which had been published 
in England. It bore so high a character upon the Continent 
as to be reprinted by Gesner at Leipzig, with additional notes, 
in 175*2; and again at the same plaee in 1772 and 1778. 
It was again republished with additions by Zeunius in 1788 ; 
and lastly printed at Glasgow for a London bookseller in 8vo. 
1797. In 1719 Baxter's Glossarium Antiquitatum Bri- 
tannicarum appeared, dedicated to Dr. Richard Mead, ac- 
companied with a portrait of the author, engraved by Vertue 
from a pieture by Highmore, painted when Baxter was in 
his sixty-ninth year. . This work is stated to' have been pub- 
lished under the eare of the Rev. Moses Williams, who also 
afterwards published Baxter's glossary of Roman antiqui- 
ties, containing the letter A only, under the title of Reliquice 
Baxteriance y sive JVillielmi Baxteri Opera posthuma. 
Prcemittitur eruditi Auctoris Vita* a seipso conscripta* 
Fragmentum, 8vo. Lond. 1726. A few eopics of this work 
eame out with the title of Glossarium Antiquitatum Roma- 
narum, in 1731. 

These form the whole of Baxter's printed works. He is 
said to have had a share in the English translation of Plu- 
tareh by several hands, published at the beginning of the 
last century ; and proposals for printing an edition of Juvenal 
with his notes were circulated in 1 732, but-without success. 
Bishop Squire used some of his notes in his edition of 
Plutareh's treatise de Jside et Osiride, published at Cam- 
bridge in 1744. 

Of smaller scattered pieees by Baxter, there are three 
letters on subjects of antiquity printed iu the Philosophical 
Traiisactions, Nos. 306, 311, and 401 ; and four of his 
Latin letters to Dr. Geekie of Cambridge, who had been his 
pupil, iu the first volume of the Archceologia of the So- 
ciety of Antiquaries, 

Besides Latin and Greek, Baxter is allowed to have been 
skilled iu the British and Irish tongues, as well as in the 
Northern and Hebrew languages. lie was in corre- 
spond e nee, also, with the most learned men of his time. 
The greater part of his life was passed in the education of 
youth. Kiehols, in his Literary Anecdotes, states Baxter to 
nave kept a boarding-school at Tottenham High Cross in 
Middlesex ; but Dr. Robinson, in the History of Tottenham 
(8vo. Lond. 1818, p. 133), says he was the master of tbe 
free grammar-school there. He certainly was resident at 
Tottenham before 1697, and remained there till he was 
chosen master of the Mercers' School in London, which 
situation he held above twenty years, but resigned it before 
his death. He died May 31st, 1723, and was buried at 
Islington. 

(See Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. i. pp. 163-165, 
329, 348, 349, 351, 3G3, vol. ii. pp. 24, 350 ; Chalmers's Biogr. 
Diet. vol. iv. p. 200-202; Robinson's Hist. Tottenham, p. 
133-135.) 

BAXTER, RICHARD. This eminent Nonconformist 
divine was born at Rowdon, a small village in Shropshire, 
on the 12th of November, 1615 ; but he resided till 1G25 at 
Jgaton Constantino, about five miles from Shrewsbury. 
"The contiguity of his birth-plaee to the seat of Lord Newport 
was probably the means of introducing him to the notiee of 
that nobleman. His father's little property was so much 
eneumbered, as to prevent him from giving his son any edu- 
cation beyond what eould be obtained from the village school- 
masters, who were neither eompet ent teachers nor moral men. 
To Mr. John Owen, who kept the free grammar-sehool at 
Wroxeter, Baxter acknowledges some obligations. Though 
he was eaptain of the school, his acquirements were very in- 
considerable when he left it His ambition was to enter one 
of the universities to qualify himself for the ministry; but his 
master, Mr. Owen, probably perceiving that he required 
more regular instruction than he could expect to receive 
from a eollege tutor, reeom mended him to Mr. Richard 
Wickstead, ehaplain to the council at Ludlow, who had an. 
allowance from government for a divinity student. Though 
the defeets in his previous education were but ill supplied 
by this arrangement (Wickstead being a negligent tutor), 
he had acees3 to a good library, where he acquired a taste 
for those studies which he pursued with sueh indefatigable 
diligenee in after life. " Here he continued for eighteen 
months, when he returned to his father's house, and, at Lord 
Newport's request, supplied for a few months the place of 
his old master at Wroxeter grammar-school. Finding all 

J i 



B A X 



GO 



13 A X 



his hopes of goin£ to the university disappointed, he re- 
Mimed hi* professional studies under the direction of Mr. 
Francis Garbctt. u clergyman of some celebrity, who con- 
ducted him through a course of theology, and gave him 
much valuable assistance in his general reading, While 
ho was thus engaged, he was suddenly diverted from his 
pur suits by a proposition from his friend, Mr. Wickstcad, 
to try his fortune at court. The project, singular as it was, 
teems not to have been unpalatable either to the future 
puritan olivine or to his father: theology was thrown aside, 
and Baxter went up to Whitehall, specially introduced 
to Sir Henry Herbert, master of tho revels, as an aspirant 
to royal favour. His reception was conrteou5 > and even 
kind. For one month he mingled in tho festivities of tho 
palace, — a period which was sufficient to convinco him of 
i ho unsuitabloness of such a mode of life to his tastes, his 
habits, and his conscience ;— he then returned, home, and 
resumed his studies with a determination never to be again 
diverted from them. Before he went to London, his re- 
ligions impressions wero decpenod by the perusal of Bunny's 
Resolution, Sibbs's Bruised Reed t and other works of this 
kind. Some books which he read after his return increased 
that habitual seriousness which he derived from his natural 
disposition, as well as from the example of his father; and 
a protracted illness completed the preparation of his mind 
for the reception of those impressions of religious duty under 
which he acted through the remainder of his life. 

While he was in this declining state of health, his anxiety 
to commence his ministerial labours overcame every other 
consideration. He applied for ordination to the bishop of 
Worcester, and obtained it, together with a schoolmaster's 
license, as he had accepted the mastership of the free 
grammar-school at Dudley, just then founded by his friend 
Sir. Foley of Stourbridge. He was then twenty-three years 
of age, and at this time entertained no scruples on the 
subject of conformity, having never examined with any 
nicety the grounds of subscription. His attention, however, 
was speedily drawn to the debatable points of the contro- 
versy; but, at first, the bitter tone of the Nonconformists 
gave him an unfavourable impression of their charade r, 
though he admired their fervent piety, and their energetic 
efforts to stem the moral corruption of the times. There 
was much in his own views and temperament which cor- 
responded with theirs; hut it required time and circum- 
stances to develop the tendencies of his mind. 

At the end of nine months Baxter removed from Dudley 
to Bridgcuorth, where he acted as assistant to the clergy- 
man. A release from his school engagements must, to 
such a mind as Baxter's, intent upon pastoral duties, have 
appeared a snflicicnt inducement for the change, but, in the 
then state of his feelings, it was of still greater moment to 
hi in to he relieved from the prospect of having to renew 
his subscription. Bridgcnorth is the centre of a little dis- 
trict comprising six parishes, exempt from all episcopal 
jurisdiction, except a triennial visitation from the arch- 
bishop. Here he expected to jxjrform the humble duties of 
n curate without obstruction, happy in the society of a col- 
league whose views harmonized with his own, and still 
happier in having a wide field for his exertions. But his 
hopes were soon frustrated by the * ct cetera oath,* as it was 
called, which enjoined all who had taken orders to swear 
that they would never consent to any alteration in the cere- 
monial or government of the church by archbishops, bishops, 
deans, archdeacons, &c. It does not appear that Mr. Baxter, 
nny more than his brother clergyman at Bridgcnorth, 
thought it necessary to observe the terms of this oath, for 
n complaint was laid against them for non-compliance with 
the ritual in various particulars. 

Baxter left Bridgcnorth after a residence of one year and 
nine months, on an invitation from a coramittco of the pa- 
rishioners (IG40) to become the otliciating clergyman at the 
parish church in Kidderminster, the vicar having agreed, \\\ 
order to settle disputes, to allow GO/, per annum to a curate 
of their own choosing. The living was afterwards seques- 
tered, the townsmen collected the tithes, paid Baxter and 
Baxter's curate, and gave the vicar 40/. per annum. The 
circumstances under which Baxter settled at Kiddermin- 
ster wcro favourable to his views ; but it was not without 
considerable opposition from one portion of the commu- 
nity, whose vices he publicly reproved, that he carried 
some of his reforms into effect. Not satisfied with cor- 
recting the more flagrant offences of the inhabitants, 
ne visited them at their houses, became acquainted with 



their families, gave them religious instruction in private, 
and became their friend as well as their pastor. By these 
means he soon wrought a complete change in tho habits of 
the people. Though so strict a disciplinarian, his concilia- 
tory manners won the hearts of all but a few who were irre- 
claimable. His preaching was acceptable to all ranks. 
Wherever he went, large audiences attended him ; and his 
energy was so unremitting, notwithstanding his feeble health 
and constant indisposition, that he preached three or four 
times a week. 

During tho civil wars of that period Baxter held a posi- 
tion by which he was connected with both the opposite 
parties in the state, and yet was the partisan of neither. 
Ilis attachment to monarchy was well known, though his 
adherence to the royalist party was not so certain ; while tho 
deep stream of religious feeling which ran through the con- 
versation of the parliamentarians drew his sympathies to that 
side. The undisguised respect paid by him to the character 
of some of the puritans, made him and many others, who 
were sincerely attached to the crown, the objects of jealousy 
and persecution. A clamour was raised against them, and 
the rabble, whose excesses had been checked by him, wcro 
eager enough to become the trumpeters of the charge. 
During one of these ebullitions of party excitement, Baxter 
spent a few days in the parliamentary army, and was preach - 
ing within sound of tho cannon when the memorable battlo 
was fought at Edge Hill. His friends, not considering it 
safe for him to return to Kidderminster, he retired to Co- 
ventry, where he lived two >cars, preaching regularly to 
the parliamentary garrison and to the inhabitants. After 
the battle of Nascby,in lG45» he passed a night on a visit to 
some friends in Cromwell's army, u eircu instance which led 
to tiie chaplaincy of Colonel Whalley's regiment being 
offered to hiin, which, after consulting his friends at Coven- 
try, he accepted. In this capacity he was present at tho 
taking of Bridgcwatcr, the sieves' of Exeter, Bristol, and 
Worcester, by Colonels Whalley and Kniusuoro*. He lost 
no opportunity of moderating the temper of the cham- 
pions of the commonwealth, and of restraining them within 
the bounds of reason ; but as it was known that the check 
proceeded from one who was unfriendly to the ulterior 
objects of the party, his interference was coolly received. 
Among the soldiery he laboured with unceasing ardour to 
diffuse a better spirit, and to correct those sectarian errors, 
as he considered them,— anabaptism, antinomianism, and 
separatism inclusive— which in his view were so productive 
of disputes and animosity. 

After his recovery from an illness, which compelled him 
to leave the army, we find him again at Kidderminster, 
exerting himself with renewed vigour to moderate conflict- 
ing opinions. The conduct of Cromwell at this crisis ex- 
ceedingly perplexed that class of men of whom Baxter might 
be regarded as the type. For the sake of peace they yielded 
to an authority which they condemned as a usurpation, 
but nothing could purchase their approbation of the mea- 
sures by which it had been attained and was supported 
In open conference, Baxter did not scruple to denounce 
Cromwell and his adherents as guilty of treason and rebel- 
lion ; though he afterwards doubted if he was right in op- 
posing him so strongly. (Sec Baxter's Penitent Confessions 
quoted in Ormc.) The reputation of Baxter rendered his 
countenance to the new order of things highly desirable, and 
accordingly no pains were spared to procure it. At tho 
suggestion of some of his noble friends, he once preached 
before the Protector, who afterwards invited him to an inter* 
view, and endeavoured to reconcile him to tho political 
changes that had taken place ; but the preacher was uncon- 
vinced by his arguments, and boldly told him that • tho 
honest people of the land took their antient monarchy to be 
a blessing, and not an evil.* The necessity of any alteration 
in the government did not come within the scope of his 
comprehension, lie looked with a single eye to the diffusion 
of a deeper spirit of religion by means of a purified establish- 
ment, beyond which he was incapable of carrying his views 
or lending his Function. 

In the disputes which prevailed about this time on the 
subject of episcopal ordination, Baxter took the side of the 
Presbyterians in denjing its necessity. With them, too, lie 
agreed in matters of discipline and church government. 
He dissented from them in their condemnation of episcopacy 
as unlawful. On their great principle, viz. the sufficiency 
of tho Scriptures to determine all points of faith and con- 
duct, he wavered for some time, but ultimately adopted it in 



B A X 



61 



B A X 



its full extent. Occupying, as he did, this middle ground 
between the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians, it was not 
very obvious with which of the two parlies he wa3 to be 
classed. Had all impositions and restraints been removed, 
there is every reason to suppose that he would have pre- 
ferrod a moderate episcopacy to any other form of church 
government; but the measures of the prelatical party were 
so grievous to the conscience, that he had no choice be- 
tween sacrificing his opinions or quitting their communion. 
The views maintained by Baxter, blended as they were 
with the principles of monarchy, made them extremely po- 
pular towards the close of Cromwell's career, when men 
were beginning to find that they had only exchanged one 
species of tyranny for another, and, as some thought, for a 
worse. In the sermon which Baxter prcachefl before the 
parliament on the day preceding that on which they voted 
the return of the king, he spoke his sentiments on this sub- 
ject with manly resolution, and in allusion to the political 
state of the country, he maintained that loyalty to their king 
was a thing essential to all true Protestants of ever)* per- 
suasion. 

It was expected that on the restoration of the king mode- 
ration would have prevailed in the councils of the nation, 
and a conciliatory policy have been adopted with regard to 
religious opinions. Some indication of such a spirit ap- 
peared in the appointment of Presbyterian divines among 
the king's chaplains, and Baxter along with the rest. 
Many who had access to the king strenuously recommended 
conciliation, and for a time their advice prevailed against 
the intrigues of court iniluence. Among other measures 
a conference was appointed at the Savoy, consisting of a 
certain number of Episcopalian and Presbyterian divines, to 
devise a form of ecclesiastical government which might re- 
concile the difforcnecs and satisfy the scruples of the con- 
tending parties. Baxter and the Presbyterians were ex- 
tremely desirous of bringing this commission to a successful 
issue; and Baxter himself drew up a reformed liturgy, 
which, with some alterations, he presented at this conference. 
The Presbyterians would have accepted Bishop Usher's 
scheme as a model, with any alterations which might be mu- 
tually agreed upon ; but the bishops were secretly opposed to 
the arrangement, and finally frustrated it by carrying a de- 
claration to this effect, that although all were agreed upon the 
ends contemplated in this commission, they disagreed about 
tho means. Having thus defeated the object of the confer- 
ence, the next step was to sequestrate the livings of those 
divines who had been inducted during the Protectorate. 
Oaths and subscriptions, which had been suspended while 
there was any prospect of a union of parties, were again 
called for by the bishops and their adherents. In accord- 
ance with this demand a law was passed in 1662, called 
the Act of Uniformity, so strict in its requisitions upon the 
debatable points of ceremonial worship, that it had the 
effect of banishing at once two thousand divines from the 
pale of the English church. Of this number was Baxter. 
Previous to the passing of this' measure he had refused the 
bisljoprick of Hereford and other preferments offered him 
by Clarendon, the Chancellor, asking one favour only in 
lieu of them — to be allowed to return to his beloved flock 
at Kidderminster. The viear, who was ejected in 16 40, had 
been restored ; and was bound by the old agreement to prfy 
Baxter 60/. a year as a lecturer. But Baxter was willing to 
perform the pastoral duties without remuneration : all he 
wanted was to watch over those whom lie had brought into 
the fold of Christ; but this request was refused. 

On the 25th of May, 1662, three months before the day 
on which the Bartholomew Act, as the Act of Uniformity 
\va3 called, from its coming into operation on St. Bartholo- 
mew's day, Baxter had preached in London his last sermon, 
under a regular engagement in the church; and, finding 
his public duties at an end, he retired in July 1663 to Acton, 
in Middlesex, where he employed most of his leisuro in 
writing for the press. Some of his largest works were 
tho fruits of this seclusion. His two most popular trea- 
tises, The Saints' Everlasting ResU and A Call to the 
Unconverted, were published before he left Kidderminster, 
and raised his fame as a writer to a higher pitch than 
what he had enjoyed even as a preacher. Several attempts 
were made by the ejected ministers and their friends in 
parliament to get the rigorous restrictions against them re- 
moved, but without success. The persecutions continued 
with unabated violence. Even those who, like Baxter, dis- 
liked separation, and attended the worship of the church, 



suffered penalties for having morning and evening prayers 
at their own houses. In the midst of those awful calami- 
ties, the plague and the fire, which raged with such fright- 
ful devastation in two successive years, the services of the 
Puritan divines to the inhabitants of the metropolis were 
so conspicuous, that the current of opinion turned in their 
favour, and led to new efforts in their behalf, which ended 
for the time in the Indulgence granted in 1672. This drew 
Baxter from his retirement at Totteridge, to which place he 
had removed on the suppression of his ministry at Acton. 
He settled again in London, and preached as a lecturer in 
different parts of the city, but more constantly at Pinner's 
Hall and Fetter Lane. His preaching, though highly ac- 
ceptable to his more immediate friends, was never so popular 
as it had been at Kidderminster. While he advocated tole- 
rance from an intolerant communion he shone like a light 
in a dark place ; but now that he was the apologist of con- 
formity, while he was a sufferer for non-conformity, his 
conduct ^ involved a kind of consistency too refined for pub- 
lic admiration. An ineffectual attempt which he made at 
this time to combine the Protestant interests against Papal 
ascendancy exposed him to various misrepresentations, to 
remove which he published a vindication of himself in a 
tract entitled An Appeal to the Light, but without eradi- 
cating the unfavourable impressions. 

His time was now divided between writing and preaching 
For a while he had a regular audience in a room over St. 
James's market-house, and at other places in London. But 
his public duties were frequently suspended by those 
rigorous enactments to which the Noli con for mists were 
subjected during the last two reigns of the Stuarts. 

In 1682 the officers of the law hurst into his house, at a 
time when he laboured under severe indisposition, with a 
warrant to seize his person for coming within five miles of a 
corporation, and would have hurried him before a justice of 
the peace in this condition, bad they not been met by his 
physician, whose interference probably saved his life as well 
as obtained his pardon. Two years later, while his health 
was still in a precarious state from a chronic disease, he was 
again harassed by distraints and penal proceedings. Still 
later it was his misfortune to be one of the unhappy victims 
of Jefferics. He was apprehended on a lord chief justice's 
warrant, on a charge of sedition and being hostile to epis- 
copacy. The charge was founded on some passages in his 
Paraphrase of the New Testament. On the trial, Jefferics, 
not content with using language the most opprobrious to 
the prisoner and his counsel, acted the part of proseeutor 
as well as judge, and scrupled not to gain his ends by 
silencing the accused, by insulting his counsel, by refusing 
to hear his witnesses, and by triumphing over his sentence. 
He said upon the bench, * he was sorry that the Act of In- 
demnity disabled him from hanging hiin.' His punishment 
was a fine of 500 marks, to lie in prison till it was paid, and 
to be bound to his good behaviour for seven years. For the 
non-payment of this heavy penalty he was committed to the 
King's Bench prison, where he lay until the 26th of No- 
vember in the following year (1686), having been confined 
for nearly eighteen months. His pardon was obtained by 
the mediation of Lord Powis, and the fine was remitted. 
The solitude of his prison was enlivened on this, as on for- 
mer occasions, by the affectionate attentions of his wife. 
Baxter himself lived to see that favourable change in re- 
ference to religious toleration which commenced at the Re- 
volution of 1688. He died on the 8th of December, 1691, 
and was buried in Christ Church. 

The literary career of Baxter is not the least extraordinary 
part of his history. He published a body of practical and 
polemical divinity with a rapidity almost unequalled; the 
excellence of some of his practical writings secured them an 
unexampled popularity, and thus laid the foundation of a 
new theological system which still retains "his name. The 
catalogue of his works is not easily described. It contains 
nearly 168 distinct publications: (see list in Orme's Life, 
prefixed to the edition of his works, London, 1830.) Many 
of these are only known to his admirers, but others aro 
more t read than any other productions of a religious cha 
racter. His fame chiefly rests on his two most popular 
works, and on his Methodus Theologicc and Catholic Theo • 
logy* in which his peculiar views are embodied. Several 
of his learned contemporaries have recorded their testimony 
to the character of his writings. Sir Matthew Hale was a 
constant reader of them, and honoured Baxter with his 
friendship. Bishop Wilkins praised him in the phrase that 



RAX 



C2 



BAY 



Johnson afterwards applied to Goldsmith ; ' lie has cultivated 
every mibiart which he ha* handled;' and Dr. Isaac Harrow 
said, that 'lit* practical writing* were never mended, and 
lii> controversial one* seldom confuted/ Baxter left behind 
him a Narrative of the vtost Memorable Paxiages of his 
JJfs an I Timet, which was published in a folio volume 
after his death (1696) by his intimate friend Mr. Matthew 
Sjlvester, under tljo title ReU^uta? Baxterians. hi* here 
that wo find that review of his religion* opinions written in 
the latter part of hi* life, which Coleridge speak* of as ono of 
the most remarkable pieces of writing that have como down 
to ns. (See Coleridge's BiograjJiia Li t era r fa.) Cal amy's 
Lif* qf Baxter is a kind of abridgment of thi* work, which 
abounds in notices of tho men, tho transaction*, the habits, 
and the opinions of the stirring period in which lie lived. 

There are a few poems by Baxter, not long ago published 
in a small volume. His World of Spirits has been lately 
reprinted. 

BAXTERIANS, ft name which i* applied to those who 
adopt the theological system of Richard Baxter. The name 
is now almost extinct; but Baxterianisra is still the resting 
place of many who do not approve of the extremes of Cal- 
vinism. The Baxterians hardly ever attained the rank of 
a separate denomination, even when they were most nume- 
rous ; and they are now completely scattered among different 
communions. Their writings arc most popular among the 
orthodox dissenters. 

Baxtcrianism occupies a sort of middle place between 
Arminianism and Calvinism. It is not correct to say, that 
it reconciles the two schemes. It only connects them by 
showing that portions from each maybe made to harmonize 
with eaeh other. Ilenee it would be more properly described 
as a system of theology framed out of the systems of Calvin 
and Arminius, and becoming itself the point of union be- 
tween them. Its chief merit is supposed to consist in the 
amalgamation of the Arminian doctrine of free grace with 
the Calvinistic doctrine of election. The Baxterians profess 
to believe that a certain number, determined upon in the 
divine counsels, are elected to salvation without respect to 
their good works. To this extent they receive the doctrine 
of effectual calling. But to make their view of the opera- 
tion and comprehensiveness of divine favour complete, they 
contend that all to whom the gospel is preached are placed 
in a condition for securing their own salvation. Hence they 
think with Calvin that Christ died in a special manner for 
the elect ; and, in a more general sense, tor all others who 
come within the light of the gospel. The Calvinistie tenet 
of reprobation forms no part of their system. 

The grounds on which Baxter contended that the death 
of Christ put all men in a state of salvation arc briefly these : 
— 1st, Because Christ assumed the human nature and bore 
tho sins of the human race ; 2dly, Because pardon and life 
were offered to all mankind on condition of acceptance, — 
* Whosoever belie veth shall he saved ;* and, 3dly, Because 
it is not to the elect alone, but to all men, that the benefit* 
of the gospel aro proclaimed. 

The arguments by which the learned divines of this school 
prove the elect to have a superior interest in the death of 
Christ over the non-elect, are deeply tinctured with that 
metaphysical subtlety of which Bishop Burnet complains 
as the great blemish of Baxter's writings. The hypothesis, 
in a few words, may be thus stated : that Christ das made 
a conditional gift of tho benefits accruing from his death 
to all mankind ; but to the elect the gift is absolute and 
irreversible; from which he draws the inference that, not- 
withstanding the positive possession of these advantages 
was decreed to the few, yet conditionally the benefit was 
extended to all. 

The Baxterians are greatly opposed to Antinomianisni. 
Faith without works they hold to be an unscriptoral and 
dangerous tenet. Several of tho minor doctrines of Cal- 
vinism are adopted in a modified sense, among which may 
be mentioned justification and the perseverance of the saints. 
They advocate the certainty of perseverance, but incline to 
the opinion that it may be lost by too weak a degrco of 
saving grace. 

In all the Baxterian deviations from the system of Calvin 
there is a decided leaning to more comprehensive views. 
Baxter was himself opposed to tho narrowing of the term* 
of salvation, and designed to removo every appearance of 
exelusiveuess in tho operation of divine favour from the 
system which he took such nains to adjust and promulgate. 
Tho most eminent divines wlio have embraced these opinions 



since the death of their author aro Watts and Doddridge— 
men who have both illustrated in their works and lives the 
candid and amiable spirit of the school to which they be- 
longed. 

(Calamy's Abridgment of Mr. Baxter t History of his 
Ufe ami fifties, 2nd edit. 1713. A second volnmo contains 
an account of other ministers deprived or silenced by the 
Act of 1662. In 1727 two volumes of Continuation wero 
published. Baxter's Catholic Theology ; Buck's Theolo- 
gical Dictionary,) 

BAY {bahia, Portuguese, Spanish; baia f Italian; baie % 
French ; mecrbitsen, German), is a portion of the sea, of 
such a form that it is wider at the part nearest the open 
sea, and narrower the farther it advances into the main 
land. According to this definition the term is rightly ap- 
plied to the Bay of Biscay, the Bay of Bengal, Chcsajwak 
Bay, and Botany Bay; but sometimes it is used whero 
tho term gulf would seem to bo more appropriate. This 
latter term properly implies an arm of the sea, which, with- 
out any or with only little diminution in breadth, enters 
very deeply into the main land, as the Gulf of Bothnia or 
the Gulf of Finland. Smaller portions of the sea of this 
description are called, in Scotland, firth$ t and in Norway, 
where they are very numerous, fiords, in Iceland fiordurs. 
According to this definition we should not say Baffin's Bay, 
but Baffin's Gulf. To introduee'grcater precision into geo- 
graphy, it would still be necessary to distinguish both bays 
and gulfs from close seas, by which we understand extensive 
parts of the sea, enclosed on every side with land, and 
united with the ocean only by straits or narrow arms, like 
the Mediterranean or the Baltic Sea and the Red Sea. But 
here, too, the common practice is not exact. We say Hud- 
son's Bay where we should use tho term Hudson's Sea, and 
the same observation holds good for the Gulf of Mexico, 
which as well deserves the name of sea as ihe Caribbean 
Sea. Sometimes also close seas have received the name of 
gulfs, as the Persian Gulf. 

BAY SALT. [See Salt.] 

BAY TREK. [See Laurus.] 

BAYADEKR (said to be a corruption of Bailadeira, a 
Portuguese word, which signifies a dancing woman), a 
name given to the regularly bred dancing girls in India, who 
are also the regular prostitutes. Certain women make it 
their business to select the handsomest girls they can find 
among the children of the lowest class of people ; and, 
after having secured their beauty from the ravages of the 
small-pox by inoculation, carefully instruct them in dancing, 
singing, and the acting of small comedies, with the little arts 
and manners which form the accomplished bayadeer. The 
system of training commences at the age of seven or ci^ht 
years, and continues two or three years. From the end of 
this training to the age of seventeen is the professional life 
of n bayadeer. Towards its termination, their personal 
attractions being considered on the wane, they find it expe- 
dient to transfer them to the more contracted sphere of 
the temples. Some are devoted, under a vow of the pa- 
rents, to the service of the temples from their birth. They 
are brought up in tho usual accomplishments, and the 
wages of their exertions and their infamy enter the trea- 
sury of the temple with which they are connected. 

These girls are generally introduced to any party that 
requires their attendance, escorted by a band of musicians. 
A native band consists of instruments resembling guitars, 
and others like clarionets, with cymbals and kettle-drums, 
which altogether produce a very wild, but not nu unplcasing, 
and a somewhat melancholy harmony. The women dance 
and sing ; and when one is desired to dance, she calls for the 
ornaments of her feet, which consist of silver chains, which 
she fastens on her ankles. Then, rising from the ground, 
she arranges her dress, which generally eomi&t.s of about a 
hundred yards of light muslin, which terminates in innu- 
merable folds at about the swell of the leg; and of a shawl 
which covers part of the head, comes over the shoulders, and 
falls in folds over the petticoat. Tho hair is seldom orna- 
mented, but is parted in the middle, and kept close down by 
the aid of the eoeoa-niit, which improves its jet and gloss, 
but communicates an unpleasant odour. Bchin 1 the ears a 
hunch of pearls is worn like a cluster of grapes, and a ring 
is suspended from one of the nostrils, through which it is 
inserted. The ornaments, however, are sometimes more and 
sometimes less numerous and costly than this. 

The dancing consists in a certain methodical kicking of 
the right foot, which causes the chains on the ankles to jingle 



BAY 



63 



BAY 



in unison with the music ; the dancer now advancing, then 
retreating : sometimes with the hands up, and twisting them 
about ; at others, enveloping her head completely in the 
shawl. The movements of the bayadeer are sometimes so 
slow in this performance, that an inexperienced spectator 
might suppose her about to fall asleep, when, in eorre-. 
spondence with a change in the music, she becomes full of* 
life, and exhibits a rapid and exhausting succession of vio- 
lent action. She takes up her robe and folds it into various 
shapes, then she lets it go, so that while she spins round 
like atop, it forms a circle, bearing some resemblance to the 
tail of a peacock. It is perfectly amazing for what a length of 
time practice enables them to maintain this circular motion. 
This part of the performance is sometimes dispensed with. 
In different parts of the country these dances vary in the 
proprieties of dress and attitude. In some parts they are 
highly indecent, but this is not always, ov perhaps gene- 
rally, the ease. The songs of the bayadecrs, however, 
commonly express, in very warm language, the sentiments 
of amorous passion, as addressed by the female to her lover. 
Such songs afford a striking contrast to those of the Per- 
sians, who, according to Sir William Ouseley, ' never suffer 
their females to make, either in prose or verse, any advances 
or declarations of love/ 

(Description, <£c, of the People 0/ India by the Abbe" 
Dubois; Morier's Second Journey ; Heber's Narrative of 
a Journey, $e. ; Ouseley's Travels in various Countries of 
the East.) 
BAYAMO, in Cuba. [See Salvador, S.] 
BAYAN KHARA MOUNTAINS is the Mongol name 
of a very extensive range in Eastern Asia, in a corner of 
the globe which has never been visited by Europeans, and 
which, therefore, is only known to us by the accounts of the 
Chinese geographers. According to them a vast mountain- 
knot is situated nearly in the centre of the high table-land 
of Eastern Asia to the. west of the lake Khoo-khoo-nor, 
between 35° and 38° N. lat., and about 96° and 100° E. 
long. This mountain-knot, ealled Kulkun. is considered as 
the eastern portion of the Kuen-luen Mountains, which 
traverse the high table-land from west to east about the 
thirty-fourth parallel. From this mountain-knot high 
ranges seem to proeeed towards all the points of the com- 
pass, three of which extend to the east in the direction of 
the principal ehain. The most northern, ealled Khi-lian 
Shan, separates the basin of the lake of Khoo-khoo-nor 
from the great desert of the Gobi. The middle chain, and 
as it seems the highest of the three, ealled Siue Shan 
(Snow Mountains), fills up with its numerous high and 
steep summits the whole region between the lake of Khoo- 
khoo-nor and the great river Hoango. The most southern 
of the three, the Bayan Khara Mountains, first runs towards 
the south, and the waters descending from its eastern de- 
clivities give rise to the river Hoango. Soon afterwards the 
range declines towards east-south-east and separates in 
this direction tho upper courses of the two great rivers 
Hoango and Yan-tse-kiang, until branching off in nume- 
rous ramifications, it obliges the Yan-tse-kiang to take a 
southern and the Hoango a northern course. Thu3 these 
rivers, whieh to the west of the 100th meridian run hardly 
more than fifty miles from one another, attain under the 
103rd a distance of more than ten degrees of latitude, whieh 
they keep to about the 112th meridian, where they again 
approach one another within about four degrees, or about 270 
miles. All the numerous mountain chains whieh occupy the 
eastern parts of Tibet, and that portion of China whieh ex- 
tends between the Hoango and Yan-tse-kiang are connected 
with the Bayan Khara Mountains, and ought to be considered 
as ramifications of this mass. The most remarkable is that 
whieh, including the basin of the Hoango on tho south, 
divides Sifan from the Chinese province Kan-su: there it 
is ealled by the Chinese Min-shan. Its eastern prolonga- 
tion, whieh divides the province Sut-shuan from those of 
ICan-su and Shen-si, hears the name of Peling (Northern 
range), and, forming the watershed between the two great 
rivers, it advances intp the great plain of Northern China, 
where the last offsets terminate at a distance of about 100 
miles from the Whang Hay or Yellow Sea. 

We know nothing respecting the mineral riches of the 
Bayan Khara Mountains from the Chinese geographers; 
but wc are informed that those ranges whieh lie to the west 
of the 103rd meridian in many places rise above tho line of 
eternal snow, and that even glaeiers are frequent among 
them. They are, however, rarely visited, on account of their 



severe climate. (Klaproth's Asiatic Magazine, and Rit- 
ters's Asia.) 

BAYARD, PIERRE DE TERRAIL, known by the 
honourable appellation of the ' Good Knight, without fear 
and without reproach' (le bon Chevalier, sans peur et sans 
reproche), was born, in the year 1475, at the Chateau de 
Bayard in Dauphine. His family were for generations the 
feudal lords of the territory whence they took their name , 
and were distinguished for their military prowess during the 
wars of the English in France. Almost all his immediate 
ancestors died on the field of battle: his great-great-grand- 
father fell at Poietiers; his great-grandfather at Cressy; his 
grandfather at Montehery; and his father also received 
many wounds in the wars of Louis XL With a view to 
being educated for the profession of arms, he was placed, 
when thirteen years old, in the household of the Duke of 
Savoy as page, in whieh capacity he continued for five years, 
perfecting himself in the various accomplishments then con- 
sidered essential to the character of a true knight. Bayard, 
when only eighteen years of age, carried away the prize in 
a tournament against one of the most experienced knights 
in France. When he had completed his eighteenth year he 
entered into actual service. 

In the latter end of the year 1494, Bayard accompanied 
Charles VIII. in his expedition against Naples, and greatly 
distinguished himself at the battle of Fornovo, fought on the 
6th of July in the next year. He Had two horses killed 
under him in this engagement, and he performed numerous 
feats of that romantic valour whieh have perpetuated his 
name as one of the last and best representatives of the days 
of ehivalry. Bayard served also in the Italian wars of 
Louis XII., whieh began in 1499. On one occasion he kept 
a bridge over the Garigliano single-handed against 200 
Spaniards, long enough to enable the main-body of the 
French to make good their retreat. 

Bayard was also present at the famous ' battle of the 
Spurs/ fought at Guingette near Terouenne in Pieardy, on 
the 16th of August, 1513. Either from panie or mistaken 
orders, the French gendarmerie, when retreating from the 
English force, commanded in person by the then youthful 
Henry VIII., tied before the English cavalry in disgraceful 
confusion. The contest, in fact, was 1 one of mere speed be- 
tween the pursuers and the pursued, and henec the humorous 
epithet, applied by tho vanquished themselves, of the * battle 
of the Spurs. 1 But for the presence of mind and daring 
valour of Bayard, the whole French array would have 
shared in the disgrace of the gendarmerie. He retired 
with fourteen men-at-arms, often turning on his pursuers, 
till he reached a place where only two could pass in front. 
1 We halt here/ said he, * the enemy will be an hour gaining 
this post. Go and tell them so at the earn p.' He was 
obeyed, and succeeded in gaining time for the French army 
to re-assemble itself, but was himself taken prisoner. Henry's 
reception of the knight was much more courteous than that 
of the Kmperor Maximilian, who was present, being, with 
his troops, in the pay of the English king. The emperor 
taunted him with the remark that he thought Bayard was 
one who never lied. ' Sire, if I had lied I should not havo 
been here/ was the prompt answer. 

Bayard attended Francis L, then in the pride of youth, 
and ambitious of the honours of ehivalry, in the war under- 
taken to recover Milan and the other Italian conquests of 
his predecessor. The bloody battle of Marignano, Sept. 13, 
1515, wbich lasted two days, was fought with a fierce- 
ness that made Trivulzio, the French commander, who had 
been in eighteen pitched battles, exclaim that 4 all other 
fights compared with this were but children's sport ; this is 
the war of giants/ Bayard displayed his usual romantie 
daring and prowess. When the battle was won, Francis, 
who had fought by his side, and who had witnessed his 
extraordinary valour, begged and received the honour of 
knighthood at his hands upon the field. 

The next great service which Bayard rendered his country 
was the obstinate and successful defence of Mezieres, on 
the Netherlands frontier of France, in 1522, against the 
Count of Nassau, with a force of 35,000 men, aided by a 
strong artillery. The garrison consisted of only 1000 men, 
but such was the fame of Bayard, that many of the young 
nobility of France considered it the highest honour to he 
engaged under him in the defence of this frontier town. 

In 1524 Bayard had a command in the force which 
Francis I. sent to Italy to act against the army of tho Em- 
peror Charles, directed by the celebrated Duke of Bourbon, 



D A Y 



CI 



BAY 



The eommaud-iu-cbief was intrusted to Bonnivet, whose 
only qualification was pergonal courage. After various 
movements an<l partial successes, Bonnivet was compelled 
to abandon his strong entrenchments at Biagrasso, and 
move nearer to the Alps, in expectation of reinforcements 
from Switzerland. Ho wis pursued by the imperial forces, 
who attacked his rear with great fury just as ho had reached 
the banks of the Scsia. Bonnivet, while displaying much 
valour in rallying his troops, was wounded in tho arm by a 
ball from anarquchuss. He sent to Bayard immediately, 
telling him that the fate of tho army was in his hands. 
Bayard, who had in vain throughout the campaign remon- 
strated with Bonnivet on the course he was pursuing, 
replied, * It is now too late, hut 1 commend my soul to my 
G-jd; my li?b belongs to my country.' He then put him- 
self at tho head of the men-at-arms, and kept the main- 
body of the enemy occupied long enough to enable the 
rest of the French forces to make good their retreat. "While 
thus engaged ho received a mortal wound from a ball, and 
fell from h's horse. Ho was pressed to withdraw from the 
field, but his answer was that he had never turned his 
back upon an enemy. He ordered himself to bo placed 
with bis back againsta tree, and his face to the enemy. In 
this situation he was found by Bourbon, who expressed his 
regret at seeing him in this condition. ' Pity not me,* said 
the dying man r ' I die as a man of honour ought, in the 
discharge of my duty; they, indeed, are objects of pity 
who fight against their king, their country, and their 
oath.' The Marquis of Pescara, commander of the Spanish 
troops, passing soon after, manifested (we quote from 
Robertson's Charles K.book iii.) his admiration of Bayard's 
virtues, as well as his sorrow for his fate, with the gene- 
rosity of a pliant enemy ; and, finding that he could not be 
removed with safety from that spot, ordered a tent to he 
pitched there, and appointed proper persons to attend him. 
He died, notwithstanding their care, as his ancestors for 
several generations had done, on the field of battle. Pes- 
cara ordered his body to be embalmed and sent to his rela- 
tions ; and such was the respect paid to his memory that 
the Duke of Savoy commanded it to be received with royal 
honours in all the cities of his dominions. In Dauphinc, 
Bayard's native country, the people of all ranks came out 
in a solemn procession to meet it. 

(See Memoir e$ du Chevalier de Bayard, $*c. f with notes 
by Theodore Godcfroy. and the contemporary histories; also 
Br an tome's works, and the M/moires de Bella y.) 

BAYAZID I., surnamed IED1RIM, or ' the Lightning/ 
in allusion to the rapidity of his military achievements, was 
the son of the sultan of the Osmans, Murad I. He was 
horn A. Heg. 748 (a. n. 1347), and came to the throne in 
A. Heg. 792 (a. r>. 1389), after his father had been killed 
in an engagement with the Servians near Cossowa. The 
O^man dominions at this epoch extended from the Danube 
to the Euphrates; and Bayazid at the head of his army was 
almost incessantly moving from one extremity of his em- 
pire to the other, to reduce his Mohammedan neighbours to 
obedience, or to add to his possessions by conquests from 
the Christian powers of Europe. Biiissa and Adrianonle 
were respectively the Asiatic and European capitals of his 
dominions, and the erection of a magnificent mosque in each 
of them is one of the earliest acts of his reign that we find 
recorded. This seemingly pious act forms a strong contrast 
with his behaviour to Vacnb bis only brother, whom he put 
to death almost immediately on ascending the throne, from 
no other motive than an apprehension that the example of 
other Eastern princes niignt encourago him to rebel, and 
dispute Bayazid'* right to the throne. 

The conquests of the Osmans had, in the beginning of 
the eighth century of the* Mohammedan cora (the fourteenth 
after Christ), put an end to the Seljukide dominion in 
western Asia, and on its ruins several small dynasties had 
sprung U[), the principal of which were that of Sinope and 
Castcmuni on the northern coast of Asia Minor, and those 
of Aidin, Zarukhan, and Kermiyan. These dynasties 
Bayazid determined to destroy, and to embody their terri- 
tories in his empire. Within the first year after his ascend- 
avi the throne he had conquered Zarukhan, Aidin, and part 
of the northern coast of Anatolia: nor did his previous 
marriage (in a. i>. 1381) with a daughter of the prince of 
Kcrmivan prevent him from leading an expedition against 
his father-in-law, whom he took prisoner and deprived of 
his territory. Bayazid hail to encounter greater diUicoltics 
in subduing tho principality of Caramauia. Timurtash, his 



general, had conquered part of the country, when Alft-cddfn 
tho reigning sovereign, defeated him in a battle and took 
him prisoner. AVhcn this happened, Bayazid was on the 
banks of tho Danube engaged in a war with Stephan, tho 
prince of Moldavia, who had been instigated by Kcetnruin 
Bayazid (i. e. 'Bayazid the Lame'), a Musnlman chief on 
the borders of the Black Sea, to invade AVallachia and Bes- 
sarabia. On receiving the news of Timurtash's defeat, 
Bayazid hastened from Europe into Asia, and within a very 
short time sulnlued tho whole of Caramania, besides which 
he now added to his empire the towns of Konia, Akshchr, 
AkscraY, Larenda, Siwas (Sebaste), Tokat. and Kaisa- 
riyah. Soon after he took away the dominions of Kattu- 
ruin Bayazid on the Black Sea; and whon Kccturum died, 
Bayazid allowed his son, Isfendiar, to retain possesion only 
of Sinope. 

Tho year 1391 is remarkablo also for the capturo of Phi- 
ladelphia, or Alaihehr (i. e. ' The Variegated City*), the 
last Greek town in Asia Minor that continued f.iithful to the 
Byzantine empire. Its Greek commander made a vigorous 
resistance to the besieging forces of Bayazid, and rejected 
his invitation to surrender the fortress: while the Emperor 
Joannes and his son Manuel, then the confederates of the 
sultan, were actually assisting in the siege. 

In 1393 Bayazid undertook another expedition into 
Europe, in which he took possession of the towns of £alouiki 
and Yenishehr (Larissa), and for the first time besieged 
Constaniinople. He compelled the emperor to give up his 
plan of adding to the strength of tho capital bv new fortifi- 
cations, and to assign a separate suburb to the 'Turks with a 
mosque and a kadhi, or judge, of their own. Bayazid at' 
the same time built the fort of Guzeljc, or Anatoli hiss-.ir, on 
the eastern side of the Bosporus, which secured to him the 
command of that channel. 

In '139G Bayazid gained an important victory near 
Nicopolis on the Danube over an army of a hundred thou- 
sand Christians, including many of the bravest knights of 
France and Germany, who hud assembled under the stan- 
dard of Sigismond, the kingof Hungary, to check the farther 
progress of the Mohammedan power in Europe. The greater 
part of the Christian forces were slain or driven into lhe 
Danube. Sigismond escaped to Constantinople. Sixty- 
thousand Turks are stated to have fallen in the same battle ; 
and when Bayazid became aware of the extent of his loss, 
he gave orders to put to death all the prisoners with the 
exception of twenty-four nobles, who were subsequently ran- 
somed. This great victory was soon followed by further con- 
quests in Greece. TheMorca was taken, and in 1397 
(according to the oriental authorities quoted by M. von 
Hammer, Gesch. des Osman-Rcidis, i. 252) Athens fell 
into the power of the Osmans. 

The dominions of Bayazid and those of the Tartar con- 
queror Timur now touched each other in the neighbourhood 
of Erzerum and on the banks of the Euphrates. With 
doubtful limits between the two empires, which had never 
been defined by treaty, a cause for war between two jealous 
sovereigns could not long he wanting. Timur had taken 
possession of Siwas (the antient Sebaste), on the Halys r 
then one of the strongest and most nourishing cities 
of Western Asia, and had treated its inhabitants with great 
cruelty. Bayazid was then engaged in his European do- 
minions, which prevented him from resenting this violation 
of his territory. About the same time two Musuhnan 
princes, Ahmed Jclair and Kara Vussuf, whom Timur had 
deprived of their possessions, lied for protection first to 
Seifeddin Barkuk, the Sultan of Egypt ( and subsequently 
to Bayazid, who received them with kindness, and married 
his son, Mustafa Chclebi,to a sister of Ahmed Jelair. Timur 
sent two embassies for the purpose of demanding the sur- 
render of the princes ; but Bayazid refused to comply, and, 
instigated by the advice of the princes, took possession 
of Erzinjan, a town situated on the Euphrates within the 
dominions of Timur. Timur, who now determined to com- 
mence an open war against Bayazid, begun the campaign 
by taking Haleb, Antakia, and other Syrian towns that 
wcro subject to the Osmans. He was at Siwas when ho 
received information of the approach of Bayazid from the 
west. The two sovereigns at the head of their armies 
met in the plains of Angora, the capital of the antient 
Galatia. A decisive battle took place (according to M. von 
Hammer's calculations on the 19th of Zulhaj, A. Heg. 
804, i. e. the 20th of July, A.n. 1401), in which the Ommiuiiv 
wcro totally defeated, and Bayazid became a prisoner in 



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65 



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the hands of Tiraur. The conqueror, according to his 
Persian biographer, Sherif-eddin, received Bayazid with 
great kindness, assigned him suitable accommodations, 
and continued to treat him with distinction till he died, 
A. Heg. 806 (a.d. 1403). D'Herbelot (Bibliotheque Orient, 
art. Timour, .p. 876, edit. 1776) and M. Von Hammer ex- 
press themselves satisfied with this account, and reject the 
common report which would charge Timur with^reat cruelty 
towards his prisoner. But Sir William Jones fyf^orks, vol. v. 
p. 547) draws our attention to a passage in another contem- 
porary historian, Ebn Arabshah's life of Timur, which had 
been overlooked by D'Herbelot, and in which the Arabian 
author expressly affirms * that Timur did inclose his captive, 
Ilderim Bayazid, in a cage of iron, in order to retaliate the 
insult offered to the Persians by a sovereign of Lower Asia, 
who had treated Shapor, king of Persia, in the same man- 
ner; that he intended to carry him in this confinement into 
Tartary, but that the miserable prince died in Syria, at a 
place called Akshehr.' (See Ahmedis Arabsiadce, Vita 
Timuri, ed. Manger, torn. ii. pp. 225, 27C, &e.) 

We will not venture to decide a question on which there 
is such conflicting evidence ; but we must notice a curious 
passage of Busbequius, who visited Constantinople as am- 
bassador from the German emperor about the middle of the 
sixteenth century, as it seems to have escaped the notice of 
M. von Hammer. The passage is to the following effect : 
that Bayazid, after his defeat, became a prisoner in the 
hands of Timur, who treated him with great cruelty; that 
his wife, who was also made a prisoner, was grossly insulted 
before his face; and tbat from this time till the age of Su- 
leiman I., who reigned from a.d. 1620 to 15C6, the Osman 
sultans have never married, for fear that the reverses of 
fortune might expose them to similar insults. (Aug. Gislenii 
Busbequii Legationis Turcica Epistola Prima, pp. 20, 27, 
ed. Lond. 16G0, l6mo.) 

Bayazid was succeeded upon the throne of the Osman 
empire by his son Mohammed I. (Joseph von Hammer, 
Geschichte des OsmanisrJien Reichs, vol. i. p. 216, &c. ; 
Sherif-eddin's Life of Timur, translated by P. Dc La 
Croix.) 

BAYAZID II., the eldest son of the Osman sultan, 
Mohammed II., was born a.d. 1447, and in 1481 succeeded 
his father on the throne of the Osman empire, which he 
occupied till 1512. Bayazid was governor of Amasia when 
his father died (3rd of May, 1481). Upon receiving the 
news of his demise he hastened to Constantinople, but bad 
to establish bis claims to tbc throne by a contest with his 
brother Jem — called Zizim or Zizymus, by Caoursin and 
other contemporary European writers. Jem was defeated in 
a battle at Yenishehr near Brussa, 20th of June, 1481, and 
iled to Egypt, where he was kindly received by the Sultan 
Kaitbai. In the following year Jem was induced, by the re- 
presentations of his friends in Syria, to venture upon another 
campaign against his brother; but he was again unsuccessful, 
and took refuge at Rhodes. Here D'Aubusson, the grand- 
master of the Knights of St. John, received him with marked 
attention, but afterwards sent him to France, where he was 
kept in close confinement till 1488. Towards the end of 
that year the king of France, Charles VIII., surrendered 
him into tbe hands of Pope Alexander VL, by whom he was 
poisoned (Feb. 24, 1495). 

A considerable part of Bayazid' s reign was spent in war. 
When Mohammedll. died, the Osman empire was engaged 
in a conflict with Venice. Bavazid found it necessary in 
1482 to conclude a peace which secured considerable ad- 
vantages to the republic. In the same year, Keduk Ahmed 
Pasha, a military commander to whom the empire owed 
many important victories, was murdered by Bayazid's com- 
mand. 

In 1485 Bayazid declared war against Kaitbai, the Mamluk 
sultan of Egypt. Karagos-Pasha, the commander of the 
Osman army, suffered two signal defeats, and in 1491 a 
peace was negotiated upon terms by no means advantageous 
or creditable to the Osman arms. In the same year the 
fortresses of Depedelen and Bayendera in Albania were 
taken by the Osmans. Bayazid was himself engaged in this 
expedition, and near Depedelen had a narrow escape from 
an assassin who had approached bim in the disguise of a 
monk. This incident, M. von Hammer observes, gave rise 
to the rule ever since most strictly observed at the Osman 
court, that no one bearing any weapon is admitted into the 
presence of the sultan. 

The year 1490 is remarkable in Turkish history for the 



first treaty concluded between the Osman government 
and that of Poland ; and in 1495 we find recorded the first 
diplomatic relations between the sultan and tbe ezar of 
Moscow. 

In 1499 another war broke out between the Osman em- 
pire and Venice. A Venetian fleet was defeated in a battle 
near the island of Sapienza, July 28, 1499; and Lepanto 
(Naupactos), Modon, Coron, and Navarino, were besieged 
and taken by the Osmans, while Iskandar Pasha, with a 
land army, invaded and laid waste the country along tbe 
river Tagliamento in tbe north of Italy. A combined 
Venetian and Spanish fleet took possession of iEgina and 
Cephalonia, and captured twenty Turkish galleys. By the 
treaty of peace, which was concluded in December, 1502, 
the Venetians were obliged to leave the island of Santa 
Maura in tbe hands of the Turks, but they kept possession 
of Cephalonia, and obtained the privilege of appointing a 
consul at Constantinople, and of trading in the Black Sea. 

Bayazid was induced to yield a peace upon such conditions 
by the rapid rise of the Persian power on the eastern frontier 
of his dominions, under Shah Ismail, the founder of the 
Safawi (commonly called the Sofi) dynasty. Shah Ismail 
had encroached upon the Osman territory near Tokat, and 
when forced to retreat by the governor of the province, had 
taken possession of Merash. About the same time, Korkud, 
Bayazid's eldest son, disgusted at the contemptuous treat- 
ment which he experienced from Ali Pasha, the grand vizir, 
quitted the empire and went to Egypt. Ahmed, though 
younger than Korkud, had been appointed by Bayazid his 
successor on the throne. Selim, a younger brother of 
Ahmed, dissatisfied with tbe preferpnee thus given to the 
latter, revolted against' his father (1511), at the same time 
that an alarming rebellion, headed by Kuli Shah, also 
named Shcitan Kuli, broke out in Asia Minor. Kuli Shah 
was soon obliged to retire, and his adherents became dis- 
persed ; but the conflict between the princes, Korkud, Selim, 
and Ahmed, continued, till at last Selim prevailed. Bay- 
azid was obliged to resign the government in his favour, and 
Selim, supported by the Janissaries, and the great mass of 
the people of Constantinople, ascended the throne April 25, 
1512. Bayazid quitted the capital, in order to spend the re- 
mainder of his life in peaceful retirement at Demitoka, his 
birth-place; but he died on his journey thither at Aya, near 
Hassa, May 26, 1512. 

(Joseph von Hammer's Geschichte des Osmanischen 
Reic/ts, vol. ii. p. 250, &c.) 

BAYAZID, a town of Turkish Armenia, situated at the 
base of Mount Ararat, in 39° 24' N. lat., 44° 20' E. long. ; 
50 miles S.S.W. from Erivan, and about 180 miles E. of 
Erzerum. It is governed by a pasha of two tails, whose autho- 
rity extends over a surrounding district of considerable extent, 
but its limits are not distinctly defined. Kinneir assigns to 
tbe place a population of 30,000, of whom the great ma- 
jority are Turks ; but Stocqueler says that the population is 
estimated at 3000, tbe greatest proportion of whom are 
Armenians ; and French writers estimate the population at 
10,000. Whatever be the number, the majority are, un- 
doubtedly, Armenians ; and our own information inclines us 
to consider the French estimate of tbe population to be 
nearest the mark. 

The town is built on a declivity, the summit of which is 
said by the inhabitants to be strongly fortified; but tbey do 
not like to allow the fortifications to be inspected. Theeity 
itself is also surrounded by walls and a rampart. Bayazid 
has a very uninteresting appearance. The houses are small, 
and, for the most part, inconveniently built. Were it not 
for the pasha's palace, which is covered with white plaster 
and rises high above the rest of the town, it would be diffi- 
cult to distinguish it from the craggy elevation on the sido 
of which it is built, for the houses are composed of the -same 
material as the rocks, and the soil affords not an inch of 
verdure. Tbere are three mosques, two Christian churches, 
and a monastery of considerable celebrity in Armenia. Little 
business is carried on at Bayazid. The inhabitants have no 
encouragement to attempt manufactures, because Russian 
articles of a much better quality than they can make, and 
at a mneh cheaper rate, are obtained from Erivan. (Seo 
Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire; 
Morier's Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia 
Minor; Stoequeler's Pilgrimage through Khuzistan and 
Persia.) 

BAYER, JOHN, was boin at the town of Rhain 
(Rhaina Biorum; it U called Rhain by Kastner, and appears 



No. 213. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vor.. IV.— K 



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06 



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to be Rain, which is not far from the confluence of the Loch 
and tha Danube), in Bavaria, in 1572. Ho followed the 
profession of on advocate at Augsburg, whore he died in 
1G25, having lived a bachelor fifty-three years. lie wnsan 
astronomer, and a diligent inquirer into antiquity. The 
preceding particulars are (or were) stated in his epitaph, in 
the church of St. Dominie at Augsburg. (See Schiller, 
Cu-lum tttllatum Chriitiarwm, Aug. Vind. 1627 ; or Kast- 
ncr, Gcsch. der Math. vol. iv. p. 94.) Of his life wo can 
find no account, except in the Mopraphie Universale t 
viiieh states that ho was a minister of tho gospel, whose zeal 
got him into troublo, but who was withal so good an astro- 
nomer, that ho was ennobled by tho Emperor l^eopold in 
1069. With whom he has been confounded in this stranue 
mistake we cannot tell, but be himself, in the preface to his 
charts, justifies him self for employing his time in mathe- 
matics, he b^ing a lawyer. There was a John Duyer who 
publUhed various works between 1GG2 and 16G7. ono of 
which, Ostium vet Atrium Natunc, *$c, might havo con- 
tained astronomy. Perhaps ibis one may havo been eon- 
founded with John Haver of Augsburg. 

Bayer has immortalized his name, as Delambre remarks, 
at a very cheap rate. lie published charts of the stars in 
1G"3, in which, for tho first time, he distinguished one from 
another by affixing letters. When Mamstecd and others 
adopted this practice, which has since become universal, tho 
letters of Bayer were followed, which has made his maps valu- 
able ; otherwise they aro not so good as thoso of Hevelius. 

The first edition of Bayer's maps was published at Augs- 
burg in September, 1603, with the following title •. Johannis 
Baieri Rhainani, J. C. Uranometria.omniufn asterismorum 
continent schemata novd methodo delineata* crreis laminis 
expresxa. The title given by Lalandc (Hibliogr. Astr.) is 
incorrect. He had obtained the constellations visible in the 
northern hemisphere from tho catalogue of Tycho Brahe\ 
and those about the south polo from Amcricus Vesputius 
and others. (Kepler, Tab. Rudolph, eited by Kiistner.) It 
is not known whether ho observed himself, but Riceioli, in 
tho words ' suis vigiliis astronomicis aueta et emendata/ 
implies that he did ; and Bartschius (Plant sph. in Pre/, ad 
Led.) affirms that Bayer was not in possession of the more 
reeent observations of Tyeho BrahG, and that bis places were 
erroneous in eon sequence. There are fifty-one maps by 
Bayer, namely, two of the hemispheres, one of nino constel- 
lations about the south pole, and forty-eight of single con- 
stellations. Tho Greek letters are omployed to denote the 
stars, and where tho Greek alphabet ends, the Roman small 
letters are used. 

The following is the list of Bayer's constellations, after 
each of which is placed the letter with which the reckoning 
ends; so that by looking at the numbering of the two 
alphabets annexed, the number of stars reckoned by him 
may be seen. In applying the letters ho seems to have ar- 
ranged the stars in order of brilliancy : thus a is the largest 
star in a constellation, that is, the largest in tho opinion of 
Bayer, observing with the naked eye, in and about I GOO. 
Bayer's names and spellings are retained. The constella- 
tions are all in Ptolemy. 

1. a 8. 15. o 22. x 29. C 36. m 43. t 

2. 9. i 1G. ff 23. yp 30. f 37. n 44. 11 

3. y 10. c 17. p 24. w 31. g 38. O 45. W 

4. t 11. X 18. <r 25. a 32. h 39. p 4G. x 

5. t 12. ji 19. r 26. b 33. i 40. q 47. y 
C. I 13. v 20. v 27. c 34. k 41. r 43. z 
7'. n H. I 21. f 28. d 35. 1 42. s 

1. Ursa Minor, _ 17. Delphinus, k 

2. Ursa Major, h 18. Equus Minor, <5 

3. Draco, i 19. Pegasus, tj/ 

4. Cephous, p 20. Andromeda ,e 

5. Bootes, k 21. Triangulum, i 

6. Corona, v 22. Aries, r 

7. He cules, z 23. Taurus, u 

8. Lyra, v 24. Gemini, g 

9. Cygnus, g 25. Cancer, d 

10. CassiepeO) a 26. Leo, p 

11. Perseus, o 27. Virgo, q 

12. Auriga, yp 28. Libra, o 

13. Serpentariua, f 29. Scorpio, o 

14. Serpens, o 30. Sagittarius, h 

15. Sagitta, 31. Capricoruus, c 
10. Aquila, 1. 32. Aquarius, 1 

AntinousJ 33. Pisces, 1 



34. Cetus, ^ 

35. Orion, p 
3G. Kridauus, d 

37. Lepus, v 

38. Canis Major, o 

39. Canis Minor, ij 

40. Navis, s 

41. Centaunis, q 

42. Crater, X 

43. Corvus, fJ 

44. Hydra, b 

45. Lnpns, v 
4G. Ara, 

47. Corona mevidionalis, v 
43. Piscis Notius, /* 



l9./Pavo 
Toucan 
Grus 

Phumix 
Djrado 
Piscis volans 
. \ Ilydrus 
Chameleon 
Apis 

Apis Indica 
Triangulum Australo 
Jndus 

50. Synopsis Cccli Superioris 
Borea 

51. Synopsis Cceli Infcrioris 
Austro 

In Delambre's list (Hist, de TAst. Mod,), in Canis Major, 
for x— o read «— o. The title of the last map is presumed 
by us, as the only copy of the first edition wo know of docs 
not contain it, and tho succeeding editions have no letter- 
press, The constellations in Italics are those of which a 
front view is presented, of which wo shall presently speak. 

In this first edition, the letter-press is on the hack of the 
plates. It contains, in addition to what has been noticed, 
the various names of the constellations and single stars, 
together with the planets with which they were supposed to 
have astrological allinitics. 

In order to restore, as ho supposed, the sphere of Ptolemy, 
Bayer has inverted many of the constellations, and made 
them turn their backs ; and this he has done upon an ecliptic 
and equator so disposed as to place the spectator inside. 
The state of the question is tint/ it is pretty clear either 
that Ptolemy imagined himself on tho outsido of tho globe, 
looking on the backs of the constellations, or in the inside, 
looking on the fronts ; for neither of the two remaining sup- 
positions will place those stars on the right or left arms,&c, 
which Ptolemy places there. The alternative might bo 
easily settled by remarking whether the stars in tho body 
are placed in the front or back ; but, unfortunately, Ptolemy 
generally refers them to some part of tho dress or arms 
which has both back and front, such as the belt of Orion ; 
but in the few instances which arc tests, Ptolemy always 
names the back, tho only exception we know of being a star 
in Virgo, which is said to be in the front face (:rp<Wiro>>), 
which may be reconciled with tho rest by supposing the 
back of a figure with the face turned sideways. Therefore, 
to represent Ptolemy completely, an outside of a sphere, or 
part of a sphere, must be drawn ; and on an inside sphero 
there is only the choice of ehanging left into right, and vice 
versa, by drawing backs, or backs into fronts, and vice vend, 
by drawing fronts. Bayer has chosen the first, with the 
exceptions noted in italics in the preceding list, for which ho 
has been blamed by Schick a rd, Bartsch, Hevelius, Flam- 
stecd, and others* but, singularly enough, he has not car- 
ried his own system through ; for Andromeda, of which ho 
has represented tho face, is precisely one of those signs in 
which a crucial word is found in Ptolemy, who places one 
star between the shoulders (h> rf /urn^ptvy). Flainstecd 
cuts the knot by assuring us that v&rov and puT&$pivov. 
which vulgar scholars iinagino to mean 4 thc back/ and 
* the part of the back between tho shoulders/ sometimes 
mean * the front' and 4 the chest/ in proof of which he 
brings his own conviction, that Homer and others must in 
some places havo adopted these senses. Montucla, with 
great probability, conjectures that Bay or intended to draw a 
convex sphere, but overlooked, or was ignorant of, the 
proper method of inverting tbc figures on the copper. 

Circumstances which wo shall have to mention in Flam 
stekd mako it worth while to give tho preceding detail* 
The rest of tho history of Bayer's work is as follows :— Ir 
1627, Julius Schiller published at Augsburg his C&ltim 
Sf citatum Christian urn, Sec. sociali operd J. Baycri, Sec. 
Ura n omet riatn novam priore accu rat iorcm locuptetio- 
remque suppeditantis. This was an attempt to ehaugc the 
names of tho constellations into others derived from tho 
Scriptures; as, for instance, calling tho twelve signs of the 
zodiac after the apostles, &c The northern constellations 
wero taken from tho New Testament and tho southern from 
the Old. Schiller's account is as follows : that Bayer, having 
laid down the positions of the stars, left all the rest to Schiller, 
but died before the whole (and Ursa Minor in particular) 
was completed, and without having time to finish some as-. 
tronomical Prolegomena; that the new Uranometry of Bayer 



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67 



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differed from the old in the number and positions of the 
stars, which he had altered, as well from many nights* ob- 
servations of his own (whether of positions or of magnitudes 
is not stated), as from various books which he had found; 
and that, for this reason, he (Bayer) was anxious that tbe 
old Uranometry should never be republished. These maps 
also represented tbe eonvex side of the sphere, that men 
might see the fronts of these Christian constellations, it being 
judged indecorous tbat the apostles should turn their backs. 
Thus we see that Bayer committed a mistake again, as far 
as Ptolemy's sphere is concerned. He should have drawn 
the inside or concave of the sphere, in turning the fronts 
towards the spectator. This work of Schiller's is also men- 
tioned by Ga>sendi as follows: ' Ccelum Christianum a 
J. Bayero affectum, et a Julio Schillero eonfectum.' (Gass. 
Vit, Peir, in a?in. 1628.) It is remarkable that, in this edi- 
tion, Bayer has abandoned his letters and taken numbers, 
either of his own or from Ptolemy. The plates are remark- 
ably well exeeuted for the period, and the grouping of the 
constellations is strikingly beautiful, but the stars are almost 
lost in the shading. 

Schiller states, that a surreptitious edition of Bayer was 
offered for sale at Frankfort lair in autumn, 1G24; which, 
by moans of the words nova methodo detineata, was made 
to pass for the expected edition of 1G27, that is Schillcrs 
own ; but it was struck from the same plates as that of 
1G03, and therefore probably eould not be distinguished 
from the subsequent editions. 

The second edition of the Uranomeiria (plates only, and 
without letter-press) was printed at Ulm in 1G48, and the 
third (plates ouly) at Ulm in 16GG. In the meanwhile, the 
letter-press of the first edition, with additions, had been 
printed under the following elumsy title : Explicutio Cha- 
racterum ameis Uranometrias Imaginum Tahulis inscufp- 
torum addiia. First edition, Strasburg, 1G24 ; second, Ulm, 
1640; third, Augsburg, 1G54; fourth, Ulm, 1697. 

BAYE R, GOTTLIEB (THEOPHILUS) SIEGFRIED, 
grandson of John Bayer the astronomer, was born at 
Kamigsberg in 1604. lie applied zealously to the sfudy 
of the Oriental languages under the tuition of Abraham 
Wolf, and of some learned Rabbis : he also took a peculiar 
interest in the study of the Chinese language. After tra- 
velling in various parts of Germany for his improvement, 
he returned to Kcenigsherg in 1717, when he was appointed 
librarian to the University. In 172G lib was called to 
Petersburg to fill the chair of Greek and Roman Antiqui- 
ties, and was there much noticed by the minister, Count 
Ostennann, and by the Bishop of Novogorod. His health 
bceame much impaired by intense study, and he died in 
February, 1738. lie wrote numerous works, some of 
which are printed separately; others are inserted in the 
Memoirs of the Academy o/ Petersburg and in the Acta 
lirxtdi torum ; and some were left at his death in MS. Of 
those that have been published separately the principal are : 
1. Museum SMicum, 2 vols. 8vo. Petersburg, 1730. The 
greater part of the first volume is occupied by an interesting 
preface, in which the author recapitulates the labours of 
those who preceded him in the field of Chinese literature ; 
this is followed by a general Chinese grammar j and by a 
grammar of the popular Chinese dialect of the province of 
Chin Cheu, which, he says, differs but little from the lan- 
guage of the learned or maudarins. This is followed by a 
letter from some missionaries at Tranquebar, concerning 
the Tamul language. The second volume eontains a Chi- 
nese Lexicon, extracts from several Chinese works, a com- 
mentary on the Siao ul lun, or Origincs Sinicao, a treatise 
on Chineso chronology ; and another on the weights and 
measures of the Chinese. The plates of the Chinese cha- 
racters in this work are said (Kiographie Universelle) to 
be badly executed. 2. De II oris Sinicis et Cyclo Horario 
Cowmen tat tones, 4to. Petersburg, 1735. 3. Historia Os- 
rfricna et Edessena e.v numis ill ustrata, 4 to. 1734, Bio g, 
Univ. This work, which he dedicated to Joseph Simonius 
Assemani, is much esteemed. 4. Historia Rfigni Greecorum 
Itactriani, 1738. [See Bactria.] 5. De Nummis Romanis 
in a%ro Prussico repertis. G. De Eclipsi Sinica liber sin- 
trufari*, in which he examines and eonfutes the Chinese 
account of a total eclipse, which a Jesuit asserted to have 
occurred at the time of our Saviour s death. (See Weidler, 
p. 171.) Of his scattered dissertations, some are on the 
Monzd, Tangutinn, and Brahmanic languages: one is 
d? Bl^i/t»h.'if Othnurjris; another on sonic books in an 
unknown lan£u?»ge, found near *Le banks of tho Caspian 



Sea; one is a translation from Confucius; and another, 
De Inscriplionibus ludmorum Gr&cis et Latinis, &c. He 
wrote also Historia Congregalionis Cardinalium de Pro* 
paganda fide, 4 to., 1721, giving an aceount of that cele- 
brated institution, in which, however, he displayed some- 
what of a prejudiced spirit and sectarian intolerance. He 
himself afterwards, writing to Lacroze, said that he was not 
altogether satisfied with his work, and that he intended to 
make more accurate researches on the subject. His Opus- 
cula, which treat of several topics of erudition, were pub- 
lished by KJotz, 8vo., Halle, 1770, with a biography of 
Bayer. There is also a life of Bayer in the Bibliotheque 
Germanique, vol. 1., from which Chanfepie" has taken his 
account of that writer in the Nouveau Dictionnaire His- 
torique. 

BAYEUX, a town in the department of Calvados, in 
France, 17 miles W. by N. of Caen, the capital of the de- 
partment, and 151 miles in the same direction from Paris, 
49° 1 7' N. lat., 0° 44' W. long. It is on the little river Aure, 
and only about 5 or 6 miles from the coast. 

In the earliest times this place was a chief seat of the 
Druids. After the Roman eonquest, if not before, it appears 
to have borne the name of Artegenus, and subsequently that 
of Baiocasses (from the people whose capital it was), and 
by contraction, Baioeas, and Baiocas. From these latter 
forms, Bayeux, its modern name, has sprung. Roman relics, 
vases, statues, and medals, have been dug up inconsiderable 
numbers. Under the kings of France, of the Merovingian 
and Carlovingian races, the town wasof considerable import- 
ance, and it had a mint. Bayeux was destroyed by the 
Normans, and rebuilt and peopled by them. The dukes of 
Normandy regarded it as the second plaee in their dueby, 
and had a palace here. It was however pillaged and burned 
by Henry I. of England, in the beginning of his reign. It 
suffered severely in the invasions of France by Edward III. 
and Henry V., as well as in the religious wars of the sixteenth 
century. The bishopric was erected in the fourth century, as 
it is believed ; and the bishops claimed, on aceount of the an- 
tiquity of the see, superiority over the other bishops of the 
ecclesiastical province of Neustria, or Normandy: but the 
popes, to whom, in 1581, the question was referred, did not 
allow their superiority ; without however, so far as appears, 
disputing the faet (the early origin of the see) on which 
the elaim was grounded. 

The town is old, and ill built, with the exception of one 
food street. The houses are ebietly of wood and plaster, but 
some are of stone. The antient cathedral is the oldest place 
of worship in Normandy. It is in the form of a cross, with 
pointed arches and two spire-erowned towers of unequal 
height at the western end, and a eentral tower, which is infe- 
rior to the two western towers in height. These towers are of 
inferior architecture. ' The end spires,' says Dr. Dibdin, ' are 
rather lofty than elegant ; in truth they are, in respect to 
form and ornament, about as sorry performances as ean be 
seen/ There are five porches at the western end, the central 
one rather large, the two on each side comparatively small. 
They were formerly covered with sculptured figures, but the 
Calvinists in the sixteenth century, and the Revolutionists 
in the eighteenth, have much mutilated and defaced them.* 
The interior of the cathedral is plain, solid, and rather bare 
of ornament. Dr. Ducarel, who visited it in 1 752, says that it 
was not adorned with any statues or other ornaments, and 
that the pictures and painted glass were very indifferent. 
The walls and ehapels of the ehoir were once covered with 
large fresco paintings, now nearly obliterated. In each side 
of the nave are ricbly-ornamented arches, springing from 
massive single pillars. The ehoir is rather fine, and the 
Hying buttresses of the exterior of the nave are admirable. 
The lead was stripped from part of the roof during the 
revolution for the purpose of making bullets, and the build- 
ing in consequence exhibits indications of decay. There 
is a erypt or subterraneous ehapel, the walls of which are 
covered with paintings, some probably of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, and some still older. The extreme length of the 
interior is about 315 English feet hy 81 feet high, and about 
103 feet wide. The transepts are about 120 feet long, by 35 
feet wide. The cathedral, after being twice or thrice rebuilt 
by the Normans, was erected in its present form (except 
one of the western towers, and some other parts evidently of 
later origin) by Philip de Harcourt.who held the see in the 
middle of the twelfth century: but it seems doubtful whether 
some part does not belong to the earlier edifice erected by 
bishop Odo, brother of William the Conqueror. The chapter- 

K. 2 



BAY 



G3 



B A Y 



library consists of 5000 volumes, the remains of a much 
larger collection, winch, having been kept shut up in the 
chapter- house for ten years during tho revolution, was in a 
great degree spoiled by the wet, which penetrated to thein 
after the roof of the chapter-house had been stripped of in* 
lead. There are now four ehurches ; before the revolution, 
there were in Bayeux and its suburbs fourteen, or, accord- 
ing to others, eighteen parish churches, two priories, three 
convents for men, and four for womeu : the bishopric was 
very rich. 

1'he chief articles of trado at Bayeux are eloth, linen, 
serge, hosiery, and other woven fabrics, grain, hemp, cider, 
and especially butter and lace; tho best butter is made 
during winter and spring, put up into small pots, and car- 
ried in largo panniers to tho adjacent parts of tho country, 
and even to Paris. It is shipped also in large quantities to 
tho French colonies. About three thousand females are 
constantly employed in tho manufacture of lace. Hats, 
stout muslins, and especially porcelain, are also manufac- 
tured here. The population, in 1832, was 9954 for the 
town, or 10,303 for the whole commune. 
. Bayoux possesses a college or high sehool, of considerable 
reputation; there is a tribunal de commerce: a building 
formerly occupied by the Lazarists as a seminary for the 
clergy, is now used asabarraek. Bayeux is thocapital of an 
arrondissement containing 390 square miles, or 249,600 
acres ; the population, in 1832, was 80,414. Thero aro se- 
veral paper-mills in the arrondissement. 

Bayeux was, according to some, the native plaee of Alain 
Chartier, one of the old French poets, who lived early in the 
fifteenth century. 

The country of Bessin, ofwbieh Bayeux was the capital, 
was a subdivision of Normandy. It is productive in apples, 
from whieh the inhabitants make a great quantity of cider, 
partly for home consumption, partly to be sent to Rouen 
and Paris. Towards the sea there is some rich pasture 
land ; but the district generally is not fertile. Slate is quar- 
ried in several plaees; poultry and game, especially quails 
and red-legged partridges, are plentiful ; and butter forms 
a considerable article of trade, as already noticed. Fish is 
also abundant, and tbo shad, tho sole, and the oysters of 
the river Vire, are in good repute. The forest of Orisy, the 
largest in the territory, shelters the wild boar, and nume- 
rous foxes. The churches of the district are remarkable for 
their handsome steeples. 

BAYEUX TAPESTRY, a web or roll of linen cloth or 
canvass, preserved at Bayeux in Normandy, upon which a 
continuous representation of the events connected with tho 
invasion and eonquest of England by tho Normans is 
worked in woollen thread of di fie rent colours, in the form of 
a sampler. It is twenty inches wide, and two hundred and 
fourteen feet long; and is divided into seventy-two com- 
partments, each bearing a superscription in Latin which indi- 
cates its subject, or the person or persons represented. It is 
edged on its upper, as well as its lower part, by a border re- 
presenting ehielly quadrupeds, birds, sphinxes, minotaurs, 
and other similar subjects. 

Attention was first directed to this singular monument by 
M. l^ncelot, in a memoir presented to the Aeademy of In- 
scriptions and Belles Lcttres, in 1724, in eonsequence of his 
discovering an illuminated drawing from a portion of it, 
among the manuscripts in the library of M. Foucault, who 
had been Intcndant of Normandy. At the time of finding 
it he did not know what it actually represented ; whether 
the original was a seulpturc round the choir of a church, 
upon a tomb, or on a frieze ; whether it was a painting in 
fresco, or on glass ; or, lastly, whether it might not be a 
tapestry. He saw that it was historical, and that it related to 
A\ illiam Duke of Normandy and the conquest of England ; 
and he wrote to Caen respecting it, but got no information. 

Pore Montfaucon, upon reading I^ancclot's memoir, .saw 
tho value of this curious representation, and left no stone 
unturned till he had discovered the original. He wrote 
to Caen and Bayeux, and sent a copy of tho drawing for 
inspection, when, at last, the canons of Bayeux reeognized 
it as a portion of the tapestry in their possession, which 
tradition said had been worked by, or under the super- 
intendence of, Matilda, the Conqueror's queen, which bho 
had herself given to tho eathcdral, of whieh Odo, the Con- 
queror s half-brother, was bishop, and which they, thceanons 
of Bayeux, were aeeustomed to exhibit to tho Inhabitants of 
the city, in the nave of their church, at a particular season 
of the year. M. Lancelot, in a second memoir, says it was 



at that time traditionally railed la Toilette de Due Gvil- 
laume. Montfaucon sent an able artist, of the name of An- 
ionic Bcntiit, to copy it ; and at the opening of the second 
volume of his Monument de fa Monarchic Francoise, pub- 
lished in 1730, engraved the whole in a reduced form, ac- 
companied with a commentary upon the l^tin inscriptions, 
which, throughout, explain the intention of the figures re- 
presented in tho different compartments. 

M. 1-ancclot, upon the publication of the tapestry by Mont- 
faucon, sent a second memoir to the Academy of Inscrip- 
tion and Belles Lcttres (as has been just mentioned), which 
was read in 1730, and published in tho same year, in the 
eighth volume of their transactions, in which he states that 
the earliest mention of this tapestry among the archives of 
the cathedral is in an inventory of jewels and ornaments 
belonging to the church, taken in 14 76, where it is eallcd 
1 uno tente tres longue et 6troite de tello a broderie de 
y mages et eserpteaulx faisans representation du conquest 
d*Angleterre, laquellc est tend ue environ la nef do l'Eglibe 
le jour ct par les octaves des reliques.* 

Dr. Ducarcl is the next who gives us an aeeount of this 
tapestry, in the appendix to his Anglo-Norman Antiquities 
(folio, London, 1767), where he has printed an elaborate 
description of it, whieh had been drawn up some years 
before, during a residence in Normandy, by Smart Lc- 
thieullier, Esq., an able English antiquary. Duearel tells us 
that when he was in Normandy it was annually hung up ov 
St. John's day, and wpnt exaetly round the nave of tho 
church, where it continued eight days. At all other times 
it was carefully kept loeked up in a strong wainscot press in 
a chapel ou the south side of the cathedral. 

From this time till the autumn of 1803, it received but 
little further notice, when Bonaparte, then First Consul of 
France, contemplating the immediate invasion of England, 
ordered it to be brought from Bayeux to the National Mu- 
seum at Paris, where it was deposited during some months 
for public inspection. The First Consul himself went to see 
il, and affected to be struck with that particular part which 
represents Harold on his throne at the moment when he was 
alarmed at the appcaranee of a meteor which presaged his 
defeat: affording an opportunity for the inference that tho 
meteor which had then been lately seen in the south oi 
France was the presage of a similar event. {Gentleman s 
Magazine* 1830, vol. lxiii., pt. ii. p. U36.) The exhibition 
was popular; so much so, that a small dramatic piece was 
got up at the Theatre du Vaudoville, entitled La Tapt'sseric 
de la "fine Mathilde, in which Matilda, who bad retired to 
herunele Roger during the eontest, was represented passing 
her time with her women in embroidering the exploits of 
her husband,^ never leaving their work, exeept to put up 
prayers for his success. (Millin, Mrgazin lincyclopcdiquc, 
1803, torn. iv. p. 541.) After having been exhibited in 
Paris, and in one or two large towne, the tapestry was re- 
turned to Bayeux, and lodged with the municipality. Mr. 
Dawson Turner, in his Tour in Normandy, written in IS 18, 
says, the bishop and chapter of Bayeux nad then recently 
applied to the government for the tapestry to be restored lo 
their eathedraU but without effect. {Tour in Normandy, 
8vo. Lond. 1820, vol. ii. p. 242.) 

It was most fortunate that this curious monument escaped 
destruction during the Revolution. Its surrender at that 
time was demanded for the purpose of covering the guns: 
a priest, however, succeeded in concealing and preserving it 
from destruction. 

The new degree of publicity given to the tapestry by its 
exposure in the Freneh capital, again made it a subject of 
diseussion ; and the Abbe* de la Rue, professor of history in 
the Academy of Caen, endeavoured, in a memoir, afterwards 
translated by Franeis Donee, Eso,. and printed in tho seven- 
teenth volume of the Archceologxa of the Society of Anti- 
quaries, to show that a mistake had been committed by 
tradition in tho selection of tho Matilda, and that its origin 
ought not to have been aseribed to Matilda the Conqueror's 
queen, but to Matilda tho empress, tho daughter of King 
Henry I. 

The next memoir on this curious-subject is comprised in a 
short loiter from Mr. Hudson Gnrney, printed in the 
eighteenth volume of the Archrrologiatwho saw the tapestry 
at Bayeux in' 1814, whero it then went by tho appellation of 
the Toile de St, Jean, which is explained by what Duearel has 
said, that it was formerly exhibited upon St, John's day. 
Lancelot, Montfaucon, Ducarcl, and Do la Rue, appear ail 
to have considered tho tapestry as a monument of the Con- 



BAY 



69 



BAY 



quest of England, intended to have been 'continued to 
Duke William's coronation, but from some cause or other 
left unfinished. Mr. Gurney considered it to be an apolo- 
getieal history of the claims of William to the crown of 
England, and of the breach of faith and fall of Harold ; and 
that, as it stands, it contains a perfect and finished action. 

In the mean time, the Society of Antiquaries in 1816 
despatched an excellent and accurate artist, Mr. Charles 
Stothard, to Bayeux, who in that and the succeeding year 
brought home a perfect fac-siraile of the tapestry ; the draw- 
ings of which have been si nee engraved, coloured like the 
original, and published in the sixth volume of the Vetusta 
Monumenta, plate i. to xvii. 

The appearance of the first portion of Mr. StothanTs draw- 
ings gave rise to some Observations from Mr. Amyot, in re- 
futation of an historical fact which the tapestry had been 
supposed to establish : namely, that of Harold's mission to 
Normandy by the Confessor to offer the succession to Wil- 
liam. (Ardiaol. vol. xix. p. 88.) These were followed by 
C. Stothard's own observations while at Bayeux, pointing out 
such circumstances as presented themselves to his notice 
during the minute investigation to which the tapestry was 
necessarily subjected (Ibid. vol. xix. p. 184), and again fol- 
lowed hyA Defence of the early antiquity of the Tapestiij, 
by Mr. Amyot (Ibid, p. 192), in which the objections raised 
by the Abbe de la Rue against the tradition which made 
the tapestry co-eval with the events it celebrates, are com- 
pletely invalidated. The last account of this tapestry is in 
Mrs. Stothard's Letters from Normandy, 4to. Lond. 1820, 
let. xi. pp. 121-134 ; except a brief notice of ft in Dibdin*s 
Bibliographical Tour, Svo. Lond. 1821, vol. i. pp. 375-391. 

The work begins with the figure of a king seated upon 
his throne, who is addressing one of two persons standing by 
his side : the inscription is simply ' kdwaru rex.* It ap- 
pears to be Harold taking leave. We next see Harold pro- 
ceeding to Boseham attended by several followers ; he carries 
a hawk upon his fiat, at that time the distinguishing mark of 
nobility; his dogs are running before him: ' mi iiarold 

DVX ANGLORVM ET SVI MIL1TES EQVITANT AD BOSHAM." 

A church is then represented, in front of which are two men 
who appear about to enter: above is the word * ecclesia.* 
This church is Boseham in Sussex. The party next appear 
feasting at a tablo in a house, previous to their embarkation. 
Some persona are descending the steps from the apartment 
where they have been dining; others are embarking in four 
vessels. Harold enters first, still bearing the hawk and 
carrying a dog under his arm. These last-mentioned 
figures are wading through the water, naked from the waist 
downwards : * hic harold make navigavit et velis 

VKNTO PLENIS VENIT IN TERRAM WIDON1S COMITIS.' The 

last of tlie four vessels next appears anchoring in France, 
Harold standing at the prow: his name 'iiarold* above. 
Three figures are then represented upon land; one of them 
is Harold in the act of being seized by order of Guy Earl of 
Ponthieu, who is on horseback, followed by his people : * Hie 

APPKKHENDIT WIDO IIAROLDVM ET DVX1T EVM AD nELREM 

et iui evm tenvit.* Harold and Guy are next seen 
mounted upon their horses, and attended both by Saxon and 
Norman soldiers. The Saxons are distinguished by wear- 
ing mustaehios; the Normans have none. Harold and Guy 
appear in conversation, * vm harold et wido paraho- 
lant :* when messengers arrive from William Duke of Nor- 
mandy to the Karl of Ponthieu * vbi nvntii wij.iklmi dv- 
cis venervnt ad wiDONKM.' Between the Earl of Ponthieu 
who is seated, and his guards who receive the messengers, 
a tree divides tho subject, as other trees, in like manner, 
divide all the principal events throughout tho work. A 
dwarf, with the name of 'tvrold* above, holds the horses 
of Duke William's messengers. William's messengers are 
again represented on horseback, bearing shields ; 'nvntii 
wiliklmi.' Next is a Saxon messenger mustached, kneel- 
ing to William on his dueal seat: ' hic venit nvncivs ad 
• wilgklmvm dvcem.* Guy is seen immediately after, con- 
ducting Harold to the duke: * hic wido addvxit harol- 
dvm ad wilgelmvm normannorvm dvcem.* "William 
meets them, and returns with Harold to his palace : * hic 

DUXVflLGKLM CVM HAROLDO VENIT AD PALATIUM SVVM.' 

We have then a female figuro within tho door of a church, 
and a priest, and beneath them tho words ' vnvs clericvs 
et ^lfqwa.* Mr. Douce says. evidently Adeliza, AVil- 
liam's daughter, who was affianced to Harold. The next 
event is William's warfare with Conan Earl of Bretagne, 
in which it is apparent Iiarold assisted and rendered essen- 



tial service to the Norman" party : ' mc willem dvx et 

EXERCITVS EIVS VENERVNT AD MONTEM M1CUAKL1S.' Sol 

diers, mounted on horseback, arrive at Mount St. Miehael 
and pass the river Cosno: 'et hictransikrvntflvmencos- 
nonis* et venervnt ad dol.* Harold is depleted among 
them, assisting some persons who had fallen into the quick- 
sands while passing the river:* hic harold dvx trahe- 
bat eos de arena.* We have then the words * et conan 
fvga vkrtit.* Conan is seen escaping from Dol and descend- 
ing tho walls by a rope. Troops are fiying and approach 
Rennes : *rednes/ The Norman soldiers are next em- 
ployed in attacking Dinant : * hic militks wii.lelmi 
dvcis pvgnant contra din antes/ Conan delivers up 
to them the keys of the town, which they sueeced in taking : 
*et cvnan claves porrexit. After this event William 
rewards the services of Harold by giving him a suit of ar- 
mour: *HIC WILLELM DEDIT HAROLDO ARMA.* William 

and his party then arrive at Bayeux: * hic willelm yen it 
baoias.* It is said that William, in order to secure to him- 
self the succession of the Saxon throne, without having 
Harold for a competitor, caused him to take a solemn vow 
that he would never attempt the possession of the English 
crown : this vow he obliged Harold (then within his power) 
to make upon a covered altar, beneath which William had 
placed tho most saered and precious relies. No sooner had 
Harold sworn the oath, than the Norman duke uncovered 
the altar, and showing him by what sacred things he had 
vowed, enforced upon his mind the blasphemy he would 
be guilty of, if he ever attempted the violation of his oath. 
Harold is represented taking the oatn, while standing 
between two covered altars* * vbi harold sacramentvm 
fecit willelmo dvci.* Harold next embarks for England : 

*H1C HAltOLD DVX REVER3VS EST AD ANGLICAN TERRAM 

et venit ad edwardvm keoem;* and is immediately after 
represented as relating the events of his journey to the 
Saxon king. t 

The next subject is the death and funeral of Edward the 
Confessor. The funeral procession comes first: ' Hic 

PORTATVR CORPVS EADWARD1 REGIS AD ECCLESIAM PETRI 

apostoli.' The king is then represented in his bed, giving 
his last directions to the officers of his eourt: his wile 
Editha weeping by his side: * uic eadwardvs rex 
alloqvit fidelks.' Beneath he is represented dead and 
laid out: 'et iiic defvnctvs est.* Tho next subject is 
the crown offered to Harold by the people: ' mc dede- 
rvnt haroldo couona ii regis.* Harold then appears 
upon his throne, Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, at 
his side: * hic residet harold rex anglorvm. sti- 
gant archiepiscopvs.' The subject that follows is the 
appearanee of a comet, at which the people are gazing : 
* iSTi mir ant stellam.* Harold is seen below it, listening 
to a person who has approached him : his name above, 
'harold.* Boats are represented in the border beneath. 
The next subject which the tapestry represents is a ship, 
bringing to William the news of Harold's having assumed 
the English crown : 'hic navis anglica venit in teu- 
ram willelmi dvcis.* William and his half-brother, Odo 
bishop of Bayeux (distinguishable by the tonsure), appear 
consulting together and giving orders that ships should be 
built for the purposed invasion of England : * hic willelm 
dvx ivssit naves EDiFiCARE.* Accordingly several per- 
sons are next represented as employed in cutting down 
trees ; carpenters are constructing vessels, and others draw 
them into the sea: 'hic trahvnt naves ad mare/ The 
embarkation of the Normans forms the*sueeeeding subject; 
they carry with them on board the ships wine, arms, and 
provisions: *isti poutant armas ad navks et trahvnt 
carrvm cvm vino et armis.* William going to his own 
vessel is next represented : * hic willelm dvx in magno 
navigio.* Numerous ships are then seen passing the sea, 
loaded with troops and horses, and William arrives in 
Pevensey bay (his own vessel known by tho figure of a boy 
holding a pennon at the stern; it bears a lantern at the 
mast): *mare transivit et venit ad vevhsksm." The 
troops and horses next appear disembarking : they pro- 
ceed to Hastings, where they seize provisions : * mc 

EXEVNT CABALLI DE NAVinVS ET HIC MIL1TES FESTI- 
NAVERVNT HASTINGA VT CIBVM RAPEREISTVR. , A figure 

on horseback, bearing a pennon at the end of his lance, 
is here distinguished by the words * hic est wadard. 
The Normans are now busied in cooking meats and regal- 
ing themselves: * hic coqvitvr caro et iuc minis- 

TRAYERYNT MINISTRK HIC FECERVNT PRAND1VM.' TllO 



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70 



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seldicin dine upon their shields. Odo seated at a table, 
with William on his right hand, bestows his benediction 
on tho vuuuU : 'kt imc episcopv.i cirvm kt potvm 
nKMDiciT.* William, with Odo and Robert Earl of 
Mortaigne, are seated under a canopy: 'odo episcopvs. 
vjllhlm. ROTnKBTVS.* A figure earrj ing a pennon then ap- 
pear* giving orders that the army should encamp at Hastings: 

' tSTl IVSMT VT FODERKTVR CASTBLLVM AT IIESTKNGA.' 

The camp forming: 'crastra,* William appears directing 
tho building of a cnstlo. The nows is then brought to 
William that Harold is advancing to oppose the Normans ; 
William on a raised scat : ' mc nvntiatvm est willeL- 
Mo db uarold.* Two Normans setting fire to a house; 
a woman and child escaping from it: Mnc domvs inckn- 
ditvr.' The soldiers or William lcavo Hastings to meet 
Harold in the field; and the duke now, for the first time 
since his arrival, appears in armour: the march of the horse- 
men : ' uic milites exiertnt db hestenoa et ybnkrvnt 
ad prkuvm contra iiAROLDvw RKGRM.* Odo is repre- 
sented bearing a mace, but preceded by William on horse- 
baek with a club, who interrogates Vitalis, an individual of 
his army, also on horseback, whether ho has seen Harold's 
forces: willelm dvx intkrrooat vital, si vidisskt 
exercitvm uaroldi/ Harold also receives information 
relative to William's force: *istr nvntiat iiaroldvm db 
exkrcitv willklmi dvcis.' William then addresses his 
soldiers, who arc proceeding onward to tho battlo: hic wil- 

LELM DVX ALLOQV1TVR SVIS M1LIT1RVS VT PRKPAHARENT 
SK V1R1LITKII ET SAP1BNTBR AD PRBLIVM CONTRA ANGLO- 

rvii exercitvm/ Tho Normans approach, mostly on 
horsebaek, but intermixed with archers on foot. The 
battle now ensues, in which the Saxons are chiefly on foot, 
their shields distinguished from those of the Normans by 
being usually round with a boss in the eentre. Lewine 
and Gyrth, the brothers of Harold, aro slain : * hic cecidk- 

RVNT LBWINE ET GYRTH FRATRES I1AROLDI REGIS.' The 

obstinacy of the contest is next represented : 'hic ckcide- 

KVNT SIMVL ANOLI ET FRANCI IN PRELIO.* Odo is ttOW 

represented eharging full speed and striking at a horseman 
with a elub or raaee : 'hic odo episcopvs bacvlvm te- 
nens confortat PVBRos/ This probably means that 
Odo had to encourage the troops, upon a report that Wil- 
Jiam was slain. The battlo continues : • uic est willklm 
dvx.* The duke appears showing himself and giving 
orders: *hic franci pvonant etckcidervnt qvi erant 
cvm haroldo/ The death of Harold, the standard carried 
before whom appears to be a dragon. Wo have then the dis- 
comfiture and flight of the Saxons. Here the tapestry ends 
with figures of persons retreating in great haste ; not com- 
plete in its ornamental work, but, in all probability, complete 
in its history. 

This extraordinary piece of needle-work, for such it is, 
though called tapestry, is now preserved in the hotel of the 
prefecture at Bayeux, coiled round a machine, like that 
which lets down tho buckets of a well, and is exhibited by 
being drawn out at leisure over a table. The plates of 
it, published by the Society of Antiquaries, in the fourth 
volume of tho Fetusta Mmumenta, will enable any one to 
form a very aceurato notion of its actual appearance. 
Plato* i. to xvi. represent the whole, one-fourth size of the 
original. The xviith plate gives a portion of the true size. 
Dibriin, in his Bibliographical Tour* vol. i. p. 377, has 
engraved a view of it upon its machine. 

It was long sin co decided by the French antiquaries, that 
this work is of the age of the Conquest The Abbe do la 
Rue, alone, still maintains that it was executed in tho'tlme 
of our Henry the First. Those persons, however, among the 
English antiquaries, whose particular learning and know- 
ledge render them eomnctent judges of tho authenticity of 
this tapestry, unite in the eonviction that its own internal 
evidence corroborates the anticnt tradition which the 
French antiquaries adopted. It represents the minutest 
manners andeustomsof the earliest Norman times in Eng- 
land ; and was evidently designed while tho particulars of tho 
contest were known and fresh in recollection. It embraces 
several events ofwhich no other record now exists: amongst 
which may bo noticed the taking of Dinant, and tho war be- 
tween the Duke of Normandy and Conan Karl of Bretagnc. 
Nor docs any other notice exist of the service rendered by 
Harold to duko William, during his war in Britany. It is 
not a little reraarkablo too, that in the compartment which 
represents tho funeral procession of Edward the Confessor, 
a figure is portrayed placing a weathercock upon tho spire I 



of Westminster abbey, indicating that the building wa* 
scarcclv finished at the time of his decease. Ducarcl, as wo 
have afieady mentioned, says, that tins tapestry, when exhi- 
bited at Bayeux, went exactly round thu nave of the church. 

Odo, it is to bo remarked, makes the most conspicuous ap- 
pearance, next to Duke William, of any Norman personage 
represented in the tapestry ; and three figures, IVudanl^ 
lirold, and Fital, apparently unimportant personages, 
wero really among the chief of thoso whom Oao brought 
into the field. Wodard and Vitalis, with the son of a person 
named Turold, aro recorded, twenty years after the conquest, 
among the under-tenants of Odo, as persons rewarded with 
lands, in the Domesday Survey. Wadard held property 
under the bishop in no fewer than six counties; Vitalis 
held lands under Odo in Kent; and the son of Turold in 
Essex. (Ellis's Introduction and Indices to Domesday, 
vol. ii. p. 403.) These circumstances cannot but appear 
convincing, not only that the tapestry is of the age assigned 
to it by tradition, ami was worked expressly for the bishop's 
cathedral ; but that, in all probability, it was a present from 
Matilda the conqueror's queen, as a grateful memorial of 
the effective scrviee which Odo had rendered in the conquest. 

BAYLE, PETER, an eminent critic and controversial 
writer of the seventeenth ecntury, was born at Carlat, No- 
vember 18, 1647, in the Cora to* dc Foix, in France. Of his 
early lifewe shall only state, that he displayed great aptitude 
for learning, and an uncommon passion for reading, and 
that his education was commenced under the care of his 
father, the Protestant minister of Carlat, continued at the 
Protestant University of Puylaurcns, where he studied from 
February. 1GCG, to February, 1GG9, and concluded at the 
Catholie University of Toulouse. He had not been there 
more than a month when he made publie profession of tho 
Roman Catholie religion, to which, it is said, he was con- 
verted by the free perusal of controversial divinity at Puy- 
laurens. It would seem that his creed was lightly taken up, 
for, during his short residence at Toulouse, ho was recon- 
verted to Protestantism by the conversation of his Protestant 
connexions. Perhaps this faeility of belief in early life may 
have had some eflcct in producing the scepticism of his 
latter years. 

In August, 1G70, he made a secret abjuration of Catholi- 
cism, and immediately went to Geneva, where he formed an 
acquaintance with many eminent men, and especially con- 
tracted a close friendship with James Basnage and Minutoli. 
At Geneva and in the Pays do Vaud ho lived four years, sup- 
porting himself by private tuition. In 1674 he removed 
first to Rouen, and soon after to Paris. Tho treasures of 
the publie libraries, and the easy access to literary society, 
rendered that city agrecablo to him above all other plaees. 
He corresponded freely on literary subjects with his friend 
Basnage, then studying theology in the Protestant Univer- 
sity of Sedan, who showed tho letters to the theological 
professor, M. Jurieu. By these, and by the recommenda- 
tions of Basnage, Jurieu was induced to proposo their author 
as a proper person to fill the then vacant chair of philosophy, 
to which, after a public disputation, B;nlc was elected, No- 
vember C, 1675. For five years he seems to have been 
almost entirely occupied by the duties of his office. In the 
spring of 1G81, however, he found time to write his cele- 
brated letter on comets, in consequcneo of the appearance 
of the reinarkablo eomct of J6S0, which had excited great 
alarm among the superstitious and vulgar. But tho license 
for its publication being refused, it was not published till tho 
following year, after the authors removal to Rotterdam. 

In July, JG31, the University of Sedan, contrary to tho 
faith of treaties, was arbitrarily disfranchised by a decree of 
Louis XIV. Thus deprived of employment, Bayle fortu- 
nately obtained, through the agency of one of his pupils, a 
pension from the magistracy of Rotterdam, who were furiher 
induced to form a new establishment for education, in which 
Bayle was appointed profossor of history and philosophy, 
and Jurieu of theology. Bayle delivered his ftrst lecture in 
Deecml>er, 1G81. In the following spring tho letter on 
comets was anonymously printed ; but its author was soon 
discovered, and obtained a considerable incrcaso of reputa- 
tion. The reader will readily gather from the title (Lcttre 
. ♦ ♦ . on il est r>rottv& par plusiSurs raisons tircesde la 
Philosophic et T/tcologie* que les Cometes ne sont point Ic 
pre* sage d aucun malheur. Avec plusieurs rtft-exians mo- 
rales et politique*, et plusieurs observations his tort ques* ct 
la refutation de qttelquts erreurs papulaires) that it was 
composed quito as much for tho sake of the digressions and 



BAY 



71 



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incidental discussion of various points, as for that refutation 
of a popular superstition, which is its ostensible purpose. 
In the same spring (1682) he wrote an answer to Maim- 
bourg's Histoire du Caluinisme, a libellous misrepresenta- 
tion of the conduct of the French Protestant Church. (Cri- 
tique Generate de I Hist, du Calv. de M. Maimb,) This was 
composed iti a fortnight, during the Easter vacation. It 
met with great success, and having been condemned to be 
publicly burnt in Paris, was bought and read in that city 
with great avidity. 

We pass over some minor works to mention that in 1684 
Bayle commenced his Nouvettes de la Republique des 
Lettres. The notion of a literary journal was not new ; the 
Journal des Savans had been set on foot in Paris in 1665, 
and received with applause in Germany and Italy, as well as 
France. The Nouvelles were published monthly', beginning 
with March, 1684, and consisted of a series of reviews of 
sneh works as the editor thought worthy of special notice, 
and a list of new publications, with short remarks on them. 
In May the states of Fricsland offered to make Bayle pro- 
fessor of philosophy in the University of Franeker, but he 
declined the appointment, which was more lucrative than 
the one that he held. On completing the first year of the 
NouvellcSy Bayle affixed his name to the work, contrary to 
his usual practice, which was carefully to conceal the pa- 
rentage of all that he wrote. AVe may here state, that, 
whether from timidity, habitual love of secrecy, or the wish 
to leave himself at liberty to take either side of a question, 
Bayle generally employed the most elaborate devices of false 
dates and fictitious prefaces, to divert public suspicion from 
himself. These practices he carried to an extent, incon- 
sistent, as we think, with a candid and manly spirit. 

At this time men's minds were deeply steeped in the 
bitterness of political and religious dissension. The revo- 
cation of the Edict of Nantes, and persecution of the French 
Protestants, had raised a violent indignation ori the part of 
those who were banished for conscience-sake, and a strong 
sympathy in all Protestant countries for the sufferings of 
their brethren. Bayle expressed his feelings on this sub- 
ject with moderation in the Nouvelles ; but he made a bitter 
attack on the dominant church iu an anonymous publica- 
tion (Qe que c*est que la France toute Cdtholique sous le 
Regne de Louis le Grand), which he followed in the samo 
year, 1686, by a * Philosophical Commentary* on the words 
of St. Luke xiv. 23, ' Constrain them to come in.' In 
these two works he laboured to expose the atrocious conduct 
of the French government towards the Protestants, and the 
odious nature of persecution in general. The pains which 
Baylo bestowed upon this work, in addition to the fatiguing 
task of writing his Nouvelles t brought on an illness in tho 
spring of 1687, which incapacitated him for literary exertion 
during more than a vear, He was obliged to give up his 
periodical, which at his own request was continued, but 
under a different name (Histoire des Ouvrages des Spa- 
vans), by Henry Basnage, brother to his friend. Tho Nou~ 
velles, however, continued to be published by another hand. 

In 1690 there appeared a book, once celebrated, now for- 
gotten, entitled Avis Important aux Refugiez, $c. t contain- 
ing a violent attack on the doctrines and conduct of the 
French Protestants. This work Juricu, whose former 
friendship had long given way to jealousy of the reputation, 
or dislike of the opinions, real or suspected, of his colleague, 
chose to attribute, without any proof, to Bayle, upon whom 
he published a violent attack. (Examen dun hbelle inti- 
tule Avis Important \ $c.) Bayle retorted in La Cabale 
Chimerique, Rotterdam, 1691, followed by La Chi mere de 
la Cubale de Rotterdam dimontrie, tyc. It is not necessary 
to trace tho progress of the quarrel, which was marked by 
great asperity. The question whether Bayle was tho author 
of the Avis, <J*c, or not, a question deeply affecting his lite- 
rary integrity, can hardly be rejjardod as determined. 
Bayle always denied it. His friend and biographor, Des 
Maizeaux, seems nevertheless to disbelieve his assertions, 
and lias, hypotbetically, made a very lame defence on the 
supposition that he was the author. The piece is inserted 
in the collection of his miscellaneous works : there is, how- 
ever, no direct evidence whatever to prove that he wrote it 
but the assertions of the printer, and of a person who cor- 
rected the press, and said that the manuscript was in Bayle's 
writing. 

Whether Jurieu was right or wrong in his accusation, 
bis precipitate and violent conduct drew on him great dis- 
credit, especially at Geneva. But he possessed much in- 



fluence in Holland, which he employed in inducing the 
Consistory of Rotterdam to review his adversary's letter on 
comets, which they condemned as containing dangerous and 
antichristian doctrines. This was employed by the magis- 
tracy of Rotterdam as an excuse for depriving him of his 
pension and license to teach ; but the real cause, according 
to Des Maizeaux, was the express command of William III., 
who exercised an overpowering influence in that body, and 
who was led to believe that Bayle was deeply, engaged 
in advocating the views and wishes of the court of France. 
The injury thus done to our author was slight, for his habits 
were simple and unexpensive, and he rejoiced in being finally 
delivered from the labour of teaching, and left at liberty to 
attend to his chief work, the Dictionnaire Historique et Cri- 
tique, His first scheme in respect of this undertaking was 
to compose a dictionary, expressly to correct the errors of other 
dictionaries ; and he proceeded so for as to publish a specimen 
of the intended work (Prnjet et Fragmens dim Dictionnaire 
Critique). But this specimen not suiting the public taste, 
he altered his plan, and produced his dictionary in the form 
in which it now is. The composition of it, together with 
his paper warfare with Jurieu, engrossed his time until Au- 
gust, 1695, when the first volume appeared; the second 
volume, which completed the first edition, was printed in 
1696, but bears the date of 1697. It obtained great popu- 
larity, so that a second edition was soon called for; but it 
gave great offence to the religious, and incurred a public 
censure from ihe Consistory of Rotterdam. Five principal 
errors were alleged against it : — 1. The indecency visible in 
many passages ; 2. The tendency of the whole article on 
David ; 3 and 4. The support covertly given to the Mani- 
chcan doctrine of evil, and the sceptical tenets of the philo- 
sopher Pyrrhon ; 5. Too studious commendation of Epi- 
cureans and atheists, by which a tacit support was supposed 
to be given to their tenets. The author submitted to the 
authority of the church, and promised to amend the faults 
in a second edition. According to promise, the article David 
was replaced by another ; but the purchasers exclaimed 
loudly against this interference with the work, and tho 
publisher finally reprinted the obnoxious article in a sepa- 
rate form. It is to be found at the end of the second volume 
of the editions of 1720 and 1730, &c. Little notice was 
taken of the other objections. Instead of altering, Bayle 
defended himself and his work in a series of Eclaircisse- 
ments, subjoined to the second edition of 1702, and pub- 
lished in subsequent editions of the book. 

It Is a singular property of this singular work, that, unlike 
all other dictionaries, it has never been superseded, though 
near a century and a half has elapsed since it was written. 
The author did not intend it to be, like Mor6ri's antece- 
dent dictionary, a book of general historical reference; 
we might rather suppose that, being disappointed in his 
first scheme of publishing a work supplementary to, anil 
corrective of, other works, he had resolved to make available, 
in the shape in which they could most readily be produced 
tho multifarious stores of his vast reading and extensive 
memory. Consequently the dictionary contains much curious 
and minute, and much trifling and almost useless informa 
tion. The chance is against our finding exactly what we 
want in it ; but if the subject is treated at all, we are pretty 
sure to find something which wc should hardly find else- 
whero. As a book for casual reading it is highly amusing, both 
in respect of the matter and the style, in which his wit and 
power of sarcasm are largely displayed : the form, however, 
is highly objectionable, the text being usually meagre, and 
serving as a vehicle to introduce numberless digressions, 
criticisms, and quotations in the shape of notes. This is' 
the more to be regretted, because the influence of Bayle's 
example has caused two valuable English works, the Ge- 
neral Dictionary y in 10 vols, folio, and Kippis's Biogrophia 
Britannica y to be composed on the same plan. 

After the publication of the second edition, which was 
considerably enlarged, Bayle amused himself by preparing 
the first volume of Reponses aux Questions dun Provincial 
intended, as he says, ' to occupy a middle place between 
books for study and books for recreation/ It is charac- 
terized by a late writer (Biog. Univ.) as • a work which the 
author could not define, and which is undefinable, because 
all possiblo matters are treated in it without order, and in 
separate chapters.* In 1704 he published a defence of his 
Letter on Comets, which engaged him in a controversy, 
winch lasted for the rest of his life, with I.c Clcrc, tho 
well-known author of the Bibliotheque Choisie, and a thco- * 



U A Y 



BAY 



logical writer named Jacquelot. To tins discussion the ' 
second and third volumes of tho Hepatites aux Questions, 
St.. 1705, were devoted. Conlrovcrsy seems to have been 
Bayle* pleasure; and it is probable that the attacks made 
on his works mado no impression on his tranquillity ; but 
his cncinici had nearly dono him a serious injury by en- 
deavouring to procure his banishment from Holland in 
I7UG, by reviving tho accusation that he was a secret agent 
of France. It appears probable that the English ministry, 
possessed with this belief, would have demanded his banish- 
ment, had it not been for the liar! of Shaftesbury, who had 
known Bayle in 1 Iolland, and who interfered in his behalf. At 
that time he was suffering from an affection of the chest, for 
which, believing it to be hereditary and mortul, he refused to 
call in medical assistance. His last works were a fourth 
volume of the Reponses, and Entreticns de Maxims el The* 
mistc, in answer to Le CI ere, and a second book under the 
same title, in answer to Jaequclot. The last was not quite 
finished : he was working on it the evening before his death, 
which took place December 2S, 170G, in the COth year of his 
age. 

Baylc's life and habits, in the relations of man to man, 
were simple, temperate, and moral. Without a cynical 
or affected contempt, lie displayed a truly philosophical in- 
diflbrence to wcaltn ; and he lived independently, in virtue 
of the moderation of his wants, yet not improvidently, for 
he left a legacy of 10,000 tlorins to his niece. The worst 
moral charge brought against him is that of literary dupli- 
city ; and of this he had no right to complain : for a man 
who is known to conceal his authorship under the thickest 
disguises of falso names, false dates, and false prefaces, 
neod not wonder if much which cannot be proved is believed 
to be his. Tho same spirit of concealment attended him in 
religion ; for whether he was Atheist, Epicurean, or Chris- 
tian, it is at least pretty clear from his writings that he 
could not have been at heart a member of the strict church 
to which he outwardly conformed. 

AVarburton says of Bayle, 4 A writer whose strength and 
clearness of reasoning can be equalled only by the gaiety, 
easiness, and delicacy of his wit ; who, pervading human 
nature with a glance, struck into the province of paradox 
as an exercise for the restless vigour of his mind ; who, with 
a soul superior to the sharpest attacks of fortune, and a heart 
practised to the best philosophy, had not yet enough of real 
greatness to overcome that last foible of superior geniuses, — 
the temptation of honour, which the academic exercise of 
wit is supposed to bring to its possessors/ (Divine Le* 
gallon* book i. sect. 4, vol. i. p. 33, 8vo. edition, 1733.) 

The later folio editions of Bayle's Dictionary arc comprised 
m four volumes. The supplement by the Abbe Chaufepie* 
occupies four more. Bayle's miscellaneous works, of which 
we have not given any thing like a complete list, fill four 
volumes also. (Life of Bayle, by Des Maizeaux, prefixed 
to his edition of the Dictionary.) * 

BAYLE'N, the Roman BE'TULA~or B/ETULON, a 
town of Andalusia, in the province of Jacn, 3S 9 2' N. lat., 
3° 45' W. long. It is situated on a gentle elevation, com- 
manding an extensive plain, which is hounded on the north, 
cast, and west, by lofty hills, and on the south, south-cast, 
and south-west, by the rivers Guadalon and Cam pan a. The 
soil is very fertile, and produces corn, fruit, oil and wine, 
the two last in abundance. The town is mentioned in 
public records of the eighth century. It contains one parish 
church, an ancient castle, a palace belonging to the Count 
of Baylen. an hospital, and some good houses. The inha- 
bitants, who amount to 5995, are employed in agriculture, 
the manufacturing of glass, bricks, and common cloth. 
There arc also twelve oil-presses or mills, and some soap 
manufactories. 

On the 19th of July, 1808, an engagement took place 
here, between the Spanish and French armies, the former 
commanded by General CasUifios, the latter by General Du- 
l>oiit, who had occupied Baylcn. At three o'clock in the 
morning the battle l>ogan, "and was sustained with equal 
courage on both sides until noon, when the French general 
sued for terms. A convention was agreed upon, by which 
the French wcro to lay down their arms in the field, and to 
Ik) conveyed into Franco by the Spanish government. On 
the 23rd "l 8.000 French soldiers defiled before tho Spanish 
army, laid down their arms, cables, and other military 
accoutrements, and were conducted to Cadiz. But unfortu- 
nately the circumstances of the war prevented the exact 
fulfilment of the latter part of the convention* The ofliccrs 



were conveyed to France, but the men were ulaced in hulks, 
whero they remained some )cars, until, driven todespai**, 
the few who had survived the miseries of their confinement 
cut the cables of their prison ships, and, abandoning theni 
selves to tho mercy of the winds, were saved by their coun- 
trymen then besieging Cadiz. This victory, the fu>t ob- 
tained in the peninsula over the French, co»'t the Spaniards 
978 men in killed and wounded. The losa on the side of 
the French was 2G00 men in killed and wounded, among 
which latter was General Dnpont himself. {Bulletin of 
General CattaXos.) 

BAYNE, ALEXANDER, of Rires, first professor of 
the municipal law of Scotland. The only bioirniphical 
notice of this learned person wc have yet met with is that 
by Bower (Hist, o/ the University of 'Edinburgh, vol. ii. 
p. 1 97), and in the * very little information concerning him * 
which it contains, there are doubts to be removed and errors 
to be corrected. 

He was son of John Bayne of Lojjie in the county of Fife, 
who was descended from" the old r ifcahiro family Bayne 
of Tulloch, to whom he was served heir in general on the 
6th of October, 1700. (Inquis. Retorn. Aibrev.) On the 
10th of July, 1714, he passed advocate at the Scottish bar 
(Fac t Rec.)< but docs not appear ever to have had much 
practice. In January, I7'J2, the faculty appointed hiin 
senior curator of their'library (fac. Rec.) t and on the 2&th of 
November, same year, he was constituted by the town- 
council of Edinburgh professor of Scots law in the university 
of that city. Tho late settlement of this the earliest chair 
of Scots law is not a little remarkablo, and can be accounted 
for only by a reference to the actual law and practice of the 
Scots courts, to which, therefore, we shall here for a mo- 
ment advert. 

The common law of Scotland was substantially the same 
with that of England till the erection of the Court of Ses- 
sion in the beginning of the sixteenth century, when, in 
consequence of the peculiar constitution of that court, the 
old common law was superseded by the principles of the 
civil and eanon laws, which thereupon became, in fact, as in 
legal acceptation, tho common law. The members of the 
Court of Session were, from its first institution, associated 
together under the name of the college of justice; but it 
docs not appear that they ever adopted a collegiate mode of 
life, or that any domestic school of law was ever erected 
among them. The consequence was, that till tho beginning 
of the last century, when, as we shall immediately see, 
the sources of the Scottish law ceased to be sought in the Ro- 
man code, preparation was generally made for the Scottish bar 
at some one of the foreign colleges, of which those of Franco 
and Italy were the most frequented, till the lustre of the Cu- 
jacian School in the Low Countries, aiding the connexion 
which aroso between Scotland and them nt the Reforma- 
tion, drew the student thither. On the erection of the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh, however, attempts were made by the 
bench and bar to remedy the inconvenience of foreign study, 
but as the object of thoso attempts was to establish a chair 
of civil law, they were long bafllcd by the want of means of 
preparatory instruction in the language of that law. The 
only method of attaining a practical knowledge of the pro- 
fession in those times was attendanco on some lawyer of 
reputation ; and, accordingly, wc not only find such indi- 
viduals as Sir Thomas Hope and others who rose to celebrity 
at the bar passing their early years in the capacity of clerk, 
or, as it was then, in French phrase, called * servitor* to an 
advocate, but these servitors were privileged by the court to 
act lichiud the bar, a statiou and privilege which their de- 
scendants, the * advocates first clerks/ enjoy to this day. Jn 
the end of the seventeenth century private lectures on tho 
law began to be given in Edinburgh by members of the 
faculty, and at length, in 1707, a chair of public law was 
founded ; and, in 1709, the ehair of civil law. By this time, 
however, the natural working of an independent judicature, 
and, still more, the operation of the union with England, by 
which tho Scots courts were subjected to an appellate juris- 
diction common to bath parts of the island, carved out a s\s- 
tcm of law in many respects different from that of Home, 
and requiring a separate chair for its elucidation. But with 
the predilections which habit and associations had given to 
the Scottish lawver, the civil law was clung to as the guide 
of the courts, and several circumstances impress us with the 
idea, that the chair of Scots law to which B.iync was inducted 
wiw regarded with contempt by the loarncd faculty whereof 
ho was a member. Tho Faculty Records contain no allu 



BAY 



73 



BAY 



iion to his appointment. The only record of it which we have 
is in the Council Register, where, under date 28tb Novem- 
her 1722, there is this entry: — 

* Mr. Alexander Bayrte having represented how much it 
would be for the interest of the nation and of this city, to 
have a professor of the law of Scotland placed in the uni- 
versity of this city, not only for teaching the Scots law but 
also for qualifying of writers to his Majesty's signet; and 
heing fully apprised of the fitness and qualifications of Mr. 
Alexander Bayne of. Rires, advocate, to discharge such a 
province — therefore the council elect him to be professor 
of the law of Scotland in the university of tbis city, for 
teaching the Scots law and qualifying writers to his Majesty's 
signet/ (Bower's Hist, ut supra.) We have not heen ahle 
distinctly to ascertain the estimation in which Bayne was 
held hy bis learned compeers, any more tban tbe true source 
of the neglect with which his little works on tbe law have 
been hitherto regarded : but only a year elapsed when his 
despised cbair began to work a change on the course of ex- 
amination for tbe bar, and on the system of legal study. In 
January, 172-1, Mr. Dundas of Arniston, D.F., proposed to 
the faculty, that all Intrants should, previous to their ad- 
mission, undergo a trial, not only in the civil law, as hereto- 
fore, but also in the municipal law of Scotland (Fac. Rec.) ; 
and though tins was long resisted, it was at length deter- 
mined hy Act of Sederunt, 28th February, 1 750. We ap- 
prehend it is to Bayne, also, we ought to concede the im- 
pulse given at this time to investigate the sources of the 
Scottish antient common law. 

In. tbe beginning of 1726, the usual period of remaining 
senior curator of the advocates* library having expired, 
Bayne retired from the office, and the same year he pub- 
lished the first edition of Sir Thomas Hope's Minor \Prac- 
ticks—a. work which, though delivered by the author to his 
son orally, it is said, at his morning's toilet, is remarkable 
for its legal learning, the breadth and holdness of its views, 
the acutcness of its observations, and the suhtlety of its 
distinctions, but which had lain near a century in MS. 
To this work Bayne now added a Discourse on the Rise 
and Progress of the Law of Scotland, and the Method of 
studying it. In 1 731 he published a small volume of Notes, 
for the use of the students of the municipal law in the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh. These Notes were framed out of the 
lectures delivered from tho chair, and impress us with a 
very favourable opinion of the author's acquaintance not 
only with the Roman jurisprudence, but also with the antient 
common law. About the same time he published another 
small volume, which he entitled Institutions of the Criminal 
Law of Scotland^ for the use of his students. The author 
of such works, distinguished for their modesty not less than 
for their learning, could not hut exercise a salutary influence 
on the youth hy whom he was surrounded ; and his career, 
though short, was sufficient to prove his talent and dili- 
gence, and to make his chair an object of no inconsidcrahle 
ambition. 

In June, 1737, Bayne's death was intimated to the faculty 
hy the magistrates of Edinhurgh (Fac. Rec.) ; and in the 
following month a leet of two advocates (Mr. Erskine and 
Mr. Balfour) was delivered hy the faculty to the magistrates 
or tbeir election of a successor. 

Bayne married Mary, a younger daughter of Anne, only 
surviving child of Sir William Bruce of Kinross, hy her 
second husband, Sir John Carstairs of Kilconquhar, and hy 
her he had three sons and two daughters. 
BAYONET. [See Arms.] 

BAYO'NNE, a considerable town in the south of France, 
in the departments of Basses Pyrdndcs (Lower Pyrenees) 
and Landes, 43° 30' N. lat., 1° 30' W. long. It is 531 miles 
S.S.W. of Paris, through Orleans, CbSteauroux, Limoges, 
Bordeaux, and Mont-de- Marsan. There is an old road 
from Bordeaux to Bayonne more direct than that through 
Mont dc Marsan, hy which a considerable distance may be 
saved. Tbis road leads through the pine forests of the 
Landes ; but the deep sandy soil renders travelling very 
incommodious, which is probably the cause why tbis route 
has been laid aside for one more circuitous but more con- 
venient. 

Bayonne is a town of considerable trade, for which it is 
favourably situated, being at the junction of two navigahle 
rivers, the Adour and the Nivc, whose united streams fall 
into tbe Bay of Biscay two or three miles helow Bayonne. 
By these two rivers Bayonne is divided into three parts. 
That part situated on the left, or south-west hank of the 



Nive, is called Great Bayonne, that hetween the two nvers 
is called Little Bayonne, and that on the north or rigbt 
bank of the Adour is called the suburb of St. Esprit (i.e. of 
the Holy Ghost.) Tbe latter is in the department of Landes, 
the two former in that of Basses Pyrenees. Tbe entrance 
of the port is narrow, and a very dangerous bar crosses it, 
on which, in westerly winds, there is a violent surf. The 
harbour is however safe, the bar affording it" shelter sea- 
ward, and it is well frequented. The name Bayonne is a 
compound of two Basque words, ' Baia' and ' Ona/ signi- 
fying good bay or good port, and indicates the estimation in 
which the harbour was formerly held. 

Bayonne is fortified, and is in the first class of strong 
places. Each part of it is surrounded on the land side by 
an ancient wall, outside of which are the modern works. 
Great Bayonne has a castle flanked by four round towers, 
called the Old Castle ; Little Bayonne has the New Castle , 
flanked by four bastions ; and adjoining to the suburb St. 
Esprit is a citadel, the work of Vauhan, which has been 
strengthened by works recently added. 

Bayonne is a handsome place. The houses are well built 
of stone, the streets are wide, and the places (open spaces) 
adorrwd with good buildings. The different parts of the 
town communicate by several bridges, two over the Nive, 
and one handsome wooden bridge over the Adour. The 
numerous vessels, large and small, by which the rivers are 
covered, give animation to the scene. The public prome- 
nade is also very heautiful. Of tbe public buildings tbe 
Cathedral of Notre Dame may be mentioned, although there 
is nothing in its architecture which catfs for particular 
notice. The Mint is also one of the principal edifices in 
Bayonne. The town has a school of navigation and also a 
theatre. 

The manufactures of Bayonue are not important; that of 
glass hottlcs is tbe chief. Tbe town is famous for hams, 
for the liqueur which bears the name of the village of 
Andaye, and for chocolate. In the preparation of the liqueur 
Bayonne is considered to rival Andayc itself. Shipbuilding 
is carried on with advantage, as the neighbourhood supplies 
the materials. The trade of the town is very considerable ; 
drugs, wines (those of the neighbourhood are accounted 
excellent), brandies, and fir timher, are among its exports; 
also masts, which are floated down from the forests of the 
Pyrenees hy the Nive and Adour, or their branches, and 
sent to Brest and other ports. Of the imports Spanish 
wool is the principal ; tbe quantity brought in yearly is 
said to be ahout 20,000 bales. Bullion is also brought in 
from Spain. Tho coasting trade employs the greater part 
of the vessels which enter or leave the port of Bayonne; 
a few ships are engaged in tbe cod fishery, but there is no 
trade with the French colonies. The population of the 
town, in 1832, was as follows : — 

Bayonne town 13,008 whole commune 14,773 
St. Esprit . 4,103 „ 5,895 

Together .. 17,116 t „ 20,668 

When Expilly published his Dictionnaire des Gaules 
(in 1762), above half tbe population of St. Esprit were 
Jews, viz. 3500 out of 5800. 

Before the Revolution Bayonne had only one parish 
church, tho cathedral ; for though there was in the suburb 
of St. Esprit a collegiate church, it was not parochial, as 
the suhurb was in tho parish of St. Etienne, the church of 
which is at some distance to the northward. There were in 
Great and Little Bayonne eight religious houses (of which 
three were for females), and in St. Esprit a Commandery 
of the Order of Malta, and a convent of Ursuline nuus. 
An abhey of Cistertian nuns was situated without the walls 
of that suburb. 

Bayonne is the capital of an arrondissement, compre- 
hending 491 square miles, or 314,240 acres, and containing, 
in 1832, a population of 78,411. It is also the see of a bishop, 
whose diocese includes the department of Basses Pyrenees, 
and who is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Auch. 

D'Anville considers Bayonne to he tbe Lapurdum men- 
tioned in the Notitia Imperii ; hut the correctness of his 
opinion is disputed or doubted by some. The origin of the 
see cannot be traced higher than the tenth century. The 
bishops of Bayonne bore the title Episcopi Lapurdenscs, 
but this title, it is contended, only implies that they were 
hishops of the territory of Labour. Their diocese included 
some parts of Spain, but they were severed from it by tho 
Popo at the instigation of Philip II,, King of Spain, in tho 



no. 214. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol.IV.-I, 



BAZ 



74 



B A Z 



fcixtoenth century, and placed under the control of the 
Bishop of Pampeluna as the pope's viear. 

In the invasion of Franco uy the allies under the Duke 
of Wellington, in 1814, tho citadel of Bayonne was invested 
by a force under Lieutenant-General Sir John Hopo. On 
the rooming of the 14th April, several days after hosti- 
lities in tho north of France — the then great scene of war- 
fare—had been terminated by the abdication of Napoleon, 
a sortie took place from the entrenched camp formed by the 
French in front of tho citadel. The attack, though repulsed, 
caused a severe loss (800 officers and men killed, wounded, 
or taken) to tho besiegers. Sir John Hope was taken 
prisoner, and Major-General Hay, tbe general commanding 
iho line of outposts, was killed. 

Bayonne was the sccno of an interview, in 1564, between 
Catherine do' Medici and the Duke of Alba, one of the 
chief officers of Philip II, of Spain, at which it has been 
supposed the massacre of the Huguenots or Protestants was 
devised, though not executed till seven years after, on tho 
day of 8t- Bartholomew. "When the massacre took place, 
however, D'Orthez, commandant of Bayonne, refused to 
execute the orders of the court. He replied to the king's 
order in these words:— ' I have found, Sire, in Bayonne, 
only good citizens and brave soldiers, but not one execu- 
tioner.* Bayonne was tho scene of the arrest of Charles IV. 
and Ferdinand VII. of Spain in 1803. 

BAYSWATER, one of the suburbs of London, deno- 
minated a hamlet, and situated three miles and a half west 
of St. Paul's. Like most of the other suburbs of the me- 
tropolis which retain their old denominations of villages 
and hamlets, Bayswater has of late years been much en- 
larged by tho addition of new streets and houses; At the 
eastern extremity of Bayswater is the Queen's Lying-in- 
Hospital, a retired building surrounded by an extensive gar- 
den. Tho charity was originally established at Uxbridge in 
1752, but was removed hither in 1791 ; it is supported by 
annual subscriptions, and affords assistance to poor pregnant 
women at their own houses, if witbin a limited distance, or 
receives them into the hospital. The tea-gardens in Bays- 
water occupy the sito of the house and botanical garden of 
Sir Joseph hill, whose various writings and high-sounding 
nostrums were popular in their day. In the neighbourhood 
is one of the conduits formerly used for supplying the city 
with water. It belongs to the City of London, and still 
serves to convey water by briek draius to some western 
parts of the metropolis. There is also a reservoir of some 
magnitude belonging to tho Grand Junction Water Com- 
pany at Bayswater. Tho population is not stated separately 
from that of the parish of Paddington, to which it belongs. 
(Lvsons's Environs of London; Brewer's Middlesex, &e.) 

SA'ZA, tho Roman Basti, a city of Andalusia, in the 
kingdom of Granada, 37° 30' N. lat., 2°50'\V. long. It is 
situated near tho river Guadalquiton in a valley, in the 
Sierra de Baza, which, according to some geographers, is 
a branch of the Sierra Nevada. The hoya or valley of 
Baza is very produetivo in grain, fruit, hemp, and flax. 
The city, which is of very old construction, was taken from 
tho Moors by Fernando the Catholic, in 1489, after a seven 
months* siege. Baza is a bishop's sec, has a cathedral, 
three parishes, six convents, an ecclesiastical seminary, an 
hospital, and six inns. Tho population amounts to 11,486 
inhabitants. At tho distance of two miles from the city 
several intoresting antiquities of tlio Augustan age, belong- 
ing to tho city of Basti, have been dug up by the farmers. 
These monumonts, on which a curious antiquarian would 
set a high value, aro only dug from the earth to be buried 
in tho house of some obscure farmer. 

Baza is tbe capital of tho district which bears its name, 
and comprises fifty-four towns and villages and three cities, 
besides the capital, viz., Purchena, Vera, and Mujaear. 
The Sierra do Baza abounds in trees, which supply the in- 
habitants with timber and fire-wood : it produces also lead 
in great abundance, as well as marble, the most celebrated 
of which is that of Macacl. Six miles from Baza is a hot 
spring, called Los BafiosdoBenzalema(Bcnzalcma's baths), 
tho tcraperaturo of which is 30° Reaumur. The inhabitants 
of the district arc exclusively employed in agriculture. 

B AZA A R. The word bazaar is Persian, and its primary 
meaning is a market, a forum, In Turkey, Egypt, Persia, 
and India this term distinguishes those parts of towns which 
are exclusively appropriated to trade. In this exclusive ap- 
propriation they resemble our markets ; hut in other respect* 
they approximato more nearly to our retail shops, We havo 



Interpreted the word in its large sense ; for although the terra 
bazaar is in this country commonly understood to mean an 
assemblage of shops or stalls undercover, yet in fact it equally 
applies to open places in which bulky commodities are offered 
for sale. Such places sometimos occur in eastern towns, and 
are used chiefly in the early- morning, at least in summer, 
for the salo of vegetables and cattle. If a placo in the open 
ground outside a town bo commonly applied to this use, it 
will be called a bazaar, and will be distinguished, as in all 
other cases, by joining to the word 'bazaar tho namo Oi 
the commodity sold. In large towns, however, such markets 
are generally near or in the midst of the regular covered 
bazaars; except the market for cattle, wbieh is always out- 
side or at the extremity of tho town. In some places bazaars 
aro rather extensivo squares, tho sides of which are lined 
with shops under arcades. In a few cases the covered 
ways branch off with sorao regularity from these squares 
as from a centre : and in one of tbe best specimens of tho 
open market, at Kermanshah in Persia, the palace of tho 
prince-governor occupies ono of its sides. Wnen, however, 
as in this and some other instances, tho principal open area 
in the city is thus appropriated, its distinctive appellation of 
the Maiaan % or square, is retained. 

The regular bazaars consist of a connected series of streets 
and lanes, and, when of a superior description, they are 
vaulted with high briek roofs. The domes or cupolas 
which surmount the vaulting admit a subdued daylight; 
and as all direct rays of tbe sun are excluded, a com- 
paratively low temperature is obtained. Tbe descriptiou oi 
a good bazaar in Persia is a description of a good bazaar ill 
Turkey or India. Nevertheless, the Persian bazaars aro 
rather more light and lively than those of Turkey. They 
arc painted in many places, and sometimes decorated, parti- 
cularly under the domes, with portraits of tho heroes of the 
country, with representations of battles or hunts, with figures 
of real or fabulous animals, and with other subjects. The 
approaches to the bazaars arc commonly lined with low 
shops, in which commodities of little value aro exposed for 
sale. These approaches aro sometimes open to the sky ; 
but they are more generally covered in a rude manner with 
branches of trees, and leaves laid upon beams. In many 
of the provincial towns of Turkey and Persia, the bazaar, as 
a whole, would answer to this last description ; and in others 
it is nothing more than a mud platform continued along tho 
way side, about two feet above tbe footpath, on which little 
covered shops arc raised, that are mcro boxes, scarcely 
affording room for the vendor to sit down on a bit of carpet 
or felt in the midst of bis scanty stock. 

In the best specimens of tbe vaulted bazaar the passages 
are lined on each side with a uniform scries of shops, lhe 
floor of which is a platform raised from two to three feet 
above the level of the ground, and faced with briek. As 
the vault springs from the front of tho line of shops, they 
seem like a series of recesses, and the partition-walls be- 
tween them appear bke piers supporting the arch. Thcso 
recesses are entirely open in front, in all their height and 
breadth ; tbey are scarcely more than very small closets, 
seldom exceeding six feet in breadth, rarely so deep as 
wide, but generally from eight to ten feet in height, and 
occasionally more. But in the more respectable parts of 
largo bazaars thero is generally a little iioor in the back 
wall which conducts to another small and dark closet, which 
serves the purpose of a store-room. The front cell is the 
shop, on the floor of which tho master sits with bis goods all 
around him, the articles most in demand being placed so 
within his reach that ho has seldom occasion to rise, which, 
if ho is a Turk, ho rarely docs without manifest reluctance. 
Such a dealer offers a very siugular contrast to our ideas 
of a shopkeeper, being the very personification of luxurious 
reposo as he sits smoking lx's pipe; or, if in winter, when 
these berths are civilly and uncomfortable, bending over a 
brazier of burning charcoal. The neighbouring shopkeepers 
have inurh communication with ono another, and generally 
exhibit as much alacrity in promoting the interest of a 
neighbour as can be compatible with attention to their own. 
Indeed, a stranger might be disposed to imagine that all the 
tradesmen in tho same line of business are in a general 
partnership, so littlo anxiety docs any one exhibit to obtain 
a preference, and so willingly docs no inform a customer 
where he may obtain an article moro exactly suited to bis 
wants than he can himself supply. This is moro apparent 
in Turkey than in Persia. Persian, Armenian, and Jewish 
shopkeepers arc in general more civil and obliging than 



B A Z 



75 



B A Z 



Turks, and exhibit more anxiety to obtain eustom. The 
writer has often been constrained hy the former to turn 
aside and smoke of their pipes, and eat of their onions and 
bread, without being directly urged to make any purchase ; 
but it is more pleasant to deal with a Turk, though he 
would not do this, because he deserves more confidence, yet 
not implicit confidence, in matters of purchase and sale. A 



■ French writer (M. Aubert de Vitry) says, 'It is not neces- 
sary to offer a Turk less than two-thirds of the price he de- 
mands ; to a shopkeeper of any other nation one-half may 
be safely offered ; and in the case of the Jews there is no 
limit to the abatement/ This is perfectly true ; and no 
stranger in the East could have a better rule for his guidance 
in such matters. 




rTarkiih Bazaar, from the French work on Egypt.] 



Business commences and terminates with daylight in 
oriental hazaars. No trade or handicraft employment is in 
general carried on in the East by candle-light. None of 
the shopkeepers or artizans reside in the bazaars. When it 
pets dark, every one shuts up his shop and goes home. 
The fastenings of the shops are very slight; but the hazaars 
are in general well watched, and frequently secured with 
strong gates. In very warm countries it is usual for the 
majority of the shopkeepers to close their shops at mid-day, 
aud go home to have their lunch and enjoy a siesta. The 
bazaars have then a very deserted appearance. Larcenies 
in the bazaars are scarcely known in Turkey ; hence tho 
shopkeepers do not hesitate to leave their shops quite open, 
without anyone in charge, during their occasional absences; 
but when a rather long absence is intended, and the goods 
are of great value, a net, like a eabbage-nct, is sometimes 
hung up in front, or laid over the goods. 

The peculiar principle of oriental bazaars is that all the 
shops of a city are there collected, instead of being dis- 
persed in different streets as in Europe, and that in tins 
collected form the different trades and occupations are 
severally associated in different parts of the bazaar, instead 
of being indiscriminately mingled as in our streets. Thus 
one passage of tho bazaar will bo exclusively occupied 



by drapers, another by tailors, another by eap -makers, 
another by saddlers, and so on. In the *oazaars of 'Persia) 
and, although less usually, in those of Turkey, the shops' 
of provisions for immediate usts form an exception to the 
rule. The shops of eooks and bakers are dispersed in dif- 
ferent parts of the bazaar; the preparations in the former 
seldom extend beyond soups, and a sort of sausage without 
skin, called kabodb, a highly-seasoned and savoury article, 
which is much relished both in Turkey and Persia. Not 
only are trades carried on, but handicraft employments 
are exercised in the bazaars of the East ; and thus while 
one part is very quiet, another resounds with the hammers 
of carpenters, smiths, and shoe-makers. The stocks of the 
individual dealers are seldom of much value. It would 
be difficult to find a shop which contains a greater stock 
than that of a small retail tradesman in London ; but an 
imposing effeet is produced by the exhibition of the several 
shocks in a connected form, so that the whole of a par- 
ticular street in a bazaar will appear as one great shop 
for the article in which it deals. This is the cause of the 
reported splendour and richos of an oriental bazaar. Of 
this kind of effect the bazaar for ladies' slippers in Con- 
stantinople is a very remarkable instance : such an exten- 
sive display on each side, through a long covered street, 

L2 



B A Z 



7G 



BAZ 



of small slippers, "resplendent with gold and silver em- 
broider)*, and silk, and coloured stones, conveys an im- 
pression of wealth, luxury, and populousness which ten 
times the number of shops in a dispersed form would not 
give. Wholesale dealers liavo no open shops in tho bazaars, 
but they have warehouses in it or in its vicinity, to which 
the retailers resort as they havo occasion. These ware- 
houses are frequently in a large house or khan, occupied in 
common by several wholesale dealers. Tho khans also, to 
which the itinerant merchants resort until they have dis- 
posed of their goods, are generally in or near the bazaars ; 
and they frequently make use of the same building with tho 
stationary merchants. Tho principle of association for faci- 
lity of reference is the truo principle of a bazaar ; the vaulted 
covering is merely a circumstance of elimate. Therefore 
Paternoster-row with its books, Monmouth-street with its 
shoes, and Holywell-strcct with its old clothes, are more 
properly bazaars than the miscellaneous shops assembled 
under cover, whieh are in London designated by the name. 

Besides the regular business conducted in tho bazaars hy 
tho professional shopkeepers, there is an under-current of 
irregular trade, highly characteristic of oriental manners. 
If a person not in business, or a stranger, has an article of 
which he wishes to dispose, ho employs a erier, who takes it 
through tho bazaar, proclaiming, at the top of his voice, its 
praises and its price. Many poor people also endeavour in 
the same manner, without the services of the crier, to dis- 
pose of such articles of their property t or produce of their 
industry, as they desire to sell. These are mostly persons 
who imagine they shall be able to obtain a better priee from 
the purchasers or idlers in the bazaar than they have found 
the shopkeepers willing to give. There is also a elass of 
sellers who exhibit a little stock of wares upon stools, in 
baskets, or on cloths spread on the ground. They generally 
deal in hut one commodity, which they profess to sell on 
lower terms than the shopkeepers will take. It would seem 
that in respeetahle towns a preference is given to this mode 
of selling somo one particular commodity. Mueh tohaceo, 
and most of tho little snuff that is used, are sold in this way 
at Bagdad; much opium is thus disposed of every morning 
at Tabreez in Persia; and at Constantinople many women 
post themselves in the hazaars, displaying embroidered 
handkerchiefs and other needlework, often wrought by the 
hands of ladies of quality, who are enabled by the produce 
to mako a privato purse for themselves, and purchase some 
little indulgences which they might not otherwise obtain. 
If the truth he told, at Constantinople no small portion of 
this supply to the bazaars of that metropolis is contributed 
by the ladies of the imperial seraglio. 

In hot weather, oriental bazaars are traversed by men 
laden with a skin or piteher, from which they deal out to 
the thirsty a draught of excellently filtered water. Some- 
times payment, seldom exceeding the fourth of a farthing, 
is expected; but frequently the men are employed to dis- 
tribute water gratuitously, by pious individuals, who con- 
sider it an aet of eharity acceptable to Allah. 
. The eontrast between the deserted appearanco of the 
streets in an oriental town and the thronged state of the 
bazaars surprises a stranger. Tho women, exeept those of 
the lowest elass, go little ahroad ; and of the men, the idle 
resort to the hazaar for amusement or conversation; and 
thoso who are not idle generally have some business there in 
tho course of the day, which collects the visible population 
much into that part of tho town, until the approacn of even- 
ing effects a moro equal distribution. The hazaar is not 
only the seat of immediate traffic, but of all commercial 
business ; thero all publie, mercantile, and private news cir- 
culates, and there only free discussion ean he carried on, 
unrestrained by the presence of the emissaries of power who 
haunt the coffee-houses. . 'Hence in the bazaar tho timid 
becomes bold, and the bold insolent Puhlie measures a*3 
keenly investigated, and tho popular voice is often loudly 
expressed even to the ears of princes or ministers if tbey 
nppear in the bazaars, as they sometimes do. Through the 
medium of slaves, eunuchs, and other agents, a constant 
intercourse is maintained between tho innermost recesses of 
the ?cra<rlio and the bazaar. This is particularly the ease 
at Constantinople, and in the capitals of the Turkish pa- 
shahes, and it is douhtful whether any thing is transacted 
in the palaces at night, which is not known in the bazaars 
tho next morning. This intercourse has often exercised an 
intluence upon publie affairs whieh none hut tho most 
minute iuouirers into oriental history would suspeet 



The various characteristic displays of oriental manners 
which the bazaars furnish, tho nature of the goods exposed 
for sale, and the splendid appearaneo they sometimes make, 
the manner in which the artizaus conduct their various 
labours, the endless variety of picturesque costumes which 
meet the eye, and the babel -like confusion of tongues, 
all coinhine to form a scene of unequalled singularity and 
interest. No traveller who does not, in some oriental cos- 
tume, sedulously frequent the bazaars and make many 
little purchases for himself, ought to feel assured that ho 
understands the people, or has materials for fairly esti- 
mating their condition. Tho remarks here made are the 
result of the writer's intimate personal acquaintance with 
the bazaars of the East. 

BAZAS, a town in France, in the department of Gironde, 
41 miles S.E. of Bordeaux, and 419 miles S.S.W. of Paris. 
It is on a rivulet which flows into the Garonne, a few miles 
to the N. of the town, 44° 27' N. Int., 0° 13 \V. long. 

Under the name of Cossio it existed in the Roman times 
and is mentioned by Ptolemy; but in the latter period of 
the Horn an empire, the name of tho people whose metro- 
polis it was, the Vasates (called also Vasarii), prevailed over 
the older designation: we read in Ammianus Marcellinus, 
of Vasatco, as a place of somo consequence in Novempo- 
pulana ; and in other authorities of Civitas Vasatas and 
Civitas Vasatica. 

Bazas early attained the rank of a bishopric, winch how- 
ever it has now lost A bishop of Bazas sat in the council 
of Agde in 506, and at the council of Orleans in 51 1. The 
bishop of Bazas was, during part of the tenth and eleventh 
centuries, the only bishop in Gascony.the towns having hcen 
destroyed hy the Normans, and the cathedral being without 
elergy. During this interval he took the title of bishop of 
Gaseony, Vasconensis Episcopus; but when the churches 
were again supplied with elergy, he shrunk into bishop of 
Bazas. 

The town is situated on a rock, and has little in it that is re- 
markahle except the cathedral, a fine edifice of the fourteenth 
century. In front of the cathedral is a place (or an open 
space), surrounded by a piazza. The walls of the town aro 
in ruins. Among the manufactures are druggets, leather, 
glass, potter}*, white wax, and wax -candles. The trade car- 
ried on is in the ahove mentioned goods, wood of all kinds, 
including timber for ship-building, and saltpetre. The 
population in 1832 was 2165 for the town, and 4255 for the 
whole eommune. 

The arrondissement of Bazas comprehends 697 square 
miles, or 446,080 acres. Ithad.in 1832, a population of 53,802. 

The district of Bazadois was a subdivision of Guicnne. 
(Dictionnaire Universel de la France; Piganiol de la Force, 
Nouvelle Description de la Fra?ice t $c.) 

BAZOIS, the name of a small district in France, forming, 
under the old division of that country, the eastern part of 
Nivernois, now included in tho department of NiSvre. It 
comprehended several valleys, and was bounded on the 
N.E. by the mountains of Morvan. It is watered by several 
small streams, the Airon, Aron, or Avron, a tributary of 
the Loire, being the principal. It produces littlo com, hut 
there is abundance of good pasturage and wood. Coal is dug. 
The ehief town of the district is Moulins in Gilhert. The 
dimensions are usually given as nine or ten leagues, or ahout 
twenty-seven to twenty-eight miles long, and as many broad. 

BAZTA'N, orBASTA'N, a valley in the Pyrenees to the 
north of Pamplona, extending twenty-three miles from north 
to south, and two from east to west : but authorities differ 
considerably as to tho width of the valley; Miiiano states it to 
bo fifteen miles wide, and the dictionary of the Academy only 
two. The truth probably lies between thein. It is bounded 
on the north and east hy Franee, and on the south and west 
hy the valleys of Ulzama and Basaburua Menor. It is sur- 
rounded on "the north and east by the heights of Otambnrdi, 
Otsondo, Auza, Ariete, Izpegui, and Urrichiquia, and on 
tho south by those of Ernazabal, Arcesia, Velate, and Oc- 
lumendi. Several streams descend from these mountains, 
and form in the valley a river, which is called by the in- 
habitants Baztan-zubi. This river, after it leaves the valley, 
receives the namo of Bidassoa. The valley produces Indian 
eom, wheat, pulse, nnd flax. The meadows and forests aro 
held in eommon. Every man is bound hy law to plant a 
eertain numher of trees every year. 

Baztan is tho sixth partidoor district of the merindad or 
provinco of Pamplona. It is governed by its particular 
fueros or privileges, which wer« collected in a body of rural 



B D E 



'77 



BEA 



,aws called Ordenanzas del valle Oaws or statutes of the 
valley), approved by the supreme council of Navarra in 
1696. The inhabitants, in a junta-general held every three 
years, appoint three;' individuals, out of whom the viceroy 
of Navarra chooses one to hold the office of Alcalde. This 
officer is the civil and military chief of the valley, and also 
the judge in minor offences. He is also the president of the 
"conecjo, or common council of the capital. Every man in the 
valley is a soldier, and is bound to provide himself with arms 
and ammunition. It is the alcalde's duty to instruct the 
men in the management of arms, and every three years he 
holds a general review, "on which occasion every man is 
obliged to appear with a musket in good condition, half a 
pound of gunpowder, and twelve bullets. In a privilege 
granted by Alonso I. of Aragon, to the town of San- 
giiesa, in 1132, he is entitled lung of Aragon and Baztan. 
The Baztanese, afterwards,' on the separation of Aragon 
from Navarra, became subjects of the kings of Navarra. 
At the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa they fought so gal- 
lantly that their king, Sancho VI., grantedthem a privilege 
in 1212, by which every native of Baztan was declared an 
hidalgo or gentleman. Any Spaniard from another pro- 
vince, who can prove a noble origin, is admitted to the 
rights of citizenship in the valley. The letters of citizen- 
ship are granted by the junta-general of the valley. The 
population of the valley amounts to 7065 inhabitants, dis- 
tributed into fourteen towns and villages. The capital, 
Elizondo, is situated on the banks of the Baztanzubi, which 
divides it into two parts. According to Minano it con- 
tains llll inhabitants. The principal buildings arc the 
town-house, where the junta-general is held, and the Casa 
dc Miscrieordia, or charity house, in which the poor and 
destitute of the village receive supj>ort and employment. 
This benevolent institution has ceased to exist for want of 
funds. The house was inhabited by some poor families of the 
town, and has been of late changed into a fortified place by 
theCarlists: but it is at present occupied by the troopsofthe 
queen (1835). The front of the town-house is ornamented 
with the names of the illustrious persons who at different 
epochs have made themselves conspicuous for their valour, 
or for other eminent services. These names are written 
on wooden scutcheons carved into the shape of a erowned 
eagle with two heads. The Baztanese speak the Basque 
language. 

(See Academia de la Historia, Diccionario Geogrdfico 
Historian de Espana ; Minano.) 

BDE'LLIUM, commonly called a gum, but in reality a 
gum-resin, the origin of which is a subject of doubt. It 
would appear that there are two, if not more kinds, of bdel- 
lium, the source of one of which seems to be ascertained ; the 
others are matters of controversy. The bdellium of the an- 
ticnts, said by Pliny (book xii. ehap, 9) to be brought from 
Baetria and other parts of Asia, still comes from Asia. Adan- 
son states that he saw in Africa the substance exude from a 
thorny species of amyris, called by the natives niouttoutt. 
From its resemblance to myrrh, the analogy is in favour of its 
being obtained from an amyris or balsamodendron. Indeed, 
according to the recent statement of Mr. Royle, bdellium 
would appear to be the produce of a species of amyris, or rather 
balsamodendron, a native of India, called by Dr. Roxburgh 
Amyris Commiphora (Ft. Ind. ii. p. 244), Amyris Agallocha 
{Calcutta Catalogue, p. 28), the native name of which is^oo- 
gul. (Royle, Illustrations of the Mora of the HimalayaK part 
vi. p. 1 76.) The opinion of its being obtained from a palm, 
either the Lontarus domestica (Gaertn.), or the Borassus 
flabellifortnis, is very improbable. This substance occurs in 
masses of variable size and shape, sometimes as large as a 
walnut, in oblong .or angular pieces of a yellow, red, or 
brownish colour. The clearest pieecs are transparent ; the 
odour is weak and peculiar; the taste bitter, balsamic, and 
resembling myrrh or Venice turpentine. It is tolerably 
brittle at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, but 
with a slight increase of heat the finer kinds may be 
kneaded between the fingers. Its specifie gravity is 1*371. 
In potass it is completely soluble. Analysed by Pelleticr, 
100 parti yielded 

Resin • , , • m . 59 

Gum 9*2 

Bassorin 30'G 

Volatile oil and loss • . • 1"2 

100 
John found also caoutchouc, Bulphatoi, muriates, and phos- 



phates of potass, and lime with salts* of magnesia, but pro- 
bably he examined a different sort from that of Pelletier. 

".Resembling myrrh in appearance, it also resembles it in 
its effects upon the human system, and is often fraudulently 
substituted for it ; it is, however, weaker, while it is more 
disagreeable and acrid. [See Balsamodendron.] It was 
formerly used in many compounds and plasters, such as 
diachylon, ; It. is now disused in Britain ; but is to be found 
intermixed with gum Arabic. 

The Sicilian bdellium is produced by the Daucus Hispa- 
nicus (Dceanrl.), the D. gummifer of Lamarck, or perhaps 
the D. gingidium (Linn.), according to Boceone (Museo di 
Piante rare della Si cilia, $c. torn, xx.), which grows on the 
islands and shores of the Mediterranean. 

The Egyptian bdellium is conjectured to be produced by 
the Borassus fiabelliformis (Linn.), the Chamcerops humtlis, 
or the Hyph&ne cuciphera (Pers.) 

The bdellium mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis 
is obviously a mineral, and has no reference to the substances 
above-mentioned. It is supposed to mean pearls. 

BEACHY HEAD, in Sussex, is a high bluff chalk 
cliff, forming a remarkable headland in the British Channel, 
which may always be known by seven conspicuous whito 
cliffs to the westward of it. There is a telegraph and sta- 
tion-houso on the top ; and a little farther to the westward, 
on that portion of the Head called Belltout Cliff, a tempo- 
rary lighthouse was erected in 1828, which has been found 
so serviceable, that it has been replaced by a more durable 
one of stone, j The lights, like the old one, revolve alter- 
nately bright and dark at intervals of two minutes : their 
elevation above the sea is 285 feet. 

Caverns near Beachy Head. — There are six caverns, 
with entrances three feet wide, and flights of steps twenty 
feet in height, terminating in an apartment eight feet 
square, now cut in the cliffs, between Beachy Head and 
Cuekmere. A place called Derby Cave has also been re- 
paired, by which means mariners, who may be unfortunately 
wrecked on that part of the coast, can find a place of refuge' 
from the sea. There is no danger a quarter of a mile imme- 
diately off the Cape, but six miles to the eastward of it thero 
are some dangerous rocks, on which the Royal Sovereign, 
a first-rate, once struck.. (British Channel Pilot, p. 51.) 

BEACON, a sign or token ordinarily raised upon somo 
foreland or high ground as a sea mark. It is also used for 
the fire-signal which was formerly set up to alarm the in- 
terior of the eountry upon the approach of a foreign enemy. 
The word, as used in England, is derived from the Anglo- 
Saxon beacen or beacn, a sign or signal, whence byenian, to 
show or point out. Beac or bee is the real root, which we 
still have, in beck, beckon. 

Fires by night, as signals, to convey the notice of im- 
pending danger to distant places with the greatest expe- 
dition, have been used in almost all countries. They are' 
mentioned in the prophecies of Jeremiah, who (ehap. vi. 
v. 1) says, * Set up a sign of fire in Beth-haeeerem, for evil 
appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.* In the 
treatise De Mtt7ido % attributed to Aristotle, we are told ■ 
(edit. 12mo. Glasg. 1745, p. 35), that fire-signals were so 
disposed on watch-towers through the King of Persia's do- 
minions that, within the spaee of a day, he could receive 
intelligence of any disturbances plotted or undertaken in 
the most distant part of his dominions ; but this is evidently 
an exaggerated statement. iEschylus, in bis play of the 
Agamemnon* represents the intelligence of the capture of 
Troy as conveyed to the Peloponnesus by fire-beacons. 
During the Peloponnesian war we find fire-beacons (<f>pvKroi) 
employed. (Thucyd. iii. 22.) Pliny distinguishes this sort 
of signal from the Phari, or light-houses placed upon the 
coasts for the direction of ships, by the name of * Igncs 
pramuntiativi,' not ice- giving fires (Plin. Hist. Nat, edit. 
Harduin, lib. ii. sect. 73), these being occasional only, the 
phari constant. 

Lord Coke, in his Fourth Institute, ehap. xxv., speaking 
of our own beacons, says, • Before the reign of Edward III. 
they were but stacks of wood set up on high places, which 
were fired when the coming of enemies was descried ; but 
in his reign pitch-boxes, as now they be, were, instead of 
those stacks, set up ; and this properly is a beacon/ These 
beaeons had watches regularly kept at them, and horsemen 
called hobbelars were stationed by most of them to give 
notice in day-time of an enemy's approach, when the fire 
would not be seen. (Camd. Brit, in Hampshire, edit. 1789 < 
vol. i. p. 173.)" 



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BEA 



* Stowe, in hi* Annals, under the year 1326, mentions, 
among tho precautions which Edward II. took when pre- 
paring against tlio return of the queen and Mortimer to 
England, that * ho ordained bikemngs or I>eacons to be set 
up, that tho same being fired might be seen far ufF, and 
thereby tho people to be raised/ 

The Cottonian MS. in tho British Museum, Augustus I. 
vol. i. art 31, preserves a plan of tho harbours of Poole, 
Purbcck, &c, followed, art 33, by a chart of the coast ol 
Dorsetshire from Lyme to Weymouth, both exhibiting the 
beacons which were erected on the Dorsetshire coast against 
the Spanish invasion in 1583. Art. 58 preserves a similar 
chart of tho coast of Suffolk from Orwell Haven to Gorl- 
ston, near Yarmouth, with the several forts and beacons 
erected on that coast. 

The power of erecting beacons was originally in the king, 
and was usually delegated to the Lord High Admiral. In 
the eighth of Elizabeth an act passed touching sea marks 
and mariners (ehap 13), by which the corporation of the 
Trinity House of Deptford St rend were empowered to erect 
beacons and sea marks on tho shores, forelands, &c, of the 
country according to their discretion, and to continue and 
renew tho same at the cost of the corporation. 

Professor Ward, in his * Observations on the Antiquity 
and Use of Beacons in England' (Arch&ologia, vol. i. p. 4), 
says, the money due or payable for the maintenance of 
beacons was called Beconagium, and was levied by the 
sheriff of the county upon each hundred, as appears by an 
ordinance in manuscript for tho countv of Norfolk, issued 
to Robert dc Monte and Thomas de feardolfe, who sat in 
parliament as barons, 14th Edward II. 

The manner of watching the beacons, particularly upon 
the coast, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, may be gathered 
from the instructions of two contemporary manuscripts 
printed in the Arch&ofogia, vol/viii. pp. 100, 183, The 
surprise of those by the sea-side was usually a matter of 
policy with an invading enemy, to prevent the alarm of an 
arrival from being spread. 

An iron beacon or fire-pot may still be seen standing 
upon the tower of Hadley Church in Middlesex. Gough, 
in his edition of Camden, fol. 1789, vol. ni. p. 281, says, at 
Ingleborough, in Yorkshire, on the west edge, arc remains 
of a beacon, ascended to by a flight of steps, and ruins of 
a watch-house. Collinson, in his History of Somersetshire, 
4to. 1791, vol. ii. p. 5, describes the fire-hearths of four 
large beacons as remaining in his time upon a hill called 
Dunkcry Beacon in that county. He also mentions the 
remains of a watch-house for a beacon at Dundry (vol. ii. 
p. 105). Beacon-hills occur in some part or other of most 
counties of England which have elevated ground. The 
Herefordshire beacon is well known. Gough, in his addi- 
tions to Camden, ut supr. vol. i. p. 394, mentions a beacon hill 
at Harescorabc in Gloucestershire, inclosed by a transverse 
vallation fifty feet deep. Salmon, in his History of Hert- 
fordshire, p. 349, says, at Therfield, on a hill west of the 
church, stood one of the four beacons of this countv. 

BEACONSFIELD, a small market-town of feucking- 
hamshire, in the hundred and deanery of Burnham, twenty- 
four miles \V. by N. of London, and thirty-one S.S.E. of 
Buckingham. It is situated upon high ground, whenco it 
has been supposed that its name is derived from a beacon 
that formerly occupied the spot. Tho town consists of four 
streets, tho principal of which, forming part of the road from 
Uxbridge to High Wycombe, is nearly three quarters of a 
mile in length. The substratum on which the town stands 
is chiefly gravel, and the houses arc built with Hints or brick. 
The church, dedicated to All Saints, is built of flint and 
squared stones, and consists of a nave, chancel, and sido 
aides, with a tower at the west end. The remains of Ed- 
mund Burke, who resided and died at Gregories in this 
parish, are deposited in tho church ; and tho churchyard 
contains a whito marble table monument in honour of 
"Waller, to whom tho manor belonged, as it still does to his 
descendant Hull Court, the poets family mansion, is still 
in existence. The church, as well as the manor, was for- 
merly attached to Buruhom Prwry. Tho living is a rectory 
in the archdeaconry of Bucks and diocese of Lincoln, valued 
in tho king's book at 2G/. 2*. SJrf. ; the advowson belongs 
to Magdalen College, Oxford, which purchased it about the 
year 1 705. Beaconsfleld derives great advantage from its 
situation on tho high road between London and Oxford ; 
and considerable business in the sale of eattlo is done at its 
market and fairs. The proximity of High Wycombo and 



Uxbridge is, however, said to havo rendered the market of 
less relative importance now than in former times. Tho 
market-day is Wednesday, and tho fairs are held on Fe- 
bruary 13th and Holy Thursday, the latter being for cattle. 
Tho number of houses in the parish was 341, according to 
tho returns of 1831, when the population consisted of 1763 
persons, of whom 891 were females. 

(Lysons** Magna Britannia; Beauties of England and 
JVates.) 

BEAD MOULDING. [See Moulding.] 

BEAD TREE. [Seo Mklia and Eusocahpus.] 

BEADLE, tho messenger or apparitor of a court, who 
cites persons to appear to what is alleged against them. It 
is probably in this sense that we are to understand the 
bedclli, or undcr-bailifla of manors mentioned in several 
parts of the Domesday Survey, Spelman, Somncr, and 
Watts, all agree in the derivation of beadle from the Saxon 
bybel, a crycr, and that from bib, to publish, as in bidding 
the banns of matrimony. The bcdelli of manors probably 
acted as criers in the lord's court. The beadle of a forest, 
as Lord Coke informs us in his Fourth Institute, was an 
officer who not only warned the forest courts and executed 
process, but made all proclamations. 

Bishop Kcnnett, in the Glossary to his Parochial Antiqui- 
ties of Oxfordshire, says that rural deans had formerly 
their beadles to cite the clergy and church otlicers to visita- 
tions and execute the orders of the court Christian. Pa- 
rochial and church beadles were probably in their origin 
persons of this description, though now employed in more 
menial services. 

Bedel, or beadle, is also the name of an officer in tho 
English universities, who in processions, &c., precedes the 
chancellor or vice-chancellor, hearing a mace. In Oxford 
there are three esquire and three yeoincu bedels, each at- 
tached to the respective faculties of divinity, medicine and 
arts, and law. In Cambridge there are three esquire bedels 
and one yeoman bedel. The esquire bedels in the latter 
university, beside attending the vice-chancellor on public 
solemnities, attend also the professors and respondents, 
collect fines and penalties, and summon to tho chancellor's 
court aU members of the senate. (Sec Ducange's Gloss, in 
voce BcTlcllus; Kennett, Paroch. Antiq. vol. it. Gloss. ; Gen. 
Introd. to Domesday Book, 8vo. edit. vol. i. p. 247 ; Camb. 
and Oxf Univ. Calendars.) 

BEADS (Rosary Beads) are made of horn, ebony, ivory, 
glass, box- wood, and other materials, and are strung in chap- 
lets used by tho Roman Catholics for the purpose of counting 
their prayers. The Rosary is a scries of prayers said to 
havo been first instituted by St. Dominic about the year 
1200, in honour of tho Virgin Mary, and as an invocation to 
her for spiritual assistance. It consists of a repetition of the 
Ave Maria and the Paternoster or Lord's Prayer, both in 
Latin. It is divided into decads of ten Avo Marias, each 
decad being preceded by the Lord's Prayer, and terminating 
with the Gloria Patri. The full or great rosary consists of 
fifteen decads, but the common rosary, which is recited ge- 
nerally in the evening by pious Catholics, consists of only 
five decads. At the end of the five decads they recito 
the Creed, or Symbol of the Apostles, and afterwards 
(in Italy at least) the Litany or the Virgin, which is 
different from the Litany of tho Liturgy. The rosary is a 
daily family evening prayer ; the head of tho family says 
tho first part of each Ave Maria, and the other members 
repeat in chorus tho remaining part. [See Ave Maria.] 
• The original rosary of St. Dominie is a recitation of fifteen 
decads of Ave Marias, preceded each by a Pater, each decad 
bcinjj devoted to the meditation of ono of the mysteries of 
the life of our Saviour. The first five mysteries are thoso 
of tho incarnation, nativity, &e., and are styled joyful mys- 
teries. Tho next five aro those of the passion and death, 
and are styled sorrowful. The remaining five are those of 
the resurrection, ascension, assumption of the Virgin, &e., 
and are termed glorious/ (Touron, Vic de St. Dominic; 
Quindecim Mysteria Bosarii Beatcc Maria* Virginis, a R. 
Schiaminosso deliu. atque incisa, Rome, 1609.) The common 
ehaplet is called Corona, * a crown/ in honour of the Virgin. 

The beads arc distinguished by their size and shape, 
those marking the Lord's Prayer being larger than those 
for the Ave Marias. Rosaries of very small glass beads aro 
worn by pious Catholics round their necks. The object of 
St. Dominie was probably, while doing honour to the Virgin, 
to fix at the same time the attention of the pious on tho 
contemplation of tho principal events of tho Saviour's life» 



B E A 



B E A 



by allowing a eertain time, marked hy the reeitation of ten 
Ave Marias, to the meditation upon eaeh event or mystery. 
The name of rosary is figurative : it means a ehaplet of 
spiritual roses, divided into three sets, while, red, and da- 
mask roses, corresponding to the joyful, sorrowful, and 
glorious mysteries. Such are the allegory and its explana- 
tion. ( The Rosarie of our Ladie otherwise called our Ladie's 
Psaltery Antwerp, 1600.) 

The Turks and other eastern nations have also ehaplets 
of beads made of amber or other materials, which they turn 
through their fingers while sitting in a listless mood, but 
not, as it seems, for any purpose of prajer. The Turkish 
ehaplet is ealled * Combolo'io.' 

BEAGLE, a small well-proportioned hound, slow but 
sure, having an excellent nose and most enduring diligenee, 
formerly much in fashion for hunting the hare, but now 
comparatively neglected, its place being oecupied, where 
hare-hunting is patronized, by the harrier. [See Harrier.] 




[The Beagle.] 

These were the little hounds so mueh prized by 'the 
good old English gentleman ;* for, at a trilling expense, 
and greatly to the delight of the neighbouring rustics who 
followed on foot, he eould keep his ten or eleven eouple, 
not more than so many inehes high individually, and, 
mounted on his easy pad, would generally make certain of 
killing his hare, though it frequently cost him two or three 
hours to perform the feat. During this protraeted ehase 
he had ample leisure for enjoying the sight of his admi- 
rably matehed pack, running so well together that * they 
might have heon eovered with a sheet/ and for gratifying 
his ears with their tunable cry. 

The hare distanced them immeasurably at first, and, in 
the eourse of the run, she might be observed to sit and 
listen 'sad on some little eminence,' but 

— — * In louder peals, the loaded winds 
Brought on the gathering »lorm* — 

and, after exhausting all her speed, shifts, and doublings, 
she almost always fell a victim to their persevering and de- 
structive instiuet. 

A well-bred beagle of the proper size, which should not 
exeeed that above -mentioned, is a very pretty and sym- 
metrical variety. This symmetry (the term is used in 
relation to the purposes for" which the dog is employed) was 
the result of much care among amateurs, who spared no 
efforts to bring it to what they considered the standard of 
perfection. 

Some prided themselves on the diminutive hut still 
effective size of their paeks. Daniel and others have not 
forgotten to eommemorate Colonel Hardy's 'cry of beagles.' 
They amounted to ten or eleven couple, and were always 
carried to and from the field in a pair of panniers upon a 
horse's back. Small as theyavere, they rarely failed, though 
they eould never get near enough to press the hare in the 
early part of the run, to stick to her and worry her to death 
at last. 

Such diminutive hounds are sometimes called 'lap-dog 
beagles* aud ' rabbit beagles/ 

The fairy 'pack above alluded to had a little barn for their 
kennel, where also their panniers were kept. The door was 
one night broken open, and every hound, panniers and all, 
stolen j nor could the disconsolate owner ever diseover either 
the thieves or their booty. 

BEAMINSTER, or BEMINSTER FORUM, a mar- 
ket-town in Dorsetshire, in the Bridport division of the 



hundred of Beaminster, 123 miles W.S.W. of London, and 
14 J W.N -W. of Dorehester. It is situated on the river Birt, 
whieh issues from several springs running from the hills 
with which the town is surrounded. Beaminster is of consi- 
derable antiquity. In Domesday Book, Beminstre is classed 
among the lands belonging to the bishoprie of Sarum, 
Begeminster was given by Bishop Orrriund, in 1091, to 
augment two of the prebends of his cathedral. The parish 
consists of three manors, Beaminster Prima, Beaminster 
Seeunda, and Beaminster Parsonatus, all of which are held 
by lease by the present lords under the church of Salisbury. 
Leland thus describes Beaminster in his time : — 'It is a 
praty market town, and usith mueh housbandry, and lyith 
in one street from N. td*S., and in another from W. to E. 
There is a faire ehapelle of case in this town. Netherby 
[Netherbury] is the paroch ehireh to it, and Beminstre is a 
prebond to the chirch of Saresbyri.' The town was almost 
entirely destroyed by fire in 1644, while Prince Maurice 
was in quarters there. It was re-built by the assistance of 
parliament, but in 1684 was again consumed; and, finally, 
in 1781, upwards of fifty houses, besides barns, stables, and 
other buildings, were reduced to ruins. To these fires, 
however, the town is indebted for its present very respectable 
appearance, most of the houses being good modern build- 
ings. The streets have lately been paved by a subscription 
of the inhabitants, and the shops and some of the houses are 
now lighted with gas. The ehureh and free-school are the 
principal buildings of the town. The ehureh is dedicated 
to the nativity of the Blessed Virgin, and although only a 
chapel of ease to the vicarage of Nertierbury, is a large 
handsome structure, standing on an eminenee on the south 
side of the town. It is supported in the inside by Gothic 
arehes and pillars of Ham-hill stone. The tower is nearly 
100 feet high, and is decorated with sculptures, illustrative 
of the woollen trade, for which the town was famous at the 
time they were executed : there are also figures of one or 
two of the kings, and a*number of roses, of which tradition 
states that the figures are those of kings who reigned at the 
times that repairs were dono to the ehureh, and that the 
roses commemorate the union between the houses of York 
and Lancaster. The town has a eommodious workhouse, 
which is maintained partly by the rents of a small estate, 
and partly by the poor-rates. There is also an almshouse, 
built about 1C27 by Sir John Strode, and afterwards en- 
dowed by him and his daughter, Lady Joan Tuberville, for 
the maintenance of six poor women. The free-school was 
founded in or about the year 1684 by Mrs. Frances Tucker, 
for the education of twenty of the poorest boys in Beamin- 
ster, three or four of whom are to be apprenticed to the sea 
serviee. The estate with which this school is endowed was 
let in the year 1707, at 65/. a year, which is now increased 
to 1C0/. ; the surplus has been employed in increasing the 
number of boys at the school from 20 to 100, and in 
providing fuel, whieh is sold to the poor at a reduced rato 
during the winter. The Rev. Samuel Hood, the father 
of Lords Hood and Bridport, was master of this school in 
1715. The number of houses in Beaminster was 5C7 in 
1831, when the population amounted to 2968 persons, of 
whom 1573 were females. During the year 1834, the town 
was visited with an extraordinary mortality, owing princi- 
pally to the small-pox and measles, whieh raised the pro- 
portion of deaths to one in twenty-six on the whole number 
of inhabitants. The inhabitants are chielly engaged in 
the manufacture of sail-cloth, of iron, tin, and copper wares. 
The market is held ( on Thursday, and there are fairs on 
April 14, September 10, and October 9. The quarter- 
sessions were held here in the reign of Elizabeth and the 
seven first years of Charles I„ but .they were afterwards 
removed to Bridport. (Hutehins's History and Antiquities 
of the Counties of Dorset; Beauties of England and 
Wales; Communication of a Correspondent ', <£-c.) 
BEAMS. [See Materials, Strength of.] 
BEAN. [See Faba, Phaskolus, and Dolichos.] 
BEAN, a leguminous plant, extensively cultivated in the 
garden and in the field, classed by Linnaeus in the DiadeU 
phia Decandria, and hy Jussieu among the Leguminosce. 
There are two distinet kinds of beans cultivated ; the one 
is ealled the Faba vulgaris or Vicia Faba, whieh is our 
common garden and field bean ; the other is the Phaseolus 
vulgaris, the French bean, haricot, or kidney-bean. We 
here consider them only in an agricultural point of view. 

The common bean, of whieh there are several varieties, 
bears a pod containing several oblong rounded seeds, which 



BEA 



80 



BEA 



are used in the soft young -state lor the table, and in the 
hard dry state for domestic animals chiclly, cither whole or 
ground into lueal. In some places bean -meal is mixed with 
other meal in making coarse bread; or tho beans are boiled 
into a mess with fat meat, in which state they arc very 
palatable and nutritious. The l>can came originally from 
the cast, and was cultivated in Egypt and Harbary in the 
earliest ages of which we have any records. It spread 
thence into Spain and Portugal, from whence some of the 
best varieties have been introduced into this country. Tho 
most common varictios of garden beans are the Windsor, 
the Tokcr, the long-pod, and the Magazan, all product ivo 
and well tasted. In the field the tick bean, the common 
horse bean, and the small Dutch, or Heligoland bean, are 
preferred, being hardy as well as productive. The long-pod 
is occasionally sown in the field, the Magazan and broad 
"Windsor bean seldom. 

There is no plant in which the transformation of the 
cotyledons into seed leaves is more readily traced than in 
the bean. The Windsor bean, in particular, from the size 
of its lobes and distinctness of its vessels, is admirably 
adapted for observation, the parts being readily distin- 
guished by the naked eye. If a bean is planted in moist 
earth or soaked in water, in a moderate temperature, the 
cotyledons will swell and soon burst the skin which enve- 
lopes them, separating into two lobes, which open like the 
shells of an oyster. In tho part which forms the joint an 
oblong body will appear, which is the embryo stem of the 
plant. This increases rapidly in the earth, and pushes a 
root downwards, and a stem upwards, which latter carries 
the lobes with it till they rise above the ground, when 
they expand, and are transformed into seed leaves. It is 
curious to observe the force of vegetation in the young bean 
when it is, as it were, imprisoned in a strong soil hardened 
at the surface, as may be seen when a path crosses a field 
of beans newly planted ; the cotyledons, under these cir- 
cumstances, are drawn into the crevices made by the young 
stem, where they often remain held fast till the first shower 
releases them. The change in the cotyledons deserves 
particular attention. As soon as the seed swells by imbibing 
moisture, the oxygen, which is always present in the at- 
mosphere and in water, acts upon the farinaceous substance 
in the seed, and takes a portion of carbon from it producing 
carbonic acid, which is absorbed by the surrounding plants, 
or Hies ofF in the state of gas : by this loss the remaining 
substance becomes a mild iluid emulsion, analogous to the 
milk of animals, which, being taken up by the minute 
vessels of the radicle, nourishes and increases them. It 
is this alone which produces the first growth ; the earth is 
the mere cradle to protect tho young plant and to keep it 
moist, by preventing the too rapid evaporation wbicb the beat 
and light of the sun would otherwise produce : when the 
ground iscntirely deprived of moisture, vegetation necessarily 
ceases. The cotyledons arc the reservoirs of nature to sup- 
ply proper food for the plant in its infant state, as the 
mother's milk does in animals of the class of mammalia, 
and the yolk of the egg in birds and oviparous animals. 
In proportion as the farina in the lobes is gradually ex- 
hausted new vessels appear through the substanco of the 
lobes, conveying the newly formed juice from every part of 
them into the root and stem, and, at last, the cotyledons are 
transformed into seed leaves. The fibres of the roots are by 
tins time completely formed, and their extremities, called 
tpongioles* from their appearance when minutely examined, 
have acquired the power of absorbing nourishment from 
the soil. The plant may now be said to be weaned. The 
stem is then considerably advanced in growth, having put 
forth new leaves of a different form from the seed leaves : 
these last, having now performed their part, wither and 
soon fall ofF; if they are removed before this period, the 
plant, having lost its nurse, languishes and dies. 

The bean at this stage of its growth requires particular 
attention. If the soil is rich and well prepared, it will grow 
rapidly and luxuriantly, and bo soon out of reach of insects 
or weeds, and capable of resisting the varying influences of 
the atmosphere ; but if tho soil is poor and parched, and 
tho supply of nutritive juices is scanty, the plant will soon 

• StxmyioUt. Al tbe extremities of lh« smalletl ramification* of lhe root* 
may be seen, by mean* of Wjfh tnarainVra, tmall bodies which v»rin lobe 
rnUnc«*iM>DU or th< minute fibre* of the root j they are c«U ott tpongi<Uc$ % from 
their resemblance to* tp*mae. Their nse U to draw in the juice*, by which 
Um planl is a a •Lain*! *nQ laetetuett They poisets a vital j»ower, by which 
they more readily abwb torn* fluids than other*, and are by tome thought 
to have a power of selection, as lht lacteal* tiavt la the Inteslmcs of animals. 
[See Root.] 



show weakness and disease, and the only way to prevent a 
total failure of the crop, is to supply by art the deficiency of 
nature. In very poor soils manure may be applied in a 
liquid state, or as a top-dressing: in those which are not 
exhausted, tillage alone will enable the roots to spread, and 
give them a wider range to seek their food in. The weeds 
being destroyed, the whole powers of the soil are reserved 
for the crop ; and the air charged with fertilizing vapours 
being allowed to penetrate the surface, and being retained 
in the interstices of the soil, greatly assists in invigo- 
rating the vegetation. These are tho principles on which 
is founded the wliolo culturo of leguminous plants, 
whether in the garden or the field. Where labour is not 
spared and the produce is valuable, as where vegetables 
are raised as a kind of luxury for the tables of the rich, 
the greatest attention is paid to the cultivation of beans, 
so as to have them early and in regular succession during 
the whole summer. They arc even occasionally raised 
by artificial heat. In general they are sown or planted, 
at various times, from the beginning of winter to the 
middle of summer, but they must be protected from 
frost in the first case, and from too great heat and drought 
in tho latter. They are set in rows with wide intervuls, 
which are kept dug and clean, and in which lesser vegeta- 
bles are advancing in growth, to be sheltered by the beans, 
and to succeed them when removed. In order to strengthen 
the pods already formed, as soon as those which arc near 
the bottom of the stem are filled, the tops of the plants 
are cut off, and the beans are gathered when the seed has 
acquired sufficient consistency to be taken from the shells, 
before they have acquired 'any farinaceous qualities. One 
crop is made to succeed another by regulating the times of 
sowing; and thus beans are gathered for the table from May 
to November, or till the frosty nights check the growth of the 
plant. The cultivation of the Geld bean is only as perfect 
an imitation of the garden culturo as circumstances will 
permit. As only one crop is required, and that in a per- 
fectly ripe state, when the seeds are fully formed and hard, 
they are sown at one particular season, so as to avoid tho 
danger from frosts and ungenial weather in spring, and at 
the same time to have the crop ripe in good time to be har- 
vested before the cold and wet season sets in. The usual 
mode is to drill them by a machine, at the distance of from 
twenty to thirty inches, according to the richness of the 
soil, or to dibble them by hand, cither singly or by putting 
four or five beans in each bole, increasing the distance of 
the holes from six to twelve inches. Beans arc tolerably 
hardy, and will hear moderate dry frosts ; but they suffer 
much from alternate frosts and thaws, which in this cli- 
mate are so common in February. The end of February, 
or the beginning of March, is therefore generally preferred 
for bean-sowing. When the season is remarkably mild, as 
was the case in 1834, early sowing is a great advantage. 
Tho writer of this articlo planted a field of beans on the 1st 
January 1834, in a soil duly prepared ; they were reaped 
in August, and produced a very good crop: his neighbours, 
who planted their beans in March, had not half tho quan- 
tity on equally good land, owing to the dryness of the sum- 
mer. But this was an cNpcriincnt which succeeded : had 
severe weather come on in February, the whole crop might 
have been lost. As a general rule, beans may be sown 
from the middle of February to the middle of March. The 
sorts usually cultivated in the fields are the tick l>ean, 
the horse bean, and the small Dutch or Ucliogoland bean. 
In some situations the Magazan and the long-pod have 
produced good crops in the field : the first three aro how- 
ever best suited for general cultivation. There are scvoral 
varieties of these, which differ but little in their appear- 
ance; experience is the best guide in choosing the heed 
which suits particular soils and situations. The small 
round regular-shaped beans are generally preferred, as ob- 
taining tho best prices in the markets, especially in large 
towns, where there is a great consumption of beans by 
hard-working horses. 

The soil best adapted for beans is a rich strong loam, 
such as produces good wheat. In such a soil tho produce is 
sometimes fifty or sixty bushels nor acre, but an average 
crop, on moderate land, is about half that quantity. On 
very rich land beans have produced extraordinary crops, by 
being sown broad-cast and very thick, the stems being drawn 
up to a fjreat height in favourable seasons. A small field 
of very rich land, in the county of Sussex, was sown in 
tho year 1832 with four bushels of the small tick bean. 



B E A 



81 



B E A 



which came up so thick, that the proprietor thought of 
thinning out the plants by hoeing ; but he was advised to see 
what the produce would be, and when they were threshed 
out, there were ten quarters and one bushel of beans. 
He had the ground accurately measured, and it was found 
to be one acre and twenty-nine perches, which makes the 
crop above sixty-eight busbels per acre. They completely 
smothered all weeds, and the subsequent crop of^ wheat 
produced five quarters to tho acre ; but this particular 
example of sowing beans broad-cast we do not hold up for 
general imitation. By cultivating the beans in rows, and 
by careful hoeing and manuring, alternate crops of wheat 
and beans may be raised for many years, without inter- 
mission, or any necessity for change or fallow : this has 
been long the practice in the richest part of Kent. In 
this ease the beans must be drilled or set in rows, with 
intervals of from twenty-four to thirty inches between 
the rows ; and the intervals must be repeatedly stirred 
and hoed with proper instruments, so as to prevent the 
growth of weeds and keep the soil in a perfectly clean 
and mellow state; the weeds which rise in the rows are 
removed by hand. Immediately after bean harvest the land 
is scarified, or skimmed over with a plough having a very 
broad share, whence the operation is sometimes called broad- 
sharing. All roots of weeds and the remains of bean-halm 
are collected and burned, or put in a heap with quicklime, to be 
converted into manure. The ground is then ploughed onee 
or several times, according to circumstances, and wheat is 
sown about the month of October, either broadcast or by 
means of a drilling machine, in rows ten or twelve inches 
asunder, which gives greater facility for hoeing and weeding 
the crop when neeessary. The wheat which follows beans is 
generally good and heavy, and seldom runs to straw. After 
wheat-harvest the stubble is ploughed up and turned in 
with a very deep furrow; the land is harrowed flat, and a 
good coating of manure is put on in a moderately rotten 
state, and this iseovered with a shallow ploughing: the land 
is well water-furrowed and left so till spring, when the beans 
are drilled in the mellow surface produeed by the winter's 
frost. This is the most approved practice ; but many expe- 
rienced farmers vary it according to the varieties of soil, or 
according to difference of opinion. Some put on manure for 
the beans in spring, and some drill the beans in every seeond 
or third furrow after the plough ; but all good farmers agree 
in manuring the land for the beans and earefully hoeing 
them. It is evident that a different method is required in 
different soils, varied according to their texture and situ- 
ation. Alternate crops of wheat and beans ean only succeed, 
for any length of time, on soils peculiarly favoured. In 
general, a change of erops and occasional fallows, will be 
indispensable to keep the land perfectly elean and in good 
heart. 

In eold wet soils beans require great care to ensure good 
erops. Although they will grow well and seem to flourish in 
the stiffest and most unsubdued elays, they will seldom pro- 
duce much at harvest, unless the land has been well pre- 
pared and the cultivation managed with skill. There is 
no better criterion of the experience and industry of the far- 
mer of eold, wet clays than the appearanee of his beans at 
harvest ; and ho may be judged by this erop, as the farmer 
of light, sandy soils may be judged by his turnips. The 
cultivation of these two opposite kinds of inferior soils will, 
in general, be profitable or otherwise in proportion to the 
produce of the beans in the one and the turnips in the 
other; the first being a substitute for elean fallow, and the 
latter the foundation of all the succeeding erops. The bean, 
by its strong and penetrating root, opens the stiff soil to 
the- influence of the atmosphere, by which the surfaee is 
dried and at the same time mellowed. Although the nu- 
tritious matter in a good erop of beans is great, and almost 
equal to that obtained from a erop of wheat, it exhausts the 
soil much less : its succulent stems and leaves absorb mueh 
nourishment from tho atmosphere, and the latter falling off 
and deeaying, restore carbon and mueilage to the soil, and 
make up for the inferior quantity of manure produced by the 
bean-halm in comparison with wheat straw. There is per- 
haps no crop, bearing seed, which gives so great a return 
with so small an expenditure of the nutritive juices of the 
soil ; and certainly none that repays manure better, or 
leaves the land in a better condition for wheat or oats. Itisa 
very common practieo to plough a stiff soil in spring only onee, 
after it has borne clover, grasses, or wheat, and to drill 
beans in the furrows immediately after the plough, by hand 



or by an instrument ; in this ease it is best to deposit the 
beans as near the angle of the furrow as possible, and in 
every second furrow only, that they may rise regularly at a 
proper distance. In spite of the tough slues which the plough 
turns over in a mass, the force of vegetation in the bean 
makes it pierce through them, and, under favourable cir- 
cumstances, a tolerable crop is sometimes obtained ; while 
the more industrious neighbour, who has tilled his land 
in autumn and again in spring, by repeated ploughings, 
and made it fine and mellow, may be disappointed in 
his erop by untoward variations of weather. The slovenly 
farmer then laughs at the more perfect system of the other, 
pretending that it is wrong to work strong soils so much and 
make them toofine f as the term is. Thus the progress of a 
whole district in rational and improved culture is arrested 
or checked by the apparent evil of frequent ploughing. But 
the conclusion is founded in error. There ean be no rule 
better confirmed by experience than that adhesive soils should 
be stirred and divided as mueh as possible ; but this must be 
done with due regard to circumstances and seasons, and 
the differences in soils: chalking, marling, or manuring, 
are necessary, in order to prevent the divided soil i'rom 
setting into a hard compact mass. Light coloured clays 
which consist of siliceous sand and argillaceous earth 
only, without any intermixture of other substances, set the 
harder in drying the more they are stirred ; after being 
ploughed they soon have the appearance of stripes of un- 
burned brick ; and if a heavy shower has fallen after the 
land has been harrowed, they become hard like a barn 
floor. It is of no use to pulverise suchlaiul, until its texture 
is altered by chalk, marl, dung, or asbes; and the safest 
way is not to stir it too much, as no good crop can be ex- 
pected, at all events, till it be ameliorated. To prepare a 
middling stiff soil for beans, it should be ploughed into 
high and narrow lands in autumn, with numerous and deep 
water- furrows, so that no water may lie on any part of ir, 
and, if possible, it should be manured with long dung before it 
is ploughed. In spring, if there has been some frost, the 
surfaee will be loose and mellow ; in this the beans should 
be drilled or dibbled by hand, and a time should be chosen 
for hoeing them, wben the ground is neither wet nor dry, 
so that the hoe, whether hand- hoe or horse-hoe, may pene- 
trate two or three inehes below the surface to open the soil 
and destroy the weeds. The hoeing of the beans is a most 
essential part of the eulture, and according as it is well or ill 
executed the land will produce more or fewer crops after it 
without its being neeessary to have recourse to a fallow. 
Objections have been made to the use of the horse-hoe and 
scarifier between the rows in stifT soils, because, when the 
ground is dry and eaked, the hoe raises large clods and 
lays the roots bare, sometimes even destroying the plants. 
But there are means of preventing this : if tbe ground is 
repeatedly hoed when not quite dry, it will not bind into 
a hard crust or rise in clods; and should a sudden dry 
wind, after much rain, bake the, surfaee in spite of every 
attention to it, a spiky roller,. of such dimensions as to work 
between the. rows,* will* effectually lo.osen.the soil, so that 
hoes and grubbers may follow, without inconvenience. We 
give a drawing of such an instrument, which has been found 
very effective. 

The eylinder may be used .with or without tho spikes, or 
may be removed entirely; the instrument then becomes a 
searifier or grubber, according to the shape^of the coulters 
which are fixed to it. The front wheel .is, of use, to. move 
the whole instrument upon, by lifting the stilts or handles 
in the manner of a wheelbarrow, at the end of the rows, 
when the horse turns out of one row into another. Tho 
cross .bar on the frame before the roller is to fix hoes ^ or 
couriers' oh, when the. roller is taken away. 

.-When tlielbeans have pushed their sterns, and the proper 
leaves appear above the seed leaves, the intervals should 
be carefully hoed, and, where it is practicable, three or four 
bushels of gypsum per acre may be sown, if the soil does 
not already contain thissubstanee, and it will greatly stimu- 
late the growth. The mode of its operation is not exactly 
known, but experience has proved its utility. [SeeMANURK 
and Gypsum.] A very small quantity of gypsum seems to 
stimulate the growth of all leguminous plants and clovers, 
but if this quantity be already present in the soil no additional 
quantity seems to have any effect. It has been recommended 
to cut off the tops of the plants when the lower pods are set, as 
is frequently done in garden culture, to accelerate the tilling 
of them, and to prevent useless blossoms from drawing the 



No. 215. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-M 



B E A 



82 



n i: a 




[Roller with Spikes.] 



nourishment to the top. The reason for doing this in gar- 
dens is, that when a plant has home pods a certain time it 
is most advantageous to remove it, and the top blossoms, of 
course, never come to perfection. In the field this is not the 
case, there being no succession of plants ; and, unless tho 
top blossoms are very late, or tho black dolphin (aphis) be- 
gins to appear, which is shown by the honey-dew on the 
top shoots, no advantage is gained by topping the plants, 
and tho labour is thrown away. Wben the leaves of tho 
beans begin to lose their green colour, and tho pods to turn 
black, the crop should be reaped with tho sickle, and made 
into small sheaves, tied with straw hands or tar twine, and 
set up in tho field to dry. In seme places pease are sown 
mixed with tho beans, or the headlands are sown with pease, 
tho halm of which is used to tic the beans with ; but pease 
cling round the bean stalks and impede the setting of the 
pods ; they also interfere with the hoeing and weeding, so 
that the practice is not to be recommended. Pease require a 
lighter soil and are best sown separately, except when they 
are sown broad-east mixed with beans, in order to be mown 
in a green state as fodder for cattle or for pigs. Sowing 
beans for this last-mentioned purpose is not much practised 
in England, but is found very useful on the Continent, espe- 
cially in Flanders ; in this case they are mown like tares soon 
after the pods are formed. In order to have a succession 
of this green food, they should bo sown at different times, 
with a week or fortnight's interval. By this means a great 
doal of grass is saved, which may be reserved for hay ; tho 
cattlo fed in the stables or yards thrive well on this food, and 
produce a quantity of rich manure, chiefly in a liquid state, 
which fills the tanks and reservoirs which we have repeat- 
edly mentioned as indispensablo appendages to every good 
furm-yard. By having winter tares when the turnips aro 
consumed, pease and beans after the first crop of clover, and 
summer tares to succeed them, cattle may be fed in the stables 
all tb© year round with great advantage, the land may be 
tilled at the best season of tho year, and prepared for wheat, 
as well as by a clean fallow, while the green crop will fully 
repay all the expenses. Three bushels of beans and two of 
pease mixed together aro required per aero when sown broad- 
east, or drilled in each furrow after the plough. It is often 
advantageous to cut in a green state those beans which were 
sown for a general crop, when food for pigs is scarce. They 
will go nearly as far in this way in feeding store pigs as tho 
beans would have dono when ripe, and the ground is left in 
a much better stato for tho following crop. 

Although beans grow best in a rather heavy soil, they 
aro often profitablo on much lighter land, especially aftor 
clover ley or grass, which is broken up after being depas- 
tured two or three years. This is an excellent preparatory 
crop for wheat, and better than oats, which leave such land full 
of weeds. In tbis easo the land should he carefully ploughed 
up. For this purpose a skim-coulter, which has a small 
wing attached to it, to slice off tho grassy surface of the land 
and turn it under the furrow, is a most useful appendage to 
tho plough. Tbis makes very clean work, and a heavy roller 
drawn across tho stitches or lands loaves tho whole surface 
compact and solid, keeping the moisture from evaporating 
and facilitating tbe slow decomposition of tho roots of the 
grass. Thus a very good and clean crop of beans may be 
obtained. If tho soil should be exhausted or very poor, a good 



a great advantage to tho beans, and to the wheat which is to 
follow. On moderately light loams the most profitable rota- 
tion of crops is that of turnips, barley, clover, beans, wheat; 
or, if it is in a rich state, turnips, barley, clover, oats, beans, 
wheat, beans. When land is in good heart beans are 
often added to any rotation after wheat or before it, and 
the fallow is thus removed a vear farther on. This is hke- 
wiso dono when it is intended to change tho course of 
crops ; because beans are considered the least exhausting 
of the crops wbich arc allowed to ripen their seeds, and this 
practice is far less hurtful than the too common one of 
taking another crop of oats after the wheat, by which more 
harm is done than the value of tho crop can compensate for. 

The diseases to which beans arc subject are, the mildew, 
which is a minute fungus that grows on the stems of 
leaves, and is caused by cold fogs and frequent sudden va- 
riations of weather, and the black dolphin, an insect of tho 
aphis tribe, which appears first in the form of a honey-dew 
on the tops of the plants. For the mildew no remedy or 
preventive has yet been found. Whenever it has at- 
tacked the plants generally, before the pods aro filled, tho 
best method is to cut down the crop in its green state ; and 
if it cannot be consumed in the farm-yard, to plough it into 
tho ground, where it will decay rapidly, and be an excellent 
manuring for the succeeding crop of wheat. If allowed to 
stand, the crop will not only be unproductive, but tho weeds 
will infest the ground, and spoil the wheat crop by their 
seeds and roots, which will remain in the soil. When- 
ever the tops of the beans begin to be moist and clammy U 
tho feel, it is the forerunner of the aphis. They should then 
be immediately cut off, and this, if dono in time, may save 
tho crop from the ravages of the insects ; but tho most effec- 
tual way to prevent any disease from attacking the plants in 
their growth is to have the ground in cood heart, and well 
tilled ; to drill the beans at a sutlicient distance between the 
rows to allow of the use of tho horse-hoc, and thus to accele- 
rate tho growth of the plants, and enable them to outgrow 
tho effect of incipient disease, which seldom attacks any 
hut weak plants. 

Tho principal use of beans is to feed horses, for which 
purpose they aro admirably adapted, and far more nourishing 
than oats. They should be bruised or split in a mill, and 
given to horses mixed with hay and straw cut into chaff ; this 
will ensure proper mastication and prevent that thickening 
of tho wind, as it is called, can sod by indigestion, which 
makes beans alono not so well adapted for the food ef 
hunters and race-horses. Great quantities of beans are 
consumed in fatting hogs, to whom they are given whole at 
first, and afterwards ground into meal. Bacon hogs may 
he fatted entirely on beans and bean-meal ; but as this food 
makes tho flesh very firm, it is not so well adapted for de- 
licate porkers. In tho last i>eriod of their fatting, therefore 
harley-meal is usually substituted for bean-meal. Bean- 
meal given to oxen soon makes them fat, and the meat is 
far better than when oil-cake is used for tbat purpose 
mixed with water and given as a drink to cows it greatly 
increases their milk. A small quantity of beans is gene- 
rally mixed with new wheat whon ground to Hour: the mil- 
lers pretend that soft wheat will not grind well without 
beans, and they generally oontrivo that there shall be no 
deficiency in the necessary proportion. Thus a quantity of 



coat of manuro spread over the grass and ploughed in will b* | beans U converted into what is considered as wheatcn Hour- 



B E A 



83 



B E A 



Wheat . . 


74 


Rye . . . 


70 


Barley . . 


65 


Oats . • . 


58 


Bean3 


63 


Peas . . • 


75 


French hean3 


84 



This practice is well Known to all bakers and dealers in 
flour; and as there are mean3 of discovering the quantity 
of bean-meal in the flour, the ignorant and unsuspecting 
only are deceived, and the price of the flour to the skilful 
purchaser varies according to the quality. 

The proportion of nutritive matter in beans, compared 
with other grain, is, aecordiug to Einhof, a3 follows: — 

By weight. Or in a bushel. 

74 per cent, about 47 lb. 

„ 39 

„ 33 

» 23 

„ 45 

„ 49 

„ 54 

The French bean, kidney bean, or haricot bean (Phaseo- 
Ins vulgaris), i3 chiefly cultivated for its tender and succu- 
lent pod, being one of the most esteemed vegetables for the 
table. The varieties are innumerable, differing slightly in 
their qualities : they may be divided into two distinct kind3, 
the dwarf and climbing ; the former are the earlier, the latter 
the more productive. French beans are much less hardy 
than the common beans ; a very slight degree of frost will 
destroy them entirely. The early 3orts are therefore sown 
in sheltered situations, and occasionally protected by glass 
frames or mat3. The climbing beau3 require the support 
of sticks or wires, round which they twine as they grow, 
with this peculiarity, that the coils turn round the support 
from the right to the left, contrary to the growth of some 
indigenous twisting plants, which turn from the left to the 
right, following the apparent diurnal motion of the sun. 

The French bean, as an esculent vegetable, is wholesome 
and nutritious in a fresh state, and may be readily pre- 
served for winter store or sea voyages by waiting in casks. 
For this purpose the large, flat-podded, Dutch white runner 
is preferred. In Holland and Germany, where large quan- 
tities are salted in almost every family, a machine is used 




[Bean Cultcr.] 

for cutting them expeditiously, which greatly resembles a 
turnip sheer, and may, with a slight alteration, be used also 
for slicing cabbages when making the national German 
preparation of sour krout (sauer-hraut). It consi3t3 of a 
wheel or disk, A, in which two or four knive3 are set at 
a small angle with the plane of it, so as to shave off a thin 
slice obliquely from the beans, which are held in a box, C, 
with several partitions in which they are kept upright, bo as 



to slide down in proportion as they are cut : thus six or eight 
beans are sliced at once, and very rapidly, merely by turning 
the handle B, and supplying the box with beans in succes- 
sion. The sliced beans fall on the table below, and arc im 
mediately put in a cask with alternate layers of salt. When 
the cask is full and well pressed down, a round board is put 
over the beans and a heavy weight upon it. As the beans 
are compressed, and begin slightly to ferment, the liquor is 
poured off, some fresh salt is strewed over the surface, and a 
linen cloth is pressed close upon it to keep out the air ; the 
round board and weight are put over the cloth, and so the 
beans remain till wanted for use. "When any are taken out 
they are washed in soft water to take out the salt, and gently 
stewed with a little gravy, or with milk and a piece of butter. 
They form a very wholesome vegetable dish at a time when 
fresh vegetables are scarce. The dried seeds are also boiled 
after being soaked in water for some time, and are usually 
mixed with the preserved green beans in the same dish. This 
use of the French bean is not common in England, but when 
we take into consideration that they are extremely wholesome 
and nutritive, much more so than pease, and that they are 
an admirable corrective of the oily qualities of animal fat by 
their farinaceous qualities, we shall regret that both the 
culture and the use of them in the dry state are not extended 
for the benefit of the labouring part of the community. The 
cultivation of the French bean for the seed is confined fn 
this country to the gardens and nurseries, and to a few 
spots in the Isle of Thanet in Kent, where they ate raised 
for the London seedsmen. This is the only place, as far a3 
our observation goes, where they are so\v,n in the field. The 
produce in seed i3 said not to exceed twenty bushels per 
acre, but it must be observed that it i3 chiefly the dwarf 
sorts which are sown. There is no doubt that the produce 
of the runners would greatly exceed this quantity, and al- 
though it might be expensive to support them with sticks, 
the example of the hop grounds proves that, where the re- 
turn is large, no expense or trouble is spared. 

The be3t soil for French beans is a rich mellow loam, 
rather light than otherwise ; but, provided the ground be 
well stirred, they will grow in any soil. They may be 
planted in rows, the dwarf sorts at two and a half or three 
feet distance ; the runners at four feet. As 3oon as the 
stems begin to rise above the 3eed leaves, the intervals should 
be well hoed with tho horse-hoe, and the row3 by hand. The 
scarifier or grubber may be used to loosen the soil, and 
when they are somewhat advanced in growth the runners 
may have sticks to climb upon. A row of turnips may be 
sown between every two rows of beans ; or cabbages may be 
planted for cattle. The crop may be harvested as soon as 
the lower pods are quite dry and the seeds hard, and threshed 
like other beans. The seeds when raw have a bitter taste, 
and are rather tough under the teeth, which makes animals 
refuse to eat them in that state, but when boiled they become 
soft and pleasant. Oxen and pigs eat them readily. They 
contain, according to Einhof, 84 per cent, of nutritive matter, 
of which 50 is pure farina, the rest gluten and mucilage: 
they are, consequently, superior to every other grain or 
pulse cultivated, in point of nourishment ; and when it is 
taken into the account that they remain in the grouud only 
from May to September, and that a crop of cabbages or 
turnips is growing in the intervals at the same time, it will 
appear that the cultivation of thi3 pulse on a large scale 
might add greatly to the resources of agriculture. 

BEAN GOOSE (Zoology), Anser ferus of Ray and 
Fleming, Anas segetum of Gmelin, one of the wild geese, 
which we must be careful not to confound with the Grey 
Lagg, or true wild-goose, the Anser palustris noster of 
Lister and Ray, and the species from which, a3 is generally 
admitted, our domestic geese are derived. From that spe- 
cies the beangoose is to be distinguished by its comparatively 
small and short bill, which is more compressed towards the 
end, and also differs in colour : for, in the beau goose the 
base of tho under mandible, and also of the upper one, a3 
far a3 the nostrils, together with the nails of both, are black, 
the re3t of the organ being of a reddish flesh-colour, in- 
clining to orange; whereas the bill of the grey lagg is of 
an orange-red, with the nail generally of a greyish white. 
The wings, moreover, in the bean goose reach, when closed, 
beyond the end of the tail. 

Selby give3 the following interesting account of its habits, 
from personal observation :— 

' In Britain it 13 well known as a regular winter visitant, 
arriving in largo bodies from its northern summer haunts, 



r> e a 



84 



13 K A 



during Sci>tcml>er or the beginning of October, and seldom 
taking its final departure before tho end of April or be- 
ginning of May. The various Mocks, during their residence 
in this country, have each their particular haunts or feeding 
districts, to which, on each ensuing season, ihey invariably 
return, as I have found to be the caso in Northumberland 
and the southern parts of Scotland, where wild gecso have 
been known to frequent certain localities for a continued 
series of years. The habits of this and the preceding 
species* are very similar, and they show the same vigilance, 
and use the same means of guarding against surprise: their 
capture is therefore proportiouably diflieult, and it is only 
by stratagem that, when at rest on* the ground or feeding, 
they can be approached within gun-shot. In stormy wea- 
ther, when they are compelled to tly lower than they usually 
do, they may be sometimes intercepted from a hedge or 
bank, situated in tho route they arc observed to take early 
in the morning, in passing to their feeding ground. At 
night they retire to the water, or else (as 1 have often re- 
marked in Northumberland) to some ridge or bar of sand 
on the sea-coast, sufficiently distant from the main land to 
nflbrd a secure retreat ; and where tho approach of an enemy 
must become visible, or at least audible to their acute or- 
gans before it could endanger their safety. The haunts or 
feeding-grounds of these birds are more frequently in the 
nigher districts than in tho lower and marshy tracts of the 
country, and they give the preference to open land, or where 




[Bean Oook?.] 

the incisures arc very large. They feed much upon the 
tender wheat,- sometimes injuring these fields to a great 
extent ; and thev frequent also the stubbles, particularly 
such as are laid down with clover and other grasses. In the 
early part of spring thev often alight upon the newly-sown 
bean and pea fields, picking up greedily such of tho pulse 
as is left on tho surface ; and I am inclined to think that 
their trivial name has been acquired from their apparent 
predilection for this kind of food, rather than from the shape 
nnd aspect of the nail of tho upper mandible, to which it 
lias been generally attributed. They usually fly at n con- 
siderable elevation, either in a diagonal line, or fn two such 
lines, opposed to each other, and forming a leading aeuto 
angle, like the other species ; and when on wing they main- 
tain a loud cackling, in which the voices of the two sexes 
may bo easily distinguished. The rate at which thev move, 
when favoured by a gentle brce/c, is seldom less than from 
forty to fifty miles an hour, a velocity which enables them 
to have their roost ing-plaee far removed from the district 
they frequent by duy. The principal breeding stations, or 
summer retreats, of the bean goose arc in countries within 
tho arctic circle: it is said, however, that great numbers 
breed annually in Harris, and somo of tho other outermost 
Western Islands. Tho nest is made in the marshy grounds, 
onl formed of grasses and other dry vegetablo materials ; 
the eggs are white, and from eight to twelve in number. 
The trachea of this species increases in diameter towards 
the middle, and the bronchia) nro short and tumid. The 

• Tn* Grey La^g, or Iruo Wild Uootc. 



denticulated lanunro of the sides of the bill are 'similar in 
formation to those of the Amer /Wwi/m, and form thin sharp 
cutting edges, and the manner in which thoy lock within 
each other renders the bill an instrument beautifully adapted 
for vegetable food.* 

In bulk, the bean goose is generally rather less than tho 
grey lagg, and it is, accordingly, sometimes called provin- 
cial!}' the smaH grey goo#c, but it not unfrequently equals 
the other in size and weight 

The head and upper part of tho neck inclino to brown, 
with a grevish tinge, and the feathers of the latter hue are 
so disposed as almost to produce a furrowed appearance. 
The lower parts of tho body are ash-grey, with transverse 
darker shades ; and the back and scapulars are brown, with 
a grey tinge, the feathers being edged with white* Wing- 
coverts grey; secondaries brown, edged and tipped wiili 
white ; primaries grey-black ; rump grey ; upper tail -coverts 
white ; tail brown, with the feathers deeply bordered and 
tipped with white; legs and toes reddish, inclining to 
orange, the intensity of the colour varying according to the 
bird's age. [See Goose.] 

BE AH, GREAT, and LITTLE. [Seo Ursa Major, 
and Minor.] „ '/ 

BEAR (Zoology), the English name {or a family of 
Plantigrades (mammiferous quadrupeds of the carnivorous 
order, which are supported in walking on the entire sole of 
the foot), forming a natural group with six incisor teeih 
and two canine teeth in each jaw, twelve molars in the 
upper and fourteen in the lower jaw; pentadaetyle or five- 
toed feet, armed with strong claws ; and a short tail. The 
bears exhibit but a comparatively small carnivorous de- , 
velopment: for, notwithstanding their strength, their denti- 
tion, particularly in the form of the crowns of their molar 
teeih, indicates a propensity bordering on tho frugivorons 
exclusively; and indeed it appears that, although they are 
omnivorous*, they, for the most part, rarely devour llesh, 
unless pressed by necessity. Their claws, too, tluu^h 
formidable weapons, are not retractile, and are more calcu- 
lated for digging nnd climbing than for tearing prey. It is 
their general characteristic to lay themselves up in caves or 
hollows for the winter, which they pass in a dornrant st.ite, 
and without taking food. The female produces her young 
at this season. 

European Bears, 

^ The Brown Bear, "Aprroc of Aristotle, the Ottrs of the 
French, Orso of the Italians, Bur of the Germans, BJvrn of 
the Swedes, Ursus Arctos (Linn.) This appears to have 
heen the only species certainly known to Linmcus [see 
Polar Bkar]; and though zoologists aro not without 
their suspicions as to some of the species since recorded, the 
number of those which ean no longer be considered doubt- 
ful will prove how much this department of natural history 
has been enriched since his time. The brown bear is 
widely diffused. The mountainous districts of Europe, from 
very high latitudes (Arctic Circle) in the north, to tho Alps 
and Pyrenees in the south ; Siberia, Kamtehatka, and even 
Japan to the eastward, and a portion of the northern regions 
of America, form the range of its geographical distribution. 
Africa and the Moluccas have been added ; but it is far 
from improbable that these localities have been assigned to 
it by travellers who have taken some other species for it. 

To the Kaintehatkans this bear seems to havo given the 
necessaries, and even the comforts of life. The skin, wo 
are told, formed their beds and their coverlets, bonnets for 
jbeir heads, gloves for their hands, and collars for their 
dogs ; while an overall mado of it, and drawn over the soles 
of their shoes, prevented them from slipping on the iee. 
The Jlcsh and fat were their dainties. Of the intestines 
they made' masks, or covers for their faees, to protect them 
from the glaroof the sun in tho spring, and used them as a 

* ArfstuOe well knew thin, and (bus described the habita oftbe bear:— 
'II 0i *Qxrof tretftfrnyt* Irn* xeti yis ««{*-«» trA'u, xai mta^aUn Iwt rd 
ottitet ha, Tit* iygirnrm TtZ *vfi&r*t* xet) r*h( xec^xtvt t*lf yilptwnf. 

V.rJiti o\ xet) jtdA*, ra wp.r t *n x*r*yrj§urm' xeu xa^xlttvs, xa.) f4.v»finxett* 
xmi r*(x*?ayu. x.r.X. lib. \iu.c5. Mint Ibe bear h an omnhoroua nnU 
roal, and by (ho *iipplcmni of it* body climb* tree* nnd rait the (rail* ant 
Mm» leiftwu**. ll nUo devour* honey, having first broken up the hivijt - 
crab*, too, and nnd ll ra(«, and aUo prey* upon fleih.* Ari*lo(le Uicn de' 
icribr* Imju (he animal attacks the •ug, the Soar, ami even the bull. 

. The ran^r in (lie Tomr on tk* Pminrt tiutlce* (he bonevacekln;,' propetutly 
In innguagi'whUh, though not quite clnmdcal. 1* truly nomadic. 4 The bctrt 
U the knuwhifcri varmlnl for finding onl a bcr tn>« in Uh> world, They'll 
pnaw fi»r a day togr(ber a( the lrunk, till lh*y make a hole bl« enoticb In 
gel In (heir pn*a, and then they'll haul oul honey, beet and all* ( r £ su*** 
wfi^www), Sco lha admirable dcacriplioa of a bet hum, p. Cd. 



B E A 



85 



B E A 



substitute for glass, by extending them over their windows. 
Even the shoulder-blades are said to ha^c been put in 
requisition for eutting grass. 

The Laplanders held it in great veneration, and, accord- 
ing to Leems, called it the Dog of God, for it appears, that, 
among the Norwegians, there had long been a proverb, that 
it had tho strength of ten men, and the sense of twelve. 
They never, says the same author, presume to eall it by its 
proper name of Guouzhja, lest it should revenge the insult 
on their flocks, but make mention of it as Moedda-aigja, 
or the old man with a fur-eloak (senem cum mastruea). 

The brown bear is a solitary animal. Its retreat, during 
the period of hybernation, is the natural hollow of a tree, 
or some eavern ; and if these are not to be found, the 
animal constructs a habitation for itself, sometimes by 
digging, sometimes by forming a rude kind of hut or den 
with branches of trees, lined with moss. Here it retires 
when fat with the summer's food, and remains dormant, 
without taking any sustenanee, till the ensuing spring*. 
Cuvicr makes the period of gestation about seven months, 
stating that they eouple in June, and that the birth takes 
plaee in January; and the same number of months is as- 
signed in the artiele in the old French Encyclopedie, taken 
from observations of the bears kept at Berne. The eubs, 
when first born, are not mueh larger than puppies. They 
are long lived, for it appears that one of the Berne bears 
oadbeen confined there one-and-thirty years; and another, 
born there, is spoken of at the age of forty-seven in the 
menagerie at Paris. They are excellent swimmers, not- 
withstanding their uncouth appearance. Mr. Lloyd, in hU 
Field Sports of (he North of Europe, gives a very inte- 
resting account of the habits of this species, and of his ad- 
\eiitures in hunting it. 

That the brown bear was at one time common in the 
British islands there can be no doubt. The Caledonian 
bears (another name for British with the Romans) were 
imported to make sport for the Roman people, to whom 
the excitement of witnessing the suffering of man and 
beast, in its most distressing shape, seems to have been but 
too welcome. From the well-known lines of Martial, de- 
scriptive of the dreadful punishment of the malefactor 
Laureolus, it appears that they were sometimes used as 
instruments of torture. 

Nuda Caledonio sic pectora pnebuit nrso 
Noa falsa pendens in crucu Laureolust* 

Ray quotes authority for the brown bear having been one 
of the Welsh beasts of chase, and Pennant adduces the 
places whieh retained the name of Pennarth, or the Bear's 
Head, as cvideneo that it existed in that principality. In 
the History of the Gordons it is stated that one of that 
family, so late as the year 105 7, was directed by the king to 
carry three bears* heads on his banner, as a reward for his 
valour in slaying a fierce bear in Scotland. 

For many years it has been swept away from our islands 
so completely that we find it imported for ba ting, a sport 
in which our nobility, as well astheeommonalty,of the olden 
time— nay, even royalty itself, delighted. A bear-bait was 
one of the recreations offered to Elizabeth at Kenilworth, 
and in the Karl of Northumberland's Household Book we 
read of 20s. for his bear- ward :— ' Item. My Jxrde usith and 
aecustomvth to gyfo yerly when his Lorushipe is at home 
to his bar-ward, when he comyth to my Lorde in Cristmas 
with his Lordshippc's beests, for makynge of his Lordschip 
pastime, the said xij days, xxs.' In Southwark there was 
a regular bear-garden, that disputed popularity with tho 
Globe and the Swan Theatres on the same side of tho 
water. Now however, so much do tastes alter (in this in- 
stance certainly for the better), such barbarous sports are 
banished from the metropolis J. 

Tho firm support afforded by the well-developed sole of 
the foot enables the bears to rear themselves with eompara- 

* * While upon the "snhject of hybernation, we mnst not omit to notice the 
plug (la Norway termed lhe Tappen), found In the rectnm of fat hybernat- 
ing bean. It appears that if the bear loses this prematurely, it becomes 
intra f^e, and that la the ordinary course of things, the lappen Is not voided 
till the hybernation \* over. 

Dr. Uuekhind possesses ono of these enveloped in the rectum, which was 
presented to him by Mr. Lloyd, whose work Is hereafti-r alluded to, from a 
bear of Mr. Lloyd's own shooting. 

t We are quite aware that some commentators are of opinion that Martial 
1« here speaking of a mimic scene, and th.it the verses which follow those 
nboru quoted are not pen nine; but the expression ' tion fdjii cruce* U pr«tty 
sTrmis; ; and If the rest of the verses are allowed to bo Martial's, there is no 
doubt lhat he here describes a real spectacle. Whichever be the truth, the 
horrible use to which these bears were occasionally put la the arena is but too 
e\ itl^nt, 

% See Stat. 3 W, IV, cap. 19, sec. 23. 



tive faeility on their hind feet ; and this has been taken 
advantage of to teach the* animal to danee in an erect pos- 
ture. The discipline put in force to produee this accom- 
plishment is said to be so severe that it is never forgotten. 
There is a well-known story, introduced with the happiest 
eflfeet in The Bride of Lammermoor> of a terrified gentleman 
who was pursued by a bear. The bear gained on him — 
was close upon him — with the resolution of despair he turned 
upon his pursuer with his uplifted cane, when the enraged 
animal reared itself up, the posture of attaek, and instantly 
began — to shuffle a saraband. 

Baron Cuvier, in his * Ossemens Fossilcs,' distinguished 
the black bear of Europe under the title of Ursus niger 
Europteus, observing that the frontal bone was flattened, 
and that the well-marked depressions and ridges of the 
skull, for the reception of the strong muscles of the lower 
jaw, were evidence of its being more deeidedly earnivorous 
than the brown bear: but, in the last edition of his Regne 
'Animal, he confesses his doubts about the data on whieh he 
had come to this conclusion ; and it is probably a variety 
only. The usual size of the brown bear is about four feet 
in length, by about two feet and a half in height. The 
claws are two inches long, very much eurved and nearly 
equal. The gambols of the individuals kept in the Garden 
of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park are too well 
known to need description. 




[Ursus Arctos.] 

Pyrenean Bear, Ursus Pyre?ia'icus. — F. Cuvier has 
figured the bear of the Pyrenees and of the Asturias, whose 
fur, in its youth, is of a yellowish white eolour. The hair of 
the feet is an intense black. This, it is considered, is only 
a variety, though perhaps a distinct one, of Ursus Arctos. 

American Bears. 

American Black Bear, Ursus Americanus. — Pallas first 
described this species (tho S ass of the Chippewayan Indians, 




[Crsu* Araciicanus.1 



D E A 



80 



BEA 



and tho Musnuaw of the Creci), whose general proportions 
arc imallcr than those of Ursus Arctos. Tbe head of tho 
American black bear is narrower, tho ears more distant, and 
tho innzzlo moro prominent, and it wants the depression 
above the eyes. Tno fur is composed of soft smooth hairs, 
which arc of a glossy black for tho greater part of ihcir 
length, instead of possessing the shaggy and woolly charac- 
ter of tbe comparatively priizlcd fur of the brown bear, ex- 
cept on the muzzlo, which Is clothed with short thickset 
hairs, brown on the upper part and paler on the side. The 
tail is apparently moro prominent, and the sharper and moro 
curved claws are nearly hidden In the hair. 

•The Mack bear/ says Dr. Richardson, ' inhabits every 
wooded district of the American continent from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, and from Carolina to the shores of the Arctic 
Sea.' A friend informs us that it still jeecurs, though not 
very often, in the Blue Uidgc, in Virginia. Other authori- 
ties place its southern boundary at tho Isthmus of Panama. 
Man has, however, gradually driven it from its haunts to 
raako way for his works, and has compelled it to take refuge 
in the mountains and tbe iminenso inland forests. In Ca- 
nada it is still abundant, and it is tolerably numerous on 
the western coast as far as California, Dr. Richardson 
gives the following interesting account of this species : — 

* Tho black bear is smaller than the other American bears 
which we have to describe, tho total length of an adult 
seldom exceeding five feet. Its favourite food appears to be 
berries of vaiious kinds, but when these are not to bo pro- 
cured it preys upon roots, insects, fish, eggs, and such birds 
or quadrupeds as it can surprise. It docs not eat animal 
food from choice; for when it has abundance of its favourite 
vegetable diet, it will pass the carcass of a deer without 
touching it. It is rather a timid animal, and will seldom 
face a man unless it is wounded, or has its retreat cut off, 
or is urged by affection to defend its young. In such cases 
its strength renders it a dangerous assailant. I have known 
tbe female confront her enemy boldly until she had seen 
her cubs attain the upper branches of a tree, when she made 
off, evidently considering them to be in safety, hut in fact 
leaving them an easy prey to tho hunter. The speed of tho 
black bear when in pursuit Is said not to be very great, and 
I bavo beon told that a man may escape from it, particu- 
larly if he runs into a willow grove or amongst loose grass ; 
for tbe caution of the bear obliges it to stop frequently, and 
rise on its hind legs for the purpose of reconnoitring. I 
have, however, seen a black bear make off with a speed that 
would have bafllcd the fleetest runner, and ascend a nearly 
perpendicular cliff with a facility that a cat might envy. 
This bear, when resident in the fur countries, almost inva- 
riably hibernates, and about 1000 skins are annually pro- 
cured by the Hudson's Bay Company, frcm black bears 
destroyed in their winter retreats. It generally selects a 
spot for its den under a fallen tree, and, having scratched 
away a portion of the soil, retires to it at the commencement 
of a snow-storm, when the snow soon furnishes it with a 
close, warm covering. Its breath makes a small opening 
in the den, and the quantity of hoar frost which occasionally 
gathers round the aperture serves to betray its retreat to the 
hunter. In more southern districts, where the timber is of 
a larger size, bears often shelter themselves In hollow trees. 
Tho Indians remark that a bear never retires to its den for 
the winter until it has acquired a thick coat of fat ; and it 
is remarkable that when it comes abroad in the spring it is 
equally fat, though in a few days^ thereafter It becomes very 
lean. The period of the retreat of tho bears is gcncrallv 
about the tima when the snow begins to lie on the ground, 
pnd they do noc come abroad again until the greater part of 
the snow is gone. At both these- periods they can procure 
many kinds of borrics in considerable abundance. In lati- 
tude 65° their winter repose lasts from the beginning of 
October to tho first or second week of May ; but on tbe 
northern shores of l^ako Huron the period is from two to 
three months shorter. In very severe winters great numbers 
of bears have been observed to enter tho United States from 
tho northward. On these occasions they were very lean, 
and almost all males: the few females which accompanied 
them wcro not with young. Tho remark of tho natives 
above-mentioned, that the fat hears alone hibernate, ex- 
plains tho cau*c of these migrations. The black bears in 
tho northern districts couple in September, when they are 
in good condition from feeding on the berries then in ma- 
turity. The females retire at once to their dens, and conceal 
themselves so carefully, that even tho lynccan eye of an 



Indian hunter very rarely detects them ; but the males, ex- 
hausted by tho pursuit of Hie females, require ten or twelve 
days to recover their lost fat Au unusually early winter 
will, it is evident, operate most severely on the males, by 
preventing them from fattening a second time: henco their 
migration at such times to moro southern districts. It is 
not, however, true that the black bears generally abandon 
tho northern districts on the approach of winter, as has been 
asserted, the quantity of bear skins procured during that 
season in all parts of the fur countries being a sutlident 
proof to tho contrary. The females bring forth about the 
middle of January; and it is probablo that the period oi 
their gestation is about fifteen or sixteen weeks, but 1 belicvo 
it has not been precisely ascertained. The number of cubs 
varies from ono to five, probably with the age of the mother, 
and they begin to bear long before they attain their full 
size.* 

It will be observed that me period of gestation attributed 
to the brown bear is seven months. Cuvicr says that they 
couplo in June, and produce their young in January. Six- 
teen weeks is the probable time allotted to the American 
black bear for the same purpose by Dr. Richardson, who had 
the best opportunities of collecting evidence on the subject 
Tho bears kept in the fosse at Berne furnished the proof of 
gestation for seven months ; but it is so characteristic of 
the family for the females to conceal themselves, that, in a 
state of nature, little evidence to bo depended upon for its 
accuracy can be obtained. * No man/ according to Brickell, 
1 cither Christian or Indian, ever killed a she-bear with 
young;* and Dr. Richardson's numerous inquiries among 
the Indians of Hudson's Bay ended in the discovery of only 
one hunter who had killed a pregnant bear. The same ob- 
servation was long ago made by Aristotle, for he says, in 
chap. XXX. book vi., Kvovcav ?l apxrov tpyov fori Xa/3t7r, 
1 it is difficult to capturo a pregnant bear;* and again, in 
chap. xvii. book viii., Kvovtra o^picroe, »} iV*oi>£u-oc, »/ xarv 
in' 6\iyuv tTXr/xrai, * but a pregnant bear has never been 
taken by anybody, or at least by very few;* and this ac- 
counts for his own error, for he makes the period of gesta- 
tion only thirty days. Mr. Lloyd, in his Field-SjHtrts of 
the North of iturope, states that he was present at tho 
dcatb and dissection of one {Ursus Arctos) which had a cub 
in her womb, she having previously produced three, and he 
relates other instances, but they arc very rare. 

Upon the whole, though the American black bear maybe 
considered a well-defined species, distinct from the brown 
bear (Ursus Arctos), it is not very probablo that, in two 
species so nearly allied, the period of gestation should be 
only sixteen weeks in the one instance, wliilc it is seven 
months in the other. Cuvier says that the American 
black bears produced young in the Paris menagcrio: the 
young were of a uniform bright ash colour, and without a 
collar. 

The value attached to the skin of the black hear, a value 
very much decreased, for the skin that once fetched from 
twenty to forty guineas is now hardly worth more than from 
twenty to sixty shillings*, and the high esteem in which 
the Indians held their llcsh, caused great havock among 
them. The importation into England in 1783 amounted to 
10,500 skins, and ascended gradually to *25,000 in 1803, 
since which time there has been a considerable decline. 
That an animal from which the wild Indian derived so much 
benefit, an animal, moreover, particularly to be dreaded in 
the perilous hour of the chase, and when encountered un- 
expectedly, should be the subject of much attention, or the 
parent of particular customs, and the object of great super- 
stitious regard, was to bo expected. Accordingly we find 
that, as the New Hollanders have their kangaroo dance and 
dog dance, the Indians had their bear dance. 

The limits of a work of this naturo will not permit us to 
go at large into the subject of bear hunting, and the cere- 
monies which accompanied it among the different tribes, 
but, as it may be expected that something should be said 
on the subject, we select the account of an eye-witness, who 
visited the fur countries soon after Canada had yielded to 
Great Britain. Alexander Henry thus writes in* his Tra- 
vels, whilst at AVa\vatam*s wintering ground near Lake 
Michigan: — 

' In the course of the month of January I happened to 
observe that the trunk of a very large pine-tree was much 
torn by the claws of a bear, mado both in going up and 

• Tlw riflail price of an American Mack bcar'i ikin la London, nt prcicot 
(iprlng of 1833), U from uno lo lbree gxitiicu, 



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down. On farther examination I saw that there was a large 
opening in the upper part, near which the smaller branches 
were broken. FVom these marks, and from the additional 
circumstance that there were no tracks in the snow, there 
was reason to believe that a bear lay concealed in the tree. 
On returning to the lodge I communicated my discovery ; 
and it was agreed that all the family should go together in 
the morning to assist in cutting down the tree, the girth of 
which was not less than three fathoms. The women at 
first opposed tho undertaking, because our axes, being only 
of a pound and a half weight, were not well adapted to so 
heavy a labour; but the hope of finding a large bear, and 
obtaining from its fat a great quantity of oil, an article at 
the time much wanted, at length prevailed. Accordingly, 
in the morning we surrounded the tree, both men and 
women, as many at a time as could conveniently work at it; 
and there we toiled like beavers till the sun went down. 
This day's work carried us about half-way through the 
trunk ; and the next morning we renewed the attack, con- 
tinuing it till about two o'clock in the afternoon, when the 
tree fell to the ground. For a few minutes everything re- 
mained quiet, and I feared that all our expectations would 
be disappointed ; but as I advanced to the opening there 
eame out, to the great satisfaction of all our party, a bear of 
extraordinary size, whieh I shot. The bear being dead all 
my assistants approached, and all, but particularly my old 
mother (as I was wont to call her), took the head in their 
hands, stroking and kissing it several times ; begging a 
thousand pardons for taking away her life; calling her 
their relation and grandmother ; and requesting her not to 
lay the fault upon them, sinee it was truly an Englishman 
that had put her to death. This ceremony was not of long 
duration, and if it was I that killed their grandmother, they 
were not themselves behindhand in what remained to be 
performed. Tho skin being taken off we found the fat in 
several places six inches deep. This, being divided into 
two parts, loaded two persons ; and tho ilesh parts were as 
much as four persons could carry. In all, the carcass must 
have exceeded five cwt. As soon as we reaehcd the lodge, 
tho bear's head was adorned with all tho trinkets in the 
possession of the family, sueh as silver arm-bands, and 
wrist-bands, and belts of wampum ; and then laid upon a 
scaffold set up for its reception within the lodge. Near the 
nose was plaeed a large quantity of tobacco. The next 
morning no sooner appeared than preparations were mado 
for a feast to the manes. The lodge was cleaned and swept ; 
and the head of the bear lifted up, and a new Stroud blanket 
whieh had never boon used beforo spread under it. The 
pipes were now lit ; and Wasvatam blew tobacco-smoke into 
the nostrils of the bear, telling me to do tho same, and thus 
appcaso tho anger of tho bear on account of my having 
killed her. I endeavoured to persuade my benefactor and 
friendly adviser that she no longer had any life, and assured 
him that I was under no apprehension from her displeasure ; 
but tho first proposition obtained no credit, and the second 
gave but little satisfaction. At length tho feast being 
ready, Wawatam mado a speech resembling, in many 
things, his address to the manes of his relations and de- 
parted companions ; but having this peculiarity, that he hero 
deplored the necessity under which men laboured thus to 
destroy tbeir friends. He represented, however, that the 
misfortune was unavoidable, sinee without doing so thoy 
could by no means subsist. The speech ended, we all ata 
heartily of tho bear's ilesh ; and even the head itself, after 
remaining three days on the scaffold, was put into tho 
kettle. It is only the female bear that makes her winter 
lodging in the upper parts of trees, a practice by which her 
young are secured from the attacks of wolves and other 
animals. She brings forth in the winter season, and re- 
mains in her lodge till tho cubs have gained some strength. 
The male always lodges in the ground, under the roots of 
trees. He takes to his habitation as soon as the snow 
falls, and remains there till it ha3 disappeared. The In- 
dians remark that tho bear cornea out in tho spring with 
tho same fat which he carries in in the autumn ; but after 
tho exerciso of only a few days becomes lean. Except- 
ing for a short part of the season tho male lives constantly 
alone/ 

The following aro considered to bo varieties of this spe- 
cies, whieh is almost equal to the polar bear in Its powers of 
swimming, and is said to be very fond of fish : — 

The Cinnamon Bear, which, with the blaek variety, may 
bo seen in the Zoological Garden at the Regent's Park. 



The Yellow Bear of Carolina, a speeimen of which was 
in the Tower of London in 1 788, and is figured by Catton. 

The Ours Gulaire of Geoffroy, with a white throat. Tho 
white markings on the throat of Geoffroy's bear are, perhaps, 
as Dr. Richardson observes, analogous to the white collar 
which many of the European brown bears exhibit when 
young; and the Doctor cites Cartwright to show that the 
cubs of the black bear on the Labrador coast are often 
marked with white rings round the neck ; and Pennant, to 
prove the same as to the bears of Hudson's Bay. An Ame- 
rican blaek bear was kept for some time in the Tower of 
London in the same den with a hyama. They agreed very 
well together except at meals, when the hyama, though 
raueh the smallest, was generally master; 'and the bear,* 
says Mr. Bennett, * would moan most piteously, and in a 
tone somewhat resembling the bleating of a sheep, while 
his companion quietly consumed the remainder of his 
dinner.' 1 

The Spectacled Bear, Ursus Ornatus of F. Cuvier, inha- 
bits the Cordilleras of tho Andes in Chili. Its fur is smooth, 
shining, and blaek, with the following exceptions : — Its short 
muzzle is of a dirty yellow, or buff colour, and there are two 
semicireular marks of the same hue, reminding the ob- 
server of a pair of spectacles above the eyes ; the under 
parts of the throat and neck and the upper part of the breast 
are whitish. This species, whieh may be now seen at the 
Garden of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, is 
about three feet and a half in length. 

Sir R. Ker Porter describes a bear brought from the 
Andes and living at Caracas in 1 833 somewhat differing in 
its markings from the ordinary individuals of Ursus orwa- 
tus; but it is probably only a variety. (Seo Proceedings of 
the Zoological Society, part i. p. 114.) 




[Ursus oroalm.) 

Beforo wo proceed to tho consideration of the true grizzly 
bear, we must notice the 

Barren-ground Bear, — ThU, which appears to be the 
grizzly bear of Hearne, aftd the brown bear, variety B 9 
grizzly of Pennant, was stated by Dr. Riehardson to bo the 
prown variety of Ursus Americanus; but, in the Fauna 
Boreali'Americafia f he correets himself, and seems in- 
clined to consider it a variety of the brown bear (Ursus 
Arctos). 

* From the inquiries I made/ writes tho Doctor in tho 
last-mentioned work, * throughout the woody country from 
Lake Superior to Great Slave Lake, being 10° of latitude, 
I learnt that the natives of those districts are acquainted 
with only two speeies of land bear, viz., the common black 
bear, including the cinnamon-coloured and other varieties, 
and the grisly bear, which is confined to the lofty chain of 
the Rocky Mountains, and tho extensive plains that skirt 
thoir bases. The barren lands, however, lying to the north- 
ward and eastward of Great Slave Lake, and extending to 
tho Arctic Sea, are frequented by a species of bear which 
differs from the Ameriean black bear in its greater size, 
profile, physiognomy, larger soles, and tail ; and from the 
grisly bear, also, in colour, and the comparative smallness 



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of its claws. Its greatest affinity is with the brown bear of 
Norway ; but its identity with that species has not been 
established by actual comparison. It frequents the sea- 
coast in autumn in considerable numbers, lor the purpose 
of feeding on fish. The general colour of this bear is a 
dusky, or sometimes yellowish-brown, but the shoulders and 
Hank's arc, in the summer season at least, covered with long 
hair, which is frequently very palo towards the tips. The 
Indians and their interpreters, who are not very precise in 
their application of the few terms they have to express va- 
rieties of colour, often denominate them "white bears." ' 

Those arc, not improbably, the 'silver bears* {silber-biir 
of the Germans), which Pennant considers to be the samo 
as those which inhabit the north of Europe, though he de- 
scribes them as a variety of the American black bear. 

Dr. Richardson says that the barren-ground bear docs 
not possess the boldness of the true gritdv bear ( Ursus/rrox), 
as ull the individuals seen by his party lice) at once. He says 
that it resorts to the coast of the Arctic Sea in the month of 
August, and that it preys indiscriminately upon animal and 
vegetable food. 

To an eminence which had been much ploughed up by 
the bears in quest of Arctomys Parryi (Parry's marmot), 
termed by Hearno ' ground hog/ according to the same 
author, liearne gave the name of Grizzle-Hear Hill; and 
in the stomach of one of these bears which he opened the 
Doctor found tho remains of a seal, a marmot, a large quan- 
tity of the long, sweet roots of some astra gali nnd hedysara, 
together with somo berries, and a little grass. Many long, 
white worms adhered to the interior of the stomach. Ilo 
also observes that the tail of the barren- ground bear is 
longer than that of the black bear, which is conspicuous 
nough. 

Subgenus Dams. 

The Grisly or Grizzly Bear. Ursus (Danis) ferox. — 
Cuvier, in the last edition of his ' Regno Animal,' expresses 
a doubt as to the specific distinction of this formidable bear. 
• II n'est pas encore bien prouve* pour nous que Tours ccndrG, 
Tours terrible de TAraerique Scptentrionale, soit different, 
par Tespece, de Tours brun d'Europe,' says the note ap- 
pended to Ursus ArctJs; and the species is not mentioned 
among the others recorded in the work. This is certainly 
great authority, but it is more than balanced ; and with all 
due submission to so great a name, an examination of the 
animal will prove it to be as strongly defined a species as 
any which Cuvier has himself admitted. These differences 
indeed are so well marked, as to have induced Mr. Gray to 
separate it from its congeners as a subgenus. 




[Urtai ferox.] 

The Grizzle Bear of Umfrevillc, Grmy Bear of Mac- 
kenzio, Grizzly Bear of Warden, Ursut cinereus of l>es- 
inarcst, Ursus horribilit of Say, Meesheh Musquaw or Mce* 
chce Musquaw of the Cree Indians, llohhost of the Chopun- 
nish Indians, and Ursus ferox (Lewis and Clarke who first 
accurately described the animal, calling it often ' White 
Bear), is nearly double the hizo of the black bear. Lewis and 



Clarke givo the measurement of one as nine feet from nose 
to tail, and state that they had seen one of larger dimensions. 
Eight hundred pounds is reported to be the weight to which 
it attains. The length of tho fore-foot in ono of those mea- 
sured by tho travellers above Quoted is given as exceeding 
nine inches, that of the hind-foot at eleven and three-quar- 
ters without the talons, and the breadth seven inches. Tho 
claws of the fore-feet, which aro a good deal longer and less 
curved than those of the hind-feet, measured in another in- 
dividual more than six inches* This part of its organization 
is well adapted for digging, but not for climbing, and tho 
adult grisly bear is said not to ascend trees. The muzzle is 
lengthened, narrowed, and flattened, and the canine teeth 
are highly developed, exhibiting a great increase of size and 
power. The tail is very small, and so entirely lost in tho 
hair which covers tho buttocks, that it is a standing joke 
among the Indian hunters, as Dr. Richardson observes, 
when they have killed a grisly bear, to desire any one un- 
acquainted with the animal to take hold of its tail. The 
fur, or rather hair is abundant, long, and varying through 
most of the intermediate gradations between grey and 
blackish brown, which last is prevalent and more or less 
grizzled. On the muzzle it is pale and short, on the legs 
it is darker and coarser. The eyes are small and rather 
sunk in the head. 

Unwieldy as this animal appears, it is capable of great 
rapidity of motion, and its strength is overpowering. The 
bison contends in vain with the grisly bear. The conqueror 
drags the enormous carcase (weighing about one thousand 
pounds) to a chosen plaee, digs a pit for its reception, and 
repairs to it till the exhausted store compels hiin to renew 
the chase. And yet he will be satisfied with fruits and 
roots; and on his diet depends the aggravated or mitigated 
ferocity of his disposition. The bears on the western side 
of the Rocky Mountains, which feed for the most part on a 
vcgetablo diet, arc mild, when compared with those of the 
eastern side, whose appetite for blood is whetted by tho 
abundant supply of animal food which is there offered to 
them. Tho accounts given of the tenacity with which the 
grisly bear clings to life would be almost beyond belief, 
were they not related by witnesses worthy of all credit. It is 
recorded, that one whose lungs had been pierced with five 
balls, and whose body was suffering under five other 
wounds, swain a considerable distance to a sand-bar in the 
river, and survived twenty minutes;— that another, shot 
through the centre of the lungs, pursued for half a mile tho 
hunter by whom the wound was given, then returned more 
than twice that distanco, dug a bed for itself in the earth, 
two feet in depth and tivc feet in length, and was appa- 
rently in full life at least two hours after the shot was 
fired ; — and that a third, though shot through the heart with- 
in twenty paces, as he was rushing on the hunter, fell indeed, 
but got up again. 4 We then,' say the travellers, * followed 
him one hundred yards and found that the wound had been 
mortal/ These, and many other instances arc recorded hy 
Lewis and Clarke. 

Numerous, indeed, and interesting arc the relations of 
contests with this ferocious animal. The following narra- 
tive by Dr. Richardson is selected, as being comparatively 
modem, and throwing some light on its habits. 'A party 
of voyagers, who had been employed all day in tracking a 
canoe up the Saskatchewan, had seated themselves in tho 
twilight by a fire, and were busy in preparing their supper 
when a large grisly bear sprang over tho canoe that was 
tilted behind them, and seizing one of the party bv the 
shoulder, carried him off. Tho rest fled in terror, with tho 
exception of a mctif, named Bourasso, who, grasping his 
gun, followed the bear as it was retreating leisurely with its 
prey, He called to his unfortunate comrade, that he was 
afraid of hitting him if he fired at the bear, but tho latter 
entreated hiin to fire immediately, without hesitation, as 
tho bear was squeezing him to death. On this he took a 
deliberate aim, and discharged his piece into tho body of 
the bear, who instantly dropped its prey to pursue Bourasso. 
lie escaped with difficulty, and the bear ultimately retreated 
to a thicket, where it was supposed to have died; but tho 
curiosity of the party not being a match for their fears, the 
fact of its decease was not ascertained. The man who was 
rescued had his arm fractured, and was otherwise severely 
bitten, but finally recovered. I have seen Bourasso, and 
can add, that the account which he gives is fully credited 
by tho traders resident in that part of the country, who arc 
best qualified to judge of its truth from their knowledge of 



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the parties. I have been told that there is a man now 
living in the neighbourhood of Edmonton-house, who was 
attacked by a grisly bear, which sprang out of a thicket, 
and with one stroke of its paw completely scalped hira, lay- 
ing bare the skull, and bringing the skin of the forehead 
down over the eyes. Assistance coming up, the bear made 
off without doing him further injury, but the scalp not being 
replaced, the poor man has lost his sight, although he 
thinks his eyes are uninjured. Mr. Drummond, in his ex- 
cursions over the Rocky Mountains, had frequent opportu- 
nities of observing the manners of the grisly bears, and it 
often happened that in turning the point of a rock or sharp 
angle of a valley, he came suddenly upon one or more of them. 
On such occasions they reared on their hind legs, and made 
a loud noise like a person breathing quick, but much 
harsher. He kept his ground, without attempting to molest 
them ; and they on their part, after attentively regarding 
him for some time, generally wheeled round and galloped 
off; though, from their known disposition, there is little 
doubt but he would have been torn in pieces, had he lost 
his presence of mind and attempted to fly. When he dis- 
covered them from a distance, he generally frightened them 
away by beating on a large tin-box, in which he carried his 
specimens of plants. He never saw more than four toge- 
ther, and two of these he supposes to have been eubs ; he 
more often met them singly, or in pairs. He was only 
once attacked, and then by a female, for the purpose of 
allowing her eubs to escape. His gun on this occasion 
missed fire, but he kept her at bay with the stock of it, 
until some gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company, with 
whom he was travelling at the time, eame up and drove her 
off. In the latter end of June, 1826, he observed a male 
caressing a female, and soon afterwards they both eame 
towards nim, but whether accidentally, or for the purpose of 
attacking hiin, he was uncertain. He aseended a tree, and 
as the female drew near, fired at and mortally wounded her. 
She uttered a few loud screams, which threw the male into 
a furious rage, and he reared up against the trunk of the 
tree in which Mr. Drummond was seated, but never at- 
tempted to ascend it. ,The female, iu the meanwhile re- 
tiring to a short distance, lay dowu, and as the male was 
proceeding to join her, Mr. Drummond shot him also. 
From the size of their teeth aud elaws, he judged them to 
be about four years old. The eubs of a grisly bear can 
eliinb trees, but when the animal is fully grown it is un- 
able to do so, as the Indians report, from the form of its 
claws.* 

The Rocky Mountains, and the plains to the eastward of 
them, particularly, according to Mr. Drummond, the dis- 
tricts which' are interspersed with open prairies and grassy 
hills, are the chief haunts of the grisly bears. To the 
north they have been observed as far as 61° of latitude, and 
it is supposed that they are to be found still farther. To the 
south it is said that they extend as far as Mexico. The 
eubs and the pregnant females hybernate, but the older 
males often eome abroad for food during winter. The fol- 
lowing dimensions have been given of a den or winter re- 
treat, — ten feet in width, five feet in height, and six feet in 
length. 

The fine grisly bear now in the Garden of the Zoological 
Society in the Regent's Park was presented to George III. 
by the Hudson's Bay Company, and was long a resident in 
the Tower under the name of Martin, and latterly of Old 
Martin. His present Majesty William IV. graciously pre- 
sented it to the Zoological Society with the rest of the royal 
collection. 

The brown hear mentioned by Pennant, on the anthority 
of Condamine and Ulloa, as an inhabitant of the Peruvian 
Andes, must not be forgotten ; but it is not known whether 
it belongs to this species. Cuvier thinks that the Peruvian 
bears of Acosta and Gareilasso may have been the great 
ant hears (Myrmecophaga). It is not impossible that 
these Peruvian bears may haye been Spectacled Bears (Ur- 
sus trnatus). 

Asiatic Bears. 

The Siberian Bear, Ursus collaris of F. Cuvier, ap- 
proaches closely to the brown bear {Ursus Arctos). The 
hair in quality and colour is much the same with that of the 
brown hear, with the distinction of a large white collar 
which passes over the upper part of the back and the 
shoulders, and is completed upon the breast. It is not im- 
probable that this may he a variety of the brown bear. 




{X'rsns cmlari J] 

Thibet Bear. — M. Duvaucel discovered this species, C/r- 
sus Thibet anus of F. Cuvier, in the mountains of Svlhet, 
and Dr. Wallich found it in those of Nepaul. The Thibet 
bear has the neck remarkably thick, and the head flat- 
tened, the forehead and muzzle forming almost a straight 
line. The ears are of a large size. Its clumsy limbs sup- 
port a compact body, and the claws are comparatively weak. 
Its general colour is black ; but the lower lip is white, and 
there is a large mark of the same colour, somewhat in the 
form of the letter Y, supposing the stem of the letter to bo 
placed in the middle of the breast, and the forks to pass up 
in front of the shoulders. In bulk it is about intermediate 
l>etween the sloth hear (Prochilus labiatus) and the Ma- 
layan bear (Ursus Malayanus). Mr. Bennett, in his Tower 
Menagerie, gives a figure and description of one which was 
brought from Sumatra, and eould not be prevailed on to 
touch flesh either raw or cooked, bread and fruits forming 
his only food. In his disposition he was moderately tame, 
and particularly fond of play. 




[L'rsus Thibctauus,] 

Isabella-coloured Bear, Ursus Isabellinus. — Dr, Hors- 
field has described- this species in the Transactions of the 
Linncean S defy, from a skin forwarded from the mountains 
of Nepanl. Tlie skull had been removed, but the front 
teeth in both jaws and the elaws remained. 

1 Our animal/ says Dr. Horsfield, ' is of a habit decidedly 
different from that of several species of Ursus from the 
same part of the world, which have been recently added to 
the systematic catalogues, namely, the Ursus Thibetanus, 
the Ursus labiatus, and the Ursus Malayanus, All these 
have a jet-black fur, a semilunar mark of a white colour on 
the breast, and other peculiarities affording types of sub- 
genera, among which Prochilus and Helarctos have bcert 
defined. Our animal, on the contrary, appears to resemble 



No. 21G. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



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the European bears in its structure, as far at least as can 
be determined from the parts which have been preserved in 
the specimen. Among these, the claws afford the best 
means of comparison : they are small, ehtuse, and straight, 
whilo those of tho Asiatic bears above mentioned are large, 
strongly curved, acute, and fitted for climbing.* 

The Syria* Dear, Ursus Syriaeus. — The she-bears which 
came out of the wood, ' and tare forty and two* of the mockers 
of Elisha (2 Kmg* ii. 23. et s*q.), are probably the first 
bears on record. These bears of Syria may be occasionally 
traced in subsequent history. Thus Matthew Paris, in 
)iis England, relates how Godfrey (Dux Gods/rid us)* as he 
was riding for recreation in a neighbouring wood daring the 
siege of Antioch {Antiochiam minorcm), saw a poor stranger, 
vrho was loaded with a bundle of dry wood, fleeing from an 
enraged bear, whereupon Godfrey gallantly went to the 
rescue, and the bear turning nport him he was unhorsed, 
the horse being wounded by the bear, and foujjht on foot, 
when, after a severe struggle, in wbira be received a nsost 
dangerous wound (vulnus fore fctiferum), he buried his 
sword up to the hilt in his savage adversary, and killed him. 
The historian, in continuation, relates the great joy of the 
army at Godfrey's recovery. (Hist, of Engtana\\oxa. ii, 
p. 34, foliOj-Loncfon, 1640.) 




[Ursus Syriacus.J 

Ilasselquist makes no mention of a bear in his catalogue 
of the animals given in his travels in the Levant, in the 
years 1749, J 750, 1751, and 1752; but Sectzen, some twenty 
years ago. was informed in the country that bears existed in 
the mountains of Palestine. 

Hemprich and Ehrenberg, in the Symbola Physica*, have 
given a figure (here copied) and a doscription of a femalo 
Killed near Bischerre in Syria. The following is the sub- 
stance of the description. 

Bear, of a uniform fulvous white (sometimes variegated 
vrith fulvous) ; cars elongated; forehead but slightly arched ; 
fur woolly beneath, with long straight, or but slightly curled, 
hair externally ; a stiff mane of erected hairs (about four 
inches long) between tho shoulders. 

The individual killed was neither young nor old, and 
measured, from the nose to the tip of the tail, about four feet 
two, the tail being six inches. Nothing was found in the 
stomach, nor were any entosoa (internal worms) discovered. 
Tbey saw her den (where there was much bear's dung), 
formed by great fragments of calcareous rock, that appeared 
to have been casually thrown together. They ate of tho 
flesh, which they found sapid, but the liver was sweet and 
nauseous. Tho gall appears to bo in great esteem ; the 
skims aro sold; and so is the dung, under the name of Bar 
cd dub, tho latter being used as a medicine for diseases of 
the eye in Syria and Egypt. 

Mount Lebanon is crowned with two snowy summits, one 
railed Gcbel Sarvm, the other Makmcl, both of which the 
traveller* visited ; but there arc no bears, except upon Mount 
Makmel, near the village of Bischerre, to the gardens of 
which they are said to wander hi winter; but in tho sum- 
pier they remain in tho neighbourhood of tho snow. 
, Tho Syrian bear frequently {non raro) preys on animals, 



but for the most part feeds on vegetables. The fields of 
deer arietinus (a kind ef chick-pea), and other crops near 
the snowy region, are often hid waste by it. 

The skin is sometimes fulvous brown, and, as has been 
stated, sometimes fulvous white, varied with fulvous spots. 
These changes aro supposed to have been occasioned by the 
abrasion of tho long Lair, whereby tho woolly fur beneath 
and that of the head become exposed. 

In the British Museum is a yellowish l>ear presented by 
the Royal College of Surgeons, which has some points ol 
resemblanco with Ehrenberg' s description ; but it is an 
albino variety of the brown bear (Ursus Arcfot), and came 
from Russia. 

Those who are familiar with Athenscus will remember 
the description of the procession of Ptolemy Philadclphus 
(lib, v. p. 201, Casaub.) at Alexandria, in which one great 
white bear (aprroc /dv \ivk% fuyakij /a'a) makes a con- 
spicuous figure. Some, and among them Baron Cuvier, 
have thought that this was the Ursus maritimus. Ehren- 
berg thus writes upon this point, after referring to the 
opinion of Cuvier: — * But smco it is evident from Prosper 
Alpinus, that white bears, of the size of a sheep (tame if 
yon will) were known in the land of the Arabians and in 
Egypt, I would rather believe that Ptolemy's bear was dis- 
tinguished far its size (as it is written) than distinct in 
species. There is scarce room for hesitating to refer aH 
those evidences of bears seen in Egypt to our Syrian bear.' 
To this we can add that, in Roscllinfs work (plate M. C. 
No. 22) there is a representation of two men together,— one, 
a red man with a red beard and long black hair with a fillcf, 
clad in a white tunic or frock bordered with blue awl red 
stripes and with blue tassels at the neck, supports on the 
left shoulder a package nearly square, pinkish, and spotted 
with blue, and holds in the right hand a red vase. His 
companion, of the same colour, dressed in the same way, 
but with the fore-part of his head apparently shaven or 
covered with a cap of the same colour as the skin (the hinder 
part with the black hair cut close), carries on his left shoul- 
der two elephants' tusks, and with his right hand leads a 
large yellowish bear, high in tho withers and with a red 
collar. 

In the same plate, and immediately before the bear- 
leaders, is a dark-brown man, naked all but the cincture 
(which is white patched with red loopard-like spots), a white 
collar round his neck with a red centre-piece, and white 
wristbands, lie has no beard : his head is covered by a 
close skull-cap spotted with black: on his left shoulder he 
bears a log (ebony ?), and with his right hand leads a leo- 
pard or panther. 

There are also two men conducting a giraffe with a monkey 
climbing up its neck ; and there is an elephant with its 
keeper, and a lion without any guardian. 

The bear figured in llosellini is led apparently in a pro- 
cession, and Ptolemy's pompa occurs immediately to the 
observer; but the modern opinion would refer theso figures 
to a date long prior to the Greek occupation of Egypt. If 
this opinion be correct (and it is considered the better one), 
Roscllini's plato eannot relate to Ptolemy's poinpa. 

Subgenus Prochilus. 

Labiated Bear, or Sloth Bear, Ursus (Prochilus) Labia- 
tus.— llliger, it is true, founded this genus on imperfect 
materials, for the individual which led him to separate it 
had lost its incisor teetb, a loss to which it is said the 
species is very subject*. M. de Blainville proved that it was 
a species of bear; and we think that, though llliger s de- 
scription, from the cause above alluded to, was incorrect, his 
name is expressively characteristic nf one of the subdivisions 
of this family, and should be retained. 

The uncouth animal, on its arrival in Europe some forty- 
five years ago, was taken for a sloth, and obtained the name 
of Bradypus pentadaeiylus and Ursimts, * Fivo-fingcred 
Sloth, Sloth Bear, or Ursine Sloth.' By the two last names 
it is, or very lately was, shown in menageries ;• and Bewick 
gave an excellent portrait of it in his Quadrupeds, as ' an 
animal which has hitherto escaped the attention of natu- 

• In the procerdmp* of lhe Zoological Society for 1839-183), (l In stated,, 
lhat, in Um skulls of many Individuals of lhit *pccfr* which he examined, 
Major Sykcs bad never teen more than four Ineisor lrelh In lhe opner and six 
fu flic timer Jaw ; llio two centre IrcOi standing a little fn front otitic line of 
the rett One Individual, then fn hU potwuiion, was to young, thai he did 
ool conceive thai lhe deficient ltwdaort could have f.dlen out ; nor was there 
any appearance of dentition having existed In the plares which lltey should 
have * wen pied. He considered, llirrtftire, lhat it mlghl \te deemed ndvisabls 
to remove lb.ii animal from the fenus (/mm; Uui w* cannot ■free with him * 



Sea 



sr 



BEif 



ralists.* Meyer called it a Metursus; and Fischer a Ckon- 
drorhynchus* It is the Bradypus ursinus of Shaw, though 
it bears no relation to the true sloths either in structure or 
habits ; the Ursus labiatus of M. Blainville ; and the Ursus 
longirostris of Tiedemann ; the Ours paresseux, and Ours 
jongleur of the French, and Aswail of the Mahrattas. The 
short limbs, the depressed air of the head, surmounted by 
the hillock of a back, and the whole contour of the ap- 
parently unwieldy mass, give the idea of deformity, and 
make it a favourite with tbe Indian mountebanks or jug- 
glers, who rely on the attraction of its ugliness. 




[Ursus (Prochilus) labinlus.? 

The cartilage ©f the nose is capable of extension, and the 
lips of considerable protrusion, as may be seen if the spec- 
tator bold a morsel of fruit or biscuit at a proper distance 
ibr exciting the animal to exert this faculty. The muzzle is 
elongated, and, with the ends of the feet, is whitish or yel- 
iowuh. The forehead rises almost abruptly from the muzzle. 
The fur, with the exceptions above noticed and that next 
mentioned, is deep Uack, wfrh bore a-ml there some hrown 
spots, and is rather long, particularly roand tlie head iu old 
individuals. Upon the under side «rf the neck and breast is 
a white mark, resembling the letters V or V. In bulk it is 
about the size of the brown bear. 

The food of this species in a state of nature is said to con- 
sist of fruits, honey, and the white ants, which arese de- 
structive. It inhabits the mountainous parts of India, where 
its retreat is stated to be in -game tavern. Major {now 
Colonel) Sykes notieod it in Dukluan (Decoan). 

In captivity it appears to be caild, but melancholy. A 
pair were kept for -some time in the garden of the Zoological 
Society, and one still survives. They lived very -sociably, 
and often Jay huddled together, uttering * kind of rattling 
but Jow whine, or purring, which was continuous and mono- 
tonous, but not entirely unmusical : indeed it was termed, 
by m»re tban one who heard k, their song. The paw was 
generally at the "moubb when they made this noise. 

Subgenus lletarctos. 

Lady Banks received, as a present, tin 1819, a Malayan 
Bear, which was irou^ht from Bencoolen. This individual 
was examined by Dr. Leach, but it does not appear that his 
description, iflio wrote a*y, was «ver published. In 1821 
Sir Stamford Rallies gave, in the *3th volume of the Trans- 
actions of the Ltnnean Society, hk interesting account of 
the epecies, under the tiame of Ursus Malayanus. Soon 
afterwards Dr. Horsfield described it as it is found in Su- 
matra, by the same name. 

The arrival of another species from Borneo, in or about 
tbe year 1825, agreeing with the former in the arrangement 
of tho teeth, tbe extensibility of the lips, the great length of 
the tongue, the shortness and smoothness of the fui\ and 
other characters, induced Dr. Horsfield to institute the sub- 
menu s above mentioned. * The range of both species/ says 
Dr. Horsfield, 'appears to be limited to within a few degrees 
of the equator." 

Malayan /tear.— This species, the Bruang of the Malaya, 
Ursus Malay anus of Ra files, Prochilus %l(day*?ius of Gray, 
Uelarctos Malayanus oX How field, is jet-black, with the 



muzzle of a yellowish tint, and has a semilunar white mark 
upon the breast. Dr. Horsfield observes, that the largest 
prepared specimen which he had examined measured four 
feet six inches along the back. 




[Ursus (Helarclos) Malayanus.] 

The sagacity of the Malayan bear is saM to be great, and 
its liking for delicacies extreme. The honey of the indige- 
nous bees of its native forests is supposed to be a favourite 
food ; and 'certainly the extreme length of the tongue is 
well adapted for feeding on it. Vegetables form the chief 
diet of this bear, and it is said to be attracted to the vicinity 
of man by its fondness for the young shoots of the cocoa-nut 
trees, to which it is very injurious; indeed Sir Stamford 
Rattles found those of the deserted villages in the Passumah 
district of Sumatra destroyed by it. It has not unfrequently 
been taken and domesticated. 

In confinement it is mild and sagacious. Sir Stamford 
Raflles thus describes the manners of one which appears to 
have been deservedly a great favourite. 

4 When taken young,' writes Sir Stamford in the Linnean 
Transactions* * they become very tame. One lived for two 
years in my possession. He was brought up in the nursery 
with the children ; and, when admitted to my table, as was 
frequently the case, gave a proof of his taste by refusing to 
eat any fruit but mangosteens, or to drink any wine but 
champagne. The ouly tisoc I ever knew him to be out of 
humour was on an occasion when no champagne was forth- 
coming. It was naturally of an affectionate disposition, 
and it was never fouad necessary to chain or chastise him. 
It was usual for ibis bear, the eat, the dog, and a small 
blue mountain hird .or 3oiy «ff New Holland, to mess to- 
gether, and eat out <rf the *ame disk: His favourite play- 
fellow was the dog, whose teasing tmd worrying was always 
borno and returned with the *utmost fgood humour and play- 
fulness. As he grew iip he hecame u very vowerful animal, 
and in his rambles in the garden he wofidi lay hold of the 
largest plantains, tbe stems of which he -cwald scarcely em- 
brace, and tear them up fcy the (roots.* 

There is an individual in the garden of the Zoological 
Society in the Regent's Park. The specimen presented to 
Lady Banks is preserved in the British Museum. 

M. Lesson considers this species to be identical with tho 
sloth-bear, Prochilus labiatus. We cannot agree with him, 
and we have had the best opportunities of examining both, 
\vhilo alive and after death. Few speeies.of bear are, m our 
opinion, more distinct. 

Bornean Bear. — This, the Helarclos EnryspUus of Hors- 
field, differs from the Malayan bear principally in having a 
large orange-coloured patch, deeply notched at its upper 
part, upon the chest. In -size it is supposed to be rather 
less than tbe last. The individual which waa exhibited in 
the Tower of London, tmd Irosn which Dr. Herefield wrote 
his description, measured, -along the 'back from muzzle to 
tail, three feet nine inches. It was 'Obtained in Borneo 
when very young, and during the voyage was the con- 
stant associate of a monkey -and other aramals. In confine- 
ment its manners greatly resembled those of the Malayan 
bear. Its habits in a state -of nature do not appear to bo 
known, but are most probably similar to those of the Ma- 

N2 



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02 



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layan species. Dr. Hors field gives tlio following account of 
the Bornean bear in captivity* to tbe correctness of which 
we ean bear testimony, for we watched the animal nar- 
rowly:— * Our animal has been shown to bo completely 
plantigrade : it rests with facility on the posterior feet, and 
its robust thigbs not only support it while sitting, but even 
enable it to raise itself without difficulty to a nearly erect 
p06ture. But it is more generally seen in a sitting altitude, 
at the door of its apartment, cajjerly surveying the visitors, 
and attracting their notice by Uie uncoutnness of its form 
or the singularity of its motions. Although it appears heavy 
and stupid, most of it* senses, particularly those of sight 
and smelling, arc very acute. The keeper has frequently 
observed that it attentively regards whatever passes before it 
in the court But the olfactory organs arc peculiarly strong, 
and appear to be in a state of constant excitement The 
Ilelarctos has considerable command over the (leshy extre- 
mity of its nose, and the parts adjacent, which it often dis- 
plays in a very ludicrous manner, particularly when a morsel 
of bread or cake is held at a small distance beyond its reach. 
It expands the lateral aperture of the nostrils, protrudes its 
upper lip by a strong effort, thrusting it forward as a pro- 
boscis, while it employs its paws to seize the object. After 
obtaining it and filling tbe mouth, it places the remainder 
with great ealmncss on the posterior feet, bringing it in 
successive portions to its mouth. It often voluntarily places 
itself in an imploring attitude, turning the head in different 
directions, earnestly regarding the spectators and extending 
the paws. The Ilelarctos readily distinguishes the keeper, 
and evinces an attachment to him. On his approach it em- 
ploys all its efforts to obtain food, seconding them by emit* 
ting a coarse, but not unpleasant, wbining sound. This il 
continues while it consumes its food, alternately with a low 
grunting noise ; but if teased at this time, it suddenly raises 
its voice und emits at intervals harsh and grating sounds. 
Our animal is excessively voracious, and Appears to be dis- 
posed to eat almost without cessation, when in a good 
humour, it often amuses the spectators in a different man- 
ner. Calmly seated in its apartment, it expands the jaws, 
and protrudes its long and slender tongue as above de- 
scribed. It displays on many occasions not only much gen- 
tleness of disposition, but likewise a considerable degree of 
sagacity. It appears conscious of tbe kind treatment it 
receives from its keeper. On seeing him, it often places 
itself in a variety of attitudes to eourt his attention and ca- 
resses, extending its nose and anterior feet, or suddenly 
turning round exposing the back, and waiting for several 
minutes in this attitude with the head placed on the ground. 
It delights in being patted and nibbed, and even allows 
strangers to do so; but it violently resents abuse and ill 
treatment, and having been irritated, refuses to be courted 
while the offending person remains in sight* 




[I'mu (llelmrclofl) earyipiln*.] 



The individual whoso manners are here so well described 
fell a victim to its voracity. During the hot weather of tho 
summer of 1828 it ovcrgorged itself one morning, and died 
within ten minutes after the meal. Its skin is preserved in 
the Museum of tho Zoological Society, 

African Bears. 
The existence of bears in Africa has been more than 
doubted. Even Cuvicr, who saw the weak points of tno 
negative evidence on this subject, says, * tho existence of 
bears in Africa is not so indisputable.' 

Pliny (niu 3G) observes, that it was recorded in tho 
Annals that Domitius /Hnobarbus, the curulc/lidilc, in tho 
consulship of M, Piso and M. Mcssala, B.C. 62,. exhibited a 
hundred Numidian bears, and as many /Ethiopian hunters 
in the circus, and adds his wonder that tbe bears should 
have been called Numidian, as it was evident that no bears 
were produced in Africa. In the 57th chapter of the same 
book he makes tho broad assertion, that in Africa tbcro 
are neither boars, nor stags, nor goats, nor bears. 

Ursinus Lipsins and Vossius have tried to make out 
that these Numidian hears were lions, and adduce, in proa 
medals of /Hnobarbus with a man fighting a lion. But, as 
Cuvier well observes, how could tho Romans, who, accord- 
ing to this same Pliny, had seen such multitudes of lions, 
have confounded the two animals ? He further observes, 
that Aldrovandus and Zimmerman support the annalist, 
maintaining that a bear exists in Africa, but that it is rare, 
and that Solinus even asserts that the bear is finer there, 
being covered with longer hair, and of a very furious dispo- 
sition. 

Shaw speaks of bears of Barbary, but without particu- 
larizing them. 

Dcsfontaincs who remained so long at Algiers, and vi- 
sited Atlas, never saw a bear, and only heard a vague 
report tbat there might be some in the forests, *dcs environs 
de la Callc.* 

•Prosper Alpinus/ says Cnvier, "attributes bears to 
Egypt, but which were assuredly no bears at all, for he 
states that they arc of the size of a sheep, and of a white 
colour. Never did one of the naturalists of our expedition 
see there any true bears.* [But see Syrian Bear.] 

Ponce t, indeed, says that one of his mules was wounded 
in Nubia by a bear. But Bruce thinks that he confounded 
the Arabian word dubbah, which signifies a hyoena, with 
dubb (whence probably the name of the star in the con- 
stellation), which signifies a bear. He goes farther, and 
says positively that there is no bear in any part of Africa. 

All these authorities arc enumerated by Cuvier, who 
alludes also to Dapper as placing bears in Congo, but with 
no reliance on him. 

Tho inclination of Cuvier's mind, then, seems to liave 
been against the existence of bears in Africa; and yet the 
record of the annalist quoted by Pliny, and the numerous 
passages concerning Libyan bears in Herodotus, Virgil, 
Juvenal, Martial and others, make a strong case for that 
existence. 

It was reserved for Ehrcnbcrg to solve theso doubts in 
great measure. In the work above quoted he thus writes 
'Moreover, we ourselves have seen in the mountains of 
Abyssinia, and therefore in Africa itself, an animal most 
like to a bear (nay, wby had I not said— a bear?) and 
hunted it repeatedly, but in vain. It is called by tho na- 
tives Karrai; He then goes on to state, that he ean givo 
m those who arc interested in the geographical distribution 
of the hear, true tidings of a blackish plantigrade wild beast 
most like unto a bear, in the mountains of Abyssinia, 
though neither Bruce nor Salt makes mention of it; and 
that, according to the description of the inhabitants, the 
mountains of Arabia Felix are inhabited by a similar or 
the same blackish bear, said to bo remarkable for its length- 
ened muzzle. He adds, 'Forskal, moreover, has brought 
tidings of an indigenous Arabian bear." 

Marine Bkar. 

Subgenus Thnlarctos, 
Polar Bear. — Martens was one of the first who distin- 
guished this species from actual observation. The brown 
bear, as luis been stated, appears to have been the only 
species known to Linnocus. It is not, indeed, till his tenth 
edition that he shows any suspicion that the Polar bear 
was distinct; and, in his last, he only ventures to say, in a 
notice appended to the description of Ursus Arctos, * Ursus 



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93 



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maritimus albus major arcticus. Martens/ Spitzb, 73. t. o. 
f. c. forte clistincta species est, nobis non visa, capite longiore, 
collo angustiore.* 

The habits, and many parts of its organization adapted 
to those hahits, of the Polar or Sea Hear, VOurs Polaire 
of the French, JVawpusk of the Cree Indians, Namiook of 
the Esquimaux, Nennook of the Grcenlanders, Ursus ma- 
ritimus of Erxlehen, Ursus marinus of Pallas,- Ursus albus 
of Brisson, Thalarctos maritimus of Gray, ' according to 
the testimony of all zoologists, have confirmed the accuracy 
of Martens. 

An inhabitant of the dreary regions which surround the 
North Pole with eternal frost, and of those coasts which are 
rarely free from ice ; the Polar bear is almost entirely car- 
nivorous, in a state of nature. Animals of the land and of 
the sea, hirds and their eggs, the dead and the living, are 
alike devoured. An admirahle swimmer and diver, and of 
great strength, he chases the seal with success, and is said 
to attack the Walrus itself. Cartwright relates an anec- 
dote in proof of his agility in the water. He saw a Polar 
bear dive after a salmon, and the hear dived with success, 
for he killed his fish. Captain Lyon gives the following 
account of its hunting the seal: *The hear on seeing his 
intended prey, gets quietly into the water, and swims until 
to leewara of him, from whenec, by frequent short dives he 
silently makes Ins approaches, and so arranges his distance, 
that, at the last dive, he eomes to the spot where the seal 
is lying. If the poor animal attempts to escape by rolling 
into the water, he falls into tho bear's clutches ; if, on the 
contrary, he lies still, his destroyer makes a powerful spring, 
kills him on the ice, and devours him at leisure* The 
same author informs us that this hear not only swims with 
rapidity, but is capable of making long springs in the water. 
Captain Sahine states that he saw one about midway he- 
tween the north and south shores of Barrow's Straits, which 
are forty miles apart, though there was no ice in sight to 
which he eould resort for rest. 

The floating carcasses of whales and other marine animals 
form a considerable part of its food, and the smell of the 
burning kreng often brings it to the whale ships. Dr. Ri- 
chardson says, that it does not disdain, in the absence of other 
food, to seek the shore in quest of berries and roots. The 
Polar bear moves faster on firm ground than might he sup- 
posed from his appearance. 'Captain Lyon describes its 
pace when at full speed, as *a kind of shuttle, as quick as 
the sharp gallop of a horse.* 

This speeies is of a more lengthened form than that of 
tho others, the head is very much elongated and flattened, 
the ears and mouth comparatively small, the neck very long 
and thick, and the sole of the foot very large. The fur is 
silvery white tinged with yellow, close, short and even on 
the head, neck, and upper part of the hack ; long, fine, and 
inelined to he woolly on the hinder parts, legs, and belly. 
The sole of the foot exhihits a hcautiful instance of adapta- 
tion of means to an end, for it is almost entirely covered 
with long hair, affording the animal a firm footing on the 
ice. The elaws are black, not mneh curved, thick and 
short. Captain Lyon's erew found none of the terrible 
effects (skin peeling off, &e., &e.) from eating the tlesh, 
ascribed to it by some of the earlier voyagers. 




tUrsut (Thalnrclos) montimut. j 



The aecounts given of the size, strength, and ferocity of 
this animal by the early navigators are appalling; but the 
accuracy of modern investigation has dissipated a good deal 
of the awe with which it was regarded, and has gone far to 
prove, that the excited imagination of some of the narrators 
has led them beyond the truth. That the polar hear when 
pressed will attack man there is no doub't, and that such an 
attack must be most formidable, every one who has seen 
the fine specimen, killed in 70° 40' N. lat. and 68° 00' W. 
long., brought home hy Captain (now Sir John) Ross, from 
his first voyage (1813), and exhibited on the staircase of 
the British Museum, will allow. But when one informs us 
that the skin of a Polar hear slain hy him and his comrades 
was twenty-three feet long; and another, that he and his 
party were frequently attacked hy them, that they seized 
on the seamen, carried them off with the greatest ease, and 
devoured them at their leisure within sight of the survivors ; 
we must he permitted to pause hefore we give entire credence 
to the stories. 

The gallant adventurers who conducted the modem 
northern expeditions penetrated far heyond the points 
formerly reached, and had opportunities of observing num- 
bers of Polar bears. The greatest length from nose to tail, 
recorded by Captain Phipps, is seven feet one inch, the 
weight of the heast being six hundred and ten pounds. 
Captain Ross records the measurement of seven feet ten 
inches, and the weight of eleven hundred and sixty pounds ; 
and Captain Lyon states, that one which was unusually 
large, measured eight feet seven inches and a half, and 
weighed sixteen hundred pounds. The 'greater numher of 
full grown individuals are spoken of as far inferior to theso 
in dimensions and weight. 

The testimony of zoologists is to the same effect. The 
adult female mentioned hy Pallas was only six feet nine 
inches from nose to tail; and that in the French menagerie, 
alluded to by Cuvier, measured ahout six feet English on 
its arrival, and gained nothing in size at the end of seven 
years. The individual which lias hecn kept for a consi- 
derable time in the garden of the Zoological Society is fa- 
miliar to many of our readers, and furnishes another in- 
stance of the average proportions of these animals. 

Pennant states that Polar hears are frequent on all the 
Asiatic coasts of the Frozen Ocean, from the mouth of the 
Obi eastward, and that they abound in Nova Zembla, 
Cherry Island, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Lahrador, and the 
coasts of Baffin's and Hudson's Bays, hut that they are un- 
known on the shores of the White Sea. Captain (now Sir 
Edward) Parry, saw them within Barrow's Straits as far as 
Melville Island ; and, during his daring boat-voyage, be- 
yond the 82° north latitude. Dr. Richardson says, that 
the limit of their incursions southward on the shores of 
Hudson's Bay and of Lahrador, may he stated to be about 
the 55th parallel. Captain (now Sir John) Franklin learnt 
from the Esquimaux to the westward of Mackenzie River, 
that they occasionally, though rarely, visited that eoast. 
Captain Bcechey did not meet with any in his voyage to 
Icy Cape. 

As the Polar hear resides principally on the fields of ice, 
he is frequently drifted far from the land. ' In this way/ 
says Dr. Riehardson, ' they are often earried from the coast 
of Greenland to Iceland, where they commit such ravages 
on the Hocks, that the inhabitants rise in a body to destroy 
them.' The same author gives the following observations, 
confirmatory of Ilearne, from Mr. Andrew Graham's MSS. 
* In winter/ says Graham, 'the white bear sleeps liko 
other species of the genus, but takes up its residence in a 
different situation, generally under the declivities of rocks, 
or at the foot of a hank where the snow drifts over it to a 
great depth; a small hole for the admission of fresh air is 
constantly observed in the dome of its den. This, however, 
has regard solely to the she-hear, which retires to her 
winter quarters in November, where she lives without food, 
hrings forth two young about Christmas, and leaves the 
den in the month of March, when the cuhs are as large as 
a shepherd's dog. If perchanee her offspring 'are tired, 
they aseend the hack of the dam, whero they ride secure 
either in water or ashore. Though they sometimes go 
nearly thirty miles from the sea in winter, they always 
eome down to the shores in the spring with their enhs, 
where they subsist on seals and sea-weed. The he-bear 
wanders about the marshes and adjacent parts until No- 
vember, and then goes out to the sea upon the ice, and 
preys upon seals. They are very fat, and though very in- 



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ill 



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offensive if not meddled with, they are very fierce when 
provoked/ 

The Esquimaux account of the hybernation of this species 
is thus related by Captain Lyon : * From Ooyarrakhioo, a 
most intelligent man, I obtained an account of the bear, 
which is too interesting to be passed over. 

' At the commencement of winter, the pregnant she-bears 
are very fat, and always solitary. When a heavy fall of 
snow sets in. the animal seeks some hollow place in which 
she can lie down, and then remains (juiet while tho snow 
covers her. Sometimes she will watt until n quantity of 
snow has fallen, and then digs herself a cave : at all events, 
it seems necessary that she should be covered by and lie 
amongst snow. Sho now goes to sleep, and docs not wake 
until the spring sun Is pretty high, when she brings forth 
her two cubs. The cave, by this time, has become much 
larger, by the effect of the animal's warmth and breath, so 
that the cubs have room enough to move, and they acquire 
considerable strength by continually sucking. The dam at 
length becomes so thin and weak, that it is with great diffi- 
culty she extricates herself, when the sun is powerful enough 
to throw a strong glare through the «now which roofs tho 
dcu. Tho Esquimaux affirm, that during this long confine- 
ment the bear has no evacuations, and is herself the means 
of preventing them bv stopping all the natural passages 
with moss, grass, or earth, (Sec note on the bear's tappen.) 
The natives lind and kill the bears during their confine- 
ment by means of dogs, which scent them through tho 
snow, and begiu scratching and "howling very eagerly. As 
it would be unsafe to make a large opening, a long trench 
is cut, of sufficient width to enable a man to looh down, and 
see where tho bear's head lies, and lie then selects a mortal 
part iuto which he thrusts his sj>car. The old one being 
killed, the liole is broken open, and the young cubs may be 
taken out by hand, as, having tasted no blood, and never 
having been at liberty, they are then very harmless and 
quiet Females which arc not pregnant roam throughout 
the whole winter in tbe same manner as the males. Tlie 
coupling time is in May.' 

That part of these accounts which relates to the non- 
hybernation of some of these bears is corroborated by Cap- 
tain Parry, who saw them roaming in the course of the two 
winters which he passed on the coast of Melville Peninsula. 

That the Polar bear will subsist on vegetable diet was 
proved in the case of two which lived and throve for years 
in the French menagerie without being allowed to touch 
animal food. The individual kept in the Tower in the 
reign of Henry III. seems to have been indulged indict 
and recreation more congenial to its habits, for there arc 
two of the king's writs extant in choice Latin, directing tho 
sheriffs of London to furnish four- pence a day for ' our 
white bear in our Tower of London, and his keeper,* and to 
provide a muzzle and iron-chain to hold him when out *f 
the water, and a Jong und strong rope to hold him when ho 
is fishing in tho Thames.* 

FosstL Bears. 

The fossil remains of these animals, when first found, 
ministered, ns might have been expected from the spirit of 
the age, to the speculations of the lovers of tho marvellous, 
and figured in the medical prescriptions of the time. The 
caverns of the neighbourhood of the ITartz were ransacked 
for them; and their supposed virtue as medicines, under 
the title of fossil Unicornis* Bones, procured a ready sale. 
In tho Protogaa of Leibnitz, there is a figure of one of 
these fossil unicorns, the product of an imagination suffi- 
ciently lively. 

But it was not till the year 1C72, as Cuvier observes, that 
any notice, truly osteological, appeared on the subject, when 
Ilayn gave some representations of their hones brought 
from n cavo of tho Carpathians, as those of dragons ; and, 
by way of helping tho cvidoncc, informed his readers that 
there were still to be found in Transylvania dragons alive 
and Hying. 

• The** writs ar« roefc ttufeiiti**, that «we lutyoin them m* riven by .Mwkw 
In liWrxciicquiT. 

< Rex WceonmU'ihim I«odont» salulem. TYa-cipJrout vulrf*, quod cuMam 
It*> na»tro Atbu qmrm mUiimn tmqtiB Tnrrim ttoitrim London lir Ibidem 
cu»u»dJpDdom.eIc«*todl ip»Uu tingulit dlrbu* qnamdlu focriut ibidem, ita- 
lic rr £»ci»tU qttaluur d<*ttaitui ad m»trnlMlonrnt guam.' 

• Rr* VkecofDltibn* l/mdouW Mlntem. l'tvci^ratm vrfbU nnod <trttodi 
Alhl Ur*\ o<Mtrl <pii iwwr mkitu fail nebk de NorwajfU el ctt in Tun* 
no»tra !xn>dpoia%h*tx»re facialis uuum rauiwUum rl ttnam catlienam feneam. 
al tnrendutn I'mim ilium exlra aquam. rt nnim longam rt fnrtem cotxtim 
ad lenindum «u»d«m L'aua jilaonrtem tt aqua Thm*'m% m otutiim, &«. 
cpmpuUbitur, &<•/ 



These wero tho remains of the extinct bear of the caves 
(Ursus sprlteus), nn animal which mm>t have approached 
a largo horse in size, some, of whoso hones are given by 
Esper, in his Description de$ Zoolithes ei des Cuvernes 
(tms le Margraviat de Bareuth (1774). Koscnmiillcr, in 
179 J and 1793, gave the figure of a cranium from Gat- 
lenreuth ; and John Hunter, in tho Philosophical Transac- 
tions (1794), described tho bones found there; and the 
Margrave of Anspach the caves. In 160-i Uosenmiiller 
again returned to the subject 

The amount of information had now arrived to such a 
point, that Blumcnbach distinguished the skulls found in 
tho caverns as thoso of two distinct species, and gave them 
severally tho names of Urstts spcl&us and Ursus arctoideus, 
which Cuvier adopted, expressing, however, his opinion 
that they were only varieties of the same species. 

Without entering largely into a detail of all the caverns 
where these remains were found, it may bo as well shortly 
to notice some of the different districts where they occur. 
Those in tho neighbourhood of the Hartz furnished the fossil 
unicorns' bones above alluded to. The principal of these are 
those of Scharzfcld and Baumann, the latter of which owes 
its name (Baumanns Hohle) to a wretched miner, who, in 
1670, lured by tho hope of finding ore, sought its recesses. 
There lie wandered, alone and in darkness, three days and 
three nights. At length he found his way out, but in so 
exhausted a condition, that he only returned to the light 
of day to die. 

The caverns of the Carpathians supplied the dragons' 
bones above mentioned. 

In Franconia, near Muggcndorf, the caves arc numerous, 
and abound in bones. II ore are the caverns of Gailcn- 
rcuth, Rabcnstein, Kuhloch, Sec. 

Tho south-west border of the Thuringcrwald has those of 
Gliieksbrunn and Leibenstcin, near Meinungen, and West- 
phalia those of Kliitcrhohlo and Sundwick. 

In these caves, it appears, successivo generations of 
hears, now swept from the face of tho earth— absolutely 
extinct as species — were born, lived, and died, for a very 
long series of years. Roscnmiiller, Huutcr, Blumcnbach, 
Cuvier, and Buckland, all agree in this point. Tho first of 
these found bones of a bear so young, that its death must 
havo almost immediately followed its birth, and other re- 
mains of individuals which must have died in their youth. 
It would be out of place here to give an account of tho 
remains of tho other nnimals, many of them also extinct, 
found in the same places; but it is agreed on all sides, that 
the proportion of bears, in relation to the others, must havo 
been great. Buckland {Rcliquicc Diluvianm) thus ex- 
pressively describes the scene in tho cavern of Kuhloch. 
* It is literally true, that in this singlo cavern (the size and 
proportions of which arc nearly equal to thoso of the into 
rior of a large church) there are hundreds of cart-loads of 
blapk animal dust, entirely covering the whole floor, to a 
depth which, if we multiply this depth by the length and 
breadth of the cavern, will be found to exceed 5000 cubic 
feet. The whole of this mass has been again and again 
dug over in search of teeth and bones, which it still contains 
abundantly, though in broken fragments. The state of 
these is very different from that of the bones we find in any 
of the other caverns, hcing of a black, or, more properly 
speaking, dark umber colour throughout, and many of 
them readily crumbling under tbe finger into a soft dark 
powder, resembling rauramy fwwdcr, and being of the samo 
nature with the black cartii in which they trre imbedded. 
Tho quantity of animal matter accumulated on this lloor 
is the most surprising and the only thing of tho kind 1 ever 
witnessed; and many hundred, 1 may say thousand, 
individuals must have contributed their remains to make up 
this «j>paHing mass of the dust of death. It see ins, in great 
part, to bc-dcriTwJ from comminuted and pulverised bone ; 
for <the fleshy parts of animal bodies produce, by their de- 
composition, so small a quantity of permanent earthy resi- 
duum, that we muU seek for the origin of this mass princi- 
pally in decayed hone*. The cave is so dry, that the black 
earth lies an Che state of loose powder, and rises in du*t 
under the feetr at»lso relains so large * proportion of its 
original animal srmltnr. that it is occasionally used by the 
peaeaxas as wi -enriching manure for the Adjacent meadows.' 
The folkminrg u nflded 4>y the Professor in a note : — * I havo 
stated, that the total quantity *f animal matter that lies 
within this cavern cannot bo computed at less than 5000 
cubic feet; now allowing two cubic feet of dust and bones 



BEA l 

for each individual animal", we shall Lave ia this single 
vault the remains of at least 2500 bears, 3 number which 
may have been supplied in the space of 1000 years, by a 
mortality at the rate of two and a half per annum.' 

The remains of Ursus speleeus are not confined, in Ger- 
many, to tbe eaverns, for, in 1820, the author last quoted 
iound m the collection of the monastery of Kremsmin- 
*ter, near Steyer, in Upper Austria, skulls and bones of 
the species in consolidated beds of gravel, forming a pudding 
stone, and dug for building near the monastery. Necker 
ue baussure found them also in the clefts of the rocks con- 
taining iron ore at Kropp, in Carniola. 

The remains of bears have been detected in the cave at 
Kirkuale, in that at Paviland, in Kent's hole, Banwell cave, 
&:e. in England ; and generally in the- ossiferous caverns of 
the south of France. The bones found m the largest pro- 
?? r { ^M the Grotte d'Echenoz, on the south of Vesoul, by 
M. Inirna, and examined by Cuvier, were those of Ursus 
spef&us. Bones of bears have been also found in the 
osseous breccia at Pisa, Nice, &c. 

Great Cavern Bear.— Ursus spelaus (Bluraenbach). 
i he skull of th is extinct speeies is considerably raised above 
the root of the nose, so that the forehead, which presents 
two eonvex elevations, is a good deal eurved. Its size is 
about one-fifth larger than the largest of those of the Brovm 
Hear (Ursus arctos), or of the Polar bear. 

Ursus arctoideus (Blumenbach). The skull of this ap- 
proaches nearest to the black bear of America, but it has 
less vertical elevation, and the muzzle is more elongated 
it is equal in size to that of Ursus spel&us. The remains 
of these two fossil bears arc found in the same localities • 
and Cuvier is of opinion, as has been observed, that thev 
are only varieties of the same species. 

A third species of eavern bear has been figured by Gold- 
fuss, under the name of Ursus priscus, in his work upon 
the environs of Muggendorf, where it was found. Its skull 
is smaller, and differs less from the crania of living bears 
than those of the preceding species. 

Those dentelated canine teeth which were attributed to 
bears, under the name of Ursus Ktruscus and Ursus cultri- 

i* 'rr Vi il!^' ° roiZet and Jobert ' and othcrs > and to cats 
ijelts) by Bravard, belong, according to Kaup, neither to a 
bear nor to a cat, and he adds his doubt whether thev 
belonged to an animal which had the least affinity either to 
the one or the other. 

He has formed a new genus for their reception, under the 
name of Machairodus, and adds that tlicso canine teeth, and 
even the dentclations on their eoncave edge, have a perfect 
resemblance to the teeth of the Megalosaurus. TSee Ma 
chairodus.] 



BEA 




had a most gracious audience, speaks with gratitude of the 
favours which he received from Mosieur l'Admirald' Angle- 
terre, Mosieur Sicile (Cecil), premier secretaire de la Royne • 
and de Mosieur le Cote d'Arfort (Hertford) : records the 
liberality of * Monseigneur le Cote de Candalle, de Mon- 
sieur le Marquisde Trans, & de Monseigneur le Marquis 
de JVeslc, qui estoient pour lors en ostage en Angleterre f 
and thus returns to his hybrid :— < Mais afin que nos 
reprenons les erres de nostre maticre, cest animal mon- 
streueux, que tu vois figure au eomencement de ce ehapitre, 
est engendre dune Dogue d 1 Angleterre & dun Ours • de 
sorte qu'il participe dc lune & de l'autre nature : ce qui ne 
semblera estrange a ccux qui ont observe* a Londres, corao 
les dogues & les ours sont logez en de peiits cachots,les uns 
aupres des autres: & quand ilz sont en leur chalcurs, ceux 
qui sont deputez pour les gouverner, enferment une ourse 
& une Dogue ensemble, de s< 



We ought not, perhaps, to conclude this article without 
referring to those hybrids which were supposed to be the 
offspring engendered between a dog and a bear. Even, at 
the present day there is an inclination to believe in the ex- 
istence of such animals; nay, it is said that there is a crea- 
ture now m England to which such a parentage has been 
attributed. We need hardly observe that it is extremely 
improbable, to use no stronger term, that two animals dif- 
fering so widely in their dentition and general structure, 
in the periods of gestation and in their habits, should pro- 
duce a mule; and yet whoever reads the following circum- 
stantial account will, we think, come to the conclusion that 
the animal described and figured )*y the author was actually 
seen by him. In the ' Histoires Prodigieuses extraictes de 
plusieurs fameux autheurs, Grccs et Latins, saerez et pro- 
phancs, divisces en einq Tomes, Le Premier par P. Boais- 
tuau, Tome Premier, Paris, 1582/ is the description and 
figure which, by the kindness of a friend, who possesses 
this eunous book, we are enabled to lay before our readers. 
4 Histoire Prodigieuse d'un chien Monstrueux, engendre" 
d'un Ours, et d'une dogue d'Angleterre, observe par l'au- 
theur a Londres, avec plusieurs autres discours memorables, 
*ur le naturel de eest animal. 

Chapitrs XXX. 

t * Par-ce Ueetcur) que ce fnt en Angleterre, en la fameuso 
t\t6 de Lodres, que i'observay premier le naturel et la figure 
dc cest animal, lequel tu vois icy depeinct, i'ay bicn voulu 
avant qu'en fa ire plus amplo description (pour n*estre ac- 
cuse* d'ingratitudc) eelebrer la memoire de ceux desquelz 
i'ay receu quelque faveur.' The author then mentions Ma 
maieste de la Roync Elizabeth,' of whom he states that he 



~ sorte que pressez de lieurs 
tureurs naturelles, ilz convertissent leur cruautd en amour, - 
fcc de telles coniunctions, naissent quelquefois des animaux 
seblables a cestuy, encore que soit bien raremet : entrc 
lesquelz i'en ay observe deux, quon avoit donne* a Morb- 
seigneur le Marquis de Trans : l'un duquel il fist present a 
Monsieur le conte d'Alphestan, ambassadeur de l'Empereur: 
1 autre qu'il a faict amener en Frace, sur lequel i'ay fait 
retirer cestuy au naturel, sas que le peintre y ait rien 
obroisv 

The author then goes on to eite instances of hybrids 
among quadrupeds, and thus continues: 'Mais afiu de re- 
tourner i la descriptio de nostre animal, duquel tu vois la 
figure si mostrucuse, qui ressemble a un ours racoursy aussi 
avoit les gestcs, le muglemet, & tdutcs ses autres facons de 
faire plus aprochantes de fours que du clue, mais ie te puis 
assenrer que c est l'une des pl9 furienses bestes que Ton 
puisse rcgarder: ear il n'y a espece d'animal auquel Une 
s]attache, soit Ours, Lyon, Taureau & autres semblables : & 
si est si ardent en ses combatz, que depuis qu'il a mis la 
dent sur quelque beste, il se feroit plustost demcrabrer que 
laisser prise, come i'ay veu par experienco a Londres quand 
on le fist corabatre contre Tours.' M. Boaistuau then 
alludes to the story of the hybrid engendered between a 
tiger and a bitch presented to Alexander the Great in India, 
and refers to ^Elian, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch, 
and others. 

The author of this description, is the Pierre Boaistuau, ou 
Boistuau, dit Launay, the subject of the following eulogy by 
Lacroix du Maine :— * Boaistuau a <5tc horame tres docte, et 
des plus eloquens orateurs dc son siecle, et lequel avoit 
une facon de parler autant douce, coulante, ct agitable 
qu'autre duquel j'aye lu les ecrits.' He is also said to bave 
been one of the first writers who recommended mothers to 
suckle their children. 

The probability is, that he was deceived by the English 
bear-wards and dog-fighters of Elizahoth's time, and that 
some dog, selected for its bear-liko appearance in certain 
points, an appearance aided by cropping the ears and tail, 
and other skilful artifices, was palmed upon him and upon 
others as a hybrid' engendered between a dog and a bear. 
BEARBERRY. [See Arctosta'phylos.] 
BEAR LAKE. Tfie great sheet of water to whieh the 
name of the Great Bear Lake has been given is situated in 
the north-west part of North Ameriea, near the aretic circle. 
Its shape is very irregular, the entiro lake being formed by 
five arms or bays whicl^have a common centre. The great- 
est diameter of the lake is in a direction north-east from 

• La mSro qui le pc-rtat estoit chien ne, & le Masle qui la couvrit estoit 
Ours. 



BEA 



9R 



B E A 



Fort Franklin, which is plaeed on the south-western ex- 
tremity of tho lake, in G5° 12' N. lat., and 123° 12' W. long. 
The measurement from this point across tho lako in tho 
direction just mentioned to the north-eastern part of Dcase's 
Bay, is about )50 geographical miles*. Tho diameter taken 
in the direction south-east by east, from the western shore 
of Smith's Bay to the eastern shore of M'Tavish Bay, is 
rather more than 120 geographical miles. The depth of 
this great collection of fresh water has not been ascertained, 
but it is known to be very great ; no hottom was found with 
270 feet of lino near to tho shore in M'Tavish Bay. Tho 
water, which appears of a light-blue colour, is so transpa- 
rent, that a piece of white rag let down into it was visiblo at 
tho depth of ninety feet. ° 

The exact height of the surface of Bear Lake al>ove the 
arctic sea has not been ascertained with exactness, but a 
eareful computation made by Dr. Richardson leads him to 
belie vo that it is not quite 200 feet above the ocean ; and in 
this case the bottom of the lake must he below the surface ' 
of the sea, as is known to bo the caso with other of the great 
lakes in this quarter of America, and with lakes in other 
parts of the globe also. The bottom of the three great 
American lakes, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, is said to 
be 300 feet below the level of the Atlantie; and the lowest 
part of Loch Ness in Scotland is more than 700 feet below 
the level of the Murray Firth. 

At the bottom of Dease's Bay, which forms the north- 
eastern arm of the lake, it receives tho water of Dease River, 
which is the priucipal feeding stream. At the bottom of 
Keith Bay is the Bear Lake River, the outlet stream, 
which Hows in a south-west direction for seventy miles 
to its junction with the Maekenzio River, in C4 J 09' N. 
lat., which point is about 500 miles from the mouth of 
that river in the arctic ocean. The breadth of Bear Lake 
River, throughout its whole course, is never less than 4 50 
feet, except at one remarkable place, called the Rapid, about 
midway between the lake an'l Mackenzie River. The 
depth of the stream varies from one to three fathoms, and 
Hows six miles per hour. It is joined in its eourse by 
several considerable branches of muddy water. The rapid 
just mentioned is caused by the river * struggling through 
a chasm bounded by two perpendicular walls of limestone 
over an uneven bed of the same material.' The walls of 
the rapid aro about three miles long and 120 feet high. 
The Bear I*ake River Hows into the Mackenzie at a right 
angle, and its entrance is distinguished by a very remark- 
able mountain, whose summit displays a variety of insulated 
peaks, crowded in an irregular manner. From the base of 
this mountain two streams of sulphureous water How into 
the Mackenzie, and from the lower cliffs which front that 
river a dark bituminous liquor issues and discolours the rock. 
Great Bear Lake eontains an abundanee of fish. Captain 
Franklin relates, that towards the end of summer and in 
autumn the produce of from fifteen to twenty nets kept in 
use at Fort Franklin was from three to eight hundred fish 
daily, of the kind called * the herring-salmon of Bear Lake,' 
and occasionally some trout, tittameg, and earp. ' 

(Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the 
Polar Sea, 1825-1827, by Captain Franklin; Topologi- 
cal and Geographical Notices of the North-tees t Territory, 
read beforo the Geological Society of London, by Dr. Rich- 
ardson.) 
BEAR'S-FOOT. [See IIkllkborus.] 
BEAR'S AVHORTLE-BERRY,the generic and specific 
characters of which have been given under the article 
Auctostaphylos Uva Ursi, was used in medicine by the 
antients, fell into neglect, and was restored about the middle 
of the last eentury. It possesses manifest astringent and, 
".nider ecrtain eireumstances, diuretic properties. The leaves 
aro the part of the plant which is used. These arc destitute 
of smell, but have an astringent, bitter taste. Analysed by 
Mcissner, 100 parts contained 

Gallic aeid t*20 

Tannin, combined with gallie aeid . . 3G'40 

Resin . . . . . . , 4M0 

Chlorophyll© G'35 

Extractive, with malatcs and other salts . .7*31 

Ditto, with citrate of lime , 0*S(5 

Gum and extractive 33*30 

Litrnin y-f,0 

Water C00 

* 101M2 



The leaves arc frequently intermixed with those of tho 
1'accinium vitis Idcra, or cow-berry, from which they may 
be distinguished by not being spotted nor having the margin 
re volute. The watery infusion of the cow-berry leaves 
treated with muriate of iron merely becomes green. Tho 
waterv infusion of the bear-berry so treated throws down a 
blackish-grey precipitate; also with tho leaves of tho Vac- 
cinium vligimwtm, or bog whortle-berry. To distinguish 
them from these last is inoro important than from the fore- 
going, as tho leaves of the bog whortle-berry are prisonous. 
They do not possess the leathery texture, or the reticulated 
character of the leaves of the Uca ursi. The leaves of the 
Bu.ru $ semjxrvirens, or common box, are often fraudulently 
intermixed with it. They may he distinguished by tho 
veins of the leaves running from the mid-rib to the margin, 
not being reticulated like the Uva ursi, having an un- 
pleasant smell, and yielding on analysis the principle ealled 
viut'in. 

The power of tho leaves is greatest over the mucous 
membranes and the kidneys. Tho leaves rubbed with cold 
water yield up all their tannin and gallie acid, and thus 
afford an infusion of great efficacy in haemorrhages front 
tho prostato gland. In eases of tendency to calculous dis- 
eases, especially of the phosphatie diathesis, it is of great 
use when persevered in ; also in eatarrh of the bladder. It 
has been thought useful in consumption, and indeed its 
tonie power may render it occasionally serviceable, It is 
administered in powder, in the form of an infusion or de- 
eoetion ; but the best form in which it can be longest used is 
that of extract, as recommended by Dr. Prout. 

(See Prout On Diseases of the Urinary Organs, second 
edit., p. 185.) 

BEARD, the hair wMich grows upon the chin and con- 
tiguous parts of the faca in men, and sometimes, though 
rarely, in women. AVithlincn its growth is the distinctive 
sign of manhood. / 

The fashion of the beard has varied greatiy in different 
times and different countries; and some of the learned in 
curious trillcs have spareor no pains to record the changes. 
Hot oman wrote a treatise expressly on the beard, entitled 
Pogdnias (IIOrQNUSJ, first printed at Leydcn in 15&G, 
and which, on account of its rarity, was reprinted at length 
by Pitiscus in his Lexicon, 

The earliest notice of attention to its growth is probably 
in Leviticus, where the lawgiver of the Jews (chap. xix. 
27) says, ' thou shalt not mar the corners of thy heard.' 

Generally speaking, the growth of the beard was culti- 
vated among the nations of the East, although it must be 
observed that most of the Egyptian figures in the antient 
paintings are without beards. In Roscllini's work we have 
a series of portraits of Egyptian kings, nearly all without 
beards. (See Plate No. x. See.) The antient Indian philo- 
sophers called Gymnosophists were solicitous to have long 
beards, which were considered symbolical of wisdom. The 
Assyrians and Persians also prided themselves on the 
length of their beards; and St. Chrysostom informs us 
(Opera, edit. Monfaue. torn. xi. p. 378) that the kings of 
Persia had their beards interwoven or matted with gold 
thread. The figures on the Babvlonian cylinders arc usu- 
ally represented with beards; ami those on the reliefsfrom 
Persepolis in the British Museum. 

Aaron 1 1 ill, in his Account of the Ottoman Empire, 
folio, London, 1709, p. 45, draws this distinction between 
the Persians and the Turks: * the Persians never shave 
the hair upon the upper lip, but cut and trim the beard 
upon their chin, according to the various forms their several 
fancies lead them to make choice of; whereas the Turks 
preserve with care a very long and spreading beard, esteem- 
ing the deficiency of that respected ornament a shameful 
mark of senile slavery.' Tho slaves in the seraglio are, 
shaved as a mark of servitude. 

The Chinese are said to affect long beards, hut naturo 
having denied their natural growth, they are sometimes 
supplied to the chin artificially. (See Nouveaux Memoires 
sur I'Etat de la Chine, par le R. P. Louis le Comte, torn. i. 
p. 209.) 

Athenccus (xiii. p. 5C5, edit. Casaub. Lugd. 1C57) ob- 
serves from Chrysippus's treatise De hones to et voluptate T 
that the Greeks wore theirbeards till the time of Alexander. 
The first person who cut his beard at Athens, he adds, was 
ever after called Kopvjjv, the shaven. Plutarch, in his Life 
of Thesewt, mentions incidentally that Alexander cut otf 
the beards of the Macedonian soldiers, that they might not 



H E A 



97 



B E A 



be used as handles by their enemies in battle. The Greeks 
continued to shave the beard till the time of Justinian, 
under whom long- beards came again into fashion, and so 
continued till the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, 
in 1453. The Greek philosophers usually made the beard 
a distinguishing feature in their appearance, whence the pro- 
verb Ik nqyuvog <ro<poi. Persius (Sat. iv. 1) terms Socrates 
viaguter barbatus, the * bearded master;* and Prudentius 
(Ajioth. ii. 200) bestows the same title of barbatus upon 
Plato. ' 

Varro (De Re Rastica, lib. ii. e. 1 1, edit. Commelin. 8vo. 
1595,'p. 12G) and Pliny, following his authority (Hist. Nat. 
edit. Harduin, lib. vii. e. 59), say that the Romans did not 
begin to shave till the year of the city 454, when Publius 
Tieinius Mena brought over barbers from Sicily. Scipio 
Afrieanus, Pliny adds, was the first Roman who shaved 
every day, The first day of shaving among the Romans 
was subsequently considered as the entrance upon the state 
of manhood, and was kept with festivities like a birth-day. 
This practice is alluded to by Juvenal (Sal. iii. 186). 
Alexander ab Alexandra (Genial. Dier. lib. v. $ 18) says 
the Roman youth consecrated the first fruits of their beards 
to some god, a custom which is illustrated by passages in 
Martial, Statius, and other authors. 

Augustus, and the Roman emperors his successors, till 
Hadrian, shaved, as appears by their coins. Hadrian was 
the first emperor who wore a beard. (See Dion, Casrius, 
edit. 1T50, lib. lxviii. p. 1 132.) Plutarch says he wore it to 
hide the sears in his face. The emperors who followed 
Hadrian continued to wear beards. (Pancirollus de Rebus 
Mcmorabilibus, edit. Francof. 1660, p. 163.) Rasche, how- 
ever, in his Lexicon Rei Num., notices the circumstance of 
Augustus suffering his beard to grow as a mark of grief 
for the death of Julius Caesar ; and says that certain coins 
struck about this timo at Aria, a.u.c. 710, present the 
portrait of Augustus bearded. Dion. Cassius, lib. xlviii. 
(edit. Hamb. 1750, torn. i. p. 551) says that Augustus put 
off his beard about a.u.c. 717, with great ceremony and 
feasting. Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius wore 
lengthened beards as philosophers ; though Aurelius, when 
young, is represented without a beard. [See Antoxinus.] 
Some of the Africans wore long beards, as may be seen 
upon the coins of Juba. (See Rasehe, Lexicon Rei Num. 
torn. ii. p. 2, col. 1018.) 

It would require no small space to enter minutely into the 
history and vicissitudes of the beard among the nations of 
modern Europe. Tho Lombards, or Longobardi, derived 
their name entirely from its length : and Eginhard, the 
secretary of Charlemagne, informs us that the Merovingian 
or first race of French kings were equally solicitous to 
nourish its growth ; though at- a later period among the 
French it should seem that the common people shaved the 
whole beard. 

The antient Britons, according to Caesar (De Bello Gall. 
lib. v, e, 14), wore no beards except upon the upper lip. 
He probably spoke of tho Kentish Britons only, or of the 
tribes who immediately adjoined them. Strabo speaks of 
the beards of the inhabitants of the Cassiterides, the Seilly 
islands, as in his time like those of goats. (Geogr. edit. 
Falconer, Oxf. 1807, fol. lib. i. p. 239.) 
L Tacitus, speaking of the Catti, one of the antient German 
nations, says, from the age of manhood they encouraged 
the growth of tho hair and beard, nor would lay them aside 
till they had slain an enemy. (De Mor. Germanorurn, 
e. xxxi.) 

The Anglo-Saxons, at their arrival in Britain, and for a 
considerable time after, wore beards. Dr. Henry (Hist. Gr. 
Brit'.Ato. Edinb. 1774, vol. ii. p. 585), however,'says that 
after the introduction of Christianity their clergy were 
obliged to shave their beards in obedience to the laws, and 
in imitation of the practice of all the Western churches. 
This distinction, he adds, between the clergy and the laity 
subsisted for some timo ; and a writer of tho seventh cen- 
tury complains that tho manners of the clergy were then so 
corrupted, that they eould not bo distinguished from the 
laity by their actions, but only by their want of beards. By 
degrees the English laity began to imitate the clergy so far 
as to shave all their beards except the upper lip. 

The English spies who were sent by Harold to discover 
the strength and situation of tho Dnko of Normandy's 
forces returned with the account that almost all his army 
had the appearance of priests, as they had the whole face 
with both lips shaven, (Seo Malmesbury, lib. iii.) .Tho 



Normans, indeed; not only shaved their beards themselves, 
but when they became possessed of authority, they obliged 
others to imitate their example. It is mentioned by some 
of our historians as one of the most wanton acts of tyranny 
in William the Conqueror, that he compelled the English 
(who had been accustomed to let the hair of their upper 
lips grow) to shave their whole beards; and this was so 
disagreeable to many of them, that they chose rather to 
abandon their country than to lose their whiskers. (See 
Mat. Paris, edit. 1640 ; Vit. Abbat. S.Albani, torn. i. p. 4G.) 
Orderieus Vitalis, p. 815, relates a curious anecdote of 
Henry I. submitting to lose his beard at the remonstrance 
and by the hands of Serlo, archbishop of Sees. 

In the higher classes of society the beard, in a greater or 
a less degree, was encouraged by the English for a scries of 
centuries, as is evident from the sepulchral monuments of 
our kings and chief nobility, and from portraits where they 
remain. Edward III. is represented upon his tomb at 
Westminster with a beard which would have graced a phi- 
losopher. Stowe, in his Annals, edit. 1631, p. 571, in his 
account of the reign of Henry VIII. under 1535, says, * The 
8th of May the king commanded all about his court to poll 
their heads, and, to give them example, he caused his own 
head to Jbo polled, and from thenceforth his beard to be 
knotted, and no more shaven.' The practice of wearing the 
beard continued to a late period ; and the reader will readily 
call to recollection the portraits of Paulet Marquess of 
Winchester, Cardinal Pole, and Bishop Gardiner, all orna- 
mented with flowing beards, in the reign of Mary I. The 
commentators on Shakspeare show that in the reign of 
Elizabeth beards of different ent were appropriated to dif- 
ferent characters and professions. The soldier had one 
fashion, the judge another, the bishop different from both. 
Malone has quoted an old ballad, inserted in a miscellany 
entitled Le Prince d Amour, 8vo. 1660, in which some of 
these forms are described and appropriated. (See Reed's 
Shaksp. 8vo. Lond. 1803, vol. xii. p.*399.) Taylor, the 
Water-Poet, in his Whip of Pride (Works, fol. 1630, p. 43), 
likewise describes tho fashions of the beard as they still 
continued to subsist in his time : 

' Now a few lines to paper I will put, 
Of men'i beards* strange and variable cut; 
In whieh there's tome do take as vain a pride 
As almost in all other things beside. 
Some are reap'd most substantial like a brush,* 
W/hieh makes a uat'ral wit known by the bush ; 
(And in my timo Of some men I have hettrd, 
Whose wisdom have been only wealth and beard.) 
Many of these the proverb well doth fit, 
Which says, '* Bush natural, more hair than wit." 
Some seem as they were starched stiff and fine) 
Like to the bristles of some ungry swine; 
And soma (to set their loVe's desire on edge) 
Are eut und pruned like to a quickset hedge. 
Some like a spade, some like a fork, some square, 
Some round, some mow'd like stubble, some stark bare; 
Some sharp, stiletto- fash ton, dagger-like, 
That may with whisp'ring, a mau's eyes outpike ; 
Some with the hammer-cut, or Roman T. 
Their beards extravagant reform'd must be ; 
Some with the quadrate, some triangle fashion. 
Some circular, some oval in translation ; 
Some perpendicular In longitude, 
Some like a thicket for their crassitude. 
That heights, depths, breadths, triform?, square, oval, round, 
And rules geometrical In beards are found. 

• ••••* 

The barbers thus (like tailors) still must be 
Acquainted with each cut's variety.' 

The beard now gradually declined, and the court of 
Charles I, was the last in whieh even a small one was 
cherished. After the restoration of King Cluirles II., mus- 
taehios or whiskers continued, but the rest of the face was 
shaven ; and in a short time the process of shaving the 
entire face became universal. 

The beard went out of fashion in France in the reign of 
Louis XIII., and in Spain when Philip V. ascended the 
throne. • In Russia it continued somewhat longer. Butler, 
in his Hudibras (part ii. canto \. Grey's edit. 8vo. Cambr. 
1744, vol. ii. p. 299), alludes to the beard *ent square by the 
Russian standard ;* whieh Grey illustrates by the following 
extract from The Noi'them Worthies, or the Lives of Peter 
the Great and his illustrious Consort Catherine, 8vo. Lond. 
1 728, pp. 84, 85 :— * Dr. Giles Fletcher, in his Treatise of 
Russia, observes, that the Russian nobility and quality ac- 
counting it a grace to be somewhat gross and burly, tbey 
therefore nourished and spread their beards to have thera 
long and broad. This fashion continued among them till the 
time of the Czar Peter the Great, who compelled them to 
part with these ornameuts, sometimes by laying a swingeing 



No. 217. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-O 



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tax wym them, ami tit other* hy ordering tho*e he found 
with hoards to have them pulled up by the roots, or shaved 
¥titli a bhmt razor, whieh drew the skin after it, and by 
these means scarce a board was left In the kingdom at his 
death : but such a veneration had this people for those en- 
sipns of gravity, that many of them carefully preserved their 
beard* in their cabinets, to be buried with them, imagining 
perhaps that they should raako but an odd figuro in tho 
grave with their naked ehins.' 

The leader who desires further information on the history 
of beard* may consult the lexicons of Hoffmann and Piliscus 
for the classic times; and in Ilulwcr's Anthropomctamor- 
phosis, or Artificial Changeling, 4to. l^ond. 1C53, p. 193- 
216, Seeno xii. is a whole ehaptcr * On tho opinion and 
practice of diverse nations concerning the natural 1 ensigne 
of manhood appearing about the mouth ;* quoted from in- 
numerable authors, anticnt and modern. 

Shaving the beard in derision was, throughout the East, 
considered to be tho greatest mark of ignominy which could 
l>o inflicted upon an enemy; aud to pluck a man's beard 
was the highest mark of insult. The Eastern origin of some 
of our old romances is, perhaps, in no circumstance more 
visible than in the descriptions which are bo frequently 
given of giants cutting off tho beards of princes who fell 
into their hands. Drayton alludes to this practice in his 
Polyolbion, Song iv. : 

* Am) for k trophy bronvhl lho gbnl'ft coal awmy. 
Made of Ike IranU ol Kings.' 

See also Warton's Observations on Spenser's Fairy Queen, 
edit. 1762, vol. i. p. 24. 

The suffering of the beard to grow in the time of mourn- 
ing i* a custom which has been already incidentally alluded 
to. Levi, in his Succinct Account of the Bites and Cere- 
monies of the Jeics at this present time, 8vo. Lond. says, 
that for the seven following relations, viz. a father or mother, 
brother or sister, son or daughter, husband or wife, they 
must not shave their beards, nor cut their nails neither of 
their hands or feet, nor bathe for the term of thirty days; 
which term is called in Hebrew Shyloshim, which means 
thirty days. 

To beard, in modern English, means to set at defiance, to 
oppose faee to face in a hostile manner. Shakspeare, in 
Henry IV. aet iv. scene 4, makes Douglai say, 

• No man so potent breathes upon lhe ground 
llnl / irt'W beard him: 

BEARING, the direction of the line drawn from one point 
to another. It is a term usually applied to the points of the 
compass, as follows:— If the line B A bo in a N.W. direc- 
tion from B, A is said to bear N.W. of B, or the bearing of 
A is N.W. To take bearings is to ascertain tho points of 
tho compass on which objects lie. The following example 
will serve to familiarize tho word, by connecting it with a 
simple problem of trigonometry :— 




Cape B is 20 miles from Cane A, and hears S.E. of it. 
On board a ship S.Capc A is observed to boar N.N. E., and 
B bears E. by N,: required tho po3ifion of the ship. Draw 
S 1), A C, both cast; ihen the anglo D S B is one point of 
the compass, and the angle D S A six points : consequently 
A S H is five points of the compass, or 5C° 15*; but 
CAS and A S D are together equal to two right angles, 
or sixteen points, of which A S D is six points, there- 
fore C A S is ten points; but C A B is four points, there- 
fore SAB is six points, or 07° 30': therefore, in the tri- 
angle A B S, the sido A B and two angles are known, 
whenee the other sides, or the ship's distance from the two 
cape**, can l>c found. The easiest method of solving this 
problem is by actual construction, the results of which are 
generally as accurato as the data. 



In n manner somewhat similar,*the distance* of a ship 
from a headland might be found by observing its bearings 
at two different hours of the day, and knowing tho eoui-so 
and the distance sailed in the intermediate time. If all tho 
bearings aro by compass, as in the second problem, tho 
magnetic variation need not be allowed for, because all tho 
l>carin^s aro equally wrong : but if one or more bo true 
bearings, taken from a map, as in the first problem, then 
the bearings observed by tho compass must be corrected. 
[See Azimuth; Compass, Azimuth.] 

BK'AHN, ono of the thirtv-two provinces into which, 
previously to tho Revolution, France was divided. It con- 
stitutes now, with LcsPays tie* Basques [see Basques], tho 
department of Bastes Pyr£nc"es or the Lowor Pyrenees. The 
name Bearn is derived from Bencharnum, an antient town 
in this country, first mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoni- 
nus : its exact position is undetermined. 

Tho greatest part of Beam lies amidst the Pyrcncos, tho 
summits of wlneh form its southern boundary, and separate 
it from Spain. On other sides, with reference to the old ter- 
ritorial divisions of France, it is bounded by different parts of 
Gaseogne, or Gascony, viz., by Bigorre on tho cast, by tho 
Pays des Basques on the west, and by Annagnacand Cha- 
losse on tho north*. It is a very mountainous country, as 
may be supposed from its being occupied by the branches of 
tho Pyrenees. The Pic du Midi t9732 feet) and Mount 
Billari (8475 feet) are upon or within its frontier. Worn tho 
mountains numerous streams descend, whit h drain different 
valleys, and fall into the Adour. of whose basin Beam forms 
a part. Tho name Gave, which is synonymous with river, is 
common to the streams of this country: they arc distin- 
guished from one another by some additional designation, 
such as the name of a town on the bank. Tho rapidity of 
these Gavcs prevents their being used for navigation, but 
they abound with fish> especially trouts, salmons, pikes, and 
a kind of small salmon of exquisite flavour called toquaas. 
The two principal streams arc the Gave d*Ol6ron and tho 
Gave do Pau. ^ The Gave d'Oldron is formed by tho Gave 
d'Aspo and the Gave d'Ossau, or d'Osscau, which latter 
rises in the Pic du Midi : these unito closo to tho town of 
Oleron, and How in a north-west direction. The Gave dc 
Pau rises in Mont Peril u in Spain, crosses the count rv of 
Bigorre, and flows northwest through B^aru, passing 1'au 
and Orthes, till it unites with Gave d'Oldron. Their joint 
stream falls into tho Adour soon after their union. The 
length of the Gave d*01c*ron (measuring from the source of 
the Gavo d'Ossau) may bo estimated at 75 to 80 miles, and 
that of tho Gave de Pau at 1 00 to 110 : these measurements 
are, however, only approximations. Some of the smaller 
streams which flow into the Gavcs tTOloron and dc Pau 
contain particles of gold. 

The soil is dry and in many parts unsuitcd to tillage, 
though the banks of the Gave de Pau eontain some plains 
fertile in grain. Little wheat or rye is grown; but millet 
and maizo are the principal kinds of grain cultivated, and 
afford subsistence to the bulk of the people. The hills 
yield a good deal of wine, of which those of Jurancon and 
Gan near Pau hold tho first rank. Flax is also an artielo 
of considerable importance in the agriculture of Bc*arn, and 
serves to supply the linen manufacture. Many of the 
mountain-tops are mere heaths covered with fern, which 
the inhabitants uso for manuro; hut soino afford good pas- 
turage, and others arc covered with woods whieh yield timber 
for the carpenter or the shipwright, and furnish the masts 
which are floated down by the tributaries of the Adour, and 
by tho Adour itself, to Bayonnc, from whence they aro sent 
to different parts of France. The horses of B£arn are much 
esteemed ; they are small, but strong and lively. 

The mineral treasures of this district aro considerable. 
Lead, iron, and especially copper are found in several places ; 
and very fine marble is worked. Three brino springs, one 
near tho town of Saillies. not far from tho left bank of tho 
Gave de Pau; a second towards St. Jean Pied de Port + ; 
and a third near RcVcnae, a few miles south of Pau, supply 
tho neighbourhood with salt. Tale, bitumen, and asphaltum 
arc also found. There aro mineral waters at Aigucs-Caudcs 
or les Eaux Chaudcs in tho Valley of Ossau. The tcinpc- 

* lu the Map of Frnnce In Provlncci, published by the Society for lite Pif- 
fu»l(Hi of Useful Knowledge, the dUirlct of Chalusvc U nol marked. 1 1 U In 
clisdrd In thu larger dtvUlon of 1*p§ l^ittdet. 

t AVe Insert thin lecotid spring, o» bHsnring lo Ileum, with considerable 
diffidence. Our authority li lite Knryclopedi* Melfxxiique ; hul unless the 
phrase, 'du e6l* de St. Jenn I»l»il de Tort,* U uicd with considerable taliludc, 
Uie spring muil be beyond the (rentiers of Bcanu 



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raturo of these waters is 35° of Reaumur or 111 nearly 
of Fahrenheit ; they are recommended for disorders of the 
head and stomach. The spring called the * fountain of 
Arquebusade* is recommended for the euro of ulcers and 
wounds. There are other mineral waters at les Eaux Bonnes 
in the immediate neighbourhood of those just mentioned ; 
and in ono or two other places, as Escot in the Valley of 
Aspe, and Ogou or Ogeu, near Oleron. 

The principal man u fact uro carried on in the district 
seems to be that of linen. In the Voyage dans les Departe- 
mens du Midi de la France , by Aubin Louis Millin (Paris, 
1811), the number of weavers in and around Pau was esti- 
mated at nearly a thousand, who were chiefly if not wholly 
occupied in manufacturing the largo square handkorchiefs 
called, from the district, mouchoirs de Beam. The uni- 
formity of price, pattern, and workmanship in these articles 
made them appear like the production of the same manu- 
factory. The hams which go by the name of Bayonne 
haras, because exported from that town, are cured in Beam, 
and are considered to owe their exquisite llavour to the salt 
of Saillies already noticed. 

The capital of Beam was Pau, on the Gave de Pau, the 
birth-place of Henry IV. of Franco and of many other emi- 
nent persons. Pau had in 1832 a population of 10,597 for 
the town, or 11,285 for the wholo commune. Orthdz or 
Orthds, on the Gave de Pau, had at the same time 5195 
inhabitants for the town, or 7121 for the whole commune. 
Saillies or Salies had 4 730 for the town, or 8420 for the 
whole commune ; and OlSron, at the junction of the Gaves 
d'Aspe and Ossau, had 5850 for the town, or 6458 for the 
whole commune, or, including the suburb of St. Marie and 
its commune, 9829. [Seo Pau, Ole'ron, Orthe^s, and 
S\liks.] Besides these more important places there are 
within the boundaries of the district Nay or Nai, on the 
Gave de Pau above Pau, which carries on a considerable 
trade in linen cloths and handkerchiefs, and gave birth 
to Abbadje, a celebrated Protestant theological writer. We 
have no authority for the population of Nay later than the 
Dictionnaire Universel de la France (Paris, 1804), which 
gives it as 2262. Navarreins, on the Gavo d*Olcron, is a 
fortified place, and contained in 1826 a population of 1385. 
It owes its origin to Henry d'Albret, maternal grandfather 
of Henry IV., and is of a square form, regularly built, in 
tho midst of a fertile plain. 

The Bcarnois are a lively race, of industrious habits, sober 
and frugal, but they are charged with selfishness and dis- 
simulation. According to Piganiol, who wrote above a cen- 
tury ago, a number of the peasantry used to go to Spain, to 
till the ground or gather in the hay harvest, and to bring 
back their earnings to their own land. Their patois or 
dialect is agreeable, copious, and expressive, well suited to 
poetry or music. 

"Beam was included in the country of the Aquitani, ac- 
cording to the threefold division of Gaul laid down by Julius 
Ca?aar in the beginning of his Commentaries. It was sub- 
jugated by tho ltoinans, and upon the downfall of their 
empire came into the bands of tho Goths, from whom it was 
wrested by the Franks under Clovis. It was, however, sub- 
sequently lost by the Franks, but came again into their 
possession in the time of Charlemagne. In 820, Louis lc 
Debonnaire, son of Charlemagne, conferred the viee-county 
of Bfiamon the son of the Duke of Gascony,and it continued 
in the possession of liis family till 1134. By failure of the 
male line of his posterity it passed into other families, as 
those of the Viscounts of Gavaret, the Moncades, who were 
among the chief nobles of Catalonia, and the Counts of Foix. 
These last acquired possession of the district of Bigorre, and 
intermarried with the royal family of Navarre. By this in- 
termarriage the kingdom of Navarre, the principality of 
Bdarn, and the counties of Foix and Bigorro came into the 
hands of one possessor. On tho failure of heirs male they 
were conveyed by marriage into the family of D'Albret, and 
augmented by the inheritance of that family. Of this fa- 
mily sprang Henry IV., who inherited tho country of Beam 
and Lower Navarre, and, as it seems, of Foix, with the title 
of king of Navarre ; but the country of Upper Navarre, south 
of the Pyrenees, had been wrested from his great-grand- 
father by tho ambition of Ferdinand V., King of Arragon. 
On the accession of Henry to the throne of France, Beam 
was united with France, and has continued to be so united 
ever since. It was one of the provinces which enjoyed the 
privilege of a local house of assembly of the nobility, clergy, 
and commons. 



According to Expilly, the population of BSarn was ascer- 
tained in 169S to be 198,000. Expilly estimated it at 210,000 
in 1 762. From the entire change of the territorial divisions 
of France, it is difficult to give the present population ; but 
the three arrondissements of Pau, Oldron, and Orthds, which 
nearly coincide with Beam, had in 1832 a population of 
277,106. 

{Encyclopidie Method., Geog. Physique; Piganiol de ' 
la Force Nouvelle Description de la France; Voyage dans 
les DSpariemens du Midi de la France^ par A. L. Millin, &c.) 

BEATIFICATION, an act by which tho pope permits a 
* servus Dei,' t. e. an individual who died in good repute as a 
virtuous and holy man, to be worshipped, and his image to 
be placed on the altar withm the limits of some diocese, pro- 
vince, or town, or within tho houses of the religious order to 
which tho deceased belonged, defining at the same time the 
peculiar mode of worship allowed, by prayers, masses, &c, 
until the time he may be duly canonized as a saint. The 
distinction between beatification and canonization is this* 
the first is a mere permission to honour and worship in some 
particular district, and the object of this veneration is styled 
Beatus; canonization is an injunction to venerate the object 
of it as a saint, ■ Sanctus,' acknowledged by tho whole church. 
Originally it was tho bishop of the diocese who allowed the 
veneration or worship of doceased individuals whom he 
deemed worthy of it, and when the worship extended to 
other dioceses, and by degrees to the church in general, 
'with tho consent, tacit or expressed, of the supreme pon- 
tiff,' then the worship, which was before that of simple bea- 
tification, acquired tho character of canonization. But 
when, in after times, tho question both of beatification and 
canonization was referred to the Roman See, the pontiffs, 
in granting tho first, always made the distinction: 'dum- 
modo propter prsemissa canonizatus, aut canonizata, non 
censeatur.' (Benedicti XIV., Opera, vol. i. de Servorum 
Dei Beatifical ione.) In the same chapter Benedict XIV. 
determines tho regulations as to the proceedings, ovidence, 
&c, to bo gone through previous to granting the writ of bea- 
tification. It may be granted to two classes of -individuals, 
martyrs and confessors. After beatification has been ob- 
tained, a new suit and fresh evidence of sanctity are required 
in order to obtain the canonization of the same individual. In 
May, 1807, five Bcati were canonized, or declared Saints, in 
St. Peter's church, by Pius VII. The ceremony is very 
expensive, and therefore is not performed very frequently. 
It is only since the pontificato of Alexander VII. that the 
ceremony of beatification has been performed in St. Peter's 
church, with great solcmnitv. Applications for the honour 
of beatification arc generally made by the friends or rela- 
tions of tho deceased, or by the brethren of the religions 
order of which he was a member; evidence of his conduct 
and merits is collected, and laid before a congregation of 
cardinals and prelates ; counsel is employed by the appli- 
cants, while another counsel opposes tho petition and endea- 
vours to find flaws in the evidence. This latter office is per- 
formed by a legal officer of the Roman See, who has been nick- 
named VAwocato del Diavolo f * the devil's advocate,' as ho 
performs what is considered an ungracious part, by opposing 
the admission of a candidate into the category of the saints. 

BEATON, CARDINAL DAVID, Archbishop of St. 
Andrew's, and Lord High Chancellor to Mary Queen of 
Scotland, was a younger son of John Beaton or Bethune of 
Balfour, in the shire of Fife, by a daughter of David Mony- 
penny of Pitmilly in the same shire ; and nephew to Bishop 
James Beaton, Lord Chancellor to King James V. He was 
born in 1494 (Keith's Bishojts, p. 36), and after passing 
through his grammar education, was, on the 26th October, 
1511, matriculated of tho university of Glasgow (M'Cric's 
Melville, vol. i. A pp. Note M.), whence he was sent to 
France* to study the civil and eanon laws. On the death 
of Secretary Panter in 1519, he was appointed resident for 
Scotland at the French court ; and about the same time his 
uncle the chancellor bestowed on him (then designated only 
clericus S. Andrea; diocesis) the rectory of Cambuslang, in 
the dioceso of Glasgow. In 1523 his uncle, now translated 
from that see to the primacy of St, Andrew's, resigned in his 
favour the rich monastery of Arbroath in coramendam, and 
also prevailed on the pope to dispense with his taking the 
habit for two years: this time he spent in France, and 
then returned to Scotland, where we immediately find him 

• Rolh Crawford ntnl Keith sny th ; * was in lits sixteenth year; but from 
Hie preceding dale, furaUhcd by Dr. M'Uic'i wurk, Uiii appears lo be a 
mistake. _ 

02 



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100 



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in parliament as abbot of Arbroath; and in October, 1527, 
John l>eaton of Balfour and others having been indicted 
for an assault upon the sheriff of Fife, and found bail for 
their appearance, the abbot became bound to relieve John 
Wardlaw of Torry of the eautionry. (Pile. Crim. Trials.) On 
tho fall of the Earl of Angus, and tho surrender of George 
bishop of Dun Weld, ho was appointed Lord Privy Seal, in 
152S— the same year in which the great convent of Black- 
friars at Edinburgh, in tho immediate neighbourhood of 
which Beaton and his uncle had their magnificent abode, 
was burnt down to tho ground by a sudden fire. In Febru- 
ary, 1533, Beaton, now prothonotary apostolic, was sent am- 
bassador to France, with Secretary Erskine, to treat of a 
league with that erown, and also of a matrimonial allianee 
with tho Princess Magdaleno; and when the King of Scots 

})t*ocecded thither on the same object, Beaton was one of the 
ords of the regency appointed by commission, of date 29th 
August, 153C, to conduet the government in his absenee. 
On Queen Magdalene's decease, he was joined in an em- 
bassy to the house of Guise, to treat of a match with Mary, 
widow of the Duke of Longueville ; andwc find that, agree- 
ably to the common practice of that time, he, before going 
abroad, obtained the king's special protection for his friends 
and dependants in his absenee. {Reg. Privy Seal, x. 163-4.) 
It is probable that, when in France on this occasion, he pro- 
cured the papal bull of date 12th February, 1537. for the 
erection of St. Mary's College at St. Andrew's. In Novem- 
ber, 153T, he was made a denizen of Franee, and on the 5th 
of next month consecrated Bishop of Mirepoix in Languedoc. 
On his retirn home he was made coadjutor in the see of St. 
Andrew's, and successor to his uncle, who being now much 
advanced in years, devolved on him the charge of church 
affairs. He seems afterwards to have gone abroad again, for 
on the 20th December, 1533, Pope Paul III. advanced him 
to the eardinalate, by tho title of Sancti Stephani in Monte 
Coelio, the same style which was borne by Cardinal John de 
Salerno, who presided at a eouncil of the Scottish clergy in 
1201; and on the 20th June, 1539, the King of France 
directed new letters of naturalization in his favour, with a 
further clause allowing his heirs to succeed to his eslate in 
France, though born and living in Scotland. About this 
time also we find him ' legatus natus' of the Uoinan See. 
On the death of his uncle in the autumn of 1539, he was 
fully invested in the primacy of St. Andrew's, the privy seal 
being again returned to the Bishop of Duukeld. These ac- 
cumulated honours he no doubt mainly owed to the inlluence 
of his deeeased uncle ; but Beaton was already both an able 
and zealous son of the church. His authority, zeal, and 
ability now made him truly formidable; and that he might 
devote them all to the politics of the church, with eonsent 
of the king and pope, lie devolved his diocesan duties on 
the dean of Restalrig, as his suffragan. On the 28th May, 
1540, he convened a large assembly of ecclesiastics and 
others in the eloistcrs of St. Andrew's, and on their con- 
viction of Sir John Borthwick for heresy in holding Pro- 
testant opinions, pronounced sentence of outlawry nnd for- 
feiture against him, with solemn burning of hk efiisry at the 
market-cross oftheeity. But not liking the odium which 
must ensue to the clergy if they continued to put their sen- 
tences in execution, a promise was made to the king of 
30,000 ducats of gold yearly, and 100,000 dueats more out 
of the estates of condemned heretics, if he would appoint a 
judjjo in heresy. The avaricious James consented, and 
named Sir James Hamilton, natural brother of ihe Earl of 
Arran, to the ottiee, in which, however well fitted for it by 
Irs intolerance and ferocity, he fortunately did not long 
remain, being attainted of treason and beheaded. 

On the 20th December, 1542, the king died, leaving 
an infant daughter, eight days old, hoir to Ihe throne, 
but for whoso safety or that of ihe kiugdom during her mi- 
nority he had made no provision. Beaton had in the inter- 
val gone abroad ; for in tho Lord Treasurer's accounts we 
find a lar^e snm entered * for expenses made upon the 
Great Unicorn, 'Jul. n, 1541, at her passing to France with 
the cardinal:* but ho returned before the death of James, 
and on the kings demise he produced a testament, which 
he affirmed was subscribed by his majestv, appointing him 
regent of the kingdom and guardian to 'the infant queen. 
The document was a base forgery; and as tho nobilitv 
had experienced enough of Beaton's rulo, thev roused from 
his inactivity James, Earl of Arran, next heir to the queen, 
pud appointed him to the regency. Tho power, however, 
which Beaton failed to obtain directly, he obtained by his 



address ; and not only got the nobles to accede to his views 
of government, but also induced the timid regent publicly 
to abjure the doctrines of ihe Reformation. 

In December, 1543, tho preat seal was taken from the 
Archbishop of Glasgow and bestowed on Beaton, whom also, 
on very strong letters from the regent, l'one Paul 111., by 
bull of 30th January following, constituted his legate d latere 
in Scotland. Tims he was placed at the head both of ehurcli 
and state, including also the whole civil judicature of tho 
kingdom, being ex officio principal of the Court of Session, 
the supremo judicatory in civil eauses; and as he did not 
scruple to employ these extensive powers for furthering his 
own views, he appears to have been looked upon as a sort 
of wild beast whom it was not murder to destroy. The 
king of England, in particular, whose friendship was re- 
nounced at the instigation of the cardinal and the popi>h 
faction, for an allianee with France, anxiously desired his 
death ; and in the instructions of tho English privy council 
of date 10th April, 1544, the Earl of Hertford was com- 
manded, in his inroad into Scotland, to sack and destroy 
Edinburgh and 1-cith, * and this done, pass over to the Fife- 
land, and extend like extremities and destruction to tlio 
towns and villages there, not forgetting amongst oil tho 
rest so to spoil and turn upside down the cardinal's town of 
St. Andrew's, as the upper part may be the nether, and not 
one stono stand upon another, sparing no creature alive 
within the same, specially such as either in friendship or 
blood be allied unto the cardinal.' Henry soon found in 
Scotland spirits congenial with his own ; for on (he 1 7th of 
the same month we find the Earl of Hertford communicating 
to him a design by Wishart and others to seize or slay the car- 
dinal, eould they secure his majesty's protection and support. 

Beaton was haughty to all ; but to the reformers he 
was particularly oppressive. In the beginning of 1545-6 
he held a visitation of his diocese, and had great numbers 
brought before him, under the act which had passed the 
parliament in 1542-3, forbidding the lieges to argue or 
dispute concerning the sense of the holy scriptures. Con- 
victions were quickly obtained ; and of those convicted, 
five men were hanged and one woman drowned , some wero 
imprisoned, and others were banished. He next proceeded 
to Edinburgh, and there eallcd a eouncil for the affiirs of 
the church; but they had scarce assembled when tidings 
were brought that George Wishart, an eminent reformer 
and worthy man, was at the house of Cockbum of Ormiston. 
The eardinal instantly left the meeting, and went personally 
to the sheriff of the eounty to have Wishart apprehended, 
which being done, Wishart was carried over by tne cardinal 
to St. Andrew's, and shut up in the tower there. The fol- 
lowing month the Lord Justice General of Scotland held a 
eourt at Perth at the instigation of the cardinal, and * con- 
demned to death and gart hang four honest men for eating 
of an goose in lent. Likcways they caused drown ane young 
woman because she wald not pray to our ladie and other 
sancts in the t\me of her birth.' (Pitscoitie, 453.) Beaton 
afterwards returned to St. Andrew's, and called a conven- 
tion of his clergy, at which Wishart was condemned for 
heresy, and adjudged to be burnt; a sentence which (so 
violently were the clergy bent on the accomplishment of 
their ends) was passed in the faee of a command by the 
regent that the trial should proceed at Edinburgh, and 
was put in force by the eardinal and his clergy in defianco 
of the regent, and* without the aid of the civil power. For 
this conduct the cardinal was loudly applauded by his 
creatures. The eardinal afterwards proceeded to the abbey 
of Arbroath, to the marriage of his eldest daughter by Mrs. 
Marion Ogilvy of the hou^e of Airly, with whom he had 
long lived in scandalous eoncubinage, and there, with in- 
famous effrontery, he pave her in marriagoto the eldest son 
of the Earl of Crawford, and with her 4000 merks of dowry. 
The marriage articles subscribed by him an; yet extant 
(Keith's Hint. p. 42.) lie then returned to St. Andrew's, 
where, on Saturday, 29th May, 154G, he was put to death 
in his own chamber by a party of reformers, headed by 
Norman Leslie, heir of the noble house of Rothes, who, wo 
find, had on the LMth April, 1545, given the cardinal a bond 
of manment*, and who, on private grounds, had n personal 
quarrel with (he eardinal. His death was fatal to the eccle- 
siastical oligarchy, which, under him, trampled alike on law, 
liberty, and reason. 
Three works of (he cardinal's are named : De Legaliombwt 

• Uomlt of minimi «rre long common In Scotland. They wcro In the 
ti 3 lure of the obH^tioui ofhoninge aud really b> a tenant lo hit feudal lwrU, 



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suis ; De Pnmatu Petri ; and Episfolee ad diversos. We 
have said that he was at the head of the eivil judicature of 
the kingdom, being, in his capacity of Lord Chancellor, 
principal of the College of Justice or Court of Session. We 
now add, that in his time two remarkable alterations appear 
to have been made in the customs of that court, and both 
manifestly derived from the papal tribunals, with which the 
cardinal appears to have been very familiar. The first of 
these was the custom (continued to this day) of the judges 
of the Court of Session changing their name on their eleva- 
tion to the bench, in imitation, no doubt, of the like custom 
on elevation in the papal hierarchy. .The first judges of the 
court were indeed called lords of session, as the judges of 
the previous court were called lords of council ; but the in- 
dividual judges of the court of daily council were never de- 
signated as the present judges of the Court of Session are, 
nor were the early judges of the latter court so designated. 
The first we have yet noticed bearing the present style 
is James Balfour, parson of Flisk, whom we find called 
'My lord of Flisk.' (Piteairn's Criminal Trials, January, 
1566.) The other change we have to notice was the ap- 
pointment of lords ordinary to sit in the outer house to hear 
and determine causes; in conformity, perhaps, to a like 
practice in the tribunals of Rome. It is almost certain that 
there was no such distinction as an Outer and Inner House 
at the first institution of the Court of Session: no trace of 
any such is perceived in the documents of that time, but, on 
the contrary, every thing tends to demonstrate that all the 
judges sat only in the council house; but soon after the 
cardinal's time an outer house appears. 

BEATS, in music (a term always used in the plural), 
are the pulsations, throbbings, or beatings, resulting from 
the joint vibrations of two sounds of the same strength and 
nearly the same pitch ; that is, of two sounds differing but 
little, if at all, in intensity, and which are almost, but not 
exactly, in unison. When two organ-pipes, or two strings 
so 11 tided. together, are nearly, but not accurately of the 
same pitch, i. e. are not in perfeet tunc, they produce throb- 
bings that may be compared to the rapid beating of the 
pulse ; and to these, Sauveur, the discoverer of the pheno- 
menon, applied the term battemenSy or beats, which has 
since been adopted by all writers on the subject. 

Dr. Smith has, in his Harmonics, entered fully into the 
subject of beats, and founded hereon his well-known system 
of temperament. [See Tempkrament.] In his ninth pro- 
position he says, that * if a consonance of two sounds he 
uniform without any beats or undulations, the times of the 
single vibrations of its sounds have a perfeet ratio ; but if it 
beats or undulates, the ratio of the vibration differs a little 
from a perfect ratio, more or less, according as the beats are 
quicker or slower.' His experiment in demonstration of 
this is practical, easy, and satisfactory. * Change,' says Dr. 
Smith, * the first string of a violoncello for another about as 
thick as the second. Then screw up the first string, and 
while it approaches gradually to a unison with the second, 
the two sounds will be heard to beat very quick at first, 
then slower and slower, till at last they make a uniform 
consonance without any beats or undulations. At this junc- 
ture, either of the strings struck alone, by the bow or 
finger, will cxeitc large and regular vibrations in the other, 
plainly Visible ; which show that the times of their single 
vibrations arc equal.' For the vibrating motion of a musical 
string puts other strings in motion, whose tension and quan- 
tity of matter dispose their vibrations to keep time with the 
pulses of air propagated from the string that is struck ; a 
phenomenon explained by Galileo, who observes, that a 
heavy pendulum may be put in motion by the least breath 
of the mouth, provided the puffs be often repeated, and keep 
time exactly with the vibrations of the pendulum. ' Alter 
the tension,' continues Dr. Smith, in pursuing his experi- 
ment, ' of either string a very little, and the sounds of the 
two will beat again. But now the motion of one string 
struck alone makes the other only start, exciting no regular 
vibrations in it ; a plain proof that the vibrations of the 
strings arc not isochronous/ And while the sounds of both 
are drawn out with an even bow, not only an audible but 
a visible beating and irregularity is observable in the vibra- 
tions, though in the former ease the vibrations were free 
and uniform. Now measure the length of either string 
between the nut and bridge, and when the strings are per- 
fect unisons, mark, at the distance of one-third of that length 
from the nut. one string with a speck of ink. Then place 
the edge of the nail on the speck, or very near it, and press 



the string, when, on sounding the remaining two-thirds 
with the other string open, a uniform consonance of fifths 
will be heard, the single vibrations of which have the per- 
feet ratio of 3 to 2. But on moving the nail a little down- 
wards or upwards, that ratio will be increased or diminished* 
and in both eases the imperfect fifths will beat quicker or 
slower, accordingly as that perfect ratio is more or less 
altered. 

Dr. Young remarks of Beats, that they furnish a very 
accurate mode of determining the proportional frequency of 
vibrations, when the absolute frequency of one of them is 
known ; or the absolute frequency of both, when their pro- 
portion is known ; for the beats are usually slow enough to 
be reckoned, although the vibrations themselves can never 
be distinguished. Thus, if one sound consists of 100 vibra- 
tions in a second, and produces with another aeuter sound a 
single beat in every second, it is obvious that the second 
sound must consist of 101 vibrations in a second. (Young's 
Philosophy, i. 390.) 

In tuning unisons, as in the ease of two or more pipes, or 
strings, the operator is guided by beats. Till the unison is 
perfect, more or less of beating will be heard, as the sounds 
more or less approach each other. * When the unison is 
complete/ observes Sir John Herschel, ' no beats are heard : 
when very defective, the beats have the effect of a rattle of 
a very unpleasant kind. The complete absenee of beats 
affords the best means of attaining by trial a perfeet har- 
mony. Beats will also be heard when other concords, as 
fifths, are imperfectly adjusted. (Hersehel on Soiwd.) 

Dr. Smith, in the learned work of wlrfch we have here 
availed ourselves, gives some useful practical rules for 
tuning by means of beats, the substance of which will be 
found under the head of Tuning. 

BEATTIE, JAMES, a poet and metaphysician of the 
18th century, was born in Scotland, at Lawreneekirk, a 
village in the county of Kincardine, Oct. 25, 1735. His 
parents kept a small farm, and were esteemed, not only for 
their honesty, but for a degree of cultivation and intellect 
not common in their station. James Beattie received his first 
education at the village school. He entered the Marisehal 
College, Aberdeen, in 1749 ; obtained a bursary, or scholar- 
ship, and other honours ; and after completing his course 
of study was appointed, August 1, 1753, schoolmaster to the 
parish of Fordoun, at the foot of the Grampians, six miles 
from Lawreneekirk. In this solitary abode his poetic tem- 
perament was fostered by the grand secnery which sur- 
rounded him ; and his works evince the zeal and taste with 
which he studied the ever-ehanging beauties of nature. 
He attracted the favourable notice of a neighbouring pro- 
prietor, the celebrated Lord Monboddo, with whom he ever 
after maintained a friendly intercourse. In June, 1758, he 
was elected usher to the grammar-school of Aberdeen ; and 
in 1 760, it seems rather by private interest than in conse- 
quence of any distinction which he had then attained, he 
was appointed professor of moral philosophy and logic in 
the Marisehal College. 

His first and chief business was to prepare a course of 
lectures, the substanee of which, as they were remodelled 
by long study and frequent revision, was given to the world 
in his Elements of Moral Science. His first poetical at- 
tempts were published in London in 1 760, and received with 
favour; but most of the pieces contained in this collection 
(which is now very rare) were omitted by the author's ma- 
turer judgment in later editions of his works. Some will 
be found in the Appendix to Sir William Forbes's Life of 
Beattie. The same tacit censure was passed by the author 
upon his Judgment of Paris, published in 1765. In 1762 
he wrote his Essay on Poetry, which, however, he retained a 
long time in manuscript, until it was published, with others 
of his prose works, in 1776. The Minstrel was commenced 
in 1766 ; but during that year all his pursuits, except those 
which wero compulsory, were interrupted by a bad state of 
health.- June 28, 1767, he married Miss Dun, daughter of 
the rector of the grammar-school at Aberdeen. 

During this year he conceived the notion of composing 
his Essay on Truth, written avowedly to confute the moral 
and metaphysical doctrines advanced by Hume, which at 
that time were supposed to be making numerous converts ; 
and which, perhaps, derived as much of their popularity 
from the fashionable acceptation and high repute of their au- 
thor, as from the arguments on which they rested. Beattie's 
motives for engaging in this task will be found fully de- 
tailed in a long letter to Dr. Blacklock (Forbes's Life, vol. u 



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102 



n r a 



1. 129), and thev do credit to bis sincerity and courage; 
tar it was no slight thing for & voting end almost unknown 
man to attack an author formidablo at onco from ability, 
►arty connexion, and high standing in society ; and this ho 
lid not in the language of deference, but with tho uncompro- 
mising hostility of one who believes his antagonist to bo not 
only a mistaken but a mischievous person. 1 f Beattie could 
not quite attain his own wish of being * animated without 
losing his temper,* something must be conceded to his deep 
feeling of the importance of the subjects in dispute. The 
Essay, however, was received with much anger by Mr. Hume 
and his friends, as a violent and personal attack ; and that 
Beattic's zeal might require some tempering we may conclude 
from knowing that an intended preface to the second edition 
(published early in 1771) was cancelled by the advice of 
somo of his best friends, His work appeared in May, 1770, 
under the title Essau on the Nature and Immutability 
of Truth, in ojyposttion to Sophistry and Scepticism. 
The plan of it is thus given by his biographer, 'Dr. 
Heat tie first endeavours to trace the several kinds of evi- 
dence un to their first principles, with a view to ascertain 
the standard of truth, and explain its immutability. lie 
shows, in the second place, that his sentiments on this 
head, how inconsistent soever with the genius of scepti- 
cism, and with the principles and practice of sceptical 
writers, are yet perfectly consistent with the genius of true 
philosophy, and with the practice and principles of those 
whom all acknowledge to have been most successful in the 
investigation of truth ; concluding with some inferences or 
rules, by which the most important fallacies of the sceptical 
philosophers may be detected by every person of common 
sense, even though he should not possess acutencss of meta- 
physical knowledge sufficient to qualify him for a logical 
confutation of them. In tho third place, he answers somo 
objections, and makes some remarks, by way of estimate of 
scepticism, and sceptical writers/ — Forbes, p. 1G7. 

The Essay on 7>uth was only the first part of an intended 
lecture on the evidences of morality and religion. Habitual 
ill health, and an avowed dislike to severe study, prevented 
Dr. Beattie from completing his design. 

The first canto of tho Minstrel was published anony- 
mously in 1771* It was most favourably received by the 
public, :ind honoured by the warm praise of Gray, the more 
valuable because the praise was accompanied by a letter 
of minnto criticism. This is preserved in Forties's Life 
(vol. i. p. 197). In the same year he visited London, for the 
first time since he had been known as an author ; and re- 
ceived distinguished and flattering notice from Dr. Johnson, 
Lord Lytllctcn, and the best literary society of the metro- 
polis. 

It was the wish of his friends to obtain some permanent 
provision for one who had no patrimony, whose literary pro- 
fits were small, and whose only other resource was the scanty 
income of his professorship; and it was thought that his 
exertions in the cause of revealed religion entitled him to 
this mark of public favour. In 1 773 he again visited London 
to urge his claim, and owing to the powerful interest which 
he was then able to command, he obtained a pension of 200/. 
The King (George III.) received him with distinguished 
favour; and tho University of Oxford conferred on him the 
honorary degree of D.C.L. During this visit, Sir Joshua 
Reynolds painted and prosented to him tho well-known 
portrait, which contains the allegorical triumph of Truth 
over Sophistry, Scepticism, and Infidelity. In tho same 
autumn there occurred a vacancy in the University of Edin- 
burgh, which it was thought would open tho chair of moral 
philosophy to Dr. Beattie; hut this preferment, though 
strongly urged upon hiin, ho declined for the sake of peace 
and quiet. At this time ho was engaged in finishing the 
second book of the Minstrel, which was published in the 
following spring. 

Several of Beattic's friends, and some eminent persons 
who do not appear to have been influenced by personal re- 
gard, were desirous to induce him to take "orders in the 
English church, and more than one living was pressed upon 
his acceptance. In 1774 he received the offer of a living 
worth near 500/. per annum, from Dr. Thomas, Bishop of 
Winchester. It appears that Beattie took these pro- 
posals into serious consideration, and that he entertained 
no objections on the scoro of discipline or doctrine; but 
he refused them principally on tho ground that his ac- 
ceptance might give a handle to tho opponents of revealed 
religion for asserting that tho Essay on Truth was written 



for the sake of preferment. * Partly,' be says, • because it 
might he construed into a want of principle, if, at the ago of 
thirty-eight, I were to quit, with no other apparent motive 
than that of bettering my circumstances, ttiat church of 
which 1 have hitherto been a member.' It is not superfluous 
to praise this delicacy and independence of feeling, because 
many persons whom it would bo harsh to rondeinn as having 
sold their opinions for preferment, have at least shown a 
culpable neglect of their own characters and the interest of 
truth, by accepting preferment under circumstances which 
were almost sure to fix the imputation of venality upon 
them. (See Bcattio's Letter to Dr. Porteus, Forbes, vol. i. 
p. 359.) 

The Essay on Truth was re-publishcd in 1 77G, with three 
other essays : — On Poetry and Music, as they affect the 
Mind; On laughter and Ludicrous Composition; On the 
Utility of Classical Learning. Theso were followed at 
intervals by other essays and dissertations, chiclly taken 
from his academical lectures: — Dissertations Moral and 
Critical, on Memory and Imagination* on Dreaming, on 
the Theory of Language, on luble and Ronton ce, on the 
Attachments nf Kindred, and Illustrations of Sublimity, 
1783; Evidences of the Christian Religion, 178G; Elements 
of Moral Science, vol. i. containing Psychology and Natural 
Theology, 1790; vol. it. containing Ethics, Economics, Po-> 
litics, Logic, and a Dissertation on the Slave Trade, 1793. 
But he appears to ha\e engaged in no new investigations or 
studies; and his letters explain the cause of this to have 
been ill health, and consequent disinclination to labour, 
aggravated by mental depression, and a considerable tdinrc 
of domestic disquiet, produced by an hereditary disposi- 
tion to insanity in his wife. His life passed until 1790 
without marked events, in the discharge of his acade- 
mical duties; varied in his long summer vacations by not 
un frequent visits to London, and to many persons emi- 
nent by their talents or rank, who sought his society for the 
sake of his powers as a companion, as much as for his repu- 
tation. In 1790 he suffered an irreparable loss in the death 
of his eldest son at the age of twenty-two, a young man of 
great promise; and his declining health received another 
shock in 179G in the unexpected death of his only surviving 
son after a week's illness, in the eighteenth year of his age. 
He said, in looking on the corpse, * I have now done with 
the world,' and he never again applied to study of any sort 
The closing years of his life exhibit a melancholy scene of 
gloom and distress, bodily and mental. He was struck by 
palsy in April, 1799, and after one or two subsequent at- 
tacks, expired August 18th, 1803. 

In the relations of private life, and in his public duties 
as a teacher, Dr. Beattie was most amiable; and he com- 
manded, in an unusual degree, the esteem and affection of 
his pupils, as well as of a largo circle of friends. It is to be 
recorded to his honour, that long before the abolition of 
tho slavo trade was brought before parliament, Beattie was 
active in protesting against that iniquitous trailie; and he 
introduced the subject into his academical course, with the 
express hope that such of his pupils as might be led by for- 
tune to tho \Vcst Indies would recollect the lessons of hu- 
manity which he inculcated. 

Of his writings, the Minstrel is that which now 'probably 
is most read. It exhibits a strong feeling for the beauties 
of nature, which will probably prevent its being entirely for- 
gotten. Beattic's metaphysical writings have the reputation 
of being clear, lively, and attractive, but not profound. The 
Essay an Truth was much read and admired at the time of 
its publication, but has fallen into comparativo neglect, with 
the doctrines against which it was especially directed. 
(Life of Dr. Beattie, by Sir W. Forbes, two vols. J to.) 

BEAUCA1RE, a town hi France on the right bank of 
tho RhGnc in the department of Gard, 432 miles S.S.K. of 
Paris bv Moulins, Clermont, Mende and Nunes. It is in 
43° 48' K. lat., 4° 30' K. long. 

Beaueairo seems to have existed in antient times under 
the name of Ugernum. It probably was at first a depen- 
dency of Nimes. In 1734 a Roman road leading from 
Ntmes towards Beaueairo was discovered by M. Vergilc do 
la Bastide. On this road were several Roman mile-stones, 
numbered, as it seems, in tho direction from Nemausus (or 
Ntmes) as the capital of the district to Ugcrnuin. Some of 
theso mile-stones not having been displaced afforded the 
means of ascertaining by actual measurement the length of 
the Roman mile, which was found to be 752 toises 4 feet 
French measure, equal to 1G04 yards 12 inches English, 



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Some of the mile-stones had been removed, as it is supposed, 
by Constantius, general and father-in-law of the Emperor 
Honorius, and formed into a monument in memory of some 
person or persons of distinction, who fell in a victory which 
he gained (a.d. 411) over the Franks and Allemanni, who 
attempted to force him to raise the siege of Aries. In the 
seventh century Ugernum was regarded as a place of great 
strength, and was perhaps rather a castle or military post 
than a town of any extent. (Millin, Expilly, D'Anville, 
&c.) 

In the eleventh century tho name Ugernum gave place 
to that of Belli-Cadrum or Belcadro (whence the modern 
Beaucaire^, derived either from tho square form of the castle 
or of the towers of the eastle, or from the beauty of the dis- 
trict in which it was placed ; for Cadre, or Ciiire, in the 
dialect of Languedoc and Provence signifies a square, or 
generally a space ; and Beaucaire may be translated * hand- 
some district* {beau qnartier). (Millin, Malte-Brun.) The 
name Ugernum, though lost by the town, was traceable in 
that of an island in the Rhone opposite to it, which was 
called Gernica, a corruption seemingly of Ugemica. This 
island, by the drying up of the branch of the Rhone which 
surrounded it on the east side, is now united to the town 
of Tarascon, the lower part of which is still called Ger- 
negue. 

In the middle ages Beaucaire was under the Counts of 
Provence, until it was ceded in 1125 to the Count of Tou- 
louse; and in the troubles which that illustrious family suf- 
fered fur their protection of the Albigenscs it was twice the 
scene of contest. In or about the year 1217 it opened its 
gates to Raymond, son of Raymond VI., Count of Tou- 
louse; and the garrison placed in it by Simon Montfurt 
(leader of the Crusade against Raymond), which retired 
into the castle, was forced to surrender. Louis VIII., King 
of France, besieged it within ten years after, but in vain. 
To the Counts of Toulouse Beaucaire is said to owe its cele- 
brated fair, which constitutes at present its chief claim to 
notice; but this is doubtful, though the fair, at any rate, 
existed long before the year 14G3, when Louis XL of Franec 
granted certain privileges to those who frequented it. 

Beaucaire is situated in a pleasant country ; and the view 
across the RhOne, which is here a magnificent stream, to 
the picturesque castle and town of Tarascon, is very fine. 
Tarascon and Beaucaire are just opposite one another, so as 
to appear like parts of the same town. The communication 
between them was long maintained by a bridge of boats, or 
rather by two bridges leading from each bank to a stono 
causeway, the remains, as it seemed, of a former bridge ; 
but the passage by these bridges of boats was dangerous 
when the violent mistral or south wind blew. Of late years 
a suspension bridge of three arehes, 441 metres, or 1447 
feet, long has been erected : five of these suspension bridges 
have been erected of late across the Rhone between Lyons 
and Beaucaire. The situation of Beaucaire on the banks of 
the Rhdne is highly favourable to its commerce. The quay 
is well built, and convenient for the landing of goods. A 
canal runs from Beaucaire to Aignes Mortcs, and there 
divides into two branches: one communicating directly with 
the Mediterranean at the village of Repauset, the other 
passing through several of the etangs or lakes to the port 
ofCette. This canal enables boats to avoid the mouths of 
the Rhone, the navigation of which is uncertain and dan- 
gerous, and sometimes impossible. 

The town of Beaucaire was, in the middle of the last een* 
tury, surrounded by walls, which were, however, useless for 
defence. These walls probably still remain, for later au- 
thorities speak of the beauty of the gate which leads towards 
the -Rhone. The streets are crooked and narrow ; but for 
this it would be considered a handsome town. The number 
of houses is great in proportion to the population, which in 
1832 was only 9967. These are fully inhabited only during 
the fair, and during the greater part of the year the closed 
apartments and almost deserted streets form a marked con- 
trast to tho activity which prevails at the fair time. The 
high prices then obtained for lodgings and accommodation 
of every kind, by enabling the inhabitants to subsist during 
the rest of the year with" little exertion, have been fatal to 
the industry of the town. There are no manufactures, nor 
are any great commercial undertakings entered into. They 
cultivate a few vineyards and olive plantations. M. Millin 
says that they have scarcely a tailor or a shoemaker in 
the town, and that for clothing they must either wait 
the return of the fair, or resort to Tarascon for a supply. 



{Voyage dans les Departemens da Midi de la France, Paris, 
1808.) 

There is an antient church, founded in the ninth century 
by tho Count of Narbonne the portal of which is adorned 
with sculptures relating to the birth of Christ. Before the 
Revolution there were two other churches, both antient ; 
two convents for men, one of Cordeliers and one of Capuchins, 
and an establishment of priests, ' de la doctrine Chreticnne,' 
who had a college under their direction. There were also 
an abbey for Benedictine nuns, two other nunneries (one of 
Ursulines and one of Hospitalieres), and two hospitals. (Ex- 
pilly, Diet, des Gaules et de la France, 1762.) 

There are some remains of the antient castle of which 
mention has been already made. It stood on an eminence 
Commanding tho town, and was demolished in 1632, because 
it had fallen into tho hands of some rebels against Louis 
XIII. It appears to have been an objeet of contention in 
the religious wars of the sixteenth century, between the 
Catholies and the Huguenots, or Protestants : the latter are 
charged with having committed great disorders here in 1562. 
(Piganiol de la Force; Expilly.) 

The great fair of Beaucaire, in the number of persons 
who resort to it, is equal to almost any in Europe. It is 
said that the fair of 1833, confessedly the greatest for some 
years, was attended by from 70,000 to 80,000 persons, and 
that business was done to the amount of 160,000,000 francs, 
or 6,400,000/. sterling. Mr. M'Culloch (from whose Diet, 
of Commerce we take this statement) suspects exaggeration, 
but Malte Byuti (Geographic Universelle) speaks of 100,000 
as the usual number of persons who resor^ to it. They come 
from the middle and southern parts of Europe, and from the 
Levant. 

This fair had its origin in the middle ages, and according 
to some, was established by Raymond VI. Count of Tou- 
louse ; and there is no account that it has been suspended 
since its establishment, except in 1721 and 1722, when the 
plague devastated Provence and part of Languedoc. At 
first the fair was held in the town, but the increasing busi- 
ness rendered it necessary to hold it out of the town in a 
neighbouring meadow, where tents were erected. This 
alteration had taken place long before Martin iere published 
his Grand Dictionnaire (vol. ii. 1730.) Its present extent 
may be judged of by the statement given above. We take 
the following particulars from M. Millin. ( Voyage dans les 
Departemens da Midi de la France, Paris, 1808.) 

Long before the fair the principal merchants hire a house, 
or an apartment; every room is filled with beds, and the 
owner eontents himself for the time with the garret. The 
wool merchants and the drapers occupy, in alternate years, 
the houses in eertain streets, so that the householders in 
each street have alternately a profit by the high prices that 
the drapers are made to pay. The linen-drapers have their 
quarter, the leather-sellers theirs ; the Jews occupy always 
the same spot. Not only are the shops filled, but stalls are 
erected and covered with cloth ; and benches of stone serve 
for the display and salo of small wares. The names of 
the dealers, their residence, and their trade, are written on 
squares of linen, &c, which are suspended by ropes across 
the streets, and form, by the medley of the colours and the 
variety of their inscriptions, a singular spectacle. The town 
being* insufficient for the thousands who resort to it, a new 
town of wooden huts and of tents is run up in a meadow on 
the borders of the river, having also its public places, its 
streets, &e. The merchants of the same country, or the same 
town, usually oecupy the same street, which has the effect of 
bringing to the same spot wares of a similar kind. One 
street contains the drugs, spices, and soap of Marseilles ; 
another the pomatum and wash-balls of the perfumers of 
Grasse ; and a third tho perfumes and liqueurs of Mont- 
pellier. Goods of all sorts are exposed for sale, including 
even cameos, medals, and other antiques. One whole street 
contains nothing but onions and garlic. Not only are the 
town and the meadow filled with a dense and busy popu- 
lation, but the river is crowded with boats (arranged in regu 
lar order according to their form, their cargo, and the place 
from which they come), in which many persons take up 
their habitation. Vessels of various forms from Genoa, 
Catalonia, or Marseilles; the boats which come from the 
interior do\ni the Rhone ; and those which come from the 
coast of the ocean by the Canal du Midi (which unites the 
ocean with the Mediterranean), may be seen there. The 
vessel which first arrives salutes the town with a musket or 
pistol shot, and receives in return a sheep, the skin of which, 



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stuffed with straw, and accompanied with flags, indicates 
the superior diligence or good fortune of the ship-raastcr. 
Besides the merchants who frequent the fair, the business 
done, and the vast concourse of people draw a number of 
other persons: there are notaries and legal gentlemen, 
members of the mediral profession to attend to eases of 
sickness or accident, and undertakers to bur)* the dead. A 
small chapel occupies the extremity of the plain where the 
huts and tents arc erected : in this mass is said ; and as the 
worshippers eannot he all contained in the chapel, they kneel 
in the meadow with their faces turned towards the altar. A 
great number of rosaries are sold here. 

Restaurateurs, cafes, billiard-tables, and places for danc- 
ing offer their attractions; jugglers, showmen with wild 
beasts, and rope-dancers, seek to profit by the opportunity ; 
and gaming and debauchery are prevalent. Pickpockets 
have taken place of the highwaymen who onee infested the 
roads, and plundered those who eame to or left the fair. 
The government of the fair is in the hands of the PreTet 
of the department, by whom it is solemnly opened. 

Tho fair was originally established for three days, but the 
intervention of three saints* days (Magdalen, St. Ann, and 
St. James), on whieh, though not reckoned as business days, 
business goes on, extends the period to six days, viz., from 
tho 22d to the 2Sth July. At its close the merchants 
depart, the Jews and Catalonians being usually the last to 
go; and the town is left to its ordinary dullness till the 
return of this extraordinary scene. 

BEAUFORT, the name of several places in France, of 
which one only is of sufficient importance to require notice. 
Beaufort en ValUe (or Beaufort la Ville), with its suburb 
Beaufort en Franchise (othcrwiso Beaufort hors la Ville), 
is in the department of Mainc-et-Loirc, about seventeen 
miles, measured in a straight line, E. by S. of Angers, the 
capital of the department The town and suburb are sepa- 
rated from eaeh other by a braneh of the little river Cocsnon 
or Couanon, whieh soon afterwards falls into the Authion, 
one of the minor feeders of the Loire. The chief trade of 
the town in former times consisted in corn ; but the more 
modern authorities speak of manufactures of coarse li- 
nens for the use of the army, hempen cloths, serges, drug- 
gets, and hats. Hemp is grown in the surrounding dis- 
trict, whieh produecs also corn and vegetables. Before the 
Revolution there were in Beaufort la Ville two parish 
churches and a convent of Reeollets, a class of Franeiscans. 
The population, in 1832, comprehending, probably, both 
Beaufort la Ville and its suburb, was 328S for the town, 
and 5914 for the whole commune. 47° 2j' N. hit., and 
0* 13' W. long, from Greenwich. (Piganiol de la Forec, 
Dictionnai*-e Unxversel de la France.) 

BEAUFOUT, CARDINAL. Henry Beaufort, Bishop 
* of Winchester and Cardinal of St. Eusebius, was a son of 
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (father of Henry IV.), 
by his mistress Catherine 3wynford,whom he subsequently 
married. His children by this woman, all born before wed- 
lock, were legitimated by the name of Beaufort in the 
twentieth year of the reign of Richard II. We arc unable 
to state the exact year of Cardinal Beaufort's birth; hut 
from the cireumstanee of his having been consceratcd a 
bishop when 'very young,' in 1397, and that he is spoken of 
on his death-bed as ' an old man of eighty/ we infer that it 
was alKHit the year 1370. He studied at Ox forth Cambridge, 
and Aix-la-Chapcllc. In 1397 he was ercatcd bishop of Lin- 
coln (he is erroneously called bishop of London in the Par- 
liamentary History) ; became chancellor of the Univer&ity 
of Oxford in 1399; and in 1404 succeeded the celebrated 
AVilliam of W>ckham as bishop of Winchester. In the 
parliaments of 1404 and 1405 he officiated as lord chan- 
cellor, an office which he filled four times during his life. 
The bishoprick of Winchester was then, as at present, one 
of the richest endowments in the English ehurch ; and 
Beaufort, from habits of frugality according to some writers, 
from sordid covetousness according to others, multiplied his 
riches so as to become the wealthiest subject in England. 
lie advanced his nephew, Henry V., by way of loan, out of 
his own private nurse not less than 28,000/. during his wars 
in France ; and also lent the infant king, Henry VI., 
lt.000/., sums which, the circumstances of the times being 
considered, were of enormous magnitude. 

On the death of Itcnry V. in 1422, Beaufort (with his 
brother, afterwards Duke of Exeter) was appointed guardian 
of his infant successor: Beaufort was also a member of the 
couneil of regeney, of which the king's uncle, Humphrey, 



Duke of Gloucester, was the nominal head. Tho strugglo for 
supremacy between tbeso ambitious men, which ?oon as- 
sumed tho eharacter of a fierce personal contest, is the most 
prominent feature of the internal history of England from 
tho year 1424 to tho year of their death, in 1 147. The pre- 
late being a man * well skilled in all the means prudence 
suggests to tho ambitious to accomplish their ends* (wo 
quote the words of Rapin), ultimately triumphed in the 
struggle, which on more than one occasion threatened to 
intlict upon the country all tho ills of civil war. The quarrel 
first assumed a warlike aspect in 14'26. Tho citizens of 
London were of the party of the duke. To overawe them 
the bishop strengthened the garrison of the Tower, whieh 
the council, under his intlucnce, had intrusted to the care of 
Sir Richard Wydevilo, a creature of his own. This oc- 
curred during a temporary absence of Gloucester on the Con- 
tinent. On his return he demanded lodgings in the Tower, 
hut was refused, Wvdcvile having orders to admit ' no ono 
more powerful than himself.* In his resentment the duke 
ordered the gates of the eity to be closed against the prelate. 
The next morning tho retainers of Beaufort attempted to 
force the gates at l^ndon Bridge. The citizens Hew to arms, 
and bloodshed was with diflieulty averted by the Archbishop 
of Canterbury and the Prinec of Portugal, who happened 
to be then in England, prevailing upon the two parties to 
suspend their feuds till the Duke of Bedford, tho regent, 
who had been written to, should arrive from Paris. The 
bishop's letter to the Duke of Bedford on this occasion is 
worth quoting : — 

1 1 reeommend me unto yon with all my heart ; and as 
you desire the welfare of the king our sovereign lord, and of . 
his realms of England and Franec.and your own health and 
ours also, so haste you hither ; for, by my troth, if you tarry 
we shall put this land in a jeopardy with a field : sneh a 
brother you have here. God make iiim a good man. For 
your wisdom knowcth that the profit of Franco standcth in 
the welfare of Englaud. 'Written in great haste on Alhallow 
Even, by y r true servant to my lives end, 

'Hen. Wintox.* 

(Hall's Chronicles; the letter is also printed in the second 
series of Ellis's Hist. Letters.) 

The Duke of Bedford hastened from Paris to rceoneile 
the rivals, but found it expedient to refer the matter to a 
parliament summoned for the purpose at Leicester. This 
parliament is known by the niekname of the 'parliament of 
huts/ a niekname whieh, in its origin, aptly illustrates the 
temper of the partizans of the bishop and of Gloucester, 
and throws some light on the state of manners. In order 
to prevent the consequcnees of strife among armed men, 
the members of the parliament summoned at Leicester 
were ordered to leave their swords and other weapons 
usually worn by the gentry at their inns : their followers, 
however, with a view to defeating this prohibition, attended 
them with bais % ov elubs, on their shoulders; and when 
these also were forbidden they coneealcd stones and plum- 
mets of lead in their sleeves and bosoms. (Parliamentary 
History, vol. i. p. 354.) 

Among other charges put forward by the Duke of Glou- 
cester, in a bill of impcaehment against his unelo Beau- 
fort, was an accusation that he had hired an assassin to 
take away the life of the late King Henry V., at the time 
Prinec of Wales ; and that he had encouraged the prince to 
usurp the throne before the death of his father. Gloucester 
professed to make this charge on the authority of Henry 
himself; but the bishop triumphantly opposed to that testi- 
mony the faet that Henry had, to the last moment of his 
life, honoured hiiu with his friendship and confidence. After 
much wrangling and recrimination, tho matter was referred 
to the arbitration of four spiritual and four temporal peers, 
who awarded that Gloucester should be 'good lord to the 
bishop, and have him in aficetion and love," and that tho 
prelate should preserve to the duke * trcw and sad love and 
aficetion, and be ready to do him such service as pertaineth 
of honesty to my Lord of Winchester and to his cstato to 
do.* A formal public reconciliation then took plaec between 
the two disputants : but the bishon felt tho award to be so 
much of a reproof, that he resigned the chancellorship, and 
obtained leave to go abroad. (The letter of leave is given 
in the seeond scries of ElhVs IIi$t, Letters.) Beaufort ac- 
companied Bedford in his return to France ; and at Calais 
received the weleomc intelligence that the pope had raised 
him to the dignity ofeardinal, and had appointed hiin legate 
t\ latere, for the purpose of directing an English force in a 



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105 



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crusade against the Hussites in Bohemia. [See Bedford^ 
Dukk OF.] 

In 1429 Cardinal Beaufort succeeded in destroying the 
power of his rival Gloucester, by having the young king 
erowned, and by inducing the parliament to declare on the 
occasion that the office of protector, filled by the duke, 
was, ipso facto, at an end. From being at the head of the 
eouncil of regency, Gloucester was thus reduced to his rank 
as a peer. From this time till his death the councils of the 
eardinal predominated in the administration. 
* A powerful party, however, headed by the Duke of Glou- 
cester, opposed itself to the administration of the ear- 
dinal. The spirit of the age was averse to the rule of 
ecclesiastical statesmen ; and the House of Commons in 
particular had directed its attention to the question of church 
reform, as essential to good government. In a meeting of 
peers, in 1431, it was proposed that, as the dignity of car- 
dinal was, by the law of the land, incompatible with the 
possession of a bishopric in England, Beaufort should be 
removed from the see of Winchester, and compelled to re- 
fund its revenues from the day that he had accepted the 
cardinal's hat. Gloucester followed up this motion with a 
series of charges, to the effect that Beaufort had incurred 
the penalties of praemunire in having accepted the papal 
hull, contrary to the express prohibition of the late king, and 
\iad exempted himself as legate from the jurisdiction of the 
see of Canterbury. The same charges were renewed in a 
more formal manner by Gloucester in 1434. (The articles 
are given at length in Rapin and the Parliamentary History 
from Hall.) He accused the cardinal, also, of having 
amassed wealth by dishonest means, of having usurped 
the functions of sovereignty, appointing embassies, and re- 
leasing prisoners on his own authority, and estranging from 
the person of the young king his relatives and the council 
of the regency. That these charges were founded on truth 
is evident from the fact that two acts of parliament were 
passed, one in 1432, the other in 1437, indemnifying Beau- 
fort against the penalties of praemunire, and pardoning him 
for all crimes committed up to the 20th of July in the last- 
namefl year. The arrest and probable murder of Gloucester 
are usually ascribed to his fierce and courageous denunciation ' 
of the ecclesiastical counsellors of the king. - Gloucester's 
death took place on the 28th of February, 1447. 

The cardinal survived his great rival but six weeks. 
His death-bed has been painted in immortal colours by 
Shakspeare {Henry VI. Part 2), but the imagination of 
the poet has supplied the darkest features of the picture. 
Shakspeare represents him as expiring in an agony of 
despair : — 

Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bhis, 
Hold up thy hand, make lignal of thy hope. — 
He dies, and makes no sign.' 

But we know from the authority, Hall, which Shakspeare 
has followed in the less harrowing details of the seene, that 
the cardinal's worldliness was confined to expressing his 
regret that money could not purchase life, and that death 
should have cut him off at the moment when his rival to 
the great object of his ambition (the popedom) had been 
removed. Hall's version is given on the authority of one 
Baker, the cardinal's ehaplain ; and the last words are, * I 
pray you all to pray for me.' His will, moreover, to which 
two codicils are attached, on the 7th and 9th of April (he 
died on the 1 Ith). is still extant (Nichols's Royal and Noble 
Willi, p. 311), indicating a state of feeling more worthy of 
a Christian prelate. II is great wealth was distributed, ac- 
cording to the provisions of his will, in charitable donations. 
Not less than 4000/. was allotted for the relief of the indi- 
gent prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, the Fleet, Marshalsea, 
King's Bench, and the prison attached to the Southwark 
manor of the diocese of Winchester ; and the hospital of 
St. Cross at Winchester still exists as a monument of his 
munificence. Cardinal Beaufort was buried in the beautiful 
chantry which bears his name in Winchester Cathedral. 

(Hall's Chronicles; Turner s Modern History of E?ig- 
land; Rapin's History ; Lingard's History : and Milner's 
History of Winchester, In the two last-named works the 
reader will find a mueh more favourable account of the 
last moments of the cardinal, given on the authority of an 
eye- witness, in the Conti?iuation if the History ofCroyland, 
than we have adopted in the text.) 

BEAUFORT. MARGARET, COUNTESS OF RICH- 
MOND AND DERBY, is entitled tohonourablo mention 
as an eminent patroness of literature, after the manner of 



the age in which she lived. She was of royal descent, being 
the daughter and heiress of John Beaufort, Duke of Sotne£ 
set, grandson of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, third 
sou of Edward III. This descent was not strictly legitimate, 
the name of Beaufort having been first given by John of 
Gaunt to his natural children by Catherine Swynford, who 
were legitimated by act of parliament under Richard II. 
Margaret Beaufort was born in 144 1 ; and was thrice married ." 
first to Edmund Tudor, half brother to Henry VI,, created 
Earl of Richmond, by whom she had one son, afterwards 
Henry VII.; secondly to Sir Henry Stafford, a younger 
branch of the ducal house of Buckingham ; thirdly to Lord 
Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby. By the two last mar- 
riages she had no issue. She died in 1509, and is buried at 
Westminster, where her tomb may be seen in the south 
aisle of Henry Vllth's Chapel. 

The Countess of Richmond was rich, pious, charitable, 
and generous. Her attention to the formal observances of, 
religion prescribed by the Papal church was strict even to* 
rigour. To her hounty Christ's College, Cambridge, founded 
in 1505, and St. John's College, Cambridge, projected and 
endowed by her, but not chartered till 151 1, owe their exist- 
ence. The latter, however, was deprived of the greater por- 
tion of its revenues, that which consisted of the foundress's 
estates, by Henry VIII., who sued for and recovered them 
as heir-at-law ; and the wealth which this distinguished col- 
lege now enjoys is chiefly due to the liberality of later bene- 
factors. The Countess of Richmond also established a pro- 
fessorship of divinity, with a salary of 20 marks, in each 
university; the holders of which are called Lady Margaret's 
professors. Their incomes have been increased, at Cambridge 
by the annexation of the rectorial tithes of Terrington in 
Norfolk, by James I. ; and at Oxford, by the revenues of a 
prebendal stall in Worcester Cathedral. The Countess of 
Richmond also appointed a public preacher at Cambridge, 
salary 10/., whose duties are now confined to the delivery of 
one Latin sermon yearly. 

Walpole has given this noble lady a place in his Cata- 
logue of Royal and Noble Authors, as the translator of two 
books : — 1 . TheMirroure of Golde to the Sinfull Soul, trans- 
lated from a French translation of the Speculum Aureum 
Peccatorum, printed by W. de Worde in 1522; 2. Trans- 
lation of the fourth book of Dr. J. Gerson's Treatise on the 
Imitation and Following the Blessed Life of our Most 
Merciful Saviour Christ, printed at the end of Dr. William 
Atkinson's translation of the three first books — Pynson, 
1504. The following treatises are said to have been pub- 
lished by her desire or encouragement: — 

Scala Perfeccianis, Englysshed, the ladder of Perfec- 
tion, by Walter Hilton— W. de Worde, 1494. fol. 

Treatise concernynge the Seven Penetencyall Psalmes, 
by Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, printed by W. de Worde in 
1509, and Pynson, 1510. 4 to. 

The Ship of Fooles of this World, translated by Henry 
Watson into prose, and printed by W. de Worde, 1517. 4to. 
Bishop Fisher preached her funeral sermon, entitled 
AMornynge Reinembruunce, printed by W. de Worde, and 
reprinted in 1708, with a biographical preface by the Rev. 
Mr. Baker. (Walpole's Catalogue, continued by Park, 
180C ; and Kippis's Biog. Britunnica.) 

BEAUFORT, LOUIS DE, was born of a French fa- 
mily, settled in Germany or Holland, as far as we may pre- 
sume from the scanty information we can find of his early 
life. He was for a time tutor to the young prince of Hesse 
Homburg ; but he became known to the learned world by his 
Dissertation sur I' Incertitude des Cinq Premiers Siecles de 
VHistoire Romaine, 8vo. 1 738. He was one of the first modern 
writers who carried the spirit of critical investigation into the 
narrative of the first five centuries of the Roman common- 
wealth ; he showed that both Livy and Dionysius could not 
be implicitly trusted, and that it required a process of very 
acute and careful discrimination to separate the truth from 
the legendary fables of early Roman history. Among other 
things he maintained that Porsenna did really conquer 
Rome after the expulsion of Tarquinius. Niebuhr remarks, 
when speaking of Beaufort's dissertation (vol. i. p. 539, 
note), * that the critical examination of this war is the most 
successful part of that remarkable little work/ His next 
work was La Republique Romaine, ou Plan General de 
VAncien Gouvernement de Rome, 2 vols. 4to. La Ilaye, 
1 7C6. The author treats at length and systematically of the 
institutions of that celebrated republic, of its senate, its 
populus and plebs, its comitia, its eonsuls and tribunes, of 



No. 218. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV,— P 



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tho laws and tribunals, of the religion of the country and 
its ministers, of the various classes of society and their re- 
spective riphu, and the condition of tho allies and subjects 
ot Rome. Tim work met with great approbation, and main- 
tained its ground as one of the best works upon the Roman 
republic* previous to Niebuhr's History of Rome, which, 
however, was left unfinished hy tho author. Auger's work, 
Sur (a Constitution de Rome, and Adrien do Texier's 
Du Goitvernement de hi Iityublique Romaine, 3 vols. 8vo, 
Hamburg, 1796, are perhaps the only works written in the 
last century that deservo to be meritioned together with 
Beaufort's. lie aroto also Histoire de Germanicus, 12mo. 
17*11, which he dedicated to the Landgrave of Hesse Ilom- 
bwrg. Beaufort was a member of the Royal Society of 
London. He died at Macstricht in 1795. 

BEAUGENCY, a town in France, in the department of 
Loiret, on the road from Paris through Orleans to Blois 
and Tours, eighty-six miles S.S.W. of Paris and fourteen 
or fifteen miles S.W. of Orleans, in 47° 47' N. lat., and 
1° 36' E. long, from Greenwich. It is situated at tho foot 
of a hill on the right or NAV. bank of the Loire, over 
which is an antient bridge of twenty-two arches, according 
to. the older authorities (Piganiol de la Force, Expilly, 
Jincyclopedie Mithodique), or of thirty- nine, according to 
the last edition of Mai to B run's GZographie Universelle, 
Paris, 1832. This bridge is divided into two parts by an 
island in the centre of the river. The town eontains the 
remains of an old castle, the antiquity of which some would 
carry up to the time of the Gauls; it has been ruined by 
time and by the various sieges which the town has sus- 
tained. Before the Revolution there was a chapter of the 
regular canons of St. August in, the successors of a much 
larger number of religious of that order, who were esta- 
blished he re in former days. The monastery in which they 
lived was destroyed by the Calvinists in the civil war of the 
sixteenth century ; and though a part of the building was 
repaired, the establishment seems never 'to have recovered 
its greatness. There are two hospitals for the children and 
the aged among the poor. 

The manufactures of the town consist of leather, woollen 
stuffs, and hats ; there are some distilleries, and several mills 
for the supply of the town and neighbourhood with Hour. 
A considerable trade is carried on in wine (which is of 
superior quality), brandy, corn, and the goods manufactured 
in the place. The population, in 1832, was *t 182 for the 
town, and 4S83 for the whole commune. At Beaugency 
are quarries of a calcareous freestone, whieh has been used 
for the foundation of the cathedral of Orleans, and that of 
the bridges of Orleans and Tours. 

Two councils were held in this town : at the latter of 
these the marriage between Louis VII. (lejeune) and his 
queen, Eleanor of Guienne, was annulled on the plea of 
relationship: her subsequent marriage with the Count of 
Anjou, afterwards Henry II. of England, added largely to 
the possessions of the English kings in France. (Dirtion- 
nnire Universal de la France; Expilly's Dictionnaire des 
Gaules et de la France.) 

BEAUIIARNOIS, EUGE'NE. son of Viscount Alex- 
andre Beauharnois, was born in September, 1780, and re- 
ceived his early education at the College of St. Germain-en- 
Laye. His father was a member of the National Assembly, 
Jn which he embraced tho popular side, and afterwards served 
with distinction in the array of the Rhine, in 1792. He was, 
however, accused by the Jacobins, taken before the revolu- 
tionary tribunal, condemned, and beheaded, in July, 1 71) I, 
wlian he was only thirty-four years jof age. His widow 
Josephine married, in 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte, who treated 
her children, Eugene and Hortense, as if they had been his 
own. Eugeno accompanied Bonaparte to Italy, and after- 
wards* in 1 798, to Egypt, where he acted as his aide-de-camp. 
After Bonaparte became first consul, Euirene was madechef- 
d'eseadronin the Consular Guards, in which capacity he was 
present at the battle of Marengo, In 180 1 he was made 
colonel-general of the Chasseurs of the Guanls. When Bo- 
naparte became emperor, Eugene was created a princo of 
the new empire ; and in 1803, on being appointed viceroy of 
tho (so called) kingdom of Italy, which comprised Lom- 
bard)' and the northern Panal provinces, ho fixed his re- 
sidence at Milan. He was adopted by Napoleon in January, 
180G, and soon after married Augusta Amelia, daughter of 
the king of Bavaria. In 1809, when war broke out again be- 
tween Austria and Franee, Eugeuo took the command of tho 
French and Italian army on the frontiers towards Carinthia, 



hut he was obliged to retire beforo tho superior forces of the 
archduke John, and, after sustaining considerable loss from 
the Austrians at the battloof Saeileon the river Livciua, he 
withdrew to the banks of the Adige, where he received rein- 
forcements. Upon the defeat of the great Austrian army 
in Germany, the archduke marched bark for the protection 
of Vienna, and was elosely followed by Eugene. A battle 
took place between the two armies near the river Piave, 
where the Austrians were worsted, and obliged to hasten 
their retreat. Eugene followed them through Carinthia 
andStyria, and on the 27th of May made his junction with 
Napoleon's grand army at Ebersdorf. near Vienna. lie 
was thence sent into Hungary to cheek the rising en masse 
of the poople of that country. On the Nth of June he 
defeated the archduke John at llaab in Hungary. 

The battle of Wagrara in July following put an end to tho 
war. After the peaco of Vienna, Eugene returned to Milan, 
from whence ho repaired to Paris in December, 1809, to bo 
present at the declaration of divorce between his mother 
and Napoleon, He made a spocch to the senate, in which 
he dwelt on the duty of obedienco to the will of the em- 
peror, to whom ho and his family wero under great obliga- 
tions. In 1812, he joined Napoleon in the campaign of 
Russia with part of the Italian army, during which ser- 
vice he took the command of the fourth corps of the grand 
army, and was engaged at the battles of Mohilow and 
of the Moskwa. In the disastrous retreat from Mos- 
cow, Eugene succeeded in keeping together the remnants 
of his own corps, and maintaining some order and disci- 
pline among them; and aftor Napoleon and Murat had 
left the army, he took the command of the whole. At 
Magdeburg ho collected the relics of the various corps ; and 
on the 2nd of May, at the battle of Lutzen, he commanded 
the left of the new army which Napoleon had raised. Soon 
after ho returned to Mdan to raise new conscriptions to re- 
place the soldiers who had perished in Russia, and to make 
every effort to defend Italy against the threatened attack of 
Austria. Three levies of 15,000 eonseripts eaeh wero or- 
dered in the eourse of one year, in the kingdom of Italy 
alone ; but the people were tired of war, anil it was found 
difficult to collect tho men. Tho news of the battle of 
Leipzig added to the general discontent ; and at the end of 
October, 1813, tho Austrian army entered tho Venetian 
territory, when Eugene was obliged to retreat to the Piave, 
and, after some sharp fighting, to fall back on the Adige. 
In Mareh, 1814, being attacked by the Austrians on ono 
side, and by Murat at the head of the Neapolitan army 
on the other, ho withdrew to the Mincio, and removed his 
family and property from Milan to the fortress of Mantua. 
On the 16th of April, Eugene and Marshal Bellegarde, 
the Austrian commander, signed the convention of Sehia- 
riuo-Rizzino, by whieh hostilities were suspended, tho 
French troops remaining in Italy were sent away, and 
Venice, Legnago, and other fortresses, wero dolivered up 
to Austria. Napoleon's kingdom of Italy was now at nil 
end, and Napoleon himself had abdicated the crown of 
Franee. Some endeavours were made hy Eugene's friends 
to obtain his nomination as king of Lombard y, but a 
strong party at Milan violently opposed it, and an insur- 
rection took place in that city, in wnich Prina, one of Prince 
Eugene's ministers, was murdered by tho people. Upon 
this, Eugeno gavo up Mantua to tho Austrians, and returned 
with his family to Bavaria. 

As viceroy of the kingdom of Italy, Eugene was person- 
ally liked hy the peoplo and hy the army, for his frank 
bearing and affable temper, and his luiraano disposition. 
Entirely devoted to Napoleon, he implicitly obeyed and en- 
forced his often harsh decrees, although he occasionally en- 
deavoured to obtain some mitigation of them. Me displayed 
activity and regularity in the details of administration ; 
his Wee regal court was splendid, but ho w*as frugal in his 
own expenditure. Some of the persons by whom he was 
surrounded were objects of popular aversion, and thus oc- 
casioned an unfavourable feeling towards Eugene's go- 
vernment. He was ulso accused of having, in some fit 
of ill-humour during tho great reverses of Napoleon's for- 
tunes, used harsh and offensive expressions to the Italian 
officers around him, men who had devoted their lives to Ins 
and his stepfathers service, who had fought the battles of 
the French empire, and who were now deeply stung hy 
his unmerited reproach. These things may have contri- 
buted to the revulsion of feeling that manifested itself at 
Milan in 1814. 



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After leaving Italy Eugene lived chiefly at Munich, at 
the court of his father-in-law, with the title of Prince of 
Leuchtenberg. He visited Paris after the death of his 
mother, and was very graciously received by Louis XVIII. 
He also visited Vienna when the Congress was sitting and 
was treated with marked attention by the Allied Sovereigns 
and their ministers, but especially by the Emperor Alexan- 
der. Eugene retained, with the consent of the Pope, the pos- 
session of some estates in the northern provinces of the 
Roman states, which had formed part of the kingdom of 
Italy. The restored king of Naples also agreed to pay him 
five millions of francs. These grants were intended as a 
compensation for the loss of the yearly income of a million 
of francs assigned to him by Napoleon on the national do- 
main of Italy. (Colletta, Storia del Reame di Napoli, vol. 
iv.) Eugene died at Munich on the 21st of February, 1824, 
at the age of 4 5 years. The Duchess of Braganza, Don 
Pedro's widow, and Prince Augustus of Portugal, late hus- 
band of the Queen Donna Maria, are his children. (Storia 
d' Italia di Carlo Botta; Storia dell* Amministrazione del 
Regno d'ttalia sotto il Dominio dei Francesi; Biographie 
des Contemporains.) 

BEAUJOLAIS, LE, a district in France under the old 
regime, and one of the subdivisions of the former province 
of Lyonnais : it is now included in the departments of 
Rhime and Loire. It was the most northerly of the sub- 
divisions of the Lyonnais, and was hounded on the north 
by the duchy of Bourgogne or Burgundy ; on the south by 
the districts of Lyonnais (understanding that name in its 
most restricted application) and Forcz ; on the cast by the 
river SaOne, which separated it from the principality of 
Dombes, one of the subordinate territories of Bourgogne ; 
and on the west by the river Loire, which separated it from 
Forez. Beaujolais is about thirty-five miles from east to 
west, and about twenty-five from north to south, as mea- 
sured on the map of France in Provinces, published by the 
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge ; but a re- 
ference to the great survey of France by Maraldi and 
Cassini, in 183 sheets, shows the boundary on the south to 
be so very irregular that no measurement would give much 
clue to the size of the district. The dimensions' generally 
assigned hy the Freneh geographers are ten leagues (or 
twenty-eight miles) in length, and eight leagues (or twenty- 
two miles) in breadth. This country is traversed from south 
to north by the range of hills which extend from the C£- 
vennes northward to the Cote d*Or, and separate tho basins 
of the Loire and the RhGne. From this range a more level 
country extends on one side to the Loire and on the other 
to the SaOne, watered by small streams which deseend from 
the mountains and fall into the rivers above-mentioned. 
Of these streams the ehief are the Azergue (whieh, when 
its torrent is swollen, is very rapid), and the ArdiSre, tribu- 
taries of the Saftnc ; the Rhin or Reins, and the Tram- 
bouzan, which flow into the Loire, and the Trambouze, an 
aflluent of the Rhin. 

The district is very fertile, and some of the heights are 
covered with fine wood, yielding deals and timber for the 
carpenter and the shipwright. The agricultural produce 
eonsists of eorn, wine, and hemp : there is abundance of 
pasturage for eattle. Considerable mining operations were 
onco carried on in Beaujolais; but these seem to have been 
negleeted for a long time, at least sueh as yielded silver. 
The stone quarries of Pommicrs, near Villefranche, which 
for twelve eenturics supplied Lyon with immenso blocks of 
stone of excellent quality, are now almost, if not quite 
abandoned. 

' The chief towns in Beaujolais are Villefranche near the 
Saone (population, in 1832, 6460), which was the capital of 
tlie district while it existed as a subdivision of Lyonnais ; 
Beaujcu (in tho interior, upon the river Ardifere), from 
which the territory obtained its name (population, in 1S32, 
of commune, 1596; of town, 1520); Belleville, at the junc- 
tion of the Ardierc with the Sadne; St. Symphorien de 
Lay, on the road from Lyon to Roanne (population of com- 
mune, in 1832,4500) ; Thizy, near the Trambouze; Perreux, 
near the Loire; and Ainplepuis, on the Rhin (population 
of eommune, in 1832,4873. [See Loire, Department 
ov; Lyonnais; RuOne, Department of; and Ville- 
franche.] 

' Beaujen is seated at the foot of a mountain, and, as al- 
ready noticed, on tho bank of the river ArdiSre. The lords 
of Beaujeu had a castle here ; but when the lordship came 
by inheritance to the house of Forcz, the nobles of that 



race patronized Villefranche, and Beaujeu gradually falling 
into decay gave place to its younger rival. Expilly, in his 
Dictionnaire des Gaitles, <£■<;., Paris, 1762, assigns to it 3000 
inhabitants. Its diminished population in 1832, given 
above, shows its further decay. It had, up to the first 
French Revolution, a collegiate church, a convent, and an 
hospital. The church was worthy of note for the sculptures 
and paintings which it contained. Beaujeu is in 46° 10' N. 
lat., and in 4° 34' E. long. 

The first lord of Beaujeu wasWischard or Guichard, who 
lived in the reign of Robert* son of Hugues Capet (a.d. 
996-1031), and the lordship continued to be held by his 
descendants in the male line till I26j, when, in failure of 
a male heir, it passed by marriage into the family of the 
Counts of Forez, a younger branch of which family became 
lords of Beaujeu. Several of these nobles distinguished 
themselves in the wars of tho middle ages. Humbert IV., 
of the first race, took an active part in the war against the 
Counts of Toulouse, the protectors of the persecuted Albi- 
geois; was made constable of France by Louis IX. (St. 
Louis), whom he accompanied to the Holy Land ; and is 
said to have died in that expedition. Guichard VI., of the 
second or Forez race, served in the wars of Philip VI. (of 
Valois), King of France, against tho Flemings, and his son 
Edward in those of the same Philip, and of John II., son 
and successor of Philip, against Edward III. of England. 
Edward of Beaujeu, who was in the battle of Crccy, fell in 
an encounter, in which he defeated the English at Ardres 
in 1351. Another Edward, one of the successors of this 
lord, having thrown out of a window art* officer who served 
him with a citation to answer a charge of rape, was arrested 
and led prisoner to Paris ; and only obtained his liberty by 
purchasing, at the price of his lordships of Beaujolais and 
Dombes, the protection of Louis Duke of Bourbon, into 
whose family the territory of Beaujolais consequently came. 
The failure of the direct line of the Dukes of Bourbon 
caused a disputed succession. The claimants were Charles 
de Bourbon, constable of France, and Louisa of Savoy, 
mother of Francis 1., King of France, whose claims were 
derived by purchase from a daughter of that Lord Edward 
who fell in the war with the English. Louisa, unhappily 
for France, gained the suit ; the constable revolted, and in 
the service of the Emperor Charles V., and in conjunction 
with his generals, defeated Francis at Pavia and took him 
prisoner. The house of Bourbon Montpensier gained pos- 
session of the lordship of Beaujolais in the reign of Charles 
IX. of France, and from this house it passed to the family 
of Orleans, which appears to have held it up to the period 
of the French Revolution. 

BEAULIEU, the name of many places in France. In 
the Dictionnaire Universel de la France ( Paris, 1 804), thirty- 
nine towns and villages so called are given. Two of the 
villages are, however, beyond the boundaries to which 
France was reduced at the downfall of Napoleon ; but as 
three small villages, also called Beaulieu, appear in the 
Dictionnaire des Gaules of Expilly, which are not inserted 
in our first-quoted authority, we may eonsider the name as 
applying to forty places, large and small. It was also given 
to several religious houses, whether in towns or in more 
secluded situations. 

Beaulieu, in- the department of Correze, is a small town, 
which owes its origin to an antient Benedietine monastery 
of the congregation of St. Maur, founded by Rodolph, or 
Raoul de Turenne, Archbishop of Bourges, about the 
middle of the ninth century, and enriched by Frotaire, sue 
eessor of Raoul, and others. It is on the right bank of the 
Dordogne, in the southern part of the department, in 44° 
59' N. lat., and 1°48' E. long: population, in 1832, 2154 
for the town, and 2415 for the whole, eommune. Some 
have ascribed the foundation of the monastery to Charle- 
magne, but erroneously. (MartiniSre; Expilly, Diction-' 
naire Universel de la France, fyc.) 

Beaulieu, in the department of Indre et Loire, may be 
considered almost as a suburb of the town of Loches (see 
Lochks), from which it is separated by the two channels of 
the river Indre, which divides a little above this part, and re- 
uniting its waters just below, encloses a small island whieh 
lies between the two towns. Beaulieu, previous to the 
Revolution, consisted of three parishes, which seems to 
indicate that it was once of greater importance. There 
were also two religious foundations— a Benedictine abbey 
of the congregation of St. Maur, and a house of regular 
eanonesses of the order of St Augustiu. The former oE 

P2 



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103 



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these was found <xl in the beginning of tho eleventh cen- 
tury by Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou and Lord of Loches ; 
the latter was of much later origin, having been founded in 
1643. The ehief manufactures of the town aro woollen 
eloth and leather: the tanneries are on the river lndre. 
The population, in 163:, was 1800 for the town, or 2222 for 
the whole commune. The celebrated Agnes Sorel, mis- 
tress of Charles VII., king of Franee, was lady of this town 
of Beaulieu. It is in 47° V N. lat., and l°0 r E. long. 

At the village of Beaulieu, near the town of St. Germain 
Lembron, in the southern part of the department of I'uvde- 
Ddme, are somo alkaline waters, the source of which is in- 
termittent, though the times of flowing and of cessation 
have not been accurately marked. 

I1EAUMARCHAIS, PIERRE AUGUSTS CAUON 
DK, was born at Paris in January, 1 732. His father was a 
watchmaker, and brought up his son to the same profession, 
in which young Beaumarehais showed considerable skdl. 
He was also remarkably fond of music, and attained great 
proficiency in playing on the harp and the guitar. Beau- 
marehais plaved before the daughters of Louis XV., who 
being pleased with his musical skill admitted him to their 
concerts, and afterwards to their parties. He now appeared 
at Versailles in a rich eourt-dress, whieh offended a haughty 
nobleman, who meeting him one day in one of the galleries, 
asked him abruptly to look at a valuable watch that he 
wore, which was out of order. Beaumarehais excused him- 
self, by saying that his hand was very unsteady ; the other 
insisting, " Beau march ais toofc the wateh and dropped it on 
the Moor, simply observing: *I told you so/ Notwithstand- 
ing this event fie continued to enjoy the patronage of the 
Court, whieh gave him the opportunity of becoming con- 
nected with some of the Fermiers Generaux and great con- 
tractors. It was his bad fortune to be involved in several 
Jaw-suits, some of whieh made great noise in the world, and 
gained considerable notoriety in consequence of the memoirs 
or pleadings of his ease, which Beaumarehais wrote and 
published. These pleadings, which show considerable skill 
and oratorical power, are inserted in the collection of his 
works. But his fame as a writer rests on his plays, and 
ehieilyon the two, 'Le Barbierde Seville,* and ' Ixs Moriuge 
de Figaro,' which are toa well known nil over Europe, both 
as plays and as operas, to require any particular notice 
here. The character of Figaro was a happy invention, 
and the other principal characters, in both plays, are 
drawn with great skill. The • Mariagc de Figaro ' alone 
produced to Boaumarchais 80,000 franes. He wrote a third 
play, 'La Me*re Coupable,' whieh maybe considered as a 
sequel to the other two, but is inferior to them in many 
respects, and objectionable in a moral point of view. He 
also wrote * Eugenie 1 and ■ Les Deux Amis:* the subject of 
the first is taken from an adventure whieh occurred to his 
own sister, and whieh he relates in his memoirs. Goethe has 
treated the same snbjeet in his drama of * Clavigo.' At the 
beginning of the revolt of the English-American provinces, 
Beaumarehais entered into a speculation for supplying the 
colonies with arms, ammunition, &c. ; he lost several ves- 
sels, three of whieh were taken in one day by the English 
cruisers in coming out of the river of Bordeaux, but the 
greater number arrived in America, and Beaumarehais en- 
riched himself by his undertaking. Among other specula- 
tions he engaged to supply Paris with water and with fire- 
engines. When the Freneh revolution broke out, Beau- 
marehais showed himself favonrablo to the popular cause?, 
and entered into speculations to supply corn, muskets, 
&c. But his aetivity ui that critical period exposed hiin 
to suspicion ; he was ace used and aequittcd, then accused 
again, and being obliged to run away, he escaped to 
England and afterwards to Germany. He returned to 
France after the fall of Robespierre, and then entered into 
a new speculation in salt, by which he lost a large sum. 
Ho died in May, 1 799. 

Beaumarehais had considerable talent and other good 
qualities, hut he was very vain and fond of distinction. He 
undertook an edition of all tho works of Voltairc.of whom he 
was a great admirer; but the edition, notwithstanding all 
his pains and great expense, proved very indifferent, hotlias 
to correctness and execution. His correspondence, which is 
at the end of his works, eontains some well-written letters, 
among others one to Citizen Baudin, of the French Legis- 
lative Counril, in whieh he inveighs against the iniquitous 
system adopted by the Directory of transporting to Guiana 
those who were obnoxious to them, after the affair of the 



18 Fruetidor, 1797, ((Eurres compUtes de Beaumarehais, 
1 vol. 8vo. Paris. 1 609 ; Dictionnaire Universel Historique.) 

BEAUMARIS, a parish and borough, and the eounty- 
town of the county of Anglesey, North Wales, in tho hun- 
dred of Dindacthwy. It is situated on the picturesque bay 
of Beaumaris, at tho northern entrance of the Menai strait, 
at the distaneo of 4 J miles from lhe Menai bridge, 3^ miles 
from Bangor, and 21G miles N.W. from London. The ori- 
ginal name of the si to was Bon over, whieh was changed by 
Edward I., who may be regarded as the founder of the town, 
to Beaumaris, whieh, according to some authorities, is a 
French eom pound (beau and vtarais, a fine or beautiful 
marsh), descriptive of the situation of the place ; but others 
very improbably derive it from Bi*maris % in allusion to its 
situation at a place where two tides cr seas meet. The former 
explanation seems to agree best with the existing name. The 
castle of Beaumaris is considered to have been the parent of 
tho town. After Edward I. had secured his conquests in 
Caernarvonshire, by the ereetion of the castles of Caernarvon 
and Conway, he built Beaumaris castle in ] 29 j ; a low marshy 
spot was scleeted for tho site, for the purpose of having a 
large fosse around the eastle filled with water from the sea. 
A canal also was cut to enable sin ail vessels to dischargo 
their lading under the walls, for the use of tho garrison. 
Each of Edward's three castles differs in form. The pre- 
sent, from the lowness of its site and dilapidated state of tho 
walls, presents a far less imposing appearance than the 
others. It consists of an outer ballium or envelope. Hanked 
with ten circular bastion towers, of which those at tho 
angles arc the largest, and having on the south side an 
advanced work, called the Gunner's Walk. About the 
centre of this fortified enclosure stands the principal body of 
the castle. Its height far exceeds that of the envelope, and 
at a distance appears to rise majestically from it, as from 
a base. It is nearly quadrangular, with a grand round 
tower at eaeh angle, and another in the centre of each face. 
The interior consists of an area 190 feet square, with obtuse 
eorncrs. The eentre of the north-west side eontains a great 
hall, 70 feet long and 234 broad, with a proportionate 
height: it has five large pointed windows, whieh form a 
handsome front to the inner quadrangle. On the eastern 
side of the area there are remains of n chapel, the sides of 
whieh arc ornamented with receding pointed arches. The 
elegantly- groined roof is supported by ribs springing from 
pilasters, between eaeh of whieh is along narrow window. 
There was a communication between the several parts of 
the inner court by means of a narrow surrounding gallery, 
a considerable portion of which is still entire. Within re- 
cesses formed in the thickness of the wall, in the sides of 
this gallery, are several s-quare apertures, apparently once 
furnished with trap doors, whieh opened into rooms beneath ; 
but as there arc no vestiges of descending steps, it is dif- 
ficult to ascertain their use. It is conjectured that these 
rooms, as well as tho two circular casern towers, wero 
employed for the confinement of prisoners. The principal 
entrance to the eastle faees the sea, and is formed by two 
circular bastion towers, between which a pointed archway 
was fortified with four porteullises. The ruins of this eastlo , 
arc plentifully bespread with gillillowers, which grow no- 
where else in the island of Anglesey. 

The governor of the castle was generally also eaptain of 
the town, and usually had twenty-four men under him. 
There is nothing remarkablo in the early, history of the 
eastle, except the frequent quarrels between the garrison 
and the inhabitants of the vieinity, whose complaints ulti- 
mately occasioned its removal in the reign of Henry VII. 
In the year 1G42 the eastle was garrisoned for Charles I., 
for whom it was held by Colonel Bulkelcy, tho son of Lord 
Bulkeley the constable, until 1G43, when" it capitulated on 
honourable terms to General Mytton. The estimated an- 
nual expense of the garrison in 1653 amounted to 1 703/. 

The eastle is still the property of the erown. A hand- 
some tennis-eourt, fives-court, and bowling-green have been 
formed within its walls for the amusement of residents at 
Beaumaris. 

When Edward I. built the town, he surrounded it with 
walls, made it n corporation, and gave it great privileges, 
and some valuable lands. Among the privileges tho follow- 
ing are mentioned: — That the inhabitants thonld have a 
* freo .prison' in the castle; that no Jews should dwell in 
the town ; that if any of the burgesses died, testate or in- 
testate, their goods should not be forfeited to the king, but 
should be enjoyed by their heirs. The town did not, how- 



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109 



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ever, send any member to parliament until the reign of 
Edward VI. By the Reform Bill, the towns of Llangefni, 
Amlwch, and Holyhead, with Beaumaris, now send a mem- 
ber. The bill made no alteration in the boundary of the 
borough, which embraced a district of about ten miles in 
circuit, and was therefore considered sufficiently extensive. 
Beaumaris seems to have flourished under the royal fa- 
vour, and to have attained some commercial importance ; for 
Sir John Wynne, in characterising the inhabitants of the 
three castellated towns of the Menai, upwards of two centu- 
ries ago, speaks of ' the lawyers of Caernarvon, the mer- 
chants of Beaumaris, and the gentlemen of Conway.' An 
inference to the same effect has been made from the local 
tokens which were, at a somewhat later time, in use among 
the opulent tradesmen as a substitute for copper coin ; a 
practice at that time common in places of considerable 
traffic. 'At present,' says the Boundary Report, 'it has 
not any trade or manufactures, but it derives a considerable 
profit from being the resort of visiters for sea-bathing, 
many of whom come from Liverpool.' The bay before the 
town affords good anchorage for ships, having seven fathoms 
water at the lowest ebb. Vessels often find security there 
in hard gales, and occasionally undergo repairs upon the 
beach. A few sloops belong to Beaumaris, but they are 
chieily employed in carrying for other ports. 

The town of Beaumaris consists of several streets, of 
whieh one, terminated by the eastle, is well built, and the 
houses are in general neat. The chapel, dedicated to the 
Blessed Virgin, had formerly one aisle distinguished as the 
chapel of St. Mary, and the other as that of St. Nicholas : 
it is now known exclusively by the former name. It is a 
spacious and rather elegant structure, consisting of a chancel, 
nave, and two aisles, with a square embattled tower. It 
was formerly a ehapelry in the parish of Llandegfan, but is 
now a distinct parish church. The town-hall is a commo- 
dious modern structure; the basement story contains a 
prison. Above, besides the apartments for the transaction 
of municipal business, is a handsome apartment, which 
forms the finest ball-room in the principality. There is 
also a county-hall, a county prison, and a custom-house, 
which is the comptrolling-office not only to the different 
parts of the island, but to thoso on the Caernarvon side of 
the Menai. Near the town is a ferry, which belonged to 
the crown until the reign of Elizabeth, who granted it to 
the corporation. The other five ferries of the Menai had 
previously been transferred to private hands by Henry VIII. 
The last Lord Bulkeley, who did much for the improvement 
of Beaumaris, made a fine road at his sole expense, from 
the town, along the banks of the Menai, to the Menai 
bridge, a distance of 4| miles. 

In the year 1G03 a free school wa3 founded and liberally 
endowed at Beaumaris by David Hughes, Esq., a native of 
the town. Among the other establishments for education 
is an extensive school, the pupils of which pay one penny 
a-week. There are almshouses for ten poor persons, six of 
whom are indebted for their provision to the founder of the 
free school ; the other four were added by the last Lord 
Bulkeley. 

The town, a3 re- incorporated in the fourth year of Queen 
Elizabeth, is governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, chosen an- 
nually, and chief burgesses, forming altogether a governing 
body limited to twenty-four persons. These twenty-four 
capital burgesses were the only electors of the parliamentary 
representative previously to the Reform Bill. The market- 
days are Wednesday and Saturday. Tho fairs are on Fe- 
bruary 13, Holy Thursday, September 19, and December 19, 
for cattle. The population of the borough, in 1 831, amounted 
to 2675, of whom 1444 were females, according to the Popu- 
lation Abstract ; but the recent report on Municipal Corpo- 
rations estimates the population at only 2497. 

(Pennant's Tour in IVales ; Grose's Antiquities of Eng- 
land and IVales, vol. iv. ; Beauties of England and IVales, 
vol. xvii. ; Boundary Reports, part vii. ; Report on Muni- 
cipal Corporations, &e.) 

BEAUMONT, the name of above sixty towns and villages 
in F ranee, as we find by a comparison of the Dictionnaire 
des Gaules, $c, of Expilly (Paris, 1762), with the Diction- 
naire Universe! de la France (Paris, 1804), of whieh only 
the following are of sufficient importance to require notice. 
Beaumont- de-Lomagne (so ealled, as being in Lomagne, 
a district of the antient Armajjune), a town in the depart- 
ment of Tarn et Garonne, on the road between Montauban 
and Aurh. It i3 on the left bank of tho little river Gimone, 



an affluent of the Garonne. Coarse woollen cloths, hats; and 
leather, are the chief manufactures of this little town, which 
in 1832, had a population of 312G for the town, and 4130 
for the whole commune. It is in 43° 53' N. lat., and 1° 0' 
E. long. 

Beaumont sur Oise, in the department of Seine et Oise, 
is about 19 miles north of Paris, on the road to Beauvais^ 
Abbeville, Boulogne, and Calais. It is on the left or south 
bank of the river Oise, over which there is a very handsome 
bridge ; and on the summit of the hill, on the slope of which 
the town is built, there are the remains of an antient castle. 
Some braid (passementerie) is made here, and some trade 
is carried on in corn, flour, and glass. The population in 
1832 was 1892. 

Beaumont had a collegiate church up to the period of the 
Revolution. This town was pillaged by the Burgundians in 
the year 1416, while Charles Duke of Orleans, to whom it 
then belonged, was a captive in England, It is in 49° 8'N 
lat.. and 2° 16' E. long. 

Beaumont -le- Roger, in the department of the Eure, is 
situated on the right bank of the river Rille, which falls 
into the Seine near its mouth. The town was built, at least 
augmented, by Roger, one of the lords of the territory in 
which it is situated. Louis IX. (otherwise St. Louis) King 
of France, obtained it of its former lords, and united it to the 
domains of the crown ; but a century afterwards it was 
alienated by John II. to Louis, brother of Charles of Evreux, 
King of Navarre. It returned, however, into the possession 
of the French kings, having been ceded by Charles III., 
King of Navarre, who had inherited it/ to Charles VL of 
France. 

There is a large village called Vieille, on the opposite 
bank of the river, which may be considered as a suburb of 
the town, with which it is connected by a stone bridge. 
Beaumont had, before the revolution, a Benedictine priory, 
dependent upon the abbey of Bee, as well as a parish church 
dedicated to St. Nicholas. Formerly the townsmen manu- 
factured woollen and linen cloths, and nails, and a consi- 
derable quantity of linen was bleached in the village of 
Vieille. (Le Grand Dictionnaire de Martiniere, 1730.) At 
present there is a large woollen-cloth manufactory employ- 
ing 400 workmen ; also a glass-work, which employs 100. 
This last manufactures annually 400,000 bottles, which are 
ehiefly destined to Bretagne. Population, as given in the 
Dictionnaire Universel de la France (Paris, 1804), 1325. 
We have no later authority. 

There was formerly a strong eastle here, built upon a 
precipitous rock. West of the town is a considerable wood, 
above seven miles long, from N.N.W. to S.S.E. and two 
and a half miles wide, which takes from it the name of 
the Forest of Beaumont. (Dictionnaire Universel de la 
France, Paris, 1804.) Beaumont-le-Roger is in 49° 4' N. 
lat., and 0° 46' E. long. 

Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, otherwise Reaumont-le-Vicomte, 
is a town in the former province of Maine, and the present 
department of Sarthe. It lies on the right (which, from the 
sinuous course of the river, is here the north) bank of the 
Sarthe ; and on the road from Alencon to Tours ; 1 2 mile3 
S. of Alencon, and 127 miles W.S.W. of Paris ; 48° 13' N. 
lat., and 0° G' E. long. 

This town takes its distinctive adjunct of Le-Vicomte, 
because built by the former viscounts of Mans. It was 
considered a place of considerable strength ; and was se- 
veral times taken and retaken in the wars which William 
the Conqueror, as Duke of Normandy, carried on with the 
counts of Maine. Henry IV. of France, during the life- 
time of his father, and after the death of his elder brother, 
took from this town the title of Due de Beaumont. 

There are not any remains of the fortifications now. Tho 
manufactures of .the town eonsist of linen cloth and serge. 
The population, in 1832, was 1 9 18 for the town, and 2381 
for the whole commune. 

BEAUMONT, a eommune of Hainault, bounded on 
the north by that of Thirimont ; on the north-east by Stre6 ; 
on the east by Brabancon and Clermont (the latter in the 
province of Namur) ; on the south-east by Solre Saint 
Gery ; and on the west by the eommune of Leval-Chaude- 
ville. 

The distriet is watered by the little river Beaumont, known 

also under the name of Hantes, which falls into the Sambre. 

In its eourse through Beaumont it gives motion to several 

mills, iron works, and establishments for sawing marble. 

The town of Beaumont, which is situated on tho high 



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.road from Mons to Chlraay, is built on the summit of a 

{>retty high hill, at the foot of which masses of rock are 
leaped together. This town is remarkable for the beauty 
of its site, which commands extonsivo views over a diversi- 
fied country. A catilc market is held here on the 17th of 
every month, and four fairs during the year, at Easter, 
June, September, and November ; there are, besides, two 
markets weekly. 

Beaumont, formerly ealled Belhmontium, was, in the 
11th century, the capnal of a considerable lordship. The 
town was strongly fortified in the middle of tho ICth century. 
It suffered much in the wars with France, and its castle 
was burnt by the Fronch general, Count de Grand l*rc\ in 
1CC0. The Spaniards ceded the place to the French In 
1684 ; but by tho treaty of Utreeht, it carao into possession 
of the House of Austria. Tho English having* taken the 
town in 1691, blew up tho fortifications, of which nothing 
now remains but somo towers and subterraneous passages, 
which show tho former strength of the place. 

To the north, west, and south of the town, is a group of 
steep hills, tho sides of which would be inaccessible but by 
means of zigzag roads. Nearly the whole surface of the 
commune is broken by limestone and schistose rocks. The 
land fit for cultivation is of various qualities ; tho most pro- 
ductive consists of a mellow clay on a substratum of calca- 
reous rock; in other places the soil is composed of decom- 
posed schistus on a substratum of the same in an undecom- 
posed state. The productions aro wheat, rye, meslin, barley, 
oats, vetches, beans, potatoes, and various garden vegetables. 
Soils of the best quality arc cropped without intermission 
during three, four, or five years, but other lands lie fallow 
every tbird year. 

•Alimcstono quarry, in which building stone is worked, 
gives employment to many of the inhabitants; others arc 
employed in sawing blocks of inarblo brought from Bar- 
baneon and Ccrfontaine, in Namur. Serges, and other 
woollens of coarse texture, are woven ; and blond lace also 
is manufactured in Beaumont, The population in 1831 was 
18C3. (Meisser's Dictionnaire Gcographiqne de la Pro* 
vince de Hainault, 1833.) 

BEAUMONT, FRANCIS, the dramatist, third son 6f 
Franeis, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, 
and of Anne, daughter of George Pierrepoint, of Holme- 
Pierrepoint, in tho county of Nottingham, was born at the 
family scat at Graeo Dieu, in Leicestershire, 15SC. The 
Beaumonts were not only an antient stock, probably of 
Norman origin, to judge from their name, but claimed to bo 
descended of the kings of France, a claim which antiquaries 
have disputed. By an easy process, a liko claim was mado 
to connexion with the blood royal of England. Neither of 
the pretences, perhaps, had better foundation than in the 
lilies and lion rampart which they bore in their coat of arras : 
but whether just or not, the glory of the family consists in 
its literature ; and the point, except as a matter of antique 
colouring, would not be worth montion, but that everything 
becomes interesting in connexion with a great name*. Wo 
should look with curiosity upon tho family seal of Beaumont, 
if wo had It In our hands, just as wo do upon tho spearc in 
tho arms of Shakspeatc. Our author'a shield is the samo 
as that which is borne by the family at present, and may bo 
seen In any Baronetage* 

At ten years of ago (for people went earlier to the univer- 
sity in thoso days) Beaumont was admitted a gentleman- 
commoner at Broadgate'sHall, now Pembroke College, Ox- 
ford. He afterwards becamo a student in the Temple; mar- 
ried Ursula, daughter and co-heir of Henry Islcy, of Sun- 
dridgc, in Kent, by whom he had two daughters; died 
before he was thirty, in the spring of tho year 1G 15 ; and 
was buried at the entranco of St. Bcncdict'a Chapel, in 
Westminster Abbey, without any mscription. One of tho 
daughters of Beaumont, Frances, was living at a great age 
in tho year 1700, at which time she enjoyed an annuity 
of j£l00 from the Duko of Orraond, In whose family she 
had resided (say the biographers) as a " domestic;" by 
which is meant, perhaps, a companion; though, from tho 
greater dispersion of tho yonnger branches of families In 
those days, and their inability to pin themselves on public 
offt>es and pensions, wo hear of them oflcncr in trades, and 
other humble situations, than we do now. This lady is said 
to have had in her possession several poems of her 'father's 
writing, whieh were lost during a voyago she mado from 
Ireland. 
' The race of the Beaumonts, like that of- the Fletchers, 



which is an interesting coincidence, appears to have abound- 
ed in the lovo of poetry. The biographers have noticed 
that there wero four Francis Beaumonts all living in 1C15, 
and that at least three of them were poets— Francis the 
dramatist ; Franeis, his cousin, master of tho Charter 
House; and Francis a 'Jesuit;' tho same, wo presume, 
as Francis, ono of the sons of his elder brother Sir John, 
probably too young to bo a Jesuit at that time, but who 
became one after his father s death. This Sir John Beau- 
mont, author of Bosieorth J»/q\ was a poet of real merit, 
as the reader may see by the collection of his verses in 
Chalmers's English Poets. His son and successor, another 
John, inherited his poetical tendency. Dr. Joseph Beau- 
mont, master of Peter House, Cambridge, who lived in the 
time of the Charleses, and was Of a branch of the family, 
though son of a woolstapler in Suffolk, is also known to 
poetical antiquaries as one of the writers from whom Pope 
thought a man might 'steal wisely/ Ho is furthermore 
commended for his Latin style, and for his taste in paint- 
ing. Some pictures of his, wo believe, aro still extant in 
Peterhouse Chapel. Tho grandmother of tho witty Villiers, 
Duke of Buckingham, was a Beaumont, of tho saino antient 
stock; the lato Sir John Beaumont, tho representative of 
the race, and the friend of poets and artists, was himself an 
artist; and as if all the blood connected with our dramatist 
was destined to be sprightly, tho famous Lady 'Wortlcy 
Montaguo was a Pierrepoint, of the samo race as Anne 
Pierrepoint, Beaumont's mother. 

As Beaumont's hfe was so short, and his writings appa- 
rently so numerous, it is naturally supposed that he paid 
little attention to the law ; a conclusion which might l»e 
diawn from his poetical genius. He probably gave himself 
up to the literature and amusements of the town. He 
records, in a celebrated epistle, his intimacy with Ben 
Jonson, and the other men of genius who assembled at the 
Mermaid Tavern ; where, he says, they used to leave an air 
behind them, sufficient to make the two next companies witty. 

* Mclhltiks Uie Mile wit I had is lost. 
Since 1 iaw you: for wit t* like a n*st 
livid up a1 teunU, which men do the bcsl 
With Hie beal pim eaters. Whal things have we seen 
Poue al the Mermaid I heard words that hart been 
*h» nimble, aud so full of lubtUa flame, 
Ai if that every one from whence lhey came 
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jesl, 
' And had resolved to li\c a fool the rest 

Of Ins dull life; ilien where lhere had been thrown 

Wll able enough to justify the lovrn 

Kor three days past,— wit thai might warrant be 

For lhe whole eily lo lalk foolishly, 

Tilt lhal were cancell'd ; and m heu thai was gone, 

W'c If ft an air behind us which alone 

AVai able to make the lwo ncxl companies 

Right witly;— though but downrighl fools, more wtsc' 

At this greatest of all literary elubs, he would meet with 
Shakspcarc ; and perhaps it was here he became ac- 

3uaintcd with the illustrious friend with whom ho was 
estincd to become all but identified. The date of their 
first play is lfi07, when our author was oneand-twenty. 
Fletcher was ten years older. According to Aubrey, the 
Boswell of those days, their connexion was, in every respect, 
singularly close. He says they not only lived in the same 
house, which was near the theatre, on tho Surrey side or 
the river, hut had their clothes, cloak, &c, between them, 
with other things in common, for which the curious reader 
must consult tho original, which gave riso to a ludicrous in- 
stance of pious fraud on the part of Mr. Chalmers, when, 
with the alteration of u single, but important letter, he trans- 
ferred the account to his General Dictionary, and his edition 
of the English Poets. Aubrey was credulous, and perhaps 
only repeated scandal which others laughed at ; and as to 
the clothes and cloak, tho two friends might have been 
seen to use them accidentally, upon some one or two occa- 
sions, which would have been quito enough for rumour to 
convert into n practice. Not but that a community of pro- 
perty in such a respect, between two such men, would bo 
very possible* and an evidence of afToction. Tho friendships 
of that age were of a more romantic cast than at present. 
Its poetry fell with more vigour into tho prose of common 
life, and tinctured tho whole stream. 

A natural curiosity has oxistcd, to know what were the dis- 
tinguishing characteristics of tho portions furnished to their 
common writings by theso illustrious friends. It has gene- 
rally been bcliovcd that Fletcher contributed tho vivacity, 
and Beaumont tho judgment. We can discover no founda- 
tion for this opinion, except the report ; and suspect that 
there never was any. * I llavo heard/ says Aubrey, * Dr. 



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111 



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John Earle (since Bishop of Sarum) say, who knew them, 
that his (Beaumont's) maine business was to correct the 
overflowings of Mr. Fletcher's witt/ Yet Earle, in his 
verses upon Beaumont, expressly attributes to him whole 
plays, in which his genius is quite as exuberant as Fletcher's. 
Their editors in general are divided as to the property ; tradi- 
tion seems to have distributed it between them at random ; 
and Mr. Seward, in an elaborate attempt to discriminate it, 
bewilders himself in refinements which end in giving them 
each other's qualities interchangeably, and protesting against 
his own distinction. If the miscellaneous poems attri- 
buted to Beaumont be his, especially the Hermaphrodite, 
(which Cleaveland claimed as a joint composition of himself 
and Randolph), there would be reason to suspect that his 
genius was naturally more exuberant than Fletcher's: and 
fudging from the works which they are known to have pro- 
duced separately, such as the Faithful Shepherdess, the 
Masque, and the Epistle just quoted, it appears to us that 
there is nothing to show for concluding that each might not 
have written either ; except, indeed, that in the only undra- 
matic copy of verses extant in Fletcher's name (Upon an 
Honest Man's Fortune), his muse is the graver of the two. 
The Masque is shorter than the Pastoral; but contains 
evidences of precisely the same moral and poetical ten- 
dencies, such as we shall speak of presently, when we cha- 
racterize their common genius. Perhaps Beaumont, upon 
the whole, was the less lively of the two in company; and 
hence a fallacious conclusion might have been drawn, that 
he was the more critically judicious. The verses we have 
quoted do not look liko it; and Shirley has left a testimony 
which argues for an equal division of property, even in talk. 
■ Gentlemen, that remembered them,* he says, * declare, 
that on every occasion they talked a comedy/ We are 
therefore inclined to think, that the reason which Aubrey 
gave for their strong personal attachment, applies with 
equal force to this question, and settles it in favour of our 
conclusion. ' There was a wonderful eonsimility of phansy/ 
he says, ' between him (Beaumont) and Mr. John Fletcher, 
which caused the dearenesse of friendship between them.' 
The * wonderful eonsimility of phansy* was seen in their 
friendship, and in their plays. They loved one another fully 
and entirely, and exhibited the only great spectacle existing 
of two men writing in common, and puzzling posterity to 
know which was which, precisely because their faculties 
were identical. The ease may be thought unlikely ; in other 
words, the coincidence is unique; but who will deny that 
such chances of coincidence must exist? In this instance 
the two men actually happened to meet ; and here, we think, 
ends the whole mystery. 

Mr. Lamb, in his Dramatic Specimens, has assumed that 
Fletcher is the author of many plays which have been attri- 
buted to both writers ; and he has criticised him by himself 
accordingly ; we know not on what ground ; probably from 
taking the authority of some edition for granted, fur he is 
not likely to have read all the plays through, as Seward did, 
for the purpose of assigning the respective property ; though 
nobody could have brought the question to a likelier con- 
clusion, had he done so. 

Another, and apparently more perplexing mystery re- 
mains, in the wonderful praises lavished by the writers of 
those times upon the decency and chastity ol' a muse, which 
to our eyes appears the strangest mixture of delicate sen- 
timent and absolute prostitution. Beaumont and Fletcher 
are the dramatists of all others whom a liberal modern 
reader eould the best endure to see in a castigated edition. 
Their ideas are sometimes even as loathsome as they aro 
licentious. Schlegel has expressed his astonishment, how 
two poets and gentlemen could utter the things they do, 
nay, whole scenes ; in somo measure, whole plays ; and 
Dryden, who availed himself in his dramas of all the license 
of the time of Charles II., said, in defending himself on 
that point, that ono play of Beaumont and Fletcher's (the 
Custom of the Country) contained moro indecency than all 
Vis put together. Yet these are the writers whom their 
contemporaries, including divines as well as fine gentlemen, 
compliment in the most emphatie manner upon their de- 
corum and purity. Harris, then or subsequently Greek 
professor at Oxford, and called a ' second Chrysostom,* 
panegyrizes their muse for being ' chaste.' Dr. Maine, cele- 
brated for his piety aa well as wit, speaks of their ' chaste 
scene/ whieh 

•Taught loves to noble, to reform *d, 10 clean. 
Thai they who brought foul Are*, and thither cam* 
To bargain, vent Ihcucu with a holy Dame,' 



Sir John Birkenhead says that Fletcher (who was son of 
a bishop) wrote 

* As if his father's crosier awed the stage j 1 

and Dr. Earle (afterwards a bishop himself), not content 
with declaring that Beaumont's wit is ' untainted with ob- 
scenity,* protests that his writings aro too 'pure/ and 
'chaste,' and 'sainted,* to be called plays. 

The solution of this mystery gives us an extraordinary 
idea of such plays of the timo as have not come down to 
posterity, and of the distinction drawn by our ancestors be- 
tween license of speech and conduct ; for the panegyric ap- 
pears to be almost wholly founded upon the comparative 
innocence of double meanings. 

' Here, ye foul speakers, that pronounce the air 
Of stews and sewers/ 

cries the gallant Lovelace, the Sir Philip Sydney of his 
day, speaking of the very comedy above-mentioned, — 

* View here a loose thought said with such a gracoj 
Minerva might hare spoke In Vrmis* fate ; 
So well disguis'd, lhat 'twas conceived by none, 
But Cupid had Diana's linen on ;' 

and so he goes on, objecting nothing to the thought, but 
holding the examplo to be spotless, and desiring it to spread, 
as if for its own sake. It thus appears, that other writers 
used language,— homely words, or grosser images,— such' 
as Beaumont and Fletcher never uttered; and if it were ob- 
jected tbat Shakspeare, as well as several other dramatists, 
did not allow themselves a twentieth part of the licenso 
even of Beaumont and Fletcher, the reply would be, that 
the accomplished duumviri more expressly set themselves 
to represent the manners and conversation of high life and 
the town elegance, and that their ingenuity in avoiding 
cause of offence was thereforo the more singular and me- 
ritorious. In truth, the language permitted in the circles of 
those days was very gross, and the license of behaviour cor- 
responding. It is a great fallacy to suppose that loose 
manners among the English gentry originated with the 
court of Charles II. That of James I. was extromely 
licentious ; and the consequences of it weroonly suppressed, 
and that chietly in appearance, by the greater personal de- 
corum of his son, and the powerful discountenance of the 
Puritans. It was nothing but the old stream that burst 
forth in tho reign of Charles II., taking advantage of tho 
weak points and fallen influence of the Puritans, to contrast 
its candour with their alleged hypocrisy, and pretend that 
impudence itself was a virtue. 

Beaumont and Fletcher were two open-hearted men and 
genuine poets, spoilt by town breeding and the love of ap- 
plause. It is a pity that two such poets could have been so 
spoilt; but still, in the best part of their genius, they sur- 
vived the contamination, strong in their sympathy with 
the great nature that bestowed it, and 'pure in the last 
recesses of the mind.' Their muse is like some fair creature 
of exuberant temperament but invincibly good heart, who 
has retained the fineness of her disposition in spite of her 
bad habits and of the very superiority of her animal spirits 
to remorse, and who, in the midst of a vicious life, has stdl a 
belief in innocence and virtue. Even the purest characters 
in their plays are not free from an intermixture of things 
which they ought not to know or talk about; while the 
practical ehastity is overwrought, and put to absurd and 
gratuitous trials, as if there could be no faith in it but from 
the most extravagant proof. In short, a something not en- 
tirely true to nature pervades almost all their writings, 
running side by side with the freshest and loveliest passages ; 
and while one half of a scene, or sometimes of a speech, or 
even a couple of sentences, gushes out from the authors* 
heart, the other is brought from some fantastie fountain of 
court manners and talk, and produced for the sake of town 
effect. In this, we eonceive, lies the whole secret of tho 
inferiority of Beaumont and Fletcher to Shakspeare, and 
in some respects to Webster and others. To be sure, they 
may havo wanted, by nature, a certain robustness of moral 
constitution like his, not unconnected perhaps with physical ; 
but unlike any other great dramatists of their time, they 
were born and bred ' fine gentlemen, 1 educated in all tho 
conventionalities and artificial manners of their time; and 
the applause that they gained from the world of fashion 
had too great an effect upon them, and divided their inspira- 
tion with nature. 

A selection from the works of Beaumont and Fletcher 
would make as exquisite a volume, or two volumes, of refined 
sentiment, lofty and sweet poetry, excellent sense, humour 
and pathos, as any in the language, excepting Shakspeare 



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112 



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and Chanter. Nothing can surpass the tender delicacy of 
tho page's scenes in 4 Philastcr,' the dignified sentiment in 
the * Elder Brother/ the wit and happy extravagance in the 
* Woman Hater* and the 4 Little French lawyer/ tho pas- 
toral luxuriance in the 4 Faithful Shepherdess,* or the ex- 
qui>ite and virgin poetry scattered throughout the whole 
collection, sometimes in the midst of the most artificial and 
even disgusting passages. 

In lyrics they havo no equal, not Shatspcare himself, 
nor Milton. A mioiature volume of the truest lyrical poetry 
might l>c collected out of their dramas,— of compositions 
which sing their own music. {Dramatic Works of Beau- 
mont and Fletcher, 1778 ; Biograjihia Britannica ; Chal- 
mers's British Poets; Aubrey's Letters and Lives of 
Eminent Men, &c &c. ; and Lamb's Sj>ecimciis of English 
Dramatic Poets, which contains some masterly criticism on 
those writers). 

BEAUNE, a town of considerable size, and the capital 
of a sub- prefecture, or nrrondissemeut, in the department 
of Cote d'Or, in France. It lies nearly under the S.E. slope 
of the ridge of C6te d'Or, and upon the littlo stream tbe 
Bouzoiso*, which rises just above the town, and \initing 
with the Meuzin, Hows into the Saonc. It is 23 miles 
S.S.W. of Dijon, and 20G miles S.E, of Paris; in 47° 2' N, 
lat. and 4° 50' E. long. 

Beaune is situated in a fertile and agreeable country, 
celebrated for tho wines which it produces. Both tho red 
and white Beaunois wines are considered among the best in 
this part of France. They include tho growth of Meur- 
sault, Mont Rachet, Pomard, and Volnay. The town itself, 
considered apart from its suburbs, is of an oval form, sur- 
rounded with an old wall ruined in many places, but the 
ramparts afford to tho townsmen a good promenade. Our 
old authorities speak of four gates, those of St. Nicholas, St. 
Martin, La Bretonniere, and La Madeleine. Millin ( Voyage 
dans les Dep. da Midi de la France, Paris, 1807) speaks 
of the * new gate,' which, he says, is of tolerably good archi- 
tecture. This is either a new entrance, or a re-erection of 
the gate of St. Nicholas. 

The town is well built, with streets which are described 
by M. Millin as spacious. Before the revolution (we know 
not what change has taken place since), the town and 
suburbs consisted of fivo parishes, two in the town, and three 
in the suburbs. The parish church of Notre Dame, in the 
town, was collegiate before the revolution ; it was the most 
anticnt in the diocese of Autun (in which Beaune was in- 
eluded), and one of the handsomest in thekingdom; but 
whether from any injuries sustained by it during the revo- 
lution, or from some other cause, it is now considered to be 
surpassed in beauty by the church of St. Pierre (or St. 
Peter), also in the town. Before the revolution, Beaune 
possessed several religious establishments. Thero were mo- 
nasteries of Carthusians, Jacobins or Dominicans, Corde- 
liers, Capuchins, and Minims; nunneries for Carmelites, 
Dominicans, Ursulines, and nuns of the Visitation ; and an 
abbey for Cistcrtian nuns. There was also a college, large 
and well built, conducted by the priests of the oratory ; a3 
well as n coinmandery of the order of Malta. Several of 
these establishments were in tho suburbs. 

Besides these institutions, now wholly or in great part 
suppressed, Beauno possessed two hospitals, which, so far as 
wo can gather, still remain. Ono of these, for the sick, 
founded in 1443 by Nicholas Rollin, chancellor of the Duke 
of Burgundy, and farther enriched and embellished by his 
son Cardinal John Rollin, bishop of Autun, is of vast extent. 
Its architecture contains some remains in the Gothic style ; 
and it constitutes the most remarkable edifice of Beaune. 
In the Dictionnaire des Gaules, See., of Expilly (Paris, 
1 762), it is described as consisting of nine wards (salles), 
five of which were for the sick of tne humbler classes, and 
four for invalids of a wealthier class, who paid for the 
attendance given them. How far this arrangement is still 
continued wo are not aware; but a later authority, M. 
Millin, who travelled in 1804, attests that tho hospital was 
then very well kept up. Louis XL, king of France, when he 
was looking over this hospital, is said to havo replied to 

• ThU n»m* of tlie riwr wa jfWa fW*m th* irTeat Map of France, by MM. 
Maraldi and Cawtni. It l« called In fcreral of our authoriti«*». Uougcoiw, 
lloujoiw.or Bour^'oifc Hi* dUtiwlly «uted by Martinet* and lUpHIv, that 
ll*a tine U on thU river, and hrrrinthey ate supported by Maraldi and Cai«ini j 
but in tha inapt of A. II. llrwr, (l'aria, lBH.)-»»d of the Sochrly for the Dif. 
futioo of L*M»ful Knowledge, the rtvrr ii called Buuurire. and it mil made lo 
ttttwHliIn l«o or three mllet of Bernini, Thit l»«t ditcrrpaucy probably 
aritet from the name being (riven to different brnnchet of the aaroe tlrearn, 
awl that Uid down at tbe Bouzoire In tha maps of Brne ami lbe Society It 
Undoubtedly the principal. ' 



some one who was praising the charity of its founder, tho 
Chancellor Uollin, • It is just that he, who has loadc so 
many poor, should provide an hospital for their reception.' 
The duties of attendance at this hospital were performed by 
females bound by a religions vow, wuicli they took only for 
a year, and when any one of them took her vows for the first 
time, she presented the establishment with twelve dozen 
turkeys, and the samo number of chickens, of pigeons, of 
partridges, and of hares. 

The other hospital is for orphans of both sexes, and for 
such poor persons as cannot maintain themselves. The 
inmates are employed in carding and spinning wool. Thero 
was formerly an estayishment called ' La Chambre des 
Pauvrcs,' for affording relief to those destitute persons who 
were ashamed to beg, and to teach children of both sexes 
some trade. We know not whether it still exists. 

Besides the hospitals, Beauno has a library, but it docs 
not contain any valuablo treasures (M. Millin) ; a college, 
or high school ; an agricultural society : a theatre ; and a 
Vauxhall. It has a Tribunal de premiere instance, a court 
of justice which may perhaps be compared with our quarter 
sessions, and a tribunal de commerce, a committee of lead- 
ing merchants or dealers, which takes cognizance of disputes 
in commercial affairs. Woollen cloths, serges anddruggcis, 
leather, cutlery, casks, and vinegar are among tho articles 
manufactured here. There aro in the neighbourhood quar- 
ries of granite, and of what our authority (the Dictionnaire 
Universe! de !a France) terms, 'pierre polie,' polished stone, 
perhaps marble. 

Beaune has been asserted by some, but without reason, to 
be the Bibracte of Coesar. (Comment de B. G., lib. i. and 
vii.) It is not known to havo existed in tho time of the 
Romans, and is first mentioned in the Chronicles of the 
Monasteries of Burgundy, There are traces of a Roman 
road in the neighbourhood running cast and * est (on tho 
east as far as the river Doubs), hut this passed to the north 
of Beaune. The district was known under the designation 
of Pagus Belnisus, in the time of the kings of France of 
the Carlovinjrian race. Beaune was raised from being a 
mere petty place, or a castle, to the rank of a town, hy 
Eudes HI., duke of Burgundy, in the year 1203. Several 
of the dukes of Burgundy held their court here ; and here 
also the parliament of Burgundy at one time sat. When 
the Burgundian States came into the hands of tho French 
kings, J^ouis XII., king of France, built a castle here, which 
was considered tho strongest place in Burgundy ; but it was 
dismantled in 1602, by order of Henry IV., who feared that 
the party of the Marcchal de Biron would avail themselves 
of it in their projected revolt. Only the ruins of it now 
remain. 

The inhabitants of Beaune amounted, in 1832, to 9272 
for tho town, or 9 9 08 for the whole commune. They are 
reproached by the inhabitants of Dijon for their stupidity, 
and the most ridiculous stories are current respecting them. 
Piron, the dramatist, a native of Dyon, nearly lost his lifo 
when on a visit to Beaune ; so much had he irritated tho 
Beaunois by his sarcastic witticisms. 

The arrondissement of Beaune comprehends 199 squaro 
miles, or 127,360 acres, and had, in 1832, a population of 
1 17.99G. Thero are in it 10 cantons, and 203 communes or 
parishes. (Martiuicre ; Expilly ; Millin ; Dictionnaire Uni- 
verse! de !a France.) 

There is a small town (bourg) called Beaune (with tho 
distinctive appendage la-BoUtndc, to distinguish it from the 
foregoing), in the arrondissement of Pithivicrs, in the depart- 
ment of Loiret. It is on the road from Pithivicrs to Mon- 
targis, and upon a small stream which falls into the Loing, 
an affluent of the Seiue: in 48° 5' N. lat., and2*2G'E. 
long. 

It is said to have been onee a place of greater importance, 
and to have belonged to tho nephew of Charlemagne, the 
ehivalrie Roland (the Orlando of Ariosto), who gave it to 
tho monks of the abbey of St. Denis. Tho growths of wine 
in the neighbourhood, though tolerably good, are yet far in- 
ferior to those of Beaune in the department of Coto d'Or. 
The population given in the Dictionnaire Universel de la 
France (Paris, 180-1), was 2028. We havo no lateraceonnt. 

The name of Beaune applies to several other places, all of 
inferior importance. 

BEAUNE, commentator on Dos Cartes. [See Des 
Cartes.] 

BKAUPRE'AU, a town in France, the capital ofa sub- 
prefecture or arrondissement in the department of Maine 
fct Loire; perhaps about 213 road miles from Paris. It is 



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113 



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in 47° 12' N. lat., and 1° 0' W. long. Beaupreau is on the 
right bank of the little river Evrc, a tributary of the Loire, 
which falls into that river on its left or south bank, and is 
situated in a rich soil. It is a place of considerable trade : 
there arc several manufactories of linens and handkerchiefs, 
of Uanncls, and other woollen fabrics. Tbcre are also dye- 
houses and tan-yards. The population in 1832 was 3207 
for the whole commune. 

Prior to the Revolution there were two parish churches, 
and a third, a eollegiate ehurch ; but the revenues of the 
latter were small, and its clergy far from numerous. The 
territory of Beaupreau gave successively the title of baron, 
marquis, and duke, to its possessors. 

The arrondisscment of Beaupreau comprehends 560 square 
miles, or 358,400 acres; and had in 1832 a population of 
104.947. 

BEAUSOBRE, ISAAC, was born in 1659 at Niort, in 
the province of Poitou. His ancestors had emigrated from 
France on account of their being Protestants, at the time 
of the St. Bartholomew, but returned afterwards in eonsc- 
qucnee of the edict of Nantes. Young Beausobre studied 
at Saumur, was afterwards ordained, and took charge of the 
Protestant church of ChStillon sur Indre, in Tourainc. 
When Louis XIV. renewed the persecution against the 
Protestants, by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 
1G83, the church of Chatillon was elosed, and the gates 
scaled by the King's officers. Beausobre broke the seals, 
and preached as usual on the Sunday, in consequence of 
which he was obliged to take refuge in Holland. From 
Holland he went to Dessau, in 1686, as chaplain to the 
Princess of Anhalt Dessau. His first work was Defense de 
la Doctrine des Reformh, Magdeburg, 1693. In 1694 
he removed to Berlin, and took charge of one of the 
French Protestant ehurches in that capital. He was after- 
wards made chaplain to the eourt, inspector of the French 
eollegc, &c. He enjoyed the favour of the King, Frederic 
William I., whose son, the Crown Prinec, afterwards the 
Great Frederic, also coneeived great regard for hira. 
Beausobre passed the remaining forty-six years of his life at 
Berlin, where he died in June, 1733, much regretted, both 
on accouutof his personal character and his extensive learn- 
ing. He wrote numerous works, tho principal of which is 
his Histoire critique de Manichee et du Mantcheisme, 2 vols. 
4 to. 173 4—9. The first part of this work is historical. 
The author derives his account of Manes, or Mani, from 
Syrian, Persian, and Arabic authorities, and exhibits the 
great discrepancy existing between their narratives and those 
of the Greek and Latin writers. He characterizes the 
history of Manes, which is attributed to Archelaus Bishop 
of Cascar or Carear, in Mesopotamia, as a romance pub- 
lished 60 years after Manes* death. {Acta Disputationis 
Archelai Episcopi Mesopotamia et Manetis Heresiarcha?, 
in Zuceagni's Monumenta Ecclesia, Rome, 1698.) The 
second part treats of the doctrines, rites, church discipline, 
and morals of tho Mamcheans. Beausobre discards many 
absurdities attributed to that scet, and refutes many odious 
charges brought against it. He exposes and examines im- 
partially their real tenets, their practiecs, and their supersti- 
tions. The work is full of varied and interesting erudition. 
The second volume was edited by Formey after Beausobre's 
death, with a short biography of the author by the editor. 
Beausobre intended to add a third volume, relative to the 
modern sects which have been accused of Manichcism. 
He undertook, with L'Enfant, a French version of the 
New Testament from the Greek text, which eontains a 
long and valuable introduction, and numerous explanatory 
notes: 2 vols. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1718, reprinted in 1741. 
The introduction was translated into English, London, 1726, 
and is used in some colleges in the English Uuivcrsities. 
He also began a history of the Reformation on a very large 
scale, which he left in an imperfect state. It was published 
at Berlin in 1785, in 4 vols. 8vo. In conjunction with other 
.literary men, he began the journal and review ealled Bib- 
liotheque Germunique, the first volume of which appeared 
in 1720, and which was carried to the fiftieth volume. 
Beausobre continued to the last to be one of the principal 
contributors, and wrote nearly half of each volume. This 
work was chiefty engrossed by notices of works of German 
writers, and also of writers of the northern kingdoms, Den- 
mark, Sweden, Poland, &e. The chief object was to make 
these writers known to the rest of Europe through the me- 
dium of the French language, in which the journal was 
written. A sequel to this work was begun after Beausebre's 



death by Mr. Formey, under the title ofNouvelle Biblio- 
theque Germanique. Beausobre wrote also Remarque* 
critiques et philologiques sur le nouveau Testament 
published after his death at la Hayc (the Hague), 2 voU 
4 to. His Sermo?is, in 4 vols. 8vo., are considered worth 
to be placed by the side of the Sermons of Saurin. Bea^ 
sob re left several other works in MS., complete and in- 
complete, especially on the various sects of the dark ages, 
the Paulicians, the Albigenses, &e. 

BEAUSSE, or BEAUCE, or, as it is written in some 
very old maps, BEAULSE, a district in the former province 
of Orleannois in France. As this district never formed a 
distinct jurisdiction, either civil or ceelesiastical, its limits 
arc very vague and undetermined. It included, at any rate, 
the territories of Chartrain,Dunois, and Vendomois (Expilly, 
Dictionnaire des Gaules) ; and according to other authori- 
ties it included also portions of Orleannois Proper, and 
Gatinois, and even of Hurepoix and Mantois, which were in 
the He de France. It extended from about 25 miles south 
of Paris, on one side to the Loire, and on the other to the 
Canal dc Briare. {Dictionnaire Universel de la France, 
an&tEnq/clcpedie Methodique.) The country consists of an 
elevated plain, or table-land, marked in some maps as the 
Plateau d'Orleans, in which not a mountain is seen ; and 
though it lies between two of the principal rivers of Franee 
(the Seine and the Loire), yet the running waters arc very- 
few. From the scarcity of springs and streams, the inha- 
bitants are obliged to have tanks and pools to preserve 
the rain water. They have also some wells, which the ele- 
vation of the surface obliges them to make very deep, hut 
the water is not good. Notwithstanding the want of water, 
the eountry is however so productive in wheat, that it has 
acquired the title of tbe granary of Paris, (Piganiol de la 
Force.) A great quantity of siiecp are also fed here ; and the 
shepherds were formerly in high repute among the simplo 
peasantry for knowledge which was really neither within 
their possession nor their reach. Muttou and wheat appear 
to be the only products of the district of any consequence. 
There are no vines or woods to any extent. 

Chartres, the principal city in this district, contaiucd 
in 1832 13,576 inhabitants in the town, or 14,439 in the 
whole commune. The other chief places arc Ch&teaudun, 
formerly capital of Dunois (population 6461), and Vendome 
(population C590 for the town, or 7771 for the whole com- 
mune), capital of the Vendomois. [Sec Chartiu;s, Ciia- 
teaudun, and Vendomk.] 

The name Beauce, in a more restricted application, is 
given to the distriet of Chartrain. The Latin form of it is 
Bclsia, or Belsa, and it occurs in the writings of Fortunatus, 
an author of the latter part of the sixth century. 

BEAUTY is that quality in visible objects in consequence 
of which their colours and forms are agreeable to the human 
mind. The word beauty (as Mr. D. Stewart observes, 
Essay on Beauty, e. ii.) was first applied to objects percep- 
tible by the sight; and, by an easy transition, it has been 
extended to objects perceptible by the hearing; as when 
we speak of beautiful musie, a beautiful tune, voice, &c. 
The instances of words which properly signify an impression 
on one sense being used to signify an impression on another 
sense are very numerous : thus we sometimes pass from the 
sight to the touch, as when we speak of lightness or heavi- 
ness of form and of colour ; from the touch to the hearing, 
as a sharp, piercing, thrilling, penetrating, or heavy sound ; 
from the touch to the smell, as a pungent smell ; from tho 
touch to the sight, as harsh and soft colouring ; from the 
hearing to the sight, as monotony of colour, tone of a picture, 
harmony of colours ; from the taste to the sight, as mellow 
eolburing ; from the taste to the hearing, as sweet music. 
- This proneness to transfer words from one object of sense 
to another docs not, however (as Mr. Stewart remarks), ex- 
plain why the word beauty should be extended only to 
agreeable sounds, and not to agreeable tastes or odours. 
That, however, there is a eloscr affinity between the percep- 
tions of sight and hearing than between those of sight and 
any other sense, it is not difficult to perceive ; and the fact 
is satisfactorily traced by the same writer to the following 
causes : — 1. The picturesque effect which custom, in many 
instances, gives to sounds ; as when a tune calls up the 
image of a person's home or the haunts of his childhood. 
2. The expressive power of sounds, as in the case of the 
human voice, when the expression of the countenance cor- 
responds with the tones of the voice and the meaning of 
the words which it utters. 3. The significant power of 



No. 219. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-Q 



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sounds, in consequence of conventional speech. In this 
way they every moment present pictures to the imagination ; 
ana" wo apply to the description us to the thing described 
(villi hardly any consciousness of speaking figuratively) 
such words as Itrety, glowing, luminous* splendid, pictu- 
resque. • To these considerations should be added (as the 
same writer justly observes), as a cause conspiring power- 
fully to the same end, the intimate association which, in 
pur apprehensions, is formed between the eyo and tho ear, 
as the great inlets of our acquired knowledge, as the only 
media by which different minds can communicate together, 
and as the organs by which we receive from the material 
world the two classes of pleasures which, while they surpass 
all the rest in variety and in duration, are the most com- 
pletely removed from the grossness of animal indulgence, 
and the most nearly allied to the enjoyments of the intel- 
lect. The unconsciousness wo have in both these senses of 
any local impression on our bodily frame in ay perhaps help 
to explain the peculiar facility with which their perceptions 
blend themselves with other pleasures of a rank still nobler 
aud more refined.* (Ibid, c vi.) 

But although tho epithet beautiful is never applied to 
the perceptions of any sense except those of seeing and 
hearing, yet it is extended to the results of some intellectual 
processes, as when wc speak of a beautiful ehain of reason- 
ing, a beautiful poem, a beautiful metaphor, a beautiful 
language, a beautiful machine, a beautiful contrivance of 
nature, &e. AVhen tho word beauty is thus employed, it is 
merely a vague term of praise, and is nearly synonymous 
with admirable, ■ Tho word beauty (as Mr. knight re- 
marks) is often applied to a syllogism or a problem ; but 
then it means clearness, point, or precision, or whatever eke 
be the characteristic excellence of that to which it is ap- 
plied. 1 (Inquiry-into the Principles of Taste, p. 259.) As 
the effect of beauty in visible objects is to produce admira- 
tion, all beautiful objects arc also admirable ; and thence it 
was an easy step to apply the epithet beautiful to things 
which produced admiration, although this feeling did nut 
arise from the cause which produces it in the contemplation 
of visible" objects. Similar transfers may be observed in 
other words : thus the word law properly signifies a general 
command ghen by one intelligent being to another; but 
becauso the effect of such a command is to produce an uni- 
formity of conduct in the persons to whom it is addressed, 
the term law has been exlended to those operations of na- 
ture in which an uniformity of phenomena prevails, although 
the cause of the uniformity is altogether different. [See 
Analogy.] 

In the following remarks on the nature and eausc3 of 
beauty, we shall limit ourselves to the original and appro- 
priate meaning of the word in question, viz., the beauty of 
visible objects. 

The beauty of visible objects eonsisls of two parts, viz., 
the beauty of colour and the beauty of form, which, al- 
though closely connected with each other, arise from dif- 
ferent sources, and from sources of a different character, 
inasmuch as the one appears to be, in most cases, a simple 
emotion, and therefore an ultiniato fact, of which no expla- 
nation can be given, while the other is a pleasure derived 
from association, which is susceptible of analysis. 

There cannot, in our opinion, be any doubt that certain 
colours, and certain arrangements of colours, are naturally, 
and in themselves, pleasing to the eye. Children arc ob- 
served to take delight in brilliant colours before they have 
learnt to connect any agreeablo ideas with them. The 
analogy of the other senses would, d priori, lead to this 
conclusion : for as there are certain odours, tasles, and 
sounds, which are naturally pleasing or displeasing to the 
nose, the tongue, and tho ear, so it may be presumed that 
there are certain colours, and combinations of colours, which 
are naturally pleasing or displeasing to the eye. Although, 
as will be presently shown, one branch of beauty is entirely 
founded on association, tho feeling of beauty cannot be de- 
rived from association alone. ' It is the province of asso- 
ciation (as Mr. Stewart has justly observed) to impart to 
one tbin^ the agreeable or disagreeable effect of another; 
but association can never account for tho origin of a elans 
of pleasures different in kind from all the others we know. 
If there was nothing originally and intrinsically pleasing or 
beautiful, the associating principle would ha\e no materials 
on which it could operate.' {Essay i. e. C.) 
t This origin of the feeling of beauty appears to us to con- 
sist in the pleasure derived from the contemplation of colours, 



a pleasure, in most cases, purely sensual and organic, and 
as incapable of explanation as the pleasure derived to tho 
inlud through the medium of the ear from the harmony of 
sweet sounds. An instance of purely sensual beauty b 
afforded by precious stones, which all ages and nations, an- 
tic nt and modern, barbarous and uncivilized, ha\ o agreed 
in admiring. That their beauty does not arise from any 
collateral associations of their durability and hardness Is 
evident from this, that in the Unpolished state, when they 
arc equally hard and durable, thev excite tie admiration. 
The precious metals also are beautiful for the same reason ; 
though they have other qualities besides their beauty which 
give thcin exchangeable value: whereas the value of pre- 
cious stones Is almost exclusively owing to their beauty. 
Flowers, the plumage of birds, the rainbow, the setting sun, 
the clear blue expanse of the sky or the sea, also derive- 
their beauty in great measure from the mere sensual im- 
pression on the organ of sijjliL Indeed, there are only a few 
eases (such as that of tho Lcauty of complexion, which will 
bo mentioned below), in which the beauty of colour is de- 
rived from association* and therefore admits of a resolution 
into simpler elements. 

The beauty of form belongs altogether to a different ca- 
tegory, and is derived (as we shall attempt to show) from 
an association inseparably connected with tho form of any 
object, and necessarily and instantaneously suggested by 
it, viz., its adaptation to the purpose which it is intended to 
fulfil. The beauty of form, as arising from this source, is 
however subject to certain conditions, the chief of which is, 
that the object should cither possess the beauty of colour, 
or at least should he of such a colour as is completely 
inoffensive to the eye. The manner in which the organic 
emotion works back upon tho pleasure of association is well 
illustrated by the following remarks of Mr. Payne Knight 
— ' The habit,* he says, ■ which we acquire of spontaneously 
mixing associated ideas with organic perceptions, in con- 
templating objects of vision, is the principal reason why the 
merely sensual pleasures of this organ are in adult persons 
very limited and feeble. Children are delighted with every 
gay assemblage of colours, but as the intellect and imagina- 
tion acquire strength by culture and cxereise, they obtain 
so much influence over the sense as to make it reject almost 
every gratification in which one of them docs not partici- 
pate. But nevertheless tho sense acquires a similar nega- 
tive power, in its turn, by the same habit of association ; 
and if there be anything in the object of contemplation to 
offend or disgust, it effect u ally mars the gratification of 
every other faculty. Thus, in tho higher class of landscapes, 
whether In nature or in art, the mere sensual gratification 
of the eye is comparatively so small as scarcely to be at- 
tended to; biit )et if there occur a single spot, either in 
the scene or the picture, offensively harsh and glaring, all 
the magic instantly vanishes, and the imagination avenges 
tho injury offered to the sense. The glaring and inhar- 
monious spot, being the most prominent and obtrusive, 
irresistibly attracts the attention, so as to interrupt the re- 
pose of tho whole, and leave the mind no place to rest upon. 
It is in some respects the same with the sense of hearing. 
Tho mere sensual gratification arising from the melody of 
an actor's voico Is a very small part, indeed, of the pleasure 
which we receive from the representation of a fine drama; 
hut, nevertheless, if a single note of the voice be absolutely 
cracked and out of lime, so as to offend and disgust the ear, 
it will completely destroy the effect of the most skilful 
acting, and render all tho sublimity and pathos of the finest 
tragedy ludicrous.' — p. 95. 

The beauty of form, although in strictness not connected 
with the colour of any object, is nevertheless so far dependent 
on it, that if the colour should bo offensive to tho eye, tho 
pleasure derived from the beauty df form is much impaired, 
or is even destroyed. Beauty of form, as arising from the 
fitness of the form for its end, requires that the eolour of 
the object should be such as shall not interfcro with the 
effect produced by the mutual relatious of its parts. 

There is. ho\ve\er, another condition for the existence of 
beauty of form, beyond the perception of its fitness to its 
purpose, the statement of which will complete our definition 
of this kind of beauty. If* then, tho*c colours are cither 
absent or present, whose absence or presence Is essential to 
the t*ereeption of beauty in any object, simply as an organic 
impression, the beauty of form in any object mainly depends 
on our *enso of Its adaptation to tho end for which it is 
destined, provided that this eud is agreeable to contemplate, 



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and is such that the mind dwells on it with pleasure. 
Hence the form of the antelope, tlie swan, or the tiger, is 
considered beautiful, because we take a satisfaction in con- 
templating the movements which those forms are admirably 
fitted to produce ; but the form of the pig's snout is not 
considered beautiful, becauso the mind Hies with disgust 
from the filthy purposes for which that animal employs it. 
So likewise we call the outward form of the arms, legs, neck, 
&c, of the human figure beautiful, when their form is suited 
to their respective uses ; but no one finds ary beauty in the 
form of the human stomaeh, or intestines, or liver, though 
equally well fitted for their several ends, because they sug- 
gest the notion of processes which men do not willingly 
contemplate. (Burke's Sublime and Beautiful, part iii. 
s. 6—8.) 

< Perhaps, in strictness, it might be thought that the 
simple emotion derived from the colour of objects is alone 
properly entitled to be considered as the feeling of beauty ; 
and that the beauty of form in any object, derived from a 
sense of its fitness to its end, is only a pleasing association, 
allied indeed to the feeling of beauty by a close analogy, 
hut still distinct from it. This question (which in fact is 
merely verbal) we have not sufficient space to discuss at 
length; nevertheless it appears to us that all ages and na- 
tions have agreed in speaking of the beauty of form as well 
as of colour, and that we are justified in considering as 
included in the feeling of beauty those emotions which are 
susceptible o analysis, as well as those which are not. 

Having made these general remarks, we will proceed to 
explain, with somewhat more detail, the application of the 
principles last stated. 
. The beauty of form, arising from a perception of utility, 
or of fitness of eertain means to produce a certain end, may 
be observed both in animate and inanimate objects — in the 
works both of nature and of art. In animate beings we are 
gratified by the recognition that a eertain form is suited to 
the wants of the animal, and that certain desired effects or 
motions are produced with ease and little efibrt. It is on 
this principle that we admire the beauty of tho human form, 
every part of which is perfectly fitted for its intended pur- 
poses, and that we admire the motions of a horse, a stag, a 
greyhound, or a eat, as being made without any apparent 
trouble or difficulty, and as the result of a power which 
accomplishes its end with the least possible expense of ex- 
ertion. The same feeling which makes us take pleasure 
in movements and forms which indicate case, leads us like- 
wise to dislike those which express constraint and toil: 
hence, both in nature and art, all forced and laboured atti- 
tudes, all tension of muscle, all visible and overstrained 
efforts to produce a certain effect, or to express a certain 
feeling (which is the source of affectation in art), are offen- 
sive to the taste. And thus all angular and jerking action, 
iind all heavy dragging of the limbs, are devoid of beauty, 
as being sij;ns of violent and toilsome effort, and as equally ( 
removed, though in eontrary ways, from that equable, flow- 
ing, and easy motion in which grace consists. Nor is it 
only in animals that the marks of case are agreeable to us; 
the varied, flowing, and irregular outline which characterizes 
the free growth of plants, is beautiful on the same prin- 
ciple : ' wherever (as Mr. Alison remarks) we find vege- 
tables, or any other delicate body, assume a winding form, 
we are impressed with the conviction of its being easy, 
agreeable to their nature, and free from foree or constraint. 
On the contrary, when sueh bodies in the line of their pro- 
gress assume angular forms, we have a strong impression 
of the operation of force, of something that either prevents 
-them from their natural direction, or that constrains them 
to assume an unnatural one/ {Essay on Taste, vol. i. 
p. 334.) It was the perception of this fact which induced 
llogarth to imagine that beauty of outline consists in its 
serpentine direction, which is true of those animate and 
organized beings whose wants require them to assume this 
shape ; but does not apply to other objects, such as buildings 
or walks, in which convenienco requires a straight or an- 
gular form, and in which a straight or angular form is there- 
fore beautiful. The beauty of proportion or symmetry in 
the forms of animals is likewise derived from a sense of 
utility ; for it is manifest that small limbs would not suit 
the wants of a large body ; that a large foot would be an in- 
cumbrance to a small leg; that a large hand would be an 
incunihranco to a small arm, &c. For the same reason 
different animals have different proportions, as their bodies 
are formed on different scales and adapted to different pur- 



poses ; and thus the form or size which is beautiful in one 
animal would be monstrous in another, as if the long neck 
of the camel opard, an animal living on the leaves of trees, 
were^ given to the lion, whose teeth and claws are adapted 
to seizing and tearing the flesh of animals; or if the antlers 
of a stag were fixed on the forehead of a dog. (Horace, Dp. 
Arte Poet., at the beginning; on some exceptions to this 
principle, See Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty, c. 6 ; Miiller's 
Archczologie der Kunsi, p. 11.) And thus the limbs of the 
human body, or the features of the human face, are beau- 
tiful only in their proper places, when they are taken in 
combination with the other parts of the body, and so 
manifestly suggest the notion that they are fitted to perform 
their respective offices. 

* Tis not a lip or clieek wc beauty call» 
But Ihe joint force and full result of alL' 

All incongruous combinations in animate beings are con- 
trary to beauty: for example, the pink and white com- 
plexion, which suits the delieacy and weakness of the 
female form and eharaeter, is less becoming to man than 
the dark-red and brown, which characterize the sun-burnt 
cheek of a person accustomed to rural labours, to athletic 
exercises, to field-sports, and to a military or naval life. 
Feminine forms and eolours are sometimes admired in young 
men; and in women, as in gipsies, a dark complexion is 
often extremely beautiful : but an effeminate appearance is 
not in general more approved in men than an effeminate 
mind : and muscular or athletic forms in women are com- 
monly considered coarse and elumsy, a judgment confirmed 
by the taste of the Greek artists, wno, in representing 
Diana as a huntress, with her dogs, her arrows, and her 
garments girded up for running, never give her a masculine 
form. 

Hence the middle form in the different species of animals 
is the most beautiful ; that is to say, it is that abstract form 
at whieh the painter or sculptor arrives by rejecting all the 
faulty extremes, and which he takes as the type from which 
the varieties of individuals diverge in different directions. 
Thus tho most beautiful size in man is between a giant and 
a dwarf; or, to take an instance in a single feature, the 
most beautiful form of the nose is when the outline is 
straight : any deviation from this form on either side, so as 
to make it like that of the fauns in Greek sculpture, or to 
give it a protuberance, is injurious to the beauty of the hu- 
man countenance. (See Miiller, Archceol. derKunst, s. 329, 
n. 5.) And as it is with the general form of the human 
race, or of the several limbs and features, so is it with parti- 
cular classes. Thus, * though the forms of childhood and 
age differ exceedingly, there is a common form in childhood 
and a common form in age, which is the more perfect, as it 
is the more remote from all peculiarities.' (Reynolds* Dis- 
course 3.) Reynolds, however, is mistaken when he goes 
on to say that the middle form is beautiful because it is the 
most common (see Idler, No. 82) ; for, as has been truly 
remarked, there are many forms of frequent and ordinary 
occurrence which are by no means beautiful. The beauty 
of the middle form arises from its being that which is the 
most suited to the purposes and wants of the animal : thus 
if a nose, a mouth, or an eye was very much above, or very 
much below the average size, it would either be inconve- 
nient from its magnitude, or incapable of performing its 
functions on account of its smallness. Having once esta- 
blished this maxim in our minds, we forget, as in many 
other instances, the principle on which it is founded ; and 
although a nose, for example, would be equally fitted for its 
purposes if it deviated slightly from the straight line, yet we 
eonsider that line alone as the standard of ideal beauty. 

The reason why we are gratified by the perception of con- 
gruity or fitness in the general structure of an animate body 
and of its several component parts, by the appearance of 
ease and grace in the movements of animals, and univer- 
sally by all the marks of activity, vigour, energy, and health, 
is tbat we are gratified by the absence of suffering, as we 
are pained by its presence, as when a person not hardened 
by custom to such sights witnesses an execution, a sur- 
gical operation, the slaughter of animals, a field of battle 
covered with tho dead and dying, a hospital, &e. Hence 
all those objects which suggest the notion of pain, dis- 
comfort, or decay, are devoid of beauty. Such is the case 
with animals, as the elephant or the hippopotamus, which 
are heavy and cumbrous in their shape and appear to 
drag their limbs with difficulty and effort; suggesting 
none of those impressions of joy and satisfaction in tho 

Q2 



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11G 



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animal, exnlling in its strength and agility, which arc 
occasioned by the unshackled movements of tho horse, the 
antelope, or tho stag. (See the comparison of the horse 
at the end of the 6th Iliad.) Hence likewise all deformity 
in animals is inconsistent with beauty, and is ugly in pro- 
portion as the shape of tho limb or body deviates from the 
btandard form, and is unfitted for the purposes for which it 
is intemled. * The disgust,* says Mr. Stewart, ' which mon- 
strous animal productions produce seems to arise principally 
from some idea of nain or suffering connected with their 
existence ; or from tho obvious unfitness of tho structure of 
tho individual for the destined purposes of his species. No 
similar emotion/ lie continues, ' is excited by an analogous 
appearance in the vegetable or in the mineral kingdoms; or 
even by thoso phenomena which contradict the uniform 
tenor of our past experience with respect to nature's most 
obvious and familiar laws.' (c. 7.) Tho reason of this dif- 
ference is, that in inanimate objects which deviate from their 
ordinary and natural form there is no cause for painful 
sympathy, as the object is unconscious of its defective struc- 
ture. In the cultivation of flowers and ornamental trees, 
the object indeed is for the most part to produce an -arti- 
ficial, and to a certain degree a monstrous size ; which all 
must admit to be more beautiful than the natural and unim* 
proved state of the plant. But even in this respect there is 
a limit; and although the size consistent with beauty in 
the vegetable kingdom is indefinite, it is not quite unlimited. 
An oak as high as a mountain would probably cease to be 
beautiful ; and even the diseased growths and protuberances 
in trees would become displeasing to' the sight, if they wero 
enlarged to un excessive size. 

For the same reason tbat deformity in animals is incon- 
sistent with beauty, all appearance of disease, decay, and 
death is loathsome and hideous : as the ghastly look of a 
bleeding wound, the convulsive movements of agony, the 
pale, livid, or emaciated countenanco of a person expiring 
under the rapid progressof a pestilential disease, or wasting 
away with famine, atrophy, or consumption, the mouldering 
remains of a dead body, or the empty frame of a skeleton. 
Ilcnco, when llomeo is described by Shakspcare as de- 
scending into the vault, in order to sec Juliet's corpse, he 
says, on discovering that tho bloom had not faded from her 
face, 

• O tny lore t my w tfe t 
Death, thai bath «uek*d lhe honey of lhy breath, 
Ilalhhad no power yef upon thy beauty. 

Thou art nol conquered : benuly*s em tgn yet 
1 1 crimson In thy li pi. ami in thy cheeks, 
And death** pale flag i* Dot advanced there* 

The samo feelings are transferred by us to the vegetable 
kingdom, though with a great diminution of their intensity: 
thus the yellow or brown colour of the faded leaf is for the 
most part less beautiful than the brilliant and vivid green 
of spring and sumuier vegetation ; nevertheless, there is 
probably no person at all alive to the beauties of external 
nature who has not admired the rich and varied tints of an 
autumn landscape, produced by tho irregular discolouration 
of iho leaf. When, however, decay has completed its work, 
ali beauty vanishos ; and a tree quite bared of its leaves has 
nothing more to recommend it to the eye than if it were 
actually dead. And wliun a tree has through age or by 
accident undergone a partial decay, its beauty is impaired, 
though its wreck may still suggest agreeable notions of 
power and grandeur, the memory of former vigour, of resist- 
ance to time and tho elements, or to the destructive agents 
of nature. Such are in part the feelings excited by tho 
sublime picture of Milton : — 

* Ai when heaven's fire ( 
Hath icathed the forc*t oak* or mountain pines, 
With Ringed lop their * lately growth, though hare, 
Stands on the blotted heath.* 

J n general, however, all appearance of poverty, meagre- 
ness, or declino of vegetation is, unless compensated by 
countervailing circumstances, unfavourable to beauty. (See 
Price's E&xay on Beauty, p. 29.) 

The beauty derived from a perception of utility is not 
confined to the works of nature, but is common to the works 
of constructive art, in which the adaptation of means to ends 
is equally observable, and in which there is a similar cor- 
respondence of the constituent parts. Thus in buildings 
each different part, has a manifest and visible purpose— as 
the column to support a weight on the ground, the areli to 
support a weight over an opening, tho windows to admit 
light and air, the projection of the roof to throw the rain- 
water from the walls, 8cc. Kvery part of a building has 



therefore its peculiar form and beauty, dependent on its 
destination. And the same is the ease with different hinds 
of building: the disposition of parts which would bo beau- 
tiful in a church or u palace, would bo displeasing and ab- 
surd in n cottage or a fortified castle. 'Grecian temples, 
Gotbie abbeys, and feudal castles,* says Mr. Payne Knight, 
1 were all well adapted to their respective uses, circum- 
stances, and situations: the distribution of the parts sub- 
servient to the purposes of the whole ; and tho ornaments 
and decorations suited to the character of the parts, and to 
the manners, habits, and employments of the persons who 
were to occupy'tbem : but tho house of an Knglish noble- 
man of the eighteenth or nineteenth century is neither a 
Grecian temple, a Gothic abbev, nor a feudal castle; and if 
the stylo or distribution, or decoration of cither he em- 
ployed in it, such changes and modifications should be 
admitted as may adapt it to existing circumstances ; other- 
wise the seale of its exactitude becomes that of ils incon- 
gruity, and tho deviation from principle proportioned to the 
fidelity of imitation.* (On Taste, part ii. ch. 2. $. 5-1 ; seo 
also Lord Abcnleen on Grecian Architecture, p. 2G-35.) 

For a similar reason all ornament in architecture should 
be subordinate to use, and should grow out of and be sug- 
gested by it : whence professed architects, with whom the 
idea of decoration is predominant, oflcn fail in their attempts 
to produce beauty, and in many cases seem rather to adapt 
the building to the ornaments than the ornaments to tho 
building. Accordingly it may be observed, that engineers 
whose attention is solely directed to ihe use of that which 
they plan, often construct more beautiful buildings than 
persons with whom beauty is the chief consideration. And 
generally it may be observed, that all ornament, if accumu- 
lated to an excessive degree, cither from a love of gaudy 
magnificence, or for the sake of ostentation, is devoid of 
beauty. 

* *Tia use alone thnt sanctifies expense, 
And splendour borrow* Ml her rayi from sense.' 

For the same reason that neatness, freshness, and regu- 
larity arc pleasing to us in buildings, as being associated 
with the ideas of comfort and enjoyment, ' we require,* as 
Mr. Knight has observed, 'that immediately adjoining tho 
dwellings of opulence and luxury, everything should assume 
its character, and not only be, but appear to be dressed and 
cultivated. In such situations neat gravel walks, mown 
turf, and flowering plants and shrubs, trained and distri- 
buted by art, are perfectly in character/ (ii. 2. 29.) In 
laying out the direction of roads or walks, the beauty of the 
line is likewise determined by its fitness. Thus in an open 
and level plain a straight line is most agreeable to the eye ; 
in broken and irregular ground, the line which adapts itself 
to the shape of the country, by constantly keeping the same 
level, is to he preferred. The pleasure which is felt in fol- 
lowing the windings of a road carried through a mouniain- 
pass, and creeping round the declivities of the rocks, is 
enhanced by a sense of skill in the contriver and executor, 
and of diflteulty successfully overcome. 

The beauty of furniture and dress is likewise in a great 
measure derived from their fitness ; though, with regard to 
dress in particular, our taste is liable to be determined by 
many independent, and often conflicting, considerations, as 
novelty, fashion, &e., some of which will be mentioned be- 
low. Symmetry of parts, which the eye often so rigidly 
exacts in architecture, in gardening, in tho internal decora- 
tion of a house, in dress, fee., arises in great measure from 
a sense of utility : thus, for example, in the construction of 
a house, the entrance is obviously best placed in the centre 
of the wall, as it affords the easiest communication to the 
various parts of the building : the windows are most con- 
venient if they are at nearly equal distances from each other, 
and are not crowded together in some places and separated 
by wide intervals in others: the columns best perform their 
work if they are separated by equal spaces, and therefore 
support equal weights*. The pleasure derived from sym- 

• The principle of the tnjpdcnt reason by which Mr. Stewart, e. S and 4, 
explain t tlie Urnuly of symmetry in works of art, appears lo it* in lie included 
In that of fitness; for If there ti nn renron why a door should be placed nearer 
one lhan the other end of a hnnscwhyn picture should be hung nearer one 
I linn the utb<*r end of a room, lhe middle U evidently the Attest place. Heneo 
in cas*»s where lhere It an evident fit new in Irregularity, eyramctrv 1* not 
beautiful. * An irregular envlcllated edifice (says Mr. Stewart) lei down on 
ft dead flat, convey ■ an W en of w him or fully in lite designer, . * * The sarm*, 
or yrl greater Irregularity, would not only satisfy bnl dellghl the eye in an 
antient eflndel. whoa* groundwork nntl elevations followed the rugged surface 
ami fan'.tulic pro)eettoni of lhe rock on which 11 Is built. The obli<|no position 
of it window in n house would be intolerable ; bnl utility, or rather ncecsstty; 
reconcile i lhe eye to It a I once In the cabin of n shin.*— c. 2. 



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W 



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metry in works of art is, however, not confined to Its beauty, 
but in part arises from the evidence which it affords- of an 
uniform and extensive plan having been conceived and 
executed, and in part from that satisfaction which we take 
in the perception of resemblances, as well in outward objects 
as in the efforts of wit and imagination. It was probably 
the latter feeling (combined, however, with an excessive 
attempt to imitate in the garden the forms of architecture) 
which gavo rise to the style of gardening described by Pope, 
in which 

* Grave nods at grove, eacli allev has its brother, 
And half the platform just reflects the other.'— (Epist. 4.) 

This formal style of gardening was founded on a just sen- 
timent of what is suited to the immediate neighbourhood 
of a house, both in respect of the comfort of the inhabitants 
and the agreement with architectural forms ; but in clipping 
shrubs into unnatural and fantastie shapes, and in laying 
out the ground in over-minute and complicated patterns, it 
sometimes earried a just principle to a vicious excess. (See 
AValpole's history of the modern taste in gardening in his 
Anecdotes of Painting; and AVhately On Gardening, 
}. 139—47.) 

The garden, in fact, forms the transition from tho forms 
of architecture to those of landscape, and is a sort of middle 
term by which the hard, angular, and precise forms of art 
are melted into the flowing, irregular, and infinitely varied 
outlines of nature. Hence the quantity and character of 
the ornament in a garden ought to depend on the style of 
the building to which it belongs ; and thus a richly deco- 
rated garden would not harmonize with a perfectly plain 
house ; and, on the other hand, a large building loaded with 
architectural ornament seems to require something more 
than a few shrubs, planted irregularly around it, which 
scarcely differ in character from tbe neighbouring country. 
It is on this principle that small cottages and houses, which 
make no pretension to architectural beauty, are much im- 
proved by the growth of ercepers and other plants upon 
their walls, which, as it were, makes them a part of the 
surrounding vegetation. On the other hand, in buildings 
which, from their imposing size and elaborate execution, 
have an independent character of their own, creepers usually 
suggest a notion of discomfort and neglect, a feeling which 
lias no place if the building is not inhabited by man, and 
which, therefore, is not awakened by the sfcht of an antient 
mouldering ruin overgrown with ivy. (See Price On the Pic- 
turesque, vol. i. p. 287, vol. ii. pp. 134, 170, 177, 218; Lord 
Aberdeen On Grecian Architecture^. 45.) 

The perception of fitness or congrnity appears to us to 
account for the beauty of form in nearly all cases, and occa- 
sionally for the beauty of colour: there are, however, other 
circumstances which contribute to produce or heighten that 
feeling, or are conditions necessary to its existence. Such, 
for example, is the beauty of expression in the human coun- 
tenance when the notion eonvoyed to the mind is that of 
benevolence, cheerfulness, tranquillity, innocence, simplicity, 
or affection. (See Baeon's Essay on Beauty.) The dis- 
tinctness and rapidity with which the eyes express the emo- 
t'ens of the mind contribute very powerfully to their beauty. 
Novelty likewise is, to a certain extent, essential to the 
perception of beauty ; and as the most beautiful object 
would, by its continual presence, soon pall upon the sight, 
and produce complete indifference, so objects, whose beauty 
will not bear eloso examination, aud is only calculated to 
please for a time, are agreeable merely from their novelty 
and freshness. This is the ease to a great extent with 
fashions in dress, whieh arc continually changing, and in 
which the newest fashion often seems the most beautiful, 
although it may have no other recommendation than its 
novelty. It does not, however, seem to us satisfactory to 
explain the beauty of modes of dress by saying, that ' whilo 
they were in fashion they were the forms and eolours which 
distinguished the rich and the noble, the eminent, the 
envied, the observed in society ; they were the forms and the 
colours in which all that was beautiful, and admired, and ex- 
alted, were habitually arrayed. They were associated there- 
fore with ideas of opulence, and elegance, and gaiety, and 
all that is captivating and bewitching in manners, fortune, 
and situation, and derived the whole of their beauty from 
those association*; {Encycl. Britan. f ant. * Beauty,' Suppl. 
vol ii. p. 1 86.) For, in the first place, there is always a cer- 
tain regard to utility in all kinds of dress and ornament for 
the person : colours aro seleetcd with reference to the eolour 
of the complexion or hair, different dresses become the 



young and old, Sec. ; and those forms are usually chosen 
which, if not the most adapted to the motion of the limbs 
and the display of tho natural beauties, are at least co?i- 
sistent with them. (Sec Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty, 
e. C, ad fin.) Caprice or bad taste may sometimes introduce 
such fashions as hair-powder, pomatum, and hoops, and 
habit may reconcile the eye to such monstrous disguises ; 
but it seems incredible that any person should maintain 
that modes of dress arc in themselves indifferent, and that 
the powdered and plastered hair and stiff hoop of an 
English or French lady of the eighteenth century aro in- 
trinsically as beautiful as the loose and flowing locks and 
graceful drapery of a Grecian statue. New modes of dress 
are worn, not because they are beautiful, but because they 
are fashionable. Ladies not unfrcquently lament that the 
new fashion is ugly and unbecoming, though they abandon 
the old fashion as being obsolete. Brilliant colours, more- 
over, are almost .universally considered beautiful for dre*s, 
especially for female dress ; and therefore they are worn by 
tho rich, who can afford a frequent succession of clothes : 
tho poor, who cannot, are consequently forced to clothe 
themselves in dark and dingy colours, .which are not so soon 
soiled and spoilt. So likewise fine, soft, and smooth textures 
are not only more convenient, but more beautiful for 
clothing, as being better fitted to show the form of the body : 
in this respect the taste of all ages has agreed, from the 
Romans, who admired the cobweb garments, the textilis 
aura, whieh they imported from the East, and who bartered 
gold for an equal weight of silk, down to the modern pur- 
chasers of the delicate fabrics of Paisley^and Lyons: and 
henee the rich clothe themselves in fine linen and woollen, 
in silk, in velvet, and in lace; while the poor, unable to 
purchase such luxuries, eontent themselves with coarser 
and thicker textures. Mr. Alison, therefore, in the following 
remarks, completely inverts the cause and the effect. * The 
colours (he says) which distinguish tho ordinary dress of 
the common people are never considered as beautiful. It is 
the eolours only of tho dress of the great, of the opulent, 
or of distinguished professions, which are ever considered 
in this light. The colours of common furniture, in the 
same way, are never beautiful; it is the eolours only of 
fashionable, or costly, or magnificent furniture, which are 
ever considered as such.' (Alison On Taste, vol. i. p. 3,02.) 
In fact, however, the dress of the rich is not beautiful be- 
cause it is the dress of the rich, .but it is the dress of the 
rich because it is beautiful : costly furniture is not beautiful 
because it is eostly, but it is costly because it is beautiful. 
The dress of the poor is not plain because it is the dress of 
the poor, but it is the dress of the poor because it is plain. 
In countries where the peasants ornament their dress with 
taste and fancy, as in some eantons of Switzerland, their 
dress is thought beautiful ; in countries, as in antient Ve- 
nice, where the upper orders wore black elothes, black might 
have been considered a mark of nobility and rank, but 
could scarcely, even by the natives, have been considered 
as beautiful : nor in this country docs any one think a bar- 
rister's wig and gown, or a clergyman's surplice, as having 
any title to be called beautiful because they are the dress of 
distinguished professions. (See Alison, vol. i. p. 107 ; Edin- 
burgh Rcvieio, vol. vii. p. 299.) 

Variety, likewise, is a condition of the beauty of eolour 
nearly allied to novelty. Combinations of eolours, if they 
are not so mixed as to be eon fused, and if their tints har- 
monize well together, are for the most part agreeable to the 
eye: while large and unbroken masses of an uniform hue, 
such as long tlat walls, wide expanses of sand or water, or 
green plain, are devoid of beauty. The beauty of the hu- 
man hair arises, in great measure, from the irregularity of 
its movements, its flexibility and variety of outline, and the 
changeability of its tint, as its glossy surface reflects the 
light in different parts : while a bald head is not only de- 
prived of this ornament, but also seems to be shorn of its 
fair proportions, and to want something which belongs to its 
integrity. 

The most remarkable exception to the ugliness of uniform 
colours is the beauty of the blue sky and the blue sea; in 
which eases the sensual delight derived from the soft and 
at the same time brilliant colouring appears to compensate 
for its want of variety. For when the sky and sea are of a 
grey and dingy hue their beauty is gone, and we are then 
conscious of the monotonous effect produced by a large un- 
varied surface of a dull colour. Even, however, when the 
sea is most brilliant in its colour, how* much do a few white 



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113 



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sail*, scudding along its surface, add not only to tho interest 
but also to the beauty of the sccno 1 

Some writers havo thought that a certain size is an es- 
sential element of beauty : thus Aristotle, in his Poetic, 
ssys, that beauty consists in magnitude and proportion ; 
and. therefore, a very small or a very largo animal would bo 
devoid of beauty, tho former becauso the eyo eould not dis- 
tinguish, tho latter because tho eye could not comprehend 
its parts*. This notion of Aristotle's doubtless arose from 
his predominant lovo of making tho exccllenco of everything 
to consist in a mean between two extremes ; but in the ease 
which he puts the mean is the beautiful form, because it is 
the best suited to the nature and wants of the animal. That 
beauty generally docs not depend on the size of the object 
which makes the impression on the sense, is proved by the 
admiration which wo equally bestow on the dclieato frame 
and brilliant plumage of a humming-bird, and on the vast 
expanse of an Alpino view. Burke, on the other hand, 
makes smallness an essential element of beauty (Sublime 
attd Beautiful, part iii. $ 13) ; but the arguments which he 
adduces are equally untenable, as being founded <m a par- 
tial view of tho subject. Among other considerations ho 
alleges the prac.tico of giving diminutive names to the ob- 
jects of our affection ; hut this arises not from any sense of 
the connexion of beauty with smallness of sizo, but from 
the incompatibility of the passion of love with that of fear — 
that is, so far as fear means an anticipation of evil ; for by 
using diminutive names, expressive of weakness and infe- 
riority, men signify their consciousness that the persons 
whom they love are things in their power, of which they 
entertain no apprehension and do not stand in awe. [See 
Fkar.] 

The feeling of beauty is, moreover, increased, if not 
awakened, by antient recollections, which spread a eharm 
over places illustrated by the arts, the learning, and the civil 
and military glories of former ages. It is, however, neces- 
sary to distinguish between tho quality of beauty and the 
feelings excited by interesting historical as social ions. There 
is no doubt that the first timo that a scholar beholds Athens 
or Rome, he is affected far more powerfully and agreeably 
than a person to whom antient history is a blank. But 
these emotions cannot be considered as arising from the per- 
ception of beauty. It seems to us quite conceivable that a 
painter who did not know that Pericles or Socrates were 
Athenians, or that the Parthenon was tho Temple of Mi- 
nerva, should be as much alive to the beauty of the view of 
Athens as tho historian, though his feelings would not ho 
so strongly moved by tho sight before his eyes. (See 
Kniglit On Taste, part 2. ch.ii. $ 70-73.) This distinciion 
between associations which givo an interest to an object, 
which make us curious to sco it, and those which mako 
it beautiful, has not always been sutlieicntly attended to, 
Thus Mr. Alison cites Runny mede and the Rubicon as 
instances of beauty conferred or enhanced by historical as- 
sociations. (Vol. i. pp. 25, 27.) But beauty never arises from 
such a soureo as this. No man would think a plain green 
field or an ordinary stream moro beautiful than any other 
such field or stream, simply becauso King John had signed 
Magna Chart a in the one, or Julius Coosar raised tho stan- 
dard of rebellion on the banks of tho other. A sincere 
Roman Catholic might be led into trains of the tenderest 
pathos and the loftiest religious enthusiasm by the sight of 
a fragment of the irne cross, but would find no beauty in it. 
The iron erown of Charlemagne, or the stone on which the 
Scottish kings wero crowned at Scone, would suggest histo- 
rical recollections of deep interest, but would be devoid of 
beauty. The same may be said of badges of distinction, as 
orders, crowns, eoronets, mitres, &c. : they may call up ideas 
of nobility, magnificence, grandeur, courage, or power; and 
yet they may not he beautiful. No one probably ever found 
any beauty in iho Garter or the Cross of the Legion of 
Honour, however lofty or agrceablo their assoeialions may 
be. Vcelings of this kind may mako the mind susceptible 
lo impressions of beauty, but cannot alone produce it. What 
ean have less pretensions to beauty than a modem fortress, 
with its baro walls and heavy unornamented masonry? Yet 
it is inseparably connected with all those ideas of power, 
grandeur, mnrtial prowess and conrago, to which Mr. Alison 
in oibcr cases refers the origin of beauty. 

* T* 7V *?*f r * F piy\fu *«) *t\u •«■/, *«•• f**t. chip. rtl.; and pro 



Twining* traml-itUm. txH* 61. »brrr rnvml ranaxn arc cltr-d thorns llie 
opinions of thr tirtvk* m% to Ih* cWo cociirxlou of largo %iv> and hcautv. 
Or? vuM hi*Hfymr f in tike manner, Includes an Idea of »it* alwre lite <mH* 



Ilaving thus attempted to give a general account of tho 
origin and causes of beauty In ouiward objects, we shall 
next consider the state of mind which is most favourablo to 
the perception of it. 

In tho first placo it may be remarked that a certain de- 
gree of cultivation is necessary to tho perception of beauty. 
Savago nations appear to bo nearly or quito destitute of any 
notion of it, in the works both of nature and art, or at least 
their admiration, as in children, is confined to gaudy and 
shining trinkcls and ornaments of tho person. The praetico 
of tattooing, however, is doubiless founded on nolions of 
beauty, inoro mistaken even than those which led tho ladies 
of Europe to cover their hair with powder and pomatum. In 
the lower orders of civilized nations the same indifference to 
beauty may bo generally observed, in proportion to their 
coarseness and ignoranec. Tho early development of the 
sense of beauly among the Greeks, which is so strikingly 
shewn both in their mythology and poetry, and in their works 
of art (seo Philological Museum, vol. li, p. 165-166), is a 
proof of their cariy eulturo and of their great superiority, 
even in a half savage stale, to tho barbarous nations by 
which ihcy were surrounded. 

Anoiher thing essential to the perception of beauty is 
sensibility of mind, arising from the development of the 
social affections, and the cult ival ion of the benevolent feel- 
ings. The custom, prevalent in some countries, of planting 
tlowcrs on graves, and of offering nosegays to iho images of 
saints or of the Virgin, is a mark at once of a feeling of 
beauty and of sensibility of mind. On the other hand, per- 
sons of a sour, phlegmatic, morose, and misanthropic tern-, 
perament, are liltlo alivo to the beauty of ouiward objects 
or works of art. It was, doubtless, from a sense of the in- 
compatibility of a feeling for beauty with absence of all social 
and benevolent sympathies, that Milton reprosenis tho 
Devil as insensible to the beauties of Paradise : 

* Tht Fir nd 
Saw undelighted all delight, all kind 
Of living crealurcs, new lo jiglil and strange.' 

As on the ono hand, all the antisocial passions, as anger, 
jealousy, envy, fear, &c., aro inconsistent with the percep- 
tion of beauty; so the social passions sharpen and facilitato 
it, as love and pity, which, as Dryden says, ' molls tho soul 
to love/ Hcnco loveliness in the human raeo is intimately 
connected with beauty, as the desire of sex is heightened 
and stimulated by the beauty of form, eolour, and expres- 
sion ; but it is not identical with it, for lovers are often not 
only blind to tho defects of thoir mistresses, but sometimes 
even admiro them on that very account * : whence love is 
proverbially said to be blind. 

A third requisite to the perception of beauty is serenity 
and cheerfulness of mind, and the absence of overpowering 
earo or ailliction, which engrosses the faculties and prevents 
them from taking pleasure in the relations of outward ob- 
jects. This inconsistency is well illustrated by ihe reflections 
of Hamlet, when he is oppressed with a sense of the painful 
task imposed upon liim by his father's spirit. (Act ii. 
sc. 2.) (Seo Alison On Taste, vol. i. p. 10.) 

On the relation of the beauty of outward objects to the 
beauty of works of art, more will be said under the heads of 
tho several arts. Here it is only necessary to observe, that 
of tho ihree arts of design, viz., architecture, sculpture, and 
painting, tho two last are purely representative arts, while 
the first alone creates objects which have a use beyond the 
mero gratification of tho taste. The beauty of buildings 
therefore belongs to the cluss of objects which we have been 
above examining; while tho beauty of pictures and statues, 
though closely connected with the samo range of ideas, yet 
forms a class apart, and requires the consideration of addi- 
tional elements peculiar to itself. Theso are derived in 
great measure from the capabilities of the respective arts, as 
dependont on the materials which they work with and the 
effects which they aro thus able lo produce. There are many 
objects beautiful in naturo which cannot bo represented with 
advantago by the painter or sculptor ; on the other hand, 
thero aro many objects disagreeable in nature which arc 
beautiful in a picture, becauso a picture is an abstraction, a 
representation of the colour and outlinoof an object, without 
any of ibose accompanying circumstances which in the re- 
ality may pause disgust to tho other senses, and thus prevent 
the mind from enjoying that plcasuro which it might other 
wise derivo through the organ of sight alone. Hence those 

* ♦ . . . J y*.( ff*r/ 



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things in nature which are peculiarly fitted to be subjeets 
for a paiuter, are properly said to have picturesque beauty, 
as those forms and postures which would appear to most 
advantage in marble might, as has been truly remarked, be 
said to have sculpturesque beauty. There are certain 
general characteristics of these two arts, as that painting 
best represents expression, while sculpture best represents 
character ; that painting embraces a vast variety of subjects, 
while sculpture confines itself almost exclusively to the hu- 
man figure and some of the nobler animals, which may be 
here pointed out ; but to determine the peculiar provinces of 
these two arts respectively requires a separate investigation, 
with reference not to the general subject of beauty, but to 
the capabilities and advantages of each, and would be ma- 
terially assisted by a knowledge of those mechanical pro- 
cesses and mysteries of art which the professed sculptor or 
painter can themselves alone possess. 

(On the difference between painting and sculpture, see 
Price On the Picturesque, vol. ii. pref. p. xii-xiv. ; Miiller, 
Arclxceol. der Kunst, § 27; Philological Museum, vol. ii. 
pp. 95-930 

(X)n the relation of the beautiful and the sublime, see the 
article Sublimity.] 

BEAUVAIS, a city in France, capital of the department 
of Oise, upon the little river Therain or Tcrrein, at the 
point where it receives the Avelon, another small stream. 
The Therain is a feeder of the Oise. The town is on the 
road from Paris to Abbeville and Calais, 4 1 miles N. by W. 
of Paris, in 49° 27' N. lat., 2° 4' E. long. While the old 
territorial division of France remained, it was included in 
the lie de France, but was near the border towards Pieardie. 

Beauvais is a very anticut town, arid was known to tho 
Romans by the name of Cuosaromagus, which wa£ afterwards 
changed for that of Bellovaci, the name of the Gallic tribe 
whose chief town it was. The Bellovaci were distinguished 
among the Bclgic Gauls for number, valour, and influence ; 
and took an active part in the resistance to Julius Ccesar, 
when ho first carried his arms into that part of the country. 
They agreed to contribute 60,000 men to the confederate 
army of natives, but the skill and perseverance of the Romans 
triumphed over all opposition ; and the Bellovaci with their 
neighbours submitted to a foreign yoke. Several writers of 
great learning, Sanson, Scaliger, and Valois, have consi- 
dered that Brutus pantium, the town into which the Bellovaci 
retreated with their effects on Caisar's approach, was iden- 
tical with Caisaromagus, or Beauvais ; and D'Anville him- 
self was at first of the same opinion, though he afterwards 
considered the site of Bratuspantium to be in the neighbour- 
hood of Breteuil in Pieardie. (D'Anville, Notice de V Ari- 
el enne Gaule ; Expilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules et de la 
France.) 

Beauvais is of considerable size, but ill built ; the streets 
are tolerably wide, but the number of wooden houses pre- 
senting their gables to" the street, and destitute of any regu- 
larity, gives to the plaee a thabby appearance. The great 
place, or square, has at one end the town hall, the front of 
which is adorned with Ionic pilasters. But the building 
which is most worthy of notiee is the beautiful Gothic ca- 
thedral. The edifice is, however, imperfect, having neither 
nave nor steeple. The steeple was erected in the year 1564, 
but, within ten vears after Its completion, was destroyed by a 
tempest; and this accident prevented the completion of the 
church. The choir is of great beauty, and appears more 
lofty than that of Amiens, though not really so. It is adorned 
with richly painted windows, as anticnt as the time of 
Louis IX. (or St. Louis) of France, (a.d. 1226-1270.) (Mrs. 
C. Stpthanl's Letters during a Tour in Normandy, <£•<?.) 

Before the Revolution Beauvais had, besides its cathedral, 
b\x collegiate churches and thirteen parish churches. There 
were three abbeys for men; one of the Benedictines of the 
Congregation of St. Maur,one of the order of St. Augustin, 
and a third occupied first by the Benedictines, and after- 
Wards by the Lazarists ; a seminary for priests, directed by 
the Lazarists ; seven convents for religious of both sexes, 
viz., four for men and three for women; a commandcry of 
tho order of Malta ; two hospitals, the HOtcl Dieu and the 
H&pital General. The bishops of Beauvais (wlw were also 
temporal peers, with the title of Counts of Beauvais) entered 
upon their buhopricks with great solemnity. The ehurch 
of St. Etienne is more antient than the Cathedral. The 
windows of this church, and especially those of the ehapcls 
which surround the choir, are of great beauty ; they are of 
the sixteenth eentury. M. Malte Brun speaks of a large and 



fine hospital erceted not long since, but whether on the foun- 
dation of either of those already mentioned is not stated. 
The anticnt episcopal palace, a Gothic edifice, has been mado 
the scat of the prefect. The site of the old walls of tho 
town has beeii converted into a promenade, but some round 
towers and the relicts of the wall are still standing near the 
river Therain. There arc a handsome theatre, a college, or 
high school, a seminary for priests, and a public library of 
no great extent. (MaltcBrun; Balbi; Expilly.) 

Beauvais is a town of considerable note for its manu- 
factures. There is a royal manufactory of carpets, founded 
by Colbert in 1664, and still in the hands of government. 
A certain quantity is made every year for the furnishing of 
the royal palaces and the public establishments, and the 
surplus is sold to the public. These carpets are in great re- 
pute, and fetch a high price. Woollen cloths, shawls, flan- 
nels-, and coarse woollen fabrics of various kinds are made ; 
and the washing and spinning of wool are also carried on. 
Linens are manufactured to a considerable extent, espe- 
cially the kind called demi-Hollande (half-Holland), from 
being half the length of the Dutch linens. The linen 
manufacture, as carried on in the town, includes the spin- 
ning of the yam, and the weaving and bleaching of the 
linens. To the foregoing articles may be added braid, 
and felt for the paper-makers. Printed cottons, formerly 
one of the staple manufactures of the town, are now made 
only to a small extent, but some cotton yarn is spun. The 
fuel consumed in these manufactories is, partly at least, 
peat, which is procured in great quantity at Bresles in the 
neighbourhood, and in several other places in the depart- 
ment. Within a few years courses of instruction in geo- 
metry and mechanics applied to the arts have been esta 
Wished with suecess. There is a Tribunal de Commerce 
or committee for deeiding disputes in commercial affairs. 
(Dupin, Forces Productives el Commercials de la France.) 

The population in the year 1832 was 12,867. The ur- 
rondissement Of Beauvais had, at the same time, a popula- 
tion of 131,385, part of whom were employed in various 
branehes of manufacturing industry. Fans, toys, glass* 
pottery, hosiery, ribbons are among the productions of the 
arrondissement, which comprehends 694 square miles, or 
444,160 acres; and is subdivided into 12 cantons, and 
244 communes or parishes. 

Beauvais was formerly a place of great strength. It was 
unsuccessfully besieged by the English in 1443. Jean 
Ligniere by his heroic valour succeeded in repulsing them. 
Nearly thirty years afterwards (viz., in 1472), Charles le 
Temeraire (the Rash), Duke of Bourgogne (Burgundy), 
again attacked it with an army of 80,000 men, but the 
valour of the inhabitants defeated the attempt. The women, 
under the conduct of Jeanne Latnc (called also Fourquet, 
or Fouquet, or Jeanne la Ilachette), displayed the greatest 
courage in the defence of the place, and are said even to 
have exceeded the men. The exploits of Jeanne form tho 
subject of a picture in the town-hall ; and, in memory of 
this event, the women took precedence of the men in a 
yearly procession, which was kept up till the time of the 
Revolution. Beauvais has produced some persons of note, 
as Lenglet du Fresnoy, a considerable writer on history, 
geography, ecclesiastical affairs, &c. ; and Philippe de 
Vilhcrs de rile— Adam, grand-master of the Knights of 
St. John of Jerusalem or Malta, distinguished by his gallant 
but unsuccessful defence of Rhodes against Soliman I. (the 
Magnificent), emperor of the Turks, in the year 1522. 

The bishoprick of Beauvais was founded about the middle 
of the third century. It comprehends at present the depart- 
ment of Oise. The bishop is a suifragan of tho archbishop 
of Reims. Several councils have been held at Beauvais. 
At one* held in 1114, tbo emperor of Germany, Henry V„ 
was excommunicated. 

The name Beauvais belongs to several other places in 
France of little note. 

BEAUVAISIS.orBEAUVOISIS.in France, the dis- 
trict of which Beauvais was the capital. It was formerly 
included in Pieardie, but was taken from Pieardie and an- 
nexed to the lie de France, with which it continued incor- 
porated, till the old territorial divisions in Franc wcere 
superseded by the departments. The conterminous dis- 
tricts were, on the north, the Amienois and Santerre, 
in the province or government of Pieardie; on the south, 
the Vexin Francois and the He do France (taken in the 
most restricted sense), both in tho government of tho lie 
de Franee ; on the east, tho Valois and the Quarticr de 



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120 



BEA 



Noyon, both in the same government ; and on the west, the 
Vcxin Normand, in Kormandic (Maps in the Atlas of the 
Encyclopedic Mtthodique.) 

Tho BcauvaisU is watered by tbo Oisc, which bounds it 
on the south-east ; by the Epte, which bounds it on tho 
west ; by the Thcrain, and some other streams of less im- 
portance. The air is rather cold, but healthy ; the surface 
unequal, made up of plains and hills, fertile in corn, but 
producing little wine. There is no want of wood, and the 
pasturage is abundant. A considerable number of sheep 
are fed, and the butter and cheese mado here arc in great 
request. There Is plenty of game, poultry, and fish. Flax 
and hemp are grown in great quantity. AVo have seen [see 
Bkauvais] that the linen manufacture is one important 
branch of industry at Bcauvais. There arc some mineral 
springs. The principal places in BeauvaisU are, Bcauvais, 
the capital (population in 1632, 12,667), and Clermont 
(population in 1832, 2715 for the commune, 2594 for the 
town itself), on a small feeder of the Oisc, cast by south of 
Bcauvais. 

BEAUVOIS. AMBROSE MARIA FRANCIS JO- 
SEPH PALI SOT DE, a celebrated French naturalist and 
traveller, was born at Arras on the 27th of July, 1752. His 
father, who was an advocate, educated him for the legal pro- 
fession, but his bias for the study of natural history was so 
strong that from an early age he was more frequently in the 
fields with his friend and preceptor Lestiboudois than in tho 
courts of law. In the year 1772 he was appointed receiver- 
general of crown rents, which he held for about five .years. 
Upon the suppression of this oflice in 1777, he appears to 
have abandoned his profession, and to have determined 
upon devoting himself exclusively to his favourite pursuits. 
The French government had planned an expedition to 
the west coast of Africa, for tho purpose of founding a set- 
tlement which might serve as n counterpoise to the mer- 
cantile influence of the English in that part of the world. 
Palisot dc Beauvois eagerly embraced what appeared a fa- 
vourable means of exploring a country rich in even' branch 
of natural history, and never before trod by the foot of an 
European naturalist: without regarding the extreme in- 
salubrity of a climate from which scarcely more than one 
European in four ever returns, he obtained permission to ac- 
company the expedition at his own charge. On the 17th 
July, 1786, be sailed from Rocbcfort for Benin, in which, 
and the neighbouring kingdom ofOwarc, he spent about 
fifteen months, investigating its natural productions with 
a zeal that even the dreadful fevers of the country, with 
which he was attacked, wcro insufficient to destroy. While 
here, he planned a journey across Africa to Abyssinia; but 
after having penetrated the interior for a considerable dis- 
tance, lie was compelled to return in consequence of the 
timidity (prudence?) of his companions, who were fright- 
ened at the dangers of the route, and at the multiplying 
difficulties by which they found themselves opposed at 
every step. On bis return to the coast, he was attacked 
so severely by scurvy and yellow fever, that, to use his own 
words, after seeing more than five-sixths of his companions 
perish, and having been himself several times in the very 
jaws of death, it became indispensable for him to abandon 
the country, leaving behind him the principal part of his col- 
lection, which consisted of skins of animals, insects, dried 
plants, and minerals, to be forwarded to France. Fortunately 
a part of these had previously l>cen sent toM.de Jussieu, and 
u part was put on board the ship in which he embarked for 
St. Domingo, otherwise the whole fruit of so much zeal and 
suffering would have perished ; for what he left behind him 
was soon after burned, along with the settlement, by an 
English expedition. Upon his arrival at Cape Franc, ois in 
St. Domingo, in 1788, his health became speedily rc-csta- 
hlishcd. Here having an opportunity of witnessing the prac- 
tical working of the slave system, he formed an opinion so 
decidedly adverse to emancipation, that to his latest hour he 
continued to oppose the granting of freedom to the negroes, 
except under very strict conditions, and after the lapse of 
a considerable number of years, during which they might 
be gradually prepared to make a proper use of their liberty. 
He seems to have been always extremely tender of the 
interests of the colonists, from whom indeed he had re- 
ceived tho greatest kindness during his residence in tho 
island. AVhcn it was found impossible any longer to keep 
the blacks in subjection, M. de Beauvois was deputed by the 
French authorities of St. Domingo to proceed to the United 
States, in the hop* of obtaining assistance from the Ameri- 



can government. Upon his return from this fruitless mission 
in 1793, he found tho inland in confusion; his collections, 
which hud become very large, were consumed in the confla- 
gration of Cape Francois ; and the negroes, now become 
the masters, who naturally saw nothing in him but a per- 
secutor, threw him into prison. 

Whilo lying in prison, indailv expectation of being taken 
out for execution, he was enabled to escape by the faithfulness 
of a mulatto woman, to whom, some time before his departure 
for tho United States, ho had humanely granted her free- 
dom : she not only effected his liberation, but procured him 
the means of reaching the United States. Thus was his 
life preserved by the devotion of one of that very race which 
ho thought worthy of little short of eternal bondage. On his 
arrival at Philadelphia, penniless and friendless, lie learned 
that his name had been inserted in the lists of proscrip- 
tions, and that it was no longer safe to return to France. 
One of the great traits in Dc Beauvois' character was his 
unconquerablo perseverance, and an elasticity of spirit 
which no misfortunes could destroy. Undismayed at his 
apparently hopeless condition, he bethought him of accom- 
plishments which in his happier days had made him the 
delight of his friends, hut which he had never dreamed 
might be the only resource for procuring a morbel of bread. 
By the teaching of music and languages he supported him- 
self honourably ; and soon succeeded in attracting the no- 
tice of the few persons who at that time, in North America, 
occupied themselves with natural history. 

Upon the arrival in the United States of the French 
Minister Adct, Dc Beauvois no longer found himself strait- 
enedfor means. He forthwith abandoned his occupations, and 
determined upon exploring the more remote parts of North 
America. He accordingly examined the Appalachian Moun- 
tains, and penetrated into the country of thcCrcck and Chero- 
kee Indians, still collecting objects of natural history in all its 
branches. Among other things he discovered the jaws and 
molar teeth of the great mastodon on the banks of the Ohio, 
and he brought the tooth of a mcgalonyx from the we.*t of 
Virginia. Upon his return to Philadelphia loaded with ac- 
quisitions, he learned that his proscription had been erased, 
and that, by singular good fortune, his patrimony had not 
been sold. lie immediately repaired to France, where ho 
found his affairs in lamentable disorder, and his wife un- 
faithful. He divorced his wife, sold a partion of his pro- 
perty in order to free the remainder from incumbrances, 
renounced the perils of travelling, and thenceforward devoted 
himself to the examination and publication of his collections. 
But of these he found only a miserable wreck. The Enyli*>li 
in Benin, and the negroes at Cape Francois, had destroyed 
everything ; he had only what he brought with him from 
Philadelphia, and the small collections which he had for- 
warded while in Africa to M. do Jussieu. These, however, 
sufficed to occupy him, in conjunction with general ques- 
tions of natural history, for the remainder of his life. In 
1606 he was called to the Institute as the successor of 
Adanson; in 1815 he was created titular councillor of the 
University of Paris by Napoleon, upon his return from Klba ; 
and in January, 1820, he died from an attack of diarrhara. 

After his return to France, Palisot dc Beauvois was the 
author of a considerable number of works, some of which 
were inserted in the transactions of learned societies, some 
in the Encyclopedic Meihodique, and tho remainder wcro 
published separately. All these, except his JEthiogami^ 
may be supposed to have contributed more or less to the 
progress of science; but the works on which his reputation 
chiefly depend arc his Korc d'Oware and de Benin, pub- 
lished in twenty parts, in folio, between 1 80-t and 1 821 ; his 
/meets of the samo country, of which fifteen parts in folio 
appeared between 1805 and 1S21 ; and his Agrostographie, 
which appeared in one volume 8vo. in 1812. In the Flora 
of Owarc are several extremely curious plants, especially one 
called after the author Uelvixia ; and the work abounds in 
good observations, showing Dc Beauvois to have been well 
versed in some of the more difficult parts of botany. It 
is scarcely fair in an English biographer to say that the 
book is extremely meagre in species, considering that the 
bulk of what be had collected for it was destroyed by our 
own countrymen, in their zeal for crippling the resources of 
France by the destruction of the property of peaceable French 
subjects: or to complain that it affords no general view of 
tho vegetation of this still unknown and most interesting 
country ; for the work itself was not completed when tho 
author died. Whatever defects may be found in the Flora 



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of Oware was more than compensated by the merits of the 
~Agro$tographie. ' At the time of its publication all that 
related to the systematic arrangement of grasses was in 
great disorder. The genera of this important natural 
order, with the exception of what. had. been done by Dr. 
Robert Brown in his Prodromus Flora Novce Hollandice 
(and this had been well done), were nearly as they had been 
left by Linnseus, although the number of species had prodi- 
giously increased. " It was necessary to recast the whole 
order; in doing which new principles had to be established, 
and antient prejudices to be unsparingly attacked. . This 
was done by Palisot de Beauvois in a manner which re- 
flected the greatest honour both upon his skill and know- 
ledge. It is true that men like Smith, and those of his 
retrogressive school, cried out at the innovations of this 
bold reformer, and were amazed at the unceremonious man- 
ner with which what they had imagined' imperishable was 
assailed : all their criticisms, protests, sneers, and anathemas 
were in vain; the public accepted the new arrangement, 
and it has become the basis of the more perfect system, 
which at this day seems to be everywhere reeognized as 
the most conformable to reason and to nature. 
.* If Palisot de Beauvois cannot be said to have been one 
of the great luminaries which cast a light over the whole 
extent of science, he certainly deserves the praise of having 
been a sensible, well-informed, and skilful naturalist, who 
did well what he undertook, and a most zealous and intrepid 
traveller, whom neither danger nor difficulty could deter. 
He was handsome in person, gentlemanly in deportment, 
mild in manner, and indefatigable in his labours, and he 
deserves to be recorded as one of those who have the most 
contributed to the progress of natural scienee in these latter 
days. 

His biography, strictly speaking, ought to have been 
given under Palisot ; but we are unwilling to separate it too 
widely from the genus (Belvisia) which has been so named 
to commemorate his merits. 

(Biographie Universelle; Flore d Oware; and Essai 
d'urte Nouvelle Agrostographie.) 

BEAVER (Zoology), the English name for the genus 
Castor (Cuv.),one of the order of rodent or gnawing animals 
(Rodentia, Cuv., Glires, Linn.), with two incisor, or cutting 
teeth, and eight molars in each jaw, twenty in all; and 
particularly distinguished from all the rest of that order 
by a broad, horizontally ilattcned tail, which is nearly oval 
and covered with scales.* There are five toes on each of the 
feet, but those of the hinder ones only are webbed, the 
webs extending beyond the roots of the nails. The second 
toe of these last is furnished with a double nail, or rather 
with two, one like those of the other toes, and another beneath 
it, situated obliquely with a sharp edge directed downwards. 
There is also, as Dr. Richardson observes, a less perfect 
double nail on the inner toe of the hind feet. 

The incisor teeth of the beaver are broad, flattened, and 
protected anteriorly by a coat of very hard orange-coloured 
enamel, the rest of the tooth being of a comparatively soft 
substanee, whereby a cutting, chisel-like edge is obtained ; 
and, indeed, no edgo tool, with all its combination of hard 
and soft metal, could answer the purpose better. In fact, 
the beaver's incisor tooth is fashioned much upon the same 
principle as that followed by the tool-maker, who forms a 
cutting instrument by a skilful adaptation of hard ?nd soft 
materials till he produces a good edge. 

Bat the natural instrument has one great advantage over 
the artificial tool ; for the former is so organized that, as 
fast as it is worn away by use, a reproduction and protrusion 
from the base takes place, and thus the two pairof chisel- 
teeth working opposite to eaeh other are always kept in 
good repair, with their edges at tho proper cutting angle. 
When injury or disease destroys one of these incisors, its 
antagonist, meeting with no eheck to resist the protrusion 
from behind, is pusned forward into a monstrous elongation. 
So hard is the enamel, and so good a eutting instrument is 
the incisor tooth of the heaver, that, when fixed in a wooden 
handle, it was, according to Dr. Richardson, used by the 
Northern Indians to eut bone, and fashion their horn-tipped 
spears, &c, till it was superseded by tho introduction of iron, 
wben the beaver-tooth was supplanted by the English file. 

Tho power ' of these natural tools is well described by 
Lewis and Clarke, who saw their effects on the banks of 
the Missouri. 'The ravages of the beaver,* say they, 'are 
very apparent : in one place the timber was entirely pros- 
trated for a space of three acres in front on the river and 



one in depth, and great part of it removed, although tho 
trees were in large quantities, and some of them as thick as 
the body of a man.* 

Dr. Richardson thus speaks of this part of their opera- 
tions : *When the beaver cuts down a tree it gnaws it all 
round, cutting it however somewhat higher on the one side 
than the other, by which the direction of its fall i3 deter- 
mined. The stump is conical, and of such a height as a 
beaver, sitting on his hind quarters could make. The largest 
tree I observed cut down by them, was about the thickness 
of a man's thigh (that is, six or seven inches in diameter), 
but Mr. Graham says, that he has seen them cut a tree 
which was ten inches in diameter/ The beavers have no 
canine teeth. F. Cuvier once thought that the molars had 
no true roots, but that they were increased from their bases 
like the incisors. The source of his error was a skull in 
which the molars were not entirely developed; but he has 
since admitted that they have roots, and that they are inea- 
pable of additional growth when once entirely formed. 

American Beaver. 




* Cnstor Fiber.] 

The American Beaver, Castor Fiber of Linnseus, Castor 
Americanus of F. Cuvier, Ammisk of the Cree Indians, and 
Tsoutayd of the Hurons, is the animal of whoso sagacity, 
and even social polity, such wonderful tales have been told. 
It has been represented as an accomplished architect, gifted 
by Nature with a head to design and instruments to executo 
well-planned houses containing chambers, each set apart 
for its appropriate purpose. The lovers of the marvellous, 
when they had once given the reins to their imagination, 
soon converted its tail into a sledge and a trowel, and asto 
nished the world with an elaborate account of the mode in 
which the plaster was laid on with this, according to them, 
masonic implement : nay, they even turned it into an in- 
strument of office. With it the overseers (such officers, ac- 
cording to the accounts given of their civil institutions, it 
was the custom of the community of beavers to appoint) 
were said to give the signal to the labourers whose employ- 
ments they superintended, by slapping it on the surface of 
the water. All this, and more than this, has faded away 
before the light of truth. Their houses have sunk into rude 
huts, in the construction of which their tails are never used, 
their pile-driving (for, among other feats, they were said to 
drive stakes of the thickness of a man's leg three or four 
feet deep into the ground) has turned out to be a mere fable, 
and their polity has proved to bo nothing more than a com- 
bination of individuals, such as we see among many of the 
inferior animals, impelled by an instinct common to all to 
perform a task in the benefit of which all participate. 

But, after discarding all exaggerations, there remains 
enough to make the works actually carried on by these 
animals a subject of deep interest, as we shall presently see. 

Where there has been so much fable it becomes of im- 
portance to select that account of the habits of the beaver 
which accords with fact. Sueh an account, from the testi- 
mony of those best informed on the subject, is to be found 
in Hearne ; and as Dr. Richardson, who had the best op ^ 



No. 220. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol, IV,— R 



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portunities fbr forming a right judgment, has Riven it the 
preference, we proceed to lay it before our readers in Heame's 
own simple laneuago :— 

* * Tho beaver being so plentiful, tho attention of my com- 
panions was ehlelly engaged on them, as they not only fur- 
nished delicious food, but their skins proved a vatuahlo 
acquisition, being a principal article of trado as well as a 
serviceable one for clothing. Tho situation of the beaver- 
houses is various. AVherc tho beavers are numerous they 
arc found to inhabit lakes, ponds, and rivers, as well as 
those narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes with 
Which this country abounds ; but tho two latter are gene- 
rally ehosen by them when tbe depth of water and other 
circumstances are suitable, as they have then the advantage 
of a eurrent to convey wood and other neeessaries to their 
habitations, and because, in general, they are more difficult 
to bo taken than those that are huilt in standing water. 
They always ehooso those parts that have such a depth of 
water as will resist the frost in winter, and prevent it from 
freezing to the bottom. The beavers that build their houses 
in small rivers, or ereeks, in which water is liable to be 
drained off when the back supplies, are dried up by the frost, 
are wonderfully taught hy instiuct to provide against that 
evil by making a dam quite across tho river, at a convenient 
distance from their houses/ The beaver-dams differ in 
shape according to the nature of the place in which they 
are built. If tho water in tbe river, or creek, have but little 
motion, tho dam is almost straight ; but when tho current is 
more rapid, it is always made with a considerable curve, 
convex toward the stream. Tho materials made use of are 
drift-wood, green willows, birch, and poplars if tbey can be 
got ; also, inud and stones intermixed in such a manner as 
must evidently contribute to the strength of tho dam ; but 
there is no other order or method observed in the dams, 
except that of the work being carried on with a regular 
sweep, and all the jiarts being made of equal strength. In 
places which havo been long frequented by beavers undis- 
turbed, their dams, hy frequent repairing, become a solid 
hank, capable of resisting a great forco both of water and 
ice ; and as the Willow, poplar, and birch generally take root 
and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of regular 
planted hedge, whieh I nave seen in some places so tall that 
birds have built their nests among the branches. 

* The beaver-houses are huilt of the same materials as 
their dams, and are always proportioned in size to tho 
number of inhabitants, which seldom exceeds four old and 
six or eight young ones ; though, by chance, I have seen 
above double the number. Instead of order or regulation 
being observed in rearing their houses, they are of a much 
ruder structure than their dams ; for, notwithstanding tho 
sagacity of these animals, it has never been observed that 
they aim at any other convenience in their houses than to 
have a dry place to lie on ; and there they usually eat their 
victuals, which they occasionally take out of the water. It 
frequently happens that somo of the largo houses are found 
to have one or more partitions, if they deserve that appella- 
tion, but it is no more than a part of tho main building left 
by tho sagacity of tho beaver to support the roof. On sueh 
occasions it is common for those different apartments, as 
some are plsased to eall thein, to have no communication 
with each other but by water ; so that, in fact, they may be 
called doublo or treble houses, rather than different apart- 
ments of tho same house, I have seen a large heaver-houso 
built in a small island that had near a dozen apartments 
under one roof; and, two or three of these only excepted, 
none of them had any communication with each other but 
hy water. As there were beavers enough to inhabit each 
apartment, it is more than probable that each family knew 
their own, and always entered at their own doors, without 
any further connexion with their neighbours than a friendly 
intercourse, and to join their united labours in erecting their 
separate habitations, and building their dams where re- 

Suired. Travellers who assert that the heavers have two 
oors to their houses, one on tbe land side and the other 
next the water, seem to be less acquainted with theso ani- 
mals than others who assign them an elegant suite of.apart- 
menti. Sneh a construction would render their houses of 
vo use, either to protect them from their enemies, or guard 
t!iem against the extreme cold of winter. 

' So far aro tho beavers from driving stakes into the 
ground when building their hoiues, that they lay most of 
the wood crosswise, and nearly horizontal, and without any 
oilier order than that of leaving a hollow or cavity in the 



middle. "When any unnecessary branches project inward 
they cut them off with thoir teeth, and throw them in among 
tho rest, to prevent tho mud from falling through the roof. 
It is a mistaken notion that the wood-work is first completed 
and then plastered ; for the wholo of their houses, as well 
as their tiaras, are, from the foundation, one mass of mud 
and wood mixed with stones, if they can be procured. The 
inud Is always taken from tho edge of the bank, or the 
bottom of the creek or pond near the door of the houso; and 
though their fore paws are so small, yet it is held closo up 
between them under their throat : thus they carry both 
mud and stones, while they always drag the wood with their 
teeth. All their work U executed in the night, and they 
are so expeditious that, in the course of one night, I have 
known them to have collected as much as amounted to somo 
thousands of their little handsful. It is a great piece of 
policy in these animals to cover the outside of their houses 
every fall with fresh mud, and as late as possible in tho 
autumn, even when the frost becomes pretty sevore, as by 
this means it soon freezes as hard as a stone, and prevents 
their common enemy, tho wolverene, from disturbing thein 
during the winter; and as they are frequently seen to walk 
over their work, and sometimes to give a tlap with their 
tail, particularly when plunging into the water, this has, 
without doubt, given rise to the vulgar opinion that they 
used their tails as a trowel, with whieh they plaster their 
houses; whereas that Happing of tho tail is no more than a 
custom whieh tbey always preserve, even when theybecomo 
tame and domestic, and more particularly so when they are 
startled. 

' Their food consists of a large root, something resembling ' 
a cabbage-stalk,* which grows at the bottom of the lakes 
and rivers. They also cat the bark of trees, particularly 
those of the poplar, hireh, and willow ; but the ice preventing 
them from getting to the land in the winter, they have not 
any barks to feed on in that season, exeept that of such 
sticks as they cut down in summer, and throw into the water 
opposite the doors of their houses ; and as they generally 
eat a great deal, the roots above-mentioned constitute a prin- 
cipal part of their food during the winter. In summer they 
vary their diet, by eating various kinds of herbage, and sueh 
berries as grow near their haunts during that season. When 
the ice breaks up in the spring the beavers always leavo 
their houses, aud rovo about until a little before the fall of 
the leaf, when tbey return again to their old habitations, 
and lay in their winter stock of wood. They seldom begin 
to repair their houses till the frost commences, and never 
finish the outer coat till the cold is pretty severe, as hath 
been already mentioned. AVhen they ereet a new habitation 
they begin felling the wood early in tho summer, but seldom 
begin to build until tbe middle or latter end of August, and 
never complete it till the cold weather be set in. 

' Persons who attempt to take beaver in winter should bo 
thoroughly acquainted with their manner of life, othcrwiso 
they will have endless trouble to effect their purpose, be- 
cause they have always a number of holes in the banks, 
whieh serve them as plaees of retreat when any injury is 
offered to their houses, and in general it is in those holes 
that they are taken. AVhen the beavers which are situated 
in a small river or creek are to be taken, tho Indians some- 
times find it necessary to stake tho river across, to prevent 
them from passing; after whieh they endeavour to find out 
all their holes or places of retreat in the hanks. This re- 
quires mueh practice and experience to accomplish, and is 
performed in the following manner: — every man being 
furnished with an ice-chisel, lashes it to tbe end of a small 
staff about four or five feet long; he then walks along the 
edge of the banks, and keeps knocking his chisel against 
tho ice. Those who are acquainted with that kind of work 
well know by the sound of tho ice when they are opposito 
to any of tbe beavers' holes or vaults. As soon as they 
suspect any, they cut a hole through the ice big enough to 
admit an old beaver, and in this manner proceed till they 
have found out all their places of retreat, or at least as 
many of them as possible. AVhilo the principal men are 
thus employed, somo of the understrappers and the women 
aro busy in breaking open tho house, which at times is no 
easy task, for I have frequently known these houses to be 
five or six feet thick, and one, in particular, was more than 
eight feet thick in the crown. AVhen the beavers find that 
their habitations aro invaded, they II y to their holes in tho 
banks for shelter ; and on being perceived by the Indians, 
* Nvfihar htcw* t teeordin^ to Dr, KuUvdxm*; a kind of witer-lUy. 



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■which is easily done hy attending to the motion of the 
water, they block up the entrance with stakes of wood, 
and then haul the beaver out of its hole, either by hand, 
if they can reach it, or with a large hook made for that 
purpose, which is fastened to the end of a long stick. 
In this kind of hunting, every man has the sole right to 
all the beavers caught by him in the holes or vaults ; and as 
this is a constant rule, each person takes care to mark such 
as he discovers by sticking up a branch of a tree, by which 
he may know them. All that are caught in the house are 
the property of the person who finds it. The beaver is an 
animal which cannot keep under water long at a time, so 
that when their houses are broke open, and all their places 
of retreat discovered, tbey have but one choice left, as it 
may be called, either to be taken in their house or their 
vaults ; in general they prefer the latter, for where there 
is one beaver caught in the house, many thousands are 
taken in the vaults in the banks. Sometimes they are 
caught in nets, and in summer very frequently in traps, 

* In respect to the beaver dunging in their houses, as 
some persons assert, it is quite wrong, as they always plunge 
into water to do it I am the better enabled to make this 
assertion from having kept several of them till they became so 
domesticated as to answer to their name and follow those to 
whom they were accustomed in the same manner as a dog 
would do, and they were as much pleased at being fondled as 
any animal I ever saw. In cold weather they were kept in 
my own sitting-room, where they were the constant com- 
panions of the Indian women and children, and were so fond 
of their company that when the Indians were absent for any 
considerable time, the beaver discovered great signs of un- 
easiness, and on their return showed equal marks of plea- 
sure by fondling on them, crawling into their laps, lying 
on their hacks, sitting erect like a squirrel, and behaving 
like children who see their parents hut seldom. In general, 
during the winter, they lived on the same food as tho women 
did, and were remarkably fond of rice and plum-pudding; 
they would eat partridges and fresh venison very freely, but 
I never tried them with fish, though I have heard they will 
at times prey on them. In fact there are few graminivorous 
animals that may not be brought to he carnivorous.' 

Having thus presented the reader with a narrative of the 
habits of the American beaver in a state of nature princi- 
pally, we now proceed to give one descriptive of its manners 
in captivity. The aceount is from the pen of Mr. Brodcrip, 
whose pet the beaver was, and is interesting inasmuch as the 
faculties displayed hy the animal must, from its extreme 
youth, have proceeded from unassisted instinct 

'The animal,* says Broderip, 'arrived in this country 
in the winter of 1825, very young, being small and woolly, 
and without the covering of long hair which marks the 
adult beaver. It was the sole survivor of five or six which 
wero shipped at the same time, and it was in a very pitiable 
condition. Good treatment quickly restored it to health, 
and kindness soon made it familiar. When called by its 
name, • Binny/ it generally answered with a little cry, and 
came to its owner. The hearth-rug was its favourite haunt, 
and thereon it would lio stretched out, sometimes on its 
haek, sometimes on its side, and sometimes flat on its belly, 
but always near its master. The building instinct showed 
JUclf immediately it was let out of its cage, and materials 
were plaeed in its way, and this before it had been a week 
in its new quarters. Its strength, even before it was half- 
grown, was great It would drag along a large sweeping- 
brush, or a warming-pan, grasping the handlo with its 
teeth so that the load came over its shoulder, and advancing 
in an oblique direction till it arrived at the point where it 
wished to place it The long and largo materials were 
always taken first, and two of the longest were generally 
laid crosswise, with one of the ends of each touching the 
wall, and the other ends projecting out into the room. The 
area formed by the cross brushes and the wall he would fill 
lip with hand-hrushes, rush baskets, books, boots, sticks, 
cloths, dried turf, or any thing portablo. As the work grew 
high, he supported himself on his tail, which propped him 
up admirably, and he would often, after laying on one of 
his building* materials, sit up over against it, appearing to 
consider his work, or, as the country people say, * judge it/ 
This pause was sometimes followed by changing the position 
of the material 'judged,' and sometimes it was left in its 
place. After he had piled up his materials in one part of 
the room (for he generally chose tho same place), he pro- 
ceeded to wall up the spaeo between the feet of a chest of 



drawers which stood at a little distance from it, high enough 
on its legs to make the bottom a roof for him, using for this* 
purpose dried turf and sticks, which he laid very even, and 
filling up the interstices with bits of coal, hay, cloth, or any 
thing he could pick up. This last place he seemed to ap- 
propriate for his dwelling ; the former work seemed to be 
intended for a dam. When he had walled up the space 
between the feet of the chest of drawers, he proceeded to 
carry in sticks, cloths, hay, cotton, and to make a nest ; and 
when he had done he would sit up under the divers and 
comb himself with the nails of his hind feet. In this 
operation, that which appeared at first a mal-formation was 
shown to he a beautiful adaptation to the necessities of the 
animal. . The huge, webbed, hind feet of the beaver turn 
in so as to give the appearance of deformity; but if the toes 
were straight instead of being incurved, the animal eouid 
not use them for the purpose of keeping its fur in order 
and cleansing it from dirt and moisture. 

' Binny generally carried small and light artieles hetween 
his right fore-leg and his chin, walking on the other three 
legs ; and large masses, which he could not grasp readily 
with his teeth, he pushed forwards leaning against them 
with his right fore-paw and his chin. He never carried any 
thing on his tail, which he liked to dip in water, hut he was 
not fond of plunging in the whole of his body. If his tail 
was kept moist he never eared to drink ; but if it was kept 
dry it became hot, and the animal appeared distressed and 
would drink a great deal. It is not impossible that the trfil 
may have the power of absorbing water, like the skin of 
frogs, though it must he owned that tlx5 scaly integument 
which invests that member has not much of the character 
which generally belongs to absorbing surfaces. 

1 Bread, and bread and milk and sugar, formed the prin- 
cipal part of Binny's food ; but he was very fond of succu- 
lent fruits and roots. He was a most entertaining creature, 
ond some highly eomie scenes oeeurred between the worthy 
but slow beaver and a light and airy maeauco that was kept 
in the same apartment.' This narrative, with some addi- 
tions, appeared in The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoo~ 
logical Society, to whose editor it was given by the author. 
The work is full of useful and interesting information, and 
the cuts are beautifully executed. 

Little need be said of the value of the fur of the heaver in 
commerce, a value greatly heightened hy the proclamation 
of Charles I. in 1638, expressly prohibiting the use of any 
materials except beaver-stuff or beaver-wool in the manu- 
facture of hats, aud forbidding the making of the hats called 
1 demi-castors,' unless for exportation. This proclamation 
was an almost exterminating death-warrant to the poor 
beavers. They were speedily swept away from the more 
southern colonies, and the traffic became, for the most part, 
confined to Canada and Hudson's Bay. The havoc made 
among them, even at that period, may be imagined by an 
inspection of the imports of 1743. In that year the Hud- 
son's Bay Company offered for sale 26,750 beaver-skins, 
and, in the same year, 127,080 were imported into Rochelle, 
These, it will be remembered, are only the legal returns, 
making no allowance for smuggling. In 17S8 upwards of 
170,000 were exported from Canada, and in 1808 126,927 
were sent from Quebec alone to this country. The value 
of these last has been estimated at 118,994/. 1*. 3d. sterling, 
at an average of 18*. Qd. for each skin. These numbers, as 
might he expected, could not be kept up without total exter- 
mination; and we find, accordingly, that in 1827 the im- 
portation into London from a fur country of more than four 
times the extent of that which was occupied in 1743 (as 
Dr. Richardson has observed) was but little beyond 50,000. 
When the reader looks at this statement, and considers the 
population of London alone, he will probably inquire of 
what materials beaver-hats are made, so totally inadequate 
to its wants must such an importation be, allowing for the 
most complete adulteration. There is, however, another 
rodent animal Myopotamus Bonariensis (Mus Coypus, 
Gm.) [see Coypu] now (spring of 1835) to he seen in 
the gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, 
whose skins, under the name of Neutria skins, are imported 
in great numhers from South America for the purpose of 
hat-making; nor are they the only animals that contribute 
to the manufacture of the so-called beaver hats. 

Such a reduction as that above stated appears to have 
startled the Hudson's Bay Company, who took measures 
for insuring an adequate supply of beaver fur. But not- 
withstanding their endeavours, and the care of the Iroquois, 

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tne greatest beaver takers, who, according to Dr. Riehard- 
son, only trench tho boaver dam* of a particular quarter 
ouce in five years and always leavo a pair at least in a dam 
to breed, it is not likely that these animals can ever be so 
plentiful as they were formerly. Tho same author observes 
that the Indians farther north, when they break up a beaver 
lodge, destroy as far as they are able both young and old. 

In t8'29 there was an increase; for in that year 72,199 
beaver skins were imported from the British North Anio- 
rican colonies, and 4200 from the United States. 

The earliest notieo of the European beaver (r«arwf>) is in 
Herodotus (book iv. c. 109), who describes it as inhabiting a 
large lake in the country of the Budini, a nation whom ho 
places on the east sido of the upper Don (iv. 21). lie says 
that the skin was used for clothing, and the testicles (of whieh 
we shall presently speak again) for affections of the womb. 
Aristotle' (book viii. c. 5) mentions the European beaver 
under tho name of ratrrwp (castor), but only mentions it; 
whilo Pliny (book viii. e. 30 and xxxii. e. 3. &e.) well describes 
it, and is diffuse on the subject of the celebrated castoreum, 
so much valued as a medicine among the antients, and which 
long held a high plaee in the materia mediea of the moderns, 
causing the persecution of this unfortunate animal before 
its fur became an object of traffic. Pliny is very sage in 
pointing out the frauds of dealers, and shows thereby that 
he did not know what the castoreum really was. ' Cas- 
torea testes corum,* writes Pliny (book xxxii. c. 3), and the 
antients inform us that the animal used to bite off* the part 
(the testicles) whon hunted, well knowing that with the pos- 
session of the desired castorea the persecution would cease. 
The only objection to this tale, which however absurd is 
gravely stated by Pliny himself (book viii. c. 30), though he 
afterwards (book xxxii. c. 3) says that Sextius, who appears 
to have known something of the anatomy of the animal, de- 
nies it, is, that from the organization of the animal such a dis- 
tressing feat is all but impossible ; and we should not deem 
the absurdity worthy of notice did wc not daily see attempts 
to revive old fables, and the success whieh not unfrcquently 
follows, for a timo at least, such attempts. Cuvier gives 
the following account of the organs wluch secrete this sub- 
stance : — * De grosses poehes glanduleuses qui aboutissent 
a leur prepuce, produissent une pommade d'une odeur forte, 
employee en medieine sous le nom do eastoreum.* Dr. 
Riehardson thus speaks of this substanec : *I have not had 
an opportunity of dissecting a beaver, but I was informed by 
the hunters that both males and females are furnished with 
one pair of little bags containing castoreum, and also with a 
second pairof smaller ones betwixt the former and the anus, 
whieh are filled with a white fatty matter, of the consistence 
of butter and exhaling a strong odour. This latter sub- 
stance is not an article of trade; but the Indians occasion- 
ally cat it, and also mingle a little with their tobacco when 
they smoke. I did not learn the purpose that this seerctkm 
is destined to serve in the economy of the animal ; but 
from the circumstanco of small ponds when inhabited by 
beavers being tainted with its peculiar odour, it seems pro- 
bable that it affords a dressing to the fur of these aquatic 
animals. The castoreum in its recent state has an orange- 
colour, which deepens, as it dries into bright reddish-brown. 
During tho drying, whieh is allowed to go on in the shade, 
a gummy matter exudes through the saek, which the In- 
dians delight in eating. The male and female castoreum 
is of the same value, ten pairs of bags of either kind being 
reckoned to an Indian as equal to ono beaver skin. The 
castoreum is never adulterated in the fur countries.* As 
the animal alluded to by Herodotus, Aristotle, and Pliny 
was of course the European* beaver, this part of the article 
might perhaps have been looked for under the European 
seetion ; but, as will be seen from the foregoing quotation, 
tho subject is so intimately blended with the history of the 
American beavers, that it has been thought advisable to 
give it the place which it now occupies *. 

Dr. Richardson, who says that the eall of the beaver in 
the pairing season is a kind of groan, gives the following as 
the dimensions of a full grown beaver killed at Great 

• !a Landi't description of the Frroe Island* |« the following aeeomil of a 
wmewhal extraordinary application of thU drua. under tlie head of Naln-na 
Myirleeitw (common or (Jieeulanil whale);— * Tho Kerocse ftshernun euler- 
Uin a rrrat dr*auof these and other largo whales, at they would easily overset 
Ih-lr boats and dash ih*m In pieces . ] n order to drive away these utrwcleome 
t liters, tli.7 As a nW»c«t of castorenm to the fork on which they wind up their 
Ash iii* liars, and it Is vrry remarkable, that wheo this f<»rk, with the castoreum 
adbrnnx to It, Is placed In the watrr before the boat, tha whales plunge im- 
mediately to Lhe bottom and are never more teen* OH of juniper is employed 
fur the same purpose,* 



Slave Lake, and now in the museum of tho* Zoological 
Society :— 

Incites, lines. 

IiCtigth of head and body 40 
„ head alone . 7 3 
„ tail, sealy part .,11 C 
Distanco from tip of nose to ante- 
rior part of eye . . . 2 10 
Distance from tho posterior part of 
the orbit to anterior part of the ear 2 5 

He also gives the following account of the Ucsh, which, 
as much hos been said of its delicacy as food, is interesting. 
'The ilesh of tho beaver is much prized by the Indians and 
Canadian voyagers, especially when it is roasted in the skin, 
after the hair has been singed off. In some districts it ro- 
quircs all the influence of the fur trader to restrain tho 
hunters from sacrificing a considerablo quantity of heaver 
fur every year to secure the enjoyment of this luxury ; and 
Indians of note have generally one or two feasts in a season, 
wherein a roasted beaver is the prime dish. It resembles 
pork in its flavour, but the lean is dark -coloured, the fat 
oily, and it requires a strong stomach to sustain a full meal 
of it. The tail, which is considered a great luxury, consists 
of a gristly kind of fat, as rich but not so nauseating as the 
fat of the body/ 

Pennant says that the geographical range of the Ame- 
rican beaver commences in latitude C0° or about the River 
of Seals, in Hudson's Bay, and terminates in latitude 30° in 
Louisiana ; but Say places their limit at the contluencc of 
the Ohio and Mississippi, about seven degrees further to tho 
northward of Pennant's southern boundary. Dr. Richard- ' 
son observes that their most northern point is probably on 
the banks of the Mackenzie (the largest American river 
that falls into the Polar sea, and the best wooded, owing to 
the quantity of alluvial soil by which it is bordered), as 
high as 674° or (18° lat. ; and that they extend cast and 
west from one side of the continent to the other, with the 
oxeeption of the barren districts. He further states that 
they are pretty numerous to the northward of Fort Franklin, 
and that, from the swampy and impracticable nature of tho 
eountry, they arc not likely to be soon eradicated from 
thence. 

The following arc the varieties of the American beaver : — 

Var. a. Nigra, the black beaver.— Hearno says that 
thffse are more plentiful at Churchill than at any other fac- 
tory in the bay, but that it is rare to get more than twelve 
pr fifteen of their skins in one vear's trade. 

Var. /3. Varia, the spotted beaver, — Dr. Richardson did 
not see one of these, and Say rceords that an Indian during 
his whole life caught but three. They had a largo white 
spot on their breasts. 

Var. y. Alba, the white beaver, — Heame saw but one of 
these albinos in twenty years, and that had many reddish 
and brown hairs along the ridge of the hack, though its 
sides and belly were of a silvery white. Dr. Richardson 
says that when the Indians find an individual of this kind 
they convert the skin into a medicine bag and arc very uu- 
willing to dispose of it : there is also a yellowish variety. 

The little beaver, as it is sometimes called, Castor Zibe- 
thictts of Linnaeus, Wber Zibethicus of Cuvier, Ondatra of 
Laccpcde, the Mush-rat of Canada, and Musquash of the 
Crcc Indians, is an animal gonerieally different from the 
truo beaver. [See Musquasu.] 

European Bkavkr. 
F. Cuvier has pointed out some slight differences in the 
skulls of the European and American beavers which he had 
examined, for the purpose of showing that they are distinct, 
but, in our opinion, not conclusively. Baron Cuvier, in tho 
last edition of his Rcgne Animal, expresses his uncertainty, 
notwithstanding scrupulous comparison, whether the bea- 
vers which live in burrows along tho banks of the Rhone, 
the Danube, the Wcscr, and other rivers, arc specifically 
different from those of America, or whether their vicinity 
to man is the cause that hinders them from building. He 
docs not appear to have been awaro of the colony described 
by M. dc Mcycrinck in the Transactions of the Berlin 
Natural History Society for 1829, as having" been settled 
for more than a* century on the small river N tithe, a short 
distance above its confluence with the Elbe in a lonely can- 
ton of the Magdeburg district This little association, it 
appears, amounted in 1822 to fifteen or twenty individuals 
only ; but they were co-operative and industrious 'beyond 



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what might have been expected from their numbers. Bur- 
rows of thirty or forty paces in length on a level with the 
river, having one opening beneath the surface and another 
on land ; huts eight or ten feet high, formed of branches 
and trunks of trees laid irregularly and covered with earth; 
and a dyke of the same materials, so well wrought that it 
raised the water more than a foot, were the results of the 
persevering and ingenious labours of the little band. M. de 
Mcyerinck, indeed, who seems to have had his ideas raised 
by the marvellous accounts of the architectural habits of 
the American species, asserts that his colony differed from 
them in many particulars ; but, upon reading his memoir, 
and comparing it with the unvarnished account of those 
* who have most truly related the habits of the American 
beavers, we think that these Europeans, considering their 
numbers and the materials within their reach, will be found 
not a whit behind their Transatlantic brethren. 

In truth, the American beaver near the settlements is 
sad and solitary ; his works have been swept away, his 
association broken up, and he burrows like the European. 
Such beavers are called terriers. Pennant indeed men- 
tions them as a variety which wants either the sagacity 
or the industry of others; but he is much nearer the truth 
when he says, in the same paragraph, * beavers which 
escape the destruction of a community are supposed often to 
become terriers* We have read somewhere (in Henry's 
Travels, we believe) that these solitaries are also called 

* old bachelors/ 

If an additional proof of the sagacity of the European 
beaver be required, we call the attention of our readers 
to the following anecdote related by Geofiroy St. Hilaire 
in the twelfth vol. of the Memoires du Museum dHis- 
toire Naturelle. Ono of these beavers from the Rhone 
was confined in the Paris menagerie. Fresh branches were 
regularly put into his cage, together with his food, con- 
sisting of legumes, fmits, &c, to amuse him during the 
night and minister to his gnawing propensity. He had 
only litter to shield him from the frost, and the door 
of his cage closed badly. One bitter winter night it snowed 
and the snow had collected in one corner. These were 
all his materials, and the poor beaver disposed of them 
to secure himself from the nipping air. The branches he 
interwove between the bars of his cage, precisely as a basket- 
maker would have done. In the intervals he placed his 
litter, his carrots, his apples, his all, fashioning each with 
his teeth so as to fit them to the spaces to be filled. To 
stop the interstices he covered the whole with snow, which 
froze in the night, and in the morning it was found that he 
had thus built a wall which occupied two-thirds of the 
doorway. 

Upon the whole evidence, we are of opinion that the 
American and European beaver are only varieties of the 
same species". 

• That the beaver was formerly an inhabitant of the British 
islands there is no doubt. Giraldus Cambrensis gives a 
short account of their manners in Wales; but, even in his 
timo (he travelled thero in 1133), they were only found on 
the river Teify. ' Two or three waters in that principality,' 
says Pennant, ' still bear the name of Lhjn yr afangc, or 
tho beaver lake. * * * I have seen two of their sup- 
posed haunts ; one in the stream that runs through Nant 
Francon, the other in the river Comoy, a few miles above 
Llanrwtt; and both places, in all probability, had formerly 
been crossed by beaver dams. But we imagine they must 
have been very scarce even in earlier times. By the laws 
of Howel dda, the price of a beaver's skin, Croen Llostlydan 
(broad-tailed animal), was fixed at a hundred and twenty 
pence, a great sum in those days.' 

Fossil Bkavers. 

Castor trogontherium. — Fischer has established this spe- 
cies from a single skull found in the beds near the sea of 
Azof. It is said to present the most striking > analogy to 
the cranium of the European beaver, from which it does 
not differ except in its increased dimensions. 

Fossil beaver of the Vp\nr Val dArno.— Lyell, upon 
the authority of Mr. Pentland, mentions a fossil beaver from 
tho Upper Val d'Arno, as being among the mammifers from 
that locality, in the museums at Paris. We have no means 
of judging whether this differs from Fischer's species. 

BKCCAFI'CO (Zoology), the Italian name for Beccafigo, 
or Fig-eater; Bcc-figue of the French; Ficedula of the 
Jjtitins ; and SwcaXfc of the Greeks. This name, as Charles 



Bonaparte, Prince of Musignano, observes, in his Specchio 
Comparativo, is applied to different birds of the genus 
Sylvia (Sylvan Warblers), whenever they are fat, and in a 
good state for the table. These are generally fruit-eaters 
in the season ; but the true beccafico, with its * carne 
squisita,' is, according to the Prince, the Sylvia hortensis 
of Bcchstein. ' 

The Beccafigo, or Fig-eater, of Willughby ; Ficedula 
septima Aldrovandi, Pettichaps Eboracensibus, Beccafigo 
Italis. of Ray ; appears to be the Lesser Pettychaps, Sylvia 
hippolais of Latham ; Motacilla hippolais of Linnaeus. 
The bird described by Willughby was shot in Yorkshire, 
and, on dissection, grape -stones and other seeds were found 
in its stomach. 




[Sylvia horteuiis.] 

The Greater Pettychaps seems to have been first de- 
scribed as a British species by Latham, who received it 
from Sir Ashton Lever. The bird was obtained in Lanca- 
shire. It has since become better known, and its arrival 
with the other warblers in April and May, has been regu- 
larly noticed. Montagu, who observes that he traced it 
through the greater part of England, fixes the Tyne as its 
northern boundary; but he is corrected by Selby, who says, 
" I have often seen it on the north of the river Tweed." 

All who have heard the bird agree in their praise of its 
song, which is little inferior to that of the nightingale. 
Montagu states that it frequently sings after sunset. 
'* Some of the notes," says that ornithologist, " are sweetly 
and softly drawn ; others quick, lively, loud, and piercing, 
reaching the distant ear with pleasing harmony, some- 
thing like the whistle of the blackbird, but in a more 
hurried cadence.** Selby corroborates this, observing that 
its song, although inferior in extent of scale, almost equals 
that of the nightingale in sweetness. It is seldom seen; 
for, like the rest of the tribe, it haunts the shadiest coverts, 
and usually sings from the midst of some close thicket. 
Lewin says that it makes its nest, for the most part with 
fibres and wool, sometimes with the addition of green moss, 
often in the neighbourhood of gardens, which it frequents, 
with the White-throat and Black-cap, for the sake of cur- 
rants and other fruits. Montagu, who has recorded this 
habit, states also that it inhabits thick hedges, where it 
makes a nest near the ground, composed of goose- grass 
(Galium A pari ne, Linn.) and other fibrous plants, flimsily 
put together, like that of the common White-throat, with 
the addition sometimes of a little green moss externally. 
Selby gives much the same description. It lays four, some- 
times five eggs, about the size of a hedge-sparrow's, or 
hedgc-warbler's, of a dirty white, blotched with light brown 
(Selby says wood-brown), the blotches being most numer- 
ous at the larger end. Its alarm-call, according to Selby, 
is very similar to that of the white-throat. Early in Sep- 
tember it leaves us, and C. Bonaparte notes it as common 
near Rome in the autumn. 

The following description of the Greater Pettychaps, 
whose length Montagu makes six inches, and its weight 
about five drachms, is by Selby. 

" The whole of the upper parts oil-green, with a shade of 
ash-grey. On each side of the lower part of the neck is a 
patch of ash-grey. Throat greyish- white. Breast and 
flanks yellowish-grey, inclining to wood-brown. Belly and 



BEC 



12G 



BEC 



vent grevish-whitc, Orbits of the eyes white. Sides brown. 
Bill wood brown. Legs aw! claws bluish t»rey. 

The female is similar in pluma^o to the male bird. 

"The young of the year hnvo the region of the eyes 
gre\uh- white. Head, upper part of the neck, back, rump, 
und wing-covcrts, )ellowish-brown, passing into oil-green. 
Quills grcenish-grcy, edged with oil -green. Checks and 
bides of neck yellowish- prey. Throat, breast, sides, and 
under tail-coverts, wine-yellow. Middle of the belly white, 
1/Cgs, toes, and claws, pearl-grey." 

; * BcccaOgos," writes Wllughby, after describing " the 
fourth BoccaGgo of Aldrovand," "** abound in Candy, as 
Bellonins witnesses, and also in the island of Cyprus, whero 
they arc salted up in great numbers, and transported into 
other countries. With us in England they arc called by a 
general name, Cyprus-bird*, and aro in no less esteem 
with our merchants for the delicacy of their taste, than they 
wcro of old with the Italians ; and that deservedly (saith 
Aldrovandus); for feeding upon two of tho choicest fruits, 
viz., figs and grapes, thov must needs become a more 
wholesome food than other birds, yielding a better nourish- 
ment, and of more easy concoction. Beccafigos arc ac- 
counted best, and most in season in tho autumn, as being 
then fattest by reason of tho plenty of meat that season 
affords thera. At which time they are highly prized, and 
coveted by the Italians even now-a-days. 1 ' 

The passage in Ari$totle t hook ix, ch, 49, where ho speaks 
of tho metamorphosis of birds, and says that tho XvkoKIq 
(fig-eater) is a SwflXIc a* the commencement of autumn, 
but a MtXayjc6pi^oc (black-cap) at the end of that season, 
may very probably relate to the change of plumage in the 
Black-cap warbler, * Atricapilla sive Ficedula Aldrov. 
Zvtaklc ct m\ayKtyvfoc Grcoeis. The Black-cap," Ray ; 
the young males of which resemble the female in plumage. 
[See Black-cap.] 

BECCARI'A, CESARE BONESANA, MARQUIS 
OF, was born at Milan in 1735:". The political specula- 
tions of France having spread to Italy, co-operated with tho 
instructions of Genovcsi at Naples, and the perusal of the 
political works of Montesquieu, in directing Beecaria to the 
study of moral and political philosophy; and the patronage of 
Count Firmian, tho Austrian governor of Lombard y, encou- 
raged Beecaria, Count Verri, Frisi, and others to form a so- 
ciety in Milan, for tho diffusion of literature and liberal 
opinions. In his 27th year, Ber.earia published his first 
work, entitled Del disord'ine e de remedit delle monete nello 
statodi Milano, nel 1762, con 4 tavole, 8vo. Lucca, 17G2: 

* Of tho Abuses of the Coinage in the State of Milan and 
their Remedies.' In 17C4 and 17G5 the society, in imita- 
tion of the • Spectator' of Addison, published // Cafle, a 
periodical, which was completed in two vols. 4 to., and con- 
sisted chiefly of papers on men and manners, with occasional 
discussions of important moral and political topics. The 
best papers are by Beecaria — his most humorous is on 
smells, and his most original on style. Tho last is an 
attempt to prove that nothing but tne practice of proper 
rules is required for the attainment of excellence in elo- 
quence and poetry. While this work was going on, Bee- 
caria road in 1764, to the literary society, the MSS. of his 
work on 'Crimes and Punishments/ und in the same year, 
nt their request, published it under the title of Trqttatodei 
dditti a delle pene, 12mo. Tho work had great success. 
In Italy three editions wero sold within six, and six editions 
within eighteen, months. In a few years it was translated 
into almost all the languages of Europe. It has been twice 
translated into French. The Abbe" Morellct published a 
translation in 1766* which was undertaken at the recom- 
mendation ofMaleshorbes; the translation of M. Chaillou 
de Lisy was published in 1773, in 12mo. In 1797 a second 
edition of Morellct's translation was published, with notes 
bv Diderot; and St. Aubiu's translation of Jeremy Bentham's 

* theory of Penal Law.' Testimonials of approbation wero 
sent to' Beecaria by Catherine of Russia, tho princes, and 
the people of Prussia and Tuscany ; and a learned society 
of Borne, in Switzerland, sent hiio a medal. It was trans- 
laiod, in 1802, into modern Greek by Coray, for the benefit 
of his countrymen. An anonymous Knglish translation 
appeared in 1766, with a translation of a commentary attri- 
bute*! to Voltaire. 

* Tho immcthodieal arrangement of this work renders on 
anahbis difficult. In st>le it is clear, and occasionally 
eloquent. It breathes a fervid love of freedom and of hu- 
manity. In thought it is deep and original, We can ouly 



attempt tos*keteh its leading doctrine* Law if the restraint 
imposed by society. Punishment Is tho counter-action which 
society provides to prevent its members from violating its 
restraints. It ought to be a system of motives to counter- 
balance the motives to crime. The necessity of this counter- 
balance creates the right to punish — a necessity by which 
punishment ought to 1ms measured and regulatea. Tho due 
proportion between punishment and this necessity consti- 
tutes justice. If punishment oversteps this necessity it 
becomes tyranny, and when it docs not come up to it, the 
motives to crime have a predominance, and crimes are con- 
sequently produced. This proportion society alone by itf 
laws ought to determine. Hence, Fince society, the maker 
of the laws, is always in existence, tho laws ought not to bo 
interpreted by any other than tho legislative body. If tho 
interpretation of laws is left to judges, tho rule of right be- 
comes uncertain. To have a preventive inlluenco on crime, 
laws ought to be clearly expressed and well known. The 
standard of crimo is the injury which it does to society. The 
best punishments aro those which best prevent crimes. 
Pecuniary punishments arc bad, in so far as they aro apt t ) 
induce exaction instead of justice. Punishments ought ta 
be immediate, to make the association between crime und 
punishment as close as possible. Transportation, by depri- 
ving the community, injured by tho crime, of the example of 
the punishment, is therefore objectionable Tho punish- 
ment of robbery ought to be pecuniary to counteract tho 
cupidity, and corporal to counteract the violence of the 
crime. Infamy ought to bo the punishment of crimes against 
honour. Since fanaticism is increased by corporal punish- 
ments, its punishments ought not to be corporal ; and tho 
proper punishment of persons who will not submit to the re- 
straints of the community, is to send them out of it. Con- 
fiscation is unjust, becausa it falls upon tho family or heirs 
of the offender, who are innocent of his offence. If the 
evil to the offender arising from the punishment is greater 
than the good he obtains from the crime, an increase of the 
certainty is moro influential than an increase of the severity 
of the punishment. Severity destroys tho sense of justice, 
and produces impunity, a fruitful source of crime. Ileneo 
the question of capital punishmonts. No one can j;ivc to 
society what ho has not himsolf — a right to take away his life. 
History shows that this punishment doos not prevent crime 
— the most sanguinary governments have always had tho 
most criminal population. Capital punishment is not a con- 
tinued example of the evil of crime, and the character of in- 
dividuals and communities is not changed bv momentary 
but by continued impressions. Capital punishments cause 
by their severity compassion for the criminal to predominate 
over the terror of law and the fear of crimo. For the be-, 
nefit of every example, in the case of capita) punishments, 
society first suffers tho injury of a crime, and at best there 
is only a succession, not a perpetuity of the examples of the 
evil resulting \o 'criminals from their misconduct ; perma- 
nent examples of a long and durable punishment, such as 
perpetual slavery, and hard labour, for instance, must neces- 
sarily have more influence than examples of short duration, 
or examples scattered over different periods of time. Tho 
feeling of indignation which the punishment of death ex- 
cites, is evinced by the contempt everywhere felt for the 
executioner; and since these truths have a universal bear- 
ing on the government of communities, Beecaria infers from 
the abolition of human sacrifices, once equally prevalent, 
the triumph of his benevolent principles. 

Such is an outline of the principal doctrine of this work. 
Jt is far from being tho only thing in the book, bow- 
over, which contains several chaptors on subjects not 
strictly connected with crimes and punishments. There aro 
some valuable remarks on the processes and evidences on 
which convictions ought to be founded— the duties of na- 
tions to each other in regard to their criminals— espionage — 
suggestive interrogations — on the ahsurdily as well as 
cruelty of torture— on the power of forgiveness with which 
tho sovereign is clothed, and several other topics ; all of 
which arc bandied with considerable acutcness and origi- 
nality. Ho concludes with urging the advantages of an 
improved system of pdupation, and sums up in this ge- 
neral theorem »• in order that a punishment may not 1ms an 
act of violence of one or of many against a private member 
of society, it should he public, immediate, and necessary — 
the least possible in the case gWen; proportioned to tho 
crimo and determined by the laws. 

Beecaria'? suocess in this publication was not unal- 



B E C 



127 



BEC 



loyed. Accusations of impiety and sedition were brought 
against him in Milan, from the effects of which nothing 
hut the powerful friendship of Count Firmian protected 
him. In 1768 the Austrian government founded a pro- 
fessorship of political philosophy for him at Milan, whieh 
he filled with distinguished success. In 1769 he pub- 
lished a * Discourse on Commerce and Public Administra- 
tion/ which was translated into French by J. A. Comparet ; 
and in 1781 a Report of a plan for producing uniformity in 
the weights and measures of Milan. He died of apoplexy, 
in November, 1793. The lectures which he delivered as 
a professor were published at Milan in 1 802, and they form 
a part of the series of * Italian Economists,' published at 
Milan in 1804. 

BECCARIA, GIOVANNI BAPTISTA, born at Mon- 
dovi, 1716, went to Rome and began theological studies In 
1 732, and was afterwards professor of philosophy at Palermo 
and Rome till 1748, when the King of Sardinia invited him 
to Turin. He published, in 1 753, DelV Elettricismo natural^ 
ed artificiale, Turin. In 1758 he published Lettere suW 
Elettricismo, addressed toBeccari, president of the Institute 
of Bologna. In 1759 he was engaged to measure a degree 
of tho meridian in Piedmont, which he began in 1760, and 
finished before 1774, in which year the result was published 
at Turin, in a work entitled Gradus Taurinensis. He 
afterwards replied to some objections of Cassini in Letter^ 
d*un Italian*} ad un Parigino, Florenee. There are some 
papers of his in the Phil. Trans. 1766—1769. He pub- 
lished also Experimenla atque Observations, &e„ Turin, 
1769, Dell' Elettricismo artificiale, 1772, of whieh an 
English translation was published, at the recommendation 
of Franklin ; DelV Elettricita terrestre atmosferica a cielo 
sereno, 1755 ; besides various other smaller pieces, of which 
a catalogue is in Memorie storiche intorno d gli studi del 
P. Beccaria, by the Abbe Landi. He left a Targe number 
of manuscripts to M. Balbe, who wrote the account of him 
In the Biographie Universelle, from which the preceding 
is abridged. He died May, 1781. 

Beccaria is principally known by his experiments on 
electricity, to which he was led by Franklin's writings. 
He showed that the passage of eleetricity is not instantane- 
ous through the best conductors; that water, in small tubes, 
is a very imperfect conductor, and that its power in that 
respect increases as the tube beeomes larger : he also first 
showed the electric spark in its passage through water, by 
coii fining the fluid in small tubes. (See Priestley's History 
of Electricity, v. i. p. 245, and the history in the Encyclo- 
pedia Met ropoli tana.) 

The Piedmontese measure of the meridian is not now 
considered as entitled to much confidence. At the time it 
was observed that the two ends of the arc were in the neigh- 
bourhood of mountain masses, and though the local attrac- 
tion had been for some time suspected, the discrepancy 
between the degree deduced by Beccaria and that of others 
required a supposition of more disturbance than was attri- 
buted to Chimboraco by Bouguer. [See Attraction.] It 
has been of late years remeasuredby Plana and Carlini,and 
tbe astronomical part proved to be erroneous ; some anomaly 
still remains, but of a degree which is more likely to have 
been the corrcet amount, arising from local attraction. 
The remeasurement is published, entitled Operations 
Gehdesiques, See. (See Rep. Brit, As*., v. i., p. 166.) 

BECCLES, a market- town of the county of Suffolk, in 
the hundred of Wangford. It has a separate jurisdiction, 
And is considered the. third town in the county. Beccles is 
situated on the river Waveney, which is navigable from Yar- 
mouth : it is 32 miles N.N.E. from Ipswich, and 98 miles 
N.E. from London. The manor of Beccles, with an adjoin- 
ing common of about 1400 acres, formed part of the posses- 
sions of Bury Abbey. On the dissolution of monasteries, 
the manor, with the common, was granted to William Rede, 
with a stipulation that the common was to be held for the 
use of the inhabitants. The poor are still allowed to pasture 
their cattle upon it on very easy terms. The management 
of the common is vested in a corporation, called the Corpo- 
ration of Becrles Fen. The town sustained great injury in 
158G from a fire, which destroyed eighty houses, damaged 
the church, and occasioned loss of property to the amount 
of 20,01)0/., as estimated at the time. 

Beccles has a corporation consisting of a portreeve and 
thirty-six burgesses, distinguished as the twelves and the 
twenty -fours, the ofiice of portreeve being held in rotation 
by the twelves, In consequence of its water communica- 



tion with Yarmouth, the town carries on with the vicinity a 
considerable trade in coals, groceries, &c. The market-day 
is Saturday ; and the fairs are on Wb it-Monday, June 29, 
and October 2 : the last for horses and pedlary. The popu- 
lation amounted, in 1831, to 3862 persons, of whom 2068 
were females. 

Beecles is a well-built town, consisting of several streets 
which terminate in a spacious area, where the market is 
held. The parish church, dedicated to St. Michael, appears 
to have been founded about the year 1369. The porch is of 
later date, and the steeple still later. The first legacy be- 
queathed for the erection of the steeple is dated 1515, from 
which time till 1547 there were many legacies towards 
'building Becclys stepul.' The church stands on an emi- 
nence overlooking tbe level of meadows through which the 
Waveney flows. The west end of the church approaches so 
near to tbe edge of tbe cliff, that no room was left for the 
safe foundation of the steeple : which is, therefore, plaeed at 
a small distance from tho south-east angle of the chancel. 
It is a fine tower of freestone; but it appears never to have 
been completed, the height not being proportionate to the 
size, and a parapet at the top being wanting, which seems 
to indieate that it was the intention of the architect to raise 
it bigber than at present. The ehurch itself is a fine Gothic 
structure. It eonsists of a nave, two aisles, and a chancel. 
The porch is a very beautiful speeimen of the florid Gothie, 
differing in its style both from tbe church and tbe steeple. 
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's book at 
21/. 125. 34^. Beecles formerly consisted, of two parishes, 
St. Mary Endgate and St, Michael ; but they were consoli- 
dated in 1419; and St. Mary's church was afterwards de- 
molished by order of Queen Elizabeth. The dissenters have 
two chapels in the town. 

Beccles has a handsome town-hall, in which the quarter- 
sessions are. held; there is also a well-managed gaol, a 
theatre, and an assembly-room. A free-school was founded 
here in the reign of James I. by Sir John Leman, alderman 
of London, who endowed it with 100 acres of land for the 
maintenance of a master and usher to instruct 48 poor boys 
in writing and arithmetic. There is also a good grammar- 
school, founded in the year 1713 by Dr. Falconberg, who 
resided several years in the parish, and at his death be- 
queathed for this purpose an estate at Corton, in the same 
county, of the yearly rent of 40/. This school has ten ex- 
hibitions at Emanuel College, Cambridge. {Beauties of 
England and Wales, vol. xiv. ; Gentleman s Magazine, 
vol. lxxxvii., part 2.; Excursions in Suffolk, 1819.) 

BECKER, FERDINAND WILHELM, was born on 
the 24th of April, 1 805, at Hoxter on the Weser, where his 
father, tho distinguished philologist, Dr. Karl Ferdinand 
Becker, lived as a physician. In consequence of the political 
changes of which Northern Germany was made the scene 
by the French invasion, the family, removed from Hoxter 
to Gottingen, and it was in the high-school of that town, 
that Becker received his first classical education, while his 
father led him to eollcct minerals and plants, and thus to 
lay an early foundation for his subsequent studies in natural 
science. In 1816 the family left Gottingen, and settled at 
Offenbach, near Frankfort on the Main. Here Becker con- 
tinued to devote his attention chiefly to botany, chemistry, 
and natural philosophy, partly under the guidance of his 
father, and partly by attending lectures on various branches 
of natural science, and also on anatomy, in Senkenberg's 
Institution at Frankfort. In 1820 Becker accepted the pro- 
posal of a young Scotchman, whose acquaintance he had 
made at Offenbach, to go as private tutor to his family at 
Glasgow. After a year he proceeded from Glasgow to Edin- 
burgh, where he obtained the situation of assistant librarian 
in the Advocates' Library, and availed himself of the oppor- 
tunities afforded by the university to pursue his studies in 
medicine and in the natural sciences. Early in 1825 he re- 
turned to Germany, and after visiting several of the uni- 
versities, and the principal medical institutions there, he 
proceeded to Berlin, where (in January, 1826) ho took his 
degree of doctor in medicine, and passed with high credit 
through the examinations necessary to enable him to prac- 
tise as a physician in the Prussian dominions. In the 
autumn of the same year he returned to Edinburgh, at 
the invitation of his kind friend, Dr. John Thomson, the 
distinguished professor of pathology, who wished to avail 
himself of Becker's assistance in several literary under- 
takings, and especially in preparing an edition of Cullen's 
works. In March, 1828, he quitted Scotland, in order to 



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123 



U Ii C 



accompany, iu the rapacity of physician, a Gorman noble- 
man on a journey through" Itnlv and France, and remained 
with him for nearly a year at Vans. Towards tho end of 
1809 Becker returned to Germany, and established himself 
as physician at Berlin, and in the following year as private 
lecturer on medicine, in tho university of that capital. Ilis 
lectures on various branches of practical medicine, especially 
on general pathology, met with great approbation, and with 
a success rarely experienced by public teachers in a German 
university, so 'soon after their first appearance. In 1833 
the Prussian ministry for medical affairs intrusted him with 
the superintendence of an extensive inquiry concerning the 
efllcaey of vaccination; and he was devoting himself with 
the utmost real to this difficult and important duty, when 
ho died, after a short illness, on the 22d of June, 1 834. His 
early loss was deplored by all who knew him, and his suc- 
cess in getting into extensive practice so early was tho best 
proof of the estimation in which he was held. His only 
works, published separately, are his inaugural dissertation 
De Glandulis Thoracis atquede Thymo (Berlin, 1826. 4to.), 
and an essay De Hhiorica Medicine*; Explicatt on a (Berlin, 
1830, 8vo.)."and also a very able pamphlet on Cholera, pub- 
lished in London expressly for the purpose of making 
known his ideas on the nature and treatment of that for- 
midable disease, derived from extensive observation during 
the zealous discharge of his duty in attending a district of 
Berlin confided to his care ; but his contributions to \arions 
German, "English, and French periodical publications aro 
numerous and valuable, and tho preface to his German 
translation of Andral's Pathology (Berlin, 1832, 8vo.) may 
be considered as an original essay of high interest to me- 
dical science. Shortly before his death, Dr. Becker had 
undertaken to furnish somo medical biographies for this 
work : all that he lived to execute are Arehiater, Arehigenes, 
Aretams. Astruc, and'Athenaeus of Attalia. 

BECKET, THOMAS, was born of English parents, in 
London, in 1117, where his father Gilbert was a morehant. 
He was first educated at Merton Abbey in Surrey, and 
afterwards in London, Oxford, and Paris. When employed 
in the office of the sheriff of London, his manners and 
talents recommended him to Theobald, archbishop of Can- 
terbury, an acquaintance of his father, by whom he was 
sent to study civil law, first under Gratian at Bologna, and 
then at Auxerre in Burgundy. On his return, his patron 
gave him tho livings of St. Mary-lc-Strand, and Otteford 
in Kent ; and sent him to manago the business of the sec 
of Canterbury at the court of Rome. His success in two 
negociations, in restoring the legatine power to the see of 
Canterbury, and in obtaining from the pope the letters of 
prohibition, by which the design of crowning Prince Eustace 
the son of Stephen was defeated — recommended him power- 
fully both to the archbishop and to King Henry II. Theo- 
bald made him archdeacon of Canterbury, provost of Be- 
verly, and a prebendary of Lincoln and St. Paul's; and 
Henry made him chancellor in 1 158, Beeket being the first 
Englishman after the conquest who was appointed to any 
high office. At that time the chancellorship had no sepa- 
rate court of judicature attached to it ; yet the place was 
one of great trust and dignity: the chancellor sat in tho 
courts of tho justiciary, to seal royal grants, to tako care of 
the royal chapel, to hold the custody of vacant baronies and 
hishoprieks, to look after the exchequer and revenue, and 
to discharge the duties which now devolve upon the secre- 
taries of state. While performing these duties satisfactorily, 
Bccket conformed himself in dress, manners, and splendour 
to tho habits of a courtier. His tablo was sumptuous; his 
retinue splendid. To plcaso the military taste of the king, he 
accompanied him in a campaign into Franco ; headed his own 
1200 horse and 700 knights ; took the command of them at 
several sieges, and with his lanco unhorsed in single combat 
a French knight of distinguished bravery and skill. About 
this time the king made him tho tutor of his son. In 1160 
Bccket negotiated at Paris, advantageously for his master, 
a marriage between Prince Henry and Margaret, daughter 
of the king of France. 

When he had been little more than four years chancellor, 
tho archbishop of Canterbury died, and the king, who was 
then in Normandy, took measures which almost compelled 
the monks and elerpy to elect Beckct to tho vacant arch- 
bishopric. Foliot, bishop of Ix»ndon, alone opposed him 
openly : the rest were overawed by the threats of tho king. 
Being only in deacon's orders, he was ordained priest the 
day before ho was consecrated archbishop, in 11C2, in pre- 



sence of Princo Henry and many of tho nobility. His first 
step on receiving his pall from Pope Alexander III. was to 
send his resignation as ehancollor to the king ; a step at 
which Henry showed his displeasure, on his return to Eng- 
land, by receiving him coldly, and compelling him to resign 
his archdeaconry, which he wished to keep. 

Beeket now changed his conduct His biographers ascribe 
his conversion to the Divine blessing on the ceremony of 
consecration. The courtier changed into the monk: his 
manner of life became austere; he submitted to mortifica- 
tions; gave much away in charity, and washed the feet 
of the poor. In 1163 he was received with grout dis- 
tinction at the council of Rheims, and laid a complaint lie- 
fore tho assembly, on the usurpations bv the laity of the 
rights and property of the church of England. On hi-* re- 
turn he prosecuted the usurpers, demanded the custody of 
Rochester eastle from the crown, claimed tho homage of 
Earl Clare for the manor of Tnnbridge, and even exrom- 
inunieated AVilliam, lord of the manor of Aynsfortl in Kent, 
for ejecting by force of arras a priest collated to tho rectory 
of that "manor by the archbishop. 

He soon came to a rupture with the king. Henry, who 
wished to subject the clergy to the authority of the civil 
courts for murder, felony, and similar crimes, endeavoured, 
in 1164, to get the consent of the archbishop to the cele- 
brated Constitutions of Clarendon, On Beeket's refusal 
Henry took his son from under his care, and the archbishop 
solemnly swore ho never would comply. When the com- 
pliance of several bishops, tho threats of the nobles, and the 
interference of the pope, at last compelled him to violate 
his oath and set his seal to these restrictions, he expressed- 
bis penitence by retiring from the court, and privately sus- 
pending himself from officiating in the church, until lie ob- 
tained the absolution of his holiness. [See Clarendon.] 

Finding himself the object of the king's displeasure, he 
attempted to escape to France, upon which Henry sum- 
moned a parliament at Northampton, in 1165, and charged 
him with breaking his allegiance. He was sentenced to 
forfeit all his goods and chattels; a penalty which was im- 
mediately commuted into a fine of 500/. Next morning 
he was ordered to refund 300/. of the rents which he had 
received as warden of Eve and Berkhamstead, and 500/. 
which he had received from the king before the walls of 
Toulouse. On the third day he was requested to give an 
account of all his receipts from vacant abbeys and bishoprics 
during his chancellorship ; the balance due to the crown 
was said to bo 44,000 marks. Beeket appealed to the popo 
in vain, and his episcopal brethren deserted, abused, and 
opposed him. During the trial, when many of his retainers 
left him, he invited all the beggars in the neighbourhood to 
his table; and on another occasion he entered the parlia- 
ment carrying the cross, to signify that he had put himself 
under its protection, and refused to listen to the senteneo of 
the parliament When all went against him, he escaped 
from Northampton by night, and after lurking some timo 
on the coast, embarked at Sandwich in Kent, on tho 10th 
of November, 1164, and reached Gravelines in Holland. 
After several changes, he lived for nearly two years at Pen- 
tigny in France. 

On his escape Henry confiscated his revenues, and used 
all his inUucnco to get him banished from Flanders and 
France. The king of France and the pope, however, took 
up the cause of Beeket, though Henry sent a splendid em- 
bassy of bishops and nobles to advocate his cause at the 
court of Rome. In an interview with his holiness, Bccket 
resigned his sec into his hands, which was immediately re- 
stored to him. During his retirement he occupied himself 
in religious exercises, but this was not sufficient to keep 
him employed: he wroto to the king and tho prelates of 
England, telling them that the popo had annulled the 
Constitutions of Clarendon, and he excommunicated several 
violators of tho rights of tho church, not sparing somo of 
the principal officers of the crown. Exasperated at this, 
Henry erased his name from the liturgy; banished all 
his relations to the number of 400, binding them by oath 
to show themselves to their kinsman ; forced tho Cistcrtian 
monks to turn him out of the shelter they gave him, by 
threatening to seizo their property in England, and made it 
a criminal offence to writo or correspond with him in any 
way. Bccket, on his part, wroto letters of severe recrimina- 
tion to the prelates of England ; and about the beginning 
of June, 1 166, prepared himself by religious rites for the ex- 
communication of the English king, which he was only 



BEC 



129 



BED 



prevented from carrying into effect by li earing of his dan- 
gerous illness. After this, having obtained the legatme 
power of all England, except the see of York, he found 
means, in spite of the watchfulness of the king's emissaries 
at all the English ports, to send letters to the bishop of 
London, commanding him to publish his appointment, and 
to go over on pain of excommunication with all the rest of 
the prelates to France, and tender their obedience to their 
legate. The terrified bishop implored the king to permit 
his compliance ; but the king, it is said, produced secret 
letters from the pope, nullifying the authority of Becket. 

Several of the French and English nobles, the bishops of 
the province of Canterbury, the pope and the king of France 
tried to reconcile Becket and Henry ; but the obstinacy of 
the former in refusing to make an unconditional submission, 
and of the latter in upholding his innovations, rendered all 
their ncgociations useless. They met themselves, for the 
purpose, three times. The second interview failed because 
the king refused Becket the kiss of peace. Next year Henry 
ordered the ceremony of crowning his son, Prince Henry, a 
prerogative of the archbishop of Canterbury, to be performed 
by the archbishop of York. When Becket complained to 
the pope, the archbishop of York and all the prelates who 
assisted him were suspended. 

At length, in 1 170, a reconciliation took place at Freitville 
on the borders of Touraine, when the king restored Becket 
to his see with all its privileges, and held the bridle of the 
archbishop's horse while he mounted and dismounted. 
Becket entered Canterbury amidst the shouts of the people. 
But after all his sufferings he was rash enough to publish 
the suspension of the archbishop of York and all the bishops 
who had assisted at Prince Henry's coronation ; and the 
king, who was then in Normandy, is said to have expressed 
his vexation that none of his followers had revenged him on 
this insolent priest. Reginald Fitzurse, William de Tracy, 
Hugh de Morcville, and Richard Brito, four barons, accord- 
ingly formed a resolution either to effect the submission or 
the death of the archbishop. They set out by different 
routes, and met on the 28th of December, 1170, at Ranulp 
de Broc's castle, six miles from Canterbury, where they 
formed their plan. Early next morning they entered Can- 
terbury with a body of men, whom they stationed at different 
places to keep down the citizens. They had an interview 
with the archbishop in his palace in the morning, when high 
words passed between them ; and in the evening they entered 
the cathedral while Becket and some of his elcrgy were at 
vespers. When the alarm was given some of the priests 
would have shut the door, but Becket would not let them 
'make a castle of a church/ He boldly faced the conspira- 
tors, and replied to their threats by declaring that he was 
willing to die, and earnestly charging them not to hurt any 
one but himself. The assassins trying to drag him out of the 
church, he clung to a pillar near the high altar, collared De 
Tracy, and almost threw him down. De Tracy aimeda blow at 
him, which slightly wounded him, but broke the arm of Ed- 
ward Grimes, his crossbcarer. The archbishop then putting 
himself in a devout posture, the blows of the other assassins 
clove his skull and scattered his brains over the pavement. 
After the murder the assassins retired to Knarcsborough, 
and soon found themselves shunned by every one. They 
all ended their days as penitents at Jerusalem, and this in- 
scription in Latin was put on their tomb : — 

• Here lie the wretches who murdered St. Thomas of 
Canterbury/ 

The pope suspended divine service in the cathedral for 
a year. Two years afterwards Becket was canonized. In 
1221-his body was taken up in presence of Henry III., and 
deposited in a rich shrine on the east side of the church. 
It became the resort of pilgrims, and numerous miracles 
were said to be performed at the spot ; but the shrine was 
despoiled at the reformation of Hen. VIII., and the saint's 
name erased from the calendar. 

'There are several MS. lives of Becket in the British 
Museum, and in the libraries of Lambeth and Oxford. 

In 1 666 a pamphlet appeared, called The Prophecieof 
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Reign 
of Henry II., concerning the Wurs between England, 
Prance, and Holland, 4 to. London. 

Becket's letters were published under the following title : 
Kpistola? et Vila Divi Thoma* Martyris et Archi-episcopi 
Cantvariensis, #c, Bruxclloe, 1604. 

(See Lingard's History of England, vol. ii. ; and Lord 
Lyttleton's History of the Reign of Henry //., vol. ii.) 



BECKMANN, JOHN, a well-known German author, 
was horn at Hoya, a small town in the kingdom of Ha- 
nover, in the year 1739. He went to the school at Stade, 
and afterwards to the university of Gottingen, where he at 
first studied theology, but soon acquired a taste for natural 
philosophy and chemistry. In 1 763 he went to Petersburgh, 
where he was made professor of natural philosophy and his- 
tory, at the Lutheran gymnasium of that city. He resigned 
this place in 1765, and made a journey through Sweden, 
during which lie became acquainted with Linmcus, and 
obtained a considerable knowledge of the working of the 
mines in Sweden. On his return to Germany, he was ap- 
pointed professor of philosophy at Gottingen, 1766, and four 
years afterwards, 1770, ordinary professor of economy at 
the same university, which place he kept till his death, 
1811. Beckmann united an extensive knowledge of nature 
with a decided turn for applying it to practical purposes ; 
and he published several works which show this tendency of 
his mind: among others, Principles of German Agricul- 
ture, which passed through six editions; and a Technology, 
which was reprinted five times. Of his other works, the 
most remarkable are, Contributions (additions) to the 
History of Inventions, which, somewhat shortened, has 
been translated into English; and Introduction to the 
Science of Commerce, He also published an edition of the 
work attributed to Aristotle, entitled De Mirabilibus, and 
an edition of the Collection of Wonderful Histories by An- 
tigonus Carystius. 

BECMAN, JOHN CHRISTOPHER, historian and 
geographer, was born at Zerbst in Anhalt, September 2nd, 
1641. Having finished his earlier studies at Francfort, he 
travelled through Germany, Holland, and England. He 
afterwards returned to Francfort, where he was made pro- 
fessor of Greek in the university there in the month of 
January, 1667, and afterwards professor of history. In 1673 
he became librarian to the university, and was chosen pro- 
fessor of Theology in 1 690. He died at Francfort, March 6tb, 
1717. His chief works are : 1. Historia Orbis Terr arum 
geographica et civilis, 4 to. Franc, ad. Od. 1673, several 
times reprinted, the third edition appeared at Leipsio in 
16S5; 2. Memoranda Francofurtana, 4to. Franc, ad Od. 
1676; 3. Catalogus Bibliotheca* publico? Universiiatis 
Francofurtana? per cogno??tina auctorum dispositus, fol. 
Franc, ad Viad. 1706; 4. Notitia Universitatis Franco- 
fur lance, fol. Franc, ad Viad, 1707; 5. Historia Anhaltina, 
vii. part. fol. Zerbst, 1710, with numerous plates; 6. Acces- 
sions Histories Anhaltina?, with a continuation of the 
history of the principality from 1709 to 1716, three vol. fol. 
1716; 7. Historia Francofurtana, fol. (See Notit. Univ, 
Francof p. 59 ; Biogr. Universelle, torn. iv. 8vo. Par. 
1811, p. 33.) 

BED OF JUSTICE. This expression {lit de justice) 
literally denoted the scat or throne upon which the king ef 
France was accustomed to sit when personally present in 
parliaments, and from this original meaning the expression 
came, in course of time, to signify the parliament itself; 
Under the antient monarchy of France, a bed of justice 
denoted a solemn session of the king in the parliament, for 
the purpose of registering or promulgating edicts or ordi- 
nances. According to the principle of the old French 
constitution, the authority of the parliament, being derived 
entirely from the crown, ceased when the king was present ; 
and consequently all ordinances enrolled at a bed of justice 
were acts of the royal will, and of more authenticity and 
effect than decisions of parliament. The ceremony of hold- 
ing a bed of justice was as follows : — The king was seated 
on the throne, and covered; the princes of the blood-royal, 
the peers, and all the several chambers were present. The 
marshals of France, the chancellor, and the other great 
officers of state stood near the throne, around the king. The 
chancellor, or in his absence the keeper of the seals, de- 
clared the object of the session, and the persons present 
then deliberated upon it. The chancellor then collected 
the opinions of the assembly, proceeding in the order of 
their rank; and afterwards declared the determination of the 
king in the following words: * Lc roi, en son lit de justice, 
a ordonne et ordonne qu'il sera proce'de* a l'enregistreraent 
des lettres sur lesquellcs on a delibeVeV The last bed of 
justice was assembled by Louis XVI. at Versailles, on the 
6th of August, 1788, at the commencement efthe French 
revolution, and was intended to enforce upon the parliament 
of Paris the adoption of the obnoxious taxes, which had 
heen previously proposed by Calonne at the Assembly of 



No. 221. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-S 



BED 



130 



BED 



Notables. Tho resistance to this measure, and the effect it 
had in leading to tho assembly of the States-General, and 
ultimately to the revolution, belong to another article. 

BEDA.ur BKDE.an EnglUh inonk.one of tho brightest 
ornament* of the eighth century, and one of the most emi- 
nent father* of tho English church, whose talents and vir- 
tues procured him the namo of the Venerable Bede, was 
oorn, according to some, about tbo year 672, after Malmcs- 
bury's calculation in G75, according to Symeon of Durham 
in 677, upon the estates which afterwards belonged to the 
two abbeys of St Peter and St, Paul in tho bishopric!; of 
Durham, at Wcarmomh and Jarrow, near the month of tho 
river Tyne. We have his own authority that at seven years 
of age" he was brought to the monastery of St. Peter, and 
committed to the care of Abbot Benedict, under whom and 
his successor Ceolfrid he was carefully educated for twelve 
years, a favour which he afterwards repaid by writing their 
Jives. In his nineteenth year he took deacon's orders, and in 
his thirtieth year, at the instance of Ceolfrid his abbot, was 
ordained priest, both times by John of Beverley, then bishop 
of Hagustald, or Hexham, who had been one of his early 
preceptors. Tho fame of Bede now reached even to Rome, 
and Pope Scrgius made an earnest application to Abbot 
Ceolfrid that Bede might be sent to assist him in the 
promulgation of certain points of ecclesiastical discipline ; 
but Bcdc, who was attached to his studies, remained in his 
monastery, improving himsolf in all the learning of his age, 
and directing his moro particular attention to the compila- 
tion of an Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, 
the materials for which he obtained partly from chronicles, 
partly from annals preserved in contemporary eon vents, 
and partly from the information of prelates with whom he 
was acquainted. Making allowance for the introduction 
of legendary matter, which was the fault of the age, few 
works have supported their credit so long, or been so 
generally consulted as authentic sources. Bede published 
this history about the year 734, when, as he informs us, 
he was fifty-nino years of age, but before this he had 
written many other books on various subjects, a cata- 
logue of which he subjoined to his history. By these he 
obtained such reputation as to be consulted by the most 
eminent churchmen of his age, and particularly by Egbert, 
Archbishop of York, who was himself a very learned man. 
To him Bede wrote an epistle which illustrates the state of 
the church at that time. It was one of the last, and in- 
deed probably the very last of Bede's writings. In this letter 
he expresses himself with much freedom, both in the advice 
he gavo to Egbert, and with respect to the inconveniences 
which he foresaw would arise from the multiplication of re- 
ligions houses, to the prejudice both of church and state. 

"It appears from this epistle that Bede was much indis- 
posed when ho wrote it, and probably began to fall into 
that declining state of health from which he never recovered. 
William of Malmcsbury in his history (De Gestis Regum, 
lib. iii. e. iii.). and Symeon of Durham m his account of tho 
church of Durham (lib. i. c. x\\), chiefly from the relation of 
one Cnthbert, a fellow monk, have preserved full accounts 
of the manner in which Bede died : whence we learn that 
the last stago of his distemper was an asthma, which he 
supported with great firmness of mind, although in much 
weakness and pain, for seven weeks, during which time he 
did not in the least abate his usual employments in the mo- 
naster)', but continued to pray, to instruct the younger 
monks, and to prosecute the literary undertakings which 
were still in his hands. In the nights of his sickness, in 
which, from the nature of his disease, he had little sleep, ho 
sung hymns and praises to God ; and though he expressed 
the utmost confidence, and was able, on n review of his own 
conduct* to declare seriously that he had so lived as not 
to bo afraid to die, yet he did not deny his apprehensions 
of death, and that dread which is natural to man at the ap- 
proach of his dissolution. He was continually active to tho 
last, and particularly anxious about two works, ono his 
translation of St, John's Gospel into the Saxon language, 
the other somo passages whicn he was extracting from tho 
works of St. Isidore. From the monks* relation it appears 
that the d.iy before his death he grew much worse, and his 
feet began to swell, yet he passed tho night as usual, and 
continued dictating to the person who acted as his amanu- 
ensis, who, observing his weakness, said, * There remains 
now only one chapter, but it seems difficult to you to speak.* 
To which he answered, * It is easy ; tako your pen, dip it in 
tho ink, and write as fast as you can.' About nine o'clock 



he sent for some of his brethren, priests of the monastery, 
to divide amongst them somo incenso and other things of 
little value, which he had preserved in a chest. While, 
he was speaking, tho young man, Wilbereh, who wrote for 
him, said, • Master, there is now but one sentence wanting,* 
upou which ho bid him write quick, and soon after tho 
scribe said, • Now it is finished.' To which ho replied, * Theu 
hast said the truth, "consummatum est." Take up my 
head, I wish to sit opposite to tho place where I havo been 
accustomed to pray, and where now sitting I may yet in- 
voke my Father/ " Being thus seated, according to his 
desire, upon the floor of his cell, he said, * Glory bo to the 
Father, and to the Son, and to tho Holy Ghost,' and as he 
pronounced tho last word he expired. lie died, according 
to tho best opinion, May 26th, 735, though the exact date 
has been contested. His body was interred in the church 
of his own monastery at Jarrow, but long afterwards was 
removed to Durham, and placed in the same cofhn orehc&t 
with that of St. Cuthbert, as appears by a very antiont 
Saxon poem on the relics preserved in tho cathedral of 
Durham, printed at the end of Symeon of Durham's history. 
(Twysdcn's Decern Scriptores, col. 32.) 

Malmcsbnry'says, ' With this man was buried almost all 
knowledge of history down to our times ; inasmuch as there 
has been no Englishman cither emulous of his pursuits, or 
a follower of his graces, who could con tin uo tho thread of 
his discourses now broken short/ Ho complains, in addi- 
tion, of tho indolcnco and vant of learning of the monks in 
Bede's monastery, down oven to his own time, which he 
oxcmplifles in tho meanness of the lines so disgracefully 
suffered to remain upon Bede's tomb : — 

* Vresliyicr nic Beda requiesril came scpultus : 
Dims, ChrislP. niumnm In ecells gander* per «vam i 
Daquc ilti toplils debrfari (bote, col jam 
Susptnivil ova ns, intetito semper smore.' 

* Here fa the flesh re*Is Hede tlic prlott; g!\c 
111* tout wiih joy eternally to live: 

And let him quaff, O Christ, of wlsdom't stream :. 
This Mas his wish, his fowl, perpelual theme/ 

Warton, in the second dissertation prefixed to his first 
volume of the History of English Poetry, has justly ob- 
served that Bede's knowledge, if we consider his age, was 
extensivo and profound ; and it is amazing in so rude a 
period, and during a life of no considerable length, that he 
should have made so successful a progress, and such rapid 
improvements in scientific and philological studies, and 
huvc composed so many elaborate treatises on different 
subjects. It is diverting, he adds, to sco tho French critics 
censuring Bede for credulity ; they might as well have ac- 
cused him of superstition. There is much perspicuity and 
facility in his Latin style, but it is void of elegance, and 
often of purity ; it shows with what grace and propriety he 
would have written had his taste been formed on better 
models. Whoever looks for digestion of materials, says 
Warton, disposition of parts, and accuracy of narration in 
this writer's historical works, expects what could not exist 
at that time. Ho has recorded but few civil transactions ; 
but besides that his history professedly considers ecclesias- 
tical affairs, we should remember that the building of a 
church, the preferment of an abbot, the canonization of a 
martyr, and tho importation into England of the shin-bone 
of an apostle, were necessarily matters of much more im- 
portance in Bede's conception than victories and revolu- 
tions. He is fond of minute description ; but particularities 
are the fault, and often the merit of early historians. 

The first catalogue of Bcdo's works, as we have before 
observed, we havo from himself, at the end of his Ecclesias- 
tical History, which contains all he had written before the 
year 731. This we find copied by Lcland, who also men- 
tions some other pieces he had met wiih of Bcdo's, and 
points out likewise several that passed under Bcdo's name, 
though, in Leland's judgment, spurious. (Lcl. de Script, 
Brit, cd. Hall,Oxf. 1709, torn. i. p. 115.) Bale, in tho first 
edition of his work on British writers (4to. Gippesw. 1548, 
fol. 50), mentions 9G treatises written by Bcdc, and in his 
last edition (fol. 1559, p. 94) swells theso to 145 tracts ; and 
declares at tho close of both cataloguos that thcro were 
numberless pieces besides of Bcdo's winch he had not scon. 
Pits has enlarged even this catalogue ; though, to do him 
justice, ho appears to have taken great pains in drawing up 
the articlo on Bcdc, and mentions many of tho libraries in 
which theso treatises arc to be found. The catalogues 
given by Trittcnhcim, or Trithcmius (CataL Script Eccle- 
siatL 4to. Col. 1531, fol. 50 b.), and Dempster {Hist. Ec- 



BED 



13. 



BED 



clesia&t. Gentis Scotorum, edit. Edinb. 1829, torn. i. p. 69) 
are much inferior to these. 

The Historia Ecclesiastica was printed for the first time 
ahout 1474, in the type which passes for that of Conrad 
Fyncr of Esling ; a copy of it is preserved in the Biblio- 
theque du Roi at Paris, and there is another copy in the 
library of the Right Honourable Thomas Grenville in Eng- 
land. It is a volume of extreme rarity. King Alfred 
translated this history into Saxon, and the royal version, 
accompanied by the original Latin, was published first by 
Whcloe, fol. Cambr. 1644, and subsequently by Dr. Smith, 
canon of Durham, with greater care, fol. Cambr. 1722. An 
English translation of this history was first published at 
Antwerp in 1565, by Thomas Stapleton, a doctor of divinity 
of the University of Louvain ; another and hotter transla- 
tion was published, 8vo. Lond. 1 723, immediately after the 
publication of Dr. Smith's edition ; and a third has since 
appeared, translated by the Rev. William Hurst, 8vo. 
Lond. 1814. 

The^ first general collection of Bede's works was published 
at Paris in 1544, in three volumes folio. They were printed 
again at the same place in eight volumes folio, in 1554 ; in 
the same size and number of volumes at Basle, in 1563: 
reprinted at Cologne in 1612; and, lastly, at Cologne in 
1688. There is a very clear and distinct account o£ the 
contents of these volumes in the ' Notes to the Life of Bcde * 
in the * Biographia Britannica,' edit. 1747, vol. i. pp. 649-652; 
and other analyses may be found in the works of Casimir 
Oudin, and Mabillon, and in Cave's * Historia Literaria/ 

Those treatises of Bede's which are mentioned in his own 
catalogue of his works were puhlished by the learned and 
industrious Mr. Wharton, from three MSS. in the valuable 
library in the archiepiscopal palace at Lambeth, under the 
title of ' Bcdas Venerahilis Opera quoedam Theologica, nunc 
primum edita, necnon Historica antea semel edita. Ae'ces- 
serunt Egberti archiepiscopi Eboracensis Dialogus de Ec- 
clesiastica Institutione, et Adhelmi Episcopi Sareburnensis 
Liber de Virginitate, ex eodice antiquissimo emendatus.* 
4to. Lond. 1693. 

Tho antient and celebrated copy of the Latin Gospels, 
written before 720, with an interlineary Saxon gloss, origi- 
nally kept in the monastery of Lindisfarne, afterwards trans- 
ferred to Durham, and now preserved among the Cottonian 
MSS. in the British Museum (marked nkro k. iv.), is re- 
puted to have been once the property of the Venerable Bcde. 
(Besides the works which have been already quoted, 
Symcon of Durham's Historia Ecclesiw Dunelmensis, 
Tanner's Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, the Biogra- 
phia Britannica, Henry's History of Britain, and the life 
appended to Smith's edition of Bede's History, are the 
chief authorities for the present account.) 

BEDARIEUX, or BEDARRIEUX, or BEC D'A- 
RIEUX, a town in France, in the department of He- 
rault, about 35 miles nearly due west from Montpellier. It 
is on the left or cast bank of the river Orb, which waters 
the department in the western part, and at the foot of the 
great chain of tho Ce*vcnnes. The CcVennes lie to the N.W. 
of Bedarieux ; and a branch from the principal chain, 
running southward between the rivers Orb and Lergue 
(the latter a feeder to the HSrault), passes on the east side 
of the town, which is thus nearly enclosed by the mountains. 
It is in 43' 36' N. lat, and in 3° 12' E. long. 

Bedarieux is not remarkable, except for its woollen ma- 
nufactures, which were established long ago, and consti- 
tuted in the early part of the eighteenth century the only 
claim of the town to notice. <Martini£re, Le Grand Die- 
tiofinaire.) Cloth, for the Levant, and for consumption in 
the interior of France ; mixed fabrics of cotton and wool, 
and of silk and wool, are made here. Leather, paper, oil, 
brandy, and glass are also among the productions of the in- 
dustry of Bedarieux. Population in 183.!, of the town, 
5781 ; of the whole commune, 5993. (Dictionnaire Universel 
tie la France.) 

BEDCHAMBER, LORDS OF THE, arc officers of 
the royal household, under the groom of the stole. The 
number of lords is twelve, who wait a week each in turn. 
The groom of the stole does not take his turn of duty, but 
attends his majesty on all state occasions. There are thir- 
teen grooms of the bedchamber who wait likewise in turn. 
The salary of the groom of the stole is 2000/. per annum, of 
the lords 1000/. each, and of tho grooms 500/, They are in 
pie royal nomination. 
Chambcrlayne, in his Present State of England, 12mo. 



Savoy, 1669, p. 249, calls them gentlemen of the bed- 
chamber. 'The gentlemen of the bedchamber/ he says 
'consist usually of the prime nobility of England. Their 
office in general is, each one in his turn, to wait a week in 
every quarter in the king's bedchamber, there to lie by the 
king on a pallct-bcd all night, and in the absence of tho 
groom of the stole to supply his place.' In the edition of 
the same work published in 1716, he adds, 'Moreover, they 
wait upon the king when he eats in private ; for then the 
cupbearers, carvers, and sewers do not wait. Thi3 high 
office, in the reign of a queen, as in her late majesty's, is 
performed by ladies, as also that of the grooms of the bed- 
chamber, who were called bedchamber women, and were 
five in number.' 

The title of lords of the bedchamher appears to have 
hecn adopted after the accession of the House of Hanover. 
They are first mentioned by that title in Chamberlaync'S 
State of England, for ] 7 1 8. 

Compare also the New Compan. to the Kalendar, 8vo. 
Lond. 1820, p. 63. 

BEDDOES, THOMAS, a distinguished physician, was 
horn at Shiffnall, in Shropshire, in April, 1760. His father, 
who was a tanner, wished to bring up his sou to the same 
husiness, hut his grandfather, perceiving the abilities which 
he early manifested, prevailed upon his father to edu- 
cate him for some profession. An accident which befell his 
grandfather, and required the attendance of a surgeon, de- 
termined young Beddoes to study medicine. He received 
the rudiments of his general education at Brewood, or 
Brood, in Staffordshire, whence he was removed to Bridge- 
north, and afterwards, in 1773, he was placed under the 
care of the Rev. S. Dickenson, rector of Plym-hill, in Staf- 
fordshire. In 1776 he entered at Pembroke College, Ox- 
ford, and soon became distinguished for his learning, and 
his acquaiutance with languages, both antient and modern : 
in the latter he was entirely self-instructed. During his 
residence at the university, he also devoted much of his 
time to chemistry and geology. The recent discoveries of 
Black and Priestley, in respect to the different gases or airs, 
directed the attention of men of science more especially to 
these subjects, and Beddoes fully participated in the inte- 
rest which they excited. He also early formed high ex- 
pectations of the uses of these discoveries, especially in the 
treatment of diseases, and had that direction given to his 
mind which ever afterwards induced him to trust greatly to 
pneumatic medicine. Mineralogy and botany also occupied 
much of his attention while at Oxford. Having, in 1781, 
taken his Bachelor's degree, he proceeded to London to 
study medicine, and became a pupil of the celebrated Shel- 
don. - 

In 1 784, while residing in London, he published, but 
without his name, a translation of Spallanzani's Disserta- 
tions on Natural History. In the autumn of 1784 he re- 
moved to Edinburgh, where he spent two winters and one 
summer. He was greatly distinguished among the students, 
and attracted the notice of Dr. Cullcn, by whom he was em- 
ployed to add notes to his translation of Bergman's Essays 
on Elective Attractions, to which work Beddoes affixed his 
name. 

In 1 786 he took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at 
Oxford ; and in the course of the following summer he 
visited France, where he became acquainted with Lavoisier 
and other celebrated chemists. On his return from the 
Continent he was appointed reader in chemistry to the Uni- 
versity of Oxford, where he maintained the current doctrines 
of the day with much learning, ingenuity, and eloquence. 
In his views respecting geology he embraced the theory of 
Hutton, and was a decided believer in the existence of a 
central fire, by the agency of which the crust of the earth 
had assumed its present form. In 1790 he published Che- 
mical Experiments and Opinions, extracted from a work 
published in the last century, in which he endeavoured to 
obtain justice for the views and discoveries of Dr. Mayow in 
pneumatic chemistry. 

Being of an ardent disposition, and entertaining great ex- 
'pectations of- the perfectibility of human nature, he eagerly 
adopted the views of tho partizans of the French Revolution ; 
and it is thought that the freedom with which he expressed 
his opinions gave so much offence to the superiors of the 
University of Oxford, as to render his rcsidenco tbero no 
longer agreeable. It is also probable that somo of his re- 
ligious opinions contributed to determine him to resign his 
readership in chemistry, which accordingly he did in 1792.- 



BED 



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• • Upon retiring: from Oxford he took up his abode with a 
friend in Shropshire, where ho wroto a Work, entitled His- 
tory 0/ Isaac Jenkins, intended to cbeek drunkenness; and 
several medical works, in which ho embodied his peculiar 
views regarding the origin and treatment of several diseases. 
The few and feeble attempts which had, for some years pre- 
vious, been in ado to maintain the soundness of tho basis of 
the humoral pathology as the universal cause of diseases, 
served ratber to convince the examining and reflecting part 
of tho profession of its want of foundation, than to add to 
the number of believers in it The application of chemistry 
to the investigation of the composition of the fluids of tbe 
human body, and the different condition of these fluids which 
it demonstrated to exist in different states of disease, seemed 
to furnish new facts in its favour. Beddoes, with that zeal 
which marked all his actions, stepped forward as its advocate, 
and referred all diseases to the predominance or deficiency 
of some elementary principle. lie attributed scurvy to an 
abstraction of oxygen, and consumption to an accumulation 
of oxygen. The remedies which he proposed for tho euro 
of tbese diseases were in conformity with these views; and 
he believed that breathing an atmosphere charged with tbc 
principle which was deficient would cure the one, and with 
a principle opposed to that which predominated would cure 
tho other. Not only did he write in support of these views, 
but he sought an opportunity of testing them by experi- 
ment. At first he thought of London as the place best 
fitted for his purpose, but ultimately fixed on Bristol for tho 
scene of his pneumatic hospital. In 1798 a pneumatie insti- 
tution was established, in effecting which object Dr. Beddoes 
was materially assisted by Mr. Richard LovclL Edgeworth, 
one of whose* daughters "ho married in 1794, and Mr, Gre- 
gory Watt. His publications at this time prove his activity, 
as well as the particular direction of his thoughts. They 
almost all refer to peculiar views respecting the possibility of 
curing diseases by breathing a medicated atmosphere. That 
ihc results did not correspond with the expectations of the 
founder of this new method is well known ; but the under- 
taking was the means of bringing into notice the talents of 
ilumphrey Davy, who was recommended to Dr. Beddoes by 
Mr. Gregory Watt, as a fit person to superintend the ehe- 
mical laboratory connected with the Institution. The first 
discoveries of this eminent ehemist wero given to the world 
in a publication which came from Beddoes' s Institution : 
Experimental Essays on Heat, Light, and the Combina- 
tions fyf Light, by Humphrey Davy, appeared among tho 
Contributions to Medical and Physical Knowledge from 
the West of England, Bristol, 1799. 

Many publications of Dr. Beddoes about this time referred 
to the political topics of the day. in which he always em- 
braced the liberal side of the question. 

His principal medical publications after this date were : 
& Popular Essay on Consumption, 1779, containing, if we 
except the author's peculiar doctrines, many valuable re- 
marks on the predisposing causes and means of preventing 
that disease ; Ilygeia, or Essays Moral and Medical, 
whieh is a popular treatise on the 'Causes of Diseases/ and 
the means of avoiding them, 3 vols. Svo. 1802. He also 
wroto at an earlier date a work on Demo7ist rathe Evi- 
dence, 1792. An Essay on Fever was written in 1807, 
with many others of less note, which he continued to pub- 
lish in rapid succession till 1808, when, in consequence of 
an affection of the heart, ho died in December of that 
year, in the forty-eighth year of his age. 

Ho is represented by his biographer and friend, Dr. Stock, 
as an extremely amiable man,* who had only truth for his 
object, and the good of his fellow-creatures as the end of all 
his efforts. He was oxtremely enthusiastic in whatever he 
undertook ; but the ardour of his imagination, and the ten- 
dency to hasty generalization which characterized his mind, 
prevented him from examining earefully his data, or forming 
the most correct conclusions. A pass ago in his Essay 
on Fever, in whieh he eondemns the hasty views of other 
writers, and the unsuccessful practice founded on them, 
gives the truest character of his own labours and writings. 
1 If theso systems,* says he, ' havo superseded tho investiga- 
tion of phenomena such as, when onco ascertained, strike 
the senses too powerfully to leave the judgment in suspense; 
if ihey have prevented us from analysing the mutual rela- 
tions of these phenomena; if they have tempted ingenuity 
to waste itself upon tho means of correcting imaginary de- 
viations from the standard stato of health ; wo may surely 
pass them by, after giving a moment of regretful admira- 



tion, to tho talents by which some of them were con" 
structed/ 

(Seo Stork's Life of Beddoes, ono vol. 4to. Lond. 1810.) 

BEDE-HOUSE, a term used for an almshouse. Hence 
bede-man, or beid-man, a person who resides in a bede- 
housc, or is supported from tho funds appropriated for this 
purpose. In tho Statistical Account of Scotland, vol, xiii. 
p. 412, parish of Rathvcii in Banffshire, it is said—' Thero 
is a bede-houso still in being, though in bad repair; and six 
bede-men on the establishment, but none of thcin live in 
the house.* In the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, this 
term is used to denoto t)iat class of pauj>ers who enjoy tfio 
royal bounty. 

BEDELL, WILLIAM, Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland, 
one of the most exemplary prelates of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, was descended from a good family, and was born in 
the year 1570, at Black Kotley in Essex. He was matricu- 
lated a pensioner of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, March 
12, 153-1, where he was placed under the care of Dr. Chud- 
derton, for many years the head of that house. He enteicd 
early into holy orders, which he received from the suffragan 
bishop of Colchester. In 1593 he was chosen fellow of his 
college, and in 1599 took the degrco of bachelor in divinity. 
He tben removed from the University to St, Kdinundsbury 
in Suffolk, where he had a church, to the duties of which 
he assiduously attended for a few years, till an opportunity 
offered for his going as chaplain to Sir Henry Wotton, the 
English ambassador to the state of Venice, about the year 
1604. While he resided in that city he became intimately 
acquainted with Father Paul Sarpi, who took him into his 
confidence, and taught him the Italian language, of which 
Bedell became so perfect a master, that he translated inlo 
that tongue the English ' Common Prayer Book/ whieb was 
extremely well received by many of the clergy there, espe- 
cially by the seven divines who were appointed by the Re- 
public to preach against the pope, during the time of tho 
Interdict, and which they intended to have taken for their 
model had they broken absolutely with Rome, which was 
what they sincerely desired. In return for the favours ho 
received from Father Paul, Mr. Bedell drew up an English 
Grammar for his use, and in many other respects assisted 
him in his studies. He continued eight years in Venice, 
during whieh time he not only studied the Hebrew lan- 
guage, but entered deeply into rabbinical learning, under 
Rabbi Leo. He made acquaintance also with the celebrated 
Antonio de Dominis, archbishop of Spalatro, who was to 
pleased with his conversation as to give him his thorough 
confidence, and showed him his famous book, De Ue- 
publica Ecclesiastica, which was afterwards printed at 
London. Bedell corrected many misapplications of scrip- 
ture, and quotations from the fathers in that work, and was 
highly valued by De Dominis, who even accompanied him 
to England. At Bedell's departure from Venice, Father 
Paul expressed a deep concern, and said that both he and 
many others would have eome over with him to England if 
it had been in their power ; hut that he might never l>e for- 
gotten by him, he gave hi in his picture, with a Hebrew 
Bible witnout points, a little Hebrew Psalter, in which he 
wrote some sentences expressive of his esteem, the MS. of 
his History of the Council of Trent, and the histories of 
the Interdict and Inquisition; together with the originals 
of the Letters which Father Paul had received weekly from 
Rome, during the eontests between the Jesuits and the 
Dominicans concerning the efficacy of grace. 

On his return to England Mr. Bedell retired immediately 
to his eharge at St. Edmundsbury, where he continued his 
ministerial labours ; employing himself at the same tiino in 
translating into Latin tho Histories of the Interdict and 
Inquisition, and the two last books of the History of the 
Council of Trent, Sir Adam Newton having translated the 
two first. At this time he mixed so little with the world 
that ho was almost totally forgotten. So little, indeed, was 
ho remembered that some years after, when the celebrated 
Diodati of Geneva came over into England, ho eould not, 
though acquainted with many of the clergy, hear of Mr. 
Bedell. Diodati was greatly amazed that so extraordinary 
a man, who was so much admired at Venice by the best 
judges of merit, should not he known in his own country; 
and ho had given up all hopes of finding him out, when, to 
their no small joy, they accidentally met each other in the 
streets of London. Upon this occasion Diodati presented 
his friend to Morton, tho learned bishop of Durham, 
and told him how highly he had been valued^ by Father 






BED 



133 



BED 



Paul, which engaged the bishop to treat Bedell with par- 
ticular respect. At length Sir Thomas Jermyn, a Suffolk 
gentleman, presented him to the living of Horingsheath 
in 1615; but he found difficulties in obtaining institution 
and induction. Dr. Jegon, bishop of Norwich, requiring fees 
on the occasion so large, that Bedell considered the demand 
to partake of simony. He, in consequence, refused to pay 
any thing beyond the expense of parchment, writing, and 
wax ; and, declining to take his title to the living upon any 
other terms, went home, but in a few days the bishop sent 
for him, and gave him institution without the charge of 
fees. Here Bedell continued twelve years, and during that 
time published and dedicated to King Charles I., then 
Erinee of Wales, * The Copies of certain Letters which have 
passed between Spain and England in matter of Religion, 
concerning the general Motives to the Roman Obedience, 
between Mr. James Waddesworth, a late pensioner of the 
Holy Inquisition in Sevil, and W. Bedell, a minister of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ in Suffolk/ 8vo. Lond. 1624; after- 
wards reprinted by Bishop Burnet in 1685, at the end of 
Bishop Bedell's life. 

Various causes appear to have delayed the reward which 
Bedell's merits deserved. He was aCalvinist, says Burnet, 
in the matter of decrees and grace, and preferments were 
generally at that time bestowed upon those who held oppo- 
site opinions. His firm and faithful friend, Sir Henry 
Wotton, too, had lost much of his influence at court; and 
his other patron, Sir Thomas Jermyn, was suspected of fa- 
vouring the Puritans, and was therefore out of credit. 
Bedell's fame, however, had reached Ireland, and, in 1627, 
he was unanimously elected provost of Trinity College, 
Dublin ; a charge which he refused to undertake till the 
king laid his positive commands upon him, which he obeyed, 
and on August 16th of that year was sworn provost. He 
held this oflice about two years, when, partly by the interest 
of Sir Thomas Jermyn, and partly by the application of 
Laud, bishop of London, he was advanced to the united sees 
of Kilmorc and Ardagh, and consecrated on the 13th Sept., 
1629, at Drogheda, in St. Peters Church, in the fifty-ninth 
year of his age. During his short residence at Trinity Col- 
lege, he did much towards the restoration of order in the 
college, which on his arrival he found in a very unsettled 
state. He also revised and improved the college statutes, 
and introduced prayers in Irish, and a lecture in the ehapel of 
the university. (Sec Journal of Education, Nos. XL XII. 
' On the University of Dublin/) On going to his diocese, he 
found it, says Burnet, under so many disorders, that there 
was scarce a sound part remaining. The revenue was wasted 
by excessive dilapidations, and all saered things had been 
exposed to sale in so sordid a manner 1 that it was grown to 
a proverb. One of his cathedrals, Ardagh, was fallen down 
to the ground, and there was scarce enough remaining out 
of the revenues of both sees to support a bishop who was re- 
solved not to supply himself by indirect and base methods. 
He found, too, the oppression of the ecclesiastical courts ex- 
cessive, and pluralities and non-residenee shamefully pre- 
vailing. All these abuses he determined to rectify ; and 
having recovered a sufficient portion of the lands of which 
his sees had been dispossessed, to enable him to subsist, he 
set an example for the reformation of further abuses by re- 
signing (in 1630) the bishopric of Ardagh, which he had the 
satisfaction to see followed in other instances. 

Upon tho arrival of the lord-deputy Wentworth, in 1633, 
Bishop Bedell fell under his displeasure on account of a 
petition sent up hy the county of Cavan, to which the bishop 
had set his hand, and in which some complaints were made 
of, and some regulations proposed for, tho army. A recon- 
ciliation, however, took place, and the lord-deputy received 
him into favour. He then went on cheerfully in doing what 
ho considered his duty for the benefit of the church, and was 
very successful. He loved the Christian power of a bishop, 
without affecting either political authority or pomp. What- 
ever he did was so visibly for the good of his flock, that he 
seldom failed of being well supported by his clergy, and such 
as opposed him did it with visible reluctance, for he had tho 
esteem of the good men of all parties. 

In September, 1638, he convened a synod, in which he 
made many excellent canons that are stilly extant ; but 
offence was taken at this by some, who were in power, and 
who questioned the legality of the meeting ; and some talk 
there was, says his biographer, of calling him in question 
for it, cither in the star-chamber or high-commission court; 
but his archdeacon, Thomas Price, who wps afterwards arch- 



bishop of Cashel, gavo such an account of the matter as 
satisfied the state. Archbishop Usher is said to have ad- 
vised those who moved to have the bishop brought up upon 
this charge, * to let him alone, lest he should be thereby pro- 
voked to say more for himself than any of his accusers could 
say against him/ 

Amongst other extraordinary things which he did, his bio- 
graphers have agreed that there was none more worthy of 
remembrance than his removing his lay-chancellor, and 
taking upon himself to sit in his own courts, hearing causes, 
and retrieving thereby the jurisdiction which antiently be- 
longed to a bishop. The chancellor upon this filed his hill 
in equity, and obtained a decree in chancery against the 
bishop, with 100/. costs. But, by this time, the chancellor 
saw so visibly the difference between the bishop's sitting in 
that seat and his own, that he never called for his costs, but 
appointed a surrogate, with orders to obey the bishop in 
everything, and so his lordship went on his own way. 

*Our bishop/ says the writer of his life in the Biographia 
Britannica, * was no persecutor of papists, and yet the most 
successful enemy they ever had; and if the other bishops 
had followed his example, the Protestant religion must have 
spread itself through every part of that country. He la- 
boured to convert the better sort of the popish clergy, and 
in this he had great success. He procured the Common- 
Prayer, which had been translated into Irish, and caused it 
to be read in the cathedral in his own presence every 
Sunday; having himself learned that language perfectly, 
though he did not attempt to speak it./ The New Testa- 
ment had been also translated from the Greek into Irish, 
by William Daniel, afterwards archbishop of Tuam, but 
our prelate first procured the Old Testament to be trans- 
lated by one King, and because the translator was igno- 
rant of the original tongues, and did it from the English, 
the bishop himself revised and compared it with the He- 
brew and the best translations. He caused, likewise, some 
of Chrysostom's and Leo's Homilies, in commendation 
of the scriptures, to be rendered both into English and 
Irish, that the common people might see that, in the 
opinion of the antient fathers, they had not only a right 
to read the scriptures as well as the clergy, but that it 
was their duty so to do. He met with great opposition in 
this work, from a persecution against the translator, raised 
without reason, and carried on with much passion by those 
from whom he had no cause to expect it. But, however, he 
got the translation finished, and would have printed it in 
his own house, and at his own charge, if the troubles in 
Ireland had not prevented it ; and, as it was, his labours 
were not useless, for the translation escaped the hands of 
the rebels, and was afterwards printed at the expense of 
the celebrated Robert Boyle. 

When the rebellion broke out in October, 1641, the bishop 
was so popular in his neighbourhood that he did not at first 
feel the violence of its effects. His was the only English 
house in the county of Cavan which stood unviolated, not- 
withstanding that it and its out-buildings, the church and 
its churchyard, were filled with people who had fled to him 
for shelter, whom by his preaching and prayers he encou- 
raged to expect and bear the worst with patience. This 
went on till about the middle of December following, when 
the rebels, pursuant to orders they had received from the 
council of state at Kilkenny, required him to dismiss the 
people who were with him, which he refused to do, declaring 
that he would share the same fate with the rest. They 
signified to him upon this that they had orders to remove 
him, and subsequently seized him, his two sons, and Mr. 
Clogy, who had married his step-daughter, and carried 
them prisoners to the castle of Cloughboughter, surrounded 
by a deep water, where they put all but the bishop in irons. 
They did not suffer any of them to carry any thing with 
them ; and the moment the bishop was gone from his 
house, Dr. Swiney, the popish titular bishop of Kilmore, 
whose brother Bishop Bedell had converted, and who him- 
self wished to be admitted to lodge with Bishop Bedell, took 
possession of it and all that belonged to it, and on the Sun- 
day following said mass in the church. After some time 
the rebels abated of their severity, took the iron3 off the 
prisoners, and suffered them to be as much at their ease as 
they could be in so wretched a place, where the ruined state 
of the castle exposed them to much severity of weather in a 
rigorous winter. While thus confined, the bishop, his sons, 
and Mr. Clogy, preached and prayed continually to their 
small alllicted congregation, and upon Christmas-day the 



BED 



134 



BED 



bishop administered the sacrament to thcra. It was re- 
markable that rudo and barbarous as the Irish were, they 
gave them no disturbance in the performance of divine ser- 
vice, and often told the bishop they had no quarrel with 
liim. but that the solo cause of ihcir confining him was his 
being an Englishman. After being kept in this manner 
for three weeks, tho bishop, his two sons and Mr. Clogy, 
were exchanged for two of the O'Rourke's; but though it 
was agreed that they should be safely conducted to Dublin, 
the rebels would never suffer them to bo carried out of the 
country, but sent thera to the houscof one Dennis Sheridan, 
an Irish minister and convert to tho Protestant religion, to 
which he steadily adhered and relieved many who (led to 
him for protection. Notwithstanding this tho Irish suffered 
him to live quietly amongst them on account of the great 
family from which he was descended. While Bishop Be- 
dell remained there, and enjoyed somo degree of health, he 
every Sunday read the prayers and lessons, and preached 
himself. The last Sunday he officiated was the 30th of 
January, and the day following he was taken ill. On the 
second 'day it appeared his disease was an ague, and on the 
fourth, apprehending a speedy change, he called for his 
sons and his sons' wives, spoke to them a considerable time, 
jrave them much spiritual advice, and blessed them. Bishop 
Burnet (pp. 210, 216) has detailed his conversation with 
them. On the 7th of February, IG4I-2,he breathed his last, 
in the seventy-first year of his age, his death being ehiclly 
occasioned by his late imprisonment and tho weight of sor- 
row which lay upon his mind. 

As his body could not be buried as he had desired, with- 
out the new intruding bishop's leave, Mr. Clogy and Mr. 
Sheridan went to ask it. They found the bishop in a state of 
gross intoxication, and a sad change in the house ; but after a 
little hesitation leave was granted, and on the 9th February, 
1641-2. Bishop Bedell was buried, agreeably to his own 
direction, in the churchyard of Kilmore close to his wife's 
coffin. The rebels gathered their forces to pay honour to the 
funeral, and would have suffered Mr. Clogy to bury the bishop 
according to the oflico prescribed by the church, but it was 
feared the rabble might be provoked by it, and it was passed 
over; the Irish, however, discharged a volley of shot at the 
interment, and cried out in Latin, * Rcquicscat in pace ulti- 
raus Anglorura :' for, says Burnet, they had often said that 
as they esteemed him the best of the English bishops, so he 
should be the last who should be left among them. Ed- 
mund Farilly, a popish priest, is said to have cxclnimed at 
his interment, 'Osit ammameacum Bedcllo. 1 His epitaph, 
as ordered by himself, was simply 'Dcpositnm Gulielmi 
quondam episeopi Kilmorensis.' 

The public character of Bishop Bedell did honour to his 
high office in the church, and his private life was perfectly 
consistent with the doctrines which he taught. His actions 
were such as rendered him beloved and esteemed whilo he 
lived, and cannot but secure the highest revcrenco for his 
memory. The country, and the times in which he lived, 
required such examples, and the respect paid him by the 
Irish sufficiently showed what might have been done 
among them if all, or tho greater part, of the Protestant 
clergy had been such as he was. 

The Books of the Old Testament, translated by the caro 
and diligence of Bishop Bedell into Irish, were first pub- 
lished, 4to. London, 16S5, with O'Domhnuill's translation 
of the New Testament, 4to. lymdon, IG81, appended : both 
were again printed in the Irish character, 12mo. 1C90. 
O'Domhnuill, pronounced O'Donncll, is the true Irish name 
of William Daniel, archbishop of Tuam, mentioned above: 
his translation of the New Testament was first published 
in Dublin in 1602. (See Journal of Education, No. XI.) 

Some original letters of Bishop Bedell concerning the 
steps taken toward a reformation of religion at Venice 
upon occasion of the quarrel between that State and the 
Pope Paul V, were printed 12mo. Dublin, 1742. They were 
found among Archbishop Usher's manuscripts in the library 
of Trinity College there.. . 

(See Bishop Burnet's Life of Bedell, 8vo. London, 16S5 ; 
Biogr. Britannica^ edit. 1747, vol. i. pp. 65S, 664 ; Charac- 
ter of Bishop Bedell at tho end of Certain Discourses by 
Nich. Barnard, D.D., 8vo. I»ndon, 1659.) 

BEDKSM AN, or BEEDMAN, from bede, a prayer, and 
that from tho Anglo-Saxon bib-aa, to prav, was a common 
mode of signature in the time of Henry Vlll. at the end of 
lottcrs; as of a praver-raan, or one who prayed for another. 
Sir Thomas More, in writing to Cardinal \\ olsey, ordinarily 



styles himself Your humble orator and most bounden beed- 
man, Thomas More. 1 (See Ellis's Ort>. Letters illustr. of 
English Hist, first ser. vol. i. pp. 19S, 200, 20J, 203, 206, 
20S, 210, 21 1.) Margaret Bryan, the governess of the Lady 
Elizabeth, writing to Lord Cromwell, signs herself in the 
same manner, • Your dayly bede-woman: (Ibid, second ser. 
vol. ii. p. 82.) 

It was not out of use in Shakspeare's tirao, who in tho 
' Two Gentlemen of Verona,* act i. scene i., says— 

* For I irfU be thy txsidsman, Valctiline.* 

Valentine answers — 

* And on a lore-book pray for my »ucwtt.* 

BEDFORD, a borough, and the county town of Bedford- 
shire, situated on both sides of the river Ouse, which is 
navigable to the German Ocean. Bedford is forty-eight 
miles N.N.W. from Loudon. Camden states tho town 
to be of high antiquity ; but doubts if it Was the Lacto- 
dorum of Antoninus, as somo affirm, for it docs not stand 
on a Roman road, nor had Roman coins ever been found 
there. Nevertheless the plough turns up many coins in 
various parts of the county, and tho vicinity of Sbefford in 
particular has been remarkably productive in Roman pot- 
tery, glass, and bronze. Camden proceeds to state that 
ho had read that the British namo of the place was Lif- 
widur, or Lattidur; but he regards the latter as a trans- 
huionofthe English name— ' Lettuy, in British, signify- 
ing public inns, and Lcttidur, inns on a river, as Bed- 
ford, in English, beds and inns at a ford. 1 This account . 
is not very satisfactory. (See Gentleman's Magazine, 
1794, for a quotation bearing on this point from a work 
called Enghmd Illustrated.) It is generally supposed, 
however, that the town is the Bedieanford of the Saxon 
Chronicle. This signifies ' a fortress on a river/ a de- 
signation of which the present name seems a corruption. 
Bedford appears to have been the scene of a battle in 572 
between the Saxon Cuthwnlf and the Britons. It afterwards 
suffered greatly in the wars between the Saxons and the 
Danes, and was ultimately burned by the latter in 1010. 
Mention is made of a fortress or citadel built on the south 
side of the river by Edward the Elder ; but it would sewn to 
have been destroyed by the Danes, or was found an inade- 
quate defence, for Paine de Beauehamp, to whom the barony 
was given by William Rufus, thought it necessary to build, 
adjoining to the town, a very strong castle, which was sur- 
rounded by a vast entrenchment of earth, as well as a lofty 
and thick wall. ' While this castle stood,' says Camden, 
4 there was no storm ot civil war that did not burst upon it/ 
In 1137 it sustained a siege against King Stephen and his 
army ; but accounts vary exceedingly both as to who were 
the defenders and what was their fate. Camden, without 
entering into particulars, says that Stephen took the fort- 
ress, with great slaughter; but Dugdale, who gives details 
and quotes antient authorities, says that the king obtained it 
by surrender, and granted honourable terms to the garrison. 
In 121G, William de Beauehamp, being then possessed of 
the barony of Bedford, took part with the rebellious l>arous, 
and received thcra as friends into the castle, which they 
were advancing to besiege. When, however, King John 
sent his favourite, Faukes de Brent, to summon tho castle, 
it was surrendered to him within a few days, and the king 
gave it to him, with the barony, for his services. Faukes, 
having repaired and greatly strengthened his castle, for 
which purpose he is said to havo pulled down the collegiate 
church of St. Paul's, presumed so far upon its impregnnblo 
character as to set all law and authority at defiance. His 
outrages and depredations on his less powerful neighbours 
were such, that in the year 1224, Martin Patershul, Thomas 
do Moulton, and Henry Braybrooke, the king's justices itine- 
nint, then sitting at Dunstaple, felt it their duty to take 
cognizance of his proceedings, and fined hiin in the sum of 
three thousand pounds. Faukes, being greatly provoked at 
this, sent his brother at the head of a party of soldiers to 
seize the judges and bring them prisoners to Bedford. They 
had timely notice of his intention, and two of them escaped ; 
but Braybrooke was taken and carried to the caslle, where 
he was shamefully treated. Tho king (Henry III.), being 
highly incensed at this and the other outrageous conduct of 
De Brent, determined to bring him to punishment. Ho 
therefore marched to Bedford in person, attended by Stephen 
Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, and the principal peors 
of the realm. On this occasion the Church was so provoked 
by Faukes's sacrilege, that the prelates and abbots granted 



BED 



135 



S E D 



a voluntary aid to the king, and for every hide of their lands 
furnished two labourers to work the engines employed in 
the siege. Camden quotes from the Chronicle of Dun- 
staple a curious account of the siege, written by an eye- 
witness, from whieh it appears that tbe engines employed 
in that age for the destruction of man were little les3 inge- 
nious and effective than those now in use. Faukes de Brent 
felt great confidence in the strength of the castle, and dis- 
puted the ground by inches ; but after a vigorous resistance 
of sixty days, no alternative remained but to surrender at 
discretion. The success of the besiegers is attributed chiefly 
to the use of a lofty wooden castle, higher than the walls, 
which gave them an opportunity of observing all that passed 
within. Faukes himself was not in tbe eastle when it sur- 
rendered; he took sanctuary in a church at Coventry, and, 
through the mediation of the bishop of Coventry, obtained 
the king's pardon, on condition of abjuring the realm. His 
brother William, the acting govemorof the eastle, with twenty- 
four knights and eighty soldiers, were hanged ; but Culmo, 
another brother, reeeived the king's pardon. The king, acting 
on the determination to uproot this ' nursery of sedition, 1 as 
Camden styles it, ordered tbe eastle to be dismantled, and 
the ditches to be filled up. The harony was restored to 
William dc Bcauehamp.with permission to erect a mansion- 
house on the site of the eastle, but with careful stipulations 
to prevent him from construing this into leave to build a 
fortress. The king's intentions as to the demolition of the 
castle do not seem to have been executed to the letter; for 
the ' ruinous castle of Bedford' is mentioned about 250 years 
later; and Camden speaks of its ruins as still existing in 
his time, overhanging the river on the east side of the town. 
At present not one stone of the fabrie remains ; but a few 
years ago its site might be very distinctly traced at tbe 
back of the Swan Inn. It forms a parallelogram, divided 
by a lane ; and the site of the keep now makes an excellent 
bowling-green. The domain first became a dukedom when 
given to John, the third son of Henry IV. 

Bedford is considered a borough and corporation by pre- 
scription, and is so called in all legal proceedings. The 
first charter ou record was granted to the town by Henry 
II., and the last by Charles II. The corporation eou- 
suts of a mayor, recorder, two bailiffs, thirteen eommon- 
councilmen, and an uncertain number of aldermen, as every 
one who has served the office of mayor is afterwards reputed 
an alderman. The manor of Bedford is vested in the corpo- 
ration by virtue of antient grants, the earliest of which is 
that of Henry II.. which subjected the burgesses in return 
to the payment of a fee-farm rent of 40/. per annum. This 
was afterwards raised to 46/.; but in the end was gradually 
reduced to tho sum of 16/. 5s, 8d., which is now payable to 
the representatives of persons who bought the rent of the 
crown. The bailiffs for the time being are lords of the 
manor, and have the right of fishing and taking game to 
the extent of the bounds, which contains a space of upwards 
of nine miles in circumference, comprising an area of 2200 
acres. The Boundary Commissioners, in 1831, recommended 
no alteration of the antient limit. The town has sent two 
members to parliament ever since the year 1295. The right 
of election was determined, hi 1690, to be in the burgesses, 
freemen, and the inhabitant householders not receiving 
alms. Under this franchise, the greatest number of electors 
polled in the first thirty years of this century was 914. ^ In 
1831 the borough of Bedford contained 1446 houses, with a 
population of 6959 persons, of whom 3757 were females. 
Tbe neighbourhood of Bedford being very productive in 
wheat and barloy, much business is done there in the corn 
trade : there is also a very considerable trade, by means of 
the Ouse, between Bedford and Lynn, in mal% coals, timber, 
and iron. Lace-making affords employment to a great 
number of poor females and children. The principal market- 
day is Saturday, when the average sale of wheat i3 about 
600 quarters ; there was also a Tuesday market, but it has 
been discontinued, and one on Monday for the sale of pigs 
instituted. Fairs are held on the first Tuesday in Lent, 
April 21, July 6, August 21, October 12, November 17, and 
December 19. That held in October is of the raostimport- 
ance, and is called the Statute Fair ; that in April 13 also a 
pleasure fair; the others are only for the sale of cattle. 

The town of Bedford lies nearly in the centre of the 
borough, with a broad belt of pasture-land on every side. 
It has been greatly improved within the present century 
under the authority of an act of parliament for rebuilding 
the bridge, and paving, lighting, and watching the town 



it is still increasing, and apparently improving; many new 
houses have been recently built, especially towards the 
north-west. The communication between the parts of the 
town separated by the Ouse is by a handsome stone bridge 
of five arches, whieh was commenced in 1811, on the site of 
an old one of seven arches, whieh was popularly considered 
to have been built with the materials of the eastle demolished 
by Henry III., but whieh Grose understood to have been 
erected in the reign of Queen Mary out of the ruins of St. 
Dun stan's church, which stood on tbe south side of the 
bridge. The town is lighted by gas. 

Bedford is divided into five parishes, with as many 
churches. Those of St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Cuthbert, 
are on the north side of the river, and those of St. Mary and 
St. John the Baptist on the south. The living of St. Paul's 
is a discharged vicarage, endowed with a portion of the great 
tithes, and valued at 1 0/. in the kings books : patron, Lord 
Carteret. This church is the principal architectural orna- 
ment of the town. It is large, with a nave and south aisle 
divided by early English or early decorated piers and arches. 
The west door, and the tower and octagonal spire are of 
the decorated character. The windows are mostly perpen- 
dicular; all the tracery, except of one or two, had been cut 
away, but has lately been in part restored. There is one 
tomb, if not more, with brasses, in the church : the old pulpit 
is of stone, ornamented with gilt tracery on a blue ground ; 
but it has been removed to the chancel, and a more conve- 
nient one of oak substituted. The livings of St. Peter and 
St. Cuthbert are both rectories in tho gift of the crown : 
the former is rated in the king's books at/ll/. 13s. \d., and 
the latter at 5/. 9*. 4£</. The church of St. Peter has a eu- 
rious old Norman door, a fine antique font, and some curious 
stained glass in the windows. Tbe living of St. Mary, on the 
south side of the river, is a rectory, charged in tbe king's books 
at 11/. 4*. 9c/., patron, the Bishop of Lincoln. Tbe church 
is small, with a plain square tower, and with nave and aisles 
mostly in the perpendicular style. Tbe living of St, John 
is a rectory, not in charge, of which the corporation is 
patron. The tower is in the perpendicular style, but the 
windows and the interior of the church have been mo- 
dernized. It was formerly an hospital, aud contained a 
master and 60 brethren. 

It is calculated that about half the inhabitants of Bed- 
ford are dissenters. There are, accordingly, several cha- 
pels belonging to the Independents, the Methodists, the 
Baptists, and the United Brethren (Moravians) : there is also 
a small synagogue for tbe Jews. The old Independent meet- 
ing-house, in Mill Lane, was established in 1650, under the 
ministry of John Gifford, who had been a major in the king's 
army. John Bunyan, the celebrated author of the Pilgrim's 
Progress, was ordained co-pastor of this congregation with 
Samuel Fenn, in 1671, and continued to fill that situation 
till his death, in 1 688. His memory is still greatly venerated 
by the congregation ; and the chair in whieh he used to sit 
is preserved in the vestry as a sort of relic. The United 
Brethren have had an establishment here ever since 1745 ; 
but the chapel was not built till 1751. Adjoining to it is 
the house for the single sisters, who live in community. 
They chiefly employ themselves in embroidering muslin 
and cambric. The Moravians have also a female boarding- 
school attached to their establishment. 

The shire-hall, in which the assizes and sessions are held, 
is a good stone building, erected in the year 1753. In the 
same part of the town a new county gaol was erected in 
1801, towards the building of which tho elder Mr. Whi thread 
left a legacy of 500/. The prisoners sleep in separate cells ; 
and the system of tread-mill labour and silence is enforced 
on tho convicts. In this gaol the town -prisoners are now 
maintained by contract. The house of industry is a large 
and handsome brick building, completed in 1796. It is 
fitted up with every useful accommodation, and great atten- 
tion is paid to the health and comfort of the inmates ; but, 
say the Lysons, ' in point of economical contrivance, per- 
haps it is inferior to some buildings of a like nature/ A 
handsome building, erecting by the subscription of share- 
holders, is now (1835) in progress, and is intended to con- 
tain a public library, news-room, ball-room, billiard-room 3, a 
savings' bank, and rooms for lectures, &c 

Thero is, perhaps, no English town of similar extent, 
equal to Bedford in the variety and magnitude of its chari- 
table and educational establishments. Besides tbe fifty- 
eight alms-houses under Sir William Harpur'3 charity, 
houses for eight poor persons were built by T. Christie, Esq, 



BED 



13G 



B E D 



who bequeathed them a shilling each weekly, payable out of 
the great tithes of St. Paula. The county possesses a spacious 
lunatic asylum in St, Mary's parish, capable of accommo- 
dating sixty-six patients. It was opened in 1812, being the 
first county institution of the kind erected under the act of 
parliament to that effect. Private patients pay from one to 
three guineas per week ; and paupers from nine to twelve 
shilling, the deficiency being made up from the funds of 
the county treasury. An unusual degree of liberty is al- 
lowed to the unfortunate inmates through the good manage- 
ment of the superintendent. 

The general infirmary is also a noble building, situated, 
like the former, at a convenient distanco from the town. It 
was erected in 1803, ehiefly from funds bequeathed by Sa- 
muel Whitbrcad, Esq. It was originally intended for fifty 
patients, but has since been enlarged, and continues to be 
supported by subscription. The Marquess of Tavistock, 
after a contested election for the county, in which he refused 
to expend a shilling, gave towards enlarging the infirmary, 
tho sum (2000/.) which would probably have been expended 
in treating the electors. In eases of need, the surrounding 
counties are allowed to participate in the benefits of this in- 
stitution. A charity school for twenty children of the 
parishes of St. Paul and St. Cuthbert, was founded before 
1737, by the Hev. Mr. Lcith and others. Bedford h, how- 
ever, chiefly indebted for its charities to Sir William Harpur, 
alderman of London, who, in tho reign of Edward VI., 
founded a free-school for the instruction of the children 
of the town, in grammar and good manners. The donor 
conveyed to the corporation thirteen acres of land in the 
parish of St. Andrew, Holborn (London), for the support 
of this school, and for portioning poor maidens of the town ; 
the overplus, if any, to be given in alms to the poor. The 
land having been let on building leases, *Lamb*s Conduit 
Street, Harpur Street, Theobald's Uoad, Bedford Street, 
Bedford Row, New North Street, East Street, Green Street, 
and some smaller streets, were built upon it; and thus 
the property has gradually risen in value from below 150/. 
a year to upwards of 13,500/. which was its amount in 1833. 
A property thus greatly increased in value has several 
times required the interposition of Parliament to regulate 
its distribution. It at present supports a grammar-school, 
containing about eighty boys on the foundation, and as 
many privato boarders; a commercial school, containing 
1 00 to 1 50 boys ; and a national-school, containing 350 boys : 
in the latter 170 girls are received on half-holidays ; a re- 
gular girls* school, and an infant school are about to be added. 
Besides which, the girls in the hospital for poor children, 
another branch of the charity, are taught household duties, 
needle-work, reading and writing, by the mjstress. In these 
schools provision is made for the gratuitous instruction of tho 
ehildren of all resident parishioners of the five parishes of 
the town of Bed forth Books, &c, are gratuitously sup- 
plied. About twenty -five boys in the national-school arc 
clothed from a fund left by Alderman Newton, of Leicester. 
A new buildinc, for the English and national schools, con- 
taining large school-rooms, a blue-eoat hospital, for the hoard 
and education of boys and girls, and a committee-room, 
elcrk's house, &c., have lately been erected in the Tudor style 
of architecture, by the trustees of Sir W. Harpur's charity. 
Part of tho income from Sir W. Harpur's charity is also 
appropriated to the support of alms-houses, to the portioning 
young women in marriage, and to other benevolent objects. 
The proportions in which the income is distributed will bo 
better understood by reference to the following extract from 
the account given of the expenditure for the year, from 
October 1833, to October 1834 :— 
By Schools, viz. £ j. d. 

„ Grammar , . . 1581 15 5 
,. English . . . 673 7 1 

„ Preparatory, commercial . 105 14 11 
„ National . . . 269 9 10 



Exhibitions • . » . 

Marriage portions 
Hospital for children . 
Apprentices at binding 

,, „ at half time . . 

Donations on going out to service . 

„ to apprentices after service 



2630 


7 


3 


640 








500 








670 


16 





712 


10 





C23 








84 








290 









Carried forward 



6,150 13 3 



Brought forward . . £6.150 


IS 


3 


Almshouses .... 


2,208 


18 


o 


Distributed to the poor 


500 








Salaries • • • . . 


5S0 








Repairs, fittings, and furniture for 








new hospital 


555 


19 


8 


New schools and other buildings 


4156 


2 


6 


Books, stationery, printing, & stamps 


47 


3 


6 


Taxes, insurance, and miscellaneous 


630 


9 


10 


Law expenses .... 


809 


17 


fi 


Letting estates, &c. ♦ 


664 


8 


o 



16,363 12 11 

The grammar-school now contains 76 town boys, and has 
been brought to a high degree of excellence, through the 
exertions of the present head-master, the Rev. Dr. Brcreton, 
whoso salary is 250/. per annum, with a house tax free, 
coals and candles, together with five guineas from carh 
town boy (paid out of the school fund), and the privilege of 
taking boarders, at present (1835) amounting to 70. The 
second master has a salary of 140/., and four guineas with 
every town l>oy on the foundation, with a house. &c, as 
above. A third master has this year been added, with a 
salary of 150/. per annum. Tho mathematical master has 
a salary of 1 00/., and three guineas with every town boy 
learning mathematics. The salary of the writing master Is 
80/. per annum. The warden and fellows of New College, 
Oxford, are visitors of the school, and appoint the master 
and second master. The exhibitions are eight in number, 
of the value of 80/. per annum each ; and are designed for • 
boys educated in the school to assist thcra in completing 
their education at Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin. Six of 
the exhibitions arc holdcn exclusively by town boys ; but 
the examiners from New College are at liberty, as they 
see fit, to bestow the other two on the most deserving of 
boarders. 

(Gough's Camden's Britannia ; Lysons's Magna Britan- 
nia; Grose's Antiquities; Braylcy and Britton's Beauties 
of England and 1 Vales; Rickman's Essay on Gothic 
Architecture ; Boundary Reports; Accounts of the Bed- 
ford Charity for 1S3 4 ; Reports on Charities; Communica- 
tions from Bedford. #c.) 

BEDFORD. DUKE OF. Regent of France. John 
Plantagcnct, Duke of Bedford, was the third son of Henry 
IV. and Mary Bohun, daughter of the Earl of Hereford. 
He was knighted at the coronation of his father, October 
1 399. * by bathing and other sacred ecrcmonics.* being at 
the time not quite ten years old. He was created Duke of 
Bedford in the second year of the reign of his brother, 
Henry V., 'at the request of the Lords and Commons. 1 
(Rolls of Parliament, quoted in Hallam's Af/t/t/Ze Ages, vol. 
iii. p. 193.) During the lifetime of his father he was 
governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and warden of the Scot- 
tish Marshes ; and during his brother's absence in France, 
he was governor and coinmandcr-in-chicf of the forces in 
England. 

Henry V. died after a short illness, in 1422, at the early 
age of thirty-six years, leaving an infant successor only 
nine months old," with the disputed honour of king of 
France as a portion of his inheritance. On his death-bed 
he expressed his earnest desire, that Bedford should ' take up 
the administration of the affairs of France * during the mi- 
nority of the young king, — leaving the less diflicult admi- 
nistration of affairs at home to the conduct of his younger 
brother Gloucester, under the title of Protector. In love 
of martial glory, and in military talents, the Duke of Bed- 
ford was little, if at all, inferior to the deceased hero. He 
was, after the death of Henry, considered, says Rapin. in a 
portrait, which though highly coloured, has been implicitly 
adopted by Hume, to be tho 'most accomplished prince in 
Europe. Wise, judicious, of great valour, solidity, and pe- 
netration, master of Iris passions, and of a genius superior 
to all employed by him ; he seemed born for a throne, 
though Providence had ranked hiin among subjects. To all 
these qualities he added a majestic stateliness, which be- 
came his birth and high rank in France and England. But 
this he never carried beyond what was necessary to com- 
mand a due respect and regard for his person and authority. 
To sum up his character in a word, he was perfectly like 
the late king his brother, and in all his actions took him 
for his pattern/ No greater proof, indeed, of the high esti- 
mation in which he was held by his contemporaries need 
be given, than tho circumstance that the Lords and Coin- 



BED 



137 



BED 






mons, in contravention of the late king's testament, passed 
an act, declaring, under certain * well-defined limitations, 
the Duke of Bedford, * or, in his absence beyond seas,' the 
Duke of Gloucester, to he protector and defender of the 
kingdom and the English church, and the king's chief 
counsellor, during the minority of the young king. The 
proceedings of the parliament on this occasion may be re- 
ferred to as of great constitutional importance ; furnishing, 
as they do, the first great constitutional precedent of the 
ri^ht of parliament, in contradistinction to the king, and in 
this instance, in contravention to the king's will, to name a 
regent during the minority of his successor; and the equally 
decisive constitutional precedent, of the right and power of 
parliament to fix the' limitations of that regent's exercise 
of the prerogative. (See Hallam's Middle Ages, vol.' iii. 
p. 276, and Pari Hist vol. i.) 

By tho treaty of Troyes, which was concluded between 
the court of France and Henry V., on the 21st May, 1420, 
the English king was declared to he regent of France and next 
heir to the French crown. On his death-hed, Henry, anxious- 
to secure tbis splendid inheritance for his infant son, earn- 
estly impressed upon Bedford and his council tbe necessity 
of cultivating diligently the friendship of the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, and to offer to him in the first place the regency of 
France. This injunction Bedford obeyed to tbe letter. On 
the death of Henry, he immediately offered the regency to 
the Duke of Burgundy ; and on his refusal, and at the ap- 
parent solicitation of the French king, accepted the office 
himself. He conferred with Burgundy as to the hest mode 
of observing the terms of the treaty of Troyes, and obtained 
from him the warmest assurances of good faith as to its 
observance. He also ohtained the adhesion of the Duke 
of Bretagne to that treaty, and at a meeting which he 
brought about between that prince, the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, and himself, at Amiens, in April, 1423, he pre- 
vailed upon them to affirm their professions of friendship 
with an oath, by which they swore to love eaeh other as 
brothers, and to afford mutual aid against the attack of ene- 
mies. To make their union the more hinding, Bedford 
married a sister of the Duke of Burgundy, and the Duke 
of Bretagne married another. Bedford led his young hride 
to Paris, which he had made the centre of his government, 
and vigorously applied himself to tho consolidation of his 
infant nephew's inheritance. 

Had Henry lived a few months longer, he would have 
heen, in virtue of the treaty of Troyes, and the splendour 
aud extent of his eonquests, declared king of France. 
Charles VI., distinguished hy the epithet of the * Well Be- 
loved,' with whom he had concluded that treaty, survived 
* his dear son and heir' hut a few months; and at his fu- 
neral, Bedford had his infant nephew Henry VI. proclaimed 
' Our Sovereign Lord, King of France and England/ The 
south of France, however, was still in possession of the Dau- 
phin and his party, who summoned all the adherents of the 
antient monarehy to the standard, whieh that prince, as 
Charles VII., had raised at Chartres, the place of bis coro- 
nation. All the country to the north of the Loire may bo 
said to have heen in tbe hands of the English ; while every 
province to the south of that river, with the exception of 
Gascony, warmly espoused the cause of the heir of their 
native kings. Ihe history of Franec accordingly for many 
years presents a series of battles and sieges, which ended in 
the expulsion of tho English from all their conquests in 
the French territory. * 

In the first year of the war, Charles VII. received a 
great defeat at Crcvant. A still more signal disaster 
befell him next year at the battle of Verneuil (16th August, 
1424), at which Bedford commanded in person, and dis- 
played all the qualities of a great geueral. The French 
monarchy was only saved from ruin, after this decisive 
battle, by the conduct of the Duke of Gloucester, Bedford's 
hrother, whieh deprived the latter of the aid of the forces of 
tho Duke of Burgundy, to which he was mainly indebted 
for the victory at Verneuil; In his capacity of Regent of 
France, Bedford was thwarted in every . measure which 
tended to effect the entire subjugation of that country, 
either hy the indiscreet arahition of nis brother, or the 
jealous and parsimonious policy of the English parliament. 
The administration of affairs in England turned altogether 
upon the intrigues arid contests of two opposite parties, one 
headed hy Cardinal Beaufort [see Beaufort, Cardinal], 
tho other hy tho Duke of Gloucester ; and as tbe former 
was the moro powerful, and opposed to the war poliey 



of the latter, the supplies of men and money for the prose- 
cution of the war in France were doled out with so frugal 
a hand, that the offensive operations of the Duke of Bed- 
ford were confined to besieging some towns still held by the 
French king in the northern provinces; and it was only by 
the fraudulent connivance of Beaufort, for which he re- 
ceived a bribe of 1000 marks, that. a force of 5500 soldiers, 
which he had raised for a crusade against the Hussites in 
Bohemia, and which were on their way through France 
under the military command of the Cardinal, were sent as 
a reinforcement to the English forces, so as to enable the 
Recent to attempt to check the disasters that ensued from 
raising the siege of Orleans. 

The circumstances which deprived the Duke of Bedford 
of tho aid of the Burgundian forces were these : Gloucester 
had married Jacqueline, heiress of Hainault, Holland; 
Zealand, and Friesland. She had previously been married 
to the Duke of Brabant, first cousin of the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, but despising his tame spirit she eloped from him, 
and sought an asylum in England. Brabant, however, kept 
possession of her territorial dominions, which Gloucester 
claimed and sought to recover hy force. For this purpose he 
entered Hainault with 5000 English men-at-arms, besides 
other forces, shortly after tho decisive defeat of the French 
king at Verneuil. The Duke of Burgundy hastened with 
his troops to the aid of his kinsman; and Charles VII. was 
saved from ruin. 

Tbe siege of Orleans, memorable as one of the most ex- 
traordinary incidents in history, was commenced on the 12th 
of October, 1428. The fortunes of Charles hung upon the 
issue, and he was in despair. He was saved by the assist- 
ance of Joan of Are, and the English raised the siege of 
Orleans. [See Arc, Joan of.] This memorable effect of 
superstition— of supernatural confidence on the one side, 
and supernatural awe on the other — was followed by a suc- 
cession of disasters to the English arms, which, while they 
deeply afllieted, tasked all the energies of theDuke of Bedford. 
With a force drawn from the garrison towns of Normandy, 
and strengthened, as we havo stated, by the troops whieh Car- 
dinal Beaufort was leading to Bohemia, be marehed against 
Charles, who had just been crowned at Rheiras, hut failed 
in provoking him to risk a battle. " The Regent then chal- 
lenged Charles to single combat — denounced him as de- 
luding the people with tbe impostures of * a woman of a dis- 
orderly and infamous life and dissolute manners, and dressed 
in the elothes of a man ;' and offered to fight him hand 
to hand, in order that the people might judge by the issue 
whose claim was favoured by Heaven. Charles took no 
notice of the letter, and moved steadily upon Paris. The 
Regent hastened after him, and after breaking the spell of 
the maid's cbarm, by repulsing her from the walls of Paris, 
compelled the Freneh army to fall back upon the Loire. 
After various skirmishes, defeats, and successes, the maid 
was eaptured, when attempting a desperate sally from Com- 
pi^gne, on the 23rd May, 1430. 

With the subsequent fate of the Maid of Orleans, we have 
here no further concern, than to state, that the Regent 
joined eagerly in hringing her to the stake. 

In 1432 the Duehcss of Bedford, sister to the Duke of 
Burgundy, and .the great cement of their friendship, died. 
Within four months after the Regent married Jacquetta, 
daughter of the Earl of St. Pol, a vassal of the Duke of 
Burgundy. The prccipitateness and secrecy, as well as 
inferiority of the marriage, gave great offenee to the Duke 
of Burgundy. Cardinal Beaufort lahoured to reconcile the 
two prinees ; but as hoth were haughty and unbending, the 
attempt altogether failed. In tbis temper of mind, and the 
war having languished for upwards of two years, overtures 
were made on the part of Charles to Burgundy ; and the re- 
sult was a treaty of peaco hetween them. This treaty was 
the death-hlow to the English interest in France, and so 
affected the Regent that he died of mortification and anxiety 
while it was pending, at Rouen, on the 1 3th Septemher, 1 435, 
a fortnight before tbe treaty between Charles and the Duke 
of Burgundy was formally signed. An anecdote is told 
with respect to his tomh at Rouen, which is worth notice, 
as illustrative of the esteem in which he was held hy his 
contemporaries. We shall quote it in the words of Rapin. 
* Louis XI., son of Charles VII., heing one day in the 
ehurch at Rouen, and looking upon the Duke of Bedford's 
tomh, a certain lord of his retinue advised him to demolish 
that standing monument of the dishonour of the French. 
«« No/' replied the king, "let the ashes of a prince rest in 



No. 222. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Xqu IV.-T 



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peace, who, were he alive, would make the boldest of us 
tremble. I rather wish a rooro stately monument were 
raised to his honour." ' 

Liko most of tho i mined iato descondants of John of 
Gaunt, tho Duke of Bedford was a natron of literature. He 
purchased and trans ported to London tho Uoyal library of 
Paris, which Charles V. had increased to * nino hundred 
volumes;* and his brother Gloucester presented 600 books 
to the University of Oxford, 120 of which cost £1000. 
(Hallam's \tiddUAges % hi., p. 582.) Gloucester indeed was 
the English Micccnas of his timo, a circumstanco which, 
no doubt, influenced Shakspeare in painting him as tho 
'Good Duko Humphrey/ and in blackening the character 
of his rival Beaufort. 

(Monstrclet's Chronicles, and Rapin's History, which is 
particularly full and accurato with regard to tho transac- 
tions in tho reigns of the Lancastrian priueos, may be con- 
sulted with advantage for the publio life of tho Duko of 
Bedford. Dugdale's Baronage also points to several events 
in his career.) 

BEDFORD LEVEL. This district comprehends nearly 
the whole of a largo tract of flat land, extending into tho 
six counties of Northampton, Huntingdon, Cambridge, 
Lincoln, Norfolk, and Suffolk. It is bounded on tho north- 
east by tho German Ocean, and on all other sides by high 
lands/which encompass it in tho form of a horse-shoe. Its 
length from Toynton in Lincolnshire, to Milton in Cam- 
bridgeshire, is sixty miles, and its breadth from Peter- 
borough in Northamptonshire, to Brandon in Suffolk, is 
noarly forty miles. The tract thus described, includes that 
part of tho south-east division of Lincolnshire called Hol- 
land, which consists of Hat, low, marshy land, and is sup- 
posed to have been reclaimed from tho sea by embankments 
mado during tho Roman occupation of Britain. 

Tho Bedford Level extends to the north only as far as 
Tydd-St-Gilcs ; its length thence to Milton, on the south, is 
about thirty-three miles. The boundary line is irregular; 
its courso on the south, from Brandon to Peterborough, 
may be traced by Mildenhall to a short distance north of 
Newmarket, then by Milton in Cambridgeshire, to Karith, 
on tho borders of Huntingdonshire, Ramsey, Woodwallon, 
and Yaxley, in tho latter county. Returning from Peter- 
borough to Brandon, on the north, the boundary line runs 
by Peakirk, six miles north of Peterborough, Crowland, 
AVhaplode Drove Chapelry, Parson Drove, Guyhirn, Salter's 
Lodo on the Ouso, about ten miles south of Lynn, and 
thence by Methwold to Brandon. 

The Level is divided into three parts, which are distin- 
guished as tbe Nor Ui, tho Middle, and the South Levels. 
The North Level lies between the rivers Wei land and 
Nene; the Middle Level between tho Ncnc and the Old 
Bedford Rivers; and tho South Level extends from the 
Old Bedford River to Stoke, Feltwcll, and Mildenhall. 
The area of theso marshes has been variously stated. 
Among the authors who originally wrote on the subject. 
Sir Jonas Moore calls it 800,000 acres, Colonel Dodson and 
others cstimato it at 4 00.000; an actual survey made in 
1 605, and given in to Government upon oath, states it to be 
307,442 acres ; but according to tho Lysons, subsequent sur- 
veys have shown it to be 400,000 acres. 

Peterborough Fen, which is the nart of tho Level that 
runs into Northamptonshire, extends between Peterborough 
and Crowland, and contains between 8000 and 9000 acres. 
One-seventh part of tho IxjvcI is in Huntingdonshire. The 
whole of the Islo of Ely, which forms the north division of 
Cambridgeshire, and a few parishes in the same county, 
which lie south-east of the isle, are included in tho Level. 
Norfolk contains 63,000, and Suffolk 30,000 acres of the 
Level ; tho remainder is in tho south-east division of Lin- 
colnshire. 

This tract of land has, in tho courso of somo centuries, 
undergone rcmarkablo changes. There is abundant evi- 
dence to prove that it was once a forest, and that it then 
became a stagnant morass. It is now, through human 
industry, converted into rich pastures and fertile corn-fields. 
From facts which will bo stated further on, it docs not admit 
of doubt that this country was once dry land, at a level much 
below tho present surface; and there is reason for supposing 
that, at the time of the invasion of Britain by tho Romans, it 
consisted of ono of those great forests to which the Britons 
fled for sholter against their invaders. It was the policy of 
the Romans to cut down and destroy these strong holds of 
tho natives, who were compelled by their conquerors to clear 



tho woods* and embank the fens, (Tacit, Agric* 3 1.) Th© 
Emperor Severus, in the beginning of tho third century of 
our oora, caused roads to be made through theso marshes. 
One of these roads, 25 miles in length, extended from Pe- 
terborough to Denver in Norfolk; it was 60 feet wide, and 
composed of gravel three feet deep. This oauseway is now 
covered with soil from three to flvo feet in thickness. Henry 
of Huntingdon, who wroto in the roiddlo of the twelfth 
century, describes this fenny country as being 'very 
pleasant and agrceablo to tho cyo, watered by many rivers 
which run through, diversified with many largo and small 
lakes, and adorned with many woods and islands.' AVilliain 
of Malmesbury, who lived about tho same period, described 
the Lordship of Thorney as abounding in lofty trees, fruit- 
ful vines, and productive orchards, and having no wasto 
land in any part. He also expressed great admiration of 
tho works of art found in the same place. *AVhat shall I 
say,' ho writes, 'of tho beautiful buildings which it is so 
wondorful to sec tho ground amidst those fens to bear ?* 
. Up to the thirteenth century, tho waters usually llowed 
in their natural channels, and tho surrounding country was 
either under tillago or in pasturage. 

According to Dugdalc, historians who were contemporary 
with the event, have recorded, that in 1236, on tho morrow 
after Martinmas day, and for the space of eight days after, 
tho wind raged so violently, that tho sea rose much higher 
than usual, hroko in at AVisheach, and other places of Uie 
district, so that many people and cattle, together with 
numerous small craft, wcro destroyed, and the surviving 
inhabitants reduced to great distress, After an interval of 
seventeen years, a similar accident occurred, and on this 
occasion an order was issued by the king, requiring the 
inhabitants to repair tho banks. This work appears to 
havo been inefficiently performed, for within a few jears 
the soa-banks wcro again destroyed. Subsequent ombank- 
ments wcro improperly made, either through ignorance, or 
for the benefit of ono part to the injury of all tho rest. An 
instance of this kind occurrod in the reign of Edward L, 
when Walter dc Langton, bishop of Lichfield, diverted tho 
course of the Neno, and obstructed the navigation, in order 
that ho might drain his own manor of Coldham, Many 
years afterwards tho bishop's representatives were compelled 
to destroy the dams which he had constructed to tho injury 
of others. From this, and other causes, tho waters from 
tho uplands were nreventod from discharging themselves 
into tho sea, and this extent of land was at length reduced 
to tho state of & morass, For a long poriod the greater 
part of tho district was composed of an unhoallhy stagna- 
tion of putrid and muddy waters, which in somo places 
Stood from ten to twenty feet deep. In those few parts 
whero the earth was not covered with water, it was spongy 
and boggy. The inhabitants of the Fens, and the towns 
in their neighbourhood, could only have communication 
by means of boats, and this with some difficulty at all 
times, in consequence of the sedge and* slime with which 
the ground was covorod, In the winter, when there was 
teo, yet not sufficiently hard to admit of traffic on its sur- 
face, the inhabitants were completely isolated, and * could 
hardly get help of food for soul or body.' 

Evidence has everywhere been found below the actual 
surface not only of tho presence of former vegetation, but to 
show that these places bad previously been inhabited, and 
that they were suddenly overwhelmed by some violent cause. 
In digdng near Thorney, Lynn, and many other places, 
trees of largo si*o were found buried in the moss, and lying 
near their roots, which still remained as they grew, in firm 
earth beneath the moss. In the year 1764, while digging a 
little north of Boston (not in tho Level, but in a continuation 
of the fenny district), roots of trees were found in the firm 
earth, eighteen feet below the then pasturage surface. 
About, a milo west of Magdalen Bridge, over the Ouse, in 
Marshland, Norfolk, furze hushes and nut trees were found 
pressed Hat down seventeen feet below tho surface, with 
nuts still sound lying by them. In the process of exca- 
vating a pool at the edge of Conington Down, Huntingdon- 
shire, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the 
skeleton of a largo sea fish was found at a great depth be- 
low the surface. When in pursuance of the first project for 
draining those fens, the channel of the Wisbeach river was 
deepened in 1635 eight feet below the then bottom, a hard 
stony bottom was discovered, on which were several boats 
covered with silt. While digging a drain at Wlrittlesea 
Moor, a perfect aoil was found at the depth of eight feet, 



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139 



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with fewaths of grass lying u^on it just as they were mowed. 
At Shirbeck sluice, near Boston, a smith's forge was found 
buried sixteen feet deep; the remains of several antient 
tan-vats were also found, and a large quantity of horns; 
there were also some soles of shoes of a peculiar shape, 
sharp- pointed, and of the fashion which prevailed in the 
reign of Richard II. At the setting down of a hew sluice 
a little heneath Magdalen fall, half a mile from Magdalen 
hridge, oh the marsh side, and sixteen feet deep in the earth, 
a cart-wheel and a fiat stone about eight feet long were 
found. Not fur from that spot the remains of achureh were 
discovered, ahout eight feet below the surface; and it is 
stated by Dugdale that at Wigcnhall St. Germans, the floor 
of the church is seven feet lower than high-water mark of 
the Ouse : which river, as it runs by the churchyard, is kept 
by a strong hank from inundating the country* 

The principal rivers or drains, which formerly passed 
through this Level, were eight in numher: the Glen, the 
Welland, the Ncne, the Ouse, the Cam, the Mildenhall or 
Lark, the Brandon or Little Ouse, and the Stoke. 

The Glen is a small stream which rises in the south of 
Lincolnshire, and taking first a S.S.E. and afterwards a N.E. 
course, falls into the Welland on its left bank, hear its 
mouth. The Welland comes from the S.W. to Market 
Deeping, continues thence a short distance to the east, and 
then takes a N.E. course Until it joins the Fossdike Wash 
near Fossdike. The Nene passes by Peterborough, con- 
tinues thence to Wisbeach, and falls into the Sutton Wash- 
way. This river has at different times had its channel so 
altered and diverted from its original course by numerous 
cuts, that it is now scarcely possible to trace the line of its 
natural bed. The Wisbeach river, or Old Nene, which 
issues from Ramsay Mere, is a branch of this river. 

The Ouse passes by St. Ives and Earith, after which it 
takes an irregular winding course, first east and then nearly 
north, till it falls into the Wash at Lynn Regis in Norfolk : 
the Cam, the Lark, and the Little Ouse fall into it on its 
east bank. 

It thus appears that there are three main outlets for the 
waters of this Level. These have constantly been liable to 
have their mouths choked up by loose sand thrown up by 
the tides. 

The Level receives the waters of the whole or parts of nine 
counties from the uplands, and the whole tract being fiat, 
with little or no descent, it has hitherto been u matter of 
difliculty to provide a sufficient outfall so that the waters 
may reach the sea without overflowing the country. 

The practicability of draining this great morass seems 
first to have been entertained in 1436, when the attention of 
many wealthy persons was turned towards the subject. 
Embankments were made, and ditches were Cut at a vast 
expense, but the next winter proving wet and tempestuous, 
the Ouse, swollen by its tributaries iuto a torrent, swept 
away the barriers, and reduced the whole country to its 
former condition. These works having been thought per- 
fectly secure, people were led to doubt the possibility of 
effectually draining the marshes, and the practicability of 
the undertaking became the subject of much curious con- 
troversy. 

In the reign of Henry VII. Bishop Moreton made an 
attempt to drain the North Level attd the northern parts of 
the Middle Level by means of a eut, called Moreton s 
Lcame, which extended from Peterborough to Guyhirn, and 
is now considered part of the Nene : this cut was forty feet 
widfe, and navigable. The earth of which the embank- 
ments were made was loose and sandy, so that they crum- 
bled aWay. Another attempt was made in the reign of 
Ellzaheih, and a third in the time of her successor ; but 
nothing effectual was done until 1634, in the reign of 
Charles I., when another attempt to drain these fens was 
made by Francis Earl of Bedford, and it was in compliment 
to this nobleman that the tract reclaimed has been named 
the Bedford Level. 

The lordship of Thorney, containing 18,000 acres, was 
the property of the Earl« and except a hillock upon which 
the abbey had been built, the whole of this tract was under 
water. The wish to reclaim this land induced him to 
embark in the undertaking. As a compensation for the 
risk and expense, he stipulated that he and his partners 
in the work should receive as payment 95,000 acre3 of the 
reclaimed land. Under this condition a charter was granted 
to the adventurers, and the work was partially accomplished 
in the course of three yeai3 f at -an outlay of 100,000/. A 



cut, now called the Old Bedford River, was made from 
Earith, communicating with the Ouse at Salter's Lode, 
near Denver in Norfolk : this river is seventy feet wide, and 
twenty-one miles long. The other drains then made were 
Sam's Cut, from Feltwell to the Ouse near Denver, twenty 
feet wide, and about six miles long: Bevil's Learn, now 
known as Bevil's River, from Whittlesea Mere to Guyhirn, 
forty feet wide, and ten miles long : Morcton's Learn was 
repaired and embanked anew: Pcakirk drain, from Pea- 
kirk to Guyhirn, seventeen feet wide, and ten miles long. 
South-eau drain, from Crowland to Clows Cross, and thence 
the Shire drain to the Nene, six miles below Wisbeach, heing 
antient drains, were enlarged. A small cut was also made 
from the Lark to the Ouse. Four sluices were made; two 
at Tydd, one at Wishcach. and the fourth at Salter's Lode, 
to keep out the tide. 

These embankments also proved defective, in consequence 
of the loose nature of the earth of which they were formed; 
and the state of the country', owing to the civil wars, heing 
unfavourable for the prosecution cf such projects, the whole 
tract was again suffered to lie waste till 1649, when Wil 
Ham, the son of Francis Earl of Bedford, agreed to make 
another effort to reclaim the level upon the same conditions. 
The sum of 300,000/. was then laid out in draining, em- 
banking, &o., and with more success than before ; the 
95,000 acres were allotted to the undertakers, but the sum 
they had expended on the work was greater than the worth 
of the land which they received. The New Bedford River, 
which is 100 feet wide, was cut on the occasion last men- 
tioned : it runs at a short distance from,/and nearly parallel 
to, the Old Bedford River. 

A regular system was now established for preserving the 
reclaimed land, and for improving the draining. A royal 
charter was granted in 1664, by which the undertakers for 
the draining were incorporated, and regulations were framed 
for the management of the 95,000 acres allotted. This 
corporation has since been kept up, and consists of a go- 
vernor, six hailiffs, twenty conservators, and a commonalty. 
The corporation is empowered to impose and levy taxes for 
the preservation of its land, and for upholding the ways, 
passages, rivers, cuts, drains, hanks, &c. throughout the 
Level, which arc also the property of the corporation. The 
governor and bailiffs must each possess at least 400 acres of 
the land granted to the corporation to qualify them for 
holding those offices. The qualification requisite for the 
conservators is 200 acres: such of the commonalty as pos- 
sess each 100 acres are allowed to have a voice in the elec- 
tion of the officers of the corporation. 

At the original allotment of the 95,000 acres, the ad ven 
turers received assignments proportioned to the sums which 
each had contributed ; so that the whole assignment is not 
held in common, but each owner holds his allotment or pur 
chase subject to the laws and restrictions of the corporation. 
At the time the charter was granted by Charles II., that 
king reserved 12,000 acres for himself out of the 95,ouo 
acres ; hut this proportion was subject to the same manage- 
ment as the rest of the allotment. 

Various means have been adopted for the more perfect 
draining of these marshes, but until within the last few 
years the subject has not heen well understood. In- 
stead of making a few large and deep channels through 
which the water would easily find an outfall, numerous 
small cuts were made, requiring, to produce the same effect, 
a much greater inclination than would have been requisite 
for larger ehannels. It would be useless to enumerate all 
these small cuts. The channels which it is necessary to 
mention are, — the sixteen feet drain, which runs about four 
miles west of and nearly parallel to Old Bedford River, is 
eight miles long ; this terminates in tbe forty feet drain, 
which runs from Old Bedford River to Ramsay Merc. The 
Carr Dike, which is a Roman Work, runs from Peterborough 
to Peakirk. The Counter Drain runs parallel to and near 
the Nene, from Peterborough to Guyhirn. The Cats* Water 
communicates with the eounter drain near Peterborough, 
on the one sido, and with the Old South-eau drain on the 
other side. The Cats' Water was a very old drain choked 
by earth and weeds, and served neither for the purpose of 
draining nor navigation. It was cleared out and repaired 
hy the Earl of Bedford and his Company, with many smaller 
drains which had been equally neglected. A great part of 
Carr Dike is now disused, and the Cats' Water is little more 
than a boundary fence to Thorney : no part of either is navi- 
gable at present. The Well Creek runs from Salter s Lodo 



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to Outwell, and consists of two cuts forming an obtuse angle 
Willi one another. 

The original navigation from Lynn Kepis to Stawlground 
Sluice, near Peterborough, was carried from Salter's I*odc 
Sluice, through Well Creek and tho Nene, to Flood's Kerry, 
and thence through Ramsay, Ugg. and Whittlesea Mercs, 
a passage at all times tedious, and often difficult and dan- 
gerous. In 1 754 an act was passed for improving this navi- 
fation, and a new line was made from Salter's Lode through 
fell Creek to the town of Out well, thence through the Old 
Nene or Wisbeach River by Unwell and March to Flood's 
Ferry, and thence to Ramsay High Lode. A cut was also 
then made from Outwell to Wisbeach, and the navigation 
of the Nene from Wisbeach to Peterborough was improved, 
by which means a safo navigation was provided from Lynn 
Regis to Peterborough by Outwell, Wisbeach, and Guy- 
him. 

By far the greatest and most effectual modern improve- 
ment in the draining and navigation of these fens has been 
completed under acts passed in 1827 and 1829 for improving 
the outfall of the river Nene, for the drainage of the lands 
discharging their waters into tho Wisbeach River, for im- 
proving the navigation of the Wisbeach River, from the 
upper end of Kindcrley's Cut to the sea, and for embanking 
the salt marshes lying between Kindcrlcy's Cut and the sea. 
The act of 1829 amended and enlarged the powers granted 
in 1827.- Under these acts a new tidal channel has been cut 
for the discharge of the waters of the Ncnc into the sea. 
This channel begins at Kindcrley's Cut," near Buckworth 
Sluice, about six miles below Wisbeach, and extends to Crab- 
hole in Lincolnshire, a distance of six miles and a half ; thence 
the river has shaped for itself a natural channel, about 
a mile and a half long, into the Wash. The excavation 
of this channel was begun in 1827, and finished in June, 
1830, when the old channel was closed, and the water rush- 
ing into the new one carried away the earth at the bottom 
with so mueh force as to give to the channel ten or twelve 
feet greater depth than had already been given ,by manual 
labour. The sides of the channel were ; then. secured by a 
thick lining of stones. The whole course of this new .cut is 
through quicksands of the lightost and least cohesive na- 
ture of any on this part of the coast. The. width of the 
channel at bottom is 140 feet at Kinderley's Cut, and at 
about half its length, at Scate's Corner, 200 feet The sur- 
face width varies from 200 to 300 feet. The depth,* mea- 
suring from the surfaeo of the adjacent land to the bed of 
the river, is about 24 feet throughout. The spring-tide 
rises about 22 feet at the end nearest to the sea, and 18 feet 
at the junction with Kinderley's Cut. A bridge has been 
thrown over this channel at Sutton Wash, about eight miles 
below Wisbeach, and an embankment has been made a mile 
and a half in length across the sands, forming a new line of 
road between Norfolk and Lincolnshire,' in* place of the 
former dangerous ford through a tidal rostuary, or'tho very 
circuitous route through Wisbeach. . .' 

Nearly 1500 acres of marsh lands have been reclaimed 
from the sea, by embankments made under the acts of 
1827 and 1829, and are now (1835) nearly all under cul- 
tivation : about 6000 acres more arc rapidly coming to a fit 
state for inclosure. 

The old channel afforded only a tedious arid dangerous 
passage, and that too at spring tides, and with a favourable 
wind to vessels of about sixty tons burden, drawing about 
six feet water. The new channel affords a safe ana unin- 
terrupted communication between Wisbeach and tho sea at 
all variations of the tide, and in all weathers, for vessels of 
the above burden, and at spring tides for ships of much 
larger dimensions. e • 

Wisbeach is tho emporium for a large part of the counties 
of Cambridgo, Norfolk, Lincoln, and Northampton, and tho 
advantages of this improved communication are conse- 
quently very great; hut by. far the most important effects 
which aro expectod to follow from this extensive under- 
taking will result from tho judicious system of draining the 
north level, which there is no doubt will be imitated with 
equally good effects in tho other levels. 

Jn consequence of the more rapid discharge through this 
new channel— tho Nene Outfall— the danger of inundation 
from a breach of embankment U greatly diminished, as 
regards the fens on each sido of the Nene, between Peter- 
borough and Wisbeach, and tho value of the adjaeent 
land is much increased. Its efficiency for draining tho 
land may be appreciated by tho faet, that the tide in this 



new channel ebbs out nearly ten feet lower than it did in 
the old channel, immediately opposite to the South Holland 
and North Level Sluices, (both below Wisbeach,) which arc 
the outlets for the waters of about 1 00.000 acres of fen land. 
Means are thus afforded for obtaining a perfect drainage 
for the whole tract of marsh and fen land lying between the 
Nene and Wclland, which hitherto has been only imper- 
fectly drained. 

A new sluice has been constructed for the outlet of the 
waters of the North Level into the Nene Outfall, and laid 
eight feet deeper than the sluice by which it formerly 
drained into tho Old River Channel. The width of the 
water-way of the old sluice was seventeen feet; the width 
of the new sluice is thirty-six feet, and a new main drain has 
been formed, leading to this sluice from Clow's Cross, at 
which point all the waters of tho North J-cvel arc collected. 
This drain commences and terminates nearly at the same 
points as the Old Shire Drain, for which it is substituted ; 
it is only eight miles and a quarter long, about two-thirds 
of the length of the former drain, but it is eight feet deeper, 
and its capacity, taken in corresponding sections, is mure tfian 
six times as great : it has a descent from Clow's Cross of 
four inches per mile. From Clow's Cross two new drains 
diverge in different lines;, one of them, called the Now 
South-can, is much straightcr and wider than the Old 
South-eau, which it is intended to replace; the New Wryde 
proceeds first in a curve, and then in a straight line to the 
counter drain. These cuts possess a superiority over the 
old ones, fully equal to that stated in the comparison made 
between Old Shire Drain and the New Main Drain. All 
these drains may be navigated, and will afford a much 
readier means "of transit for goods, than any hitherto pos- 
sessed by the districts through which they pass. 

The works just described as having been executed under 
the acts of 1827 and 1829, were begun in 1828, and are now 
(1835) completed. The Nene Outfall was made at the cost 
of 200,000/., and the drainage of the North Level, for which 
the Act was obtained in 1830, occasioned a further outlay of 
150,000/. The great supporter of both these useful under- 
takings was the present Duke of Bedford, who carried tliem 
through with much patience and perseverance, under cir- 
cumstances that would have discouraged a person of less 
steady purpose, and one who could not look forward with 
confidence to future advantage rather than present gain. 
In this conduct he was ably supported by the exertions of 
his confidential friend W. G. Adam, Esq., the accountant- 
general; But even they could not have carried them into 
effcet without the scientific knowledge, great zeal and ac- 
tivity, and Incessant labour which were displayed by Mr." 
Tyeho Wing, 1 his Grace's intelligent and able local agent, 
the third of his name who in succession have managed that 
property of the Russell family, and have enabled them to 
direct their influence to the continual improvement of this 
district 

Various auxiliary means have been used for the complcto 
drainage of the Level. In many parts windmills have been 
erected for raising and carrying off the water through a 
safe channel, and moro recently steam-engines have been 
employed for tho same purpose. t But the late improvements 
have tendered windmills and steam-engines unnecessary in 
tho North Level, and if equal skill and enterprise were em- 
ployed in draining the other levels, all the waters of these 
marshes might find an outfall with equal facility. 

(Sir Jonas Moore's History of the Bedford Level; 
Colonel Dodson's Design for the perfect Draining of the 
Great Level of the Fens called Bedford Level ; Burrell's 
Brief Relation as to the Practicability, $c. of draining the 
Level qf the Fens ; Dugdalc's History of Embanking and 
Draining^ <Jr. ; Carters History of the County of Cam- 
bridge; Ly sons Y Magna Britannia ; Priestlev's Historical 
Account of navigable Bivcrs, Canals , $c, ; Memoir of the 
Nene Outfall and the North Level Drainage, printed for 
(privato) distribution on the occasion of the public inspection 
of those works, 23rd May, 1834.) 

BEDFORDSHIRE, an inland county of England, of 
very irregular shape. It lies between si°49'and 52*21' 
N. lat.,and 0°8'and 0°41' W. long. It is bounded on the 
N.E. by Huntingdonshire, and on the N.W. by Northamp- 
tonshire ; on the E. by Cambridgeshire, on the W.and S.W. 
by Buckinghamshire, and on the S.E. and S. hy Hertford- 
shire. Its greatest length Is 36 J miles, measured nearly 
N. and S., and its greatest breadth is 22J miles, measured 
nearly E. and W. Bedford, tho county town, is situated 



B^E D 



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near the centre of the eounty, rather nearer to the N. and 
W. boundaries. It is 46 miles,* measured in a direct line 
from London (i. e. from St. Paul's), from which it lies N. by 
AV., or N.N.AV. ; but by the road through Barnet, Hatfield,* 
Hitchin, and Shefford, it is 50 miles. The area of the county is 
463 square statute miles, or 296,320 acres ; or, taking the sum 
of the areas assigned to the different parishes, 297,632 aeres. 
It is the smallest eounty in England, except Huntingdon, 
Middlesex, and Rutland. The population in 1831 was 
95,483. (Population Returns, 1831; Enumeration Ab- 
stract.) * ' 

* Surface, Hydrography, Communications, — Bedfordshire 
has no high lands of any great extent, The range of the 
Chiltem hills (under the name of the Dunstable and 
Luton Downs) erosses it in a N.E. direction, near Dun- 
stable, separating the basin of the Thames from that of 
the Ouse. Another ridge, having the same general direc- 
tion, extends from Ampthill to near the junction of the 
Ivel with the.Ouse. Some hills, between which the Ouse 
winds its course, and in whieh some of its feeders take their 
rise, oceupy the north-west parts of the county. Between 
these hills and the Ampthill ridge is the vale of Bedford, 
a eorn district of considerable extent. The woodlands are 
ehiefly of modem origin, having been planted during the 
latter part of the last century : they eonsist chiefly of oak, 
Scotch fir, larch, and underwood of various kinds. 

The ehief river Js the Ouse, which, approaching the 
eounty from Buckinghamshire, and forming for a short dis- 
tance the boundary of the two counties, erosses Bedfordshire 
with so winding a eourse, that although the distance from 
the point where it first enters the eounty, to the point 
where it leaves, is, in a direct line, not quite 17 miles, the 
length of the river itself, between the same points, is pro- 
bably not less, than 45 t miles. The average depth of the 
Ouse is considered to be about ten feet, and it is fordable in 
several places. It is subject to sudden and destructive inun- 
dations at all seasons. In its eourse through Bedfordshire 
it is increased by many streams, whieh How into it on each 
bank, hut none of these are of any size or importance ex- 
cept the Ivel. The Ivel is commonly considered to have its 
source near Baldock, in Hertfordshire, but tho principal 
branch of it rises on the N.AV. slope of the Chiltem hills, 
a little to the N.E. of Dunstable, and flowing to the N.E., 
unites with the Ouse at the village of Tempsford, after a 
eourse of about 30 miles. The streams which form another 
considerable feeder of the Ouse eross the county in its 
northern part. The river Lea, which falls into the Thames 
just below London, rises on the opposite slope of the same 
range of hills as the Ivel, 'and not far from the- springs 
of that river ; but only a small part of its course is in Bed- 
fordshire. The Ouzel, a tributary of the Ouse, separates 
Bedfordshire from Buckinghamshire, but is to be considered 
as properly belonging to the latter county. The fish of 
the Ouse are pike, perch, tench, bream, ehub, bleak, cray- 
fish, fine eels, dace, roach, and "gudgeon. Bleak abound 
particularly about Bedford bridge. Eels arc found in the 
greatest abundance and of the largest size at Stoke mill, 
near Mclchbourne. The fish of the Ivel are, for the most 
part, the 'same as those of the Ouse: it is particularly 
famous for gudgeon. 

The navigation of the Ouse commences at Bedford, and 
that of the Ivel at Shefford : by means of these rivers the 
eounty communicates with Huntingdonshire, Cambridge- 
shiro, and Norfolk ; and, more remotely, with other coun- 
ties. There are no canals in Bedfordshire, but the Grand 
Junction Canal approaches close to its western border at 
Leightbn Buzzard. The great road to Manchester, Leeds, 
Carlisle, and Glasgow, passes through it on the S.W. side, 
and the high north road, through York and Edinburgh, on 
the eastern side. 

Geological character. — The range of the Chiltem hills 
consists of chalk, whieh occupies the south-eastern part of 
the county ; and is skirted along its N.W. boundary by 
a belt of indurated ehalk-marl, much covered by the debris 
of the ehalk hills. This chalk-marl is known in the county 
by the name of cluneh, and is extensively quarried at Tot- 
ternhoe near Dunstable. It affords, by burning, a good 
lime. The ehalk-marl is blended with a blue marl, which 
may perhaps be identical with tho weald-clay of Kent, Surrey 
and Snssox, or with what has been denominated the Folk- 
stone clay. Iron-sand, the lowest of the formations which 
intervene between the ehalk and the oelitcs, strotches 
aeross the county in the same direction as tho other forma- 



tions, viz., from S.W. to N.E. Beds of fullers' earth, which 
occur in it, have been extensively worked, and in Fuller's 
time this mineral was known by the name of TVoburne 
earth. The same formation eontains also a considerable 
quantity of fossil wood. This iron-sand rises into a well- 
defined range of hills. ■ * • 

To the iron-sand succeeds a tenaceous adhesive clay, oft 
dark blue colour, becoming brown on exposure, and known 
by the name of Oxford elay. This stratum forms the vale 
of Bedford, and affords a strongelay soil, occupied chiefly in 
pasturage. It supplies several brick-kilns in the immediate 
vicinity of the town, in one of which part of a new species 
of Plesiosaurus was discovered in 1833. Many vertebra of 
fossil Sauri have been found at Nemenham Mill, near Gol- 
diagton : and an entire Plesiosaurus, of large dimensions, 
was discovered in 1833, in a brick-field about two miles 
north-west of Bedford, near the Ouse. The appearance of 
coal gave rise to some attempts to find that mineral, at 
Elstow near Bedford, which ended in disappointment. In 
the N.AV. part of the eounty, the Cornbrash limestone ap- 
pears, and is quarried in several places. The Oxford clay 
and the Cornbrash limestone are parts of the oolitic series. 
(Conybeare and Phillips's Outlines of the Geology of 
England and Wales; Smith's Map and Delineation of the 
Strata of England and Wales.) 

Several springs in the county arc impregnated with 'dif- 
ferent minerals, but none of them arc of any note. Drayton, 
in his Poly-Olbion (22nd song), as quoted by Fuller, speaks 
of a brook at Apsley Guise, near Woburn, the earth on the 
banks of which had a petrifying qualit/: but this account 
has been ascertained to be incorrect. Drayton's lines are as 
follows: — 

• The brook which on liet bank doth boast that earth nlonc. 
Which, nutrd of this Isle, converteth wood to stone. 
That little A«pcley's earth we nntletitly instill 
'MoDgit sundry other things, a wonder of the lile.' 

Late compilers, borrowing probably from Drayton and 
Fuller, speak of a petrifying spring near Woburn. 

Climate, Agriculture. — The climate of this county, par- 
taking of that of the interior of England, is not so wet as the 
western coast, nor so mueh exposed to cold winds as the 
eastern maritime counties. The air in general is mild and 
healthy, somewhat keen on the chalky hills, and moister on 
the eold, wet clays. The surface of the eounty is much 
varied; but none of the hills rise high or abruptly, with the 
exception of the chalky ridge, which is a continuation of the 
Chiltem hills, and which appears high only by comparison 
with more gentle undulations. Many of the slopes of the 
hills are skirted with woods and eoppice, which add much to 
the general appearance of the country when viewed from ail 
eminence. The soil varies greatly. On entering the county 
from the south the soil is composed of chalk, covered with a 
very thin layer of earth, which is consequently nearly fn & 
state of nature, and only fit for sheep-walks. On descending 
the hills there occurs a mixture of chalk and clay, known by 
the name of '.white land/ whieh is stiff, but tolerably fertile* 
Various kinds of loam, chiefly clay, succeed, till you arrive- 
at a sandy belt which stretches obliquely across the count): 
from Leighton Buzzard to Biggleswade and Potton on the; 
borders of Cambridgeshire. Along this belt runs the river 
Ivel, whieh falls into the Ouse at Tempsford. f Between the- 
course of the Ivel and the valley of the Ouse near Bedford! 
lies a tract of stiff soil of various texture and quality, but 
quite different from the light soils found in the belt. Along: 
the course of the Ouse, especially near Bedford, a gravelly soiL 
prevails, covered in some places with a layer of rich, browni 
earth, well adapted for every kind of agricultural produce;. 
Proceeding north of Bedford the • general character of the- 
soil is stiff, wet, and poor, with very few exceptions. The* 
most fertile spots in the county are in a the brown earth* 
before-mentioned in the valley of the Ouse near Bedford,, 
and in the sandy belt,' where the soil washed down from the 
hills has accumulated, in particular basins, on a porous sub- 
stratum. These soils, composed of rich loam and of great 
depth, are admirably adapted for market- gardens, for which 
the county lias long been noted. The parish of Sandy in 
particular, not far from Biggleswade, and some others, pro- 
duce an abundance of vegetables, not only for the supply of 
the neighbourhood, but also for distant markets. At the 
same time there are spots, both in the chalky hills and in 
the sandy eminences, which are as barren and unproduc- 
tive as any in England ; especially where a grey, loose sand 
abounds, on which nothing but ling or "heath will grow. 



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142 



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These are scarcely of any Use but as rabbit warrens, al~ 
though some of them have been brought into cultivation i 
Along the river I vol, in the parishes of Tingrith, Fletwick, 
\\Woniug, Hilton, Muulden,&a, a considerable quantity 
of ferruginous peat is found. 

From this brief sketch it will be seen that there is scarcely 
any county of which the soil is so diversified, and where ex- 
periments* on the best modo of cultivating various soils 
could bo made with moro advantage. AVith tho well-known 

iuitroimge of the Dukes of Bedford, especially of tho la to 
)uke Francis, and other large proprietors, and the example 
of their stewards and immediate tenants, ono would expect 
a greater progress in the scioneo and practico of agriculture 
than will bo found in tho county in general on careful 
examination. Many improvements have, no doubt, been 
introduced since the county has been more generally in- 
closed, which could not be expected while tho system of 
common fields precluded any deviation from the esta- 
blished rotations of crops; but much yet remains to be 
done before tho county of Bedford can vie with tho eastern 
maritime counties, from the Thames to tho Humbcr, in 
the cultivation of tho land, or in the management of 
stock. The poor, cold clays, which form a considerable 
portion of tho soil of this county, as they are cultivated 
at present, give no great return to the farmer. The chief 
produce is corn, and it requires much labour and expenso 
to obtain a very moderate crop. This, together with the 
gradual depreciation in the value of corn when compared 
with stock, makes the rents very low. Most of the land 
north of Bedford docs not let for above 10*. an acre, and 
some as low as &?., in spite of considerable expense incurred 
by proprietors in fencing and making ditches, an essential 
improvement on this kind of soil. , That a better system 
could be* adopted Micro can be no doubt, but old prejudices 
interfere with the better mauagement of cold, wet clays; 
and while poor light soils, formerly considered as nearly 
barren, have been greatly improved by the introduction of 
turnips and the profit on sheep, the poor clays are still 
managed nearly in the same manner as they were a century 
ago ; and many practical and intelligent men imagine, that 
no new method can be adopted with any chance of success. 
Tho chief cause of this Is, perhaps, the difficulty of convert- 
ing such soils into good pasture after having been once 
broken up; but this difficulty, however real, is not iusur- 
mountablc. 

On this subject we must refer tho reader to the article 
Grvss-land, in which tho principles of this important part 
of agriculturo will be discussed. In the account of the agri- 
culture of Berwickshire, also, some useful practical ex* 
amplcs are given. 

It must be acknowledged by all those who are interested 
in the letting of land, that there is a great difficulty at pre- 
sent in finding responsible tenants, with sufficient capital, 
who are inclined to take a farm consisting chiefly of heavy 
and cold arablo land, however low the rent may be ; and 
that, when a tenant is tempted by a very reduced rent to 
take such a farm, he is soon discouraged and repents of his 
bargain: whereas light lands, however poor, upon which 
turnips can be made to grow, and sheep ean be kept, soon 
find respectable tenants. 

In the light lands the system Is well established, and nothing 
is required but to follow the regular course of crops, and pay 
some attention to the sheep; the crops are loss preearious, 
and the weather does not so often lntcrferowith the common 
operations of husbandry. Hence it Is that tho chief im- 
provements have been made in tho sandy soils J and it will 
require some new iinpulso to agricultural sacculations to en- 
gage either proprietors or tenants to adopt an Improved sys- 
tem on the wet clays. But, even according to tho old system 
of fallowing and cropping, the clay soils in Bedfordshire are 
liot cultivated in the most approved manner, as will be seen 
by comparing the usual operations with those on similar 
soils In Essex and Suffolk. The old method In Bedfordshire, 
which is still continued by many farmers, was to fallow the 
land every third year, and as by this system thero was no 
means of raising a sufileient Quantity of manure to dress 
the land fallowed, recourse was nad to tho folding of sheet). 
This system was well adapted to situations where ample 
commons gave thd means of keeping the sheep at a small 
expenso; but where such erimmons have been inclosed, 
and the sheep must necessarily bo maintained on tho farm, 
it Is evident that, Unless food for the sheep be raised on the 
field on which they are folded, ono part of the farm is 



robbed to enrich tho other; and the damage dono to tho 
sheep by folding them on cold, wet clays in rainy weather, 
is probably not compensated hv the good which their manuro 
does to tho following crop. The manner, also, in which tho 
fallows are treated is not perfect. The old custom was to 
give only three ploughings, which had distinct names: the 
first was called tntfaUow, the second stirring, and the iliird 
laying vp* There seems to have been a prejudice against 
frequent ploughing of stiff soil, and the drag or harrows 
were not much used. This is very different from the prac- 
tice on stiff soils in the county of Essex, where they never 
think thev can plough enough, (Sec Bachelors Survey of 
Bedfordshire, p, 329.) 

The usual rotation was, first a fallow, of which as much 
as could be folded over with sheep Was sown with wheat ; 
tho remainder was slightly manured, and sown with barley. 
The second crop was beans or oats ; and then the land was 
so foul and exhausted as to requiro another summer fallow. 
Better rotations have been introduced since the common 
fields have been divided and inclosed; but the old and 
faulty system, under which the ancestors of the present race 
lived comfortably, and at low rents, is looked back to by 
many as superior to those which bavo been introduced 
since, Tho great fault lies in the want of balance be- 
tween the land tilled for corn, and that which is devoted 10 
grass or green crops for cattle, Some farms arc managed 
in a scientific manner, but tho example has not been very 
generally followed. 

There are a few meadows along tho conrso of tho rivers 
Ivel and Ouse which aro occasionally flooded. Where the 
subsoil is gravelly and porous, the herbage is good and 
abundant ; where it is composed of clay, and there is not a 
very ready channel for the water to run off, the herbage is 
coarse and full of rushes. These meadows might be much 
improved by banks and sluices judiciously placed. In no 
other part of the county is there much good grass-land, a few 
spots near the larger towns excepted. It has been urged, as 
a reproach to the soil of the county, that there was no pas- 
ture in it that would fatten a bullock. AVhctlicr this be cor- 
rect or not, it is certain that no such rich grass is to be found, 
as may bo seen in some of the richer grazing districts, 

There is nothing remarkable in tho cattle and sheep in 
this county, thero being no indigenous breeds of either. 
The cdws arc of every imaginable breed; and as there arc 
few extensive dairies, except some about Ampthill, no par- 
ticular breed is kept so puro as to descrvo a name. Some 
few individuals havo taken pains to introduce choice cattle, 
but these are exceptions; and, in general, the few oxen 
that are fatted are bou»ht of drovers at tho different fairs, 
and aro chiefly Scots, Welsh, and short-horns. The sheep 
aro mostly Leiccstcrs and South-downs, which have nearly 
superseded the old horned breed formerly kept J for although 
these were more hardy, and suffered less from folding on 
cold wet land, the improved breeds arc much more profit- 
able, especially in inclosed fields. 

Formerly there were many rabbit-warrens on the poor, 
Ifekt, grey sands, as this was considered the only means 
of deriving any profit from so poor a soil. Most of these 
havo been converted into farms, whether with much ad- 
vantage in general wo will not say, but in some casds 
with a decided improvement; and "rabbits are now con- 
sidered moro as a nuisance to the adjoining lands, than 
as a source of profit, An attempt was made lately to 
breed tame rabbits, and to fat them for tho London markets, 
with food raised purposclv for them. Many thousands were 
kept on this plan by Mr. Fisher, in buildings raised on 
purpose near Ampthill, but the speculation did not answer, 
and the establishment was broken up. AVhcihcr this 
spceies of industry might not be profitable to cottagers on a 
small scale, Is a subject worthy of experiment. The chief 
thing to Iks attended to in feeding rabbits is cleanliness and 
air; and from their prolific nature, and the yaluc of tho 
skin and flesh of the best sorts, it is highly probable that, 
with good management, a considerable profit might be made 
from them. The pigs reared and fatted In Bedfordshire are 
mostly of tho Berkshire and Suffolk breeds, but no great 
pains are taken to keep up thclrdistln^uishing Qualities, and 
they aro often crossed very injudiciously. No animal varies 
more in Its qualities than the pig, and tho different breeds 
have only ono point In common, that of being prolific. Tho 
qualities bf fattening early, and on a small quantity of food, 
bclonp only to very improved breeds, which are not kept 
sufficiently distinct in this county. 



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143 



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"The farms in Bedfordshire are not in general of great 
extent. Some few contain from 500 to 600 acres, but the 
average size is under 200. Leases for long terms are not 
common, whieh is an obstaele to improvement. Farms 
held from year to year may be kept in good heart, and 
well cultivated, on the common established system, pro- 
vided there be a just confidence in the honour of the land- 
lord, that he will not suddenly or eapriciously remove a 
tenant ; but no great and permanent improvements ean 
be expected to be made, except by a proprietor or a lessee 
for a considerable term. A tenant, liable to be ejected at 
a short notice, eannot obtain credit to borrow money to lay 
out on his farm ; and if he is prudent, will not lay out his 
own capital on an uncertainty. Formerly there were many 
small proprietors and yeomen occupying their own lands 
to the amount of from twenty to fifty acres, but they are 
mostly reduced to the state of cottagers and labourers. A 
very few have had the good fortune to take advantage of the 
high prices, and to sell their farms to the surrounding larger 
proprietors ; but many, by increasing their occupations, 
which required additional eapital, have been led to mort- 
gage their land, and have gradually been involved, till they 
were obliged to sell their little property to pay the mortgage. 
Thus a class in society, between the eottager and the large 
farmer, has nearly disappeared. 

An agricultural society was established at Bedford in 
1803, under the patronage of the Duke of Bedford, which 
has done some good, and distributed rewards and prizes, 
both for improvements in agriculture, and to encourage 
industry; but the truo stimulus to improvement is profit, 
and of late years tbis has been entirely wanting. The dis- 
heartened farmer has no spirit to try experiments, which 
require some outlay, without a rational prospect of an ade- 
quato return : and the example of rich proprietors is seldom 
followed, until the real profit is well ascertained, which it is 
often very difficult to do. 

The following is a list of the fairs held in Bedfordshire : — 
Ainpthill, May 4j Nov. 30. Bedford, First Tuesday in 
Lent; April 21; July 5; Aug, 21; Oct. 11; Dec, 19. 
Biggleswade, Feb. 14; Easter Saturday; Whitsun-Mon? 
day; Aug. 2; Nov. 8. Dunstable, Ash- Wednesday ; May 
22*; Aug, 12 ; Nov, 12. Elstow, May 15 and 16 ; Nov. 5 
and 6. Harrold, Tuesday beforo Old May-day, Old 
Mid summer- day, and Old Michaelmas-day. Ickwell, parish 
of Northell, April 6, Leigbton Buzzard, Feb. 5j second 
Tuesday in April; Whitsun-Tuesday ; July 26; Oct. 24. 
St. Leonard's, near Bedford, Nov. 17. Luton, April 18; 
Oct. 18. Odel!, Whitsnn-Thursday. Potton, Jan. 27 J 
last Tuesday in April ; first Tuesday in July ; Tuesday 
before Oot. 29, Shefford, Jan. 23; Old Lady-day; May 
19; Oct. 11. Selsoe, May .13; {Sept. 21. Tuddlngton, 
April 25 ; first Monday in June j fsept 4 ; Nov. 2 ; Deo, 
16. Woburn, Jan. 1 ; March 23 j July. 13 ; Sept, ?5, 

Divisions, Towns, $°* — Bedfordshire is divided into nine 
hundreds: viz., Stodden, Willay, and Barford in the north; 
Biggleswade and Clifton in the cast; Wixamtree in the 
centre; Ttcdbornestoke in the west; and Manshead and 
Flitt in the south. The names of all these, appear in the 
Domesday survey, together with the following three half 
hundreds; Stanburge, Wcneslai, and Buchelai, These 
half hundreds aro now incorporated with the hundreds. The 
town of Bedford also formed a half hundred by itself. The 
number of parishes is given in Camden's pritannia as 116 ; 
but by tho population returns they appear to amount to 124, 
besides ono district (Chieksands) wbieh is extra-parochial. 
Of these 124 parishes, one extends into Huntingdonshire, 
one into Hertfordshire, and one into Northamptonshire. 

The number of market towns is ten ; Bedford, the 
county town, on the Ouse,is a parliamentary borough. The 
population of its five parishes amounted, by the returns of 
1831, to 6959. Luton, on the Lea, in the southern part of 
the eounty, comes next in respect of population. The town- 
ship of Luton contained, in 1831, 3961 inhabitants, and the 
whole parish of Luton 5693. Leigbton Buzzard, or Busard 
(population of township, in 1831, 3330, of the whole parish 
5149), is on tho Ouzel, piggleswade is on the Ivel; it had, 
in 1831,3226 inhabitants. Dunstablo (population, in 1831, 
2117), once a parliamentary borough, and still retaining 
something of the form of a corporation, is in the £outh part 
of the county, between Luton and Leigbton m Buzzard, 
These are the only towns whieh have moro than 2000 inha- 
bitants. [Seo Bedford, Bigglkswadk, Dunstable, 



population in 1831; are as follows. Woburn (population 
1827), a short distance north by east of Leighton Buzzard 
and on the high road to Manchester and Liverpool ; Potton 
(population 1768), in the east part of the eounty, on the 
border towards Cambridgeshire; Ampthill (population 1688), 
on the road between Dunstable and Bedford; Harrold (po- 
pulation 995), on the river Ouse, in the north-west part 
of the county, on the border of Northamptonshire; and 
Shefford on the stream described as the principal branch of 
the Ivel (population 763). The market of Toddington 
(population 1926), between Dunstable and Ampthill, has 
been discontinued of late years. Of these smaller places 
we subjoin a few other particulars. 

Woburn, 41 or 42 miles from London, is a well built and 
well paved town, with broad and handsome streets. It owes 
much of its appearance to the circumstanec of its having 
been almost entirely rebuilt since 1 724, when it was de- 
stroyed by fire. It has a good market-house, bi|ilt by the 
Bedford family after the great fire just noticed, and much 
imprpved by the present duke, from picturesque designs of 
Mr. Blore. The parish church and school-house have also 
been enlarged at his Grace's expense, by the same eminent 
architect ; and a beautiful lantern and pinnacles have been 
added to the church tower. It has a parish church (the 
jiving is a perpetual curacy, with a commodious glebe house, 
in the gift of the Duke of Bed ford), two dissenting meeting- 
houses (Independent and Methodist), some alms-houses, 
and a large free-school, conducted on tho Lancasterian sys- 
tem. The chief employments of the poor arc straw-hat and 
lace-making. There are four fairs in the year ; and the 
market is held weekly on Friday. A divisional or petty 
session is held in the market-house every fortnight. 

There was an abbey of Cistercian monks at Woburn, 
founded by Hugh do Bolebeo, a.d. 1 H5. It was valued at 
the dissolution at 4307. 13$. 1 \d. gross income, or 391/. 1 8*. 8rf. 
clear yearly value. (Tanner's Not. M<m.) The last abbot, 
Robert Hobs, was executed for denying the king's supre- 
macy j and tho site of the abbey was granted to John, Lord 
Russell, afterwards Earl of Bedford. Part of the old abbey 
remains, but has been converted into the Duke of Bedford's 
magnificent mansion which still retains the name. The 
present abbey was partly put into its present form about 
tho middle, and partly towards the end, of tho last cen- 
tury, and ocoupies four sides of a quadrangle, presenting 
four fronts of above 200 feet. The west or principal front is 
of the Ionjc order, with a rustic basement. The offices are 
at a short distanee from the mansion ; and tho park is finely 
diversified with wood and water. The tree on which Abhot 
Hobs was hung is still standing, and is carefully preserved. 
The abbey is adorned with some interesting portraits, includ- 
ing those of Queens Mary and Elizabeth ; another of Mary 
with her husband, Philip of Spain; Lady Jane Seymour, 
wife of Henry VIII., and mother of Edward VI.; Anne of 
Denmark, wife of James I. ; Sir Philip Sidney ; William 
Lord Russell, beheaded in 1 683 ; Rachel Wriotheslcy, his 
admirable wife ; General Monk ; Cecil, Lord Burleigh ; and 
many others, In (be dining-room is a fine collection of 
portraits by Vandyke ; and in the breakfast-room a nume- 
rous series of views in Venice, by Conaletti, painted ori- 
ginally for Bedford House. In the seulpture gallery are the 
antique vase known as the Lanti vase, brought over to Eng- 
land by Lord Cawdor, and a very large marble antient sar- 
cophagus (brought from Ephesus), on the four sides of which 
aro sculptured the sad story of Achilles dragging Hector's 
body, Priam's ransoming it at its weight in gold, and other 
post-Homeric traditions of tho woes of Andromache and 
Astyanax. In the park is a farm-yard on the most exten- 
sivo scale, and furnished with every convenience. It ori- 
ginated with Franrcis, brother and predecessor of the present} 
Duke of Bedford. 

Potton, 50 miles from London, and 6 or 7 from Biggles- 
wade, has a good corn market, though not equal to what it 
was formerly ; the decline is attributed by some to a fire 
whieh, in 1783,destroyed above fifty houses, and did damago 
to the amount of more than 25,000/. The living is a vicarago 
in the gift pf the erown. It was once held by the celebrated 
Stillingfleet, who wroto here his Origines Sacra?, a work 
esteemed one of the best defences of revealed religion. 

Ampthill, 45 miles from London, and 8 from Bedford, has 
an inconsiderable market, and one annual fair. It has a 
good market-house ; and near the middle of the town stands 
an obelisk of Portland stone, in which is a pump. Near the 
town is Ampthill House, the seat of Lord Holland. Ampt- 



BED 



144 



BED 



hill Castle, which stood in the park of Ampthill House, was 
the residence of Catherine of Aragon, queen of Henry VIII. 
while the business of her divorce was pending. The site of 
the castle is marked by a cross erected in 1773 by the Earl 
of Upper Ossory, who then possessed the domain. 'Willi 
Ampthill Park is united Houghton Tark, in which are the 
remains of Houghton House, built by the Countess of Pem- 
broke, sister of Sir Philip Sidney. There is an alms-house 
for a reader, twelve poor men, and four poor women, about a 
milo from Ampthill. Divisional or petty sessions are held 
nt Ampthill ever)' alternate Thursday. 

Harrold, antic ntly Harwoldc or Harwood (Tanner's A r o/. 
3/o/i.), or Harlcs-wood. (Fuller's Worthies of England.) 
This small town is not upon any main road, its distance 
from London cannot, thcrcrore.bc accurately given, but it is 
nbout 9 miles N.W. of Bedford. (Jcffery's Map of Bed- 
fordshire) Its market, which is on Thursday, is little 
more than nominal, and the only braneh of manufacture 
carried on in the place is that of lace. There is a bridgo 
over the Ousc with a long causeway. The parish church is 
ndorncd with a handsome Gothic spire. The livinjj is a 
vicarage in the gift of the Earl do Grey. Harrold had once 
a small priory, built in the reign of Stephen, first both for 
canons and nuns of the order of Si. Nicholas of Arrouasia, 
but afterwards it consisted only of a prioress, and three or 
four nuns of the order of St. Auguftirt. At the Dissolution 
its total income was All. 3s, 2rf., its clear income 40/. 18*. 2d, 
The site was granted in 1544 to William Lord Parr. (Tan- 
ner's Not. Mon.) The priory is now a farm-house, the pro- 
perty of Earl de Grey. The only part of the conventual 
buildings which remains is the refectory, now a barn called 
the Hall Barn. 

Sheflbrd is 41 miles from London, and 9 from Bedford. 
It is on the road between these two, and on the river Ivcl. 
Besides a market on Friday, it has four fairs, the two first 
(on the 23rd of January "in id Easter Monday) aro con- 
siderable marts for sheep and eows. It is a parochial cha- 
pclry ; the ehapcl has been lately mueh enlarged. There is 
also an endowed Catholic chapel. The navigation of the 
Ivel commences here. Robert Bloomficld the poet died 
here in 1823. At Chicksands near Sheflbrd was a priory of 
Gilbertincs, founded about a.i>. 1150, by Pain dc~ Bcau- 
rhamp and Roais his wife. Its gross yearly value at the 
Dissolution was 230/. 3*. Ad., the clear yearly value, 
212/. 3$. 5a\ (Tanner's A r o/. Mon.) The site was granted 
to R. Snow, from whom it came to the Osbom family. The 
present residence of the Osborns retains much of the mo- 
nastic appearance, and indeed consists in part of the remains 
of the conventual buildings j this house contains some valu- 
able portraits. 

Toddington is between Dunstable and Ampthill, about 
5 miles from Dunstable, and 38 or 39 from London, nearly 
7 miles from Ampthill, and nearly 15 from Bedford. The 
market, which a century and a half ago was one of the most 
considerable in the county, has been discontinued, and the 
market-house pulled down: it has five fairs. The Gothic 
church contains some anticnt monuments in its north and 
south transepts ; but these transepts, as well as the monu- 
ments in them, are in a very dilapidated state. A curious 
frieze of grotesque animals runs under tlio caves of the 
church roof There was an hospital at Toddington, founded, 
in the time of Henry VI., in honour of John the Baptist, by 
John Broughton. It was for a warden, being chaplain, and 
three poor men. (Tanner's A'o/. Mon.) There is a Wcsleyan 
mcctin^-liousc at Toddington. 

Divisions for Ecclesiastical and Legal Purposes, — The 
number of parishes in this county has been already given 
as 124, but this will not represent the number of benefices, 
for several of these have been consolidated. Some of these 
consolidations are of recent date. Messrs. Lysons {Magna 
Britannia) state, that of 121 parishes (they probably omit 
the three that aro partly in other counties) 63 are vicarages, 
the great tithes of which were formerly, with few excep- 
tions, appropriated to religious houses, and are now in lay 
hands. 

The county is in the diocese of Lincoln, and is under the 
jurisdiction of the archdeacon of Bedford. It is divided into 
six rural deaneries, viz., Bedford, Clapham, Dunstable, 
Eaton, Flecte, and ShcfTord. 

It is in the Norfolk circuit. The assizes and sessions arc 
held at Bedford, which is also the chief place for the election 
cf tho two members for the county. The other polling places 
for the county arc, Shambrook in the north, Biggleswade in 



the cast, Leigh ton Buzzard in the *ou£h*west, Luton in the 
south, and Ampthill. Besides the two county members, two 
arc returned for the borough of Bedford. 

aril History and Antiquities. — At the time of the 
Roman invasion, Bedfordshire appears to have formed part 
of the territory of the Catticuchlani ; a people conjeeturod 
by Camden to be tho same as the Cassii, mentioned by 
CoDsar among the tribes who submitted to him during his 
second invasion of the island. In common with the other 
inhabitants of South Britain they fell under the Roman do- 
mination. Three roads, which may be referred to this period, 
or a still more anticnt one, crossed this county, and several 
camps or earth works still remain. Of the roads, the Wat- 
ling Street runs in a north-west dircction.and coincides in this 
county with the high road from London through Dunstable 
and Fenny Stratford (Bucks) to Coventry. It was, probably, 
of British origin, though used and improved by the Romans, 
who had on it their station of Durocobriva; (Antoninus), or 
Forum Dianas (Richard of Cirencester), now Dunstable. The 
Ikcning or lkcncld Street, also of British origin, runs in a 
south-west direction through Dunstable. The third road, a 
Roman military road, coincides with the present high north 
road from near Baldock to the vicinity of Biggleswade, where 
the modern road makes a bend, while the anticnt one pursues 
a more direct course through Temps ford Marsh or Cow Com- 
mon into Cambridgeshire. It is supposed that a Roman 
road from the Isle of Ely to Cambridge led from the 
latter place through Bedfordshire towards Fenny Stratford. 
On the edge of a low range of the Chiltcrns at Maiden 
Bower, near Dunstable, are the remains of a British station 
or town. These remains consist of a vallum, nearly cir- 
cular, thrown up on a level plain, and inelosinga space of 
about nine acres. The banks are from eight to fourteen 
feet high. There is no ditch on the south side, and on the 
south-west and west only a very small one ; on the north- 
west is a descent to the meadows. Some have assigned to 
this work a Saxon or Danish origin. About u mile west- 
ward of this is another remarkable earth-work, called To- 
tcruhoo Castle. It consists of a lofty circular mount, with a 
slight vallum round its base, and a larger one of an irregular 
form at some distance from it. On the south-cast side of 
this is a camp, in the form of a parallelogram,' nbout 500 feet 
long, and 250 feet wido (the length extending from north- 
west to south- cast), secured on three sides by a vallum and 
ditch (very entire on the south-east side), and protected on 
the fourth (the south-west) side by a precipitous descent. 
The irregular work is supposed to have been of British, and 
tho parallelogram of Roman origin. At or near the village 
of Sandy, or Salndy, about three miles north of Biggleswade, 
is supposed to have been the British or Roman town called 
XaXijvat by Ptolemy, and Salinas in the Chorography of 
the anonymous geographer of Ravenna. A large Roman 
camp (once perhaps a British post), called popularly Caesar's 
Camp, may be traced in the immediate vicinity of this 
place. It is of irregular form, being adapted to tho summit 
of the hill, and incloses about thirty acres. There are cir- 
cular inclosures of earth on the heath near Leigh ton Buzzard, 
and at about four miles cast of Bedford near the road to 
Great Barford and Katon-Socon. The last is small, but of 
considerable height, with openings on the north and south 
sides, resembling an amphitheatre. 

In tho contest maintained by the Britons against their 
Saxon invaders, and ngain by the Saxons against the en- 
croachments of the Danes, Bedfordshire appears to have 
been the secne of violent contest. At Bedford a battle was 
fought in 571, 572, or 580, between Cutha, or Cuthwulf, 
brother of Ccaulin, or Cealwin, King of the AYest Saxons, 
and the Britons: in whieh the latter were routed, and lost, 
in consequence of their defeat, four principal towns, one of 
which was Lygcanburgh, supposed to be Leighton in this 
county. Yet although this success was gained by tho West 
Saxons, the county was comprehended in tho subsequently 
formed kingdom of Mcrcia, founded by a body of Angles. 
Offa, King of the Mercians, is said to havo been buried at 
Bedford ; but his sepulchre was carried away by an inunda- 
tion of the Ouse. In the Danish wars Bedford suffered 
scvcrcly,having indeed been ruined bv those fierce invaders ; 
hut it was repaired by Edward the Elder, son and successor 
of Alfred the Great. The same prince afterwards besieged 
and took Tcmcsford, now Tcmpsford, whieh the Danes had 
fortiOcd. In 1009 and 1010, during the war between 
Ethclred II. and Swcyn, King of Denmark, the Danes in- 
vaded this county. In the latter of these years they burnt 



BED 



145 



BED 



Bedford and Temesford; but in. 1011 tho county returned 
under the sway of Ethel red. " J ,•) h 

An aecount of the eastle of Bedford,\and the historical 
circumstances connected with-it, has been, given in the 
artiele Bedford. « / ( . ,. . r,- r ; • 

It is supposed that all the other baronial eastles in. the. 
county of. any note had been destroyed in the reign of John ; 
and it is perhaps owing to tbis that we read of so few occur- 
rences in Bedfordshire during the civil war of tbe Roses. 
This county was tho seene of few conspicuous events during 
the civil war between Charles I. and his parliament, , , 

Bedfordshire possessed several monastic establishments. 
There were, six • greater monasteries/ i. e. monasteries, pos- 
sessing above, 200/. dear, .yearly revenue at the, time of the 
Dissolution: viz., Elstow Abbey, near, Bedford, for Bene- 
dietine nuns, founded in the time of William tbe Conqueror 
* by his niece Judith ; gross yearly income 325/. 2*. ltf., elear 
ineome 284/. 1 2*. 1 \d. Dunstable Priory, for Black Canons; 
was founded by King .Henry I. in the latter part of his 
reign ; at the Dissolution the gross revenue was 402/. 14*. 7d., 
and the, elear revenue 344/.- 13*. 3d. per annum. Wardon, 
or Warden, otherwise Dc Sartis Abbey (AVarden, on'ee ( a 
market town, is to the right of tho road to Bedford, between 
Shefford and that town),, was founded by Walter Espee, 
in 1135, for Cistercian monks; at the Dissolution it had 
442/. 1U. Md. gross, or 389/. 16*. 6d. clear 'yeirly revenue. 
Woburn Abbey and Chicksands Priory ^ near Shefford, have 
been already noticed. t Newenham Priory, near Bedford, 
was founded in tho time of Henry II. by Simon Bean champ, 
who removed hither a priory of Black Canons from St. 
Paul's, Bedford ; the gross yearly revenue' of Newenham 
t Priory at the Dissolution t w"as 343/. 15*. 5rf./the clear re- 
venue 293/. 5*. lit/. There were many minor establish- 
ments, priories, nunneries, hospitals, Sec. 

Of these monastic establishments there are no consider- 
able remains, exeept of Dunstable Priory, Elstow Abbey, 
Newenham and Chicksand's Priory, the last of which has 
been already notiecd. The parish churches of Dunstable 
and Elstow were the conventual ehurehes;. indeed Dun- 
stable church is only the nave of the original structure. 
These exhibit the Norman intermingled with the early 
English style of architecture. ' _ * 

Among the parochial churches of this eoiinty are some 
relics of early architecture. The nave of Pudington church, 
in the north-west extremity of the county; has the semi- 
circular areh'and zigzag moulding characteristic of the 
Normau, or, as some eall it, the Saxon style : the same 
style is also conspicuous in the south door of St. Peter's at 
Bedford, and in the doors" of the ehurehes 'at Elstow, Flit- 
wick, and a ehapel at Meppershall. « The early English 
is to be traced in the churches of Felmersham, on the 
Ouse, not far below" Harrold ; Eaton' Bray and Studham, 
both in the southern ■ extremity of the county ; Barton in, 
the Clay, between Luton and Bedford; Lcightori Buz- 
zard; and, though in a smalt degree, Luton." The deeo- 
rated English style,which prevailed in the fourteenth century 
and succeeded 'the 'early English, is to be traced in' Low 
Suiulon and Ampthill churches -* in St. Paul's, Bedford; in 
Silsoe Chapel, and in some churches already mentioned. 
Dunstable, Leigliton Buzzard and Luton ehurehes are per- 
haps the best deserving of ex ami nation of any in the county. 

It does not appear that there are any remains of baronial 
castles in Bedfordshire, exeept the earth works whieh mark 
their sites, and which may be observed at Bedford, Eaton - 
Socon, and other plaees. 

Education* Schools, fyc. — The parliamentary papers of 
1820 exhibit a return of the state of education in this 
county. The return was ordered by the House of Com- 
mons to be printed, April 1, 1619. There were then forty- 
two endowed schools, exclusive of tho Harpur free-schools at 
Bedford, giving instruction to 2066 children, and possessing 
a revenue of 1825/. per annum: of these sehools four were on 
the plan of Bell or Lancaster, and had in them 655 children. 
Of unendowed day-schools the return was as follows : " 

Schools. Scholar!. 

National and Laneasterian schools . 6 319 

Common day-schools . ^ . 42 f 1149 

Dames* schools . . \* 45' 849. 



Endowed 



Unendowed day-schools 



Total 



94 
42 

136 



2317 
2066 

43S3 



-. Of the, 4383 ehildren taught in the day r schoolv endowed 
and'unendowed, 2587 received a gratuitous education, and 
1796 paid for their instruction. There were at the same 
time seventy-seven Sunday-scbools giving instruction to 
5060 children. . • ,, 

An account of the Harpur charity will be found in the 
artiele Bedford. (J ^; 

, - The free-school at Woburn is not endowed, but has 
been supported since -1582, by the successive earls and 
dukes ,of Bedford. The school is now on tho Laneasterian 
system, and contains 150 boys. , f The master's stipend (50/. 
per annum)is paid by- the Duke, of Bedford, who also keeps 
the -school premises in ^repair., {Reports of the Commis- 
sioners appointed to inquire into. Charities.) , 
, The report .of the National Society for promoting 
the Education of the l Poor* for 1832, gives an aceount of 
tbe state* of education in the county of Bedford, hut the 
account includes only sehools connected with the Church 
of England ; and it is further incomplete from the circum- 
stance, that from thirty-nine parishes or parochial ehapel- 
ries no return had been made. ' ( Thc aceount states, that 
there were forty-three Sunday and daily schools, and fifty- 
two sehools held on Sunday only.', In sehools of the former 
kind 1287 boys, and' 1254 girls were instructed; and in 
those of the' latter kind 1771 boys and 1957 girls ; making 
a total of 3058 boys and 3211 girls, or 6269 ehildren. Tbe 
population of the eounty in 1831 was' 95,383. 

Population. — Bedfordshire is tbe most purely agricultural 
county in England, having tbe smallest proportional number 
of inhabitants engaged in manufactures and trade. Indeed, 
it can hardly be said tbat the county contains any persons 
engaged in manufactures. At tbe census of 1831 it was 
found, that thirty-eight, males above twenty years of age 
were so employed, but these few persons might with equal 
propriety have been included among the elass engaged in 
trade or handicraft, their employment being for the most 
part that of straw-platting. Bedfordshire is one of the very 
few counties nrhieh has maintained, relatively to other 
eounties, the same position as regards the employment of 
the people at eaeh of the enumerations of 1811, 1821, and 
1831. The proportions in which the inhabitants were em- 
ployed at e»cn of those dates were as follows : 

1811. 1821. 1831. 



Agriculture 



Trade, manufactures, &e. „ 
Other classes, . 



(families l 
in 100) } 


> 63 


1 


Gl 


■9 


56 


8 


«j. „ 


f 27" 


9 


27 


8 


25 


"7 


»» * 


9' 




, 10 


3 


17 


5 



100 



100 100 

, Tho proportions for all England were: — . - 

Agriculture- . ' „ (t 34*7 ,33' 27*7 

Trade, manufactures, fee. „ » / 45 '9 « 47 'G 43*1 

Other classes '. , „ '19'4,, 19'4 29*2 



>; ,100 100 100 

,Tho diminution in the proportion of families in Bedford- 
shire engaged, in . agriculture in 1831 was not sufficiently 
great. to place tho county in this respect aftor any other. 

The population of Bedfordshire at each of the four enu- 
merations made in the present century was as follows : 
1801 •>.;,", 63,393 mJ/ 
1811 ' , 70,213 increase .10*75 per cent. 
1821 . 83,716 „ 19'23 „ 

1831 , 95,483 „ 13'93 „ 

showing an increase in the eourse of thirty years of 32,090 
souls, or 50j per cent 

The ages of tbe population were ascertained in 1821, at 
which time there were in Bedfordshire, 

M files.. Females. Total. 

Under 20 years old . . 20,907 20,955 41,922 

Between 20 and 40 . . 10,085 12,461. 22,546 

Between 40 and 60 . . 6,298 6,725 13,023 

Above GO years . . • 3,031 3,175 6,206 

Ages unknown . 4 15 19 



' 40,33^ 43,331 83,716 
The following. summary of the population, as it stood at 
the last enumeration in May, 1831, is taken from Mr. 
Hickman's abstraet of the returns, and exhibits a suffi- 
ciently detailed account of the number and occupations of 
the inhabitants of the county : 



No. 223, 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-U 



B K D 



14U 



BED 





noesiis. 


OCCUPATIONS. 


rilKSQNS. 














to 


. *T 


tjf 






d 






I 


j 


bo 
g 


i 


19 a . 






4 

51 






MaVi 


Hl t NDRCL1S.&r. 


■3 

M 
1 


B 


3 


i 

"5 


111 

Its' 

c 


4 
I 
1 




fwtnlr 
}-e«x» of 


Barf>rd, Hundred 


1,152 


1,211 


O 


18 


943 


213 


55 


2,862 


3,018 


5.8S0 


1,333 


Biggleswade . 


1,780 


1.976 


11 


23 


1,047 


517 


412 


4,859 


4,83 7 


9.696 


2,334 


Clifton . . . 


999 


1.073 


12 


17 


672 


245 


)56 


2,785 


2,773 


5,558 


1,287 


Fliit . . . 


2,239 


2.480 


29 


30 


1,495 


554 


431 


5,901 


6,270 


12,171 


2.797 


Manshead 


4,004 


4,4 56 


37 


77 


2,170 


1,411 


875 


10,259 


10,965 


21,224 


5,052 


Redborncstoko . 


2.509 


2.885 


8 


56 


1,870 


646 


369 


6,475 


6,835 


13,310 


3.101 


Siodden . 


1,089 


1,196 


8 


28 


873 


185 


138 


2,696 


2,815 


5,511 


1,302 


Willcy . . . 


1,019 


1,802 


14 


oo 


1.178 


385 


239 


4,199 


4,429 


8,627 


2,078 


Wixamlrcc . 


1.190 


1,393 


5 
45 


4 


1,046 


189 


158 


3,212 


3,335 


6,547 


1,610 


13 od ford, Borough 


1,397 


1,544 


49 


70 


792 


682 


3,202 


3,757 


6,959 


1,677 


17,978 


20,016 


171 


321 


1 1,364 


5,137 


3.515 


46.450 


49,033 1 95,483 


22.571 




AOI 


UCUt-TPKE. 




a 


il. 


hi 

•lis 






MALE 




urXDREOS ( &c 






|.£BS 

B 3 
W i 


111 

HI 

3 


a « 

B a a. 

•5 2 

o w 


SERVANTS 


e 
1 


ill 


Hi 

r 


3fl 


r 

h 

St. 

* 


a 

I s - 


Bnrford, Hundred 


JOS 


35 


811 




1 


248 


22 


34 


33 


41 


39 


133 


Bigglc&wado . 


117 


97 


1,138 







503 


65 


239 


133 


42 


14 


284 


Clifton 


135 


39 


660 







308 


$6 


58 


45 


23 


24 


139 


Fliit .... 


143 


59 


1,406 




22 


644 


51 


179 


144 


89 


83 


285 


Man«head 


264 


82 


2,442 




7 


1,3 SO 


114 


401 


202 


160 


132 


568 


RodbornestokQ . 


190 


51 


1.835 




4 


668 


57 


132 


131 


30 


34 


254 


Siodden . , 


106 


49 


790 




1 


216 


22 


31 


59 


23 


19 


109 


Willey . . , 


l£g 


43 


1,256 




1 397 


44 


58 


74 


47 


46 


236 


Wixnmtrec . 


97 


21 


1,053 




— 233 


29 


55 


68 


54 


26 


145 


Bedford, Borough 


12 


5 


137 




2 


905 


147 


287 


145 


37 


31 


435 


1.330 


474 


11.588 


38 


5,502 


577 


1,474 


1,037 


551 i 


448 


2,588 



County E.rpenses, Crime, $*c. — The sums expended in 
each of those years for the maintenance of the poor wcro 

In 1801. 36,891/., being an average of 1 1*. 7<f.for cachinhab. 

1811, 61.273/. „ „ 17*. 5f/. 

1621,68.826/. „ „ 16*. Orf. 

1831,81,016/. „ „ 16*. \\d. 

The average proportion for the whole of England during 
tho samo years was 9*. 5d. t 13*. 5f/., 10*. \\d., and 9*. \\d. 
respectively. 

Tho total amount of money raised for poor-rate 
county-rato in iho year ending 051 n March, 1833, 
91,761/. 8*., and was levied as follows: — 

On Land , , . £61,101 7 

Dwelling-houses . 9,918 

Mills*, &.c . , 315 16 

Manorial profits, &c. . 396 5 



and 
was 



£91,761 8 
Of which was expended — 
For the relief of the poor . . £80,384 11 
In suits of law. removal of paupers, &c. 1,273 
For other purposes , . . 9.3S8 6 



£91,015 17 
The number of inhabited houses in the vcars when the 
census was taken was 11,883, 13,286, 15,412, and 17,978. 

Tho annual proportions of baptisms, burial*, and mar- 
riages to ihe population, in the five years preceding the 
four enumerations alwve-mentioned, were — 

179M800. 18QM810. 181G-I820. 1826-1830. 

Baptisms, 1 in 35 32 33 35 

Burials, 1 in 51 48 57 54 

Marriages, 1 in 114 131 123 129 

The proportion of illegitimate children born in 1830 10 
the number of children bom in wedlock was ono in thirty ; 



the number of illegitimate children was 41 males and 50 
females. 

The number of turnpike-trusts in the county in 1 829 was 
15: the extent of turnpike-roads under their charge 238 
miles ; the annual ineomo of tho same, derived from lolls 
and parish composition, was 17,938/., and iho annual oui!ay 
for repairing and management 17,993/. Tho county ex- 
penditure for several local purposes in 1833 was as fol- 
lows : — 

Bridges and roads leading to them . £145 
Gaols . . . 161 

Bridewells, or houses of correction . 436 
Conns of justice ... . .86 

County surveyor ... 58 

Expensos of criminal trials at quarlcr-scssions 3 1 9 
Ditto ditlo at circuits . . 521 

Ditto of coroners ... 88 

Ditto of shire-halls . . , 225 

Ditto of lunatic asylums . . GA9 

The entire sum levied for county-rato during 1833 was 
5816/. 

Tho total numbers of persons charged with criminal of- 
fences in Bedfordshire, in each of the periods of seven vcars 
ending with 1820, 1827, and 1834, were 367, 766, ami 812 
respectively, being an average of 52 annually in the first 
period, 109 in the second period, and 116 in the seven years 
ended wiih 1834. 

The number of offences tried at quarter-sessions in 1833 
was 71 : 

Convictions . • . . 46 

Acquittals .... 9 
Discharged by proclamation 16 

71 

The total number of persons charged with crimes at tho 
assizes in 1834 was 164. Of these, 16 wore offences against 
the person; II offences against property committed with 



8 


5 


9 


il 


1 


11 


11 


10 


15 


6 


17 


1 


17 


4 


1 


9 


19 


10 


18 


H 



BED 



147 



BED 



violence (housebreaking) ; 86 offences against property with- 
out violenee; 68 of the offences in this elass are described 
as simple larceny ; 7 were malicious offences against pro- 
perty (killing and maiming cattle, and arson) ; of the re- 
maining 44 charges, 12 were offenees against the game 
laws, and 32 woro for trifling breaches of the peace. The 
total number of convictions was 130, only 5 of which were 
for capital offences, and the sentences upon these 5 convicts 
having been commuted for transportation, 4 for life and 1 
for fourteen years; no execution took place within the 
eounty during the year. Of the 164 persons eharged 158 
were males, and only 6 females ; their ages respectively were 
as follows : 



Under 
Between 



12 years of age 
12 and 16 



Females. 



1G 
21 
30 
40 
60 



21 
30 
40 
50 
60 



Above 60 years of age , . 4 „ 

Age not ascertained » . . 1 „ 

158 6 

The proportion of offenders to the population was 1 in 
582 ; the proportion for the whole of England and AVales 
was 1 in 619, The centesimal proportion of offences com- 
mitted with violence was 16'47, the proportion for England 
and AVales being 17*44. Offences against property in this 
county 52*44, in all England 73'97. Malicious offences 
4-27 in Bedfordshire, and 0'72 in all England. Other 
offences (game laws and breaches of iho peace)* eentesimal 
proportion in Bedfordshire 26*82, in all England and AVales 
5*95. There was not any eharge in this county in 1834, 
for forgery and offences against the eurrency : the centesi- 
mal proportion of this elass of crimes for the whole of Eng- 
land and AVales was 1*92. 

There are three savings' banks in tho county, at Bed- 
ford, Arapthill, and Biggleswade : the total number of de- 
positors on 30*.h November, 1833, was 1858, and theamount 
deposited 63,333/. Moro than half tho accounts wore for 
sums under 20/.: the wholo may be classed thus: — 

948 depositors under £20 £7,070 deposited. 

502 „ 

250 „ ^ „ 

85 ,i ft 

56 ,| , ; 

1 7 above 

Total 1858 depositors, entitled to £G3,333 savings depos. 

Education,— The following abstract of the establishments 
for education, and the number of scholars attending the 
same, in the eounty of Bedford, is taken from returns pre- 
sented by eommand of his Majesty to the House of Com- 
mons, during the present Session. (1835.) AVe have kept 
it distinct from the other part, as the returns are made on a 
different principle. 



50 


15,331 


100 


17*268 


150 


10,138 


200 


9,402 


200 


4,124 





Sdkwli 


Scholars, 


Total. 


Infant Schools 

Number t»f infants from 2 to 7 yrs. 
old: Males . . . 

Females , . 

Sex not stated 


36 

203 


97 
104 
422 


623 

6009 


Daily Schools 

Number of Children from 4 to 14 
years old : Males .... 

Females . . . 

Sex not stated 


3140 

1897 

972 


Schools . . 
Total of Children under Daily In- 
struction 

Sunday Schools 

Number of Children from 4 to 15 
years old • Males .... 
Females . . . 
Sex not stated 


244 
198 


6781 
7604 
1531 


6632 

15918 



Maintenance of Schools. 



pe$f ription «f 
schools. 


Bj endowment. 


Bj»ub*eription. 


•Bj payment* 

from scholars. 


Substrlp. andpay- 


SchU. 


Bcho- ' 

tars. 


SchU* 


Scho- 
lars. 


ScRU. 


Scho- 
lars. 


Hchti. 


Scholars 


Infant Schls. 
Daily Schl*. 
Sunday Schs. 


37 
8 


1410 
875 


2 

27 
189 


*1061 
15023 


33 

130 
1 


4S6 

276*1 

20 


2 

11 


42 

777 


Total 


43 


2285 


213 


16179 


163 


3267 


16 


, £)9 t 



j Infant Schools . 
< Daily Schools ; 
eluded in the above. [Sunday Schools . 



Schools established 
by Dissenters in- ^ Daily Schools 
:dav S 



Schls. Scholar*. 

.* 9 I 258 } *5 
. 69 j 6743 J 



Of the infant schools, one at Silsoe, containing 77 chil- 
dren, is supported hy Earl de Grey. 

Daily scholars being usually admitted at boarding schools 
(of which 16 appear in the returns to bo established in Bed- 
fordshire), and the hoarders being in fact (according to the 
words of the returns) daily scholars, such boarding-schools 
are included in the foregoing abstract. Lace and straw-plat 
schools* which are numerous in this county, are not included 
in the abstract, although at many of them the children are 
taught to read. 

Of the Sunday-schools 57 are kept at places where no 
other school exists, and the children instructed in them, 
3,1 10 in number, cannot therefore attend any other school! 
At other places part of the children taught in Sunday- 
schools attend other schools also, but the proportion of these 
is not given in the returns. 

The increaso of schools since the yeatf 1818 has been as 
follows : — 

Infant and other daily schools 1 08 containing 2G43 scholars. 
Sunday-schools . . « . • 121 „ 11180 „ 

229 13823 

There are lending libraries of books attached to 17 schools 
in Bedfordshire. 

B EDI S, for prayers, according to Jamieson, is still used 
in Scotland. He says — * In familiar language it is common 
to speak of ' eounting one's beads * when one goes to prayer/ 
He adds — ' There is here an allusion to the Popish custom 
of running over a string of beads, and at the same time re- 
peating Paternosters and Ave-Marias over them, according 
to a fixed rule, as tho particular beads are meant, by their 
colour* form, or place, to represent to the mind this or that 
mystery, benefit, or duty/ (Etymolog. Diet. vol. i.) 

BEDLAM, a corruption of Bethlehem, the name of a re- 
ligious house in London, which, subsequently to the disso- 
lution of monasteries, was converted into an hospital for 
lunatics, but still retained its former appellation. 

Shakspeare, in the second part of ' Henry VI.,* aet v. 
scene i., speaks of* a bedlam and ambitious humour.* Dr. 
Grey, however* in commenting upon this passage, justly 
remarks that the word bedlam was not used in the reign of 
Henry VI. Malone says that Shakspeare was led into this 
anachronism by tho author of an earlier historical play upon 
the same subject i whilo Rltson, upon a misconception of 
what Stowe says in his 'Survey of London* (4to. 1598, 
p. 127), declares it to bo no anachronism, and leaves tho 
reader to supposo that the Hospital of St. Mary Bethlehem 
without Londoni the religious house alluded to, had been a 
receptacle for distracted people from its earliest foundation. 

The Hospital of St. Mary Bethlehem, vulgarly called 
Bedlam, owed its name and original establishment to the 
piety of a citizen ef Londori, In the yfear 1247* in tho thirty- 
ninth of Henry III., Simon Fitz Mary, who had been she- 
riff, influenced by the prevailing religious feeling of the age, 
was desirous td found a religious house. Accordingly, he 
appropriated hy a deed of gift, which is still extant, all his 
lands in the parish of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate, being 
the spot afterwards known by the name of Old Bethlem, 
now called Liverpool-street* a few yards north of Bishops- 
gate Church, to the foundation of a priory. The prior, 
canons, brethren, and sistors, for whose maintenance he 
provided, were to be distinguished hy a star Upon their 
mantles, and were especially directed to receivo and enter- 
tain the bishop of St. Mary of Bethlehem, and the canons, 
brothers, and messengers of that their mother church as 
often as they might come to England* Such Was the ori- 
ginal design of this foundation. 

In the year 1403, says Tanner (Notit. Monast. edit. 1787, 
Midd. viii. 30), most of tho houses belonging to this hos- 
pital were alienated, and therein wcro no brethren or sisters, 

U2 



BED 



143 



BED 



but only tho master, and ho did not wear the habit of his 
order* However, it continued to the Dissolution, when, 
being scued by Henry VIII., it was granted, in 154 7, with 
all its revenues, to the mayor, commonalty, and citizens of 
London, from which lime only it became an hospital for the 
cure of lunatics. 

In the infant statoof this charity no other provision was 
made for tho unfortunate patients, besides confinement and 
medical relief; it was left for the judicious benevolence of 
succeeding times to improvo the good work, and to supply 
the subsistence and care which has restored so many dis- 
tracted objects to their families and to society. There is no 
account of donations received for this institution before the 
year 1632. About 1C44 it was under consideration to 
enlarge tho old hospital, but the situation had become 
close and confined. The New Hospital of Bethlehem, as 
it was then termed, was begun to l>e built in April, 1G75, 
upon a plot of ground near London Wall, on the south side 
of the lower quarter of what was then called Little Moor- 
fields; the design of the building was taken from the palace 
of the Tuilcrics, and was once admired. It is said to have 
been finished in the month of July, 1676. It has since, 
however, given way to a fitter building for its purpose, 
upon a distant, but more commodious spot, erected in 1814 ; 
• and the Hospital of St. Mary Bethlem is now placed 
.upon the other side of the Thames, in the parish of Lam- 
beth. (See Shakspeare, Reed's edit 1 803, vol. xiii. p. 378 ; 
Tanner's Notitia Mon astica, ut supr.; Dugdalc's Monas- 
ticon Anglicanum, new edit. vol. vi. P. ii. p. C21 ; and 
JJowcn's Hist. Account of the Origin, Progress, <f-c, of 
Bethlem Hospital, 4to. Lond. 1783. [For the treatment of 
.lunatics, sec Lunatic Asylum.] * 

BEDLAM BEGGARS was the anticnt name for such 
patients of the Hospital of Bethlcin, after it became a lunatic 
asylum, as, being partially cured, were allowed to go at large. 
Kdgar, in * King Lear,' act. ii. scene iii., when assuming the 
character of Poor Tom, says — 

• The country gives mo proof a ud i>recctlrnl 
Of Mia w 6ff«jif * in, wh o, w i t h roa ri n % voices, • 
Strike In ibotr numbM »nd morlifieit bare arras 
Pint, wooden prick*, nails, *prigs of rosemary,' Ace. 

. Aubrey, in his * Remains of Gentilismc,' an unpublished 
work, preserved among the Lansdowu MSS. in the British 
Museum, part iii. fol. 231 b., tells us, * Before the civil 
wars, I remember Tom-a-Bedlains went about a -begging. 
They had been such as had been in Bedlam, and come to 
some degree of soberness, ami when they were licensed to go 
.out they had on their left arm an armilla of tin printed, of 
about three inches breadth, which was sodcred on.' 

BEDLIS (also written BETLIS,BIDUS,andBITUS), 
jn the Armenian language named Paugcsh, one of the most 
anticnt cities of Kurdistan, is situated, according to Jau- 
bcrt (Voyage en Armcnie et en Perse, p. 4 75), in lat. 
38° 34' 30", and long. 40° 10' E. of Paris (i\ e. 42° 30' E. of 
Greenwich), on the southern side of theNimrod mountains, 
and at a distance of about twenty miles, in a south-easterly 
direction, from the lake of Van. It extends across the 
greater part of a fine valley, remarkablo in the history of 
the East for a signal defeat which the Osman sultan, 
Suleiman the Magnificent, hero sustained from the Persians 
in 1533. (Sec Malcolm's Hist, of Persia,\o\ t i. pp. 507, 
50S.) Tavcrnicr (Persian Travels, book iii. eh. iii.) says 
that tho town is built like a sugar-loaf^ 'the ascent being so 
htecp on every side that there is no getting to the top but 
by wheeling and winding about the mountain/ 

The castle belonging to the town is situated on the top of 
a high mountain on the western side of the valley. The 
country around Bedlis is highly cultivated, and fertile in 
grain, cotton, hemp, rice, olives, &c. Tho neighbourhood 
abounds in game ; the surrounding hills are infested by 
lions, wolves, and bears. The inhabitants of Bedlis, in- 
cluding those of the neighbouring villages, aro supposed by 
Kinucir (Geographical Memoir of the Persian Umpire, pp. 
330, 33 1) to amount to 20,000, partly Kurds and Turks, 
partly Armenian and Syrian Christians, The Armenians 
havo four churches and four monasteries, and enjoy more 
liberty here than in other Mohammedan states. 

Tho part of Kurdistan in which Bedlis is situated now 
forms part of the Asiatic dominions of the Osmans. When 
Tavemicr visited this province in 1CC4, Bedlis was in the 
possession of a powerful independent bey, who acknowledged 
neither the supremacy of the grand seignior of Constanti- 
nople, nor that of the shah of Persia ; and Tavern ier ob- 



serves that it was the interest of those two sovereigns to 
stand well with him, lest ho should intercept the passago 
from Aleppo to Tanriz, which leads through the valley of 
Bedlis ; the straits of the mountains being so narrow that 
ten men might defend them against a thousand. Tho road 
of the caravans that travel from Erzcrum to Bugdad still 
passes through Bedlis. Colonel Montcith thinks it probablo 
that Xenophon may have ascended the puss of Bedlis 
(Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. iii. p. 51), 
and accounts for his not mentioning the lake of Van, by 
the circumstance that the road from Bedlis to Trebirond, 
which he must have followed, lies on the southern side of 
tho Nimrod Mountains, which encompass tho lake. Ac- 
cording to Ousclcy's Ebn Haukal (p. 165), there aro three 
days' journey from Bedlis to Khullat, and as much to Mia- 
farckcin. 

BEDMINSTER. [Sec Bristol.] 

BEDNORE, a district situated on the summit of tho 
range of mountains called the Western Ghauts, in the 
north-west quarter of the dominions of the rajah of Mysore, 
and overlooking to the west the provinces ofCanaraand 
Malabar. The Western Ghauts are from 2000 to 3000 feet 
higher than the chain of hills called the Eastern Ghauts. 
[Sec Ghauts.] The rauge, on tho summit of which Bed- 
norc is situated, is elevated from 4000 to 5000 feet above 
the level of the sea, and presents towards the west a very 
rapid slope, which intercepts and breaks the clouds brought 
there by the western monsoon. The climate is in coiij>c- 
quenco exceedingly moistv and it is calculated that nine 
months out of the year are rainy, and to such a degree as . 
to oblige the inhabitants to provide themselves before- 
hand, at least for six months of the time, with a stock of pro- 
visions. By means of this excessive moisture vegetal ion is 
rendered extremely luxuriant ; the timber trees throughout 
the district attain to great dimensions, and in some parts lhe 
underwood and jungle are quite impenetrable. In conse- 
quence of the difference of elevation, the seasons ore usually 
one month more backward than in Canara. 

The productions of the district of Bednorc, which it raises 
in sufficient abundance for exportation, are betel-nut, carda- 
moms, pepper, sandal-wood, and a small breed of ratilc. 
The most important of these articles in point of quantity is 
betel- nut. In return, Bednorc imports rice, salt, oil, and 
cotton goods from the low country. The roads, in conse- 
quenco of the prevalence of rain, are wretched, ami almost 
all the exports and imports are conveyed by men, without 
the aid of any kind of carriage or beasts of burthen. A 
great part of the external trade of the district is carried on 
through the port of Mangalorc. 

Bednorc district, together with Cuddapah, some Mali* 
ratta provinces, the country of the Nairs, and other small 
states on the Malabar coast, were conquered by Hydcr Ally 
in 1 7C3, shortly after his usurpation of the musnud of My- 
sore ; but on the fall of Tippoo tho greater part of these con- 
quests were again severed from Mysore. Bednorc is still 
attached to the rajah's dominions, but that prince is under 
tho protection of the East India Company, with whose go- 
vernment he has concluded a subsidiary treaty. 

(Rcnnell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan ; Buchanan's 
Journey through Mysore ; Reports of Committee of House 
Of Commons on the Affairs of India, 1832.) 

BEDNORE, the capital of the district just described, is 
situated in 13° 50' N. lat., and '75° C E. long. This town 
was originally called Bidcrhully, signifying Bamboo Village ; 
but when the scat of government was removed hither from 
Ikery, the namo was altered to Bideruru, or Bamboo Place. 
Previously to this event the place consisted of a temple dedi- 
cated to Nilcunta (one of the titles of Siva) and a few sur- 
rounding houses, governed by a Brahmin chief. On be- 
coming the seat of the rajah's government, the chief part of 
the revenuo of the country was expended there, and Bide- 
ruru became a town of magnitude. Its situation is favour- 
nblc for trade, the pass leading from Mangalorc through 
Bcdnore being one of the best roads in the Western Ghauts. 
When attacked and taken by Hydcr Ally in 1 7C3, it is said 
to have contained 20,000 good houses, besides meaner 
dwellings. The ground on which it stands being very un- 
even, the town was never closely built, and it occupied an 
area, the circumfcrcnco of which was eight miles. The 
place was defended by a circle of woods, hills, and fortified 
defiles. Towards tho centre stood the rajah's palace, built 
on a high hill, and surrounded by a citadel. Hydcr added 
somo new works, but as tho palaco was commanded by some 



BEE 



149 



BEE 



neighbouring hills, it eould never have been eapable of 
offering much resistance. While in the possession of 
Hyder he made it his ehief arsenal, and employed many 
peoplo in making arms and ammunition : much money was 
coined there during his reign. This chief also held out 
much encouragement to merchants, so that the trade of tho 
place increased greatly. He likewise attempted to introduce 
the cultivation of silk, and caused many mulberry planta- 
tions to be made, but with little or no success, owing, pro- 
bably, to the dampness of the climate. 
,* When the town was taken by Hyder Ally, he found in it 
a considerable amount of treasure, and is said to have con- 
fessed that to this acquisition he was in a great measure 
indebted for his future success. Colonel Wilks has esti- 
mated the spoil which then fell into the conqueror's hands 
at twelve millions sterling, but this is doubtless a great 
exaggeration, and seems to partake of the nature of eastern 
hyperbole. Hyder changed the name of the town to Hyder- 
nuggur ; he built a palace outside the citadel, and resided 
in it for three years. 

In the beginning of 1783 the town was taken by the 
* English, under General Mathews, on which occasion the 
eommandant of the fort, to make a show of offering an obsti- 
nate resistance, burnt the palace. The attack made upon 
Bednore by Tippoo Sultan in the month of April following, 
appears to have taken the English quite by surprise. It is 
said that nearly all the British troops were at that time dis- 
persed in every direction in search of spoil, and Tippoo made 
an easy conquest. The whole town was burnt during an 
engagement which preceded the capitulation. 

The palace was rebuilt by Tippoo, and the town was 
partly restored ; but the materials employed, being only 
timber and mud, could not be expected to last long in a 
country where the rains are so excessive. At his death the 
town contained about 1500 houses, and some additions have 
been made to it since that time. No manufactures are car- 
ried on here, and the chief support of the place is from trade, 
fur which it is well situated. 

Bednore is 452 miles from Bombay, 1290 from Calcutta, 
413 from Hyderabad, 445 from Madras, 382 from Poonah, 
and 187 from Seringapatam, all travelling distances. 

(Rerinell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan; Mill's His- 
tory of British India ; Wilks's History of the South of 
India; Buchanan's (Hamilton) Journey through Mysore, 
Canara, and Malabar.) 

BEDSTRAW. [See Galinus.] 

BEDUINS. [See Arabia.] 

BEE, the name common to all the species of a very 
numerous tribe of insects of the Order Hymenopteru* 

In England alone about two hundred and fifty species 
have been discovered. Kirby, in his beautiful monograph, 
" Apum Angliso,*' divides them into two great groups — Apis 
and Melitta, which differ principally in the proboscis. In 
Apis the tongue (fig. 3, c), or eentral part of the proboscis, 




Tl*» unlet tide of Uw> Heart of otic of the Andra-nMic (Melitta, Kirby), iho\v 
Ing the proboscis, a, tlie tongue 



is generally long, and the proboscis itself has two joints, one 
near the base, and another about the middle ; that at the 
base directing it outwards, and that in the middle directing 
it inwards: when folded, the apex of the tongue points 
backwards. In Melitta the tongue (fig. 1, a) is short, and 
the proboscis has but one fold, which is near the base ; and 
when folded, the apex of the tongue points forwards. These 
two groups are also subdivided by Kirby, and the character 
of each subdivision is given in detail; but he did not think 
proper to give names to these smaller groups. It has, how- 
ever, since been thought necessary to consider the smaller 
groups as genera ; and hence they have all been named, 
the greater portion of them by Latreille. When the smaller 
groups were considered genera, the greater ones became 
families, and are named Apidce and Andrcenidce by Dr. 
Leach. 

The species of Andrajnidro, which are very abundant 
during the spring months, frequent grassy banks ; the males 
are generally seen Hying about hedges. The females 
usually construct their nests underground ; for which 
purpose they generally select a bank in a southern aspect * 
some species choose sandy situations, while others pre- 
fer a heavier soil. The female having fixed upon a con- 
venient spot, excavates a cylindrical hole, from five or six 
inches to a foot in depth, and only just large enough to 
allow her to enter; at the bottom it is slightly increased in 
width, and rendered smooth by being lined with a glutinous 
substance. The labour of forming these cells is consider- 
able, for the soil is removed grain by grain, and deposited 
round the entrance of the hole, so that a little hillock is 
formed. The cell being completed, her next object is to 
furnish it with pollen ; this is collected from flowers, and 
carried on the tibia? of the hinder legs, which are thickly 
furnished with tolerably long hair, among which the pollen 
is carried until she arrives at the cell. When a sufficient 
quantity of pollen is collected, and made into a kind of paste 
by the addition of a portion of honey, it is formed into a 
little ball, in which an egg is deposited ; the mouth of the 
cell is then carefully closed, to prevent the entrance of other 
insects. The egg soon hatches, and becomes a larva, which 
feeds upon the pollen until it is all consumed ; the larva 
then turns to a pupa, and the pupa to the perfect insect. It 
is remarkable that the Andramidte seldom make their ap- 
pearance after the spring months and early part of the 
summer, although the eggs laid at that time have under- 
gone all their metamorphoses (in many instances) by the 
autumn. The newly-disclosed insect remains all the inter- 
mediate time in a torpid state. We believe that the species 
only live one year, for in the autumn we have found many 
of them on the ground dead, and the inner part of their 
body devoured : this is probably done by a spider which is 
found in the same situations. 

The habits of the species of Apidm are more variable ; 
many excavate their cells in wood ; some, like the cuckoo, 
make use of the nests of other species ; others again do not 
excavate cells, but make use of any hole already formed, or 
of some other situation, convenient for that purpose. Of 
this last description, a species of the genus Anlhidium has 
afforded a remarkable instance. This bee is nearly the size 
of the hive-bee, but is broader in proportion, and is easily 
distinguished from all the hitherto-discovered British species, 
by having a series of bright yellow spots on each side of 
the abdomen. A female of this species has been known to 
build her nest in the lock of a garden gate. The nest con- 
sists of a number of cells formed of down collected from the 
anemone sylvestris, and probably from other woolly-leaved 
plants, scraped off by the bee with its jaws. 

The flight of this insect is exceedingly swift; but when 
it has discovered a flower on which.it intends to settle 
(generally that of the blind nettle), it stops suddenly, poises 
itself in the air for a few seconds, and then darts upon the 
(lower, dislodging any bee which may have settled upon it 
before. 

Sometimes it appears more anxious to dislodge other 
bees, and to prevent their gathering honey, than to collect 
for itself, for it flies about from flower to flower, and pounces 
upon all it meets with. 

Anthophora retusa is another bee, which, in its flight, 
very much resembles the one just described. This bee is 
considerably larger than the hive-bee : the male is brown, 
sometimes inclining to an ochre colour, and is remarkable 
for the three long tufts of hair which are attached to the 
middle leg, two of them to the tip of the tibice (that on the 



BEE 



150 



BEE 



posterior part being very long), and another to the tip of 
tho tarsus. Tbo female of this species is so much unlike 
the male, that tt has been thought by many to be a distinct 
species. It is entirely black, except the outer side of the 
hinder tibia?, which is covered with red hairs: it is without 
the tufts on tho intermediate leg. This species constructs 
its cells in tho sides of banks^ generally choosing those 
which arc perpendicular. 

It is to this same family that the hivo-bec belongs, to tho 
history and economy of which we shall eonfine ourselves. 

Tho Apis tnellificQi hivo-bee, or honey-bee, has for many 
ages justly claimed tho attention and htudy of naturalists. 
Among tho earliest of its observers may be enumerated 
Aristotle and Virgd; also Aristomaehus of Soli in Cilicia, 
and Phtliscus the Thasian. Aristomachu3, we aro told by 
Pliny, attended solely to bees for fifty-eight years ; and 
Philiseus, it is said, spent the whole of his timo in forests, 
investigating their habits. (Plin. xi. 9.) Both theso ob- 
servers wroto on the bee. In modern times the labours of 
Swaramerdam, Reaumur, Bonnet, Schirach, Thorley, Hun- 
ter, Hnbcr, and others, have added greatly to our know- 
ledge of this interesting speeies. 

The honey-beo always lives in society with many of its 
own speeies. In its natural state it generally eonstruets 
its nest in hollow trees ; but throughout Europe it is now 
rather a raro oeeurrenco to find it otherwise tnan domes- 
ticated. 

Each society or swarm is composed of three descriptions 
of bees— the malo or drone, tho neuter or workor, and the 
female or queen. 

Fig. 2. 





The lhroe dncrlpllooi of Bw* of * Mve. a. the Male or Drone; 6, the 
Neuter or Watknr 1 4 the IVmttle or Quvcn.— The Unci denote ttie na- 
tural length of rack. 

The Drone, or Male Bee> in general form, is almost cylin- 
drical, tho separation between the thorax and abdomen 
being much less distinct than in the females or neuters. 
The head is large, rather narrower than tho thorax: tho 
eyes aro very large, and meet at the vertex of tho head, but 
divide as they approach the forehead ; close to the point of 
separation there are three stemmata. The antenna) are 
thirtcen-jointcd. The thorax is thickly covered above and 
beneath with ehort pale brown hairs resembling velvet. 



Tho length of the abdomen is scarcely 'greater than its 
breadth, and it is terminated obtusely : it has only four seg- 
ments vtMblo from tho upper hide, tho anal segments being 
hidden beneath the others. The ba-sal and apical segments 
are eaeh thickly covered with pale hairs. The colour of tho 
abdomen is black above, having the edge of each segment 
of a light brown colour; the underside of tho body is also 
pale. The legs are black ; tho inner side of tho hinder 
legs is covered with palo dovn. All the claws arc divided, 
the inner part being nearly equal in length to the outer 
part. Tho wings aro large, and rather longer than the body ; 
the anterior wings are rather acute at tho apex. 

The drone may bo readily distinguished from the queen 
and workers by its greater breadth, largo eyes (which meet 
at tho top of the head), and the abdomen having only four 
segments visible from tho upper Bido. Tho wings are much 
longer in proportion than thoso of the worker or queen, 
for in this sex they reach beyond tho extremity of the 
abdomen. 

The number of drones in a hivo is remarkably irregular, 
varying from six or soven hundred to two thousand ; but 
the proportion is not regulated by tho number of bees con- 
tained in the hive, for a small swarm will sometimes pobsess 
as many drones as a largo one. 

Tho timo required to eompleto tho metamorphosis of the 
drone is as follows. In three days after the deposition of 
tho e^ t the larva makes its appearance : about tho middle 
of the seventh day from this time, the larva having then 
arrived at its full growth, spins its eocoon, a ailken sub- 
stance with which it lines the interior of its cell : this is 
accomplished in about a day and a half. It then turns to 
the pupa, and ultimately to the perfect insect, haviug been 
about four-and-twenty days from the laying of the egg to 
the coming forth in the winged state. 

The Neuter, or li'orker, is of a dark-brown colour, ap- 
proaching to black; the head and thorax resemble those of 
the female, hut the head has black hair on the vertex. The 
abdomen is conical, and comj^scd of six distinct segments: 
the basal one is thickly covered with hair, the other seg- 
ments aro sparingly clothed. The legs aro black: the 
plantaj of the hinder legs are transversely striated on the 
inner side. Tho wings when elosed nearly reach to the 
apex of tho abdomen. 

In about four days after tho egg of the worker has been 
deposited, tho larva is hatched, and in five or six more (ac- 
cording to the weather) it is full grown ; it is then sealed 
up in its cell by tho nurse bees with a covering of farina 
mixed with wax. As soon as the larva is inclosed it spins 
its cocoon, which operation requires about thirty-six hours: 
it then turns to the pupa, and in about eight days more to 
the perfect inseet; having been one-and-twenty days in 
existence, that is, from the timo tho egg was laid until the 
insect has attained its perfeet state. Tho number of workers 
in a well-stocked hive is about fifteen or twenty thousand. 
Tho occupation of these bees is to collect honey, pollen, and 
propolis; to build tho combs, and to attend upon the young. 

&g> 3. 




o, <hi proboKti of the hlve-bee ; e, lhe tongue ; 6, lhe binder leg of lhe 
ftorker-bee j <*, the p*rt on which the pollen ft carried. 



BEE 



151 



BEE 



Honey is collected by means of the proboscis. To a com- 
mon observer tins instrument appears to be a single tube, 
through which it is thought the honey is conveyed to tho 
stomach by suction ; but if we examine the proboscis 
through a lens of very moderate power, we find tbat it is 
composed of five very distinct parts, a central stalk and 
four lateral ones, two on each side. The central part is 
that which is principally used in collecting honey : this part 
is not perforated, but is a Hat cartilaginous substance, and 
is used as a tongue in lapping up tbe honey, which is then 
conveyed to the pharynx, and is afterwards* disgorged into 
the cells of the comb, part being used for the purpose of 
feeding the young, and the remainder stored up for the 
winter's consumption. 

Pollen is collected from the anther jo of flowers, and is 
carried on tbe outer surface of the tibiae, or middle joint of 
the hinder leg: this part of the leg is very broad; on one 
side it is concave, and furnished with a scries of strong 
enrved hairs on its margins, forming a natural basket admi- 
rably adapted to the purpose for which it is used. This 
substance mixed with honey forms the food of the larvce, 
for which purpose alorte it is collected. 

In many instances it is only by the bees travelling from 
flower to flower that the pollen or farina is carried from the 
male to the female flowers, without which they would not 
fructify. Ono species of bee would not be sufficient to fructify 
all the various sorts of flowers, were tbe bees of that species 
ever so numerous, for it requires species of different sizes 
and different constructions. * M. Sprengel found, that not 
only are insects indispensable in fructifying different species 
of iris, but that some of them, as /. Xiphium^ require the 
agency of the larger humble bees, which alone are strong 
enough to force their way beneath tho stile flag; and hence, 
as these insects are not so common as many others, tbis 
iris is often barren, or bears imperfect seeds.' 

Propolis is a resinous unctuous substanee, of a reddish 
colour, and is collected from the buds of trees : it is not only 
used in lining the cells of a new comb, but it is sometimes 
kneaded with wax and used in rebuilding weak parts. It is 
also used in stopping all the crevices in the interior of a 
hive. The workers which arrive laden with this substance 
are relieved of their burthen by others; these in their turn 
distribute it among many, who employ it for the purposes 
above-mentioned. 

Nature has provided cheeks to prevent the too rapid in- 
crease of the various species of insects. Among those of 
the hive-bee, the hornet and wasp, and tyo or three species 
of moths, commit great devastation. Wasps frequently take 
possession of a hive, and after destroying, or causing their 
weaker neighbours to desert the hive, consume all tho honey 
it contains, and sometimes even construct their own nests 
in the hive. 

Acherontia atropos, or the death's-head hawk-moth, which 
is almost as large as our common bat, sometimes makes its 
way into hives, and consumes much of the bees' stores. 
This insect has the power of emitting a peeuliar sound, not 
unliko that of the queen-bee ; this sound is supposed to 
have the same effect (that of rendering the workers motion- 
less) as that emitted by the queen. 

Two other moths commit great devastation in hives : 
these are small species (Galleria alvearia, and G. melon- 
ella— the honey-moth, and the honeycomb-moth), which, in 
spito of the guards constantly kept at the entrance of bives, 
gain admittance, and deposit their eggs in the eombs. The 
larvae hatched from these eggs form passages through the 
comb in all directions, spinning a silken tube as they pro- 
ceed, which it appears is too strong for the bees to destroy, 
and of eourse they eannot sting the larva). These larva) 
generally oblige the bees to desert the hive after a short 
time. 

In attending upon the young the labour of the workers 
appears to be divided : a eertain number always remain 
brooding over the cells and feeding them, while others are 
employed in collecting honey. It is these last tbat are the 
principal secrete rs of wax, and are called wax- workers : the 
former are called nurse-bees. 

The Queen-bee is of a dark-brown eolour: the head is 
thickly furnished with yellow hairs, except on the fore- 
head, where the hair is nearly black ; on tho vertex there 
are three small convex simple eyes, or stemmata. The an- 
tenna) are yellow beneath and brown above, and composed 
of twelve joints, the basal joint is more than one-third of the 
whole length, the remaining joints are bent forwards, and 



at an angle with the first. The thorax is covered with pale- 
brown hairs. The abdomen is the shape of an elongated 
cone and nearly smooth, exhibiting six distinct segments 
above : the under side of the body and the base of each seg- 
ment above are of a paler colour than the remaining parts. 
The legs aro of a brownish yellow: the femora and tibiae of 
the anterior, and the base of the femora of the posterior le^s 
arc brown. All the claws of the tarsi are divided, the inner 
division being much shorter than the outer one. The wings 
are short and small in proportion, scarcely reaching more 
than half the length of the abdomen. 

This sex is furnished with a bent sting ; in the neuter the 
sting is straight; the male has no sting. The queen-bee 
resembles the worker in the shape of the head and thorax ; 
but the great length of the abdomen and the paler colour 
of the legs and antenna) are its chief distinguishing cha- 
racteristics. There is but one queen in a hive, who is treated 
with the greatest attention by all the other bees. It might 
be wondered how they can distinguish the queen from any 
other bee, the interior of the hive being quite dark : in this 
the antenna) are their sole guido, for if the workers be pre- 
vented touching her occasionally with the antenna) they 
proceed as if she were lost. This has been satisfactorily 
proved by some ingenious experiments by Huber. If by 
accident the queen be killed, or if she die, her dead body is 
still treated with attention, and, for a time, even preferred 
to any other queen. 

The queen being accidentally or intentionally removed 
from a hive, her absence is soon discovered and great dis- 
order follows; but this is only temporary, 4br in a few hours 
preparation is made to replace her loss. The larva) of 
neuters from two to threo days old are selected for this 
purpose: the eells containing them are each enlarged by 
sacrificing three adjoining cells, and in this space the 
workers build a cylindrical tube which surrounds the young 
larva), which are then supplied with the same food as that 
given to the ordinary royal larvae, and which is more pun- 
gent than that given to common larva). In about three 
days time a perpendicular tube is constructed and joined to 
the mouth of the cell just described; into this the larva 
gradually makes its way, moving in a spiral direction. It 
then remains two days in a perpendicular position, the head 
being downwards, after which it turns to the pupa and then 
to a queen. As several hatch nearly at the same time, the 
strongest stings the others to death, and becomes ruler of 
the hive. From this it is evident tbat the worker-bees 
are imperfect females, requiring only a slight difference 
of treatment in the larva state to become queens or fertile 
females. 

If the queen be removed from a hive, and a stranger be 
immediately introduced, she is surrounded and kept pri- 
soner until she dies of hunger ; for the workers never sting ■ 
a queen. If, however, eighteen hours have elapsed since 
the loss of tbo former queen, the stranger is better received, 
for although she is at first surrounded, she is ultimately set 
at liberty, and treated with all tbe usual attention ; but if 
four-and- twenty hours have elapsed before the strange queen 
be introduced, she is at once admitted to the sovereignty of 
the hive. 

While tho queen remains in a hive, the introduction of a 
strange queen will occasion a disturbance, somewhat similar 
to that which takes place when two or three young queens 
escape from their cells at the same time : both the stranger 
and tho reigning queen aro surrounded by the workers, and 
the escape of either being thus prevented, they are soon 
brought into contact. A battle ensues, which ends in the 
death of one of them, and tho other then beeomes ruler of 
the hive. 

The sole occupation of the queen is to Jay eggs in the va- 
rious cells prepared by the workers for that purpose, for she 
takes no caro of the young herself. Until she is about 
eleven months old, the eggs laid are nearly all such as will 
turn to workers, but at the completion of that period, which 
most frequontly happens in the spring time, the queen com- 
mences tho great laying of the eggs of males ; at this time 
the queen will lay from two to three thousand eggs, some- 
times from forty to fifty a day being laid during the months 
of March and April. There is also another laying of tho 
eggs of males in the autumn, but this is not so consider- 
able. In the interval, the eggs of workers are almost exclu- 
sively laid. 

There seems to bo a relation between the laying of (lie 
eggs of males and the construction of royal cells, for the 



BEE 



152 



D E E 



workers always commence the construction of the latter, at 
the time that the female is laying tho eggs that are to 

turn to drones. . , 

The royal cells are very different from those of the male 
or worker, and are generally suspended from *ae edges or 
sides of the comb: their number varies from two or thrco 
to twentv, though the latter is a very unusual number, in 
form they arc very much like a pear, having .the thickest 
end joined to the comb, the other end. at which part tho 
mouth or entrance of the cell is situated, hanging donn- 
wards. 

Fix- 4- 




The q«ecn*« cell; a, aide vww nf the lame. 

In these cells the queen deposits the eggs of future 
ruieens, at intervals of at least a day, and always during 
the period of laying the eggs of males. AV hen the queen 
is about to lay, she thrusts her head into a cell to ascer- 
tain its fitness ; she then inserts her abdomen, and in a 
few seconds withdraws it, leaving an egg at the bottom or 
the coll fixed in an upright position by a glutinous sub- 
stance at one of its ends. 

Fig. 5. 



8 





•.l!iee«i MhcUrva; r ( lbc pupa of the worker -bee; ami rf, ihc head of 
** * Uie larva roagulued. 

The egg is about one-twelfth of an inch long, and of a 
cylindrical form, with rounded ends. When the larva 
emerges from the egg. it is immediately supplied with food 
hy the nurse-bees. This larva may be seen lying in a 
curved position at the bottom of tho cell, where it continues 
to grow until it lias completely filled up the space ; when it 
is lull grown it lies horizontally with its head towards the 
entrance. The food given to the larva is a mixture of farina, 
honey and water, which is converted into a whitish jelly by 
elaboration in the stomachs of the nurse-bees : the propor- 
tions of farina and honey vary according to tho age of the 
voun" and we believe that the food is not given directly to 
the larva, hut disgorged into the cell, so that the insect is 
surrounded with it But when the larva is nearly fall 
grown, its food is sweeter (probably containing a greater 
proportion of honey), and is applied by the nurse-bees 
directly to its mouth, somewhat in the manner of a bird 
feeding its young.* , 

The drone and worker-bees arc of a greyish colour when 
they first leave their cells, and several days elapse before 
thev arc strong enough to fly ; but the queen is kept pri- 
soner in her cell for some time after she has assumed the 
imago state. The reasons for this imprisonment we shall 
presentlv show. 

When the larvm in the queens' cells arc about to change 
into pupne, the old queen begins to exhibit signs of agita- 
tion— running carelessly over the cells, occasionally thrust- 
ing her abdomen into some of them, as if about to lay, but 
withdrawing without having done so, or perhaps laying them 

•We lnvf f«l llw lamp of watn* (*t»lch lire very chweljr allied lo lhe 
Vivfbre In balilU) bv mean* of n Unto \Accti of |>nj»cr aceawMi lo a 
i*dnl nml din* 1 *! tnio »ome tttnar and w*leri tltry Imraedwlrly oiwnrd Uiclr 
innntht o« Win* InHrltrd, and «»ickrd the ta^ur from lh<- |»nj^r. Tin* neulrr. 
wnM't ImicIi lhe Innf wilto ihe\t onlrnnie. itpcn wWeh.lMlir larva* require 
f.Kxl. Ihey tamediatety nt»ca Iheir mouth and are tu^lied from Ihc tongue of 
\Xm wasp. 



on tho side of the cell instead of at the bottom. She is no 
longer surrounded by her usual circle of attendant*, anil her 
agitation being communicated to all she passes, at length a 
ceneral confusion is created ; till at last the greater portion 
of the bees rush out of the hive, with that nueen at their 
bend. It is thus that the first swarm quits the hive, and it 
is invariably conducted by the old queen. 

At any other time the queen would have been unable to 
fly, the great number of eggs contained in her abdomen 
rendering her too heavy : this however is suflicient y re- 
duced after the great laying just described, to enable her to 
II y with ease. , . . . 

An unerring instinct obliges the queen to leave the hive 
at this timo, for two sovereigns never can co-exist in tho 
same community ; and had she not left it, the young queens 
(now just about to quit their cells) would inevitably have 
been killed by her. Let us now observe what is going on 
in tho hire which has just been deserted by its queen, it 
would seem as if it were too much reduced hy the departure 
of the swarm ; but it must be borne in mind that this event 
never occurs except in the middle of the day, and during 
very fine sunnv weather, when a large portion of the bees 
are abroad gathering honey and pollen; and if the Imc 
contain a numerous colony, these, on their return, together 
with those which have not been disturbed nnnng the ge- 
neral confusion, and a considerable number of joung brood 
continually hatching, form a suflicient stock, and perhaps 
even enough to send off another swarm. 

In two or three davs* time from the leaving of the first 
swarm, perfect order is restored in the hive; and the nnrse- 
bees continue to attend upon the young, carefully watching 
the queen's cells, and working at the outsides by remowng 
the wax from the Mirface. It is said that the wax is re- 
moved in order to facilitate the exit of the young queen ; 
but although the removal of it may thus be of service, we 
are not inclined to think it is done for that purpose. 

The eg"s arc laid in the royal cells at intervals of at least 
a dav, and it consequently follows that the completion and 
closing of these eells must take place at different nines 
•ve say completion, for at the time the queen lays tho eggs 
the cells are onlv half formed, and resemble the cup of an 
acorn. When tlie cells have been closed about seven days, 
the young queen cuts away with her jaws the part or the 
silken covering at the mouth of the cell, and, if permitted, 
would make her escape ; but the bees guarding the cclla 
solder the covering with some particles of wax, ant keep 
her prisoner about two days, in which time she obtains 
sufficient strength to he able to fly immediately on quitting 
her prison. It is difficult to imagine by what means tic 
bees guarding the roval cells can judge of the fitness of the 
enclosed female for liberation. The most probahlo coujee- 
'ture is, that thev judge bv the quality of the sound emitted 
bv the prisoner at this time. This sound consists of a num- 
ber of monotonous notes, so rapidly repeated as almost to 
appear one continuous sound. The sound is produced by tlio 
vibration of the wings, and probably becomes sharper and 
more audible as tho bee acquires strength. 

The young queen upon being liberated immediately ap- 
proaches the remaining royal eells, and would destroy their 
contents, bv tearing thein open and mortally wounding her 
rivals with ner sting; but this is not permitted— for so long 
as there is a suflicient number of guards, they bite and 
drive her away. She has the power, however, of arresting 
this ill-trcatmcnt for a while, by emitting a peculiar sound, 
which has sueh an effect on the sentinels that they re- 
main motionless; and she sometimes takes advantage of 
this, to make an attack upon the royal cells. Hut as the 
sound ceases when she moves, the charm is dissolved, her 
guards recover their power, and she is again driven back. 

After a time, the young queen, owing to her strong de- 
sire to attack the roval cells, and the constant repulses 
she meets with, becomes extremely agitated, and by running 
quickly over the cells and groups of workers, communicates 
her disorder to a great poriion of the bees, so that a large 
number quit the hive and cluster al>out the outside—and 
after a short time the young queen leaves the hivo with a 
swarm. Thus it is that the second swarm is thrown off. It 
seldom happens that a hive sends off more than two or three 
swarms; afier which, unless the hive be an extremely popu- 
lous one, thcro are so few bees left, that there is not a suili- 
cient number to keep proper guard over the royal cells. 1 ho 
young queens consequently make their escape, two or thrco 
at a time, in which caso a contest takes place between thein, 



BEE 



153 



BEE 



and the strongest remains queen of the hive, after destroy- 
ing all the royal Iarvas and pupa? that remain. 

But if the hive be an unusually populous one, there may 
he four or five swarms sent off, all accompanied by the same 
circumstances as those just related. In case a hive is poorly 
stocked at the time of the great laying of male eggs, no 
royal cells are built, and consequently no swarms leave. 
After the swarming, a general massacre of the drones takes 
place : these defenceless individuals (for the male has no 
sting) are stung to death by the neuters. 

\Vben a swarm quits a hive, it usually clusters on a tree 
or bush in the neighbourhood, and if it be not hived it will 
shortly leave this situation, and take possession of an old 
tree or part of an old building. It is said that bees send 
out scouts hefore leaving the hive, to search for aconvenient 
situation for their new abode, and that they may be seen 
going hackwards and forwards to the spot fixed upon, some 
little time before the swarm departs. The clustering of the 
swarm probably proceeds from a desire in the hces to be 
congregated together prior to their last flight. As soon as 
the bees have taken possession of a new abode, or have been 
hived, they commenee building the comb. 

It has been stated that the first swarm is always con- 
ducted by an old queen, and the following swarms by the 
young queens as tbey are successively hatched. The latter 
are in a virgin state, hut not so the former, nor do these re- 
quire farther intercourse with the male. About two or 
three days after quitting her cell, and the fifth day of her 
existence in the winged state, the young queen quits the 
hive, and after reconnoitring its exterior, and making her- 
self acquainted with its situation, by flying from it and 
returning several times, she then soars high in the air, 
forming spiral circles as she ascends. This ascent is gene- 
rally preceded by a flight of drones, and it is at this time 
(whilst on the wing) that the sexual intercourse takes place. 
The queen is never observed to quit the hivo hut at this 
time ; and hence it is supposed that this one intercourse is 
sufficient to fertilize all the eggs she may ever lay. Huher 
decidedly ascertained that it was sufficient for two years. 
We think it very improbable that a queen would live much 
beyond that time. In about six and forty hours after the 
intercourso with the male has taken place, at which 
time a part of the eomb would be constructed • in the 
new hive, the queen commences laying her eggs ; those 
first deposited being such as will turn to workers, as hefore 
described. 

The construction of the Comb, — In the Introduction to 
British Entomology by Kirby and Spence, after referring 
to the various accounts of anticnt and modern writers on 
this subject, it is observed, 'still the construction of the 
comb of the bee-hive is a miracle which overwhelms our 
faculties." John Hunter, who was the first to discover 
the true origin of wax, imagined that the waxen scales 
(which we shall hereafter mention) hore some proportion to 
the different parts of the cells, in the formation of which they 
were used, and thus furnished a guide to their construc- 
tion. Some naturalists have conjectured that the an- 
tenna?, mandibles, and other parts of the body were used 
to measure the work, and from this they have endeavoured 
to account for the accuracy of their proceedings. The latter 
conjecturo appears incompatible with instinct; while the 
well-authenticated mode of proceeding in the construction of 
the comh throws great douht on the former. 

Upon examination of various eomhs, the partitions be- 
tween all the ordinary cells (both at the sides and hottoms) 
arc found to be exactly the same in thickness, and the cells 
hexagonal with angular hottoms. Exceptions to this ge- 
neral rule are occasionally found, and it is hy ohserving 
these exceptions with attention — by observing the various 
modifications of the work under extraordinary circumstances, 
that some idea of the principles which guide the bee in its 
. operations may be formed. The royal cell is a remarkable 
exception ; its form we have already described. In the 
original construction of this cell, a profusion of material is 
always disposed*of. particularly at the junction of the cell 
with the comb. The extra quantity of wax in this part, and 
on the surface of the eell (which is also unusually thick) 
is, however, soon reduced by numerous circular excavations, 
the depth of which varies according to that of the wax, and in 
the mass nearest the comb they actually heeome cells, though, 
in most instances, unfit for use. These eells aro invariably 
cylindrical, with concavo bottoms, except they come in con- 
tact with others, in which case the wax is always removed 



from the interstices thus formed, either at the sides or at 
the bottoms ; and the partitions are thus reduced to the 
same thickness as those between the cells constructed in the 
ordinary way. Hence we frequently find, in these parts, 
cells with one side circular and the other angular ; the 
situation of tbe angles being invariably determined by the 
position of those cells with which they are in contact. 

To work in circles or segments of circles appears most 
compatible with animal mechanism acted upon by instinct, 
for we ohserve that the works of almost all insects (perhaps 
we may say almost all animals) proceed in circles or seg- 
ments of circles. The cells of almost all the various species 
of bees are of this construction, and we find that, under pe- 
culiar circumstances, those of the hive-bee are so likewise, 
as in the ease of the queen's cell, and in some of those cells 
close to it, and sometimes in other parts of the comb, in 
cases where an accident has been repaired. 

If some hive-bees could be made, to work in a large solid 
mass of wax, the first cell formed would most probably be 
cylindrical, with a hollow circular bottom ; this would also 
be the form of the following cells unless they came in con- 
tact with each other ; and, in this case, supposing the cir- 
cumferences of three cylinders were to touch, the bees work- 
ing in eaeh of these cylinders would cut away the wax at 
a, «, a (fig. 7). But supposing the wax block were excavated 




on one of its sides, into the greatest number of equal-sized 
cylinders that it would admit of, it would then follow that 
each cvlinder would he surrounded by six others, this being 
the only number of equal-sized circles which may he placed 
round one of the same magnitude : by tbe same rule of re- 
moving the wax from the interstices, each of these cylinders 
would become hexagons. Again, supposing this bloek to be 
a flat mass of equal thickness in all parts (the ordinary 
thickness of a comb), this bloek being cut into cylinders 
of equal diameter on both sides, and the base of each cylin- 
der being exactly over parts of three opposing ones (as repre- 
sented helow), when the wax is cut away at the interstices, 

Fig. 8. 




as at the sides, it follows that the bottoms of the cells will 
he each composed of three equal rhombus-shaped pieces. 
Hence we have eells exactly like those of the hive-bee, but 
not constructed in the ordinary way, though upon sueh prin- 
ciples as analogy points out (a circular form being the basis 
of the work*), and in such a way as we have ohserved they 
do occasionally proceed. 

Let us now examine the construction of the comh in its 
usual way of proceeding : — 

The first operation is the formation of wax : this is not, 
as many have supposed, tho" farina collected from flow- 
ers, but is secreted by the insect at the time of building the 
combs. For this purpose the wax- workers suspend them- 

• If wenllowth.it the basis of the work of tho hive-bee be circular, the 
royal cell forms no exception to the general ru>, »*> *" tt8 lhc pnnciple or its 
construction is concerned. 



No. 224. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-X 



U 15 15 



154 



selves in festoons from tho top of the hive. Those which i 
first reach tho top fix themselves by the claws of ih6 fore- 
legs to tho roof, and arc followed by others which attach 
themselves to them, until nn inverted cone or festoon of 
bees is formed, each end of which is attnclied to the roof of 
tho hive. Before tho commencement of the new comb, the 
interior of a hivo presenU a scries of festoons of this de- 
scription, intersecting each other ill all directions, the bees 
remaining in perfect repose. 

At this timo the wax is secreted and makes its nppear- 
nncc in little seales which exude between the" segments on 
the under sido of tho al>domen, eight scales being visible in 
each bee. Tho wax being secreted, one of tho bees com- 
mences thocoinb ; having detached itself from tho festoon, 
it makes its way to tho roof of tho hive, and after clearing a 
space by driving away the other bees, it detaches one of the 
scales from the abdomen by means of its hinder legs : this 
is then conveyed by the fore-legs to the mouth, where 
it is masticated, and impregnated with u frothy liquid by 
tho tongue, in which process it obtains a whiteness aud 
opacity which it did not before possess. Tile particles of 
wax are then applied to tho roof of tho hive. Another 
scale undergoes tho same process, and is attached to tho 
first. The bee thus continues labouring untH all its scales 
are disposed of; it then quits its situation and is followed by 
another bee, which proceeds with its scales in the work 
already begun, depositing the wax in a straight line with 
the former deposition. The same operation is performed 
by many other bees, until a considerable block is deposited. 
This block is generally about five or six lines* long, the 
height two lines, and the thickness half a line; and it is 
upon this that the formation of the cells commences. 

Wo have seen that tbe foundation of the block is the 
•work of one bee, so [likewise is the commencement of the 
cells j — the former is the work of what is called the wax- 
workers, which, wo are informed by Hubcr, do not possess 
tho power of sculpturing tbe cells : — the cells arc made by 
the sculpturcr-bees, who are smaller than the wax-workers. 
No sooner is the block large enough to admit a scutpturer-bee 
between the wax- workers, than the excavation commences. 
There seems to be an irtstinctitO desire to perform the work 
of excavation wherever there is room, even though there 
may not be sufficient to form* a perfect tell j for* we* riovcr 
observe a solid piece of wax in any part of ft comb. On the 
contrary, if by any accident there has been space unoccupied 
by cells, we find that tho wax has" been excavated at that 
part as much as was practicable. 

The bee, impelled by instinct to deposit wax and to exca- 
vate and also guided by an acute sense of feeling in tbe 
antenna) (probably through the elasticity of the wax), as to 
the degree to which tho excavation should proceed, forms 
the comb; and in so doing it seems 1 to act, not from choice, 
but from a necessity imposed upon it by two antagonist 
principles, one causing it to deposit and excavate wax, and 
tho other acting through the antennae, and limiting the 
degree of excavation. 

It is to this desire for performing the work of excavation 
that wo attribute tho small excavations about the royal 
cells, which are said to be for the purpose of facilitating the 
exit of the yonng queen. 1 f the wax were removed for that 
purpose, we do not see why the operation should not be 
confined to that part through which she makes her escape. 
On the other hand, if from the wax of tho royal cells being 
thicker than it is in other parts of the comb, the workers 
arc induced to make excavations, and desist only upon the 
thickness being reduced to that of the ordinary partitions, 
it follows that it will at last become uniformly thin, as de- 
scribed by Hubcr; the reason here given differing from 
II liber's, but we think moroin accordance with the habits 
and economy of the animal. 

In forming the cells, a hollow is first excavated on ono 
side of the wax block ; this excavation is rather lessf than 
the width of a cell, and is immediately followed by two of a 
similar description on the opposite side of the block. Tho 
particles of wax removed in excavation are kneaded by tho 
jaws of the bee and deposited on the edges of the intended 
cells; tho (wo latter excavations (6, 6, Jig. 13) are neces- 
sarily on each sido of thu first (a* Jig. 13), though closo to 
it. In placing the two last-mentioned cells, the bees avoid 
tho opposite part on account of tho thinness of the wax, and 
the size of tbe waxJdock will not admit of tlieir being re- 
mote from tho first. 

• A lint U Uw twelfth nf la tnch. 



Fis.'J. 



BEE 

Fig. 10. 



Fig.n. 

h 



^mr 



Fro nl. 



Side, 



b 

Uncle til- 



T!»# ftwnt, tide, and Uck *Wi of tha block on which tho Out ixcaT^tiotii (ut 
the eolU »r« m»de. 



Fig.U. 




Fig. 13. 



Vig. 12, Fronl vtcw magnified. Fig. 13, Trail iyctw icction through th« tame. 

The above are representations of tho block and its exca- 
vations at this period. Supposing the parts at which the 
circles nearly come in fcontact with each other to be of the 
thickness proper for tbe partitions of tbe cells, The parts 
marked a in tho front view and section {figs. 12 and 13) 
being inoro than the necessary thickness, the bees will (ac- 
cording to tho instinctive principles before mentioned) 
naturally remove what is there siipcrilUous, thus forming 
an angle, determined by two intersecting vertical planes, 
at the bottom of tho cell ; inasmuch as at the same time 
the parts marked b t in the back view and section (flgs. 1 1 
and 1 3.), will also be removed. The partition between these 
twd last-mentioned cells thus becomes perpendicular and 
of equal thickness* and is exactly opposed to the angle at 
the bottom of the first cell. 

By this time the necessary secretion of wax has taken 
place in all tho bees composing the festoons, and they 
are all anxious to dispose of their scales of wax. The 
seulpturer-bces arc also active, consequently more wax is 
added to the margins of the original block, and more exca- 
vations are formed * Supposing the block to have increased 
to double its original length and width,- there would then bo 
room for parts of four more excavations, on tho sido on 
which the first was made, thus : — 

i%. 14. 




the same operation of reducing the wax in the thick parts 
marked C, having taken place, the sides of the first cell 
also become straight and perpendicular, and by reducing 
the wax at the pans </, to tho proper thickness in all the 
cells, tho l>ottom of the first cell, and upper parts of the two 
cells beneath, in the diagram, become two-sided. The work 
on the opposite side of the comb being in tho same state of 
forwardness, (for after the commencement it proceeds equally 
at all parCs), wilt appear thus — 



/», 




BEE 



155 



BEE 



In the above figure the angles at the bases of the cells 
are eut into the partitions of the opposing cells, and hence 
it is clearly seen that, from the position of those cells, the per- 
pendicular partitions of the cells on this side must be longer 
than those of the other, and that the cells themselves must 
have three quadrilateral plates for their bases. 

In carrying up the sides of the cell, the form is regulated 
by the intersection of the surrounding circles, as represented 
in fig. 16. But the circles described in fig. lp, parts of 
which are shown in most of the other figures, represent those 
which are enclosed by the hexagons t whereas we believe 
the natural circumference of each cell (supposing it to be 
cylindrical) is that by which the hexagon is enclosed; 
hence it will be necessary to imagine the circles partly in- 
tersecting each other. 

Fig. 16. 







It has now been demonstrated that the cells of the first 
tiers on each side are pentagonal ; that the base3 of those on 
one side are each composed of two plates, while those of the 
other side are each composed of three plates; and that, ac- 
cording to the laws laid down, they could not have been 
otherwise: now as this accords witb all the accounts given 
of the proceedings in the construction of the comb, it seems 
to prove that the laws which we liaye laid down, as guiding 
their formation, are correct. 

We have now followed the progress of the work until the 
commencement of the second tiers of cells : it is unnecessary 
to describe the formation of these and the following tiers. It 
is shown, that, according to certain laws, the first tiers of 
each side of the comb become pentagonal, and according to 
the same laws it is clear that the second and following tiers 
must become hexagonal ; for the two sides forming the lower 
boundary of each cell of the first tier, also form the upper 
boundaries (or partitions) of two cells of the secqnd tiers. 
As the upper part of the first tier is determined by the roof 
of the hive (represented by the horizontal line in diagram 
1*1), so is the tipper portion of the cells of the second tier 
determined by the lower portion of those of the first tier; 
thus, tbe upper portion of each cell of the second tiers being 
composed of two planes meeting at an angle, and the work 
continuing, as in the progross of tho first tier, four more 
planes will be constructed to form tho lower portion, and 
complete the hexagon. It is thus that all the ordinary 
cells of a comh are hexagonal, and we bcliove it is clearly 
shown that they could not be otherwise, according to the 
mode of proceeding (n their construction. Their form de- 
pends entirely upon the commencement of tho work, which 
necessarily throws the cells* in (iuch A position, that each 
cell must be surrounded by six others, and consequently 
bavo six sides, each side being the oomraon partition of two 
cells; and, so long as tho. cells are of equal diameter, they 
must each be opposed te parts of three other cells on tho op- 
posite side of the comb, fa such a way, that supposing the 
external surface of tbe bottom pf each coll wore hemi- 
spherical (which would be the oase were, the. wax not removed 
from the interstices), each hemisphere would touch three 
others ; but the wax being removed from the intersticos and 
reduced to an equal thickness at all parts, — and the bases 
of tho sides of a eoll not being all in the same plane— the 
bottom of eaeh cell U thus formed into three equal rhom- 
boidal pieces in three different planes, tho thrco angles at 
their junction being respectively tho lowest parts, or the 
farthest removed from tho mouth of the cell, 

In working tho cells, tho wax is always found a little 
thicker on the edges, thus giving additional strength to 
them. It has been asserted that this extra thickness is 
added upon tho eompletion of tho cells ; but as we bavo 
never ohserved a cell, even though in a state of progress, 



without it, we think the more probable conjecture is, that 
the bees, in working the sides of the cells, desist upon arriv- 
ing near the top, and thus leave that part thick, as it is . 
found to be. 

Tbe ordinary cells of a comh are of two sizes ; those de- 
signed for the male larvso being rather larger than those 
of the ordinary size in which the neuter larvso are reared. 
The width of the former cells is about 3£ lines, and that of 
the latter 2f. A comb is always commenced with the 
small-sized cells. Hence, when the larger cells are con- 
structed, instead of being opposed to three others, they 
encroach upon a fourth, and tbeir bases are consequently 
composed of four plates instead of three : at first a minute 
lozenge-shaped piece is visible at the top of the basal part 
(fig- 17. a) J this gradually increases in size as the one on 
the opposite side decreases,^. 1 7, b. 

When the full size of the cell is attained, the top and 
bottom pieces (fig. 17, c, c) are equal ; but as soon as a suffi- 
cient number of the larger cells is formed, the lower lozenge 
gradually decreases wbile the upper one (fig. 17, e, e) in- 
creases in size, until there are but three plates again 
visible (fig. 1 7, d, d). 

Fig. 17. 




d ~d 

It is almost always found that the excavations for cells, 
formed by different insects, in whatever situations they may 
he, are exactly proportioned to their size. Hence it is ex- 
tremely difficult to account for the enlargement of tjie cells 
of the bees, as just described. We will, however, venture an 
opinion, in hopes of calling attention to the subject. 

In tbe former part of this account it has heen stated, that 
no sooner is a portion of the comb finished than the queen 
deposits eggs in the various cells, and that the cells first 
formed are always those of the smaller size, which are exca- 
vated hy what are termed the sculpture r-bees, or nurses, 
which are less than the wax-workers. 

We imagine, tbat when the eggs hatch, the small bees, 
or nurses, are more particularly engaged in attending upon 
tbe young, and that the large-sized workers then commenco 
the excavation of the cells themselves, and thus makq cells 
of a larger diameter than those made hy the nurses. 

Huber states that tbe description of bees called wax- 
workers have not the power of sculpturing the cells : but 
at the same time he owns that he was unable to follow 
the proceedings in the construction of a comh for any consi- 
derable time after the commencement. During the time of 
his observations, however, he invariably found that tho 
smaller bees were the sculpturers. 

The interior of a hive consists of a number of combs ar- 
ranged perpendicularly; these are fixed to the roof of the 
hive, and are parallel to each other, the space between them 
being about half an inch. When the first comb has ad- 
vanced in size, so as to consist of two or three rows of cells, 
two other combs are commenced, one on each side of it; 
the work proceeding as in the first : these again aro fol- 
lowed in their turn by two others. As tbe comb advances 
in size it assumes a form nearly circular, and is still joined to 
tbe roof of the hive only ; the work proceeds by adding wax 
to the margin of the eomb exactly at the junction of the 
opposing eells, and this is no sooner deposited than it is cut 
away and worked into eclls. These cells are not equally 
deep throughout tbe eomb, but their depth gradually de- 
creases as they approach the margin: a comh in its pro* 
gross has the form of a double convex lens. 

The form of the comh, as above described, is that of a new 
one; but in the honey-storing season, the sides of tne eomb 
are joined to those of the hive, to give strength to nold the 
additional weight; the cells are also lengthened, so that the 
surface of the comh then hecomes even. The eells are not 
quite horizontal, the orifice being generally a little higher 
than the base, most commonly four or five degrees, but 
sometimes eonsidcrably more. When a comb is first com- 
pleted, it is of a dull white colour, and of a weak substance ; 
it is however soon strengthened, by adding propolis to tho 
margin of the eells, and liiung th$ir interior with threads of 
the same material. 

X2 



BEE 



156 



BEE 



The colls of a comb are used for the purposes of storing 
tip honey for the winter, and in them the larva; are reared. 
Pollen, or bee-bread, is also stored up in some of the cells. 
Many larva? may be reared in the same rell, and as each 
spins a cocoon, or web, on its sides which is never cleared 
out, it thus becomes at last too contracted to contain lame ; 
it is then used for one or both of the other purposes above 
mentioned. When a hive is well stored with combs having 
empty cells, the workers disgorge the honey into these re- 
ceptacles; but in ease cells aro wanted, they retain the 
honey, and wax is secreted for the purpose of building 
more combs. 

Honey is never consumed but in cases of the greatest 
necessity ; but as soon as a cell is filled, it is scaled up with 
a waxen covering. 

During the progress of a comb in building, the slightest 
interruption is likely to alter its form ; and as the space 
between each is always kept exactly the same, it frequently 
happens that the whole of the combs are affected by any 
accident happening to one. Fig. 18 illustrates an instance 
of this sort, which wc have seen — 

J%. 18. Fig. 19. 




but it also frequently happens that an interruption in one 
comb is corrected in those that follow. A curious instance 
of this nature we have also observed. Scey?°\ 19. 

In both these instances the form of the comb was affected 
by a stick being placed across the middle of the hive, to 
enable the owner (as we believe) to remove the hive with 
less danger of tho combs giving way. 

Tho latter case is so ingenious, that at first it appears 
more like an operation of reason than instinct: it is never- 
theless to be accounted for, upon the instinctive principles 
with which these animals work. The course of the first 
comb being alterod, the two adjoining ones would naturally 
follow its line; hut if those next beyond them on each side 
were in a stato of forwardness, the workers would be obliged 
to dtscontinuo the two former, as shown in the figure, to 
avoid coming in contact with the two latter; for it appears 
to be a law in the construction of new combs, that a certain 
space should bo always left at the margins as well as be- 
tween them. 

In addition to the construction of the eomb, the bees, 
when in danger of atlaeks from their enemies, barricade 
themselves. Sometimes the entrance of tho hive is nearly 
blocked up wilh wax and propolis, and at others a wall of 
that substance is constructed just behind that part; this 
wall is perforated with holes only just largo enough to 
admit of the egress and ingress of the bees themselves. 
The fortifications are occasionally much more ingenious 
and complicated. Weak hives are sometimes exposed to 
the attacks of strange bees, and in such eases fortifications 
would be constructed; but it is more particularly to prevent 
the ravages of tho Acherontia atropos that this care is 
taken. As this moth only makes Us appearance in tho 
nutmnn, these fortifications arc removed in the spring, a 
timo when they would be of tho greatest inconvenience, 
as tho hive is then oxtromely populous. Huber states 
that 'the entrances formed in 1804 were destroyed in the 
spring of 1805. The sphinx (Acherontia atropos) did nol 
appear that year; but it returned in great numbers in 
the autumn of 1807. By speedily barricading themselves, 
the bees prevented their threatened ravages; but before 
the departure) of swarms in May, 1808, thev demolished tho 
fortifications, whose narrow passago prohibited free egress 
to tho multitude.' 

The facts related in the foregoing account are sneh as we 
find, for the most part, well authenticated by tho various 
authors who have written on tho subject; but there arc I 



many more inleresling circumstances related in each, which 
wo think not yet quite satisfactorily confirmed. 

The principal authors who have written upon tho subject 
aro as follows: — 

Aristotle— History of Animals, hook v. 

Pliny. — Natural History, l»ook xi. 

Swammcrdam. — A translation into English, from tho 
Dutch and Latin original edition of his work, has been mad© 
by Thomas Floyd, entitled The Book of Nature \ or the 
History of Insects. 

Reaumur.— In the fifth volume of his Mi mo ires pour 
tcrvir a tllistoirc des Inseetes. 1734-1742. 

Schirach.— Histoire Naturelle de la Reinc des Abciltcs. 
1771. 

Kicm. — Contemplation de la Nature. 

Bonnet. — Tom. v. 4to. edition, and torn. x. 8vo. 

John Hunter.— In the Philosophical Transactions for 
1792. 

Thorley. — Female Monarchy; being an Inquiry into the 
Nature, Order ; and Government of Bees. 

Wild man 4 — A Complete Guide for the Management of 
Bees. 1819. 

Hubcr. — Nouvelles Observations sur les Aheilles. A 
translation into English of this work was published in the 
year 1821, entitled New Observations on the Natural His- 
tory of Bees. 

Edward Bcyan, M.D.— The Honey-Bce; its Natural 
History, Physiology, and Management. 1S27. 

BEK-EATER (zoology), the vernacular name for a spe- 
cies of the genus Merops, Linn., one of the family Mero* 
pida, and of tho syndaetylous tribe, which have the external 
toe nearly as long as the middle one, and both joined together 
up to the penultimate articulation. 

The birds of this genus take their prey, consisting of 
wasps, bees, &e., like the swallows, while on the wing; 
and, as Cuvicr observes, it is remarkable that they arc nol 
stung by those insects: the species aro numerous, and 
many are figured by Lcvaillant. Their nests are formed in 
the banks of rivers, where they dig deep holes; and their 
geographical distribution is over the warmer regions of the 
old continent, Java, &c, and New Holland (l'araraatta), 
none of the genus having been found in America, where 
their place appears to be supplied by the Motmots (Pr/o- 
nites, Illiger). Their brilliant plumes of colours, which 
change according to exposure to light, the prevalent hues 
being azures and greens, remind the observer of the king- 
fisher's gorgeous dress. A familiar example of the genus 
occurs in the bird whoso EnglMi name is at the head of 
this article— the Guejyier vufgairc of the French, the 
Mangia-api and Ltqw oVApi of tho Italians, the Mcpo^ 
of the Greeks, and Merops Api aster of Linnaeus. 




(Meter* AptasU'iO 



BEE 



157 



BEE 



In the south of Europe it is frequent In the summer. 
Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, the South of France, and Germany 
possess it, and on the southern border of Russia it is nume- 
rous. It is found in Turkey and in the Archipelago, and 
in autumn migrates towards Egypt. It breeds in holes in 
the banks of the Don and the Wolga, laying from five to 
seven white eggs in a nest composed of moss, &e. Hasscl- 
quist says that it is found in the plains of Galilee, and that 
it is called Varuar hy the Arabs ; and Temminck, that the 
individuals found at the Cape of Good Hope differ in nothing 
from those killed in Europe. Ray, in his edition of Wil- 
lughby, observes, 'it is not unfrequent in the Campagn of 
Rome: for that we saw it there to be sold in the market 
more than once. It is not found in England that we know 
of. Bellonius writes that it is so common in Candy, that 
it is seen everywhere in that island. Aristotle tells us that 
it feeds upon bees, whom all other writers of the history of 
animals do therein follow. But it feeds not only upon bees, 
but also upon Cicadce> beetles, and other insects. Yea, as 
Bellonius relates, upon the seeds of the nipplewort, hastard 
parsley, turnip, &c, not abstaining from wheat and other 
grain. From its exact agreement in the shape and make 
of its body, bill, and feet with the king-fisher, we suspect 
that it likewise preys upon fish. 

• Bellonius. in the first book of his observations, writes 
thus concerning the Merops. Flying in the air it catches 
and preys upon hees, as swallows do upon (lies. It (lies not 
singly but in (locks, and especially by the side of those moun- 
tains where the true thyme grows. Its voice is heard afar off, 
almost like the whittling of a man. Its singular elegance 
invites the Candy boys to hunt for it with Cicada, as they 
do also for those greater swallows called Swifts, after this 
manner : — bending a pin like a hook, and tyin^ it by the 
head to the end of a thread, they thrust it through a Cicada 
(as boys bait a hook with a fly), holding the other end of 
the thread in their hand. Tho Cicada so fastened (lies, 
nevertheless, in the air, which the Merops spying, (lies after 
it with all her force, and catching it, swallows pin and all, 
wherewith she is caught.* 

The passage in Aristotle, mentioning the Merops as one 
of the enemies most destructive to bees, is in the 40th chap- 
ter of the 9th book of his History of Animals; and there 
are others in the 1st chapter of his Gth book, and in the 
13th chapter of his 9th, wherein he notices the peculiarity 
of its making its nest in holes in the earth*. 

The species may now be considered as an occasional visitant 
to this country. In the third volume of the Transactions 
of the Linnrvan Society will be found the following extract 
from the minute-book, recording the first instance of its 
appearance :— 

* July 2, 1794. — The president communicated an account 
of Merops Apirtster, the bee-eater, having been shot (for 
the first time in Great Britain) near Mattishall, in the 
county of Norfolk, by the Rev. Mr. George Smith. The 
identical specimen was exhibited by permission of Mr. 
Thomas Talbot, of Wymondham. A ilight of about twenty 
was seen in June, and the same (light probably (much 
diminished in number) was observed passing over the same 
spot in October following/ There is a specimen in the 
British Museum with ' Devonshire* on the label. 

BEECH-TREE. [See Fagus.] 

BEEDER, a considerable province of Hindustan, forming 
part of the dominions of the*Nizam, and lying between 17° 
and 20° N. lat. It is bounded on the west by Bejaporc and 
Aurungahad; on the north by tho latter province and 
Berar ; on the east by Gundwana and Hyderabad, which 
last-named province forms also its southern boundary. 

The province of Boeder is divided into seven districts, 
viz., Calberga, Naldroog, Akulcotah, Calliany, Boeder, 
Nandccr, and Patree. 

The surface of the province is hilly, hut cannot he called 
mountainous. It is watered by several small streams, and 
is intersected hy the Bceinah, Manjera, Kistna, and Go- 
davery rivers. The Beemah, which is considered a sacred 
river by the Hindus, is a principal branch of the Kistna, and 
rises in the mountains on the north of Poonah. Passing 
within 20 miles east of that city, it (lows with many wind- 
ings in a south-ensterly direction, and after a course of 
nearly 400 miles it falls into the Kistna near Eidghccrin 
Hyderabad. The Manjera rises about 50 miles south-east 
from Ahincdnuggur, and (lows in a south-easterly direction 

* Bekker, In lhc lit chapter or tht Glli book, gives uy^ as tho Boeotian 
name of the bled. (See B«kkcr's edit. Berlin, 1839.) 



past the city of Beeder, and within a few miles of it to tho 
north-east. When it has arrived within about 30 miles of 
the city of Hyderabad it makes an abrupt bend to the 
north, and joins the Godavery in 18° 48' N. lat. and 77° 55' 
E. long., about 400 miles from its source. The Manjera is 
not navigable in any part of its course. 

The soil of Beeder is generally productive, and previous 
to the Mohammedan conquest the province is said to have 
heen thickly peopled. Its numbers must since then have 
much fallen off, as it is not now so populous in proportion 
to its extent as the greater part of the British possessions 
in India. The Hindus exceed the Mohammedans in the 
proportion of three to one. 

On the invasion of the Deccan, in 1295, the founder of 
the Bhamenee dynasty, Allah ud Dccn, took up his resi- 
dence at Calberga, the capital of the district of that name, in 
1 7° 1 9' N. lat. and 76° 56' E. long. Although once the capital 
of a Hindu and afterwards of a Mohammedan sovereign, 
Calberga has since become a place of no importance. The 
province was brought under subjection* by the Moguls in the 
reign of Aurungzebe, but was wrested from the successors 
of that prince, in 1717, by Nizam ul Mulk, the sovereign of 
Hyderabad, and has since continued in the occupation Of 
the successive Nizams. 

(Mills's Histoiy of British India ; Renn ell's Memoir of 
a Map of Hindustan; Ferishta's History of the Decca?i.) 

BEEDER, the capital of the province of the same name, 
is situated in 17° 49' N. lat. and 77° 45' E. long. We have 
not any recently published description of this place. About 
half a century since it was surrounded by a stone wall, six 
miles in circumference, with round towers at intervals. The 
space between this wall and the town is a level and open 
place, a mode of building a town which is not uncommon in 
India. v 

Beeder was founded near the ruins of an old city at the 
end of the sixteenth century, by Ahmed Shah Bhamenee, 
who gave to it the name of Ahmedabad, and transferred to 
it the scat of his government from Calberga. Boeder is 
situated 426 miles (travelling distance) from Bombay, 980 
miles from Calcutta, 857 from Delhi, and 78 from Hydera- 
bad. 

(Mills's History of British India; Renncll's Memoir of 
a Map q/* Hindustan.) 

BEEF-EATER, a jocular appellation, as it is now used, 
for the yeomen of the guard ; though it seems probable 
that the name of buffetiers was formerly assigned to that 
portion of the yeomen oT the guard only who from time to 
time waited at table at great solemnities, and were ranged 
near the buffets. (See Antiq. Repert. edit. 1808, vol. ii. p. 
398.) The French in the same manner called their valets 
who attended the side-board buffets. Furetierc (Dictiomi. 
Universelle, torn. i. in voce) having defined buffet to be a 
sort of cuphoard for keeping vessels, china, &c. : also a side- 
board furnished for the service of the table, adds, * Kuffet 
se dit aussi des offieiers ou valets qui servcut au buffet.' 

BEELZEBUB. [See Baal.] 

BEER. [See Brewing.] 

BEER- ALSTON, a small market- town in the parish of 
Beer-Ferris and hundred of Roho rough, in the county of 
Devon, is situate in a most picturesque country between 
the rivers Tamar and Tavy, six miles S.S.W. from Ta- 
vistock, fourteen N. from Plymouth, and 212 W.S/W. from 
London. 

According to Risdon, it was given hy William the Con- 
queror to the French family of Alenson soon after the con- 
quest, from whom it took its name. In the reign of Henry 
II., * this honour/ says Risdon, * as well as Beer-Ferrers, 
erroneously called Bcre-Ferris, was held. by Henry Ferrers ; 
and Martin Ferrers, the last of that antient house, was put 
in special trust to defend the sea-coast against the invasion 
of the French in Edward III.*3 time.' Towards the close 
of the fourteenth cenlury it belonged to Alexander Cham- 
pernowne of Dartington, and through his grand-daughter it 
descended to Robert Willoughby, Lord Brooke. It is now 
the property of the Earl of Beverley. 

Beer-Alston was an antient borough by prescription, 
although it did not send members to parliament till the 
reign of Elizabeth. The electors nominally held land of the 
lord of the manor, at a rent of three-pence. But there really 
were no landholders except the lord, who created burgage 
tenures merely for the election. This is one of 1 he ilagrant 
ahuses abolished by the Reform Act, Beer-Alston being by 
that act totally disfranchised. The election of members of 



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109 



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parliament, as well as nortrecves, town-elarks, &e., took 
placo in the open air, unaer a large oak-tree. Tlie number 
of inhabitants in tlio borough alone is estimated nt 360, 
but the return of the population is included in that of the 
parish, which in 1821 amounted to 2198; but in 1831 had 
decreased to 1876. The living of Beer- Ferris, a rectory in 
the gift of the dean and chapter of Kxetcr, is in tho arch- 
deaconry of Totnc«s, and diocese of Hath and Wells, and 
was rated in the kings books at 24/. U. Ojrf. Lard Valle- 
tort is the present patron. 

The church possesses somo curious monuments of the 
Ferrers and Champcrnownc families. Beer-Alston was 
cueo famous for its silver- mines, which at one time were 
very productive, but at present they are not considered 
worth working. Perhaps to this and to the disfranchise- 
ment of the borough is to be attributed the unusual deereaso 
of tho population in this parish. It is a curious fact, that 
the annual value of real property, as assessed in 1815, in 
the parish of Beer-Ferris, is, with the exception of Plymouth 
and Devonport, the greatest in Devonshiro, amounting to 
2 j 550/. 
~ BHER-SHEBA, JQtf 1N3, the tcett of the oath, is 

- f •• ; 
called by the Scptuagint Bijpffafr*. or fpiap hpturftov, and by 
Josephus (Ant. i. 12) llrjp(rovCat, and (vi. 3) VaptrovGal, 
JltjptovPtl (Attt. viii. 13. 7), and \*rjptro& (Vita ed. Haver- 
camp, p. 18, $ 37). Bcer-sheba is a very antient city in 
tho south of Palestine, the existence of which can be traced 
from the days of the Patriarchs to the present century. 

Few places have been noticed in history during so many 
centuries as Bcer-sheba. Abraham called that place Beer- 
shcba, because there they swarc both of them, when he 
made a covenant with Abimelcch. And Abraham planted 
a grove in Beer-shcba, and called there on the name of 
the Lord, the everlasting God. (Gen. xxi. 14. 31.) About 
B.C. 180*1, Abimelcch went to Isaac from Gerar, and they 
swaro one to another ; and it came to pass the same day, 
that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the 
well which they had digued, and said unto him, we havo 
found water. And he called it Sheba: therefore the namo 
of die city is Beer-shcba unto this day. (Gen. xxvi. 23, 33.) 
In this antient explanation, JQ#, seven, is considered as 

equivalent to nW»& oath. Both words are, in Hebrew, 

intimately related to each other, because the number seven 
was of frequent occurrence in sacrifices and holy rites. 

Bcer-sheba was frequently tho dwelling place of Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gcn.xxii. 19; xxviu. 10; xlvi. 1— 5), 
of the sons of Samuel, Joel, and Abiah, who were judges 
in Bccr-sbeba. (1 Sara. viii. 2.) Zibiah of Beersheba was 
the mother of Jehoash, king of Judab. (2 Kings xii. 12; 
2 Chron. xxiv. 1.) The prophet Elijah retired to Beer- 
sheba when ho fled before Ahab and Jezebel. (Jos. Ant. 
viii. 13. 7.) 

Becr-sheba belonged first to the cities of the tribo of 
Judab. (Joshua xv. 28 ; 1 Kings xix. 3.) But it appears 
from Joshua xix. 2, that, strictly speaking, Beer-shcba had 
been conceded to the Shimconitcs. * The second lot rarao 
forth to Shimeon, even to the tribe of tho children of 
Shimcon. and their inheritance was within the inheritance 
of the children of Judah ; and they had in their inheritance 
Beersheba. Sheba, Molada/ &c. (1 Chron. iv. 28.) 

That Beer-shcba was situated in the south of Judah is ex- 
pressly mentioned in 2 Sara. xxiv. 2—7. v. 15. Hence the 
namo of Bcer-sheba is frequently mentioned, when the whole 
extent of Palestine is described, in tho expression from Dan to 
Boer-sheba, or vice versa*, 'From Beer-shcba even to [Dan/ 
(1 Chron. xxi. 2 ; 2 Chron. xxx. 5 ; Judges xx. 1 : 1 Sam. iii. 
20 ; 2 Sam. iii. 10; 2 Sam. xvii. 11, xxiv. 15 ; 1 Kings v. 5; 
2 Chron. xxx. 5.) If the kingdom of Judah only is meant, 
the following phrases are employed, from Geba to Bcer- 
sheba (2 Kings xxiii. 8); from Beer-shcba to the mountain 
of Ephrahn. (2 Chron. xix. 4.) 

Under the reign of Uzziah, about the year* 787 B.C., Bcer- 
sheba was notorious for idolatry. ( Araos v. 5 ; viii. 14.) The 
city was re -occupied by tho Jews after their return under Ne- 
hemiah from the Bab) Ionian exile, about 445 n.C. According 
to Nehcmiah (xi. 27, 30), tho children of Judah dwelled again 
from Bcer-sheba unto the valley of Ilinnom. About the 
year 300 a.d. Euscbius Pamphili describes Beer-shcba as a 
very largo village, twenty indes south-west of Hebron, and 
a garrison post. In tho days of St. Hieronymus, about the 
beginning of tho fifth century A.D., wo find it again de- 



scribed in the samo terms, apparently taken from Kuscbius. 
(Qua?st. ad Gen. xvii. 30, and Onomast. b. v.) In the days 
of the crusades, it is thus mentioned by De Vitriaeo, or do 
Vitry, in GestaDci per Francos, p. 1070: Bcer-sheba is a 
town at tho foot of tjie mountains, and near the commence- 
ment of tho plain country, between the mountains and 
Asealon, ten miles from Ascalon; ho thus appears to 
assign (t a different position from that of Kuscbius. In a 
similar manner Bcer-sheba is mentioned by William of 
Tyre. Breitcnbaeh found, in the placo of Beer-sheba, a 
castle called Gattin, other travellers avjllage called Gitalin; 
but Seetzen asscrls that the town is still extant, under 
the name of Bir Szabea, under which name it is entered 
in tjio maps of Kloden and Griram. (Comp. Joseph. An- 
tiquit. viii. 1 3, 7 ; Zachs Correspondenz ; Rclandi Pales- 
tina, p. 484, 020; Jlainelsvcld Bill. Geog. iii. 114, scq. ; 
Winers Biblishes Realtcorterbuch ; andGcsenii Thesaurus, 
sub voce.) 

This Beer-sheba ? pn the southern frontiers of Palestine, 
towards Iduinrca, should not be confounded with a Beer- 
shoba (Bqpffafti, or \irjp<rd€tp in Upper Galikca, mentioned 
by Joscphijs (Jewish War, ij. 20, 6 ; iii. 3, 1, pp. 20S and 
223); and in Dr. Richardson's Travels. 

BEESIIA, a genus of grasses nearly allied to Bambusa, 
with which it is actually combined by some naturalists, but 
from which it differs, according to tho concurrent tostiinony 
of all authors, in tho otherwise incredible circumstance of 
its seeds being enclosed in a fleshy pericarp. 

Two species are known, both or which have tho aspect of 
the spineless bamboos. Of these Beesha baccifera is found 
on the Chittagong mountains of India, where it is called 
Pagu tulla, growing in dry places on the sides of hills, 
where the upper stratum of soil is sandy. According to 
Roxburgh's Mora Indiea, the circumference of the steins 
near the base is twelve or thirteen inches, ai)d their height 
from fifty to seventy; ' beautifully erect, and without tho 
least flexure or inequality of surface j baro of branches, 
except near the extremity : it perishes after yielding its 
fruit It yields more or less tabashecr, of a siliceous crys- 
tallization ; soinotiraes it is said tho cavity between tho 
joints is nearly filled with this, which the people call Choona 
or lime.' (Flora ludica, ii. 197.) 

Beesha Fax is a smaller species, not above eighteen feet 
high ; it is found in Amboyna and other parts of the Ma- 
layan Archipelago, where it is applied to many useful pur- 
poses. It is the Arundarbor cratium of Rumphius's tier 
barium of Ainboyna. 

BKET, in Botany. [Sec Beta.] 

BKET, a plant of the genus Beta, in the class Petttan- 
dria, and order Digynia of Linnajus, and, in tho natural 
order, Chettopodeie of Jussicu. 

There are two distinct species of beet commonly cultivated, 
each containing sovcral varieties, the one called the Cicla, 
or Hortensis, producing succulent leaves only, the other tho 
Vulgaris, th'stinguished by its large fleshy root The eiela 
is chiefly cultivated in gardens as a culinary vegetable, and 
forms one of the principal vegetables used by agricultural 
labourers and small occupiers of land in many parts of 
Germany, France, and Switzerland. A variety known by 
the name of Swiss chard produces numerous largo suc- 
culent leaves, which havo a very solid rib running along the 
middle. The leafy part being stripped off and tailed, is 
used as a substituto for greens and spinach, and the rib and 
stalk aro dressed liko asparagus or scorzenera ; they have a 
pleasant sweet taste, and are more wholesome than the cab- 
bage tribe. In a good soil the produce is very abundant, 
and if cultivated on a large scale in the field, this species of 
beet would prove a valuable addition to the plants raised for 
cattle. By cultivating it in rows, and frequently hoeing 
and stirring the intervals, it would be an excellent sub- 
stituto for a fallow on good light loams. 

All cattle aro very fond of the leaves of this beet, which 
add much to tho inilk of cows without giving it that bad 
taste which is unavoidable when they are fed with turnips 
or cabbages i and which is chiefly owing to tho greater ra- 
pidity with which tho latter undergo tho putrefaetivo fer- 
mentation. If sown in May in drills two feet vide, and 
thinned out to tho distance of a foot from plant to plant in 
tho rows, they will produce an abundance of leaves, which 
may be gathered in August and September, and will 
grow again rapidly, provided a bunch of the centre leaves 
bo left on each plant. They do not sensibly exhaust tho 
soil. Thcso leaves, when boiled or steamed with bran, cut 



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BEE 



ehaff, or refuse grain, are an excellent food for pigs, or bul- 
locks put up to fatten. 

The second species, the Vulgaris, or beet-root, has been 
long cultivated in gardens; especially that variety called 
the red beet, which, when boiled and sliced, makes such an 
excellent addition to winter salad. It is a native of the 
south of Europe, and hence all the varieties are tender, and 
destroyed by frost when in their young state. It thrives 
best in a rich, light, dry soil, and, from the length of its tap- 
root, requires a considerable depth. The white beet is an 
excellent root, and is preferred by many to the larger and 
more common intermediate varieties. It has been lately in 
great repute in France and Belgium for the manufacture of 
sugar. It is not commonly cultivated in our gardens, and 
we only notice it as being, with the red beet, the parent 
of those varieties which have heen introduced into field 
eulture. 

The common field-heet for cattle, which has been long 
known in Germany, was introduced into England at the 
latter end of the last eentury ; and its introduction is gene- 
rally attributed to the late Dr. Lettsom, a physician of great 
reputation, and one of the Society of Friends. The German 
name is mangold icurzeU or mangold root, but it is com- 
monly pronounced mangel wurzel, which means scarcity 
root ; and by a strange translation it is called in French 
racinc d'abondance, or root of plenty, as well as racine de 
disette, or root oUcarcity. The name of field beet is much 
more appropriate. 

The improved variety of this beet, which grows to a very 
large size in good soil, has a red skin, and when cut through 
appears veined with red, in concentric circles. The prin- 
cipal part of the root rises often a foot and more above the 
ground, and the leaves, which are large and succuleut, 
spring from the erown of the root. There is a limit, how- 
ever, beyond which the root does not improve in quality 
as it increases, and the roots of a moderate size contain 
more saccharine and nutritive matter in the same bulk 
than the larger. This is particularly the ease with those 
varieties from which sugar is extracted. The soil best 
adapted for the beet-root is a deep sandy loam, naturally 
, rich, or made so by repeated manuring. The manure 
should be well incorporated with the soil, and if any is 
added for this crop, it should be well rotted and ploughed 
in deep. The application of liquid manure during the 
growth of the plant greatly increases the roots; but it is 
also said to make them more watery, and for the sugar beet 
it is not recommended. The seed, which should be chosen 
from the most perfect plants, is sown in May : if sown 
sooner, there is some danger from the frosty nights which 
often occur abeut the beginning of that month ; or if the 
spring is warm and genial, it gets tee forward, and instead 
of increasing in the root, it shoots up a seed-stalk, and the 
root becomes comparatively useless. *. If it is sown later 
than May, it never arrives at a full size before the approach 
of winter : hence the first or second week in May is the best 
time in our climate. It is found by experience that those 
plants of beet which grow from seed sown where they are 
te remain have larger roets, in general, than those which are 
transplanted ; the seed is therefore usually drilled, er dib- 
hled, in rows from twenty-four to thirty inches distant; the 
seeds arc put in abeut an inch deep, and when they are 
dibbled, the holes are about four inches asunder, and two 
or three seeds are put in a hole. After they come up and 
are out of danger ef frost or insects, they are thinned out, 
so as to leave the plants a foot asunder. Where the plants 
have failed, the intervals are filled up by transplanting 
some of those which are superfluous in other parts: in 
doing this it is essential that the fibres of the roots be 
not tern off in pulling up the plant; and if they are taken 
up carefully with seme ef the mould adhering to the roots, 
it will well repay the additional trouble. If the ground is 
well prepared, there is little fear of tho plants not coming 
up, or ef their being destroyed hy the lly, as is too often the 
case with turnips. A sprinkling of liquid manure along 
the rews, about the time that the plants first appear above 
ground, will in general secure an abundance of them ; and 
this may be done with much less trouhle. than would be 
imagined, by those who have never practised it. It requires 
only a'water-eart, with a large cask and twe leathern hose, 
kept at a proper distance from each other by a stick between 
them, Be that they may pour the liquid manure over twe 
rows at once. If the field be not above a mile from the 
tank, a man and horse will water twe acres in a day, 



and if the distance is half a mile, four acres* the expense 
will he amply repaid in the crop.* 

On a very large scale this may not he so practicable ; hut 
wherever a field 'of beet is near the home-stall, it should 
never be omitted; the evident advantage of it will soon re- 
move any objection arising from trouble or expense. When 
the plants are three inches above ground, they may be 
thinned out a foot apart in the rows; the intervals be- 
tween the rows may be stirred with the plough, grubber, 
or horse-hoe, and the intervals from plant to plant in the 
row with the hand-hoe. The ground eannot be kept too 
fine and open, provided the soil be not extremely porous, 
and the weather very dry ; in that case it must not be stirred 
so much, for fear of the moisture evaporating toe much. 
It is a common practice to throw the earth from the rows 
against the roots ; but the most experienced cultivators do 
not approve of the method : on the contrary, they recom- 
mend drawing the earth from the plants, or at least laying 
the whole ground level. Where the soil is naturally rich 
and deep, the drills may be made on the level ground ; but 
if the soil is shallow, or the subsoil of a barren nature, it is 
best to raise small ridges, as is done for turnips on the North- 
umberland plan, and bury the dung under them, by 
which means the mots have more room to strike downwards. 
As soon as the outer leaves begin to droop, they may be 
gathered and given to cattle, but a tuft should be left in the 
centre to carry on the vegetation, or else the roots will 
not increase. This practice of gathering the leaves is 
strongly recommended by some, and tlrey assert that the 
root does not suffer in the least, although the leaves are 
reproduced ; hut here we would ffive this caution, founded 
oh experience and observation. The drooping leaves, if not 
gathered, will deeay and fall off; they have performed their/ 
oflice, and therefore to gather them before they wither is a 
real economy : but to strip off fresh and growing leaves 
must injure' the plant, and the' juices required to replace 
them are so much taken from the growth of the roots. 
When fodder is very scarce this may be a sacrifice worth 
making, but if the object is to reserve the roots for winter 
food, the leaves should remain on the plant as long as they 
look fresh and growing, until near the time of taking up 
the whole crop : the top may then be cut off an inch aboVe 
the erown of the root, and will be excellent fo'6d for the 
eows and pigs. 

The roots are generally taken up and stored for winter, 
some time before there is any danger of considerable frost ; 
the top having been removed, and the tap root cut off, the- 
mould which may adhere to the fibres is scraped off with' 
the back of the knife. The roots' are then either stacked 
in a barn or root-house, with alternate layers of straw, and 
the sides and top protected from the frost by straw placed 
all round, in which way they will keep well and fresh till 
spring: or they are placed in trenches two feet deep and six 
feet wide, with a layer of straw at the hottom and against 
the sides; they are heaped up in these trenches to the 
height of three feet above the ground, forming a ridge at 
top, and then covered all over with straw, over which the 
earth taken out of the trench is spread, and made smooth, 
sloping like the roof of a house. A small trench is dug 
all round this heap, with a proper outlet to prevent any 
water from soaking in ; the heaps are made of any length, 
according to the quantity of roots to be stored, and the 
two ends are secured with straw, and covered with earth 
like the sides. When it is required te take out the 
roots for use, an opening is made at the end, a sufficient 
quantity is taken out, and the end is secured again with 
straw and earth as before. When the roots have been 
put in dry, and some time has been allowed for a slight 
fermentation, and the Steam produced has been allowed 
to escape before the heap was finally covered in, they 
will eome out quite fresh and juicy till late in spring; 
but if the proper precautions are neglected, they will often 
rot or become musty, and then the cattle will not readily 
eat them. There are few crops so valuable for winter food 
for cattle as the heet; Swedish turnips, or rutabaga, exceed 
them in the quantity of nourishment, weight for weight, 
hut on good light soils the produce of the beet per acre is 
much greater. On old pasture ground trenched up enormous 
crops of mangel wurzel have been raised. When the 

• If the water-cart contains 100 gallons, it will water ono-third or an acre 
in rows tit three feet distunce ; the horse will g" ov « r one mil ° tlU(l a Ili *! f iB aa 
orditmrily shaped field to Mater an acre, to which must be udded t*jce the 
(UstttneL- from the tank, taken three times. This makes in all i| + 6» or j\ 
mites for each acre, wlieu the distance is one mile. . 



BEE 



160 



BEE 



Regent's Park was forming, a part which had been trenched 
was sown very thick with mangel wurzel seed, and such 
was the produce, that it was sold by auction, in lots, to the 
cow-kcepers in the neighbourhood, at tho rato of 80/. per 
acre. 

It is soid that tho cows fed entirely on beet become too 
fat, and givo less milk ; but this would be no objection with 
the row-keepers who unito tho fattening of their cows with 
the milking, and like to have them ready for the butcher as 
soon as they are nearly dry. For bullocks they aro excel- 
lent ; for horses Swedish turnips aro preferable. The pro- 
portional valno of hay, potatoes, Swedish turnip3, and beet 
in feeding cattle, according to Einhof, whose statements 
Thaer has found to agree with his experiments, is as fol- 
lows: — 18 tons of mangel wurzel aro equal to t5 tons of ruta 
baga, or 7$ tons of potatoes, or 3} tens of good meadow 
hay, each quantity containing the samo nourishment : but 
tho roots may be grown upon less than an acre, whereas 
it will take two or three acres of good meadow- land to 
pfodueo the equivalent qnantity of hay; and. of all 
theso root crops the least exhausting for the laud is the 
beet. The white beet has been chiefly cul tivated for the 
extraction of sugar from its juice. It is smaller than the 
mangel wurzel, and more compact, and appears in its tex- 
ture to be moro like the Swedish turnip. We have given 
it to cattle, and are satisfied with the result; but we have 
not made sufficiently accurate experiments to decide which 
sort is the most advantageous. It will probably be found 
that the nature of the soil will make the scale turn in favour 
of the one or tho other; but for tho manufacture of sugar, 
tho smaller beet, of which the roots weigh only one or two 
pounds, arc preferred by Chaptal, who, besides being a cele- 
brated chemist, was also a practical ngrieulturist, and a 
manufacturer of sugar from beet-root. 

This manufacture sprung up in France in consequence of 
Bonaparte's scheme for destroying tho colonial prosperity of 
Great Britain by excluding British colonial produce. It 
having been found that from the juice of the beet-root a crys- 
tallizable sugar could be obtained, he encouraged the esta- 
blishment of the manufacture by every advantage which 
monopoly and premiums could give it. Colonial sugarwas at 
the enormous prico of four and five francs a pound, and tho 
use of it was become so habitual, that no Frenchman could do 
without it. Several large manufactories of sugar from beet- 
root were established, somo of which only served as pretoxts 
for selling smuggled colonial sugar as the produce of their 
own works. Count Chaptal, however, established one on his 
own farm, raising the beet-root, as well as extracting tho 
sugar. We here give a brief account of the process, taken 
chielly from his own publications, especially the work en- 
titled La Chimie apptiquee a V Agriculture, 2 vols. Svo. 
Paris, 1829. The first operation is to clean the roots: 
some effect this by washing, but Chaptal prefers scraping 
and paring them with a knife, although by this means one- 
sixth part of tho root is wasted, as the scrapings mixed 
with earth cannot be safoly given to cattle, and even the 
pigs eat but little of it ; but it adds to the manure, and is 
* therefore not altogether lost. Six tons of beet-root are thus 
reduced to five, which aro next to be rasped and reduced 
to a pulp. This is done by a machino consisting of a 
cylinder of tinned iron, two feet in diameter, and eighteen 
inches in the axis, on which it is turned by machinery. 
On the circumference of tins cylinder are fixed, by means of 
screws, ninety narrow plates of iron, rising three-fourths of 
an inch from the surface and parallel to tho axis, at equal 
distances all round ; the outer or projecting edges of these 
plates arc cut into teeth like a saw ; a slanting box is fixed 
to the framo on which the axis of the cylinder turns, so that 
the roots may bo pressed against these plates. The cylinder 
is made to revolve rapidly, and tho roots aro thus scraped, 
the pulp falling into a vessel, lined with lead, placed below. 
When two such cylinders arc mado to revolve 400 times in 
n minuto by a sufficient power, whether water, wind, or 
horses, two and a half tons of roots arc ground down in two 
hours. It is necessary that this operation should proceed 
rapidly, or elso tho pulp acquires a dark colour, and an in- 
cipient fermentation takes place, which greatly injures the 
future results. As tho pulp is ground it is put into strong 
canvass bags, and placed under a powerful press to squcczo 
out the juice. The residue is stirred, anu subjected to a 
second and third pressure, if necessary, till every particle of 
juice is extracted. As the liquor is pressed out, it runs into 
a copper, until it is two-thirds filled. The strength is ascer- 



tained by an instrument similar to tho saccharomctcr used 
by brewers, called the pesc-fiqucur of Bcanmc* *, which 
shows the specific gravity of the liquid. The fire is now 
lighted, and by tho time the copper is full the heat should 
bo raised to 17b° of Fahrenheit's thermometer (G5° of Reau- 
mur), but no higher. 

In the mean timo a mixture of lime and water has been 
prepared by grndually pouring as much water upon JOlb. 
of quick lime as will make the mixture of the consistency 
of cream. This is poured into the conper when the heat is 
steadily at ] 78°, and is well mixed with the juice by stirring 
it. The heat is then increased till the mixture boils, when 
a thick and glutinous scum rises to tho surface. As soon 
as clear bubbles rise through this scum, the fire is suddenly 
put out by water poured on it or by a proper damper. Tho 
senm hardens as it cools, and the sediment being deposited 
the liquor becomes clear and of n light straw colour. The 
scum is then carefully taken off with a skimmer having 
holes in it, and is put into n vessel till such timo as tho 
liquor remaining in it can bo pressed out. A cock is now 
opened nbout five inches above the bottom of the boiler, 
and all tho clear liquor is drawn off. Another cock lower 
down lets out the remainder until it begins to appear cloudy; 
what still remains is afterwards boiled again with what is 
extracted by pressure from tho scum. The clear liqujr is 
now subjected to evaporation in another boiler which iswido 
and shallow. The lwttom is but slightly covored with tho 
juice at first, and it boils rapidly. As the water evaporates, 
fresh juice is lot in. When a certain degree of inspissation 
or thickening has taken place, so as to show five or six de- 
grees of strength on the pcse-liqueur, animal charcoal is 
gradually added till the liquor arrives at 20°. Ono hundred 
weight of charcoal is required for the juice of 2£tons of beet, 
which is now reduced to about 400 gallons. The evaporation 
by boiling continues till the saccharomctcr marks 25" and 
a regular syrup is obtained. This is now strained through 
a linen bag, and the liquor is kept flowing by moans of 
steam or hot air, and assisted by pressure. In two or three 
hours all the clear syrup will have run through. 

There are many nice circumstances to be attended to, 
which can only he learned by experience, and an outline of 
the process is all that wc undertake to give. 

The syrup thus prepared is again boiled and skimmed 
until it is sufficiently concentrated, which is known in the 
following manner. The skimmer is dipped into the syrup 
and drawn out: some of the thick syrup which adheres to 
it is taken between the thumb and fore-finger and held 
there till the heat is red need to that of the skin ; the finger 
and thumb are separated, and if tho syrup is of a proper 
strength, a thread will be drawn out, which snaps and has 
the transparency of horn or rather barley-sugar : this is 
called the /woo/. The fire is then put out and tho syrnp is 
carried to the cooler, which is a vessel capable of containing 
all the syrup produced by four opcrationsor boilings. Here 
the sugar is to crystallize : ns soon as this commences tho 
whole is well mixed and stirred, and before it becomes too 
stiff, earthen moulds, of the well-known sugar-loaf shape, 
and of the size called great bastards, arc filled with the 
crystallizing mass, of which a little at a time is poured into 
each. When tbey are full, they arc carried to the coolest, place 
on the premises. As the crystallization goes on, tho crust 
formed on the top is repeatedly broken, and the whole is stirred 
till the crystals are collected in the centre ; it is then allowed 
to go on without further disturbance. In three days it is 
so far advanced, that the pegs which wcro put into tho 
boles at tho point of the moulds may be taken out and tho 
molasses allowed to run out. In a week this is mostly run 
off. White syrup is now poured on the top of the moulds, 
which filters through the mass and carries part of tho 
colouring matter with it. The process that follows is ex- 
actly that in common use in refining West India sugars. 

Although most of the operations are nearly tho same as 
those by which the juice of the sugar-cane is prepared for use, 
much greater skill and nicety aro required in rendering tho 
juice of the beet-root crystalhzable on account of its greater 
rawness, and the smaller quantity of sugar that it contains. 
Hut when this sugar is refined, it is impossible for the most 
experienced judge to distinguish it from the other, cither by 
the taste or appearance ; and from this arose tho facility with 
which smuggled colonial sugar was sold in France, under 

• The ptie-liq*cur ol II en time here referred lo ts *o hydrometer, of which 
0° eorresnomU to 1*000, tho » peel ft c gravity of pure water at 55° of Fahren- 
heit ; and 35° to about t*2J5. 






BEE 



1GL 



BEE 



the name of sugar from beet-root. Five tons of clean roots 
produce shout 4^ cwt. of coarse sugar, which give about 
160 lbs. of double-refined sugar, and 60 lbs.of inferior lump- 
sugar. The rest is molasses, from which a good spirit is 
distilled. The dry residue of the roots, after expressing the 
juice, consists chiefly of fibre and mucilage, and amounts to 
about one-fourth of the weight of the clean roots used. It 
contains all the nutritive part of the root, with the exception 
of 4£ per cent, of sugar, which has been extracted from the 
juice, the rest being water. Two pounds of this dry residue, 
and half a pound of good bay, are considered as sufficient 
food for a moderate-sued sheep for a day, and will keep it 
in good condition ; and cattle in proportion. 

As the expense of this manufacture greatly exceeds the 
value of the sugar produced, according to the price of co- 
lonial sugar, it. is only by the artificial encouragement of a 
monopoly and premiums that it can ever be carried on to 
advantage. The process is one of mere curiosity as long as 
sugar from the sugar-cane can be obtained, and the import 
duties laid upon it are not so excessive as to amount to a 
prohibition ; and in this case it is almost impossible to pre- 
vent its clandestine introduction. 

By allowing the juice of the beet-root to undergo the 
vinous fermentation and by distilling it, a more profitable re- 
sult will be obtained in a very good spirit- A kind of beer 
may also be made of it, which is said to be pleasant in warm 
weather and wholesome. 

Another mode of making sugar from beet-root, practised 
in some parts of Germany, is as follows, and is said to make 
better sugar than the other process. The roots having been 
washed are sliced lengthways, strung on packthread and 
hung up to dry. The object of this is to let the watery 
juice evaporate, and the sweet juice, being concentrated, is 
taken up by macerating the dry slices in water. It is ma- 
naged so that all the juico shall be extracted by a very 
small quantity of water, which saves much of the trouble of 
evaporation. Professor Lampadius obtained from 110 lbs. 
of roots 4 lbs. of well-grained white powder-sugar, and the 
residuum afforded 7 pints of spirit. Achard says that about 
a ton of roots produced 100 lbs. of raw sugar, which gave 
55 lbs. of refined sugar, and 25 lbs. of treacle. This result 
is not verv different from that of Chaptal. 

BEETHOVEN, LUDW1G VON, one of the three 
great German composers who may be said to have flou- 
rished in our time, was born on the 17th of December, 1770, 
at Boun. His father and grandfather were both musicians 
by profession ; the former occupied the situation of principal 
vocal tenor, and the latter that of first base singer, and 
subsequently kapellmeister, in the chapel of the elector of 
Cologne. In the Didionnaire des Musiciens it is said, 
that he was the reputed son of Frederick William II. of 
Prussia, but there seems to have been no ground whatever 
for a rumour which, in all probability, originated in court 
scandal. Beethoven's father was so much addicted to in- 
temperance that he was often disqualified from performing 
his duties ; hence he neglected the education of his son, who, 
however, by the assistance of friends, was enabled to gain 
some knowledgo of Latin, of French, of arithmetic, &c, as 
taught in the schools of Germany. 

From the earliest age Beethoven evinced a disposition 
for music ; or, in other words, he learnt the language of 
music and his mother-tongue both at the same time : and 
as modulated sounds seldom fail to make a deep impression 
on a young fervid mind, when they are almost constantly 
presented to it, as was the case in the present instance, he 
soon acquired, and as speedily manifested, a taste for the art 
of which they are the foundation. His father began to in- 
struct him when he was only in his fifth year, but soon de- 
livered him over to M. Von der Eden, esteemed the best 
pianist in Bonn, who dying shortly after, the youthful pupil 
was transferred to M. Neefe, his successor, the Archduke 
Maximilian of Austria defraying the expense of his tuition. 
This excellent master initiated his pupil in the works of 
Sebastian Bach, particularly in those extremely laboured 
studies entitled ' Le Clavecin bien temped;* or the Forty- 
eight Preludes and Fugues in every key. At the age of 
thirteen ho published at Mannheim and at Spires, in his 
own name, Variations on a March, Sonatas, and Songs. 
But at this time his genius displayed itself more decidedly 
in musical improvisation. His extempore fantasias are men- 
tioned by Gerber in his Lexicon (' Tonkunstler- Lexicon f ), 
as having excited the admiration of the most accomplished 
musicians of the time. 



The elector of 'Cologne now sent his protege, in the cha- 
racter of court organist (in which office he had succeeded 
Necfe), to -Vienna, to study under Joseph Haydn; but 
the great composer, being then on the point of setting out 
for England in furtherance of his engagement with Mr. 
Salomon, placed his intended pupil in the hands of the 
eminent theorist, Albrechtsberger, who first gave him me- 
thodical instructions in counterpoint. After having com- 
pleted his time with that master, he returned to Bonn ; but 
the capital of the Austrian empire had now more charms 
for him than his native city. His patron, too, died, and war 
raged in its worst form in the north of Germany ; Beethoven, 
therefore, left for ever the place of his birth, and settled 
in Vienna, which city and the adjoining country he never 
afterwards quitted. t 

About this time (1791 ?), says the Chevalier von Sey fried, 
Beethoven most successfully tried his strength in the quartet 
style, * a noble , style, reformed, or, more properly speaking, 
created by Haydn, enriched by the universal genius of 
Mozart with greater. depth and gravity, though not at the 
expense of grace, and carried by Beethoven to a degree of 
superior power that few will attempt to attain, and perhaps 
none will ever surpass.' Happily for him he was at that 
time on terms of intimate friendship with three artists ( in 
the service of Prince Rasumowski ; and whenever he had 
finished a work, he communicated to them his intentions in 
regard to its character and expression. Hence it became a 
saying in Vienna, ' Those who would well understand the 
ehambcr-musie of Beethoven must hear it executed by 
Schuppanzigh, Weiss, and Linke/ y 

He now was strongly pressed to compose an opera, and 
M. Sonnleithner undertook to arrange the opera of Leonore, 
from a French piece named I' Amour conjugal, Beethoven 
then went to reside in the very theatre for which be was 
writing, and laboured at his work with ardour and satisfac- 
tion. This opera, better known under the title of Fidelio* 
was not received with much applause ; with the exception 
of three, the performers were not equal to the tasks assigned 
them. Moreover, the war and progress of the French 
armies absorbed the attention of nearly every inhabitant of 
Vienna. The next year the managers of the Karnthnerthor 
Theatre gave Fidelio for their benefit. The work then 
took the form which it now bears ; it was reduced to two acts, 
and preceded by an imposing overture in e major. The com- 
poser also added the short march, the air of the jailer, and 
the finale of the first act, cutting out a trio in b ilat, and a 
duet for a soprano, with violin and violoncello obligati ac- 
companiments, in c, nine-eight time, neither of which are to 
be found in the score. 

In 1809 Beethoven determined to accept the place of 
kapellmeister to the king of Westphalia, Jerome Buona- 
parte, which was offered to him with many advantageous 
conditions. It was then that three lovers and patrons of the 
arts, the archduke Rodolph, and the princes Lobkowitz and 
Kinsky,came forward, and, in terms the most flattering, 
executed a deed by which an income of 4000 florins (about 
4002.) was secured to the great composer, till he should 
obtain some appointment of equal value, the only condition 
of which was, that it should be expended in the Austrian 
dominions. 

It ia to be feared that untoward events frustrated, in a 
considerable degree, the good intentions of Beethoven's 
patrons. Prince Lobkowitz was soon involved in such 
utter ruin that his palace in Vienna was converted into 
an hotel. Prince Kinsky fell in the French war, and 
the archduke remained his only protector. He now ex- 
pressed a strong desire to travel,. and especially wished 
to see England. He had been invited to this metro- 
polis by the Philharmonic Society of London, who proposed 
to him liberal terms, and he made preparations for the 
journey ; but when the moment for decision arrived, he 
could not summon up sufiicient courage for, what appeared 
to him to be, so vast an undertaking. Ho was suffering 
from an infirmity severo to all afilicted by it, but doubly so 
to a musician — deafness. This calamity came on gradually, 
but from the first defied all remedies and every effort of 
skill, till at length the sense became so wholly extinct that 
he could only communicate with others by writing. The 
consequences of so severe a deprivation were, as his friend 
Seyfried feelingly but candidly remarks, ' a habit of gloomy, 
anxious distrust," and a violent desire of solitude, the usual 
precursors of hypochondria. To read, to stroll into the - 
country, were his most agreeable occupations ; and a small, 



No. 225. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.-Y 



fc E K 



1G2 



n E P 



very select circle of dear friends formed his only social 
enjoyment.' 

By slow degree*, maladies, arising probably from a lon«^- 
continucd slate of mental irritation, attacked a fraino which 
nature had mado healthy and robust, and rendered re- 
course to medical aid absolutely necessary. Throe of the 
chief Vienna physicians attended him, and neglected nothing 
that could aileviato tho sufferings of their patient. But 
tho hope of any euro soon vanished : symptoms of dropsy 
appeared, and becamo more and ruoro decisivo in character. 
lie underwent tho operation of tapping, which mitigated 
the pain ho endured. During the process ho very charac- 
teristically exclaimed, 'Better water from my body than 
from my pen.' Six days before his death he said to Iris 
friends Si. Scbindlcr, an Aulic counsellor, and M. Brcnning, 
■ Plawlite, amid, comoedia finita est* From about that 
time to the moment of his decease he was in a stato of 
constant delirium ; and in tho evening of tho 26th of 
March, 1827, he breathed his last. M. Scbindlcr, in a 
letter to Mr. Mosehcles, says, ' The funeral ceremonies 
were sueh as are due to tho remains of a great man. It is 
calculated that nearly 30,000 people were collected on tho 
glacis and in the street through which the procession was 
to pass. Tho scene is not to be described in words ; but if 
vou remember the iramenso concourse of people in the 
l'rater during the Congress of Vienna in 1814, you may 

form some idea of it Eight Mattres-de-Chapelle 

^wcro pall-bearers; and in the wholo there were thirty-six 
torch-bearers, among whom wero the poets Grill partzcr and 
Castclli, as also all the first artists In Vienna,' At the end 
or this letter, tho writer mentions an extraordinary proof of 
the avidity with which tho German phrenologists seize every 
opportunity of pursuing their investigations. ' Yesterday/ 
he says, • tbe grave-digger came to announce to us that an 
offer of a thousand florins, convention-money (about 100/. 
English), had been mado to him by letter, if ho would de- 
posit tho head of Beethoven in a place fixed on.' 

' In taking an inventory of M. Beethoven's property,' tho 
before-named gentleman adds, ' there were found, in a 
half-mouldered chest, seven Austrian bank bills, valuo 
about 1000/. in British money, and about 100 florins in 
paper money. Tho hundred pounds which the Philhar- 
monic Society of London had sent him were found un- 
touched/ This society, hearing that one to whom music 
owed such deep obligations was suffering from sickness and 
straitened circumstances, with a most laudable feeling, im* 
mediately transmitted that sum for his imincdiato use, and 
•were prepared to show a further proof of their gratitude, had 
it been necessary. 

Beethoven died unmarried ; and he was never known to 
form any attachment of a tender kind. His portraits are 
faithful representations. He was of tbe middle size, stout, 
and his form altogether indicated strength. Notwithstand- 
ing tho strange kind of life he led, his only illness was 
that of which be died. 

Jn rofcrencc to his projected travels, it has been observed 
by an anonymous writer in tho Harmonicon (vol. i. 156), 
that it may be doubted whether his presence would have 
added, either here or elsewhere, to his celebrity. His ex- 
treme reserve towards strangers prevented his displaying 
those excellent qualities which, under a forbidding exterior, 
he was known to possess : and such wero the contrasts in 
his character, that occasionally his bluntness of remark, 
and his total want of reserve in offering his opinion of others, 
mado him appear to be quite forgotful of tho prescribed 
rules of society. But, continues the writer in tho work 
mentioned, notwithstanding these foibles, which too often 
accompany genius, his character for integrity ranked de- 
servedly high: his strong feeling of truth anu justice pro- 
duced a rectitude in his moral conduct which ensured nim 
the esteem of every honourable man. Though his oarly 
education was rather neglected, yet he mado up for the 
deficiency by subsequent application ; and thoso who knew 
him well state, that his knowledge of German literature was 
very respectable, and that ho was a tolerable proficient in 
Italian, though of French ho knew very little ; indeed, he 
had strong prejudices against that nation. Whenever he 
could bo induced to throw off tho reserve arising, most 
likely, from his infirmity, his conversation becamo •ex- 
tremely animated, full of interesting anecdote, and replete 
with original remarks on men and manners/ 

But after his deceaso it was found that he was conscious 
of his own weaknesses, and in his will had apologised for 



them. This curious document, so interesting to tho ad 
mircrs of Beethoven, to tho lovers of art, and to the moral 
philosopher, as developing the foclings of an illustrious 
composer, and throwing a light on his personal eharaetcr, is 
dated Ileiligcnstadt, Oct. G, 160*2. and addressed to his 
brother Carl, and his nephew Ludwig Beethoven. 

Beethoven's published works reach opera 120, at least; 
they embrace every class and aro in all styles. His vo(?al 
music is full of beautiful new melody, and equally distin- 
guished by strong feeling and a just expression of the words. 
His oratorio, The Mount of Olivet, his opera, Ftdclio, and 
his two masses, bear testimony to this ; though, hi our opi- 
nion, his numerous songs, very littlo known in England, and 
his two cantatas, " Adclaida,' and ' Ah 1 pcrfido, sperriuro/ 
with which all real lovers of music are acquainted, display 
taste of a more refined kind than any of his other vocal 
works can boast. Most of his pianoforto music is ad- 
mirable, and possesses even' quality that vast genius could 
endow it with ; while somo is crude, wantonly difficult, and 
betrays a wayward fancy. His quintets and quartets, or 
what may be termed his chamber mnsie, arc elaborately 
written, and so original, — they speak a language so uncom- 
mon, — that, on a first, and even second hearing, many good 
and impartial critics have confessed themselves unablo to 
form a decisive opinion of their merits. On further ac- 
quaintance, beauties of tho rarest kind are unfolded, and 
tnc appetite for them increases in proportion as they are 
better known. We are, it must be understood, alluding to 
tho best of the class ; the composer was not successful in 
ever)' production of the sort, though his failures were com- 
paratively few. But the grandeur of Beethoven's ooneep-' 
tions, and his marvellous skill in development, aro most 
manifest m his orchestral works, in his overtures, and more 
especially in his symphonies. This is the field in which all 
his faculties are called into action ; in which tho wonders of 
his imagination are displayed, and every resource of his art 
is mado contributory. And the power which he here ex- 
hibits is the more remarkable, as the pronnd seemed to be 
so entirely occupied by Haydn and Mozart, that no room 
appeared to be left for a third. 

Five years after the death of Beethoven, his friend tho 
Chevalier Ignaz von Scyfried published, in German, Ins 
posthumous didactic work, under tho title of Beethoven's 
Studies in Thorough-Dass, Counterpoint, and the Theory 
of Composition, collected from his autograph MSS. t <?•<?. 
This work, though deficient in method and desultory, con- 
tains matter of much interest and importance to the musician, 
and, as tho record of his own experiences, is not only valu- 
able but curious. Its utility, however, will be felt chiefly by 
professors, especially coinposors, who, if they make a right 
use of it, may profit largely by tbe practical remarks, illus- 
trated by examples, embodied with tbe text, in which it 
abounds. M. Seyfricd has added to the work a biographical 
sketch of the author, and that extraordinary will to which 
we have above alluded. 

BEETLE. This term has frequently boon used as the 
name common to the species of the family Scarabmdce ; 
but it is more commonly and properly used to designuto 
those insects which arc covered by a strong horny substance, 
the abdominal part of tho body boing protected by two 
sheaths under which the wings arc folded, llonco the 
term is synonymous with Colhoptkra. 

BE'FORT, BELFORT, or as it is written by Expilly, 
BEDFORT, a town in France, formerly capital of the 
district of Sundtgau, now capital of an arronuissement in 
tho department of Ilaut Rhin or Upper Rhino. It is si- 
tuated amid the Vosgcs, and on the bank of a littlo stream, tho 
Savoureusc, which runs into tho Daubs. It is in 47° 31) 
N, lat. t and C° 50' E. long., 248 miles E.S.E, of Paris. 

An old fortress of tho feudal ages, which from its strong- 
position had tho namo of Bel-fort, gave to this town both its 
origin and its designation. It was at an early period under 
counts of its own, and afterwards passed under the dominion 
of tho house of Austria, By tho treaty of Westphalia in 
1648, it was ceded by Austria to Franco; and its important 
situation, in a pass from Alsaeo to Francho Comtf, induced 
Louis XIV. to strengthen it with new military works. The 
task was committed to tho skill and science of Vanhan, 
who was lod by the nature of tho ground to use a new 
systom of fortification. The ground enclosed by the new 
fortifications was laid out in regular streets, and occupied 
by well-built houses, forming a new totcn far superior in 
appearance and symmetry to the old town. Tho new town 



BEG 



163 



BEG 



occupies the higher ground, the old town occupies the 
lower. The antient castle, which Vauban repaired, is on a 
steep rock, and is remarkable for the great height of its 
walls. Previous to the revolution there was a collegiate 
church at Be7ort. 

The town is well situated for trade, being the centre from 
which several roads branch out ; the neighbouring country 
furnishes wood and iron ; and between the town and the 
Vosges is a vast bed of peat, which might serve for fuel. 
Iron-wire, wax-eandles, leather, and paper are the chief 
manufactures ; and the Dictzonnaire Universal de la 
France, Paris, 1804, speaks of a charitable institution for 
orphan girls in which cotton-yam was spun, also of manu- 
factories of printed cottons. The population of the town in 
1832 was 4537; that of the whole commune amounted to 
5753. 

The principal objects worthy of notice are the town- 
house, the church, the military hospital, and the barracks. 
There are a library, a high school, and a society of agri- 
culture. 

The arrondisseraertt of B^fort is very mountainous, being 
entirely occupied by tho branches of the Vosges or the 
Jura. It comprehends 341 square miles, or 218,240 acres, 
and is subdivided into nine cantons and 191 communes. 
The population of the arrondissement in 1832, was 116,156. 

(Expilly ; Maltc-Brun ; Dictionnaire Universel de la 
France; Dupin, Forces productives de la France.) 

BEG, also pronounced BEY, is a Turkish word which 
signifies * prince, lord, or chief/ and in the Osman empire 
is rather vaguely used as a title of governors and other high 
officers of tho state. It is also frequently subjoined to pro- 
per names, to distinguish persons of high rank generally. 

BEGGAR. [See Mendicant and Mendicity.] 

BEGHARMI, called by Brown D'AR BAGHERMI, is 
a country in Africa, extending southwards, probably to 10° 
N. lat. : its northern boundary reaches nearly to the Lake 
Tchad, perhaps to 1 2° 3(? N. lat. We know only the western 
boundary with any degree of certainty, and this runs (about 
18° E. long.) at a short distance from the eastern bank of 
the river Shary, which empties itself into the Tchad from 
the south-east. On the east it seems to extend to the nearly 
unknown country of Waday, which separates Begharrui 
from Dar-Fur. Some small kingdoms, which extend along 
the river Shary, separate oil the west Begharmi from 
Bornou. 

This country, like its neighbour Bornou, lies between the 
unknown region of central Africa and the Great Desert, the 
Sahara, which latter maybe considered as beginning on the 
northern shores of theLake Tchad. From the swampy 
southern shores of the Tchad the country rises imper- 
ceptibly for a considerablo distance, and then the surface 
begins to swell into hills, which by degrees attain the height 
of mountains. Tho hilly and mountainous portion of it 
.belongs to Begharmi. The greatest part of this country 
is covered with thick forests, chiefly inhabited by the fero* 
cious animals common in this part of Africa. It is also 
traversed by a great number of rivers and water-courses, 
and contains numerous lakes. The river Shary, which pro- 
bably has its source in the mountains of Begharmi, enters 
the plain as a considerable stream, being at Kussery about 
1200 feet wide. 

As this country has never been visited by Europeans, We 
arc unacquainted with its natural wealth. We only know 
that its horses are of excellent breed, perhaps among thd 
best in the world. 

We know little more about its inhabitants, who seem 
to be numerous and warlike. They frequently under- 
take- predatory incursions into the neighbouring countries, 
whero they often appear in considerable numbers. Bo- 
sides, they seem to have made considerable progress in 
some of the arts, at least ih those of war. In Denham's 
* Journey * there is a picture of a Begharmi horseman, which 
certainly may be adduced in proof of this assertion. It 
is not decided whether the inhabitants of Begharmi are 
negroes, or whether they belong to the Galla^ tribes which 
ha\e occupied a considerable part of Abyssinia. It would 
appear, however, that they havo not embraced the Islam, 
but arc still idolaters. 

The flat country extending between Begharmi and the 
Lake Tchad is the abode of a tribe of wandering Arabs, 
called the Shouaas, who have numerous flocks of cattle and 
sherp. 

The few notices respecting this country we owe to Major 



Denham, who collected them during his residence at 
Bornou. 

BEGLERBEG, a compound word, which properly sig 
nines 'chief of chiefs/ was till very recently in the Osman 
empire the title of the governor-generals of the provinces. 
They stood next in rank to the vizier, and had under their 
jurisdiction many $anjak$,6r districts, with their begs, agas, 
&e. One of their external distinctions was that the sultan 
of Constantinople alwavs bestowed on them three ensigns, 
named in Turkish tugn, which consisted of staves trimmed 
with the tail of a horse: inferior officers of the crown were 
honoured by only one or two of these insignia. About tho 
middle of the seventeenth century, the Turkish . empire 
comprised twenty-two beglerbeglics, or provinces governed 
by beglerbegs, who derived their income from the places 
under their government, viz., seventeen in Asia: Anatolia* 
Caramania, Diarbekir, Damascus, Siwas, Erzerum, Van, 
Childir, Shehrezur, Aleapo, Marash, Cyprus, Tarabolos, 
Trebizond, Kars, Mosul and Rika; and five in Europe 
Ruraili, Gallipoli (the beglerbeglie of the seas), Budun or 
Buda, Temeswar, and Bosna. Six other beglerbegs received 
their salary out of the grand signior's treasury : they were 
those of Cairo, Bagdad, Yemen, Habesh, Basra, and Lahsa. 
(See Paul Ryeaut, State of the Ottoman Empire, London, 
1668, fol. pp. 51-57.) 

BEGONIA'CE^li, a natural order of Endogcns, con- 
sisting of a single genus, composed of species found exclu 
sively in the dampest parts of tho tropics in both the New 
and Old World, particularly in Asia and America. They 
have perfectly unisexual flowers, with a superior calyx, 
generally coloured pink, consisting, in the sterile flowers, of 
from two to four pieces, and in the fertile flowers of from 
five to eight. The stamens are numerous ; the style sim- 
ple ; the stigmas three, often forked, and having a wavy or 
twisted appearance. These latter originate from a three- 
cornered, three-celled ovary, containing a multitude of little 
seeds, which changes to a thin-sided capsulo with three 
extremely unequal wings. The leaves are always more or 
less unequal -sided, and have highly-developed membranous 
stipules at their base. 




1, a sterile .flower; 2, a fertile one; 3, the mtne in bud; 4, the half-grown 
ovary ami stigmas ; 5, fruit; 6, the same cut through horizontally j 7, seeds 
the natural size; 8, one teed magnified ; 9, the fame cut through to show the 
embryo iu its natural position in the albumen j 10, an embryo separate. 

It is very difficult to say with what other natural order 
this has most ailinity. By Link it has been stationed near 
Umbellifera*, a most unintelligiblo association. Jussieu, 
attracted by its highly developed stipules, and apparently 
apetalous iloWers, together with the aeld flavour which is so 
prevalent in the order, suspected its near alliance with Po- 
lygoneat, while Lindley, with a greater degree of proba- 
bility, now makes it constitute an alliance of his Epigynous 
Cohort of Exogens with polypctalous flowers, stationing it 
in the: vicinity of tho Gourd tribo. 

Y 2 



BEG 



B E G 



All the speeie3 of tho only genus, Begonia, of which the 
order consists, have fleshy leaves, often nehly -coloured with 
crimson, succulent stems, and neat-looking pink flowers 
growing in fcw-tlowercd panicles. They arc deservedly 
favourites with tho collectors of tropical 'plants in conse- 
quence of the facility with which they may bo kept in a 
stale of almost constant flowering; yet we aro not aware 
that they have ever received in this country the considera- 
tion they deserve, although tho readiness with which they 
lend themselves to tho cultivator s art renders them peculiarly 
suited to his attention. Heat and moisture in a high de- 
Free, with decayed vegetable matter to grow in, such as 
old tan, arc aU that they require : treated thus in the im- 
perial gardens at Schonbrunn, near Vienna, they form one 
of tho most interesting objects in that splendid establish- 
ment, occupying almost exclusively a house specially allotted 
for their cultivation, and not yielding in attraction to the 
tropical forest, fern-houses, and palm-houses in their vici- 
nity, with which the visiter naturally compares them. About 
fifty species are at present described, the principal part of 
which may be procured in a living state in the gardens of 
Europe. 

BEGUINS, in ecclesiastical history, certain tertiaries or 
half-monks, who followed the third rule of St Francis. 
They were called in Italy, Bizochi and Bocasoti ; in France, 
Beguins; and in Germany, Beguards or Bcghards: and 
are very frequently mentioned in the ecclesiastical history 
of the "middlo'age. The accounts, however, which both 
antient and modern writers generally give of theso famous 
names are so uncertain and so different from each other, 
that the history of tho Bcghards and Beguins is involved in 
greater perplexity than any other part of the ecclesiastical 
history of that period. Mosheim is minute unon the true 
origin of theso denominations, both of which he considers 
to have been derived from tho German beggen or beggeren 
(now written begrhren), to seek with importunity, by join- 
ing which to the syllabic hard* which is the termination of 
many German words, wo have the word be^geJiard, appli- 
cable to a person who' asks any thing with great ardour, 
and from which the English word heggar is "manifestly de- 
rived. These observations, on the origin and signification 
of the words in question, serve as a cluo to the ditliculties'in 
which the history of the Bcghards and Beguins has been 
involved ; and, as Mosheim justly observes, will cnahlc the 
reader to account for the prodigious multitudes of Bcghards 
and Beguins which sprung up in Europe in the thirteenth 
century ; and will show him how it happened that these de- 
nominations -wcro eiven to above thirty sects or orders, 
which differed widoly from each other in their opinions, 
their discipline, and manner of living. The Bizochi or Be- 
guins, if we except their sordid habit and eortain observ- 
ances or maxims, which they followed in consequence of 
the injunctions of St. Francis, lived after the manner of 
other men, and were therefore considered In no other light 
than as seculars and laymen. (See tho Acta ]nqu\s\t. Tho- 
losan& f published by Limhoreh, pp. 307, 329, 382, 339, &c. 
and .Ionian's Chronicon, published by Muratori, AntiquiL 
Jtal. Medii JEvi t tom. iv., p. 1020.) 

We must not, however, says Mosheim, confound these 
Beguins and Beguincs, who derive their origin from an 
austere branch of the Franciscan order, with the Gorman 
and Bclgie Beguincs, who crept out of their obscurity in 
the thirteenth century, and multiplied prodigiously in a 
very short time. Their origin was of earlier dato than this 
century, but it was only now that they acquired a name, 
and mado a noise in the world. Their primitive establish- 
ment was undoubtedly tho effect of virtuous dispositions 
and upright intentions. A certain number of pious women, 
both virgins and widows, in order to maintain their inte- 
grity, and prcscrvo their principles from tho contagion of a 
corrupt age, formed themselves into societies, each of which 
had a fixed place of residence and was under the inspection 
and government of a female head. Here they divided their 
time oetwecn exercises of devotion and works of industry, 
reserving to themselves the liberty of entering into the state 
of matrimony, and quitting the convent whenever they 
thought proper. And as all those among the female sex, 
who mado extraordinary professions of piety and devotion, 
were distinguished by the title of Beguines, i. e. persons 
who were uncommonly assiduous in prayer, that title was 
given to the women of whom we are now speaking. Tho 
first society of this kind that wo read of, was formed at Ni- 
vclle in Brabant, in the year 1226, or as other historians 



say, in 1207 ; and was followed by fo many institutions of a 
liko nature in France, Germany, Holland, and Flanders, 
that towards the middle of the thirteenth century, thcro 
was scarcely a city of any noto that had not its beguinagc* 
or vincyaru, as it was sometimes called in conformity to 
tho stylo of the Song of Songs. All theso female societies 
were not governed by the same laws : but in the greatest 
part of them, the hours that were not devoted to prayer, 
meditation, or other religious exercises, were employed in 
weaving, embroidering, and other manual labours of various 
kinds. The poor, sick, and disabled Beguincs were sup- 
ported by tho pious liberality of such opulent persons as 
were friends to the order. 

Mosheim, in a note, says, * in the last/ meaning tho seven- 
teenth century, * thero was a great debate carried on in the 
Netherlands, concerning the origin of the Bcghards and 
Beguincs : the latter, in the course of the controversy, pro- 
ducing the most authentic and unexceptionable records 
and diplomas, from which it appeared that in tbe eleventh 
and twelfth centuries there had been several societies of 
Beguincs ostahlished in Holland and Flanders.* It is 
truo, ho adds, they had no moro than three of these au- 
thentic acts to offer as a proof of their antiquity j tho firs 
drawn up in the year 1065, the second in the* year 1 1 2SL 
the third in 1151 ; and they were all three drawn up at Vil 
vorden hy the Beguincs, who at that time wcro settled 
there. (Seo Aub. Minri, Opera Diplomatico-historica, 
torn. ii. c. xxvi. p. 948, and torn. iii. p. 628. Edit, now ; Er\c. 
Putcanus, De Beghinarum apud Belgas Institute) et No- 
mine Suffrasio, printed in A.Rickel's Vita 5. Vaggteruw 
Annotationibus, p. 65-227. 4to. Douay, 1C31.) Hence Mo- 
sheim thinks it almost prohablo that a convent of Beguincs 
must have existed at Vil vorden before tho thirteenth cen- 
tury, and of course before that of Nivclle. 

In the fourteenth century, tho socictiesof the Beguincs had 
become very numerous in Germany ; but as they adopted some 
of tho mysterious and extravagant opinious of the ' Mystic 
brethren and sisters of the free Spirit,* we find in the Ger- 
man records of this ccnturv a frequent distinction of them, 
into those of the rijjht and approved class, and thoso of the 
sublime or free spirit, the former of whom adhered to the 
public religion, while the latter were corrupted hy the opi- 
nions of the mystics. The Beguincs now shared in the 
persecution which fell upon the mystics. The Clementina, 
as it is called, or constitution of the council of Vienna, a.i>. 
1311, against the Beguincs, or those female societies who 
lived together in fixed habitations, under a common rule of 
pious discipline and virtuous industry, gave rise to a perse- 
cution of these people which lasted till the reformation by 
Luther, and ruined the cause both of the Beguincs and 
Beghards in many placos. For though tho pope, in his last 
constitution, had permitted pious women to live as nuns in 
a state of eclihacy, with or without taking the vow, and re- 
fused a toleration only to such of them as were corrupted 
with the opinions of the Brethren of the free Spirit; yet the 
vast number of enemies which tho Beguines and Bcghards 
had, partly among tho mechanics, especially tho weavers, 
and partly among the priests and monks, took a handle 
from the Clementina to molest tho Beguincs in their houses, 
to seizo and destroy their goods, to offer them many other 
insults, and to involve the Beghards in the like persecution. 
Pope John XXII. afforded tho Beguincs some relief under 
these oppressions, in the year 1324, hy a special constitu- 
tion, in which he gave a favourable explication of the Cle- 
mentina, and ordered that tho goods, chattels, habitations, 
and societies of the innocent Beguincs should bo preserved 
from every kind of violence and insult; which cxamplo of 
clemency and moderation was afterwards followed by other 
popes. On tho other hand, the Beguincs, in hopes of dis- 
appointing more effectually tho malicious attempts of their 
enemies, embraced in many places the third rule of St 
Francis and of the Augustincs. Yet all theso measures in 
their favour could not prevent the loss both of their repu- 
tation and substance, for from this timo they were oppressed 
in several provinces hy the magistrates, the clorgy, and tho 
monks, who had cast a greedy cyo upon their treasures, and 
were extremely eager to divide the spoil. (See Mosheim a s 
Kccles* History, edit. 8vo. Lond. 1782, vol. iii. pp. 228, 
229, 230, 231, 377, 379.) Mosheim intended a separate 
work upon the Beghards and Beguincs, which never ap- 
peared ; though ho states himself, in his history, that it was 
then almost finished. The most copious writer on the long 
persecution of the Beguines is Christianus *\Vurstisen, or 



B E H 



165 



B E H 



Urtisius, in his Cfironicon Basilien&e,' written in. German, 
lib. iv. cap. ix. p. 201. fol. Basil, 1580. i » 

There is a little work of great rarity, entitled Lettre de 
M. VAbU S * * * a Mile. deG***, Beguine dAnvers, sur 
VOrigine et le Progres de son Institut. 12mo. Par. 1731, 
from which we learn that Beguinages, as they were called 
then, existed at Aix-la-Chapelle, Alost, Anderleeh, An- 
^gheih, Antwerp, Arras, Arschot, Audenarde; Bethune, 
Bruges,Brussels,Cambray,Cologne,Courtray,Diest,Douay, 
Ghent, Grandmont, Hasselt, Herenthals, Hochstraten, 
Huy, Isch, Lew, LiSge, Lierre, Lille, Lovz, Louvain, Ma- 
lines, Mons, Namur, Nivelle, Orcbies, Ruremonde, Ter- 
monde, Tirlemont, St. Trond, Tongres, Tournay, Tournhout, 
Valeneiennes, Venlo, and Vilvorden. It contains also two 
representations of a Beguine, one in the dress worn in the 
ehapel of her house or convent, and the other in bcr walk- 
ing habit. Communities of Beguines still subsist in Hol- 
land, Belgium, and Germany. In Brussels there is a portion 
of the town still ealled the Beguinage, inhabited by about a 
thousand Beguines, governed by matrons.' There are Be- 
gninajres also at Amsterdam; Ajitwerp, and Mechlin. 

BEHEADING. [See Decapitation.} 
• BEHEM, MARTIN, was a celebrated navigator and 
geographer of the fifteenth eentury. His name is written 
by various authors in very different ways: Behem, Beham, 
Bchaim, Bcehm, Boehem, Behen, Behcmira, &c. He was 
born in the old imperial eity of Nuremberg, somewhere about 
tho year 1436. His family; which was respectable, or what 
was called ' distinguished * in those days, is said to have 
come originally from Bohemia. His education was eare- 
fully attended to, and he is said to havo enjoyed the advan- 
tage of being instructed by the learned John Miiller, better 
known under the Latin name of Regiomontanus. In early 
life he followed tbe profession of a merchant, continuing, 
however, to cultivate the mathematical, and particularly the 
nautical, sciences, which may have become moro interesting 
to him from the circumstance of his having to make several 
commercial voyages. ■ Even at this time he is said to have 
Tefleeted a great deal on the subject of the antipodes, and, 
like Columbus, to have been convinced of the existence of 
vast tracts of land in the western hemisphere; but already 
many scientific men entertained vague notions of the kind. 

Being on business at Antwerp in the year 1479, Behem 
became acquainted with somo Flemings who were closely 
connected with the enterprising court of Lisbon, and who 
had formed colonies in the newly-discovered islands of the 
Azores. At their pressing invitation, Martin went to Por- 
tugal, where, as a skilful cosmographer and maker of maps, 
he was well received, that country being at the time wholly 
given up to maritime discoveries. The many controversies 
and eontradietions concerning Bchem's life begin at this 
point, but here, at least, they are easily settled. Cellarius and 
several other writers say that Behem was the discoverer of 
the whole group of the Azores, whereas there is ample evi- 
dence to show that some of them were seen by Vanderberg, 
a navigator of Bruges, in 1^31, when Martin eould be little 
more (ban a year old ; that Gonsavo Velho Cabral visited 
and named the island of Santa Mariti in 1432; and that all 
the islands were known in 14G0, or nineteen years before 
Behem went to Lisbon, and connected himself as a geo- 
grapher and explorer with the Portuguese government. 
These facts arc recorded in Portuguese history. Other au- 
thors, again, merely make Behem the discoverer of the 
island of Fayal ; and Mr. Otto, who has taken great pains to 
advance the fame of his countryman, attaches great import- 
ance to the following noto, which he says was written in 
German, on parchment, and preserved in the archives of 
•Nuremberg: — 'Martin Beham, Esq., son of Mr. Martin 
Beham of Scopperin, lived in the reign of John II., king of 
Portugal, on an island which he discovered himself, and 
which he called Fayal, situated among the Azores in the 
"Western Ocean.* But there is good ground for believing 
that the only two of the islands unknown even so early as 
1419 (when King Alphonso of Portugal granted a license 
to his own uncle, Don Henry, to colonise the Azores), were 
the comparatively small and distant islands of Corvo and 
Flores; and its magnitude and position must of necessity 
have made Fayal, with the group to which it belongs, known 
soon after the discovery (in 1432) of St Mary's and St. 
Michael's. f »* 

We now eome to a fact in which his biographers gene- 
rally agree, though they differ a few months as to date. * In 
1434, Behem was placed as a scientific man on board the 



fleet of the celebrated navigator Diogo Cam, who was com 
missioned to prosecute Portuguese discovery along the west 
African coasts, which were then only known as far as Cape 
St. Catherine in lat. 2° 30' S. With that distinguished ad- 
miral the cosmographer went to Fayal and Pieo ; and this 
we believe to be the first time he ever visited the Azores. 
Leaving that group of islands, they bound in with the African 
continent, and, doubling Cape Verde, examined all the coast 
from tbe river Gambia to the river Zaire, or Congo, the 
mouth of whieh lies in lat. 6° S. Continuing their eourse, 
they made Cape St. Augustine, and finally reaehed Cape 
Cross, or De Padrono, in lat. 22° S., which was the limit of 
their voyage, and no less than 1 9° 30' farther south than any 
preceding discoverer had ventured. After an absence of 
nineteen months, Bebem returned to Lisbon, where, in re- 
ward for his services, the king (John II.) conferred the 
honour of knighthood upon him in a public and unusually- 
splendid manner. 

In 14 S6 wc hear of Behem at Fayal, where, and at whieh 
time, he married the daughter of Job Huerter, by whom he 
had a son. It appears to us, that, from his settlement in this 
island, and from the eare he took to eolonize and cultivate it, 
the mistake arose, in after years, of his having been the dis- 
coverer of Fayal. Martin Behem did not (as far as we can 
learn) accompany any other expedition for diseovery either 
to Africa or elsewhere ; but be busied himself in making 
charts, and occasionally went from the Azores to Lisbon 
and to Madeira, at either of which plaees he may have 
formed an acquaintance with Christopher Columbus. An 
important, but we think an unreasonable, eonelnsion has 
been drawn ehiefly from the assumed meeting of these two 
great men. 

In 1492, the year in whieh Columbus started on the 
expedition that ended in the discovery of the New World, 
Martin Behem paid a visit to his native eity of Nuremberg, 
where, in the eourse of a years residence, and at tbe earnest 
request of his countrymen, he made a terrestrial globe, 
some traits and guesses in which have, perhaps more than 
anything else, contributed to an obstinately maintained 
theory. When ho returned from Germany to Portugal he 
was employed for a short time in some diplomatic negocia- 
tions; but in 1494, retiring from all publie business, Martin 
repaired to his estates in Fayal, where he lived tranquilly in 
the bosom of his family, continuing, however, to keep his 
attention awake to his old and darling subject, and to the 
progress of discovery, which after Columbus's first voyage 
was carried on more rapidly than ever. In 150C he was 
once more at Lisbon, and on the 29th day of July in the 
same year, full of years and honours, he (lied in that eity, 
leaving no works of any kind behind him, except the maps 
and charts he had made, and his globe. A reeent tourist 
in Germany (Mrs. Jameson) mentions an interesting fact 
the old house of Martin Behem in the city of Nuremberg is 
to the present day occupied by a globe and mapseller. 

It is admitted on all sides that Martin Bebem ought to 
be regarded as one of the most learned geographers, and as 
the very best chart-maker of his age. But these, his real 
and great merits, have not satisfied certain writers, who, 
moved by the prejudices of country, oralove of contradiction 
and paradox, insist that Behem, and not Columbus, was the 
discoverer of America. Cellarius and Riecioli both say that 
he visited the Ameriean continent and the Strait of Magal- 
haens, but Stuvenius appears to have been the first to give 
great importance to this doctrine; asserting in his treatise, 
De vero novi Orbis Inventore, that Behem had accurately 
traced on his globe preserved at Nuremberg the islands of 
Ameriea, and even the Strait of Magalhaens. Professor 
Tozcn combated this assertion as far baek as 1761, and for a 
quarter of a century tho theory was laid aside as untenable. 
Dr. Robertson, in his History of Ameriea, took some pains 
to rescue the fame of Columbus, but the task was then con- 
sidered almost unnecessary. In 1786, however, Mr. Otto, a 
diplomatic servant of the French government, but a German 
by birth, again renewed the nearly forgotten dispute, and in 
a long letter to Dr. Franklin stated lus reasons for believing 
that Martin Behem had visited America beforo Columbus, 
and that all Columbus had done after him had been in pur- 
suance of Behem's instructions and advice. 

Mr. Otto does not seem to be aware that such an opinion 
was ever started before. His letter was published in the 
seeond volumo of ' Transactions of the American Philoso- 
phical Society, held at Philadelphia for promoting Useful 
Knowledge.* After its appearance n variety of writers and 



k e n 



IGG 



b: it it 



compilers or cyclopias and biographical dictionaries, 
without looking into tho matter, took up Mr. Otto's story 
as something now and striking, not knowing that it was old 
and had boon disproved. Tho wnv in which it opens is 
enough to throw discredit on the whole, for Mr. Otto repeats 
and believes tho error that Behem was tho discoverer of all 
the Axores. When he says that this impossibility is esta- 
blished by records preserved in the archives of Nuremberg, 
wo can have no faith in tho same kind of proofs as to the 
American discovery. It must be mentioned, moreover, 
that none of theso records or documents • preserved in tho 
archives of Nuremberg,' with tho exception of a letter said 
to bo written by Belie m, bear any date ; and thus they may 
all have been written after the discoveries of Columbus and 
Magalhaens were well known, at least to tho learned world. 

According to ono of these undated records, Bohem, after 
residing twenty years at Kayal, applied, in 1-184 (eight years 
before Columbus's expedition), to John 11. of Portugal for 
the means of making a voyage of discovery in tho south- 
west, and having procured "some ships found out that part 
of America which is now called Brazil, whence, sailing 
southward, he went to tho Strait of Magalhaens, nnd to 
the country of some savage tribes, whom he called Pata- 
gonians, because the extremities of their bodies wero co- 
vered with a skin more like bears' paws than feet and 
hands. 

Another of these Nuremberg documents, as quoted by 
Mr. Otto, says that Behem, traversing the Atlantic Ocean 
for several years, examined the American islands, and dis- 
covered the strait which bears the name of Magalhaens, 
before either Christopher Columbus or Magalhaens sailed 
jn those seas, and even mathematically delineated on a 
chart for the king of Portugal the situation of every part of 
that famous strait. 

With regard to the first of these assertions, which is the 
wore definite of the two, it is perfectly well known that 
the only expedition for discovery fitted out by the Portu- 
gueso in 1484 was that of Diogo Cam, who certainly never 
went near America, and who, ns wo have already shown, 
was accompanied by Martin Behem. Indeed Mr. Otto, who 
quotes contradictory statements to support each other, and 
prove one and tho same thing, himself allows that Behem 
was with Diogo Cam in his African voyage in 14 S4, k e. in 
tho very year that he is said to have applied for a (lect to go 
westward and to have discovered Brazil, &e., nnd in which 
year, as we have already btatcd, no other expedition than 
Diogo Cam's left Portugal. 

Mr. Otto quotes as contemporary authorities one or two 
writers who did not live until many years after BehcuTs 
death and the discoveries both of Magalhaens and Colum- 
bus, and refers to several later authors who could be of no 
authority whatsoever. The chronicler Hartman Schcdl was 
contemporary with Behem ; but, as far as he is cited by Mr. 
Olto, who thinks the passago conclusive, he docs not prove 
or even imply that Behcra wns the discoverer of America. 
Tho passage 3imnly states that Martin Bchcm went in King 
John's ships trith Diogo Cum, that they coasted along tho 
southern ocean, crossed tho equator, got into the other 
hemisphere, where, facing to the eastward, their shadows 
projected towards tho south and right- hand ; that thus their 
enterprise may be said to have opened to us another world 
hitherto unknown, and that having finished this cruise in 
twenty-six months they returned to Portugal with the loss 
of many of their men. Now, as it has been seen, Diogo 
Cain, though keeping elose to the African coast, did indeed 
eross tho equator and even reach the 22 3 of southern lati- 
tude, and the great extent of his discoveries on tho coast of 
Africa, occupying 19° 30', might in those times be very well 
called a new or unknown world, without any reference to 
America. 

Mr. Otto says that Columbus, being at Madeira, met 
Mnrtin Behem, who informed him of his discoveries in (he 
western world and showed him which way to shape his 
course. But this assertion falls to tho ground when wo find 
that the course actually takeu bv Columbus was very dif- 
ferent from the alleged one of Bchcin, and far to the north 
of the pretended discovered land marked on Bchcni's famous 
globo. This globe, though a remarkable performance, was 
of necessity, in thoso times, both defective and erroneous 
even in relation to tho old world. It was made up from the 
authorities of Ptolemy, Pliny, and Strabo, and still more 
from the excellent travels or Marco Polo and tho fabulous 
travels of Sir John Mandcville, From this very* globo it, 



should appear tlint his geographical information in the cast 
did not extend beyond Japan, nor In tho west beyond tho 
Cape Verde Islands ; and that all that ho dotted down on his 
glooc boyond thoso islands was from mere conjecture. Of two 
islands which he set down between the Capo Verde group 
and America neither exists In tho place assigned to it. 
One was called St. Brandon, the other Antilia, and from 
tho similarity of the latter naino it has been supposed to bo 
one of tho Antilles or American islands discovered by Co- 
lumbus. But Columbus only gave tho name of a fabulous 
island to a real one; for, long beforo Ins time, the denomi- 
nation of Antilia or Antilia had been assigned to a supposed 
country somewhere westward of the Azores* Andrea 
Bianeo, a Venetian geographer, who lived at the beginning 
of the fifteenth century, indulged precisely in the samo 
speculation. Among a collection of Ins charts bearing tho 
date of 1436 (i.e. fifty-six years beforo Martin Behem mado 
his globe) there is one in which he lays down a very largo 
island at a great distance to tho west of tho Azores, nnd 
winch he calls Antilia, and marks tho beginning of another 
island which ho calls La Man di Satanasso, or the Devil's 
Hand. 

Mr. Otlo admits that neither Martin Bchcm nor the Por- 
tuguese who employed him, and who were oxceedingly 
jealous of the discoveries made under the Spanish Hag, ever 
even hinted, at the time that, Columbus was indebted to 
another for his discovery of America. Had there been tho 
shadow of a doubt on tho subject the eourt of Lisbon would 
have made itself heard throughout Europe, and would not 
have loft the controversy to a few literary men living long 
after the event, Mr. Washington Irving, in his Life of 
Columbus, has eomc to the now incontrovertible conclusion 
that Martin Behem had no sort of claim to the honours due 
to the great Genoese. 

BEHE'MOTH, ntorQi is the phtralis majestatis, or 

majestic plural, or plural of excellence, of Behemah, i.e. 
beast, cattle, and occurs in Job xl. 15-24, as the name of a 
large herbivorous animal, the description of which, accord- 
ing to Boehart, Scheuclucr, Herder, Gescnius, and other 
interpreters, corresponds with the nppcarancc and qualities 
of the hippopotamus. Gescnius thinks that the naino 
behemoth was a Hebrew corruption of the Egyptian word 
Pechemoedh, irtxtftotc — bos niarinus sou, aquaticus— the 
water-ox, or hippopotamus, which is described by various 
travellers. 

■ Behemoth is thus described in Job xl. 15-24: '.Behold 
now behemoth which I ereatcd as well as thyself; he catoth 
grass as an ox. Behold now his strength in his loins, and 
his power in the muscles of his belly. He bends his ex- 
tremity (i, c. trunk, proboscis) like a ecdar; tho sinews of 
his terrors (i. e. his terrible sinews) aro interwoven (t. e. 
twisted, or interlaced). His hollow bones arc liko tubes of 
brass; his solid bones aro like bars of iron. He is the chief 
of the works of the Almighty. His Maker gavo him his 
sword (l. e. tho weapon of his tusks). For mountains bear 
his fodder, and all the beasts of the field play there. Ho 
licth under the lotus-bushes; in the covert of reeds and 
mire. Tho lotus-bushes cover hi in with their shadow ; the 
willows of the brook cneoinpass hiin. Behold, the river 
overllowcth, yet he llceth not. Ho is undismayed, although 
Jordan rush against his mouth. With his eyes he takes it 
(his aim), his nose pierces through snares/ This is fre- 
quently illustrated by n reference to the elephant, who tries 
with the extremity oi' his trunk whether the enclosures are 
secure. It was perhaps in allusion to tho irresistibility of 
Behemoth that Thomas Hobbcs of Malmsbury gavo the 
title Behemoth to his history of the causes of the civil wars 
of England, from the year 1640 to 1660. 

This description appears to nnsWer moro to the elephant 
than to the hippopotamus ; and the opinion of the ohIc»t com* 
mentators, who understood it of the elephant, is confirmed 
by tho fact that tho Arabs are in the habit of adding tho 
epithet mehemoth to their name of the elephant, fihl, if he 
is very large (Strahlcnbcrg, English translation, p. 403, eiled 
in Cuvier's Ossemerts Fossihs, vol. i.) It is singular that 
tho Siberians eall the elephants which have been preserved 
in their country, mammout, or momot, or momoth, or mam- 
moth, or vxamnwuth. 

The word behemoth occurs also as tho mere plural of 
behctnah, ca///ct in Ps. \, 10: 'For every beast of tho 
forest Is mine; and tho cattle (behemoth) upon a thousand 
hills/ (Compare Psalm lxxiii, 22.) Jarchi and other 



BEH 



167 



BEH 



rabbies understand these passages as the majestic plural for 
,one great ox, whieh consumes each day the verdure of a 
thousand mountains; hut, according to them, it is 'provi- 
dentially ordered that whatever he eats in the day grows 
again during the night. They eonelude from the passage, 
•male and female created -he them/ that there were two 
behemoth ; hut, that they might not destroy the whole world 
by multiplying, the female was killed, and the flesh, whieh is 
salted, is reserved for the first dish at the feast of the blessed 
in Paradise. (For the literary references see Buxtorfii 
Synagnge Judaica, fourth ed. Basilete, 1G80, pp. 734-730.) 
[Sec Hippopotamus.] 

BEIIMEN, JACOB. [See Bohme.] 

BEHN, APHARA, sometimes spelt APHRA, and 
AFRA, a dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was of a 
good family in the eity of Canterbury : she was born in the 
reign of Charles I., but in what year has not been ascer- 
tained. Her father, whose name was Johnson, was related 
to the Lords Willoughby, and hy means of his connexion 
obtained the post of lieutenant-general of Surinam, and its 
dependencies ; for whieh place lie accordingly sailed with 
his daughter, then very young, but died on the passoge. 
Aphara, however, continued the voyage; and appears to 
have resided at Surinam for some length of time, though 
under what circumstances is not known. She there became 
acquainted with the famous slave Oroonoko, whom she re- 
presents to have been a prinee among his own countrymen, 
and a man of an heroic east of character, and who after- 
wards becamo the subject of a novel from her pen, and of a 
tragedy, better known, by her friend Southern. After her 
return to England sho married Mr. Behn, a merchant of 
Dutch extraction ; and appears to have been personally in- 
troduced to Charles II., who was so mueh pleased with her 
account of Surinam, and probably with the freedom and 
vivacity of her manners, that he thought her (say tho bio- 
graphers) a proper person to be intrusted with the manage- 
ment of some important affairs during the Dutch war, 
which occasioned her going into Flanders, and residing 
at Antwerp; as some other biographers say, in the cha- 
racter of a spy ; or as others have put it, * she engaged in 
gallantries for the good of her country/ It is supposed 
that by this time her husband was dead. Tho engaging pa- 
triotism of Mrs. Behn succeeded in discovering the intention 
of tho Dutch to sail up the Thames and Medway, and to put 
the English to the shame of having their ships burnt, as they 
aetually did ; hut the court of Charles, with its usual levity, 
giving no credit to the report of its fair envoy, she is said to 
have renounced all further polities, out of mortification, and to 
have devoted the rest of her stay in Holland to amusement. 
She set out shortly afterwards on her return to England, 
narrowly escaped death (for the vessel foundered in sight of 
land, and the passengers were saved in boats,) and beeamc 
for the rest of her life an authoress by profession, and a 
woman of gallantry. She wroto seventeen plays, besides 
poems, tales, love-letters, and translations both in prose and 
verse. The onec celebrated letters between a nobleman 
and his sister-in-law (Lady Henrietta Berkeley and the in- 
famous Lord Grey) are hers. Sho contributed the para- 
phrase of CEnone's Letters to Paris, in the English col- 
lection of Ovid's Epistles ; and translated Fontenclle's Plu- 
rality of Worlds, and the sixth book of Cowley's Latin poem 
on Plants. Both her opinions and her talents naturally 
brought her acquainted with the leading wits of the day, 
the wildest and the staidest, Rochester, Ethcrcge, Charles 
Cotton, Drydcn, Southern, &e. ; and at one time, we know 
not how long, she describes herself a3 having been foreed 
to write for her bread; hut, from an expression in Lang- 
baiue, we guess that during tho latter part of her life she 
was in more ea*y eireumstanecs. She died between forty 
and fifty years of age, and was buried in tho eloisters of 
Westminster Abbey, with the following absurd inscription - 

' Mrt. Aphara Behn died April 16th, 1GS9. 

* Here lies a proof that wU can never L« 
Defence enough ajrainsl mortality. 
Creat poetess 1 O, thy itupenriotls lays 
The world admires, and tlio Muses praise. 
Hftrivod by Thomas Waine. In respect to so bright a genius.' 

This Mr. Waine, it seems, was said, * by the envious of 
her own sex,' to have been the author of most of the pieees 
that went under her name ; but her biographers justly ad- 
duce the abave verses as a sufficing proof to the contrary. 

Aphara Behn is described as having been a graceful 
ccmelv woman, with brown hair, and a piercing eye; 



something passionate, but generous ; and who would soonor 
forgive an injury than do one. She would write in com- 
pany, and at the same time take her part in the conversa- 
tion. We have read somewhere, that the 'Lyeidas,* for 
whom she represents herself as entertaining a hopeless 
passion, was Creeeh. 

The character of Mrs. Behn's writings is that of a lively 
mediocrity, availing itself of all the license of the age. She 
had a feeling for truth, great animal spirits, great facility 
in versification, an unceasing flow of sprightly but not un- 
common ideas, and eourage enough to put down whatever 
eame into her head. The result was, some pleasing littlo 
novels, ehiefly taken from the Freneh; some songs and 
poetical translations, very clever ; and a set of dramas, suc- 
cessful in their day, and astounding for their licentiousness. 
Pope's couplet is well known : 

The stage how loosely doei Astrnea tread, 
Who fairly puts her characters to bed. 

Astra?a was the poetieal name by whieh she was known 
among her contemporaries. A modern reader who dips 
into her plays is astonished to find of what a heap of mere- 
tricionsness they are made up ; but luekily he cannot read 
far. The very liveliness, not being of a high order, becomes 
tiresome. There is an endless imbroglio of rakes, demi- 
reps, ond common-place situations, out of which he is glad 
to eseape. Mrs. Behn seems scarcely to have had any idea 
of love, except as an animal passion; but as this was the 
feeling of the age, and she was probably brought up in it, 
besides being early thrown out into th/world, and ultimately 
surrounded with men of wit, who helped to spoil her, a re- 
flecting reader will perhaps give her the eredit of having 
been injured by the very eandour and docility of her nature ; 
and consider it probable, that, had she lived in better times, 
she would have been a real ornament to her sex. {Dramatic 
JVorks of the late incomparable Mrs, Aphra Behn; Bio- 
graphia Britannica, <?•<:.) 

BEHR1NG, VITUS, was by birth a Dane, and in his 
youth made many voyages to the East and West Indies ; 
but being tempted by the great encouragement held out 
to ablo mariners by Peter tho Great, he early entered the 
navy of Russia, and served in the Cronstadt fleet, in the 
wars with the Swedes. He obtained the rank of lieutenant 
in 1707, and of eaptain-lieutenant in 1710 ; tho date of his 
becoming eaptain is uncertain, but in 1732 he was pro- 
moted to the rank of eaptain-eommander previous to setting 
out on his last expedition. 

The Empress Catherine being anxious to promote dis- 
covery in the north-east quarter of Asia, and to settle the 
then doubtful question as to the junetion of Asia and Ame- 
rica, Behrlng was appointed to eommand an expedition for 
that purpose. He left St. Petersburg in Fcbruaiy, 1725, 
and after exploring several rivers, travelled over-land by the 
way of Yakutsk, on the Lena, to Okhotsk, then erossed over 
to Bolcheretsk, and arrived at Nisehnei KamtehatkaOstrog. 
Here he built a small boat, and sailed on the 20th of July, 
1728, eoasting Kamtehatkatill ho readied in August (G7° IS' 
N. lat. hy his observations) a cape which, from the land 
beyond it trending so much to the westward, he supposed 
to be tho north-easternmost point of Asia. In this con- 
jecture, however, as has sinee been proved, Behring was 
mistaken; the point reaehed by him must have been Scrdze 
Kamen : but with this conviction on his own mind, and the 
approach of winter, he determined to retrace his steps, and 
ho returned in safety lo Nisehnei Kamtchatka. The fol- 
lowing year he made another attempt, but a continuance of 
bad weather obliged him to shape his eourse in an opposite 
direction, and ho reaehed Okhotsk, having doubled the 
southern promontory of Kamtchatka, whieh peninsula 
was up to that timo generally believed to join Japan. 
From Okhotsk he went to St. Petersburg, and having 
obtained his promotion, in 1733 took the eommand of an 
expedition for the purposes of discovery, which was fitted 
out on a very large seale. After several exploratory ex- 
cursions, he stationed himself at Yakutsk, directing vari- 
ous detaehments of his oflieers down the rivers on different 
points of the Frozen Oeean. In 1740 he reached Okhotsk, 
where vessels had previously been built for him, in whieh 
he sailed for Awatska Bay, where he founded the pre- 
sent settlement of Petropaulovski, and passed the winter. 
His discoveries to the northward being deemed sufficiently 
satisfactory, no was now directed to proeeed to the eastward 
towards the American continent. He left Awatska in June, 
1741, steering to tho south-cast, but having reached th6 



n k ii 



acs 



B E I 



parallel of 46* without seeing land, ho altered his course to 
the north-cast, and on the lfcth of July (having been forty- 
four days at sea) he descried very high mountains covered 
with snow in lat* 5SJ' N„ having mado, according to his 
reckoning, 50 a of E. long, from Awatska. lie now followed 
the coast to tho northward, which was found to take a very 
westerly direction, but his crew suffering from sickness, and 
the ship being in a very disabled stato from bad weather, he 
resolved tn return to kamtchatka, which, however, he was 
not doomed to reach. Having jmssed several islands, his 
ship was wrecked on that which now bears his name, on the 
3d of November, 1741 : Behring died on the 8th of the fol- 
lowing month. Ho may be said to have been half buried 
alive, for the sand rolled down continually over him in tho 
diteh where ho lay, but he would not sufl'cr it to be removed, 
as it afforded him warmth. 

In tho following summer tho survivors of his crew reached 
Kamtchatka in a small vessel which they built from the 
wreck, and thus somo account of this ill-fated voyage was 
preserved. With regard to the places that he touched at on 
tho American shore, thev must be very undefined; but the 
fact of tho westerly trending of the coast, and tho high 
mountains, seem to place his first landfall about Admiralty 
Bay, on that part of the coast now called New Norfolk. 
The islands mentioned by him must have been some of the 
Aleutian Archipelago. (Miillcr's Account of Russian Dis- 
coveries.) 

BEI1 RINGS STRAITS, which connect the Pacific 
with tho Polar Ocean, /iro formed by tho approach of»the 
continents of America and Asia ; the two nearest points of 
these continents are Capo Prince of Wales to tho cast, and 
East Cape to the west, which are distant only 50 miles from 
each other in a N.W. and S.E. direction. They arc both 
bold and high promontories, but the hills on the American 
side aro more ragged and peaked. About a mile to the 
northward of Capo Prince of Wales, a low swampy shore 
begius, which continues all tho way to Kotzebuc Sound. 
The greatest depth of water in tho straits is about 32 fathoms : 
tho bottom is soft mud in the middle, and sandy towards 
each shore. About midway across arc three islands, 
called tho Diomcdcs, the largest of which (Ratmanoff) is 
about four miles long ; the next (Kruzenstcrn) nearly two 
miles, and the last a mere rock. Neither these islands nor 
tho adjacent shores arc permanently inhabited, though 
frequently visited by the Esquimaux in their excursions. 




These Straits derive their name from the celebrated 
Russian navigator, Vitus Bchring, who in 1723 left Kamt- 
chatka and made a coasting voyage to the northward, though 
it is by no means certain that he ever passed East Capo. 
To our own countryman Cook we are indebted for more 
accurate information about these straits, which have recently 
undergone a stricter examination by Capt. Becchey. It is 
uncertain whether these straits aro blocked up during the 
winter, though it does not appear probable that they arc, as 
the ice in these sea» is not of the heavy nature that it U in 
Baffin's Bay, and therefore only takes* tho ground in very 
shallow water. The prevailing current appears to set 



through the Straits to tho north ward, but it has not that 
decided character which it has farther to tho northward, 
where, along the American coast, it runs strong to the N.E. 

BEHRING'S ISLAND in situated in the North Paci- 
fic, 100 miles S.E. of Cape Kamtchatka. It was tint dis- 
covered by Bearing, on his return to Kamtchatka from 
tho voyage of discovery on the coast of Amerioa in 1741. 
Soon after, somo Kamtchadalcs wont over to the island to 
hunt the sca-ottcr, foxes, and other animals, for their skins. 
It was uninhabited at the time of its discovery, and was 
barren in the extreme, without a shrub on its surface, the 
only fire-wood being what was cast on the beach. It has 
since become an important trading station, and vessel* from 
Okhotsk and Kamtchatka, trading to the numerous islands 
in these seas, generally winter here, and cure a quantity of 
the flesh of sea-animals for their voyage. 

The island is high to tho N.W., steep and clifiy, hut 
slopes gradually down to tho south orn shores, which arc 
low ; the island is nearly surrounded by a rocky coast. 
Fresh water is found on it. The north point of the island 
is in 55° 22' N. lat., 165° 51' E. long. 

BEHUT, the antient Hvdaspes. [Sec Pjsnjah.] 

BE1RA. [ScoBbyra.] - , 

BEIRUT, or BAIROUT (Bfjprruc. Berytus, Steph. By- 
zant.: sec Dionys. Periegetes, 1. 4tl, for the quantity of Ihr 
pen ultima), is a town of Syria, on the shores of the Medi- 
terranean, situated on the south side of an open bay. It 
was a Phoenician city of great antiquity. The name is 
supposed by some to have been derived from the Phoe- 
nician deity Baal-Berith, who had a temple here ; but Ste- 
ph an us Byzantinus says it was so called from its abundant 
supply of water: Beer (B//p), he adds, signifies in the Phoe- 
nician language a teell, [Sec Bhkr-sheua.] Diodotus 
Tryphon entirely destroyed it about MO B.C., but after tho 
conquest of Syria by the Romans, it was rebuilt near the 
site of the antient city. Augustus, who made it a colony 
called it after his daughter, with the epithet • happy/ Co- 
lonia Felix Julia, and medals were afterwards struck in 
honour of tho Roman emperors, bearing the legend Colonia 
Felix Berytus. (Plin. v. 20,) Agrippa, the grandson of Herod 
the Great, decorated the town with a theatre, amphitheatre, 
baths, &c, and instituted games. Herod the Great held 
hero an assembly, in which he condemned his two sons, Alex- 
ander and Aristobulus, on the charge of conspiring against his 
life. After the capture of Jerusalem, Titus celebrated tho 
birth-day of his father Vespasian at this city. Berytus was 
famous for tho study of the law, for which thcro was a ecle- 

[Coins of llerytai from the British Museum, aclu&t *ixc.j 




[The Emperor M. Aurcl. Auloainu*.] 




(The Emperor Mscrinui.} • 

bratcd school in tho city, the foundation of which is ascribed 
to Alexander Severn s ; it certainly nourished, at least before 
Diocletian. Justinian called it tho • nurse of the law/ and 



B E I 



169 



B E J 



would not allow any othor city than Rome, Constantinople, 
and Berytus, to have professors who should expound the 
Roman law. (See the second epistle prefixed to the Di~ 
gesta.) The splendour of this school, which preserved in 
the East the language and jurisprudence of the Romans, 
may be computed to hare lasted from the third to the mid* 
die of the sixth century. (Gibbon, ii. 294.) In 551 a.d. 
Berytus was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. 

When the Saracens overran Syria, Berytus fell into their 
hands. It was taken from them in 1111, by Baldwin, king 
of. Jerusalem, -but retaken by Saladin in 1187. During 
the Holy Wars it often changed masters, and is the scene 
of the tabled victory of St. George over the dragon. Till 
the year 1791 the French had a factory at Beirut, but 
they were expelled by Djczzar, pasha of Acre, who seized 
the place from the emir of the Druses, to whom it tben be- 
longed, and placed a Turkish garrison in it. 
i Since thi3 time both the town and the adjacent country 
have been greatly neglected, though it still continues the 
entrepot of the commerce of the Druses and Mnronitcs, 
whence they export their cottons and silks, and receive in 
return rice, tobacco, and money, which they exchange for 
the com cf the Bekaa and Havuran. As tho town was 
greatly inconvenienced for water, Djczzar cut a canal from 
the River Beirut,' which falls into the bay near the city, 
and built fountains, in excavating which much of the an- 
tient remains was discovered. He also built the present 
walls, after the bombardment of the placo by the Russians, 
but they aro very weak. 

*- Beirut now contains few traces of its former splen- 
dour: a bath, pieces of granite columns, several of which 
were still standing when Pococke visited the place, and a 
few other fragments, are all that now remain. But a great 
number of granite columns may be seen along the shore 
beneath the water, and part of the present mole is composed 
of them. From the debris without the present walls, it 
appears that tbe antient town occupied a larger space than 
the modern, which is but a small place. The walls are 
strengthened by several towers, and there are five gates to 
the city. It receives a copious supply of water from a small 
river called Nahr Beirut, which rises in Mount Libanus, 
and Hows into the sea a short distance from the town ; the* 
water is conveyed by the canal before-mentioned, and re- 
ceived into reservoirs and fountains. The streets are nar- 
row and dirty, like those of all Turkish towns : the houses 
are mostly built of stone. The town is commanded by some 
low hills to the S.E. Its population is estimated at 6000 
souls, of whom the Turks form one-third. There is a large 
and well-built mosque in the city, formerly a Christian 
church, dedicated to St. John, and there was a Capuchin 
convent. The suburbs of the town arc as large as the city 
itself. 

In point of locality, Beirut is as pleasantly situated as 
any. town in Syria : it stands at the verge of a beautiful 
plain, varied with small hills, and extending to the foot of 
Mount Libanus. The surronnding country is covered with 
kiosks, and enricbed with groves of vines, olives, palms, and 
orange, lemon, and mulberry trees ; behind which rises the 
lofty chain of Libanus. No corn is produced around the 
town; a small red wine is made on Mount Libanus, which 
is cheap and good ; but raw silk is the staple, which, with 
cotton, olives, and figs, is exported to Cairo, Damascus, and 
Aleppo. Game is abundant, the beef from Libanus is excel- 
lent, and supplies of all sorts may bo procured good and 
cheap. , 

. The bay is larjrij, and tho anchorage good, though open 
to the northward ; formerly there was a port, but now there 
is only a small mole sufficient to shelter boats. The en- 
trance to the river is too shallow to admit a boat of any size. 
There is a rise and fall of about two feet, but no regular 
tide. Beirut is in the pashalik of Acre. It lies in 33° 49j' 
N. kit., 35° 27' E. long., 40 miles S.S.W. of Tripoli, and 
13 miles N.N.E. of Saide. 

(Pocockc's Travels' in the East; Volney's Travels in 
JSt/ria ; Browne's Travels ; Mangles and Irby ; Purdy's 
Mediterranean Pilot, $c.) 

BEIT is an Arabic word, which properly signifies a tent 
or hut, but is likewise employed to denote any edifice or 
abode of men. It is often found as a component part of 
proper names in the geography, of those countries that have 
becomo subject to tho Arabs: Beit-al-IIarum, i.e. 'the 
saered edifice,' or 'the edifice. of the sanctuary/ a designa- 
tion frequently given to the tcmplo of Mecca; Beit~al~ 



Mukaddas, '.the sanctified abode,* i.e. Jerusalem; Bext-aU 
Fakiht I. e. * the abode of the jurist/ a town in Yemen, &c; 
The Hebrew word, corresponding to the Arabic Beit, is 
Beth, wbich we find employed in a manner perfectly analo- 
gous in tbe Old Testament: in the name Bethlehem (in 
Arabic Beit-Lahm, or Beit-al-Lahni), i.e. *the house of 
bread ;' : Beth-Togarmah, 'the houso of Togarmah/ i.e. 
Armenia. The same word, Beth, is in Syriac still more 
extensively used as a component part of geographical 
names. In Arabian poetry, Beit signifies a distich. 

BEITH, a small town in the district of Cunningham in 
Ayrshire, Scotland, eleven miles from Paisley, on the road 
from Glasgow by Paisley to Irvine, Ayr, and Port- Patrick. 
The parish of Beith, a part of which runs into Renfrewshire, 
is about five miles in length from east to west, and four in 
breadth/ On the north there is a small ridge of hills, from 
which the land slopes to the south. Its lowest elevation, 
Kilburnie Loch, is 95 feet above the level of the sea, and its 
highest, Cuffhill, 652. 

The parish contains in all 11,060 acres, of which 10,560 
are in Ayrshire and 500 in Renfrewshire. Its total valued 
rent is 6276/. Qs. Sd., of which the part in Ayrshire makes 
61 1 \l. Is. Ad., and that in Renfrewshire 164/. 13s. Ad. The 
town has gradually advanced, from a few houses in the be- 
ginning of the last century, to its present state, when it has 
a good town-house, built by subscription, which serves as a 
news-room and justice of the peace court, a thread-mill, two 
lint, and three corn-mills, two branch banks, a parish church 
with a modem spire, a subscription library, and two meet- 
ing-houses, belonging to the Relief and Antiburger dis- 
senters. ' The parish of Beith is famed for its dairy produce. 
Tbo manufactures of the town have several times changed. 
At the beginning of the last century its chief trade was in 
linen cloth; atone time, between 1777 and 1789, one firm 
alone employed 270 looms in the manufacture of silk 
gauze ; at present thread and cotton are the principal ma- 
nufactures. The population of the parish in 1755 was 2064, 
and in 1831,5113. The parish church contains 1254 sit- 
tings; the United Secession, 498; the Relief, 849. The 
parish schoolmaster has the minimum salary. The stipend 
of the clergyman is 16 chalder of victual, half meal, half 
barley, and a glebe of 40 acres. The clergyman's stipend 
was at that time 79 bolls of meal, and 1 71. 12*. Crf., and the 
glebe contained 33 acres, 3 roods. The poor's money is 
made up of collections at the doors of the parish church and 
some of the dissenting meeting-houses ; of part of the dues 
of marriage proclamations, of the proceeds of an aisle in 
the parish church set apart for the poor, and of a farm 
bought with the poor's money in 1695; and the deficiency 
of the poor's fund is made up by a voluntary assessment on 
the valued, rent of the parish and the rental of the town. 
There are several fairs held here annually. 

In the parish, there are several quarries of freestone of 
rather an inferior quality. Coal, though not much wrought, 
has been found ^and the abundance of limestone, of a very 
superior quality, has a ready sale, not only in the parish, 
but in those ofLochwinnoch^ Kilbarehan, &c. Rich veins 
of ironstone have also been discovered. 

(See Sinclair's Account of Scotland, vol. viii., compared 
with Chambers's Gazetteer, and Carlisle's Topographical 
Dictionary of Scotland.) " 

BE'JA, a comarca or district of Portugal, in the province 
of Alentejo, bounded on the north by the districts of Evora 
and Villaviciosa, on the south by that of Campo de Ourique, 
on the cast by Spanish, and on the west by Portuguese 
Estremadura. The ramifications of the Scrra de Viana 
cross it in all directions, and the rivers Odiarca and Frcijo 
irrigate it3 plains, which are the most fertile in Alentejo. 
The former of these rivers rises near the capital, Hows first 
to the north, afterwards to the east, and theu to tbe south- 
east, and joins the second, which, rising in the mountains 
near Cuba, Hows southwards: the united stream joins the 
Guadiana, not far from Os Pedroas. This comarca is so pro- 
ductive in grain, that, after supplying its inhabitants, many 
thousand fanegasor bushels are yearly sent to Porto del Rer 
to be embarked in the Sado, down which they are conveyed 
to Setubal and Lisbon. The vine, olive, and fruit-trees are 
also in great abundance. The pasturage is rich, and game 
is plentiful in the mountains. The extent of the district is 
about 30 miles from north '&> soutb, and 60 from east to 
west, and its population amounts to 55,310 souls. 

Bcja, the capital, is, built upon a rock of granite on the 
south-western extremity of tho district, and command" a 



No. 22G. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV 



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170 



BEJ 



plain *o fertile, that it is slid toproduce more than a million 
of bushel* of wheat yearly, besides a great quantity of oil, 
vine, and fruit Tho town "is almost circular, and surrounded 
by walls of Moorish and Portuguese construction. It has 
nn old castle, in tho opinion of Murphy on© of the l>est in 
the kingdom : a good square, in which is tho town-house ; 
and regular streets, with good houses, inhabited by the rich 
citizens. Tho principal buildings aro tbo convent of San 
Francisco, and tho Casa dc Miscricordia, or charity house. 
The merit of theso buildings, however, eannot bo very prcat, 
as Murphy docs not so much as mention them. Bcja is the 
scat of a bishop, and of tho civil authorities of tho district. 
It contains four parishes, and 10,422 inhabitants. It is 
about 90 miles south-cast of Lisbon, in 33° 5' N. lat., and 
7° 40' W. long. 

The city of Bcja is of very great antiquity. It was a 
Roman colony under tho namo of Pax Julia. The original 
city stood at a short distance east of the present Bcja. It 
was in the possession of tho Moors from 717 to 1 165, when 
Alonso, the first king of Portugal, wrested it from their 
hands. Tho chief part of the present city was built by 
Alonso III., and the castlo was constructed under his son 
Dom Dcniz. Many valuable relies of Pax Julia havo been 
dug out at different times, which are preserved in tho mu- 
seum of antiquities at Evora. (Mifiano; Murphy's Travels 
in Portugal.) 

BEJA, or BOJA, an African people who inhabit a tract 
of country north of Abyssinia, and between the Mareb and 
the Red Sea to the south of tho port of Suakim. Mr. Salt 
says the country of the Boja is two days' journey north of 
H anw.cn, which is the most northern district of Abyssinia, 
and that they are partially under the intluenceof the Nayib 
of Massowa and of a Christian chief, the natives being half 
Mussclmans and half Christians. Farther north-west, to- 
wards the March, is a people called Tokue, who, in all pro- 
bability, are the same as the Tokaeou, mentioned in the 
Axuininscription as being at that time subject to tho king 
of Axum. Tli at inscription refers to an expedition sent by 
Acizanas. king of the Axumitcs, Homeritcs, &c, who 
reigned about the middle of the fourth century, against tho 
revolted Bougaeitce, the modern Boja. [Seo Axum.] 

Mr. Salt places to the cast of tho Beja, and near the coast 
of the Red Sea. north of Arkeeko, another people, whom he 
calls Uekla. Ibn "1 Wardi, an Arabian geographer who 
wrote about the thirteenth century, and is quoted by Salt in 
the Appendix, says, 'the Bujja, or Boja, arc the merchants 
of Ilabcsh to the north, their country being between Habesh 
and Nuba ;' and ho describes them as black, naked, and 
worshippers of idols, but he adds that 'many Arabs of the 
tribe of Rabcn lliu Nuzzar have connected themselves with 
these people, and intermarried with them.* This seems to 
show that the Bcja, or Boja, were originally an African 
race, and became intermixed with Arab blood, and gradually 
and partially adopted the profession of Islamism. Bruce 
says the Beja speak a dialect of the Gccz. Ibn 'I Wardi 
speak* of a mine of gold, probably the Jebcl Dyab, and 
gold sands in the country of the Boja, in the valley of 
Allaki (the modern Salaka). the collecting of the gold con- 
stituting the chief support of the natives. In describing 
the land of Aidhah(now called Gidid, or Ras Gidid). which 
was then a much- frequented harbour on the Red Sea, to 
the north of Suakim, he says, "a governor from the Bujja 
presides over it, and another from the sultan of Egynt,who 
divide the revenues between them. The duty of the go- 
vernor from E*jypt is to provide supplies, and the governor 
of the Bujja has" to guard it from tho Habshi/ tho people of 
Ilabbcsh or Abyssinia. It is evident that at the timo of 
Ibn '1 Wardi the Beja wero a powerful and widely- extended 
pooplc, or confederation of tribes, and we have also an ac- 
count of their sending a large army, together with the 
Nubians, to the assistance of the Christians of Oxyrhynchus 
in Upper Ej»ypt. against the Saracen invaders. (Seo Ap- 
pendix to Burckhanlt's Nubia.) Tho Beja and Nuba are 
taid to have had elephants in their army. With the Beja 
were n raeo of men of gigantic stature, called El Kowad, 
who came from beyond Suakim. They woro tiger-skins, 
and had their upper lips pierced with copper rings. Makrizi, 
also quoted by Burckhardt, pives a long account of tho 
Beji. Burekhardt himself, in his journey from Berber to 
Suakim in 1S14, passed through the country of Taka, 
• wliirh,' ho says, ' forms part of tho country of Bcdja, whose 
inhabitants are called Bcdjawa, and which extends from 
Goz Radjib on the Atbara as far southwards as the moun- 



tains of Abyssima, whilo to the north the chain of moun 
tains called Langay marks its boundaries towards the 
Bisharyc or Bislnreen. It includes various deserts and se- 
veral hilly districts and valleys, some of which are very 
fertile. The range of country thus described extends from 
about 15° to 18° N, lat. ( and from tho right bank of the 
Atbara to the shores of the Red Sea. It is in this region 
that the Mareb must terminate its course, either by being 
lost in the sands or by joining tho Atbara. 

Some writers (seo Malto Brun's Geography) have placed 
the Bcja much farther north, among the AbabMe, and 
near the port of Habbcsh, at the bottom of the large hay 
between Ras el Ans and Ras el Gidid, but tha proper lo- 
cality of tho Bcja seems now too well ascertaiued by tho 
authorities above given to admit of doubt. 

BEJAH, the anticnt Hydraotcs. [See Pbnjaii.] 

BEJAPORE, a considerable province of tho Dccean in 
Hindustan, lying between 15° and 18° N. lat. and 73" and 
76° E. long. The province is bounded on the north by 
Aurungabad, on tho cast by that province and Boeder, on 
the south by Canara,and on the west by the Indian Ocean. 
Its length is about 320 miles, and its average breadth 200 
miles. 

Towards tho west, running parallel with tho coast, and at 
a distance varying from 25 to 60 miles from tho sea, is a 
range of lofty mountains, forming a continuation of tho 
Ghauts. In these mountains are several fortresses which, 
aided by tbeir natural position, arc of great strength. They 
are usually built on isolated eminences, the sides of which 
aro cither naturally scarped or cut perpendicular for 70 or 
80 feet below their upper margin, with only ono narrow 
path leading up to the fortress. The passes through these 
mountains to the low land of the Concan on the sea-shoro 
aro always difficult, and at times arc rendered almost im- 
practicable by tho swelling of mountain-streams during tho 
frequent and abundant rains in those high regions. 

The province of Bcjaporc is divided into sixteen districts, 
viz.: the Concan (the low ground between the mountains 
and the sea), Colapoor, Mortizabad, Assodnagur, Bejapore, 
Sackur, Raiehoor, Mudgul, Gujundeghur, Annagoondy, 
Bancaporc, Gunduck, Nurgul, Azimnagur, Rychaugh, and 
Darwar. The principal towns of the province are: Bejapore 
(the capital), Satara, Goa, Bijanagur, Warrec, Colapoor, 
Darwar, Shahnoor, Iloobly. and Meriteh. 

The principal rivers in tho provinco are the Kistna, the 
Toombuddra, the Bceina, and the Gutpurba. 

On the ruin of the Bhamenee empiro in this quarter the 
Add Shaliy dynasty was established in Bejapore in the 
year t4*9, and the sovereignty of the province was trans- 
mitted through eight princes, all of whom bore the name or 
title of Adil Shah. The founder of this dynasty was Abou- 
ul-Adil Shah, and the last of these sovereigns was Seeunder 
Adil Shah, who was made prisoner by Aurungzebc in 1C89, 
exactly 200 years after the founding of tho sovereignty. 

The Emperor Aurungzebc never obtained quiet posses- 
sion of Bejapore, nnd after his death it speedily passed 
under the sway of the Malirattas, with whom it remained 
until 18 1 8, when, on the expulsion of the Peshwa Bajec 
Rao, this great province was brought under British govern- 
ment. On this occasion a treaty was made with the rajah 
of Sattara, then a minor, assigning to him a small prin- 
cipality under British protection out of his former dominions, 
the peshwa, who was actually the sovereign of the provinco, 
having been, nominally, the minister of the rajah. Under 
the stipulations of this treaty the tract of country whieh now 
forms the Sattara dominions was to remain for some time 
under tho management of British officers, to bo gradually 
transferred to the rajah's management, who was still bound 
to conform generally to the advice of tho British resident, 
and to the British system in the collection of his customs' 
duties. The British government charged itself at tho samo 
time with the defence of his territory, and accordingly tho 
raiah's military establishment is entirely regulated by the 
will of tho East India Company, with which he is bound 
always to act in subordinate co-operation. One of the funda- 
mental conditions of the agreement on the part of tho rajah 
is the renunciation of all intercourse with foreign powers, a 
departure from which lino of conduct would subject him to 
tho Jobs of the protection and other advantages which arc 
secured to him by the treaty. The whole of tho stqnilatcd 
territory was placed under the rajah's management in April, 
1*821, when ho became twenty-one years of age: it yields 
| htm an annual revenue to the amount of about 20 lacs of 



B E J 



171 



B E K 






rupees (200,000/.) The tract thus guaranteed to the rajah 
of Sattara is hounded on the west hy the western Ghaut 
mountains, on the south hy the Kistna and Warna rivers, 
on the north hy the rivers Neera and Beema, and on the 
east by the territory of the Nizam. [See Sattara.] 

The remainder of the province, which is attached to the 
presidency of Bombay, is distinguished in the revenue re- 
cords of the East India Company as the district of Darwar. 
(Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan ; Mill's His- 
tory of British hidia ; Appendix to Report of Committee 
of the House of Commons on the Affairs of India, political 
section, 1832.) 

BEJAPORE, or VIZIAPORE (Vijayapitra, signify- 
ing in Sanscrit the victorious or triumphant city), was the 
antient capital of the province of Bejapore. It stands in 1 6 r 
48' N. lat., and 75° 46' E. long., and is now the capital of 
the district of Bejapore. 

The fortifications, which formed the outworks of Bejapore, 
are said to have been of such extent, that 15,000 cavalry 
might have encamped between them and tbe wall of the city. 
The citadel, or inner fort, contained the king's palace, the 
houses of the chief people, and large magazines. The great 
extent of Bejapore is still evident from the quantity of ruins 
in all directions, hut the assertion of the natives, that in the 
time of its prosperity it contained 984,000 houses, is doubt- 
less a great exaggeration. Many of the dwellings occupied a 
very considerable space, and had extensive gardens attached 
to them. That the population of the city, however, was once 
considerable, is evident from the great number of cupolas, 
spires, and minarets, still distinguishable among the ruins. 
The wall of the outer fort measures eight miles in circuit, and 
has seven gates, the Mecca, Shah pore, Bhamanee, Padsha- 
pore, Allahpore, and Futteh gates ; the other gate, which is 
shut up, is not at present known hy any particular name. 
Wben the province came under the dominion of the English 
in 1818, there were guns still mounted on the walls. 

There is still a considerable number of buildings in the 
inner fort, or city, which contains a regular street three 
miles long, and fifty feet wide; it is paved, and lias many 
mosques and private dwellings built with stone. The most 
rcmarkahlo buildings within the town are mausoleums and 
religious structures. Among the latter is a low Hindu 
temple, supported by numerous pillars, each of which is 
formed of a single stone : the building throughout exhibits 
the earliest and rudest style of Brahminical architecture. 
This temple is almost the only Hindu structuro standing in 
this neighbourhood. 

Within the fort are some cultivated inclosures, and in 
every part of its area, among tho ruins of larger buildings, 
are mud hovels, as well as buildings of a better class, l^he 
only quarter of the city which contains any considerable 
number of inhabitants, is near the western gate, in tho 
neighbourhood of the jumma musjeed, or great mosque. In 
this quarter, hut without the western gate of the fort, is a 
well frequented bazaar, built of stone. Few of the larger 
buildings appear to have had any timber used in their 
construction, and the whole are solid and massive ereetions. 
Passing from the western gate, a succession of ruins, the 
principal of which are Mohammedan tombs, oceur to the 
distance of five miles, where the village ofToorvee forms 
at present the boundary of tho antient city. A little to the 
east of this villago stands the raeanly-butlt Mohammedan 
mosque of Chunda Saheb, which to the present day is much 
resorted to by devotees. At a short distance beyond the 
western wall of tho fort are the ruins of the mausoleum 
and mosque of Ibrahim Adil Shah, who died in 1626. 
These buildings were erected on a base 400 feet long and 
150 feet wide : the ccntro of the mosque is covered by an 
immense dome supported on arches. The mausoleum is 
fifty-seven feet square, and consists of a very plain chamber, 
surrounded by a verandah twelve feet broad and twenty-two 
feet high. Tho exterior of both these buildings is of an 
opposite character to the interior, being elaborately orna- 
mented. Tho fret-work of tho ceiling of the verandah is 
covered with various passages taken from tho Koran, sculp- 
tured in bas-relief. 

The walls of the fort were formerly provided with twelve 
gun* of immense size; only two of these remained when 
tho English obtained possession of it. One of them was 
made of iron ; the other, which was of brass, was cast in 
1349, and carried shot weighing 2646 lbs. It was at ono 
time intended to send this gun to England, hut the state 
of tho roads rcndcretl iu removal to the coast impracticable. 



Previous to the' expulsion of the Peshwa, the ruins of 
Bejapore were the haunt of numerous thieves, who have 
been wholly extirpated since tho English authority was 
established in the province. The city, and the district in 
whieh it is situated, are inhabited chiefly by Canarese, who 
retain their original language and customs, and in 1818 
assisted the English in expelling their Mahratta rulers. 

BE'KES, a considerable county in the central part of 
Eastern Hungary, lying witbin one of the great subdivisions 
of that kingdom, called the * Province beyond the Theiss,' 
between 46° 30' and 47° V N. lat., and 20 Q 16' and 21° 30' 
E. long. This county, popularly called the * Egypt of 
Hungary,' contains about 1370 square miles, and is from 
40 to 45 miles in its greatest length, and nearly the same 
in breadth. It is bounded on the east hy the county of 
Bihar, on the north-west hy those of Grcat-Cumani and 
Heves, on the south-west by that of Tsongrad, and on the 
south-east by those of Arad and Tsanad. The surface pre- 
sents an almost uniform level, with an inclination so slight, 
that the rivers, which flow through it in a westerly direction 
to the Theiss, in consequence of their sluggish current and 
the lightness of the soil, convert the land near their banks 
into morasses. From this circumstance B6kes possesses an 
unhealthy climate, and a highly fertile soil. It is produc- 
tive in corn, and has excellent meadows and pastures, but is 
deficient in timber. The principal stream which traverses " 
it is the Kbros, called the White Kbros when it enters the 
south-eastern districts of the county pear Gyula, its eapital. 
It then (lows north-westward to the town of B6kes, where it is 
joined by the Black Kbros ; it afterwards receives the Biikiisd, 
and is subsequently increased by the Rapid Kbros ; thence 
it runs for some distance under the name of the Three 
Kbros, hut in its sinuous passage along the north-western 
frontier of the eounty it exchanges this designation, between 
Tur andSzarvas, for that of the Berettyo, and it is in these 
north-western parts particularly that marsh and swamp 
abound. Tho extent of land which has been turned to the 
purposes of husbandry or grazing is about 360,000 acres, or 
four-tenths of the entire surface: of these about 200,000 
aro arable, and 132,000 are used as meadows and pastures, 
tho remainder being applied to horticulture, &e. The ex- 
tent of wood-land does not exceed 27,000. B6kcs grows 
very large quantities of wheat of excellent quality, but tho 
cultivation of other descriptions of grain is generally neg- 
lected. Much hay is also made, particularly in the districts 
within the minor circle of Bekes, and reed-grass is also cut 
and stacked as winter-fodder for the cattle. The eulturo 
of vegetables is extensive. A considerable trade is carried 
on in water-melons; and the vine is partially cultivated, 
but its produce, not even excepting the Tsaba wind, which 
is tho best, is of an inferior kind. Instead of slate or tile, 
rushes are employed for roofing houses and fencing gar- 
dens ; and tbe want of wood for fuel eompels the inhabitants 
in general to have recourse to straw, rushes, and eow-dung ; 
for they are either too ignorant or too indifferent to avail 
themselves of the plentiful supply of peat which the country 
contains. Tho rearing of eattlc and sheep is earried on 
upon a large scale. Mueh ehecse and wool are brought to 
market, hut the former is of indifferent quality ; horses aro 
bred in many parts. Tho county has no wild animals but 
wolves and hares. Of the water-fowl in the marshy dis- 
tricts the most noted are thonoeturnal and the gray heron, 
the first of which produces tho fine and delieate plumes 
with which the better el ass of Hungarians ornament their 
caps. Tho rivers produce abundance of fish ; and the marsh- 
lands, crabs and tortoises. Bees are universally reared, and 
some individuals possess upwards of two hundred hives. 
B£kes is altogether destituto of mineral products. 

The inhabitants, who are about 126,000 in number, con- 
sist mostly of Magyars, intermixed with a few Slawacks, 
Germans, Wallachians, and Jews. In no very remote ago 
the eountrywas seareely better than a dreary waste; but 
in modern days, though even at present it is eapable of 
sustaining double the number of individuals, the population 
has been greatly on the increase, for, according to official 
returns, it had risen from 71,557, in the year 1787, to 92,463, 
in 1805. The increase since the last dato has averaged 
nearly 1200 annually; the greatest in any single year 
having been in 1816-17, when it was 5734. The people aro 
a thrifty industrious race, hut interest themselves in few 
pursuits except those eonnceted with agriculture and cattle- 
breeding. Two-thirds of them are of the Protestant faith ', 
the remainder being chiefly Roman Catholic*. 



B K L 



172 



BEL 



We possess no other data respecting the* public burdens, 
except that the yearly quota which Bekes contributes to 
the Hungarian treasury is about 4300/. (43,440 (lorlns), in- 
dependently of about 4500/. (45,6-12 florins) towards the 
expense of rceruiting the army. 

B^kes is divided into two principal circles ; that of Gyula 
including the eastern districts, and that of Csaba the western. 
It contain* five market-towns and sixteen villages, among 
which Csaha, which was founded in 1 7 15, is the largest 
village in Hungary if not in Europe, for it contains upwards 
of 2000 houses and 20,200 inhabitants; Oroshftza contains 
S100; and Tot Koml6s nearly 5500 inhabitants: besides 
these there are sixty-one pnedia, or priviloged settlements. 
Gyula, though not tho most populous town, is tho capital, 
inasmuch as it is the spot where tho provincial assemblies 
are held. The town of Beltes is situated in tho eastern part 
of this county, at the contluence of the White and Black 
Koros. The Catholic, Lutheran, and Greek denominations 
of Christians have each a ehurch in tho town. The number 
of bouses is about 2000, ami of inhabitants about 15,000. 
It has a considerable market for cattle, and the surrounding 
country produces much excellent wheat, and large quantities 
of wine, tlax, honey, and vegetables. Close to it are tho re- 
mains of a strongly fortified castle. It lies in 4G° 4G' N. 
lat. and 20° 49' E. long. 

BEL. [See Bklus.] 

BELBE'YS, a small town in the Bahari or Lower Egypt, 
and the head place of a district or prefect ship. It is situ- 
ated on the right bank of the most eastern or Pelusiac 
braneh of the Nile and on the borders of the desert, thirty 
miles N.N.E. of Cairo, and on the road from that eity to 
Syria by Salhieh or Kas el Wadi, and about eight miles 
south of tho antient Bubastis. Traces of tho canal whieh 
joined the Nile to tho Rod Sea are seen in the neighbour- 
hood of Belbeys. (French Description of Efjypt ; Jomard, 
quoted hy Balbi in tho AbregS de Geographie.) 

BELED, or BALAD, is an Arabic word, which signifies 
a town, a province, or country, and is met with as a com- 
ponent part of many proper names in Oriental geography, 
e.g. in Biledulgorid, which properly is Balad-al-Jarid, i.e. 
the * Countrv of Palm-trees.' [See Atlas.] 

BELEEFF, or BJELEFF, the capital of a circle of this 
name in the province of Tula in Russia in Europe, lying on 
the left bank of the Oka, about 80 miles S.W. of Tula, and 
about G30 miles (1029 versts) S.E. of St. Petersburgh. It is 
a large town, surrounJe.1 by a wall and ditch, and of remote 
date, for it is mentioned in native ehronicles as the scat of 
the Viatitches as far back as tho year 1147, when it be- 
longed to the Tshernigofi* domains. It contains about 10GO 
houses, mostly of wood, and a population of about 7000 
souls : it has a public school, attached to a monastery, four 
nunneries, fifteen churches, two oharitablo asylums, a cutlery 
manufactory whero the celebrated BjelefT knives are made, 
fifty-one iron and two copper manufactories, several tanneries 
and breweries, and wax, tallow, and soap manufactories. 
It carries on a brisk trade with other parts of Russia, for 
which tho Oka affords great facilities, and it has an annual 
fair, which is much frequented. It gives its namo to an 
eparchate of the Greek cnurch. It is in 54° 25' N. lat, and 
3G* 5' E. long. 

BELE'M, properly BETHLEHEM, one of the suhurhs 
of Lisbon, on tho south-west part of the eity, with which it 
is united. King Emanuel built a church here in 1499, in 
honour of tho hirth of Christ, and a monastery of Hierony- 
mitcs. The ehurch is a fine specimen of the mixed Nor- 
man-Gothie and Arabic styles ; but the monastery is such a 
confused mixture of all styles, that there are no two columns 
alike. In tho monastery is a royal vault, ornamented with 
white marble. Opposito the enurch a square tower rises 
out of the Tagus, and serves to defend both the suburb and 
the entrance of the river. At that tower, eallcd Torre dc 
Bclem, all the vessels which enter the port of Lisbon are 
first visited by tho custom-house officers. Near it is a 
commodious quay with numerous wharfs, made in the 
rejgn of Joseph I. Tho royal palace of Ajuda is also near 
Belcm. Close by tho palace are a botanical garden, a ca- 
binet of natural curiosities, a chemical laboratory, and tho 
Quinta da Rainha, a royal villa, with fine gardens, exten- 
sive parks, a menagerie, and an aviary of rare birds. Any 
respectable person, by giving a trilling Finn to the keeper, 
miy easily obtain admittance. Bclem is a considerable 
plaee, and is inhabited by many of tho nobility and rich 
ct'.;zcns. This part of Lisbon suffered least from the greet 



earthquake in 1755. In the opinion of Mr. Link, this was 
owing to tho circumstance of tho placo being built on a rock 
of basalt, which ho supposes to havo been forced up by u 
similar convulsion at some very remote epoch. (Murphy ; 
Link's Travels in Portugal.) 

BELEMNITE. THUNDEUSTONE, or ARROW- 
HEAD (Zoology), from the Greek /3«X«u>w, a dart or 
arrow, pfeilstein and donnerstein of the Germans, picrre 
de/oudre of the Frcneh. Before the geological history of 
this extinct marine animal was well made out, few natural 
productions ministered more largely to the superstitious 
feelings of man. The antient*, it was said, had a legend 
that they came from the lynx, and called them Jjnpides 
Lyncis, and Lyncuria. Tlvey were also, from being found 
on Mount Ida, and from their supposed resemblance to 
thoso organs, called Idcei dactyli, or petrified fingers* . This 
idea was too much in unison with tho gloomy imagina- 
tion of the northern nations to be lost : we accordingly find 
the term Devils fingers hestowed on them, and not unfre- 
qucntly that of spectre- candles. 

Afterwards came the age of Thunderstoues, when this 
fossil was alleged to be the produee of electricity, and was 
called by lhe learned Lapis fulminans. 

Subsequently, and at the period when organic remains 
were almost universally regarded as lusus naturtc, formed 
by the plastie power of the earth, the Bel em ni to was consi- 
dered, even by those who had adopted more correct opinions 
upon the subject of many fossil shells, to be strictly mi- 
neral, — to be a stalactite or a crystal + ; and by some who 
found it in the sandy parts of Prussia, where amber also 
oceurs, it was supposed to be that substance petrified. 

At length, it began to be granted that the Belemnite was 
of organie animal origin, and the conical cavity at its 
hroader end caused it to be' looked upon as the tooth of 
some unknown creature ; while some pronounced it to be ;t 
spine, like those of an echinus, and others gave way to va- 
rious conjectures not worth recording. Then arrived the 
dawn of Von Tressau, Klein, Breynius, Da Costa, Brander, 
and Plott, who allowed tho fossil to be of testaceous origin, 
hut knew nothing of its relative position. At last, the in- 
creasing light of science placed the belemnite in a compa- 
ratively clear point of view. 

A suhstauec with whieh fable had been so busy was not 
likely to have been overlooked in the old materia mediea : wc 
accordingly find that it was administered in a powdeitd 
state as a remedy for the night- marc, and for the stone. 
Dr. Woodward states, that in Gloucestershire, tho powder 
was blown into the eyes of horses affected with watery hu- 
mours ; and, in Prussia, it is said to be used when puherized 
in dressing wounds. 

The true place of the Belemnite is among the Cepfuxlo- 
pods. Cuvicr, Lamarck, and indeed all modern writers of 
any note agree in this J, and they also concur in allowing 
that it was an internal shell. It forms the first genus of the 
first family (Orthocerata) of Lamarek's firtt division of tho 
Ccphalopods, namely, the Polylhalamous or many-cham- 
bered division. 

Miller, in his interesting paper in tbc Transactions of tho 
Geological Society, gives tne following as tho generic cha- 
racter • 

* Tbcsoare the opinions nf Woodward. Formey, and ethers, and they are 
repea(ed by Milto; but it it by nn mean a clear that the milieu U weie speak 
Ing of llelemmlos on those occasion*. Thai the llelemnile tvm ciltal 1'itrre 
da J.ynt,und that ll was the article n ted In lite old Malerln Medren, at a 
remedy ibr the nl^ht>marc, •tone. Sec. &c.» need not be doubled, lint the 
question ti, whether out lion ba\e net bee a rather hasty In concluding that lh« 
iMpidct Lynns, fic^ of the antieitu (see Ovid. Met am, lib, xv. v. 4l'S) weic 
the frm Us alluded to lu this article. 

I'liriy'a accounts (Aat. HuL lib. rtiU c. %% and lib. xxxvil, c 9 rl 3> 
relative to these Lyncuria. kvyKVfut of the Creeks, are by no m pans uniform, 
and ieem ratlvr lc refer to diflWent kinds of true perns ; aud though. In (he 
ten (h eliajrer nf his tlilrlv- seventh book, lie tays tbat hhal Dactyl i are found 
lu Cre(e, lhal they are of an iron colour, mid rvsemble the bumau thumb 
(** finder" would have b«*cn more applicable to a Helemnite), ]( mum be re- 
mrmU'red that he has placed them in Itft catalogue of Genu; he ha». It Is 
true. Inserted the Corn* llatnmonh in ilie same lut. Jl khoukl not be forgotten 
tbat the Corj Unites «ere called Ithci Lractyli. 

If we turn loTheophraMiin, who describes the kvyxiyer at some length 
(cliaplers 50, 51. 5*i, 5G),we »ball And nothing tn sanctbu the opinion lhal il 
was a lk*lemni(e, tl tough It is eleurly tb«,l*apii Lyncis of authors. Il li 
described, ou tho contrary, as a gem of very solid lex lure (rTiju/racij), nn 
which seal*, were engraved. 

i SoUie as IWi! nn itnalytlt *.f {( «ra« giien by Mr. T. Acton In NMiot 
•on's Jonrnnt. undrrthc nanie of a cry MaV called a "Thundrr-pick.*' In the 
following jear Farcy eouecli<d tlie mitt-ike (lu the *anic journnl), and slated 
il lo he "ih«* ftrwHi of an animal now unknown, called a Ifelctnnlte.*' 



We mutt exccp< M Un*pail, who, lu 1»2*.», published hit opluion, lhat 

1ml 
- . pa. ^ 
wo* a being riMincl from the llclt-mulM (probably lu paras lie), wbicfi he 



. >pluioi 
tW*e r>>B«lls were lite rutanooui upi>endrtp*i of a mnriue anini:u. probably 
njjrt mrhiaj,' the E<kiitndcrmn'a t and I lint the st twits, or clmmbentl pail. 



calls an AlrenlUf. 



BEL 



173 



BEL 



* A eephalopodous? molluscous animal, provided- with a 
fibrous spathose conical shell, divided by transverse concave 
septa into separate cells, or chambers connected by a 
siphuncle ; and inserted into a laminar, solid, fibrous, spa- 
those, subcorneal or fusiform body extending beyond it, and 
forming a protecting guard or sheath/ 

It will be observed that, in this definition, the word eepha- 
lopodous is followed by a note of interrogation ; but there is 
so much evidence that the snell in question eould have be- 
longed only to an animal whose organization was similar. to 
that of the existing ccphalopods, that there is no longer 
room for doubt ; indeed Miller gives a design of the sup- 
posed position of the shell within the living cephalopod, 
taking one of the cuttle fishes as his example. 

De Blainville, in his Memoir published at Paris in 1827, 
has separated the genus into many divisions according to 
the shape of the shells, and has recorded a great many 
species. « 

Professor Agassiz is of opinion that the fossil ink-bags 
found in the lias at Lyme Regis belonged to Belemnites, 
and has come to this conclusion from a specimen which pre- 
sents the ink-bag in situ. 

The chief writers on these fossils, in addition to those 
above-mentioned, are Sage, Deluc, Beudant, D'Orbiguy, 
and Voltz. 

Belemnites are most abundant, and oceur principally in 
the chalk formations, in the oolite and lias. ,. Belemnites ca- 
naliculatus will give a general idea of the form and struc- 
ture of the shell. The upper part is represented as cut off 
and laid open, to show the shell in its sheath, and tho 
chambers. 




[Relemnltet canaliculars.] 

BELE'NYES, a largo market- town in the southern part 
of tho Hungarian county of Bihar, in the province' *east of 
the Thciss ;* it is situated on the Black Koros, near the 
borders of Transsylvania, and belongs to the episcopal chap- 
ter of Grosvardein. It has a eastle, a united Greek and 
Catholic, and a reformed -Lutheran ehureh, with a po'pul ac- 
tion of about 5000 souls, all Magyars or Wallachians* The 
neighbourhood produces good timber and fruit; and the 
quarries of Mount Beldny, which lie opposite to the town, 
yield beautiful marble, 'it is in 46°40' N.'lat,, and 22° 20' 
E. long. 

BELESTA, or BELLESTA, a small place in Franee, 
to which the dictionaries, with obvious impropriety, give the 
name of town (bourg, or wile). It is in the eommune of 
Peyrefite, the arrondissement of Castelnaudari, and the de- 
partment of Aude. The whole population of the eommune, 
as given in tho Dictionnaire l/niversel de la France', 1804, 
our latest authority, was only 2 1C ; and the only elaim to 
notice which the place has arises from a singular natural 
phenomenon, the intermitting spring of Font Estorbe. This 
spring rises in a natural grotto or eavern, and is ordinarily 
so eopious as to form of itself the principal part of the river 
Lcrs, a feeder of the Garonne, whieh, passing two or threo 
miles to the east of Toulouse, falls into the Garonne near 
Grenade. The stream which (lows from the grotto is about 
eighteen or twenty feet wide, and a foot and several inches 
deep, and runs with a very rapid current ; yet in the sum- 
mer and autumn (and indeed at other tmies of the year, if 
there has been a drought of any eontinuanee) it beeomes 
intermittent. According to the Encyclopedic Metkodique 
{Geographic Modeme) the intermission takes place at equal 
intervals, twice in the twenty-four hours; and Expilly says 
it may be regarded as a sort of natural Clepsydra, or water- 
clock. When the time for its (lowing comes, a great noise 
is heard on the side of the cavern from whieh tho waters 
spring, and they gush out so eopiously, that their effect in 
swelling tho river Lers may be pereeived five or six miles 
down the stream. (Encyclc/pedie Metkodique; Geographic 
Physique; Expilly, Dictionnaire de$ Gaides et de la 
France.) * 

BELFAST, tho chief town of the north of Ireland, 
is situated on the Antrim side of the Lagan, whero that 
river runs into the southern extremity of the hay of Carrick- 
fcrgus, 5 i° 3 ii' N. lat., 5° 40' W. l^ng. ; distant direct from 



Loudon about 324 miles N.W., and about 85 English miles, 
direct distance, N. by E. of Dublin. Belfast gives its name, 
to the barony of Upper Belfast, in which it is situated, as well 
as to Lower Belfast, another barony of the county of Antrim, 
and also to its own parish of Belfast, or Shankil. Shankil 
parish contains 18,411 acres; and the town land of Bally- 
macarret, on the opposite side of the river, in the county of 
Down, the populous suburb of whieh has been included in 
the borough by the Reform Bill, has an area of nearly 576 
acres. Although built on a flat, whieh has in a great 
measure been reclaimed from the marshy banks and shal- 
low bed of the river, Belfast is a healthy town. Its posi- 
tion, on the confines of two great eounties, with a secure 
harbour and extended water-communication with the inte- 
rior, is peculiarly favourable. The scenery around pos- 
sesses great beauty and variety. Mountains of considerable 
height and bold outline skirting the western side of the 
rich valley of the Lagan, stretch northward from the town 
(which one of their highest elevations may be said to over- 
hang) in a continuous chain, which renders the Antrim side 
of the bay exceedingly picturesque ; while the fertility and 
cultivation of the opposite eounty and the intermediate shore 
can hardly be exceeded. Two bridges arc built over the 
river, one at the east end of tho town, an old bridge 2500 
feet long, and consisting of twenty-one arches ; and another, 
( built in 1814, about half a mile up the river, on the south 
of the town, *whieh connects the eounties of Antrim and 
Down. I . : , 

The origin of the town itself is modern; but, as an im- 
portant, pass, Belfast was, known either by its original 
name Bealfearsaid (Fordmouth), or by its Norman trans- 
lated appellation of l Le Ford,* both in ancient Irish his- 
tory and during the earlier occupation of Ulster by the 
English. Prior to the reign of Edward III., the northern 
pale (or compass of English jurisdiction in the north) 
embraced tho present counties of Down and Antrim, and 
had even extended partially into Derry; and although 
the destruction of the early Irish Parliamentary papers at 
Trim has deprived us of all particular reeord of its admi- 
nistration, enough still remains in the Close and Patent Rolls 
of the kingdom to show that a'great part, if not the whole, 
of .these counties, up to nearly the middle of tho fourteenth 
century,. enjoyed the protection of the English law under 
regularly appointed and resident authorities. But although 
the power of the government was able to keep the native 
chieftains of the interior in comparative subjection, it was 
principally along the eoast that the line of civilization and 
eompleto security extended ; and accordingly it appears 
that the passes by which communication was ehieily kept 
up invariably lay near the sea. Of these, the ford at Bel- 
fast was the most important, and the castle was in all pro- 
bability built for its protection, as we find it in the posses- 
sion of William de Burgho,rEarl of Ulster, at the time of 
his murder there in 1333. This event, more than any 
other connected with the plaee, had the greatest effect on 
tho early condition of Ulster; for the rebellious English, by 
whom the murder was committed, inviting the native Irish 
to their aid from beyond the Bann, whither they had been 
driven before the vigorous administration of the early con- 
querors, let in sueh a torrent of barbarism, as in a short 
time swept all that frontier of the pale elear of whatever 
civilization its previous reduction had forced upon it. The 
eastle of the ford now fell into tho hands of the old O'NciU 
of Dalaradia, who, from a celebrated leader of their nation 
when in exile, were, known as the Clan-IIugh-Buy, a titlo 
whieh still distinguishes two districts of Down, and which, 
prior to tho .settlement of tho country under James L, 
extended over a, great part of both Down and Antrim. 
During the lawless times that followed, when the pale had 
shrunk to Drogheda, and Carrickfergus was almost the only 
spot beyond the Newry mountains where tho English had foot- 
ing at all, Bolfast.eastlo, though frequently taken and dis- 
mantled, still remained in the independent though precarious 
possession of the. O'Neils, until a chief of Claneboy, in 
1552, after having been severely handled by two suceessivo 
lords' deputies, consented at length to hold the castlo hy a 
legal tenure from the Crown. The rebellion of Shane O'Neil 
shortly after deprived his successor of even this possession, 
and Belfast, with the rest of the estates of the rebel 
chieftains, was confiscated. Sir Thomas Smith was tho 
grantco of this district of the forfeited lands ; but his first 
attempt to take possession being signally defeated, and his 
son, who commanded the expedition, slain, the adventurers 



BEL 



174 



BEL 



under his grant dispersed, and the conditions of his tenure 
remaining unfulfilled, the estates escheated to the crown. 
Walter, first Karl of Essex, was the next to attempt the 
plantation of this intractable district, but ho was still more 
unsuccessful than his predecessor. After the expenditure 
of much blood and treasure, he abandoned the undertaking 
in tho course of tho first year, and shortly afterwards died. 
Ksscx had, however, already seen the advantages of making 
Belfast a chief place in Ulster; and his recommendations 
to build thero and erect a dock-yard were repeated by Sir 
John Perrot, when he visited that country, still lying wasto, 
ten years afterwards. For more than a quarter of a century 
this state of things continued, until at length, in 1604, 
Sir Arthur Chichester, then lord deputy, procured from 
James I. tho final grant, from which the prosperity of 
Antrim and rise of Belfast, as a town, may bo said to dato. 
This active and politio governor immediately set about 
planting his estate with emigrants from his paternal posses- 
sions in Devonshire. In addition to this, the general 
settlement of Ulster, which took place about four years 
afterwards, brought in a multitude of Seotch and English 
colonists. All this gavo such security and countenance to 
their undertaking, that, in 1611, thoso who were settled in 
Malono had raised a town about Sir Arthur s castle of Bel- 
fast, whieh had been rebuilt; and this town was already so 
considerable, that it obtained a charter, erecting it into a 
Vorough, with sovereign burgesses and commonalty, and 
the privilege of sending two members to the Irish parliament. 
It has been generally supposed that the prosperity of Bel- 
fast ought to date from the year 1637, when tho EarlofStraf- 
ford, after purchasing certain monopolies enjoyed by tho 
adjacent port of Carrickfergus, threw open the comnotition to 
its better-situated rival, which thus prospered at its neigh- 
bour's expense : but it would seem that, long before this 
event, Belfast was a prosperous and rapidly-improving town, 
tho central mart for the colonists of both Down and Antrim, 
and, from its vicinity to the woods, the seat of many trades 
and manufactures, which could not have been earned on in 
a place so ill supplied with fuel as Carrickfergus had long 
been. It was the prosperity of Belfast that forced the 
purchase of these monopolies" by the Earl of Strafford, and 
for that unexampled prosperity Belfast is mainly indebted 
to tho enterprise and liberality of tho house of Chichester. 
Never perhaps has there been an fnstanco of success so 
sudden and so complete as that whieh attended the under- 
taking of Sir Arthur Chichester in 1604. In seven years 
the most desert spot in Ulster was a corporate town, which, 
before it was half a century in existence, had gained a 
superiority over tho oldest foundations north of Dublin. 
And now, hut for the unhappy differences on the score of 
religion, which soon began to distraet the raiuds of these 
thriving eolonists, all would have been well. The Scottish 
clergy, men deeply imbued with the severe spirit which 
then characterized their national church, had been not only 
tolerated but encouraged under the liberal ecclesiastical 
administration of Usher. They enjoyed the tithes and the 
immunitiesof the then establishment, were ordained and in- 
ducted by its bishops, and were under its general jurisdiction. 
Their dislike of prelacy, which had slumbered whilo theso 
advantages wcro yet uncertain, broke out as they acquired 
eonfideneo in their confirmed possession ; and even before 
the tyrannical measures of Lord Strafford, which arc gene- 
rally alleged as the prime cause of tbeir discontent, had 
finally justified their opposition, disputes, complaints, and 
recrimiuations were frequent between this body of the 
northern clergy and their spiritual superiors. Tho sub- 
sequent interference of Wentworth and Laud, and the 
attempt to force tho already indignant Presbyterians into 
a further conformity to tho'prelatic church, completed the 
breach ; petitions and remonstrances went forward on all 
hands, and the resisting party had at length tho gratification 
of mainly aiding; in the overthrow of their great persecutor, 
when, in the midst of their triumph, the rebellion of 1G4I 
threw the whole country once more into tumult and dismay. 
The Presbytery of Belfast, after seeing their town succes- 
sively occupied by tho troops of the Uoyalists, rhe Parlia- 
mentarians, and tho Irish, forgot their ecclesiastical griev- 
ances in tho dread of civil extinction, and throughout the 
succeeding wars were invariably well affected towards tho 
royal and episcopal cause. Tho first expression of their 
attachment to these principles was made at a tiino which 
renders the avowal peculiarly honourable. On the execution 
of Charles I., in 1G49, tho Presbytery of Belfast put forth 



their 'Representation of the present evils and imminent 
danger to religion, laws, and liberties, arising from tho 
late and present practices of the sectarian party in England/ 
&c, in which they freely express thoir indignation and dis- 
gust at the conduct of their old associates in anti-prelatic 
real. This brought down tho vengeance of Milton, whoso 
reply is written with great acrimony ; hut ' theno blockish 
Presbyters of Clandeboy,' theso ' unfi allowed priestlings* of 
the'unehrUtiau synagogue' at Belfast, as the indignant re- 
publican calls them, evinced the sincerity of their professions, 
by enduring, with exemplary fortitude, throughout all tho 
troubles that succeeded, tho consequences of their fidelity to 
(he erown. Such, however, was the respect in which the mer- 
cantile body of Belfast washeld by all parties, that.during theso 
wars, the town suffered little moro than tho negativo injury 
of being, for a time, retarded in its prosperity. It was occupied 
or taken, time after time, by tho troops of all tho parties, 
which, for tho next fifty years, made the rest of Ireland one 
scene of desolation, and was respected and left compara- 
tively unplundered by them all. At length, in 1G90, tho 
arrival or William III. restored Belfast to the enjoyment 
of tranquillity. To reward their loyally, the Presbyterian 
ministers of Ulster received from tho king a grant of 
1200/. per annum. Trade and manufactures now went on 
with increased vigour, and, in the beginning of the next 
century, wo find the commercial progress of the town 
so considerable, as to place it in the first rank, on a scalo 
of credit appended to the names of the different commer- 
cial towns oi Europe, in the Exchange at Amsterdam. In 
1708 the castle was destroyed by fire, and three of tho 
Ladies Chichester burned to death. An anonymous tourist, 
writing of tho town at this time, speaks in terms of high 
admiration of its commerce and manufactures, especially of 
its superior potteries. > Printing had now been introduced, 
and Belfast, in 1704, had tho honour of sending forth 
one of the earliest editions of tho Biblo printed in Ireland. 
Tho first newspaper printed in Ulster, tho Belfast News- 
letter, whieh still has a large circulation, was commenced 
here in 1737. A local militia was also called into being by 
tho Scottish rebellion of 1715; and the inhabitants of Bel- 
fast, having onco accustomed themselves to look to their 
own resources for defence, have ever since been ready to 
tako up arms when necessary, whether agaiust foreign 
invasion or intestine revolt. In 1758 tho first census of the 
town was taken: it then contained 1779 houses, inhabited 
hy 7993 Protestants, and 55G Roman Catholics, in all 
8549; of whom 1800 were amV to bear arms. The number 
of looms in this year was 399. Tho introduction of tho 
cotton-spinning trade, in 1777, opened a new field for in- 
dustry. In twenty-threo years, from its commencement, at 
which time there was not one cotton-loom in Ulster, it num- 
bered no less than 13,500 operatives; while in a circuit of ten 
miles, including the flourishing town of Lisburn, the number 
connected with it in every way amounted to 27,090 indivi- 
duals. Prior to this, however, tho linen manufacture had 
become, as it still is, the staple trade of the district; and wo 
may form an idea of the wealth and enterprise of those en- 
gaged in it from the fact, that in 1782 tho merchants of Bel- 
fast, experiencing the want of a proper hall for tho transac- 
tion of their business, at once subscribed a sum of 17,550/. 
for that purpose, tho subscription list exhibiting very fow 
contributions under from 100/. to 300/. The spinning of 
linen yarn hy machinery, a trade which now rivals either 
of the other great branches of manufacture, was introduced 
into Ulster about 1806 or 1808; but so prosperous has it 
latterly become, tbat at present it employs perhaps moro 
capital and labour than tho cotton trado itself. There are 
ten factories of this description in tho town and vicinity, 
driving upwards of 65,000 spindles, and several others aro 
in eourso of erection. Damask and diaper of a superior 
quality are also manufactured in this district ; indeed, 
Belfast linen fabrics, of all descriptions, have long main- 
tained tho highest character. In 1792 ehip-building was 
first commenced here ; previous to this time, the craft 
required were purchased and generally repaired in tho 
Scotch or English ports; and when we find that, in 1765, 
tho shipping of Belfast so supplied amounted only to 55 
vessels, or 10,040 tons, tho backwardness of early enter- 
prise in (his direction appears very remarkable. Tho firot 
dock-yard employed only 10 workmen: the shipwrights, 
block-inakcrs, sail-makers, rope-makers, and smiths now 
engaged in the constant building, rigging, and repairing of 
vessels, exeeed200. In 1811 the number* employed were 



BEL 



175 



BE}, 



under 120; but there had already been built more than 40 
vessels, the greater number above 200 tons. The largest 
vessel built in the port registers about 500 tons. Iron and 
brass founding have long been carried on with considerable 
activity ; iron founding was actively prosecuted prior to 
1641. Castings on the largest scale are now executed 
in the best manner; and mueh of the cotton and linen 
spinning machinery is driven by steam-engines constructed 
in the Lagan foundries. Belfast presents more of a manu- 
facturing aspect than any other town in Ireland : there is, 
however, a lightness and elegance about the place that 
takes away much of the dark effect of its numerous chim- 
neys and their black volumes of smoke ; so that no town, 
perhaps, in the British islands more agreeably unites the 
appearances of industry and cheerfulness. 

The private buildings are (with one or two exceptions) in- 
variably of brick, and extremely regular; the general aspect 
of the chief streets is pleasing, and the neighbourhood of 
Donegal-square exhibits as good houses and as handsome 
street-views as almost any provincial town can boast of. 
The public buildings arc more numerous than striking, and 
the want of steeples cannot fail to strike the traveller who is 
accustomed to the view of more antient towns. The parish 

imdi of St. Anne's, built in 1778, has a tower and coppered 
cupoVi of good proportions, although the upper part of the 
towcrlis framed of painted wood : it is capable of accommo- 
datiirv? 1 100 persons, and was erected at the expense of the 
'Marquis of Donegal. The chapel of ease, built in 
1811-12, on the site of the old parish church in High- 
street, is a plain building with a beautiful portieo. The por- 
tico was presented by the bishop of Down and Connor, who 
procured it at the taking down of Ballyscullen-house, the 
Irish Fen thill, built by Lord Bristol, tho celebrated bishop of 
B*?rry in the last century; the building will contain 1200 
persons. Another church, which has lately been erected 
in the south-western suburbs of the town, is a substantial 
edifice. The presbyterian plaees of worship are eleven in 
number, three of which, lately creeted, possess architectural 
pretensions; but wanting spires, and being rather clumsily 
furnished with porticos, they contribute much less than 
coul 1 be desired to the ornament of the town. Of the eleven, 
four, including the three alluded to, are attended by the con- 
gregations professing the faith of the synod of Ulster. The 
number of persons who can be accommodated in them is 
between 5U00 and 6000. Two others, which are attendod by 
congregations professing Unitarian doctrines, are capable 
of containing from 20U0to2500 persons. The orthodox Se- 
ccders have also two small chapels. The Covenanters, or 
reformed Presbyterians, have a good though not large meet- 
ing-house in the suburbs; the remainder are in the hands 
of independent congregations. The Roman Catholic plaees 
of worship within the town are two, but in the neighbour- 
hood ihcro are several others. Previous to the year 17C3, 
the Roman Catholics of Belfast, although upwards of 550 
in number, performed their worship in the open air. In that 
yenr their first* chapel was erected, but soon beeoming in- 
adequate to their increasing numbers, another was required, 
and a large and handsome edifiee has been erected in Do- 
negal-street, with spacious schools and handsome residences 
for the clergy attached to it. These buildings are still insuffi- 
cient to accommodate the rapidly-growing Roman Catholic 
population, whieh is now more than one-third of that of the 
whole town. The Methodists havo four chapels, and the 
Society of Friends a meeting-house. The chief public edi- 
fice is the Commercial Buildings, an extensive pile, termi- 
nating one end of Donegal-street, to which it presents a 
handsome architectural front of stone. It was erected at a 
cost of about 20,000/., and is the property of a company in- 
corporated by act of parliament. Here is a remarkably good 
and well-regulated news-room, frequented by all the mer- 
cantile body of Belfast. Partially fronting this stands the 
old Exchange at the divergence of Donegal-street and 
North-street— a heavy and neglected but respectable squaro 
building of brick on a cut-stone basement. Tho exchange 
used to bo held in tho lower story, and the upper contains a 
very excellent assembly-room, mueh superior both in size 
and proportion to that in the building opposite: the house 
is the property of the Marquis of Donegal. The theatre, a 
shabby brick structure externally, but of very elegant 
though small proportions within, is much neglected. In its 
charitable institutions Belfast stands pre-eminent: thepoor- 
houso at the north end of Donegal-street fronting tho Com- 
mercial buildings is a fino structure, with extensive wings 



and a handsome spire, built at an original cost of from 
7000/. to 10,000/., and supported at an expense of upwards 
of 2000/. per annum by the voluntary yearly subscriptions 
of the inhabitants and the produce of their former invested 
donations. In 1830 it contained 432 inmates, all of whom 
were fed, clothed, and the children educated, by the institu- 
tion : it was incorporated under the title of the Belfast Incor- 
porated Charitable Society, in anno 1 774. The fever hospital 
opened in 1817 iscapabloof accommodating upwards of 200 
patients: its expenditure in 1828 amounted to 1239/. 6s. 10d. t 
of whieh about one-half was granted at the county assizes, and 
the remainder was the produce of voluntary subscriptions and 
donations. A lying-in hospital, a female penitentiary, and a 
house of industry for the prevention of mendieity, are en- 
tirely supported by voluntary subscriptions. Carriekfergus 
being the assize town for the county, there is no jail at Bel- 
fast, but a large house of correction and a handsome police- 
office have been lately built. The barracks on the high 
ground in the north-western part of the town have been 
lately enlarged; they are capable of accommodating one 
regiment of foot, and a troop of horse or company of artillery. 
Belfast is well lighted : the gas-worlcs which supply the 
town are the property of a company; they have been ereeted 
upwards often years. The supply of water, whieh is neither 
very copious nor fcood, is brought by open drains from the 
count ry a mile to the south, and is conducted by pipes from 
an open reservoir to the cisterns of the houses. As 
coal is the fuel of Belfast, a great amount of shipping is 
constantly employed between this port and Newcastle, 
Whitehaven, and other ports of England. The coal quay 
is highest up the river, then como those where the 
general merchantmen aro moored, and beyond these, to- 
wards the bay, lio the ship-yards and ballast corporation 
graving-docks ; lower down a new floating-dock is nearly 
completed, tho property of an cnterprizing individual, and 
still further improvements are contemplated between this 
and the pool of Garmoyle, a deep and seeure station about 
three miles down the bay. A plan of these works, oy 
Messrs. Walker and Bourges of London, has been adopted 
by the town authorities, and sanctioned by act of parlia- 
ment, but as yet no step has been taken to carry it into 
execution. By the improvements however effected by the 
ballast corporation, ships drawing thirteen and fourteen 
feet of water ean already He at the quays, and tho dry 
docks are sufficiently capacious to hold vessels of equal size 
during their repairs; a patent slip is also completed in one of 
the private dock- yards. The manufactures and commerce of 
Belfast have been so intimately connected with its rise as a 
town, that in its civil history we have already spoken of their 
introduction and progress. The export trade, whieh must in 
all Irish ports be commensurate in great measure with the 
prosperity of their several districts, has long been very eon-r 
siderable here. It consists ehietly of bacon, butter, pork, 
beef, corn, and raw hides; and, in manufactured- articles, 
of linens, calieoes, muslins, cotton-yarn, linen-yam, soap, 
tanned leather, candles, and stareh. The chief imports are 
the raw material of the staplo manufactures, and foreign 
luxuries ; cotton, wool, llax-seed, ilax, barilla, potash, gro- 
ceries, wine, &c. The gross amount of customs including ox- 
eise amounted in 1783 to 32,900/, ; the customs exclusive of 
excise, for the year ending 5th January, 1 834, were 228,94$/, 
6s. \0d. In 1682 the shipping of the port was 3307 tons; in 
1827the registered tonnage of theport was 21,557 tons. The 
value of the exports in 1810 was 2,904,520/. 19*., being up- 
wards of half a million moro than in tho year previous : tho 
linens alono making more than two millions of this amount; 
tho eotton-yarn exported in that year valued but 4942/. 6$., 
and the cotton fabrics of all kinds did not exceed 35,000/. 
The items on a similar return for the last few years would 
be materially different, but the increase of the export trade 
""e chui only exhibit by a comparison of the tonnago as 
cleared outward. In 1831 there cleared outwards, coast- 
wise, 155,416 tons, and for foreign ports 35,335. In 1834 
the export tonnage was eoastwiso 174,894 tons, and for fo- 
reign ports 31,665. Inwards, there entered in 1831, of Bri- 
tish tonnage 27,970,- and of foreign 4276 tons ; in the year 
1833, of British tonnago 26,947, and of foreign 2537 tons; 
and in 1834, of British tonnage 30,733 tons, and of foreign 
2395 tons. From a comparison of these items with similar 
returns for the port of Cork, it appears thatBclfast, with fewer 
vessels, has in the foreign trado a greater amount of tonnage ; 
but that, taking the amount of British and foreign shipping, 
their tonnage inwards for the last three years is very nearly 



B E h 



176 



B E L 



equal. The post-office also indicates tlio activity of the 
commercial body of Belfast; the annual amount of postage 
W\nz hinre 1 832 nearly 10,000/. There arc four bunks in 
Belfast -two of thcin' brunches of the great metropolitan 
establishments, and two in the hands of privato companies. 
There is also a savings bank, in which on the 30th Novem- 
ber, 1830, there was lodged a sum of 40.C79/. by 2*123 de- 
p>sitor*. Tho amount of stamps sold here averages 25,000/. 
per annum; the number of stamps for newspapers for the 
year 1 8?3 was 335,000, and since then a considerable in- 
crease has taken place: there are now four newspapers and 
two small periodicals published in the town. 

The increase of the populatiouot Belfast has been extremely 
rapid within the last half century. In 1782 the town con- 
tained CI32 males and 6972 females, in all 13,105 inhabit- 
ants. In 1807 they were nearly doubled, beinj^ in all 
22,095; in 1821 they were 37,277; and in 1831 their num- 
bers in the town and suburbs stood thus— males 24,559 ; fe- 
males 28,754, total 53,313; of whom there are 14,597 per- 
sons belonging to the Established Church ; 18,715 Presbyte- 
rians; 18,268 Roman Catholics; 1111 Protestant dissenters, 
and 022 unclassed. This enumeration is exclusive of Bal- 
lymacarret, a portion of the borough which contains between 
four and five thousand inhabitants. The population of the 
borough itself by the last returns is 39, 1-iG, and its consti- 
tuency 1700 voters. 

< Belfast has long had the reputation of possessing a well- 
educated community. In 1824 there were in the town and 
parish sixty-three schools of all kinds, educating 2152 
male3 and'lGGG females, exclusive of the Royal Aca- 
ilornical Institution, which in 1825 had 4G2 males in its 
various classes. This great collegiate school was erected by 
public subscription, and incorporated by act of parliament 
in the year 1810. The original subscriptions amounted to 
25,000/., including 5000/. received from India by tho libe- 
rality and exertions of the Marquis of Hastings. The object 
Of the undertaking was to procure a cheap home education 
for those who formerly frequented the colleges of Scotland; 
and since the synod of Ulster receives the general certificate 
of this institution as a qualification for ordination in their 
ministry, it may now be looked on as the great seminary of the 
Presbyterian church in Ireland. I ts affairs are directed by a 
president, four vice-presidents, twenty managers, and eight 
visitors, chosen by the proprietary ; and it enjoys an annual 
grant from parliament of 1500/. 'The chairs in the collegiate 
department are eight, embracing professorships of divinity, 
moral and natural philosophy, logic, mathematics, Greek, 
Latin, Hebrew, and, within the last year, a lectureship on 
Irish, The schools afford ample means of instruction on all 
subjects generally taught, and the faculty and managers 
havo succeeded in forming a very respectable library and 
museum. There is no regularly endowed school here. The 
.Laneasterian and the Brown-street institutions may be 
called free-sehools: both have enjoyed the patronage of the 
Kil dare-street association, but the Laneasterian school is 
now under the national board ; nearly 2000 poor children are 
educated in these two establishments alone. Of the private 
schools, the Donegal -street academy is the most respectable; 
it has upwards of 150 scholars. A number of literary and 
scientific individuals in 1788 formed themselves into a^body 
and took tho name of tho Society for Promoting Know- 
ledge: they publish their transactions, and have a good 
library of upwards of C000 volumes, together with a philoso- 
phical apparatus. A literary society more private, but com- 
prising men of considerable eminenco, was established in 
1801. In 1821 another literary and scientific body was 
formed, called the Natural History Society; they have 
lately built a handsomo house for their meetings, where they 
have a thriving library and a museum, which bids fair to be 
the next in Ireland "to that of the Royal Dublin Society. 
In 1325 a mechanics' institute was erected, and a scicntilic 
school for artisans opened, where lectures are delivered on 
mechanics and chemistry. A botanical garden has been 
formed within the last four years, which is highly orna- 
mental to the vicinity of the town, and already rich in a 
good assortment of plants. A patriotic institution, called 
tho Irish Harp Society, for the cultivation of national music, 
has been long supported by voluntary subscription. The 
town expenses are levied by twelvo commissioners and 
a committee of police, by virtue of an act passed in 1810. 
The paving, lighting, and cleansing of the streets, and ge- 
neral police of tho town, are under their management. The 
amount of the police*tax for tho first year of their superin- 



tendence was 3057/. 18s.; in 1831 it amounted to 8,0 JS'. 
2*. 2c/. The sovereign ha* the control of tho markets, tho 
regulation of the cranes mid weights, and is ox-oflicio a 
magistrate of the county of Antrim, A police magistrate, 
town-clerk, and seneschal of the manor are the other chief 
ollicers of the corporation. Since tho year 1775, upwards of 
100,000/. have been expended on a canal connecting this 
port with Lisbum and Loch Neagh, which is now the pro- 
perty of the Lagan Navigation Company. A plan for a rail- 
road from the lime-quarries on tho Cave- hill to the new 
docks is now being carried into effect : it is the property of 
private individuals, as well as a new bridge across the Lagan, 
about a quarter of a mile above tho old long bridge which 
was built in 1 082, and is now in a ruinous and unsafe con- 
dition. A lunatic asylum, capable of accommodating 100 
patients, has been built by government in the vicinity of the 
town, at an expense of above 50,000/. : it is intended for the 
two counties of Down and Antrim, (Seo Spenser's View ; 
Cox's History of Ireland ; Dubourdien's Statistical Survey 
of the County of Antrim; Historical Collections relative to 
the Totcn of Jielfast, Belfast, 1817 ; Reid's History of the 
Presbyterian Church in Ireland; Hardy's Northern Irish 
Tourist; Inglis's Ireland in 183*1; Government Official 
Tables ; Appendix to 2nd Itepnrt of Commissioners of Edu- 
cation in Ireland* and 4 th Report, ditto ; Ordnance Surrey 
Map of Antrim ; Calendar of Inquisitions for Ulster, <$*t\ 
Communication from Ireland.) 

'BELFRY, that part of a cburcli-tower or steeple in 
which the hells arc hung. The term is applied not only to 
that part of the tower, but also to the framing on which the 
bells are suspended. Belfiy is probably derived from Bcl- 
fredus, a low Latin term of the middle ages, a compound of 
belly a Teutonic word, and freid (friede), peace. (Ducangc, 
Gloss.) The old French word is belfroit. (Johnson's Diet. 
by Totld.) Ducange gives also the forms Beaufroy and 
Belle froy. Belfiy is synonymous with Campanile [see Cam- 
panile], which, with the terms clocaria and tristcgurn, was 
used by the writers of the middle ages to express the samo 
thing. According to some, the name Belfredus, which was 
applied to a wooden tower used in attacking fortified ] daces, 
was afterwards given to any elevated tower in which a bell 
was hung. This statement, if correct, might lead us to infer 
that the Latin word helium (war) was the first part of the 
compound Belfredus, and the second part possibly derived 
from the Latin* fero y to bear or carry away. The forms 
Bevfredus and Verfredus also occur as the names of old 
military engines, and seem to lead to a different etymology. 

B , 



*t 




. A 



Han of the U-Ifty ofSl. r»ul*i. 
A mid II, lines of sections j fl, a, beam*. 

In this plan and sections of the belfry of St. Paul's church 
are seen the construction of the timbers, showing their bear 
ings independent of the masonry, that is, not fixed into the 
masonry. This construction may be taken as a good ex- 
ample of tho method of hanging heavy bells in a belfry. In 



BEL 



I * i 



BEL 



the two towers of St. Paul's Church four'bells are hung; 
in the lower three and in the other one. The great bell 
shown in the section is hung over two others in the south 
tower ; these latter are fixed, and not intended to be rung : 
the upper boll is hung on gudgeons or axles, and prepared 
for ringing, but from the confined space in which it is hung 
it cannot be rung, and only moves on its axle when struck 
by the, hammer" of rhe clock. In the construction of 
belfries the bearing of the timbers should always he on 
wooden plates. 




Section of the belfry of St. Paul's on the line A, A. 
c, c, pudgeoni, on which Use bell swings. 



!% §fey£!!ft> gfri 




Section of Ihe belfry of St, Pant * on the tine B, B. 
A» hammer. 



1234 5 

I. I 



10 



20 



Feet. 



The term belfry was prohably applied in the first instance 
to the wooden construction, which was made strong, in 
order to bear the weight of the bell or bells. 

In constructing a belfry, the frame-work is placed cither 
on stone corbels, or is made to bear on a ' recess formed in the 
wall.' (Encyc. Method. Arch.) This latter method is con- 
sidered the best, because the vibration caused by the mo- 
tion of the bells acts with less force on the masonry than it 
would if it were fixed in the masonry. It is also ohserved, 
that the higher the bells are placed in the tower, the more 
docs the vibration, caused hy ringing tbcm, affect the 
masonry. 

Village churches have belfries in their towers or steeples. 
In some instances, where there is a single bell, it is not 
placed in a tower, but suspended to a slight frame-work fixed 
between an arch constructed on the exterior top of the gable 
end of a church or chapel. [See Bell.] 

BELGiE, the general name given by Csesar to the differ- 
ent tribes inhabiting the north of Gaul, between the sea 
on the west, the rivers Matrona (Marne) and Sequana 
(Seine) on the south, and the Rhenus (Rhine) on the east. 
But it is not well determined how far this name may be 
extended to the east ; perhaps the Treviri, on the banks of 



No. 227. 



the Moselle, were included. Csesar remarks that the Ma. 
trona and Sequana separate the Belgse from the Galli, who 
were to the south of them. He says also, in general and 
vague terms, that the Belgse extend to the Lower Rhine, 
and lie towards the north and the rising sun. He also {De 
BelL Gall. v. 24) uses the term Belgium to express the 
country of the Belgse. The Bel gee, were according to Csesar 's 
testimony, of German origin, though perhaps somewhat 
mingled with the Celtic inhabitants of Gaul, and distin- 
guished hy their warlike character, which Csesar attributes 
partly to their origin and partly to their being strangers to 
luxury and refinement. The Bcllovaci [see IJbauvais] were 
the most warlike and numerous Belgic tribe in the time of 
Caesar. (De Bell, Gall. ii. 4.) The Remi, whose capital 
was Durocortorum (Rheims), were the nearest Belgic trihe 
to the Galli on that side. The rest of the tribes are men- 
tioned hy Csesar (ii. 4) : among them we find one name, 
the Atrebates, the same as that of a tribe in Britain. The 
Belgse may he descrihed generally as occupying, in the time 
of Csesar, the French departments of Nord, Pas de Calais, 
Somme, Seine Inferieure, Oise, and Aisne^ with a part of 
modern Belgium. 

"When Csesar invaded South Britain, he found that part 
of the island occupied by Belgse, that is, hy tribes of Ger- 
man origin, who had passed over from the opposite shores 
of Gaul, and obliged the original inhabitants to retreat into 
the interior of the country. (De Bell. Gall. v. 12.) But as 
he had no intercourse with the original inhabitants, it is 
impossible to say how far the Bclgco had penetrated inland; 
and later historians have given us no account of this circum- 
stance. We learn only that the whole southern coast from 
Suffolk to Devonshire was occupied by Belgic tribes. The 
Cantii were settled in Kent, the Trinobantes to the north 
of the Thames, the Regni in Sussex and the Atrebatii 
in Berkshire. To the west of them the Belgse, properly so 
called, occupied Hampshire and Wiltshire, and extended 
through Somersetshire to the Bristol Channel ; their capital 
was Venta Belgarum, Winchester. Farther to the west, the 
Durotrigcs were found in Dorsetshire, and their neighhours, 
the Damnonii, in Devonshire. 

The Belgso in Britain, conformahly to the character of 
their brethren in Gaul, made a stout resistance to Csesar 
But about a century afterwards they were compelled to suh- 
mit to the yoke, which the Romans had already in the 
time of Csesar imposed on their kinsmen in Gaul. The 
name Bclgica occurs as the name of a division of Gaul as 
late as Diocletian's time. Under the emperors it was go- 
verned by an officer with the title of Procurator, orLegatus. 

BELGIUM. The origin of thi3 kingdom as a scparato 
state dates from the year 1830. In 'the month of August 
of that year, the revolution began at Brussels which severed 
the Belgian provinces from the crown of Holland. On the 
4th of October following, the provisional government at 
Brussels proclaimed the independence of Belgium ; and on 
the 26th of December it was announced to the congress 
assembled in that city, that the allied powers of Europe 
had recognised the permanent separation of the Belgian 
provinces from the kingdom of the Netherlands. [See Ne- 
therlands.] 

In February, 1831, the congress elected the Duke of Ne- 
mours to the throne of the new kingdom ; but his father, 
Louis Philippe, king of the French, having refused the 
erown on the part of his son, a new election became neces- 
sary, and the choice of the national representatives then 
fell upon Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg, widower of the 
Princess Charlotte of England. This prince having ac- 
cepted the crown, took the oaths prescribed, and ascended 
the throne in the presence of the congress on the 22nd of 
July, 1831. 

Tho courts of Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, 
and Russia, which had already acknowledged the inde- 
pendence of Belgium, concluded a treaty with King Leo- 
pold, which was signed in London on the 15th of Novemhcr, 
1 83 1 , in which treaty the houndaries of the new kingdom 
were defined, and the peaccahle possession of his territories 
was guaranteed to King Leopold. 

According to the terms of this treaty, the Belgian terri- 
tory is composed of the provinces of South Brabant, Lic"ge, 
Namur, Hainault, West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, 
Limbourg, with the exception of some districts particularly 
described, and a part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. » 

The exceptions in the province of Limbourg just men- 
tioned are :— ' 1st. On the right bank of the Meuse ; the old 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vot. IV.-2 A 



BEL 



178 



BEL 



Dutch enclaves upon tho said bank, united to those districts 
of tho said province upon tho sanio bank which did not 
belong to the States General in 1 790 ; in suchwiso that 
the whole of that part of the present province of Limbourg, 
situated upon tho right bankof the Meuse, and comprised 
between that river on tho west, tho frontier of the Prussian 
territory on tho ea^t, the present frontier of tho province of 
Liege on the south, and Dutch Guelderland on the north, 
shall henceforth belong to his majesty tlib king of the Ne- 
therlands, either to be held by him in his character of 
Grand Duko of Luxembourg, or in order to be united to 
Holland. , . .. . , 

* 2. On the left bank of the Meuse : — commencing from 
tho southernmost point of tho Dutch province of North 
Brabant, tbero shall be drawn a line, which shall termiuate 
on the Meuse below Ifessem, between that £lace and Ste- 
rcritwatrdt, at the point where the present Arrondisscment 
of liuremond and Maestricht meet, on tho left bank of the 
Meuse; In such manner that Bergcrot, Stamproy, Neer 
liter en, Itervoord and T/iorne, with their districts, as well 
as all the other places situated to tho north of this line, 
shall form part of the Dutch territory. t , 

'The old Dutch enclaves in the province or Limbourg, 
upon the left bank of the Meuse, shall belong t6 Belgium, 
with the exception of the. town of Maestricht, which toge- 
ther with a radius of territory, extending 1200 toise'sfrorh 
tho outer glacis of the fortress on the Said bank bf this 
river, shall continue to be possessed in full sovereignty by 
his majesty, the king of the Netherlands.* 

The exceptions thus described in Limbourg were as- 
signed to the king of the Netherlands in return for cessions 
to bo made by him to Belgium, of a part of the Grand 
Duchy of Luxembourg, which are thus described in the 
treaty — 

* Commencing trom the frontier of France between Ro~ 
dange* which shall remain to, the Grand Duchy of Luxem- 
bourg, Ln&AthuSt which shall belong to Belgium, there shall 
be drawn a line, which leaving to Belgium the road lVom Avion 
Xo tj)iigicy f the town ofArlon with it's district, and the road 
from Arlon to Bastogne, shall pass between Mesaney> which 
shall be on the Belgian territory, and Ciemanct/, which shall 
remain to the Grand Duchv of Luxembourg, terminating 
at StetnforU whicli ( place shall also remain to the Grand 
Duchy. From ^teihfort m\\% line shall bo continued in the 
direction pfJEischen, Hecb'us, Gu'irsch, Grande, Nolhomfa 
Parette, and Perle, as ,far as Mdrtelange ; Hecb'us, Gu'irsch, 
Grehde, Nothomb* -and Paref te,. being to.belon^ to Belgium, 
and Eischen, 6berpalen f Perle, and Martelanke, $ the 
Grand t Duchy. From Marteldhge the said line snail follow 
the course of the Siire. the .water-way (thalweg) of which 
river shall serve as the limit between the twp states, as far 
as opposite to Tintange, from whence it shall be continued, 
as directly as possible, towards the present frontier, of the 
Arrondis semen t of Diekirc7i f and shall pas's between Sfurret* 
Harlange, and Tarchamps t which placesjjtiall bo left to 
the Grand Ducby of Luxembourg; and Itonville, Zivar- 
charnp, and Loutremahge, which places shall form part of 
the Belgian territory, xhen having, in the vicinity of 
Doncols and Soulez, which shall remain to the Grand 
Duchy, reached the present boundary of the Arrondissement 
of Diekirch, the line in question shall follow the said boun- 
dary to the frontier of the Prussian territory. All the ter- 
ritories, towns, fortresses, and places situated to tho west of 
this line shall belong to Belgium ; and all the territories, 
towns, fortresses, and places situated to the east of this line 
shall continuo to belong to tho Grand Duchy of Luxem- 

Boundaries, — Tho kingdom, as thus described, is bounded 
on the north by the Dutch part of the province of Limbourg, 
and by North Brabant, aha Zeelarid ; on the north-west by 
the North Sea ; on the south-west and south by tho Depart- 
ments of the Pas de Calais, Nord, Ardennes, ana Moselle, in 
France ; and on tho east by the Dutch portion of the Grand 
Duchy of Luxembourg, and tho Grand Duchy of the Lower 
Rhine. 

Area and Population.— r This territory lies hetween 49° 
31' and 51° 27' N. lat., and between 2* 37' and 'C° E. long. 
Its greatest length from south-east to north-west is 173 
English miles, and its greatest breadth, measured in the di- 
rection S.S.W. from the most northern part of the province 
of Antwerp, to the most southern point of the province of 
llainault, 112 miles. Us form approaches to that of a 
triangle, the baso of which is the French frontier, and its 



area is computed at 3,252.053 hectares, equal to 8.044,323 
English aeres, or 12569 English square miles. It is thus \ ery 
nearly one-eighth of the area of Great Britain. Hie popula- 
tion, according to tho census of 1830, amounted to 4,CG4,235 
distributed through the different provinces as follows : — 





Inhabitant* of 






Town*. 


Uurat DUtrict*. 


TuUl. 


South Brabant . . 


160.7S4 


395,362 


556,146 


Ltfge 


95,375 


274,562 


369,937 


Namur 


34,219 


178,506 


212,725 


llainault .... 


128,841 


476.1115 


604,957 


West Flanders . . . 


164,945 


436,759 


601,704 


East Flanders . . . 


179,423 


554,515 


733,938 


Antwerp . . . . 


127,281 


227,693 


354,974 


Limbourg .... 


67,671 


270,032 


337,703 


Luxembourg . . ', 


39,579 


252,572 


292,151 


Total' . . 


^93,1 18 


3,066,117 


4,064,235 



The above numbers exhibit a population of 323 for every 
square mile. The coast of Belgium, which is low and Hat, 
is not above forty miles in length. 

Mountains, <$*c. — The general character of Belgium is 
that of a low and level country. The high land of Belgium 
is connected with the Vosges, the remote branches of which 
stretch into the provinces of Luxembourg and Liege. From 
the neighbourhood of the sources of the Saone and the 
Moselle another branch runs north and divides the waters of 
tho Moselle from those of the Macse. Extending into tbo 
southern part of Luxembourg, it gradually declines as it 
approaches the banks of the Scmoy and the Sure. The high 
ground, which is interrupted by these rivers, rises again to a 
greater elevation on their northern borders, bncloses the 
valley of the Ouhhe, and terminates between thp Ourtheand 
tho Hoer, in the mountains of Hohi-veen, a wildtfact situated 
to the north of Malijnedy. The greatest height of tho moun- 
tains in the tract described is 2265 feet above tho sea, an 
elevation greater than that of tho Ardennes by 317 feet. 

Somo hi^h ground, whicli likewise fcSrms part of the Ar- 
dennes, runs in a north direction between Cambray and 
Mezieres, and extends into the provinces of Namur and 
llainault, and South Brabant, enclosing the valley of tho 
Samhre. and separating the waters of the Maese from those 
of tho Scheldt The northern termination of this high 
ground is about Vilvoorde, between Brussels and Malines. 
i [See Ardennes, HainaulV, Lie'ge, Luxembourg, and 
j Namur.] . . 

The boal- fields of Belgium are in tlie provinces 'of Lim- 
bourg, Liege, Namur, and Hainault. Tho Limbourg coal- 
field is in the environs of Kerkraede, about twelve miles 
east of Maestricht, Whence it extendi into the Prussian 
territory. The greatest length of this field from north 
to south is about three miles and a half, and its greatest 
breadth from east to west not quite two miles ; the surface 
contains about five and a half square miles, one-half of 
which is in the Prussian territory. In Liegfe there are two 
coal-fields. The largest of these is in the immediate vieinity 
of tho town of Liege, and on both sides of the Maese or 
Meuse river. The field extends six and a quarter miles 
N.N.E. from Licgo to Oupeye, and seven and a half miles 
in the contrary direction to.Yvot. Jemeppe, three and three- 
quarter miles N.W. from Ltfgc, is tho termination of tho 
bed in that direction, and Jupille, twp. and a half miles east 
from Li<5ge, is its limit in the opposite direction. Its extreme 
length may therefore be stated as thirteen ana threo quar- 
ter miles, and its extremo breadth six. and a quarter miles. 
This field is worked in many places: the principal pits are 
at .Temeppe, St. Nicholas, Glain, Ans, St. Marguerite 
St. AValburg, Hersial, and Oupeye : these places are on tho 
left. hank of the Maese. On tho right bank there are pits 
at Wandre, Yvot, Seraing, Ougree, La Chartreuse, Jupille 
and Cheratte. 

llie second coal- field of Litfgc is that of Battice and Cler- 
mont: its length eleven and a quarter miles E.S.E. from 
Housse to Clermont, and its greatest breadth .six and a 
quarter miles E.N.E. from t Fleron to Battice. The places 
hero mentioned are those at which the principal workings 
are carried on, # 

Hainault contains three extensive coal-fields. Ono is si- 
tuated to the west of Mons, and extends nearly twelve and a 
half miles from Quicvram on the Vest to JEugies on tho 



BEL 



179 



BEL 



south of Mons, and eight and three-quarter miles from 
Baisieux on the W.S.W. to Jemmapes on the west of Mons! 
The second coal-field on the east of Mons extends ten and 
five-eighth miles from Saint Denis on the west to Chapelle 
les Herlaimont on the east ; and fifteen miles from Ville- 
sur-Haine on the N.W'toThuin on the S.E:* thirty-four 
pits are wrought in this field, and 142 in that west of Mons. 

The third epal-field in this provinee is the most extensive, 
and it stretches into the adjoining provinee of Namur. The 
town of Charlerpi stands in the centre of this coal distfiet, 
which extends in Hafrault from Fontaine-l'Eveqiie on the 
west to the boundary line on the east, a distanee of thirteen 
and one-eighth miles; and from Fleurus on the north to 
Jamioulx on the south, about ten miles. The part of this 
field which is in Namur is in the form of a triangle, the base 
of which extends from Falisotte on the south to Velaine on 
the north, a distance of nearly three and three-quarter 
miles. The vertex of this, triangle is between Mozet and 
Maizaret, so tbat it is nearly fifteen miles. The whole eoal 
distriet of Hainault traverses' the middle part of the pro- 
vince from E.N.E. to W.S.W. in a belt about five miles in 
breadth. 

The soil, which in eaeh of the provinces consists almost 
entirely of elay and sand, has for the most part been rendered 
fertile, by a due admixture of both these elements. Agri- 
cultural industry is earned to a great extent in the king- 
dom, and the cultivators have availed themselves of every 
advantage within their reaeh for increasing their produc- 
tions. The extent of cultivation in eaeh province will be 
seen in the following table, taken from the Annuaire de 
I Observaiotre de Bruxelles pour I' an 1835, compiled by 
Mons. Quetelet, from official documents : 



FHOVJ^eES. 


Cultivated 
Und. 

Hectare*. 


Unculti- 
vated 
Und. 

Hectare*. 


Land oc- 
cupied 
with 

budding*. 


Roads and 
Canals. 
Hectare*. 


Total la 
Hectare*. 


Total In 

English 

Arm of 

Cultivated 

Land. 


I.tmboarg . . 
Uege .... 
Namur . . , 
Luxemlxmrg . . 
Hainault . . . 
Jlrabant (Sotith) . 
Kast KHndefi . 
W«t Flanders . 
Antwerp . . 


310,514 
237,579 
278,397 
463,423 
356.25S 
3 16.P -{3 
264 983 
296.9UJ 
197.303 


139,410" 
40350 
58,959 

167.760 
3,455 

1,356 

1,310 

Kfi90 

72,651 


1,430 
915 
926 
1.463 
2,962 
1,76-3 
4.422 
2.015 
1.719 


15,283 
9,643 
3,401 

17.571 
9,794 

'.8,419 

11,641 
8,965 

12,157 


466,637 
*28S£92 
317,683 
650,216 
372,469 
328,426 
,232.361 
316.5*5 
£83^3*J 


767.070 
586,671 
637,640 
1,144.655 
879.957 
732,701 
654.520 
733,380 
487,339 


ToUla . . 


2,722,260 


494,441 


17.669 


(102,879 


3337,219 


6,723.933 



It appears from tjiis statement, tfiat about nine-elevenths 
of the whole surface of the country are under cultivation. 
Even of the uncultivated land," whieh amounts to no more 
than 15 per cent, of the whole area, a considerable part is 
oceapied by forests, and is therefore productive. A part of 
the uncultivated surfaee is also oceupied by towns, roads, 
and canals. In England only six-tenths of the land' has 
been brought under cultivation. 

Rivers, Canals, <£c. — The principal rivers of Belgium are 
the Maese, or Meuse, and the Seheldt. The first, which has 
its souree in the department of Haute Marne in Franee, 
enters Belgium about a mile from Givet, in the provinee of 
Namur. It Hows first to the north as far as Hastiere-par- 
dela, about seventeen and a half miJes south of Namur; it 
then turns to the north-east, and afterwards resuming 'its 
north course, Hows to Namur, where its direction is again 
changed to E.N.E. The Maese quits the provinee of Na- 
mur at Huy, and continues the same eourse to Ii6gc, when 
it again takes a more northerly direction to Maestrieht in 
Limbourg, whieh province it enters at Navagne, and quits 
the Belgian territory between Wessem and Stevenswaardt 

In its eourse, as here described, the Maese is increased by 
the waters of the Sambre, which joins its left bank at Na- 
mur, and those of the Houyon on the left, and the Mehaigne 
on the right at Huy. It is joined by the Ourthc on the 
right, and tho Le*gie on the left at Liege, and by the Ber- 
winne on the right at Navagne ; by the Geer or Jaar on 
the left, and the Geule on the left at Maestrieht, and just 
before it quits the Belgian territory it is joined by the Geleen 
near Stevenswaardt The Maese is navigable through the 
whole of its eourso in Belgium ; below Liege the passage is 
rendered difficult by shifting sand-banks. It i3 crossed by 
a stone bridge of six arches at Dinant, and by another of 
nine arehes at Namur. At Liege a stone bridge unites the 
two parts of the 4 town which stand on opposite sides of the 
river. 



The Seheldt has likewise its souree in Franee, about one 
and a quarter mile south-east of Casteiet, in the department 
of L'Aisne. It enters Belgium immediately after its con- 
fluence with the Searpe, about twelve miles south of Tour- 
nay in Hainault ' Its course is N.N.Wi to Tournay, which 
town it divides into two parts ; it then turns more to the 
north, and'at the end of seven and a half miles, at Herinnes, 
forms the boundary-line between Hainault and East Flan- 
ders ; It leaves the former provinee at Esc'amaffles, and be- 
comes the common boundary of West and East Flanders tq 
the norih-eastern extremity of the edmmune of Berehem, 
when its course is altered to N.N.T2.,' and it passes through 
East Flanders to Ghent At this towji the 'eourse "of the 
river turns east, in whieh direction it continues tq Dender- 
mond, where the Selieldt again heeopes the boundary of 
two provinces, and divides' East Flanders from Antwerp. 
Its course again ehanges at Dendermond to N.N.E., and af 
Antwerp it turns' to N.W., in" whieh direction it flows unti} 
it quits the Belgian territory between £eeland and ^ortft 
Brabant, and' joins' the aestuary'of the West 'Scheldt at the 
point of its" junction with the East' Seheldt opposite the 
south-eastern end of the island of Ziiid-Beveland. 

In its eourse through Belgium the Seheldt receives the 
waters of tbe Lys"on the" left at Ghent," and those of the; 
Durme on the' left at Ttielrode,' two leagues N.E. of pch- 
dermpnd ; it is aftenv'arus joined on the right by the Dender 
at Dendermond, and by'the'Rupel 'nearly opposite Rupel- 
mond, seven and a half miles S.S.W. of Antwerp. " 

Tho Seheldt is navigable throughout its whole eourse in 
Belgium, and indeed as far "as'Cambray in France,' 1*95* miles 
from the sea. ' The navigation is rendered "somewhat 'diffi- 
cult for large vessels at the mouths of the river1>ysao$-bahks. 
At Antwerp the mean dep£h of the river at low-water is 32 
feet, and its width 480 yards :' the rise of the* tide at this 
eity is 16 feet. The water is hra'ekisli as high up as Iforfc 
Lillo. Opposite Antwerp it is quite fresh, but too iriuddy 
to drink. In spring-tides the water flows at the 'rate' of 
three miles an hour, but only at half that rate during'rieap 
tides : the tide flows as high as Ghent/ 100 "miles* frqm' the 
mouth of the river. From the nature of the country, there 
being no hills to break the force of the winds,' they have'p. 
very sensible effeet in increasing or diminishing the fides, 
causing a difference in this respeet of three' or lonr fee£ in 
the height of the water' in different conditions" of the 
weather. 

In addition to the two principal rivers and those of their 
affluents whieh have been described, Belgium is watered by 
other streams, some of whieh require notice, hut as descrip- 
tions of them will neeessarily be given* in connexion with 
tbe provinces in whieh they oeeur, it does not appear neces- 
sary to do more than mention them here. 

The Ourthe rises in the Ardennes from two sourees, 
whieh are more than twelve and a half miles apart. The two 
branches join at Houffalize in Luxembourg, and heeome 
navigable at Laroehe, in Li£ge — having previously he*en 
augmented by two smaller streams, the Aine and tbe Logne. 
It joins the Maese at the town of Lie*ge, as already men- 
tioned. The Vesdre has its souree in the Grand Duehy of 
the Lower Uhine, and enters Li£ge near the town of Lim- 
bourg. Flowing to the west it falls into the Ourthe at 
Chenee, near to the town of Li<ge. The Amhlevc also 
rises in the Prussian territory, enters Belgium near Stavelot, 
in the provinee of Lic*ge, and joins the Ourthe near to 
Comblain-au-Pont in the same provinee. The Mehai^n 
rises in Namur, and discharges itself into the Maese on its 
right hank at Statte, near to Huy in Li6ge. The Gcer or 
Jaar rises in the district of Waremme in Lic*ge, and falls 
into the Maese at Maestrieht 

fhe Samhre has its source in Franee, in the Forest of La 
Haye Cartigny,' in the department de l'Aisne. It* enters 
Hainault at Erquelinnes, ruris'in a direction E.N.E. to Na- 
mur, whieh provinee it enters a little 1-elowD'Aiseau, not 
far from Moignelce, and falls' into ' the Maese, "as already 
described, at Namur. 

Belgium is not so well provided as Holland with canals. 
The canal of Bois-le-due commences at Maestrieht, passes 
through the eommunes of Neerharen, Reckheim, Borsheim, 
Meehelen, Eysden, Neeroeteren, Oppiter, Br6e, Beek, 
Bockholt, Weert, and Nederwert, at whieh last-named 
plaee it quits the provinee of Limbourg, and enters the Duteh 
territory of North Brabant. The length of the eanal from 
Maestrieht to Nederwert is about forty-two English miles ; 
it has two stationary bridges, fourteen drawbridges, seven 

2A2 



BEL 



IdO 



BEL 



sluieos, anil sixteen reservoirs. It* supply of water is drawn 
from the Maese. The canal from Bruges to Ghent commu- 
nicates at Bruges with the canals of Dammo and of Ostend. 
The Bru»es and Ghent canal was constructed in the begin- 
ning of the seventeenth century, and is adapted for tho pas- 
sage of vessels of $0 to 100 tous burthen ; its principal feeder 
is the River Lys, with which it is connected by means of a 
sluice at Ghent Ghent has communication with the sea by 
means of a canal, whose course isN.N.K.fromGhent through 
Sas-de-Gand, where it is joined to the canal of Neuzen, which 
communicates with the actuary of tho East Scheldt. This 
canal was projected for the purpose of draining the province 
of East Flanders, and was undertaken by the general govern- 
ment ; but in consideration of its depth and width bciug in- 
creased so as to render it navigable, the regency of Gbent 
consented to hear a part of the expense, and their town by this 
means was rendered a sea- port. Vessels drawing eighteen 
feet water easily pass through this canal ; after the discharge 
of their cargo, it is usual for them to descend the Scheldt to 
Antwerp. This improvement was not completed until t828. 
A similar project is said to have been once contemplated hy 
Napoleon. 

The Louvain canal begins at that town, where it is fed 
by the river Dyle, follows a north-west direction, and enters 
tho province of Antwerp a short distance from M alines, 
passing under the walls of that town, and again joins the 
river Dyle at its confluence with the Senne, at a place 
called Senne-gal near Rumpst. The Louvain canal is 
sixty feet wide, and eleven feet deep. The boats employed 
upon it are sixty feet long, twelve feet wide, and draw 
from two to three feet water. Wben the wind is fair they 
sail up or down, otherwise tbey are drawn by horses. This 
eanal was constructed in 1750, at the expense of the city of 
Louvain. Its cost was about 160,000/., and to reimburse 
the city for its outlay the government granted to it a duty 
on beer and on butter, as well as a toll upon vessels, the 
produce of which was sufficient to pay for the canal in forty- 
eight years. In fifteen years from its completion, the land 
in the vicinity of tbe canal was doubled in value, by the 
means which it afforded for procuring manure and for con- 
veying agricultural produce to market. 

The Brussels canal which is supplied by the water of the 
river Senne at Brussels, proceeds to the north hy Vilvoorde, 
passes from South Brabant to the province of Antwerp, a 
little below Thisselt, crosses the commune of Willebrock, 
and ends in tho river Rupel opposite Boom. This canal, 
begun in 1550, was not opened for navigation until 1591. 
The object of its construction was to facilitate the commu- 
nication between Brussels and Antwerp; its cost was 
330,000/., a large sum for those days, and it is still consi- 
dered one of the finest works in Belgium. 

Tbe canal from Mons to Conde is supplied by the river 
Haine, which gives its name to the province of Hainault. 
It proceeds in a strait line to the west, enters France near 
Valenciennes, and falls into the Scheldt at Conde\ after a 
course of about twenty-four miles, rather more than four 
miles of which are in the French territory. It has seven 
sluices, five in Hainault and two in France. It is crossed 
at different places by fourteen drawbridges, three of them 
in France. The mean depth of water in this canal is six 
feet, and its mean breadth at the water-lino fifty- five feet. 
This canal was undertaken by tho French government in 
1807, and was finished in 18t4. Some judgment may be 
formed of its utility from the number of boats which have 
passed upon it in each year, from 1816 to 182S, the last 
year of which any account is given : their numbers were 





Boals. 


Bonlf. 




Boali. 


1816 . 


. 3287 


1821 . . 3998 


1826 . 


. 5430 


18t7 . 


. 3460 


18*2 . . 3942 


1827 . 


. 5440 


I8t8 . 


. 3673 


1823 . . 4052 


1828 . 


. 6009 


1819 . 


. 3739 


1824 . . 4881 






1*20 . 


. 3940 


1825 . . 5370 







Tho principal use of this canal is to eotivey coals from 
Hainault to France. In 1828, 3603 boats, loaded with 
374,158 tons of coals, parsed along it. 

A rail-road between Brussels and Malines, through Vil- 
voorde, wa« finished and opened for uso with much cere- 
mony on the 5th of May, 1835. Tho carriages on this rail- 
road are propelled by means of locomotive steam-engines, 
the whole of which have been imported from England, 
where they were constructed under the direction of Mr. 
Stephenson, the engineer of the Manchester and Liverpool 



railwav. It is intended that branches of tho Brussels rail- 
way snail proceed from M alines to Dendermond and Ant- 
werp: tho lines for these roads are already survejed and 
marked out. 

Natural prod ur Horn, — It has been seen how very consi- 
derable a portion of the kingdom of Belgium lias been 
brought under cultivation. This has been effected by a long 
course of industry on the part of the inhabitants. Na- 
turally, the soil is unproductive, consisting in some parts of 
sand, "and in other parts of clay. Separately, theso would 
yield uo return to the husbandman, hut by a due admixture 
of both, and the addition of manure, the soil has been made 
highly productive. The most gcueral objects of cultivation 
are wheat, rye, barley, oats, meslin, buck-wheat, hemp, flax, 
madder, hops, chicory, colza (Brass tea oleracea arvensis), 
and the artificial grasses clover, trefoil, lucerne, and sain- 
foin. The ruta haga, or Swedish turnip, turnips, carrots, 
parsnips, and potatoes, are raised to a considerable amount 
by field culture. Tobacco is grown in some situations, and 
every where fruits of the kinds grown in England are objects 
of careful cultivation. 

In addition to the materials commonly used in England 
for manure, the Belgian farmers employ considerable quan- 
tities of turf-ashes, which are prepared in Holland, and con- 
veyed by inland navigation to the different provinces of Bel- 
gium. They also collect with the utmost care tho drainuigs 
of dung- heaps, and other fertilizing liquids, in which rape- 
cake is dissolved, in the proportion of six pounds of rape-cake 
to five gallons of liquor. Turf-ashes are found to be an ex- 
cellent dressing for clover land, in the proportion of eighteen 
or twenty bushels to the English acre. By means of their 
crops of clover and other artificial grasses, a large number 
of cattle is bred and fatted, and these again arc serviceable 
in providing manure for the land. 

The following table of the number of horned cattle, horses, 
and sheep, which were found in each province in the year 
1825, is taken from a collection of statistical documents 
published by the Netherlands government in 1829. As 
this enumeration was made previous to the separation of 
Belgium from the northern provinces, the returns compre- 
hend the whole of Limbourg and Luxembourg. We have 
not been able to find any similar statement compiled since 
the revolution of 1S30, 





Horned 








Cat He. 


lionet. 


(-heep. 


South Brabant . 


. . 93.007 


50,543 


32,725 


Liege . . . . 


. 70,800 


21,403 


96,344 


East Flanders . 


. . 118.024 


27,549 


34,707 


West Flanders , 


. 127,713 


23,752 


38.604 


Hainault . . . 


. . 98,999 


51,812 


95,916 


Namur . . . . 


. 55,57t 


2t,922 


113,657 


Antwerp . . . 


. . 85,532 


30,500 


28,408 


Limbourg , . . 


. 101,637 


24,769 


126.9t3 


Luxembourg . 


. . 131,651 


37,195 


206,860 



Totals 



882,934 



289,445 



774,134 



Returns have been made from some of the provinces to 
the ysar 1829 ; but they do not exhibit anv great difference 
from the numbers of 1825 given above, which may therefore 
be taken as representing pretty nearly the numbers actually 
existing at this time (1835), The graziers in Belgium do 
not appear to have paid much attention to the improvement 
of the breed of their cattle or sheep. The breeders of horses 
have taken some trouble in this respect, and a considerable 
number of draft-horses are every year sold for exportation. 
Pigs aro also bred, and the sale of those animals to the 
northern provinces formed an important branch of trade 
before the separation of Belgium from Holland. 

It is customary to plant trees on the borders of fields, and 
round the villages. There are few woods, except in Litfge 
and Luxembourg; these two provinces, with Namur, includo 
a portion of the antient forest of Ardennes. Among the 
timber- trees are the oak, chestnut, horse-chestnut, beech, 
elm, horn-beam, ash, walnut, fir, and different descriptions 
of poplars. 

Metals and minerals. — The mineral productions of Bel- 
gium are iron, calamine, coals, and building stone. The 
men employed in extracting coal, are now between 14,000 
and t5,000,"and the different mines arc furnished with 115 
steam -engines for pumping out water, and for raising the 
coal to the surface. 

Population,— T\m number of inhabitants in each pro • 



bei: 



181 



BEL 



vince at the last census has already been given from official 
authority. From the same source we derive the following 



particulars of the movement of the population in the year 
1833:— 





Number of Birth*. 


o « 

ll 

it 

S 4 

fc2 


as 


Number ot Deaths. 


PROVINCES. 


In Towns. 


In Villages. Ac. 


In To* os. 


la 


Villages, Ac. 




Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Males. 


Females, 


Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Males. 


Females. 


Total 


South Brabant .... 


3,151 


2.953 


6.110 


7.180 


7.005 


14.185 


3,952 


o 


3.316 


3.296 


6.612 


5.316 


5,355 


10.671 


Limbourg 


796 


782 


' 1,578 


4.A/6 


4,336 


8.912 


2,140 


„ 


628 


616 


1.244 


3,088 


3,241 


6.329 


Liege 


1,772 


1.0*4 


3.396 


4,887 


4.517 


9.404 


2,557 


3 


1.923 


1.876 


3.804 


3,641 


3,558 


7.199 


Last Flanders . . . 


3,161 


3,062 


6,223 


8.859 


8,566 


17.425 


4,426 


1 


2.777 


2,920 


5.697 


7.186 


7.571 


14,757 


West Flanders .... 


2.813 


2,664 


5,-177 


7,698 


7,247 


H.945 


3.8b0 


2 


2.438 


2.516 


4,954 


6,366 


" 6.2*;6 


12.642 


Hainault 


2,237 


1.H70 


4.107 


8,881 


7,100 


15.931 


4,024 


1 


1,922 


1.964 


3,836 


6.023 


6.063 


12.091 


Namur 


606 


535 


1.141 


3.JW6 


2.944 


6,170 


1.328 


1 


456 


429 


885 


2.012 


1.863 


3.875 


Antwerp 


2,024 


1,934 


4,008 


3,793 


3,696 


7.489 


2.283 


„ 


1,935 


1,797 


3.732 


2.963 


2.839 


5.802 


Luxembourg .... 


624 


538 


1.132 


5,281 


4.778 


10,059 


2.176 


» 


373 


420 


793 


3.161 


3.072 


6.233 


Totals . . 


17,194 


16.038 


33,222 


51,381 


50.189 


104,570 


26,771 


10 


15,773 


15.834 


31,60? 139,736 


39,843 79,599 



The numher of hirths, marriages, and deaths, proportion- 
ally with the population, and the average number of children 
to each marriage in the different provinces, are as follows: — 



PROVINCES. 


No. of Inhabitants for 


Average 

number of 

children 










One 


One 


One 


lo each 


; 


Birth. 


Marriage. 


Death. 


marriage. 


Lirabourg 


32 


139 


44 


437 


Li£gc 


31 


155 


47 


4-72 


Namur 


33 


154 


56 


4*57 


Luxcmhourg .... 


28 


128 


43 


4-67 


Hainault 


30 


140 


48 


4*51 


South Brahant 


29 


137 


41 


4-68 


East Flanders .... 


30 


173 


43 


5*19 


West Flanders . . 


30 


169 


39 


4-90 


Antwerp 


32 


149 


46 


4*48 


Mean of all the Provinces 


30 


144 


43 


4*72 



Religion. — The great hulk of the inhahitanis of the 
kingdom profess the Roman Catholic religion. The follow- 
ing table embraces every province excepting Limbourg, 
the returns for which are wanting : — 



Provinces. 


Calholici. 


Protest in la. 


Jews. 


Ltege .... 


369,044 


810 


22 


Namur .... 


211,963 


612 


61 


Luxcmhourg 


300,155 


106 


92 


Hainault 


603,197 


1,683 


36 


South Brahant . 


551,987 


3,146 


580 


East Flanders 


732,129 


1,647 


128 


West Flanders . 


600,060 


1,598 


4 


Antwerp 


35K818 


2,898 


151 



The people of all religious persuasions enjoy the most 
perfect freedom in every thing connected with the expres- 
sion of their opinions and the modes of worship which they 
may adopt. The incomes of the ministers of each denomi- 
nation of religionists are derived from the public treasury : 
the expense of the whole in the year 1834 was as under. 



Catholics 

Protestants 

Jews 



3,352,900 franes, equal to £134,116 
65,000 „ „ 2,600 

10,000 „ „ 400 



3,427,900 fr. 



£137,116 



^ The Catholies are under the spiritual charge of the Arch- 
hishop of Malines and of five hishops, viz., of Bruges, Ghent, 
Liege, Namur, and Tournay. The salary of the archhishop 
is 100,420 francs, equal to 4016/. per annum. The salaries 
of the hishops vary from 56,300 francs, the lowest, to 77,300 
francs, the highest, or from 2252/. to 3092/. per annum. 
Out of these revenues they have to pay a very large propor- 
tion for the support of vicars-general and eanons, as well as 
a fixed sum of 800 francs each for seminaries of education, 
leaving net incomes of 21,000 francs or 840/. per annum 
to the archhishop, and of 14,700 francs or 588/. per annum 
to each of the hishops, the difference in their gross incomes 
being rendered necessary hy the different amount of ex- 
penses to which each is liahle. 

Tho officiating clergy in connexion with the Catholic 
Church are distributed through the provinces as follows: — 





Cures, 


Cure*, 


Inferior 




1st class. 


2nd class. 


, clergy. 


Antwerp 


10 


11 


362 


South Brabant 


12 


17 


625 


West Flanders 


19 


17 


431 


East Flanders , 


21 


15 


498 


Hainault 


6 


26 


506 


Liege 


6 


18 


436 


Limbourg % . 


5 


17 


606 


Luxembourg 


1 


29 


652 


Namur 


1 


15 


306 



Total 



81 



165 



4422 



The salaries paid out of the puhlie treasury are — 

To cures of the 1st class 975 florins, equal to £82 per ann. 
To eurtfs of the 2nd class 670 „ „ 55 „ 

To the inferior clergy lhe allowances vary from 100 florins 
to 375 florins (from 8 guineas to 30 guineas) per annum. 

The allowances made to the Protestant clergymen vary 
from 200 to 2000 florins for each (from 16/. 16&\ to 168/.); 
the greater numher receive ahout 1000 florins (84/.) per ann. 

The sum of 10,000 francs contributed for the support of 
the Jewish faith is thus distributed : — 



To the high priest 

Two officiating priests . 
Secretary .... 
Expenses of synagogues, 
eemetery, &c. 



2,400 francs, or £96 per ann, 
2,500 „ 100 „ 

400 „ 16 „ 



4,700 



188 



1 0,000 fr. £400 

Very recently the chambers have granted the sum of 
12,000 francs, to encourage religious establishments in the 
principal towns of the kingdom, for the celebration of 
worship according to the rites of the Church of England. 

Education. — Belgium contains three universities, at 
Ghent, Liege, and Louvain, in which are classes for medi- 
cine, law, moral philosophy, and physical and mathematical 
sciences. The number of students in 1832 were : — 



Total. 
292 
352 
395 

1039 



Medicine. 


Law. 


Other 
sciences, 


University of Ghent 141 


151 


— 


», Ltege 97 


147 


108 


„ Louvain 129 


125 


141 



Together 



367 



423 



249 



Bruges, Brussels, Namur, and Tournay, eacn contain a 
public sehool (Ath6ne*e), in which the usual hranches of 
literary education are taught. These schools, in 1832, gave 
instruction to 876 scholars, viz. : — 

Bruges 

Brussels , .... 

Namur 

Tournay .... 

87C 

Descriptions of these schools will be found under the 
names of the different localities in which they are situated. 

In addition to the establishments already mentioned, a 
great numher of elementary sehools (Eeoles Primaires) are 
opened in the different provinces. The number of these 
schools, and of the scholars attending them, in 1«32, are 
here given. 



BEL 



1S2 



B 12 L 



provinces. 


N imWr 

of 
School*. 


Numl*T of Sebol&rt. 


Population 

of 
Prorinwi. 


Mi]n , 


Frmfttr*. 


TuUL 


Antwerp 
South Hrabant 
AVcst Flanders 
East Flanders 
Hainault . . 
I-i^jre . . . 
Liujbourg 
Luxembourg . 
Namur 


341 

592 
547 
875 
SS8 
402 
404 
831 
416 


15.105 
2J. 104 
19,949 
30,710 
36,671 
17.912 
J6.973 
24.049 
17.061' 


11,601 
17,586 
16.997 
24,2§4 
29,048 
11.977 
12,419 
19.201 
13.575 


26.906 
38,690 
36,946 
54,994 
64.719 
2q,8S9 
29,392 
43,250 
30,636 


354.974 
656,146 
601,704 
*33.93$ 
604.957 
369.937 
337.703 
202,151 
212.725 


Total . . 


5,386 


198,534 


156,883 


355,422 


4.064.235 



The sums contributed in 1834 out of the puhlie treasury 
for the purposes of education amounted to 743,200 franes 
or 29.728/. About one-half of this sum (384,900 francs) 
was applied to the support of the three universitjes, and 
242,000 francs were assigned |q the elementary sehoqls; tho 
remainder was divided among the * Atfrdnces.' 

Manufactures.— The manufacturing industry of Belgium 
has very much declined in modern times as eompared with 
the extent to which this was carried on in the fourteenth 
century, Mueh earlier than this, under the Romans, se- 
veral Flemish cities} were celebrated for producing woollen- 
cloths. Extensive manufactures of woollens and linens 
were carried on in the time of Charlemagne, ehiefly in 
Ltfge. The making of tliread-lace originated in Flanders, 
and, up to a recent period, Brussels and Mechlin have car- 
ried on a large trade in that article: in the former eity more 
than 12,000 persons were once employed for its production. 
Early in the fourteenth century IJnuvairi contained 4000 
looms for woollens ; and Brussels and Antwerp had together 
as large a number. At a date not quite so remote. Ghent 
employed between 30,000 and 40.OQ0 looms for the weaving 
pf woollen and linen goods. It is mentioned that the 
weavers of that city once mustered 16,000 men in arms 
under the banners of their respeptive trades. The eity of 
Antwerp, at the timo of its capture in 158$ by the Dul;e of 
Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, contained a 
large population employed in manufacturing woollen anil 
silk goods ; but at that time, through the tyranny of its con- 
querors, the artisans were driven away, and many of thein 
took refuge in England, where their example and instruc- 
tion were of great use for the improvement of the English 
silk manufacture. The woollen manufacture is now pro- 
seeuted, but to a much smaller extent than formerly, at 
Venders, Charleroy, Tournay, Mons, and some other tqwns. 
Cotton -spinning and weaving arc earrjed on in Brussels 
and some towns in Linibourg. Ltege anjl Maastricht con- 
tain large tanneries. At Antwerp, Ostend, and Ghent, 
there are some sugar-refineries, eutlery is made at Namur, 
and fire-arms in considerable quantities at Liege : breweries 
are likewjso numerous and extensive in most of the prin- 
cipal towns throughout the kingdom. Earthenware is 
made of good quality in several places, and the manufacture 
of nails has been carried on for a very long period in the 
provinces of Li£ge nnd Hainault. These provinces used 
formerly to supply a large quantity of nails to foreign mar- 
kets, hut this branch of their trade has greatly fallen off 
sinee the great reduction in the priee of iron ard in the 
charges of manufacture in England, which have notbeen 
accompanied by corresponding reductions in Belgium. 

Trade. — The external trade of Belgium has suficied 
greatly from the revolution by which it has been separated 
from, the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Holland 
retains all tho colonies which belonged tq the kingdom of 
the United Netherlands, and monopolizes the trade with 
them. Antwerp, the principal mercantile part of the new 
kingdom, which in 1829 reeeived 995 ships, of 145,881 tons 
burthen, received in 1831 only 382 ships of 49.368 tons 
burthen. The proportions of these ships which were em- 
ployed in the trade with England were, in 1829, 212 vessels 
of 35.306 tons burthen, and in 1831, 169 ships of 21,670 
tons burthen : the trade with America has fallen off much 
more considerably, having been 113 ships of 30,3t6 tons 
burthen in 1829, and only 20 ships of 5057 tons in 1831. 

Many shipowners who, up to the time of the revolution, 
were established in Belgium, then transferred themselves 
to Holland, and put their ships under the Dutch flag, in 
order that they might not be excluded from participating 



in the colonial trade in which they had previously Veen em- 
ployed. 

The articles whieh Belgium supplies to England are oak- 
hark, tlax, madder, clover-seed, spelter, and sheens* wool . 
in return for whieh wo send various kinds of East India and 
West I ndia produce, tobacco, and cotton wool, besides British 
and Irish produce, and manufactures to tho valuo of nearly 
one million annually, consisting principally of brass and 
eoppcr manufactures, eotton manufactures nnd yarn, hard* 
ware, earthenware, salt, sheeps wool, woollen and worsted 
yarn,' and woollen manufactures. A great part of the cot- 
tpn-yarn and cloths, and the tobacco, which are exported 
hence, to Belgium, are not intended for consumption there, 
but are smuggled across the French frontier by means of 
dogs trained for the purpose, by being pampered in France 
and half starved and otherwise ill-used in Belgium. 

Government.— Belgium is called a limited constitutional 
monarchy. The succession is limited to tho direct malo 
line, to the perpetual exclusion qf females and their descend- 
ants. In default of a male heir, the king, with the consent 
of the legislative chambers, may nominate his successor, 
and in further default of such nomination the throne is de- 
clared vacant. 

The legislative power is vested in the king and two cham- 
bers — the Senate and House of Representatives. The mem- 
bers of these chambers arc elected by citizens paying not 
less than twenty tlorins (about thirty-five shillings) an- 
nually of direct taxes. The members arc elected for certain 
divisions or places, but by one of the artieles of the constitu- 
tion it is expressly declared that the deputies and senators 
shall consider themselves as representing the whole nation, 
and' not simply the provinces or divisions from which they 
are sent. The number of deputies is fixed with reference 
to the amount of population, so that the proportion of one 
deputy for 40,000 inhabitants must m no ease be exceeded. 
Eaeh representative must be n Belgian by birth or natu- 
ralization, in the full enjoyment of all civil and political 
rights, of at least twenty-five years of age, and having his 
permanent residence within the kingdom. The members 
of the representative chamber are elected for four years, 
renewable one half every two years. The king has the 
power to dissolve the chambers, cither simultaneously or 
separately. The decree or act of dissolution must contain a 
provision eonvoking the electors within forty days, and the 
new chambers jn two months. 

•The Sen at o is eomposed of exactly one-half the number 
of jnemher^ m the Chamber of Representatives, and the 
senators ape elected by tbi? same citizens who eleet to that 
chajnber. The senator^ are eleeted for eight years ; they 
nre f*cnewejT one-half eyerv four years { hut in case of disso- 
lution, of course the election "must comprise the whole num- 
ber~of whic|i! Yhe Seriate is composed. The qualifications 
requisite for a senator are, that' he must be a Belgian by 
birth or naturalization, in full possession of all political and 
civil rights, domiciled within the kingdom, at least forty 
years of age, and pawng at least 1000 tlorins of direct taxes 
(84/. sterling). In those provinces where the list of citizens 
who possess this last- mentioned qualification does not reach 
the proportion oftone in 6000 of the population, that list is 
enlarged by the ndmission into it of the names of those 
citizens who pay the greatest amount of direct taxes, so 
that the list shall always contain at least one person who is 
eligible to the Senate for every 6000 inhabitants of the 
province. 

The members of the House of Representatives are paid 
for their services at the rate of 200 florins monthly (16/.] 6s.) 
during the continuance of the session. The senators do not 
receive any pay. The presumptive heir to the throne is of 
right a senator at the age of eighteen, but he has not any 
voice in the proceedings until twenty-five years of age. All 
proceedings of the Senate during the time when the 
Chamber of Representatives is not sitting are without 
force. 

Each braneh of the legislature may originate laws, with 
this exception, that every law relating to the receipt or ex- 
penditure of money for puhlie purposes must be first voted 
by the Chamber of Representatives. The ordinary sittings 
of both chambers are held in public; hut each chamber, on 
the demand of the president or often members, may form 
itself into a^ secret committee, and when so formed it rests 
with the majority of the chamber to decide whether or not 
the sittings shall continue to he seeret. If a member of 
either of the legislative houses aecepts an office of einolu- 



BEL 



its 



BEL 



ment under the crown, he immediately vacates his seat until 
re-elected. The president and vice-presidents of each cham- 
ber are nominated hy its members at tbe beginning of each 
session. 

The chamhers assemhle as of right every year oh the 
second Tuesday in November, unless tbey sb all have beeh 
previously called together hy the king. Tbe session must 
last at least forty days ; its prorogation is pronounced hy 
the king. 

The number of citizens registered as electors in the lists; 
as they stood in each province in April, 1833, arid the num- 
ber of representative's and senators chosen in each province, 
are as under; — 



PROVINCES. 


Number of KlecUiri. 


Number 
of Inhabit' 


Number of 
Member*. 






Id 




each 


Rfprei«tt- 






In Town*. 


Country. 


Total. 


Klector. 


tatirei. 


Senate. 


Antwerp . . 
South Brabant . . 


1,572 


2.872 


4.444 


78 


9 


4 


2.785 


3.104 


6,889. 


93 


14 


7 


West Flanden . . 


3.217 


4,391 


6.603 


92 


1-5 


8 


East Flanders . . . 


2,605 


7,001 


9.606 


74 


18 


9 


Hainault . . . 


2.047 


4,280 


6327 


93 


15. 


7 


Ltfffe 

Umbonrg . , « 


1,191 


3,533 


3.726 


101 


9| 


5 


960 


23I« 


3^59 


96 


J 


4 


Luxembourg . . . 


680 


4.354 


4,934 


62 


4 


Namur .... 


8?8 


2,082 


5,960 


73 


5 


3 


Total . . . 


14,835 


33,019 


47353 


65 


102 i 51 



The person of the king is declared sacred. His ministers 
are responsible for the acts of the government. No act of 
the king can have any legal effect until countersigned 
by one of his ministers, wno by that means hecomes 
responsible. 

The king appoints and dismisses his ministers at plea- 
sure. He nominates to civil and military offices. He pro- 
mulgates the rules and orders necessary to insure the exe- 
cution of laws, but has no pbwe'r td dispense with nor to 
suspend the execution of the laws. The king commands 
the land and sea forces, declares war, and makes tre'aties 'of 
peace, of alliance and of commerce, communicating tbe same 
to the legislative chambers as speedily as the puolfc safety 
and interest permit. Commercial treaties have no legal 
effect until tbey have been assented to hy the chamhers; 
No cession, exchange, or addition to the national territory 
can be made except by means of a law passed In conjunction 
witb the chambers. 

The king is declared of age at eighteen years. Before 
he can exercise the function's of royalty, he must take the 
following oath, in presence of both legislative chambers-. — 
* I swear to ohscrve the constitution and tbe laws of th6 
Belgian people, to iriaintaih the independence of the nation 
and the integrity of its territory." 

If at the death of the king hfc successor should b6 a 
minor, the two chamhers mdet together in order to appoint 
a recent. The regency cannot he intrusted to more thatt 
one person, who, before ho : can fcriter upon his office, musi 
take the^oa'th just recited. 

In case the throne should become vacant, the chambers 
deliberating together shall appoint a provisional regent i 
both chamhers are tben dissolved, and must meet again "at 
latest In two months, when the new cbahibers, sitting in 
deliberation together, are t6 supply the vacancy. 

No man Can be appointed a minister of state who is hot a 
Belgian by birth or naturalization. No member ! of the royal 
family can be a minister. The ministers have the right Of 
attending and speaking in either of tbe chambers, but can 
only vote in one, provided they have Veen elected members 
thereof. Tbe chambers may require the presence of minis- 
ters. In no case can the king screena minister from re- 
sponsibility. 

Tho king lias the right of coining money, and oT con- 
ferring titles of nobility, hut without granting thereby any 
peculiar privileges, such being repudiated by a fundamental 
article of the constitution, which declares ajl Belgians to be 
equal in the eye of the law, without any distinction of 
orders. 

Judges receive their appointments directly from the kin'g, 
and hold them for life, so that they cannot be superceded 
hut by their own consent, or by a judgment pronounced in 
open court, and for reasons publicly declared on that occa- 
sion. The trial by jury is established for all criminal 'and 
political charges, and for offences of the press. 

No taxes can be levied by the state unless previously 
established by a law passed by tbo chamhers, and all such 
taxes must be voted annually, the law* by which they arfe 



established expiring at the end of a year. The contingent 
of tbe army is voted under the same limitation. 

Personal liberty, and liberty of conscience, are guaranteed 
to every citizen by tbe constitution in the fullest sense ; all 
are amenable to the laws; and all are placed equally under 
tbeir protection. 

Military Forces. — The Civic or National Guard of the 
kingdom is raised for the purposes of defending the consti- 
tutional rights of the monarchy and the people, of main- 
taining order, upholding the laws and preserving the terri- 
tory of Belgium from invasion. This fcuard is unequally 
divided into three corps (bans'). The entire numher of the 
tbree is 590,907 men, raised in the different provinces ill the 
following proportions :— 



Brahant . . 


27 legions 


. $2,166 men 


Antwerp . 


20 


ii 


. 48,533 <„ 


East Flanders 


38 




'. 188,206 ;; 


West Flanders 


40 




. 82,663 *„ 


Hainault . 


35 




. 89,834 V, 


Namiir . ; 


16 


ti 


. 31,542 ;', 


Liege . . 


25 


*"* 


*. 53,771 „ 


Limhourg 


24 


»> 


. 49,793 ,; 


Luxembourg . 


32 


1* 


. 44,399 ;; 



Total '257 legions 590,907 men. 

The first corps, or ban, includes only 89,0§9 men. The 
government is authorised to give a more active and efficient 
character (rnobiliser) to tbe whole, or any part of this corps ) 
hitherto only a portion has been calleoVinto active service. 

The more regular or standing army consists of the* fol- 
lowing mniiher of men :— 

12 regiments of infantry of the line, each 1900 



3 ,; foot chasseurs 

£ ;, horse chasseUtfs 

2 ;*, lancers 

1 regiment 'or cuirassiers . 
1 ;, 'guides' 

1 „ gensd'armes 



1368 
1462 
1462 



22,800 
4,104 
2,924 
2,92i 
1,500 
867 
1,156 



Artillery, nattering train, sappers and miners, &c. 5,557 

Total . . # . . 41,832 

The number of horses hclongingto this army is 14,Oi64 
Finances, — The total revenue" of Belgium for the year 
1834, as Stated in the* Budget GcnSral* laid hefore the 
Chamhers by the government, amounted to 84,130,624 
francs (3,365,225/.). This revenue was derived from the fol- 
lowing principal sources; Viz. : — 

Direct taxes. — viz., land-tax, licenses for car- 
rying on trades (patents), and personal- Francs. 
.contributions ..... 3lv410,624 
Customs duties.— On importations, exporta- 
tion s, transit, and tonnage duties . 7,600,000 
Excise.— Salt, wine, spirits, beer, sugar, &c. 17,5^0,000 
Sundries. — Stamps, duty oh registrations, 

and on successions . *. . 17,375,000 

^osts.— Carriage of letter^, specie*, &c. . 2,340,000 
National domains. — Rents, produc'6 bfeahal 

dues, &c 2,400,000 

Sundries. — Tolls 'on Wads, passports, sei- 
zures, &c 5,*42'5,000 



84,130,624 
Tho expenses of /tho year were just ahbut equal to the 
receipts, and may he classed as follows': — 

i Franc s* 

Interest on the public debt . . . 10,864,394 
Civil list, expenses of the chamhers, salaries 
and expenses of officers engaged in admi- 
nistering justice, prisons, and police, and 
public charitable institutions . . 8,734,505 
Diplomatic services and expenses ■. * 691,20d 

Marine 1,001,201 

Army . . * . . . . 40,000,000 

Provincial government, public instruction, 
religious worship, expenses of civic guard, 
puhlic works, advancement of scientific 
objects, &c. . . . . 10,482,244 

Salaries of various puhlic functionaries, ex- 
penses of national domains, of ports, cus- 
*. toms, excise, &c. . 11,315,897 

Overpayments returned, and the like ; 1,033,000 

Francs 84,122,441 
or£3,364,S97 



BEL 



184 



B K L 



The expenditure for the year 1833 exceeded the sura 
here stated by 1 4.000,000 of franc?, or 560,000/., tbe dif- 
ference having been caused by a reduction of the array ; 
but as the peculiar position of the kingdom with regard to 
Holland obliges the government still to keep on foot a very 
considerable force, and to maintain a numerous staff ready 
organized, the Belgian government is not in so favourable 
a position for reducing its debt, and for relieving its subjects 
from the pressure of taxation as it would be, if a better under- 
standing could be effected with tho Dutcb government, 
whicb is equally burthened with expenses occasioned by 
armaments, and has its resources equally crippled by the 
want of a free intercourse between the two kingdoms. 

BELGOROD, or BJELGOROD, onco the capital of a 
province, but now the chief town of a circle in the province 
of Kursk, in the south-eastern part of Russia in Europe, is 
nearly four miles and a half in circuit, and is situated close 
to tbe sources of the Sevcrnoi-Donctz, which falls into the 
Don. It is traversed by tho small river Ziolka or Wessolka, 
and lies about ninety miles south of Kursk. This town was 
originally built in the reign of Fedor Ivanoviub, in the year 
1597, when its site was a chalk hill, close to where it now 
stands, whence it was called the 'white town;* but it was 
afterwards removed about a mile lower down to its present 
situation, in a valley between two hills. It is divided into 
tho Old and New towns, and has three suburbs : the old 
town is surrounded by a rampart and ditch, hut tho new by 
palisades only. It is the seat of un archbishopric has two 
monastic establishments, ten churches of stono and three of 
wood, and three charitable asylums. There are several 
manufactories in the town, particularly for refining and 
pressing wax. and for spinning and weaving; and it carries 
on a considerable trade in hemp, bristles, honey, wax. leather, 
soap, &e. .Three fairs, to which a swarm of dealers from 
the south of Russia resort, are held hero in the course of 
the year. The environs are extremely productive, chiefly in 
fruit, for which the district is much celebrated : whole fields 
of water-melons arc of common occurrence, and the climate 
from its mildness is very favourablo to vegetable growth. 
Belgorod contains about 1600 houses and 8700 inhabitants, 
und lies in 50° 53' N. lat.. and 36° 2' E. long. 

BELGRADE, by the Servians called Alba-Grccca and 
Greek- Weisscnburgh, by the Turks Bilgrad and Darol 
Dshishad, or the House of the Holy War, and by the Hun- 
garians Nan dor Fejervar, is a city in the northern part of 
Turkish Servia, about two miles south-east of Scralin, at 
tbe junction of the Save with the Danube, and on the right 
bank of both these rivers. * These two majestic streams, 
blending their waters at this point,* says Frickel (Pedes- 
trian Journey, 1 827-1829), 'expand into what might he 
mistaken for the ocean itself, and the spot where the Save 
pours itself into the queen of European rivers is clearly 
perceptible from the diversity of the tints.' 

Bclgrado is the Sigindunumof Ptolemy, the Singidunum 
of the Itinerarjum of Antoninus, and the Singed urn of 
Procopius (Ufpl rn<r/2ar«>>, lib. iv.). The city was founded 
by the Romans, afterwards totally destroyed by tho Bar- 
barians, and rebuilt by the Emperor Justinian, who fortified 
it strongly. He also built a new fort, railed Octavum, at a 
little distance from the city. Tho city was opposite to 
Tauranura (now Scmlin) in Pannonia. A vestige of its 
former name Is still retained by a holm in the Save called 
Simrin, not far from the present site of the town. 

The Belgrade of modern times was founded by Dushan, 
king of Servia, in the year 1372, and is divided into four 
quarters, tho most conspicuous of which is the Citadel, 
which forms tho centre of the town, and is constructed on 
a steep acclivity, about a hundred feet high, jutting out 
into the Danube : it presents a picturesque object from the 
opposite city of Scmlin. The space between tho banks of 
the river and the ramparts is traversed by a wall of earth in 
a decayed state, which is mounted with iron cannon in as 
unserviceable a condition as the carriages on which they 
*cst. The access through this wall is between two stoue 
columns, the evident remains of a substantial wall. A 
paved way leads thenco to the citadel, the entrance to which 
is through a gate in a massivo lofty wall, which runs along 
the edgo of the rocky acclivity, and constitutes the chief 
part of Its fortifications. The first objects that moot the eye 
on entering the fortress arc the arsenal and magazines, 
erected by the Austrians during their possession of Belgrade 
in the beginning of tho last century. Tbeso once splendid 
edifices aro fast mouldering away ; but not more rapidly, 



perhaps, than tho ramparts, bastions, and massive towers 
which lie around them. The ascent from tbeso buildings 
leads to a lofty quadrangle, consisting of two stories, and 
built partly of wood and partly of stucco. The roofs jut out 
considerably beyond the walls, and serve as a protection to 
the galleries which range beneath them ; these are ascended 
by broad flights of wooden steps. This edifice, though it is 
the residence of a pasha of three tails, is a very sink of every 
species of filth, and has been the theatre of the most brutal 
atrocities which the Turk could devise against his Christiau 
captive. This was the spot, for instance, where Rhigas tho 
Greek was sawed into pieces, limb by limb, and where six- 
and-thirty Servians, iu the year 1815, were empaled, in 
violation of the pledge that their lives should be spared; *n 
many cases these wretched victims endured this excruci- 
ating torture for seven whole days. The garrison is of the 
most miserable description, for it is the pasha's interest to 
maintain as few troops as possible, and at as low a cost as 
he finds practicable. The main-wall is furnished with 
gabions, between which iron cannon are mounted : this wall 
as well as the principal ditch arc in tolerable condition, but 
in other respects the citadel is in a very indifferent state. 
In all, there arc three ditches to it. the one within the 
other, besides mines and bomb-proof casemates. The prin- 
cipal mosque in the town, which is a handsomo building, 
with the great tower Benoviso rising from its interior, stands 
within the citadel. 

The flames, bombardments, and other havoc of war have 
left little standing of the former town of Belgrade. The 
modern erections constitute the thrco remaining quarters, 
which arc divided into tho Water Town, the Rascian Town, 
and the Palanka. Crossing a glacis of four hundred paces, 
and passing through three gates along a very gentle de- 
scent, we reach the main street, running to the north-west, 
with several lateral lanes of houses. These form part of 
what is called the Citadel, and are united by a small foot- 
way with the Water Town, which occupies a confined space 
on the edge of the banks of the Save, close to its confluence 
with the Danube, and is the best built quarter of the town. 
It contains the palace of the Greek bishop, fourteen mosques, 
the fish and other markets, an arsenal, spacious barracks, 
and the custom-house. The northern and eastern sides of 
it are protected by a ruinous wall of earth, eight feet in 
height, the two outlets through which are defended by 
wooden towers. It is much more strongly fortified to- 
wards the south, in which direction it is encircled by a 
wall of earth, intermixed occasionally with masonry and 
brickwork; this wall is ornamented by a very solid gate, 
opening upon the road that leads to Constantinople. Tho 
line of defence on this sido is also provided with watch- 
towers. More immediately to the south-west of the Citadel, 
as well as west of it, runs a long range of suburbs, lying 
scattered like a village, lx*yond which is the Rascian, or 
Servian Town, likewise denominated the Town of tho Save; 
it is defended by walls and palisades, is the principal resi- 
dence of the merchants and dealers, and stands close to 
tho Palanka, a further line of suburbs, which surround tho 
citadel on the south and east. These two quarters contain 
nearly a hundred mosques and churches, two handsome 
boscsteins or bnzaars, twelve baths, and other public ediGces, 
among which wc may mention the palace ot tbo prince of 
Servia and a spacious school. The Servians, also, havo 
several well-built dwellings, and a neat coffee-house in this 
part of the town. 

But in speaking of Belgrade and its streets we must warn 
the reader, that they are not composed of lines of modern 
houses, but, in general, of rows of wooden stalls, in which 
the owner arranges his merchandise with no small degrco 
of taste, and parades Ins customers, surrounded by his work- 
men intent upon their several tasks. The barber and eofTce- 
vendor alone carry on their trade in closed shops, and enjoy 
the luxury of glazed windows. To any traveller fresh from 
western Europe, the motley population of this town is a novel 
and highly-interesting sccno; tho tailor and tho gunsmith, 
the baker and the victualler, by their white turbans, sallow 
sombre faces, and haughty mien, will bo instantly recognized 
as Turks; the red cap, sharp eye, and insinuating manners 
of the merchant and dealer betray their Greek extraction ; 
and the merry countenance of the shopkeeper smirks beneath 
tho round close bonnet of the native Servian. Indepen- 
dently of the Turkish garrisou, which seldom exceeds fivo 
or six thousand men, tho inhabitants of Belgrade do not at 
present amount to more than twenty thousand ; but even in 



BEL 



185 



BEL 



its present state tliey earry on so considerable a trade, both 
internal and external, thafthe customs produce 15,000/. 
per annum and upwards. The extensive manufactures for 
which it was formerly celebrated are now redueed to a few 
establishments, in whieh woollens, carpets, leather, ironware, 
and arms, are made. In other hands than those of its 
Turkish masters it would rapidly rise into importance : at 
present, attractive as its outward appearanee may be at a 
distanee, no spot ean be more disgusting on elose ex- 
amination, for there is not a street or public plaee in whieh 
every rule of eleanliness does not seem to be almost studi- 
ously violated. The surrounding eonntry is diversified with 
gentle hills, and richly wooded ; and tbe publie thorough- 
fares are embellished with many traces of Turkish piety — 
the inelosed well and fountain, and the earavanserai. 

Belgrade has been the theatre of many important events. 
It first fell under toe Hungarian sceptre in 1 086, when King 
Solomon wrested it from the Greek empire. Three years 
after the fall of Constantinople, in 1456, it was besieged by 
the Turks, but reseued from their hands by the gallant 
Hunyady, voyvode of Transylvania, who drove them back 
with great loss. The second attempt, made by them in 1522, 
was met by a resolute but fruitless resistance: the Turkish 
sultan, Solyman, succeeded in planting the crescent upon 
its walls, and it was possessed by his successors until the 
year 1688, when the elector of Bavaria, at the head of the 
Austrian forces, laid siege to it, and expelled the Turks 
from the place. Two years afterwards, Belgrade again fell 
into their hands, under Amurath II. ; and in 1693 the Im- 
perialists re-appeared upon the spot, but were bailled in their 
endeavour to regain it. In 1717 the celebrated Prince 
Eugene, leading the Austrian* in his second eainpaign 
jegainst Turkey, met his enemy under the walls of Belgrade 
on the 16th of August, destroyed nearly the whole of his 
array, entered Belgrade, and redueed the greater portion of 
Servia under the imperial sway. The extensive scale upon 
which the Austrians now enlarged and completed the forti- 
fications of the plaee cost them at least 400,000/. (4,000,000 
of guldens); and their possession of it was confirmed to 
them by the sultan in the treaty of Passarovitz on the 21st 
of July following. In 1739. about whieh time Belgrade 
attained the height of its commercial splendour, the war 
which Austria unadvisedly undertook against Turkey, in 
conjunction with Russia, by whom she was suddenly and 
faithlessly abandoned, terminated in the signal defeat of her 
. forees at Krotska on the Danube, the abandonment of her 
conquests in Servia, and the restitution of Belgrade to the 
sultan by the treaty whieh he dietated to her generals in a 
moment of panic. In conformity with this treaty, all the 
new fortifications were razed at the emperor's expense. 
The disastrous opening of the Austrian eampaign against 
the Turks in 178S, was counterbalanced in the sueeeeding 
year by Marshal Loudon's brilliant sneeesses against them, 
and the re-eapture of Belgrade; but the weakness of Austria 
forced her to restore it, with her other Servian acquisitions, 
at the peace of Szistova in 1791. It has remained ever 
since in the occupation of Turkey, exeept for a short time 
during the Servian insurrection, which broke out under the 
conduct of Czerny George (the Blaek George) in 1804. 
The intrepid patriot laid siege to the town, and expelled the 
Ottomans from it in 1806; he retained possession of Bel- 
grade until the year 1813, when he was at length obliged to 
abandon it to them, but not before the inhabitants had set 
fire to and destroyed the suburbs, and blown up the fortifi- 
cations. The destruction thus brought upon tbo town has 
since been partially repaired, and its defenees have been re- 
stored to some extent; but the happier eonsequenee of the 
spirit with which the Servians then asserted their inde- 
pendence, has been that they have gained it ; and that, under 
the conditions of tho treaty of 1815, by whieh Turkey re- 
eognizes their free institutions, Belgrade is the only spot in 
the eountry where the sultan is allowed to mainta"* a gar- 
rison. 

Belgrade is in 44° 50' N. lat., and 20° 39' E. long. Aoove 
the town are three long, narrow islands in the Danube, di- 
vided from the land by a natural canal, whieh forms a safe 
harbour; and opposite the Rascian Town, near the mouth 
of the Save, lies another islet, ealled the Gipsies' Island. 

BELIAL, usually Belial, more eorrectly Belial, BtXmX, 
7JJy3 (pronounee B'liyangal), is one of the few eom pound 

worck in tho Hebrew language, It is formed of ^3. nothing- 



nes? f riot, and 7JP utility, advantage. Hence Belial means 

a worthless fellow. A man of Belial, or a son of Belial,* a 
daughter of Belial, mean in the Bible a wieked person. 
Belial, if emphatically used, or kclt i&xvv in preference, 
means the worst of spirits. Thus in the passage, * What 
eoneord hath Christ with Belial?' 2 Cor. vi. 15. Compare 
Milton's Paradise Regained, book ii. v. 147-152 : — 

* So spnkt* the old serpent doubting, and from all 
With clamor was nssur'd their utmost aid 
At his command ; when from amidst them rose 
Jtct'mi, the dissolute? t spirit that fell t 
The.seusuullest, and, uuer Asmodui, 
The fleshliest incubus, nud thus advised.' 

• Others have endeavoured to derive the word from ^>J? 
to act, so that Belial should be a not acting one, an idle 
fellow: others from rby to rise, so that Belial should be 
one who should finally be cut down, not to rise again; Tho 
Talmudists in Sanhedrin, fol. Ill, derive the word from ^y 
or 7J? yoke. Aeeording to them, Belial is without a yoke, 
without restraint and discipline. Compare PfeifFer's Opera, 
Ultraject, 1704, torn. i. p. 503. 

BELIDOR, BERNARD FOREST DE, was born in 
Catalonia, in 1697 or 1698. He was the son of a French 
oftieer, and his father and mother dying very shortly after 
his birth, he was adopted by another ofiieer, who brought 
him to Franee. The brother of his proteetor was an offieer 
of engineers, and under his eare, Belidor, who had studied 
the elements of mathematics with attention, saw the sieges 
of Bou chain and Quesnoy before he \*as sixteen years old. 
He was shortly afterwards an assistant of Cassini and 
Lahire, in their continuation of the measure of the degree ; 
and was afterwards appointed professor at the school of ar- 
tillery of La Fere, founded by the Regent Duke of Orleans. 
He was afterwards raised to the rank of captain, much to 
the dissatisfaction of his new eomrades, who eould not bear 
to see a professor in uniform ; but, says our aecount, a repri- 
mand and a few days' imprisonment reeoneiled them to tho 
innovation. 

Before 1742 M. Belidor lost his plaee of professor, on ac- 
count of his discovering that some of the powder in the 
charge then used was useless, not being set on fire before 
the ball had left the gun. The originality of the-diseovery 
was contested; and it is also said, that his dismissal was 
owing to his having eommunieated it to Cardinal Fleury, 
instead of the head of his department. In 1742 Belidor 
was aidc-de-eamp to General de Segur in Bavaria and Bo- 
hemia, and was made prisoner at Lintz. He was soon ex- 
changed, and was made a lieutenant-eolonel. He served 
under the Prinee de Conti, in the campaigns of 1744 and 
1746, the first in Italy, the seeond in Flanders. In the 
first he distinguished himself by blowing up in six hours, 
and in the faee of the enemy, a ehdteau whieh it was im- 
portant to destroy, and which by ordinary methods it would 
have taken several days to dismantle. In the second, he 
redueed the town of Charleroi, by entrusting as a seeret to 
a elergyman in its neighbourhood his intention to servo 
that plaee in the same way. This communication soon got 
wind, and, with some covered earts whieh were seen on 
their way to some eoal-pits in the neighbourhood, so fright- 
ened the inhabitants, that they foreed the governor to sur- 
render. For this serviee he was made colonel ; he was also 
member cf the academy in 1756, inspector of arsenals in 
1758, and brigadier and inspector-general of mines in 1759. 
He died at Paris in 1761. 

The works of M. Belidor are even now in eredit among 
military engineers, and he advaneed every braneh of their 
science, particularly mining. The eommon notion on this 
subjeet was, that tho effect of a mine took place mostly in 
the direction of least resistance, and that the effect of a very 
powerful charge would be to blow upwards the eylinder of 
earth immediately above it. The experiments of M. Beli- 
dor showed that the effeet is nearly equal in all directions 
in whieh there can he any effect at all, that is, that lateral as 
well as superincumbent earth is blown away, leaving a sort 
of hemispherical void. Thus he showed how to effeet a 
lateral entrance into the eounter-mine of a besieged plaee. 

The works of Belidor are as follows: 1725, Nouveau 
Cours de MatMmatique, which went through a large num- 
ber of editions: 1729, La Science des Ingenieurs : 1 731, 
Bombardier Francais, containing some of the earliest tables 
of the relation between the elevation and the range: 1737 
and 1739, the two first volumes of the Architecture Hy- 
draulique, a work whieh has not yet been superseded by 
any other of equal extent and merit ; the two latter yo- 



No. 228. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 2 5 



BEL 



186 



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lumes appeared in 1750 and 1753 : 1755, Diet format re por- 
ta! if de f Ingfn ieur : i 7 G4 , posth u raous work, (Euvres di* 
verses, *£c., relating to fortification and mining. (This is 
the only work wo ever met with which has a wrong dato in 
its own title-page, H being there 175-1. in which year M. 
Belidor was living.) The work on fortification, which has 
been sometimes attributed to M. Belidor, in 4 vols. 4to n 
was never published, as far as wo can find, but was left in- 
complete among his papers. There are also memoirs of M. 
Belidor, in the History o/ the Academy of Sciences, from 
1737 to 1756. 

BEL1GRAD (a word signifying, in the Bulgaro-Slavonie 
•dialect, the Whito Town), an important town of Albania, 
now generally known under tho name of Berat Mr. Hughes 
conjectures, though with great diffidence, that it is on the 
♦ite of the antient Antipatria, a city taken by Apustius, 
lieutenant of the Consul P. Sulpicius, in tho war between 
tho Romans and Philip King of Macedonia ; and he urges, in 
support of his conjecture, the description of Antipatria given 
by Livy, who says that it was in a narrow pass, and that it 
inspired confidence into its inhabitants by its suo and the 
strength of its walls and site. (Livy, lib. xxxi. 27.) In 
the Byzantine writers, Beligrad appears under the name of 
Balagrada,orBalagrita,and is still sometimes called Arnaout 
Belgrade (or tho Albanian Belgrade), to distinguish .it from 
the town of Belgrade on the Danube. In the latter part of 
tho thirteenth century it was in the hands of the Greek 
emperors, the dominion of the Albanians not having yet 
extended to this part of tho country. In the fourteenth 
century it was conquered by tho Albanians; and it was 
probably from tbem that it was taken by Amurath, or Mu- 
rad II., Emperor of the Turks, who reigned in the early 
part of the fifteenth century. George Kastrioti (better known 
by the Turkish name of Iskcnder Beg, or Scandcrbcg) at- 
tempted to retake it. Ho encamped against it with a force 
of 8000 horse and 7000 foot, among whom was a strong 
body of Italians, sent by Alfonso King of Naples, ■ men 
skilful tn the assaulting ofwalles and holdes.* Kastrioti 
was defeated, and lost nearly all his Neapolitan auxiliaries. 
Beligrad has been ever sinco in the hands of the Turks. 
[Sec Bs«AT.] f (Hughes's Travels in Qreece and Albania ; 
Leake's Researches in Greece.) 

BELIS A'RIUS (BtWdpioc), a general of the lower em- 
ire, under Justinian I. The precise year and place of his 
lirth are uncertain, but it is most probable tbat he was born 
near the city of Sardica (a place on tho Isker), in the be- 
ginning of tbe sixth century. Of his parentage nothing is 
known. 

He makes his first appearance in history as one of the 
body guard of Justinian, at that time heir to the throne. 
The Byzantine empire was then, about A.n. 525, at war with 
Persia, and Belisarius exercised his first command in an 
expedition into Persarraenia. On his return he was nomi- 
nated to the government of Dara, an important fortified 
town in the northern part of Mesopotamia, near the frontier 
of Armenia, where he took into his service, as secretary, the 
historian Procopius, whose writings are our principal autho- 
rity for tho events of his life. In 527 Justinian eame to 
the throne, and by his orders Belisarius proceeded to build a 
fortress at Mindon, near Dara. The Persians commanded 
him to desist, and on his refusal marched against him, de- 
feated his troops, and razed the works. AVe may conclude, 
however, that no blame attached to him, as shortly after 
we find him appointed general of the East, with the conduct 
of tho Persian war. In tho year 530 ho defeated the 
enemy in tho decisive battle of Dara*; and in the following 
year he repulsed, by a series of skilful manoeuvres, a consi- 
derable army, which had invaded Syria on tho sido of the 
desert, and advanced so far as to threaten Antioch. Being, 
however, compelled by bis troops to give battle, contrary to 
his own inclination, at Callinicum, a town at the junction 
of the rivers Bilccha and Euphrates, he sustained a defeat, 
but succeeded in preventing tho Persians front deriving any 
advantage from their victory. 

Shortly afterwards peace was concluded, and Belisarius 
returned to Constantinople. During his residenco there ho 
married Antouina, and succeeded in suppressing tho sedition 
called vita (nika), which had nearly subverted the throne 
of Justinian. In June, 533, he sailed as commander of an 
expedition for the recovery of those provinces of Africa which 
had anciently belonged to the empire, but were now possessed 
by the Vandals. He landed (Procop, irtpl Krto^arw) in 
September at Caput Vada, now Capoudia, about 150 miles 



i 



south of Carthage, and advanced without opposition to 
Deetmum, about eight mil erf (seventy stadia) from Car* 
thage. Having defeated the enemy ut Decimum, ho im- 
mediately entered the capital, while Gelimer, tho Vandal 
king, lied towards tho deserts of Nuinidia, where he occu- 
pied himself in assembling an army at Bulla, four days* 
journey from Carthage. Ho also endeavoured to organise 
a conspiracy among tho Carthaginians and the linns in 
the Byzantine serviee, which was discovered and suppressed 
by Belisarius. Tho Vandals having advanced to Trica- 
meron, within twenty miles of Carthage, were defeated 
in a decisive battle, and Gelimer lied to the inaccessible 
mountain of Pappua, near Hippo Regius, where he was 
blockaded, and some timo afterwards obliged to surrender. 
On bis return to Carthage Belisarius sent detachments which 
reduced Sardinia and Corsica, and the Balearic Isles; he 
likewise recovered the fortress of Lilybroum, in Sicily, which 
the Vandals had received as the dowry of a Gothic Princess, 
and which, on their downfall, had been resumed by the 
Goths. He proceeded for sorao time in the settlement of 
tho province, hut finding that suspicions of his fidelity had 
been excited in the mind of Justinian, he determined to dis- 
arm them hy a speedy return. He committed the govern- 
ment to the eunuch Solomon, and set sail for Constan- 
tinople. On his arrival ho was honoured with a triumph, an 
honour which, sinco the reign of Tiberius, had been re- 
served for the emperors alone; a medal was struck, with 
tho inscription ' Belisarius, the glory of the Romans,* and 
in the ensuing year, 535, ho was invested with the dignity 
of sole consul. 

In that year ho sailed with a very insufficient force for the 
conquest of Italy from the Goths: he landed at Catania in 
Sicily, and having rapidly reduced that island, fixed his head- 
quarters at Syracuse. While at Syracuse he received news of 
a rebellion in Africa. He immediately set out thither with 
only one ship and 100 guards, and had nearly succeeded in 
restoring subordination, when he was recalled to Sicily by a 
mutiny in the army there. Some negotiations which had 
been in progress between the Goths and Justinian having 
been broken off, Belisarius crossed over to Italy ; his ad- 
vance was only delayed by tho resistance of Naples, which 
ho took after a siege of twenty days, and at the end of the 
year 536 ho entered Rome, which was evacuated by the 
Gothic garrison on his approach. Early in 537 he was bo- 
sieged tbero by Vitiges, the Gothic king, who had recently 
been raised to the throne on the deposition and murder of 
Theodatus, and now advanced from Ravenna with an army 
of 150,000 men. In the course of the siege Belisarius de- 
posed the Pope Sylverius, whom he had detected in a trea- 
sonable correspondence with tho enemy : by some writers 
he t3 accused of having bimself forged the letters, in com- 
pliance with tho orders of tho Empress Theodora, who 
wished to remove Sylverius from the pontificate, but tlic 
charge appears to be unsupported hy proof. Before tho 
end of the siege ho incurred much obloquy hy his pre- 
cipitate execution of Constantine, an officer of rank and 
reputation, who in an altercation with him respecting tho 
restoration of some plunder, forgot himself so far as to draw 
his sword on his general ; ho was immediately put to death 
by the command of Belisarius, who is supposed to havo 
acted rather in furtherance of the private revenge of Anto- 
nina, wbo accompanied him in his expeditions, than frmn 
any seasonable zeal for the vindication of discipline. 

Early in 538 the siege, which had been carried on for 
moro than a year with great vigour, was raised, and Vitiges 
retired to Ravenna. Belisarius then proceeded in the re- 
duction of tho provinces of Italy, though much impeded by 
the factious opposition of his officers and hy an invasion of 
tho Franks; but in the beginning of tho year 539, Naracs, 
the leader of the faction, was recalled, and the Pranks re- 
treated after a short inroad. At length Ravenna was in- 
vested, but, wben its surrender could no longer have been 
delayed, an embassy which had been sent by Vitiges to 
Constantinople returned with a treaty of partition, which 
left to him the title of king, and the provinces north of tho 
Po. This treaty Belisarius refused, on his own responsi- 
bility, to execute, nnd the Goths, driven to despair, offered 



him their support if he would assuino the title of Emperor 
of tho West Hy affecting compliance he gained possession 
of Ravenna, and the surrender of that city was followed by 



tho submission of almost the whole of Haly. In the be- 
ginning of 540 he was recalled to Constantinople, whither 
he immediately repaired 



BEL 



167 



BEL 



In the spring of 541 he was sent to conduct the war 
which had broken out with Persia, and after an indecisive 
campaign returned to Constantinople. In 542 lid was again 
appointed to the supreme command in the Persian war, and 
at the close of the campaign again recalled, and on his 
arrival degraded from all his employments. During the 
campaign a rumour had prevailed of the death of Justinian, 
and Belisarius had used language unfavourable to the suc- 
cession of Theodora. His treasures were attached, and he 
remained in momentary expectation of an order for his exe- 
cution. A heavy fine was levied on his effects, but his life 
was spared, the pardon being accompanied by the injunction 
to be reconciled to his wife Antonina, against whom he was 
incensed for her infidelity. 

In 544 Belisarius was again named to command in Italy, 
where, through the incapacity of his successors, the Slight 
remains of resistance which he had left behind were become 
formidable. Having set out from Constantinople with a 
few veteran troops, ne succeeded in his progress through 
Thrace in collecting an inconsiderable force, with which he 
proceeded to meet the fleet at Salona in Illyricum, whence 
he despatched some ships to the relief Of Otranto, whieh 
was besieged by the Goths. This squadron having raised 
the siege, rejoined him at Salona, ana the whole armament 
proceeded by sea to Pola, also in Illyricum, where he spent 
some time in reviewing and exercising his troops. From 
this place he sailed along the Coast of the Adriatic to Ra- 
venna. For somo time he \Vas prevented by the insufficiency 
of his force from effecting anything considerable, and at 
last, leaving merely tho necessary garrison In Ravenna, lie 
sailed with the rest of his troops to Dvrrachium in Epirus, 
where he awaited tho succours which fie expected. Having 
'With much delay obtained a scanty reinforcement, he pro- 
ceeded by sea to the relief of Rome, which had, since the 
beginning of 546, been blockaded by TotilaS, the Gothic 
king, and was now reduced to the extremity 6f famine. 
After a vigorous attack on the Gothic lines by Belisarius, 
which only failed through the disobedience of one of his 
ofiicers, Rome was taken by treachery in the end of the same 
year ; but Totilas was diverted from his design of razing the 
city with the ground by the remonstrances Of Belisarius. 
In the beginning of 547 Totilas advanced against Ravenna, 
and immediately on hi3 departure Rome was re- occupied by 
Belisarius, and successfully defended by him against Totila, 
who retraced his steps and endeavoured to retake it But, 
though successful in the neighbourhood of Rome, he was 
unable, from the smallness of his means, to put an end to 
the war; and from the same cause he afterwards suffered 
so many reverses, that in the year 548 he requested that 
either the force at his disposal might be augmented, or he 
might he recalled ; and the latter alternative was granted. 

Belisarius, having escaped assassination by the discovery 
cf a conspiracy, the chiefs of which dreaded his inilexible 
fidelity, lived for some time at Constantinople in the enjoy- 
ment of wealth and dignity. In 559 the Bulgarians in- 
vaded the empire, and ho received the command of the 
army destined to oppose them. After cheeking their pro- 
gress, he was removed from the command by the jealousy 
of Justinian, and was never after employed in the field. 

In 563 a conspiracy against the emperor was discovered, 
in whieh he was accused of participating. Of his subsequent 
fate there are two accounts. The more probable is that 
given by Gibbon, that his life was spared, but his fortune 
sequestrated, and that he was confined to his own palace. 
His innocence was soon acknowledged, and his property 
and freedom restored, but he did not long survive his libera- 
tion ; he died in the early part of the year 565. A tradition 
relates that he was deprived of his eyes, and reduced to beg 
his bread, exclaiming to the passers-by, ■ Give a penny to 
Belisarius the General ! f but this is not countenanced by 
any authority older than the eleventh century, and can be 
traced no further back than to an anonymous writer In Ban- 
duri* s lmperium Orientate (quoted by Lord Mahon, p. 467), 
and to Tzetzes, who wrote in the twelfth century. Though 
the last writer on the subject (Lord Mahon) labours hard to 
establish the truth of the tradition, his arguments do not 
appear sufficiently strong to induce us to receive it. The 
story of tho blindness of Belisarius was adopted by painters, 
as we might naturally expect ; and various modern writers 
also, such as Matmontel in his romance of Belisarius, have 
Contributed to give It a popular character* but for theso 
circumstances, a fact for which there is no reasonable evi- 
dence would hardly require even this brief notice. 



Belisarius had one daughter, Joannina, by his wife An- 
tonina. 

He is described as being of a majestic presence, brave 
geuerous, and affable, and a strict lover of justice. His un- 
shaken fidelity is sufficiently manifest from the whole course 
Of his life. His talents for war appear to have been of the 
highest order, and we have few examples of such great 
effects produced with such small means. His character is 
Stained by base suhserviency to his wife, who appears to 
have been mainly concerned in the most objectionable pas- 
sages of his career, and his ignorance or endurance of her 
infidelity rendered him ridiculous. The latter part of his 
life appears to have been liable to the charge of rapacity, 
but, when we consider his superiority to the age in whieh 
he lived, we shall be inclined, if not to pardon his defects, 
at least to excuse them in consideration of the corruption of 
the times. 

(See Procopius ; Jornandcs, De Reb. Get. ; Lord Mahon *i 
Life of Belisarius ; the sketch in Schlosser's Universal* 
historische Uebersicht, th. 3, abth. 4 ; and Gibbon, chaps, xli. 
xlii. and xliii.) 

BELIZE. [SeeBALUE.]' 

BELKNAP, JEREMY, was born in 1744. He took his 
degree at Harvard College, near Boston in North America, 
and was afterwards ordained minister of Dover church, ill 
New Hampshire, in 1767. He remained here till 1787, 
when he entered upon ihe charge of a church in Boston, at 
which he officiated until his death in 1798. He is the au- 
thor of a ■ History of New HampshircV and commenced an 
American biography, only two volumes of which were pub- 
lished. He wrote also a number of religious, political, and 
literary tracts, and was one of the founders of tho Massachu- 
setts Historical Society. The biographical writers of the 
United States represent him as distinguished by industry, 
research, and extent of knowledge, rather than by the pos- 
session of remarkable intellectual qualities. 

BELKNAP, SIR ROBERT, was bred to the study of 
the law, and became chief justice of the Court of Common 
Pleas, in tho 4Sth of Edward III. (1374.) lie continued 
to hold this office until the 1 1th of Richard II. (1388), when 
his removal from it took place under tho following circum- 
stances, whieh are given at length in Fuller's Worthies of 
England, p. 567. * The king had a mind to make away 
certain lords: vte. his uncle, tho Duke of Gloucester, the 
Earls of Arundel, Warwick, Derby, Nottingham, &c, who 
in the former parliament had been appointed governors of 
the kingdom. For this purpose he called all the judges 
before him at Nottingham, where the king's many questions 
in fine resolved themselves into this,— •' Whether he might 
by his regal power revoke what was acted in parliament?" 
To this all the judges, Sir William Skipwith alone excepted, 
answered affirmatively, and subscribed it. This, Belknap 
underwrote unwillingly, as foreseeing the danger, ana 
putting to his seal, said these words: — " There wants no- 
thing but a hurdle, a horse, and a halter to carry me where 
I may suffer the death I deserve ; for if I had not done this, 
I should have died for it ; and because I have done it I de- 
serve death for betraying the lords." ' By thus acting 
against his conscience he lost the opportunity of transmit- 
ting an honourable fame to posterity ; but his submission 
saved him only for a short time. In the succeeding parlia- 
ment all the judges were arrested in Westminster Hall, on 
a charge of high treason. The lord chief justice of the 
Court of King's Bench was executed, and the other judges, 
with Belknap, barely escaped with' their lives through the 
intercession of the queen ; but their property was confiscated 
to the king's use. Fuller does not mention the birthplace 
of Sir Robert Belknap, hut places -him amongst the re- 
markable personages which the county of Leicester lias 
produced, on the ground that a family of that name existed 
in the county when he collected the materials for his work, 
about the year 1660. 

BELL, a vessel, or hollow body of east-metal, formed to 
make a noise by some instrument striking against it. Bells 
of a small sizo are undoubtedly very antient. As pots and 
other vessels, more immediately necessary in the servico of 
life, were doubtless made before bells, it seems probablo 
that these vessels being observed to have a sound when 
struck, gave occasion to making bells in that form. 

Small gold bells, intermixed with pomegranates, are 
mentioned as ornaments worn upon the hem of the high- 
priest's robe in J£roG?.chap. xxviii. v. 3, 4 ; and Calmet {Dkt. 
4to. Lond. 1797, vol. i. in voce) says that both were worn in 

2B2 



B E L 



16S 



BEL 



the same manner by the king* of Persia. Amonj* tho 
Greeks we find hand-bells used in camps and garrisons. 
At certain hours in the night, patrolcs (called irtpivokot) 
went round the camp and visited the sentinels ; and to try 
if anv were asleep, they had a little bell (termed icwSwr, 
cocion), at tho sound of which tho soldiers were to answer: 
whence to go this circuit was ealled icwiWiJm', and kw£w>w- 
foptlv. (Sec Potter's Greek Antio. edit Edinb. 1 827, vol. ii. 
p. 74; compare also Aristoph. /?/r<w, 842, nGO.edit.Brunck. 
8vo. Argent. 1783; and Snidas, icutfuv.) This custom fur- 
nished Brasidas with an advantage against Pot id sea in the 
Peloponncsian war. Having observed that the bell had 

Eajsed a certain part of the walls, ho seized the opportunity 
cfore its return to set up his ladders, and nearly succeeded 
in entering the city. (Thucyd. iv. 135.) Plutarch mentions 
tho use of die bell in the Grecian fish-market. {Symposiac. 
lib, iv. Oper. edit. Reiske, torn. viii. p. 653 ; and also Strabo in 
his account of Jassus, lib.xiv. edit. Falconer, fol. Oxf. 1807, 
p, 942.) The Romans had three chief appellations for the 
little bell, petasus, codo, and tintinnabulum; the second of 
theso was evidently borrowed from the Greek word already 
mentioned; the last was probably intended to be imitative 
of the sound of the bell. The hour of bathing among 
the Romans was announced by a bell (Pitisci Lexicon, 
p. 9GG, col. ii.), which was hence called by Martial ces ther- 
inarum: it was also in domestie use {ibid.); was adopted 
both as an ornament and an emblem upon triumphal cars 
(Zonaras, lib. xi. 32) ; and was fastened to the necks of 
cattle, that they might be traced when they strayed (Phacdr. 
Fab. xi. 8, 4), particularly to the necks of sheep. 

The large bells now used in churches are said to have 
been invented by Paulinus, bishop of Nola in Campania, 
about the year 400, whence the Nola and Campana of the 
lower Latinity. They were probably introduced into Englaud 
very soon after their invention. They are first mentioned 
by Bede about the close of the seventh century. {Hist. 
EccL lib. iv. c. 28.) Ingulphus records that Turkctul, 
abbot of Croyland, who died about the year 870, pave a bell 
of very large size to that abbey, which he named Guthlae. 
His successor Egclrie east a ring of six others, to which he 
gave the nainesof Bartholomew, Bettelin,Turketul,Tatwine, 
Pega, and Bega. He adds, * nee crat tune tanta eonso- 
nantia campanarum in tota Anglia/ (Ingulphi Hist. Script, 
post Bedam, edit. Saville, fol., London, 159G, fol. 505 b0 
Baronius informs us that Pope John XIII.* a.d. 958, con- 
secrated a very large new cast bell in the Latcran Church, 
and gave it the name of John. {Annal.B. Spondano.p. 871.) 
The ritual for the baptizing of bells may be found in the 
Roman Pontificate. 

Sir Henry Spelman, in his Glossary, v. Campana, has 
preserved two monkish lines on the subject of the anticnt 
offices of bells : — 

• Laudo Peum vcrum. Plcbera voco, eoojjreso Clerum, 
Dcdtnctos ploro, Pcstem fujjo, Fe»U decoro.' 

Brand quotes the following monkish rhymes on bells, in 
which the first of these lines is repeated, from a tract en- 
titled A Helpe to Discourse, 12mo. Lond. 1633, p. 63 : — 

' Ea ego Campana, naoquam dmuoilo vaoa, 
Ia<i<1o Deum wrum. I*i«*b«n voou. cotinirjto Clrrum, 
D<*ruuctos plungo, vivos voco, fulmtna Iran go. 
Vox me a. vox vita*, voco * on. ad sacra veulu*. 
Sane tut c*»Uaudo, tonilraa fugo, tuner i clattrto, 
Funrra plango, ful^ura fiaogo, Snbbalha pango 
Exdto tcoloi, dis*ipo vrntos, paco csruentoi.* 

Tho eity of Nankin in China, was anticntly famous for 
the largeness of its bells, as we learn from Father Le Conitc ; 
but they were afterwards far exceeded in size by those of 
the ehurches in Moscow. A bell in tho tower of St. Ivan'a 
church, in Moscow, weighed 127,836 English pounds. A 
bell given by the ezar Boris Goduuof to tho cathedral of Mos- 
eow weighed 288,000 pounds, and another given by tho Em- 
press Anne, probably the largest in the known world, 
weighed 432,000 pounds. According to Coxc {Travels in 
Russia, voL i. p. 322), the height of this last bell was nine- 
teen feet, the circumference at the bottom sixty-three feet 
eleven inches, and its greatest thickness twenty-threo 
inches. The great bell of St. Paul's weighs between' 1 1,000 
and 12,000 lbs., and is nine feet in diameter. 

Tho Couvre-fen, or Curfew Bell, tho name of whien is 
almost proverbial with us, is eommonly supposed to have 
been introduced by William the Conqueror, and to havo 
been imposed upon the English as a badge of servitude. 
Henry, however, in his History of Britain, 4to. vol. iii. p. 
6C7, aays that this opinion docs not seem well founded. For 



there is sufficient evidence that the same custom prevailed 
in France, Spain, Italy, Scotland, and probably in all tho 
countries of Europe at the same period ; and was intended 
as a precaution against fires, whieh were then verv frequent 
and very fatal, when so many houses were built of wood. 
Tlie practice of ringing tho curfew bell, that all people 
should put out their fires and lights at eight o'clock, is said 
to havo been observed to its full extent, only during tho 
reigns of the first two Williams. (See Brund's Popular 
Antiq. 4to. edit. vol. ii. p. 136.) 

The Passing Bell was so named, as being tolled when 
any one was passing from life. Hence it was sometimes 
called tho Soul Bell; and was rung that those who heard 
it might pray for the person dying, and who was not yet 
dead. Durand, who nourished about the end of the twelfth 
century, tells us in his Rationale, 'when any one is dying, 
bells must be tolled, that the people may put up their 
prayers: twico for a woman, and thrice for a man ; if for 
a clergyman, as many times as he had orders; and at 
the conclusion a peal on all the bells, to distinguish the 
quality of the person for whom the people are to put up 
their prayers/ This praeticc is of high antiquity in Eng- 
land. Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History, lib. iv. cap. 23, 
speaking of the death of the abbess of St, Hilda, says, that 
one of the sisters of a distant monastery, as she was sleep- 
ing, thought she heard the well-known sound of that bell 
which called them to prayers, when any of them was de- 
parting this life. She no sooner heard it, than she raised 
all the sisters, and called them into the church, where she 
exhorted them to pray fervently, and sing a Requiem for 
tho soul of their Mother. We have a remarkable mention 
of it also in the narrative of tho last moments of the Lady 
Katherine (sister of Lady Jane) Grey, who died a prisoner 
in the Tower of London in 15C7. Sir Owen ITopton, con- 
stable of the Tower, * perceiving her to draw towards her 
end, said to Mr. Boekeham, Were it not best to send to the 
ehureh that tho bell may be rung, and she herself hearing 
him, said, " Good Sir Owen, be it so :" ' and almost imme- 
diately died. (Ellis's Orig. Letters, illustr. of Eng, Hist. 
2d ser. vol. ii. p. 290.) The tolling of the passing-bell cer- 
tainly continued in use as late as the time of Charles II. : 
and Nelson (who died in 1715), in his Meditations for tho 
Holy Time of Lent, {Feasts and Fails of the Church of 
England, 8vo. Lond. 1732, p. 144.) speaking of the death 
of a good Christian, says, * if his senses hold out so long, 
he can hear even his passing-bell without disturbance/ To 
the time of Charles it., the tolling of this bell formed one 
of tho enquiries in all Articles of Visitation: there sccins 
to be nothing intended by tolling it at present, but to inform 
the neighbourhood of a death. 

A Sanctus, or Saint's-bell, many of which are still to be 
seen in our country churches, was so called, because it was 
rung when the priest eame to those words of tho mass, 
Sancte, Sanete, Sancte Bens Sabaoth, that all persons 
who were absent might fall on their knees, in rcverenco of 
tho holy olUco which was then going on in the church. It 
was usually placed where it might be heard farthest, in a 
lantern at tho springing of the hteeplo, or in a turret at an 
angle of the tower: and sometimes, for the convenience of 
being more readily and exactly rung, within a pediment or 
arcade, between the church awl the chaneel ; tho rope in this 
situation falling down into the choir not far from tho altar. 
(See Warton's Hist, of Kiddington in Oxfovdsh. 4 to. Loud. 
1815, p. 14, note.) 

Ringing, says Sir John Hawkins {Hist, of Music, vol. 
iv. p. 211, note), is a practiee whieh is said to be peculiar to 
England, which for that reason, and the dexterity of its in- 
habitants in composing and ringing musical peals, wherein 
tho sounds interchange in regular order, is called the Ring- 
ing Island, Dr. Burney, in his History of Music, vol. iii. p. 
413, mentions Tintinnalogia, or the Art of Ringing, pub- 
lished in 1G68 ; a work, he assures us, not beneath the notice 
of musicians who wish to explore all the regions of natural 
melody ; as in this little book they will sec every possible 
change in the arrangement of diatonic sounds, from two to 
twelve ; which being rcdueed to musical notes, would point 
out innumerable passages, that, in spito.ofall which has 
hitherto been written, would be new in melody and musical 
composition. In tho art of ringing, however, molody has 
never been studied; mechanical order and succession havo 
been all in all. The treatise on this subject at present in 
highest repute is Campanologia Improved* or the Art of 
Ringing made easy, 3d edit. 12mo. Lond. 1733, where the 



BEL 



189 



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reader will find all the terms explained of single, plain bob, 
grandsire bob, single hoh minor, grandsire . treble, hoh- 
major, caters, tcn-in or hoh royal, cinques, and twelve-in or 
bob maximus, with all their regular permutations. 

The reader who is desirous of knowing more concerning 
bells may eonsult Hieronymus Magius Be Tintinnabulis, 
8vo. Hanov. 1608, and 12mo. Amst. 1G64, in 'which book 
are many eurious particulars relating to them. See also 
Arnoldus De Campanarum U$u, 12mo. Altdorf, IG65. 

BELL, HENRY, an individual whose name is connected 
with the history of steam-navigation in this country. Dr. 
Cleland, in his work on Glasgow, speaks of him as *an in- 
genious untutored engineer, and citizen of Glasgow/ and 
states that it may he said, without the hazard of impro- 
priety, that Mr. Bell * invented* the steam-propelling sys- 
tem, 'for he knew nothing of the principles which hail been 
so successfully followed out hy Mr. Fulton.* Fulton, how- 
ever, launched his first steam-hoat on the Hudson, Oct. 3, 
1807, and it was not till more than four years after this date 
that Bell successfully applied steam to the purposes of navi- 
gation. In 1811 he caused a hoat to he constructed on 
a peculiar plan, which was named the * Comet/ in conse- 
quence of the appearance of a large comet that year. He 
constructed the steam-engine himself, and in January, 1812, 
the first trial of the Comet took place on the Clyde. Dr. 
Cleland adds : — * After various experiments, the Comet was 
at length propelled on the Clyde- by an engine of three- 
horse power, which was subsequently increased to six. Mr. 
Bell continued to encounter and overcome the various and 
indescribable difficulties incident to invention, till his ulti- 
mate success encouraged others to embark in similar under- 
takings.' In the course of these experiments he 1 unfortu- 
nately did not sueceed in realising the advantages which 
were due to his enterprise; and had it not been for the 
liberality of the town of Glasgow, who settled upon him a 
small annuity, he would probably have spent his latter days 
in a state of poverty. 

BELL, JOHN, generally called from his Scottish estate 
Bell of Antermony, was born in the West of Scotland in the 
year 1G91. He was brought up to the medical profession, 
and passed as a physician in the twenty-third year of his 
age. Shortly afterwards he began those travels to which 
alone he is indebted for his eelehrity. 

He says himself, in the preface to his valuable book, ' In 
my youth I had a strong desire of seeing foreign parts ; to 
satisfy which inclination, after having obtained from some 
persons of worth recommendatory letters to Dr. Areskine, 
chief physician and privy councillor to the Czar Peter I., I 
emharked at London in the month of July, 1714, on board 
the Prosperity of Ramsgate, Captain Emerson, for St. 
Petcrsburgh.* Russia then stood in need of and welcomed 
foreigners of talent and acquirements. Bell was exceed- 
ingly well received, and immediately on his arrival became 
personally known to Peter the Great, for whom he ever' 
afterwards entertained sentiments of veneration and sin- 
gular affection. He had very soon an opportunity of gra- 
tifying his passion for travelling, as at the time of his ar- 
rival Peter was preparing an embassy to Persia, and his 
friend Dr. Areskine having " introduced him to Artemy 
Petrovich Valensky, the amhassador, he was engaged to 
accompany the expedition in quality of surgeon and phy- 
sician. On the 15th of July, 1715, he left St. Petersburgh. 
1 That city/ he says,* which has since grown so considerable 
was then in its infancy, having been founded only ten or 
eleven years hefore/ The embassy was obliged hy the 
severity of the weather to halt and pass the winter at Cazan, 
Which place, indeed, it did not leave until the 4th of June, 
171G. It then proceeded by Astrakhan, the Caspian Sea, 
and Tauris to Ispahan, where the Persian monarch then 
held his eourt, and where Bell says he arrived on the 13th 
of March, 1717. He did not return to St. Petcrsburgh until 
the 30th of December, 1718, having been absent in all three 
years and six months. His account of this long journey is 
exceedingly interesting, and he tells us at the end of it, that 
in spite of the Swedish war in which the czar was engaged, 
the Russian eapital had been so improved and beautified 
during his absence that ho scarcely knew it again. He 
was grieved to find that his excellent friend Dr. Areskine 
was dead, but his lovo of travelling hcing as strong as 
ever, he was soon made happy by learning that Peter the 
Great was preparing a grand emhassy to China. Valensky, 
whoso affections he hail engaged during the Persian ex- 
pedition, recommended him to LeofT Vasilpvich Ismayloflf, 



the ambassador appointed* to Pekin, who" gladly availed 
himself of Bell's valuable services. " IsmaylolF, with Bell 
and a numerous retinue, departed from St. Petershugh on* 
the 14th of July, 1719, and travelled by Moscow, Siberia, 
and the great Tartar deserts, to the celebrated wall of China. 
They did not reach Pekin until sixteen months after their 
departure from the Russian capital, having undergone im- 
mense fatigue during the journey, They left the Chinese 
capital on the 2nd of March, 1721, and arrived at Moscow 
on the 5th of January, 1722. The account of this journey, 
and of what he saw and learned during his residence at the 
court of China, is the most valuable part of .his book, and 
one of the best and most interesting relations ever written 
by any traveller. He fully confirms many of the almost 
incredible things told of the Chinese by the old Venetian 
traveller Marco Polo, with whose work Bell does not appear 
to have been acquainted. 

He had scarcely recovered from the fatigues of his Chinese 
expedition, when, in May, 1722, he started on a long and 
dangerous journey with the Russian emperor to Derbent, a 
celebrated pass between the foot of the Caucasus and the 
Caspian Sea. This was the most original and singular ex- 
pedition in which Peter the Great was ever engaged. Having 
concluded peace with Sweden he resolved to assist the Shah 
of Persia, whose territories had been invaded hy the fierce 
and warlike Afghans ; and accordingly Peter marched with 
an army, taking the empress with him. The Ilussians suf- 
fered severely during their return march, and even the 
emperor and his wife had some narrow escapes from the 
savage mountain-tribes that infested the rear and Hanks of 
the retiring army. In the course of his aeconnt of this 
journey Bell introduces a short hut good description of Tzcr- 
cassia, or Daghestan (Circassiu), and at the end cf it he 
draws a fine character of Peter the' Great, whose habits, 
both public and private, he had excellent opportunities of 
studying during the Derbent expedition. It appears that 
shortly after this journey Bell visited Scotland ; and we do 
not hear of him again until 1737, when he resumed his tra- 
velling vocation. Three years hefore that date, a war, in 
which the emperor of Germany eventually hecame engaged, 
had broken out between Russia and Turkey. In the au- 
tumn of 1737 a congress was appointed to be held at 
Nemiroff, a frontier town of Poland, in order to prepare a 
peace through .the mediation of the ministers of Great 
Britain, France, and Holland ; but, on meeting, the plenipo- 
tentiaries of the powers at war could not 1 agree, and the 
conferences were stopped. The court of Russia then de- 
termined on sending a confidential agent to Constantinople, 
and a3 during hostilities no Russian or German subject was 
allowed by the Turks to set foot on their territory, Bell, 
whose activity and talents were highly appreciated, under- 
took the mission at the earnest desire of Count Osterman, 
the grand-chancellor of Russia, and of Mr. Rondeau, at that 
time British minister at St. Petersburg. Accordingly, on 
the Gth of December, 1737, Bell once more quitted > the 
hanks of the Neva, and travelling in the midst of winter, 
and through countries exposed to all the horrors of a bar- 
barous warfare, arrived at Constantinople, attended by only 
one servant, who understood the Turkish language. On the 
17th of May, 1738, he returned to St. Petersburg. (All his 
dates are according to the old style.) 

We know vcrv little more of this estimable man than 
what he tells himself in his hook of travels, wherein he is 
far from being communicative as to his personal history. It 
appears, however, that he afterwards settled for some years 
as a merchant at Constantinople; that he married about 
the year 1 746, and in tho following year returned to Scot- 
land, where he lived in ease and alllucncc on his estates 
of Antermony. He was' a warm-hearted, benevolent, and 
soeiable man, and he obtained from his friends and neigh- 
bours the appellation of * Honest John Bell.' He died at a 
very advanced age on the 1st of July, 1780. 

Although he had so inueli to tell he was by no means 
anxious to distinguish himself as an author. For many 
years the only record of his travels was a simple diary, to 
which he occasionally referred to refresh his memory, for he 
was fond of talking about his journeys and adventures with 
his intimate associates. In his preface, which is dated 
Antermony, the 1st of October, 1762, he says, that, * About 
four years ago, spending some days at the house of a right 
honourable and most honoured friend,* and talking about 
his travels, he was pressed to throw his notes together in \ 
the form of a regular narrative, and that then, with diffident 



B E L 



190 



BEL 



feelings, he began the work. A writer in tl>o * Quarterly 
Review' asserts that this most honoured friend to whom wo 
stand indebted for a mo*t excellent book, was Kari Gran- 
ville, then president of tho council, and this may probably 
be the fact. We, however, doubt the rest of tho reviewer's 
story, which goes on to say that tho volumes were written, 
or copiously revised, by a professed literary man. Honest 
John Bell speaks of them as his own faulty compositions, 
and excuses the 'plainness of the style,' which is their chief 
charm, and which could hardly liavo proceeded (so much 
individuality U there in it) from anybody but from a man 
relating his own adventures. The work, in two vols. 4to., 
was printed and published at Glasgow by subscription, in 
1763. It has been several times reprinted in various forms, 
and a French translation of it has been widely circulated on 
the Continent. It includes the translation of a journal kept 
by M. De Langc, a gentleman who accompanied Ismayloft 
to lVkin, and who remained in that city to finish the ncgo- 
ciations with tho Chinese, for several months after the de- 
parture of the ambassador. This journal details the manner 
of transacting business with the ministers of state in China, 
and exposes their conceit and chicanery. 

BELL, JOHN, an eminent surgeon and anatomist, the 
first who successfully applied, in Scotland, the science of 
anatomy to practical surgery, was born in Edinburgh on the 
12th of May, 1763, and died of dropsy at Rome on tho 15th 
of April, 1820. The grandfather of John Bell, of the samo 
name, was minister of Gladsmuir in East Lothian, the parish 
which was afterwards held by tho historian of Charles V. 
He died at the early age of thirty-two, with a high cha- 
racter for learning and virtue. The father of the subject of 
this article, the Ucv. "William Bell, a learned scholar and 
eloquent minister, was, in the course of his education for the 
presbyterian church, led, by a perusal of the English di- 
vines, to become a member of the episcopal church of Scot- 
land, then in the lowest state of depression on account of its 
attachment to the exiled family of the Stuarts. By this act 
ho entailed on himself a life of labour without any prospect 
of worldly advantages. The mother of Mr. John Bell was 
of a family which, in a long descent, had furnished clergy- 
men to the episcopal church of Scotland during its splen- 
dour and in its decay. She was a woman of masculine 
understanding, tempered with great mildness and gentle- 
ness of manners, and improved by an excellent education 
under the care of Bishop White, her maternal grandfather. 
There were eight children of the marriage, two of whom 
died in infancy. Robert, John, George Joseph (the present 
Professor of Law in Edinburgh), and Charles, became emi- 
nent in their several professions. About a month before 
the birth of John, the father, then fifty-nine years old, had 
submitted to the operation for stone; and his admiration of 
that science to which he owed his safety led him to devote 
to the services of mankind, in the medical profession, the 
talent of the son born while his heart was warm with grati- 
tude for the relief which he had obtained. He died on the 
2Cth of September, 1779. 

John Bell was educated at the high school of Edin- 
burgh, and at the usual age was entered as a pupil in sur- 
gery with the late Mr. Alexander Wood of that place. He 
was very early remarkable for enthusiasm in his profession, 
and always engaged with great ardour in whatever he 
undertook. It is a proof of his early proficiency that he 
had hardly arrived at manhood before his assistance was 
eagerly sought by his teachers both in the departments of 
midwifery and chemistry. During the time that Bell was 
pursuing his studies, the medical school of the University 
<vf Edinburgh stood very high, ranking among Its professors, 
Black, Cullcn, and the second Monro. It was while attend- 
ing the lectures of tho last mentioned professor that Bell 
saw the way to his professional advancement. Monro was 
a zealous anatomist, and anatomy was well taught as the 
ground-work of medical science, but its application to Sur- 
gery was quite neglected. This deficiency Bell wa? deter- 
mined to supply, and in tho year 1790, whilst yet ft very 
vonn<* man, he built a theatre in Surgeon's Square, Edin- 
burgh, where he delivered lectures on surgery and anatomy, 
carried on dissections, and laid the foundation of a museum. 

As there was then scarccW any private teaching or means 
of cultivating anatomy by private dissections, the establish- 
ment of a school naturally excited great hostility against 
Mr. Bell, every attempt at private teaching being con- 
sidered as an encroachment on the privileges of the profes- 
sors and the rights of the university. In his lectures he was 



wont to'speak of some of Monro's anatomical opinions with 
less respect than the character of that great man deserved, 
and he made no scruple to expose many mistaken doctrines 
and erroneous practices recommended in the system of sur- 
gery of Mr. Benjamin Bell. The tone and spirit of these 
Criticisms raised up a host of enemies among tho friends 
of these two gentlemen. 

In 1799 a pamphlet was published, entitled ' Review of 
tho writings of John Bell, Esq., by Jonathan Dawplucker/ 
It was an aflected panegyric of Mr. BclVs works, and was 
dedicated to him ; but the real design was to criticise his 
first volume of 'Anatomy/ to represent him as a plagiarist, 
'to pluck from him all his borrowed feathers/ and to \ indicate 
Dr. Monro and Mr. Benjamin Bell from his criticisms. The 
author was .supposed to be some near friend of Benjamin 
Bell's. Mr. John Bell published a second number, under 
the same name of J. Dawplucker, addressed to Mr. Ben- 
jamin Bell. It contained ironical remarks on this sur- 
geon's system of surgery, and had such an effect on the 
popularity of his work that it soon ceased to be the text* 
book for students. At this time Mr. (now Sir) Charles 
Bell was associated with his brother tn teaching, tho latter 
taking the surgical, the former the anatomical department. 

The College of Surgeons in Edinburgh presented at this 
time a very anomalous condition. It was a college of sur- 
gery and a corporation, forming an integral part of the town- 
council of Edinburgh. The first character had fallen com- 
paratively into neglect and oblivion, while tho privileges 
belonging to tho body in its relation to the burgh, exposed 
its members to the temptation of mixing in the politics of 
the town. This state of the college Mr. Bell was very 
anxious to alter; he wished to convert the collego into a 
literary and scientific body, and to separate it from the 
politics of the city. It was a part of his plan that the collego 
should resume the right, vested in them by their charter, of 
appointing a professorship of surgery, and take upon them 
their proper duty of watching over the interests of anatomy 
and surgery; that the examination should be placed on a 
more respectable footing ; that the candidates should com- 
pose a thesis on some subject of surgery or anatomy, sug- 
gestions which have since been adopted, but the proposal of 
which at that time excited against Mr. Bell great opposition. 
The change which was at this time proposed In the surgical 
attendance at the infirmary, and which, on being ultimately 
carried into effect, proved fatal to Mr. Bell's prospects as a 
teacher, was supposed to have had its origin in this feeling. 
The membe.-s ol' the College of Surgeons were in rotation 
the Surgeons of the establishment, and each surgeon, during 
his attendance, chose his own assistant for his operations, 
and those whose talents or inclinations did not lead them to 
take their share in the duties of the hospital, devolved those 
duties on others, and thus the surgeons particularly qua- 
lified for this situation soon distinguished themselves. Air. 
Bell, from his oxpertness as an operator, was among tho 
number. 

Dr. Gregory drew up a pleading or memorial to the ma- 
nagers of the infirmary against this system, and proposed 
that two or thrco ordinary surgeons, the best qualified that 
Could be got, should be permanently appointed, with as- 
sistant and consulting surgeons. Mr.' Bell, seeing that the 
proceedings were intended to affect his interests and his 
plans of tcachinp, made an appeal personally to the board of 
the infirmary, lie laid six folio books of eases on the table, 
filled with surgical drawings and surgical eases; he repre- 
sented tho long time ho had served the poor in that house, 
and the great attention he had paid to the interests of his 
profession, and how assiduously he had laboured ; he ex- 
plained to them the manner in which ho had taught his 
classes, that ho had accompanied the' students from the 
lecture-room to the infirmary; he explained to them how 
inseparably connected his system of teaching was with tho 
best interests of the patients, as well as with the improve- 
ment of surgery. All this was in vain : in the end he found 
himself and his brother with many other surgeons deprived 
of the use of the institution. Mr. "Bell brought the question 
before the Courts of law, whether the managers had power 
to exclude him from the infirmary, and it was adjudged 
against him. 

In 1 798 ho went to Yarmouth to visit those who had been 
wounded at Cainnerdown, and ho there applied himself 
with the zeal aim activity of tho most devoted student to 
lho proofs exhibited in the wounded of those great prin- 
ciples of surgery which it had been tho business of his life 



BE h 



m 



BEL 



to explain. In 1 803 he made an offer to government for the 
embodying of a corps of young men, to be instructed in 
military surgery, and in tbe duties of the camp and hos- 
pital, in order to aid in the service of the country, then sup- 
posed to be on the eve of an invasion. The offer was first 
accepted, but subsequently declined. 

After tbe loss of tbe infirmary, Mr. John Bell never re- 
sumed his lectures : he settled his mind to private study and 
professional occupation. He resumed bis classical pursuits, 
and perused and enjoyed the authors of antiquity with his 
characteristic ardour. In 1805 he married a very amiable 
and accomplished lady, the daughter of Dr. Congalton, a 
physician long retired from practice, and he enjoyed in the 
society of Mrs. Bell and a large circle of friends twelve 
happy years in Edinburgh. Mr. Bell was always of a deli- 
cate constitution, and towards tbe end of this period his 
health declined so much that ho was induced to visit the 
Continent, in the hope of regaining his strength by travelling 
and relaxation. In the course of his travels through Italy 
he made notes of bis observations, which, since his decease, 
have been published by his widow. He finally sunk at 
Rome, under the effects of his complaint. 

In 1793 Mr. Bell published the first volume of his Ana- 
tomy, consisting of a description of tbe hones, muscles, 
and joints. In a short timo afterwards the second volume 
was published, containing the anatomy of the heart and 
arteries. The work was afterwards completed by his brother 
Charles. His next work was on surgery, entitled Dis- 
courses on the Nature and Cure of IFounds, in two small 
volumes, 8vo. The Principles of Surgery, in three vols., 
4to., was his next and most formidable undertaking ; and 
his last production is the Letters on Professional Character 
and Education, addressed to Dr. Gregory. 

The character of this celebrated man may be summed up 
in a few words. He was a man of varied talents, and pos- 
sessed frreat energy and industry, great facility in commu- 
nicating bis ideas, and great acuteness and discrimination 
in availing himself of all that knowledge which is essential 
to perfecting surgical science; but he had little patience 
with the very slow retreat 'of antient prejudices, and little 
acquaintance with tho world, of which ho w T as so much in 
advance. He was an entertaining and instructive writer, 
and a popular and eloquent teacher. As a controversialist 
be was acute and powerful, and as a writer pungent, even 
beyond his intention and desire. His work on Italy has 
shown that his talent for general literature, had it been ex- 
clusively cultivated, would have made him at least as emi- 
nent as bis professional attainments have rendered him. 

BELL-FU)WER. [See Campanula.] 

BELL-METAL. [See Copper, Alloys of.] 

BELL-METAL ORE, a name by which the sulphuret 
of tin found in Cornwall (see Tix Pyrites) is frequently 
known, owing to tbe aspect of bronze or of bell-metal which 
it possesses, in consequence of containing copper pyrites. 

BELL (or INCHCAPE) ROCK, on tho east eoast of 
Scotland, lies at the opening of the bay formed by tbe Red 
Head in Forfarshire and Fifeness, and nearly opposite tbo 
entrance of tbe Tay. From Fifeness the Bell Iloek is dis- 
tant \\\ geographical miles, bearing N.E. by E. JE. by 
compass. 1 1 is dry for about half a mile at low water spring 
tides : its average breadth is about 200 yards. 

By an aet of parliament a lighthouse was erected on this 
rock, in which a light was first exbibited on the 1st of 
February, 1811. The light, whieh is from oil, with re- 
flectors, is 108 feet above the medium level of the sea: tho 
tides rise ten feet, and therefore the ligbt is 113 feet above 
low water. A bright and red light are exhibited, each of 
which attains its greatest strength every four minutes. Tbcre 
are two bells, which in thick foggy weather are tolled by 
machinery night and day, at intervals of half a minute. 
Prior to the erection of the light-house many wrecks took 
place annually on this rock, which was the more dangerous 
from having deep water all round it. (Stevenson's Account 
of the Bell Rock Light-house, 4to. 1824; Dessiou's North 
Sea Pilots 

BELLAC, a town in France, the capital of an arrondisse- 
ment in the department of Haute Vienne. It is on the 
bank of the little river Vincon, a feeder of the Gartempe, 
whose waters (low into the Creuse, by the Creuse into the 
Vienne, and ultimately into the Loire. Bcllae is probably 
about twenty-five miles N.N.W. of Limoges, the eapital of 
(he department. It is in 46° V N. lat., and 1° 4' E. long. 

The town is built on the slope of a hill, at tho foot of 



which the Vincon flows. It doea not appear to be a place of 
much trade. It possesses, however, several tan-yards, some 
paper-mills, and a foundry. Some woollens and linens are 
also made. The wines of the neighbourhood are of fair 
quality. The population in 1832 was 3025 for the town, or 
3§07 for tbe whole commune. 

The castle of Bellae was a place of strength in the tenth 
century, and successfully withstood the attack of the com- 
bined forces of Robert King of France, son of Hugucs 
Capet, and of the Duke of Aquitaine. The town sustained 
a siege in the civil wars of the sixteenth century. It was 
held for the king (Henry IV.), and was attacked by the 
forces of the League under La Gnierche. 

This siege is remarkable from the circumstance of tbe 
assailants having attempted to throw a bridge, after the 
manner of tbe antients, from a tower to the walls \ but the 
bridge was destroyed by the guns of the town. 

In the neighbourhood of Bellae, near the village of Bor- 
derie, is a fine druidieal monument. The arrondisscment of 
Bellae contains 780 squaro miles, or 499,200 acres, and is 
subdivided into nine cantons and seventy-nine communes. 
The population in 1832 was 80,061. 

BELLADO'NNA, a violently poisonous wild plant. [See 
Atropa.] 

BELLADO'NNA (literally Fair Lady) LILY, a species 
of Amaryllis, so called on account of its beauty and delicate 
blushing flowers. It is found wild at the Cape of Good 
Hope, has become naturalized in tho ditches of Madeira, 
and is not uncommon in tbe gardens />f England, where it 
lives for many years without shelter, if planted on a sunny 
border well protected from wet in winter. Its stems aro 
about eighteen inches high, of a rich purplish green, with a 
dense violet bloom spread over them ; the flowers grow in 
a clnster at the top of the stem, are of a funnel shape, with 
six divisions curving backwards at tbe points, and not less 
tban three inches long; their colour is a rich but not deep 
rose, which varies in intensity in different varieties. They 
appear in August and September, without their leaves, and 
give an extremely rich and very exotic appearance to the 
borders in which tbey appear. The bulbs may be procured 
in any quantity from Madeira. 

BELLAMY, MRS. GEORGE ANN, an actress of 
some celebrity. Her mother, whose name was Seale, after 
having been the mistress of Lord Tyrawley, married Cap- 
tain Bellamy, and a few months after ber marriage gave 
birtb, on St. George's Day, 1733, to the subject of this 
article: this unexpected occurrence occasioned Captain 
Bellamy immediately to separate from her. The daughter 
was educated in a convent at Boulogne, till she was eleven 
years of age, when she returned to England. Rich, tbe 
manager of Covent Garden Theatre, overhearing her re- 
citing the part of Othello to bis children, was struck by her 
voice, and brought her out at the age of fourteen in the 
part of Monimia in the tragedy of * The Orphan.' As an 
actress she drow the attention of the town for some seasons, 
particularly when she played Juliet with Mr. Garrick at 
Drury Lane, against Mrs. Cibbcr with Barry at Covent 
Garden. Her life, a memoir of which she wrote and pub- 
lished in six vols. 12mo., was a series of misfortunes and 
errors. She died February 15th, 1788, at Edinburgh, in 
great distress, aged fifty-five. 

BELLAMY, JAMES, was born at Flushing of poor 
parents. As a boy be showed a great inclination for a mi- 
litary life, but being tho only son of bis mother, she put him 
to the trade of a baker, which he was still following, when 
in the year 1 772, the second secular festival in commemora- 
tion of tbe foundation of the rcpnblie was celebrated through- 
out Holland. Till then he had never given any proofs of 
his genius, but this event suddenly made him a poet. His 
first verses were effusions of patriotic feelings and love for his 
native eountry. Somo wealthy citizens of Flushing were 
so much pleased with these first productions of the young 
poet, tbat, to encourage his talent, they resolved to senu 
him, at their own expense, to a university. Accordingly', 
after the neeossary preparation for academical lectures, be 
went to Utreeht, with the intention of studying divinity. 
These studies, however, he soon left for the more congenial 
pursuits of poetry and general literature. A society of 
students, among whom Klcyn and Rau afterwards distin- 
guished themselves, the frrst as a jurisconsult, the second 
as an orientalist, was then formed at this university, which 
had for its object tho cultivation and improvement of tho 
Dutch language and poetry after the German model : at 



n e l 



11)2 



n e l 



tho head of tins society stood our poet It was at Utrecht 
also, in the ywrr \785\ when hU country was involved in 
war, that our poet published his VtuUrlandsche Gezangen 
(patriotic poems), which bear high testimony to his fiery 
imagination, superior taste, and facility in poetical compo- 
sition. Previous to the year 1785 he had already pub- 
lished several pieces of merit, sufficient to induce the Society 
of Arts at the Hague to insert them in their collections. 
He also wrote a series of amatory poems, entitled Gezangcn 
myner Jextgd (songs of my youth). Although Bellamy died 
before his genius had reached its maturity, he still must be 
ranked among the first poets of his nation, and the restorers 
of modern Dutch poetry. A presentiment, which he had of 
his approaching deaths seems to account for a morbid senti- 
mentality which his latter works betray. lie died in 1786, 
at the age of twenty-eight. A short account of his life, 
together with two of his speeches, has been published by 
G. Knipcr. 

BELLARMIN, ROBERT, CARDINAL/ who had/ 
says Bayle, ' the best pen for controversy of any man of his 
age,* was born at Monto Pulciano in Tuscany, in the year 
1542. He entered tbe order of Jesuits in 15G0; was or- 
dained priest at Ghent by the celebrated Jansenius in 1569 ; 
and elected Professor of Theology at the University of 
Louvain'in the year after. Having filled this chair for seven 
years with increasing celebrity, ho returned to Rome in 
1 576, where he gave lectures on controversial theology. The 
Jesuits were at the time the great defenders of the church 
of Rome against the doctrines of Luther and the Pro- 
testants; and to their learning, ability, zcah and worldly 
wisdom that church was mainly indebted for its vigorous 
stand against the assaults of the divines of the Reforma- 
tion. In 1590 Bellarmin accompanied the pope's legate 
into France, for the purpose of affording ; the papal cause 
the aid of a master of the controversial points of divinity. 
In 1599 he was made a cardinal, but so little covetous was 
he of the honour that it is stated he was compelled to accept 
it only through threats of being anathematized for contu- 
macy. l*hrce years afterwards he was created archbishop of 
Capua, which see he quitted .in 1 605 for Rome, where he 
resided till his death in 1621, an active member of the court 
of the Vatican.. 

The controversial works of Bellarmin are very numerous, 
filling three large folio volumes. Of their merits, and of 
the merits, intellectual and moral, of their author, we have 
the following favourable opinion from the learned and 
candid Mosheim : — » 

* * The disputants which the order of Jesuits sent forth in 
great numbers against the adversaries of the Church of 
Rome, surpassed all the rest in subtlety, impudence, and 
invective. But the chief leader and champion of the pole- 
mic tribe was Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit, and one of the 
College of Cardinals, who treated, in several bulky volumes, 
of all the controversies that subsisted between the Protestants 
and the Church of Rome, and'whose merits as a writer 
consisted principally in clearness of style, and a certain co- 
piousness of argument which showed a rich and fertile 
imagination. This eminent defender of the Church of 
Rome aroso about the conclusion of this century (sixteenth), 
and on his first appearanee all the force and attacks of the 
most illustrious Protestant doctors were turned against him 
alone. His candour and plain dealing, however, exposed 
him to the censures of several divines of his own commu- 
nion ; for he collected with diligence the reasons and objec- 
tions of his adversaries, and proposed them for the most 
part, inlhcir full force, with integrity and exactness. Had 
fie been less remarkable on account of his fidelity and in- 
dustry ; had he taken care to select the weakest arguments 
of his antagonists, and to render them still weaker by pro- 
posing them in an imperfect and unfaithful light, his fame 
woulcl have been much greater among the friends of Romo 
than it actually is.' (Mosheim, Ecdesiast, Hist., vol. iii. 
p. 155, Maclane's Translation.) 

A much less favourable opinion was expressed by Sealigcr 
in a criticism which has called down the just animadver- 
sions of Bayle (note L. art. * Bellarmin '), who cannot well 
bo suspected of any bias in favour of the Jesuit. Sealigcr 
has ventured to assert that Bellarmin did not believe a word 
of what ho wrote, and that he was at heart an atheist ; 
but, besides the strong testimony of his life and death-bed 
to the contrary, such judgments are, as Bayle well remarks, 
a usurpation of the rights of Him who alone is the judge 
of hearts, and beforo whom there is no dissembling. 



Besides the controversial works to which wo have alluded, 
tho Cologne edition, 1617, of Bcllarmin's works contains 
three folio volumes of other works in addition to a volume of 
sermons and letters. 

BELLA'TRIX, tbe name of the smaller of the two bright 
upper stars in Orion. The threo stars of the belt rather 
incline towards it ; it is of the second magnitude, and is 
marked y by Bayer, and 24 by Flam steed. The naino 
(warrior) is indicative of the supposed astrological proper- 
ties of the star; the old Arabic name is Al Mirzara al 
Nfijid, the valiant lion, [See Orion.] 

BELLE DE NU1T, a name given by the French to 
various kinds of bind-weeds. In tropical countries those 
plants occur in great abundance, expanding their large, 
fragrant, and delicate tlowers of white, or blue, or lilac, in 
such magnificence, that they may well be called the ' gfory 
of the night' The speciesto which the name is more par- 
ticularly applied, is what botanists call Ipoma?a, or Calo- 
nyction Bona Nox, whose white Howers have a diameter of 
five or six inches, and open at sunset in the woods of tho 
East and West Indies, drooping at daylight. 

BELLE-ILK -EN-MEU, an island on the west coast of 
France, a little to tho north-west of the mouth of the Loire, 
in the department of Morbihan. It was known to the 
Romans bv the name of Vindilis; and appears in a deed 
of the middle ages under the name of Gucdel, a name 
which has some affinity with Vindilis. (D'Anville, Notice 
de rAncienne Gaule.) It was also, according to some 
writers, known to the antients under the Greek name of 
Calonesus, of which its modern designation of Belle-Ilo 
(fair or beautiful island) is a translation. (Piganiol de la 
Force, Nouvelle Description de la France.) 

It is said to have belonged in early times to the Count of 
Cornouaillcs, a small district in Bretagne, and to have been 
seized by Geoffroi, Count of Rcnnes, who bestowed the' 
island upon the abbey of Redon. It was withdrawn from 
the possession of the abbey by Alain, son of Geoffroi, and 
restored by him to the Count of Cornouailles, who gave it to 
tbe abbey of Qu imperii. Possession was contested by the 
heads of the two ecclesiastical establishments, into whose 
disposal it had thus successively come ; by repeated deci- 
sions it was confirmed to the monks of Quimperlo, but under 
them it remained almost a desert. 

In 1572 the monks represented to the King of France, 
Charles IX., the inutility of their possession ; they pointed 
out that in time of war it was occupied by the enemy, and 
in time of peace by pirates; and finally they prayed that he 
would take the island to himself, giving them in exchange 
some lands moro suited to them, or allow them to effect an 
exchange with some private individual. By the king's au- 
thority, this last mode of exchange was effected, and Belle- 
Ilc came into the possession of the Count de tteU or Rau, 
then governor of Bretagne, and favourite of the king. It 
was erected into a marquisate, in favour of this eount or his 
son, in 1573. Tho Count dc Raiz, when he obtained the 
island, colonized it with settlers, who were in a state of ab- 
ject vassalage to him; yet, notwithstanding this, the island 
so improved as to become a desirable, acquisition for the 
government to make; and both Henry IV. and Cardinal 
Richelieu attempted to bring about its union with the do- 
mains of the crown, but in vain. The island, with the title 
of Marquis de Belle-Ile, afterwards eamc into possession of 
the family of Fouquet. In the reign of Louis XIV. tho 
crown made some considerable encroachments on the rights 
of the lords of the island ; and, in the year 1718, under tho 
regency of the Duke of Orleans, whilo I^uis XV. was. a 
minor, the whole island came to the crown, in exchange for 
some lordships which wore ceded to the marquis. (Expilly, 
Dictionnuire des Gaules et de la France.) 

The island is of an oblong form : its greatest length runs 
N.W. and S.E., and is about eleven or twelve miles. The 
greatest breadth is about six miles. The longer dimension 
is in a direction parallel to the line of the coast of Bretagne, 
from which Bellc-Ile is distant about sixteen or eighteen 
miles; but the peninsula of Quibcron, which stretches out 
into the passage between the island and the mainland, ap- 
proaches to within six or eight miles of Bclle-Ile. Close to 
the N.W. point of the island are somo small islands or 
rocks, called the Conigues; the S.E. point is called Pointe 
Locmaria; and between this and the Coniguos, on the S.W. 
sido of tho island towards the ocean, are the headlands 
Pointe du Vicux ChfJteau or Poulains, Pointe dvi Grand 
Gnet, Pointe du Talus, and Pointe du Canon or Eehelle, 



BEL 



193 



BEL 



Palais, the capital of the island, is on the N.E. side, nearly 
tnidway between the Conigues and Pointe Locmaria, facing 
the Breton coast. It is in 47* 21' N. lat., and in 3° 9' W. 
long. Between the island and the main are the small 
islands of Houat and Hoedik, and several other islets or 
rocks. (Maps of France ', by the Society for the Diffusion 
of Useful Knowledge, and by A. H. Bru6, Paris, 1818.) 

The general elevation of tbe soil is 160 to 170 feet above 
the level of the sea : it is the highest land along this part 
of the coast. Tbe island is surrounded by rocks, frequented 
by sea birds ; and the side towards Bretagne is in almost 
every place inaccessible, and in bigh winds the sea breaks 
with great violence upon the rocks which gird this coast. 
There are two roadsteads, the Grande Rade and the Rade 
de Sauzon, through which vessels pass coming from Ame- 
rica or the West Indies. The mass of the island and of the 
surrounding rocks is calcareous. The summit of the island 
is a level plain, without trees, in which horizontal strata are 
observed. From the valleys which intersect this plain, 
springs of very pure water flow, and form by their junction 
small streams, wbich run into the sea. 

Tbe climate is mild and temperate. Ice and snow are 
rarely seen. The cattle need no shelter in winter, and the 
harvest never fails. The fig-tree, tbe laurel, and the myrtle 
flourish without any particular care. The soil is fertile, pro- 
ducing oats and wheat ; but tbo farmers allow their land to 
lie fallow every other year. They use, for manure, sea-weed, 
fern, and broom, which have been allowed to putrify. (Ex- 
pilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules, #c. ; Encyclopedic Me- 
thodique. Geographic Physique.) There is a good deal of 
common land, on which many sheep are reared. About 
800 draught horses are exported yearly. (Malte-Brun.) 

The island is said to contain 1*23 villages or hamlets, 
three small towns (bourgs), viz., Sauzon in the north- 
west part, Locmaria in the south-east part, and Bangor 
in the centre, and one town of more importance (ville), viz., 
Palais, the capital of the island. When Expilly wrote (1 762), 
tbe island was divided into four parishes or quarters, named 
after the four towns. The population of tho island is esti- 
mated in the last edition of Malte-Brun (Paris, 1832) at 
8000. 

The sardine or pilchard fishery is carried on to a great 
extent by tbe inhabitants of Belle-Ile. It commences in tho 
month of June, and lasts till October. The fish are cured 
and exported to the coast of Spain, or to the French coast 
/south of the island. The oil wbich is obtained during the 
process of curing the fish is either used in tbo island for 
careening the boats, or by the poor for their lamps, or else 
is sent to Nantes or Bordeaux, where it is used in the pre- 
paration of leather. (Expilly.) 

The town of Palais is fortified, and is commanded by a 
citadel. A canal, which is filled by the tide, divides tho eity 
into two parts. There were, before! tho Revolution, two 
churches, the parish church, and that of St Stephen. 
There are some salt-works. The harbour, which bas a 
mole or jetty, is only for small vessels. It is adjacent to 
tho Grande Rade, and is inferior to the harbour of Sauzon, 
which is three or four miles to the north-west of it, but which 
does not admit large ships. A third port, Le Goulfard, on 
the south-west or sea-ward side of the island, will admit 
larger vessels than either of tbe other, but it is not well 
sheltered from the south wind, and has a difficult entrance. 
(Expilly.) The population of Palais in 1832 was 1800 for 
the town, or 3584 for the whole commune. 

The natives of Belle-Ile are a large, well made, bold raco 
of people; as are also those of the little islands of Houat 
and Hoedie, which have been already mentioned as lying 
between Belle-Ile and the Main. The inhabitants of these 
islands are engaged in fishing, or in raising a little wheat. 
(Encyclopedic MHhodique ; Expilly.) 

In the year 1761, during the war between England and 
France, Belle-Ile was attacked by an English armament : 
the naval force under Commodoro Keppel, and tbe land 
forces (8000 in number) under General Hodgson. In their 
first attempt to land near Pointe Locmaria, the invaders 
were repulsed with considerable loss, but a second attempt 
was more successful. The whole English army was disem- 
barked, drove tbe enemy into the town of Palais, and after 
meeting with a vigorous resistance, compelled the garrison 
to retire into the citadel. At last a capitulation was agreed 
to on honourable terms, and the island remained in the 
hands of the English till the peace of 1763, when it was re- 
stored. (Smollett's Hist, of England; Annual Register.) 



BELLEISLE, a small island lying^ about fifteen miles 
north of the most northerly point of the island of Newfound- 
land, and about tbe same distance east from the coast of 
Labrador. It is placed near tbe middle of tbe north-eastern 
entrance to the Straits of Belleisle, in 51° 57' N. lat., and 
55° 40' W. long. The island is about seven leagues in cir- 
cumference. It has a small convenient harbour, called 
Lark Harbour, on the north-west side, capable of receiving 
only small vessels ; and at the east point is another small 
harbour or cove which will admit only fishing shallops. 
(Anspaeh's History of Newfoundland ; Malham's Naval 
Gazetteer.) 

BELLEISLE, STRAITS OF, a channel which divides 
the north-west coast of Newfoundland from the coast of 
Labrador, on the continent of North America, and forms 
the northern entrance from the Atlantic to the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence. The length of the strait, from its commence- 
ment at Belleisle island to its termination at Grand Point 
south-east of Bradore Harbour on the Labrador coast, is 
twenty-seven leagues, and its general width about four 
leagues. 

This passage is considered unsafe, and is in consequence 
but seldom frequented in the usual eourso of navigation by 
vessels entering the River St.* Lawrence. The Labrador 
side of the strait is much indented with bays, among which 
are Temple Bay, Wreck Cove, Green Bay, Red Bay, and 
Black Bay. The coast of Newfoundland along tbe straits is 
uniformly without indentations. (Anspaeh's History of 
Newfoundland; Malbam's Naval Gazetteer.) 

BELLEGARDE, a fort in France, in tbe department of 
Pyr6n6es Orientales, or Eastern Pyrenees. It is 554 
miles nearly due south from Paris, by the road through 
Nevers, Moulines, Clermont, Mende, Montpellier, Narbonne, 
and Perpignan, from the last of which (tbe capital of the 
department) it is distant about twentv-two miles. It is in 
42** 29' N. lat., and 2° 52' E. long. 

Bcllegarde crowns the summit of a mountain, which lies 
close upon the frontier towards Spain, and is above the 
pass (le Col de Pertuis) through which runs the road from 
Perpignan to Figueras in Catalonia. Originally there was 
only a tower to defend the pass: tbis tower was, in 1674, 
taken by the Spaniards, who added to it some works ; but it 
was retaken in July, 1675, by Marechal Schomberg, com- 
mander of the French army in this quarter, the same who 
was afterwards killed in Ireland at the battle of the Boyne. 
After the peace of Nimegucn in 1679, Louis XIV. ordered 
a regular fortress, with five bastions, to be constructed. At 
one angle of the fortress are some outworks, cut in the solid 
rock, and inaccessible on one side from the precipice, on tho 
crest of which they have been formed. 

The town is very inconsiderable : in fact there is scarcely 
anything deserving tbe name. A few houses of entertain- 
ment for travellers, and some gardens which belong to the 
resident officers of the garrison, lie at tbe foot of the moun- * 
tain. The only object of curiosity in Bellegarde is the well, 
which deserves notice for its great depth, and the hardness 
of the rock which has been cut through in order to obtain . 
water. 

In tho war betweon France and Spain which followed the 
French revolution, Bellegarde became an object of conten- 
tion. It was taken by the Spaniards in 1793, but was re- 
taken by the French under General Dugommier, in Sep- 
tember, 1794, after a siege of four months, and after a 
Spanish army, which attempted to raise the siege, had been 
defeated. The Spaniards sustained another defeat in an 
attack upon the besieging army the day after the place had 
surrendered. Dugommier, who was killed in battle shortly 
afterwards, was buried in one of the bastions. 

Tbe population of Bellegarde, as given in the Diction* 
naire Universel de la France (Paris, 1804), our latest au- 
thority, was only 130. (Dictionnaire Universel de la 
France; Reiehard's Descriptive Road Book <f France; 
Martinicre ; Expilly.) 

BELLENDEN, SIR JOHN, eldest son of Thomas Bel- 
lenden, Ballenden, Ballantyne or Bannatyne (for, by all 
these names is this family known), of Auchinvole, a lord 
of session, director of the chancery, and justice elerk of 
Scotland. He was sometime secretary to Archibald Douglas, 
earl of Angus, lord chancellor and prime minister of Scot- 
land, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. When 
Angus was, in September, 1528, indicted for high treason, 
of tne many that had previously waited on him Bellenden 
alone continued his friend, and, though not a lawyer, drew 



No, 229. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 2 C 



PEL 



D I L 



up the defences for him. In 1424 an act had been passed by 
the Scottish legislature, providing, that * gif there be ony 
poor creature that for lack of cunning or dispenses cannot or 
may net follow his cause, the Kin;*, for the lovo of God, sal 
ordain the judgo to purvey and get a lcil and wise advocate 
to follow sik poor creature's cause :* but here, the once potent 
Karl of Angus had for his first plea, that though 'eallitupon 
euro life, landcs, and nudes, and ar na man of law ourself, 
we can get na procurator nor advocat to speik for us.' All 
his pleas and defences were overruled, and he was fannd 
guilty by the parliament, and attainted; hut in March 
1542-3, tho attainder was reversed, Crawfurd says, on tho 
grounds taken in the defences, and Angus restored to his 
ostatcs and honours. 

Bcllenden immediately after had the honour of knight- 
hood conferred upon him; and on his father's death, he 
was in June, 1547, appointed to the vacant places of a lord 
of session, director of tho chancery, and justice-clerk. On 
the breaking out of the He formation, he was named by the 
Queen Regent ono of the commissioners between her and 
the lords of the congregation ; but he soon joined the re- 
formers, and in August, 1560, he and Wishart of Pittarrow 
are mentioned in Randolph's despatch to Cecil, as tho two 
whom they had resolved to join in a mission to France 
(Robertson's Scotland, vol. i. p. 186), and on Mary's arrival 
in Scotland, he was, 6th September, 1651, appointed one 
of the privy council. In December following he was one of 
those named to modify stipends to the reformed clergy — 
the mean allowance for whom roused the indignation of 
Knox. On the 23rd September, t563, he and Sir John 
Maxwell, the warden of the West Marches, met the English 
commissioners at Dumfries, where they entered into a con- 
vention for redressing the mutual trespasses on the borders. 
(Nicolson's Border Laws, p. 84, et seq.) 

Sir John appears to have been thrice married. His first 
wife was Barbara, daughter of Sir Hugh Kennedy of Gir- 
vanmaius, a friend of the Douglas family; and on the 1st 
May, 1559, he had a charter to himself and his said spouse 
of the lands of Waukmill with the Fullers-mill, and bomo 
other lands in the regalitv of Broughton, helonging to the 
abbey of Holyrood near fidinburgh. His younger brother, 
Patrick, who was mado sheriff of Orkney, also married a 
daughter of the house of Kennedy, and on the 18th Fe- 
bruary, 1565, had a charter from Adam, bishop of Orkney, 
of the lands of Stenhouso in that diocese, to himsolf and 
Catherino his wife, and their children, whom failing, the 
said Sir John. On the 31st May, 1565, Sir John got a 
grant of the oflice of usher of exchequer — an office which 
seems to have remained in his family till 1796, when on 
the insolvency of the fifth Lord Ballenden it was attached, 
and sold by the creditors. The same year Sir John had a 
grant of the office of justiciar and bailie of the baronies of 
Canon gate and Broughton, and other lands bolonging to 
Holy rood 'house; and the next year the eommendator made 
him' justiciar and bailie of Caldcr, belonging to the same 
abbey. 

Among the numerous reports to which the murder of 
Rizzio gave rise, one was, that tho Bellcndcns wcro impli- 
cated in the crime ; and in the despatch from Randolph 
and the Karl of Bedford to the privy council of England, 
27th March, 1566, it is said 'There were in this companio 
two that came in with tho king, the one Andrewe Car of 
Fawdonsidc, whom the Queen savth would have stroken her 
with a dagger, and one Patrick Balentyno, brother to the 
iustice-elerk, who also, her grace sayth, offered a dag against 
her belly with the cock down :' but it is added, * We havo 
boen earnestly in hand with the Lord Ruthen to know tho 
varitic, and ho assure th us to the contraric.' (Robertson's 
Scotland, vol. iii. p. 227.) It would seem, howovor, that Sir 
John Bcllenden fled from Edinburgh, on tho 1 8th March, 
1 560, on tho arrival of Mary and Darnloy with an army ; but 
he was soon restored to favour. He carried Mary's commands 
to Mr. John Craig, tho famous fellow-minister of John 
Knox, to proclaim the banns between her and Both well, 
and had long reasoning with tho church on tho subject. 
The marriage was solcmnizod on the 15th May, 1567, by 
the abov e-m en tioned Adam, bishop of Orkney — an act for 
which ho had to ask pardon of tho church, before they would 
allow him to remain in tho ministry. The bishop of Ork- 
ney afterwards joined the association against Mary and 
Both well ; and in July following he anointed and crowned 
the infant James. Sir John Ballenden joined tbe associa- 
tion likewise. He was also one of the Regent's privy 



council. In 1573 he was employed In framing the pacifi- 
cation of Perth, whereby ull the queen's party, except Kirk- 
caldy of Grange, Lethington, and thoso with them in Edin- 
burgh castle, were brought to the king's obedience. The 
same year he was, it seems, employed in a still more dilll- 
cult affair, namely, to persuade the General Assembly on 
the behalf of Morton, that the civil magistrate ought to be 
head of tho church as well as of the state. The discussion 
wascontinued for twelve days, and then adjourned. (Homo's 
History of the House of Douglas.) 

Sir John diedsomctimo before April, 1577, leaving by his 
first wife two sons, on the eldest of whom, Lewis, he by his 
latter will, dated in 1567, laid an injunction to servo tho re- 
gent and tho house of Angus, under the king's majesty's obe- 
dionce, * as I and my forbearis haf done, in tymes bvpast, 
befoir all the warld.' Sir Lewis succeeded his father in his 
possessions, and in his place of justice c.lerk. Thomas Bcl- 
lenden of Ncwtylo got the vacant place of lord of session : 

* quhilk place (says tho king's letter) may not now be usit 
by our said familiar clerk, viz. Sir Lewis, by reason of his 
less age.* To what term of life this last expression applies 
is somewhat doubtful, chiefly because the opinion of Lord 
Hailes has intervened. His lordship conceives it to be 
twenty- five, though that age does not appear to have been 
required for the bench till the act 1592, c. 134. In tho 
king's letter above referred to, tho lords of session were cn- 

| joined to allow Sir Lewis to remain in court during its deli- 
| Derations, * that he may hear the reasoning of all ranges 
with advyscment of the processes and interloquitors thereof:' 
for it must be remembered that at that lime tho court of 
session always deliberated in secret. The practice indeed 
continued till the Revolution, when an act was passed, re- 
quiring the judges' to advise and vote * with open doors ;' 
and it is not a littlo singular that, notwithstanding the im- 
portance of publicity and of the constant prcsenco in court 
of a body of vigilant and intelligent lawyers to the due ad- 
ministration of the law, the practitioners before the court of 
session do gonerally continue to perambulate the 'Outer 
House * to this day. 

Sir Lewis's immediate younger brother, Adam, was bred 
to the church, and became bishop of Aberdeen. Ho had 
another brother, Thomas, said to be of a third marriage, 
who was for a short time ono of the lords of session. Tho 
grandson of Sir Lewis was in Juno, 1661, created Ixtrd Bal- 
lenden of Broughton ; and on the death* of the third Duke 
of Raxburghe, the latter honour devolved on his kinsman, 
the seventh Lord Ballenden, on whose death, tho following 
year, the barony of Bellcnden expired. 

BELLENDEN, WILLIAM, an ominent writer, con 
cerning whoso birth and education we possess no eertain in- 
formation except that he was of Scotch family, became known 
as a writer in the commencement of the sixteenth century. 
It is stated that he filled tbeoffiee of Professor of Humanity 
in the University of Paris in 1602. and that he was enabled 
to reside at that university through tho favour of James VI, 
(James I. of England). It is eertain that ho resided a long 
time in Paris, and that the various writings which have 
transmit tod his name down to us were published during his 
residence there. In 1G08 he published his * Ciceroni's Prin- 
ceps,' &,e., * a singular woik/ says Dr. Bennett, Bishop of 
Cloyne,*in which ho extracted from Cicero's writings de- 
tached remarks, and compressed them into one regular body, 
containing tho rules of monarchical government, with the 
line of conduct to be adopted, and the virtues proper to be 
encouraged by tho prince himself.* This treatise, which is 
called ' Dc Statu Principis/ he dedicated to Prince Henry, 
the oldest son of his royal patron. In 1 612 he published 
a work of a similar character, which he called ' Ciceronis 
Consul, Senator, Scnatusquc Roinanus,' that is * Dc Statu 
Rcipublicas,* in which the nature of tho consular office, 
and the constitution of the Roman senate are perspicuously 
treated. Finding these works deservedly successful, he con- 
ceived, and partly executed, tho plan of a third work, • Do 
Statu prisci Orbis,' which was to contain a history of the pro- 
gress of religion, government, and philosophy, from tho times 
before the Flood, to their various degrees of improvement 
under the Hobrows, Greeks, and Romans. He had pro- 
ceeded so far as to print a few copies of this work in 1615, 

* when it seems,' says Dr. Bennett, * to have been suggested 
that his three treatises, * De Statu Principis,* ' Do Statu 
Roipublicco/ * Dc Statu Prisci Orbis,* being on subjects so 
nearly resembling each othor, thero might be a propriety in 
uniting thein into one work, by republishing the two former, 



BEL 



195 



BEL 



Mid entitling the whole ' Bellendenus de Statu." With this 
view he recalled the few copies of his last work that were 
abroad, and, after a short delay, published the three trea- 
tises under their new title In 1616. A copy of the original 
edition of the *De Statu prisci Orbis,' dated 1615, is in the 
British Museum. The great work being now completed, 
Bellenden looked forward (we still follow Dr. Bennett) with 
a pretty well-grounded expectation of that applause which 
his labour and ingenuity deserved. Uhfortunately,however, 
the vessel in which the whole impression was embarked was 
overtaken by a Storm before she could reach the English 
coast, and foundered with all her cargo. A few copies only, 
which Bellenden had kept for his oWn Use, or made presents 
of, were saved; and accordingly the work, from its scarcity, 
was hardly known to even the most curious of book col- 
lectors. Dr. Bennett states that no mention is made of the 
work in either the ' Observationes Literarise/ published at 
Mamleburg in 1705, or in the, 'Amamitates Literarise/ 
published at Frankfort in 1728, though both are devoted to 
a history of scarce and learned books. 

Bellenden, though naturally much concerned, was not, it 
seems, discouraged at his loss ; but immediately set about 
arranging his materials in a new form. His studies tad 
made him familiar with the works of the great Latin writers, 
particularly Cicero; and he designed a work with the title 
* De Tribus Luminibus Komanorum,' in which he proposed 
to explain the character, literary merits, and philosophical 
opinions of Cicero, Seneca, and Pliny the elder according 
to some, the younger according to other critics. The first 
'of these he finished, and was proceeding with the others 
when he died. The republication of the three original 
works above named of * Bellendenus de Statu* in 17S7, with 
a preface remarkable for its Latinity, and still more, per- 
haps, as being the vehicle of much fierce political invective 
against the character and administration of Mr. Pitt, and 
of unmeasured eulogy of the author's 'Tria Lumina An- 
glorum ' — Mr. Burke, Lord North, and Mr. Fox— from the 
pen of Dr. Parr, has made Bcllenden's name more familiar 
to the English reader than it otherwise might have been. 
In his preface, Parr affirms that Middleton, in his 'Life of 
Cicero,' borrowed largely from Bellenden, without making 
any mention of his name. 

(Sco tho works of Dr. Samuel Parr, edited by J. John- 
stone, M.D., vols. i. and iii. ; and The Biographia Bri~ 
tannica.) 

BELLE'UOPHON (Zoology), a fossil shell, the animal 
of which is unknown, but which probably was allied to that 
of Argonauta and Carinan'u. Deny* de Montfort esta- 
blished the genus, but he placed it among tho polythalaiu- 
ous or chambered shells. De France cut in half the very 
specimen which belonged to Dc Montfort, and thus proved 
mat it was unilocular like Argonauta; and in truth, Belle* 
rophon is tho only fossil which bears any resemblance to 
the structure of that shell, though it is much thicker. The 
genus is characteristic of the carboniferous formation and 
some of the older strata, Bellerophon hi ulcus may be 
taken as an example of the species. 




[Bellerophon htulcus.j 

BELLES LETTRES, a vague term used by the French, 
which has been adopted by other nations, to signify various 
branches of knowledge, which arc the produco of the ima- 
gination and taste, rather than of serious study and reilec- 
tion. We do not find that the limits of this description of 
knowledge have been clearly defined. Rhetoric, poetry, 
history, philology, are generally understood to come within 
the definition of belles lettres; but the mathematical and 
natural sciences, jurisprudence, metaphysics, ethics, and 
theology, the fine arts, and the mechanical arts, are consi- 
dered distinct from them. Antiquarian and classical re- 
searches aro not always included among the belles lettres : 
the French Academy des Inscriptions et Belies Lettres, 
*eems by its very title to make a distinction between 'the 



two, as the first part of the title, 'Inscriptions/ refers to the 
investigation of antient or oriental inscriptions, medals, &c. 
Belles lettres may be said to answer to the literce hu- 
maniores of the Latin language, and to the English expres- 
sion 'polite literature/ A 

BELLESME, BELLEME, or BELESME, a town in 
France, in the department of Orne, formerly included in the 
district of Perche. It is near the source of the little river 
Meme (a tributary of the Huine, which flows into the Sarthe), 
93 miles W.S.W, of Paris, 48° 22' N. lat., 0° 31' E. long. 
It disputes with Mortagne the title to be considered as the 
capital of Perche. It was under counts of its own at an 
early period, but the last of these was deprived of his domains 
by Henry I., King of England and Duke of Normandy, who 
gave Bellesmc to the Counts of Mortagne, whose successors 
assumed the title of Counts of Perche. In 1228 Bellesme 
was besieged by the army of Louis IX. (St. Louis) of 
France, and taken in fifteen days, although it was then ac- 
counted one of the strongest places in Europe. 

The town is tolerably well built, and stands on an emi- 
nence which commands the surrounding country. To the 
north of the town is the small forest of Bellesme, in which 
are some mineral springs, and also some iron mines. The 
wood of this forest is much used for cask staves, and fur- 
nishes the town with one of its most considerable articles of 
trade. Common linens and cottons are manufactured. The 
population in 1832 was 3264 for the town, or 3413 for the 
whole commune. / 

In the neighbouring forest of Bellesme, in the earlier part 
or the middle of the eighteenth century (as we gather from 
the phrase used by Expilly in 1762, 'ily aquelquesann^es*), 
two antient inscriptions were dug up, apparently the inscrip- 
tions of an antient temple of Venus. The first contained 
simply the word * Aphrodisium;' the second consisted of 
the words ' Dus Infkris Veneri Marti et Mercurio 
Sacrum/ (Expilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules 9 $c.) 
BELLEVUE LES BAINS. [See Bourbon Lancy.] 
BELLEY, a town in France, formerly capital of the dis- 
trict of Bugey, or Bugci, a subdivision of Bourgogne, or 
Burgundy [sec Bugey], and now the capital of an arron- 
dissement in the department of Aix. It lies amidst the 
ridges of Jura, and not far from the banks of the RhSne, 
which in this neighbourhood is the boundary of the French 
and Sardinian territories. It is in 40° 45' N. lat., and 5° 42' 
E. long. 

According to Martini^re, no mention of this town is known 
to have been made of earlier dato than the time of the 
Merovingian kings of France; but Malte-Brun* speaks of 
its having" been deslroyed by Alaric, a.d. 390, and rebuilt 
a.d. 412. A bishop of Belley (Latin, Belica) was at the 
second council of Paris in tho middle of the sixth century ; 
and tradition speaks of a bishop, Audax, at the commence- 
ment of the fifth century. Tho see is said to have been 
transferred here from Nyon in Switzerland. The town con- 
tinued under the dominion of its bishops ; and Frederick 
Barbarossa, emperor of Germany, granted to the then bishop 
all the rights of regality, including that of coining money. 
These ecclesiastics obtained also a seat in the Diet, which 
they retained as long as Bugey'was an incorporated part of 
the German empire. Belley, with the district of Bugey, 
came subsequently into the hands of the dukes of Savoy, 
but in the year 1601 they were ceded to France by the Duko 
Charles Emanuel. The town is said to have been burned 
wholly or in part in 1385, and rebuilt by Amadeus VIII., 
duke of Savoy. 

Before the Revolution, Belley possessed a cathedral and a 
parish church, an abbey for Cistertlan nuns, convents for 
Cordeliers and Capuchins, and nunneries of Ursulines and 
Visitandines, besides a seminary for priests, a collego, and 
an hospital. The cathedral is well built. The principal 
manufacture carried on is of calico and muslin, whicn is sent 
to Lyons and Avignon. {Dictionnaire Universel de la 
France, Paris, 1804.) Population, in 1832, 3550 for the town, 
and 4286 for the whole commune. 

The arroudissement of Belley is bounded on the west by 
the Am, and on the east and south by the Rhflne. It con- 
tains 540 square miles, or 345,000 acres, and is subdivided 
into 9 cantons, and 1 18 communes. The population in 1832 
was 79,744. The country round Belley is fertile, and the 
situation of the town agreeable. The river Foran, or Furaud, 

• M. Malte-Brnn even go«s id fur as io lay that Belley existed when Bren. 
nui road* hi* expedition against Rome, and that It wai destroyed by those 
who fled before Vk approach of the itercs Gaul, B.C. 390, 

2C2 



DEL 



19G 



BEL 



a small feeder of the Rhflnc, flows a short distance west of 
the town. 

Tho bishopric formerly extended into Savoy. At present 
it includes the department of Ain. Population in 1832, 
34 G, 030. Tho bisnop is a suffragan of the archbishop of 
Besancon. 

BELLVNI, JACOPO, was born tn Venice. He was 
one of the earliest practitioners in oil painting, and his 
works have considerable merit, considering tho a^e in 
which they wcro executed. Ho adorned tho public edifices 
of Venice with a great number of pictures, tho principal of 
which wcro a series of subjects from the New Testament 
in the church of St. John the Evangelist. He was distin- 
guished in portrait-painting, and among many other eminent 
persons who sate to him were Lusignano, King of Cyprus, 
and tho Doge Comaro. This artist died in 1470. 

BELLINI, GENTILE, was the eldest son of the pre- 
ceding, and born at Venico in 1421. He studied under 
his father, and acted for some time as his assistant, but 
subsequently gained such reputation by his original works 
that he was employed, in conjunction with his brother, 
Giovanni, to decorato the great council-chamber of tho 
Venetian senate-house. His other principal works arc the 
Histories of tho Holy Cross at San Giovanni, and the 
Preaching of St. Mark, at the college of that saint : this 
latter work vies in colouring and effect with the pictures of 
Paris Bordone, which hang near it, a proof that Bellini had 
made immense improvement on his original style ; in other 
respects, the picture is marked by the barbarity of early 
art ; the figures, which are numerous, are introduced with- 
out discrimination, the maimed, halt, and deformed, being 
among them, all painted with rigid regard to nature, but 
exhibiting ridiculous anachronisms, tbeir costume being 
that of Turks or Venetians. His Presentation of the In- 
fant Jesus at the Temple, in the Palazzo Barberigo, is a 
Inghly-csteeined performance. Some of Bellini's pictures 
were taken by commercial speculators to Constantinople, 
where, having been seen by the sultan, Mohammed II., 
that monarch sent an invitation to the artist to make a visit 
to his court. This proposal was accepted by Bellini ; he 
was courteously received by tho sultan, who sat to him for 
his portrait, and commissioned him to paint various his- 
torical works. Among the rest was" the subject of the De- 
collation of St. John : this picture being completed was 
greatly admired by Mohammed, who pointed out, never- 
theless, some inaccuracy in the marking of the dissevered 
neck ; and in order to prove the justice of his criticism, he 
ordered the head of a slave to be struck off in the presence 
of the astonished artist From this moment Bellini never 
enjoyed an hour's tranquillity until he had obtained leave 
to return to Venice. Mohammed dismissed him with many 
•marks of favour, placing a gold chain round his neck, and 
• giving him letters to the Venetian senato expressive of his 
satisfaction. During his residence in Constantinople he 
struck a medallion of the sultan. He was engaged in 
various public works after his return to Venice, for which 
•he was requited by the republic with an honourable pension 
for life, and the order of St. Mark. He died in 1501, aged 
eightv. 

BELLINI, GIOVANNI, tho son of Jacopo, and the 
brother of Gentile Bellini, was born at Venice in 1 422. He 
was the best artist of his family, and contributed, perhaps, 
more than any painter of his time to emancipate art from 
the dry Gothic manner of his predecessors. His first public 
works were those in the Venetian senate-house, in the 
decoration of which he was associated with his brother, 
Gentile. It is asserted by some authorities that the invi- 
tation of Mohammed II, was sent to Giovanni, but that the 
senate induced Gontilo to go in his stead, beinff unwilling 
to lose tho service* of their most distinguished artist. 
Giovanni ornamented the public edifices and churches of 
Venice and other cities of Italy with a prodigious number 
of paintings, and continued his labours to a very advanced 
age. Among his most distinguished works are altar-pieees 
in the Sacrisiy of the Conventual! and at San Zaccaria at 
Venice ; and in the monastery of tho Capuchins in that 
city is a picture of the Infant Jesus slumbering in the lap 
of the Madonna and attended by angels, a work conspicuous 
for its grace, beauty, and expression. To these may be 
added a Virgin in the cathedral of Bergamo, a Baptism of 
our l^ord at Santa Corona, at Vicenza, and Christ and the 
Woman of Samaria at the Well, in tho Schiarra Palace at 
Rome. In all tbeso works the elements of a finer style are 



inoro visihlo than had been practised cither by Pemgino, 
Ghirlandaio, or any of his immediate contemporaries. Bel- 
lini introduced a more amplo tt)1o of drapery, he gene- 
ralized his colour, and gavo breadth to his masses; and 
although he fell short of the excellence which was soon 
after attained by Giorgione and Titian, ho claims tho honour 
of having given the first hints of that admirable style which 
was perfected by ihoso great masters. Some of Ins small 
pictures are in England ; but it is only by his largo works 
in Italy that an adequato idea of his powers can be formed. 
He died at the age of ninoty, in 1512. (Vasari ; Lanzi ; 
Rodolfl; Dc Piles.) 

BKLLI'NI, LAURENTIO, descended from a respect- 
able family, was born at Florence in 1643. After receiving 
in his native place the elements of a classical education, he 
proceeded to Pisa, to enjoy the advantages which the Grand 
Duke Ferdinand II. granted to those who were disposed to 
study the sciences. At this time tho doctrines adopted in 
order to explain the functions of the human body were de- 
rived from the scot of mathematical physicians, who ascribed 
them to mechanical principles. The leader of this sect was 
Borelli, then professor of mechanics and anatomy at Pisa. 
Under him, and also under Alexander Marchetti, professor 
of mathematics, Bellini studied, and imbibed their opinions. 
He made such rapid progress, that, when only twenty years 
of age, he was appointed professor of philosophy at Pisa. 
Shortly afterwards he was mado professor of anatomy, and 
was frequently honoured with the attendance of the graml 
duke at his lectures. Ho continued to teach onatoiny and to 
practise medicine at Pisa, with great success, for thirty years, 
when he was invited to Florence, and made chief physician 
to the Grand Duke Cosmo III. At the recommendation of 
Lancisi, physician to Pope Clement XI., ho was nominated 
senior consulting physician to that pontiff. His reputation 
was also extended to foreign countries both by his writings 
and pupils, one of the most distinguished of whom was 
Dr. Archibald Pitcairn, successively professor at Lcyden 
and Edinburgh, who introduced and maintained the doc- 
trines of his master in these celebrated schools, whero they 
held sway for a considerable time. Bellini died on the 8th 
of January, 1704. 

Borelli and his pupil Bellini having likened the body to a 
collection of tubes, forming an hydraulic machine, calcu- 
lated the forco of the circulation of the blood and other 
fluids' through them, making allowance for the diminished 
velocity of their course arising from the friction along the. 
sides of the vessels, the angles at which the branches of the 
arteries were given off from the main trunk, the curves 
which were formed by the vessels, and the diminished 
calibre of these as they proceeded to their terminations. 
The moving or propelling force was not, in their opinion, 
solely mechanical, but arose from a fermentation in the 
blood, by which certain animal or vital spirits were disen- 
gaged, which forced the blood along the channels of the 
blood-vessels. So far, therefore, a unanimity of views ex 
isted between the chemical and mathematical sect of phy 
sieians. To give an example of Bellini's opinions, we may 
select his explanation of the alternato contractions and 
dilations of the auricles and ventricles of the heart : accord 
ing to him, when the blood fills the ventricles, it compresses 
the nerves of the auricles, and so prevents the influence of 
the vital spirits, and causes the auricles to be distended. 

His theory of respiration was of a similar kind. In his 
estimation, the sole object of respiration was to push the 
blood into the capillary or extreme vessels with a suitable 
degree of force. His views respecting secretion and in flam 
mat ion are more important, as thoy had much influence 
upon practice, both during his own life and for nearly a 
century afterwards. The doublings and windings of the 
capillaries in the glands was the chief cause, in his view of 
the subject, of the different secretions, and an accumulation 
or prolonged stay of the blood in these vessels was thecauso 
of inflammations and fevers. Theso opinions formed the 
basis of tho doctrines of obstruction and fetttor* which being I 
adopted by Boerhaave in his eclectic system of medicine, 1 
were extended by him and his pupils to most of the medical f 
schools of Europe. Their importance has greatly declined 
sinco the writings of Haller and John Hunter. 

The writings of Bellini are now little read. The best is 
the treatise Gust us Orgamtm novissime deprchensum, 
Bouonice, 1G65, in which he pointed out the papilla* of tho 
tonguo to be the essential or^an of tasto. The next most 
important is entitled De Urtnis, Pulsibus, Missione san- 



B EL 



197 



BEL 



guinis, fehribus, &c, Bononiae, 1683. His works have 
■ been collected and published in two volumes, 4 to., Opera 
Omnia, Venetiis, 1708, and reprinted 1732. 

Bellini possessed a taste for musie and poetry, and was 
the author of a poem called Bucchereide, which was pub- 
lished after his death at Florence in 1729. 

(See Sprengel, LHistoire de la Medicine ; Haller, Bi- 
bliotheca Mediant? Practices, vol. iii. p. 124 ; Fabroni Vitce 
Italorum, vol, iv.) 

BELLINZO'NA, one of the three towns of the Canton 
Ticino in Italian Switzerland: Lugano and Locarno are 
the other two, which are by turns the seat of the cantonal 
government. It is situated in a pleasant valley on both 
banks of the Ticino, eight miles above its entrance into the 
Lago Maggiore, and on the road from Switzerland to Milan 
by the St. Gothard. The valley is very narrow at Bellin- 
zona, and the town, with its three castles, completely shuts 
up the pass. Another road branches off three miles north 
of Bellinzona, eastwards, and along the Val Misocco into 
tho canton of the Grisons, and over Mount Bernardin to 
Coire and the banks of the lake of Constance. This road puts 
eastern Switzerland and central Germany in direct commu- 
nication with the Sardinian states which border the western 
bank of the Lago Maggiore, and thus the Austrian territories 
are avoided; goods from the port of Genoa are sent into 
Bavaria and Wurtemberg,. while German manufactures are 
sent down to Turin or Genoa. This useful road has been 
constructed since the last peace at the joint expenso of the 
Grisons, tho Canton Ticino, and the king of Sardinia. The 
following inscription is placed on Mount Bernardin: *Jam 
via patet hostibus et amicis; cavete Rhaeti ! Simplicitas 
morum et unio servabunt avitam libertatem. 1 The traveller 
who descends either the St. Gothard or the Bernardin finds 
at Bellinzona the climate and the productions of Italy : the 
vine, the laurel, the mulberry and fig trees thrive there, and 
even the orange and lemon are trained against the walls. 
The neighbouring mountains are covered with large chestnut 
trees. Chestnuts and the polenta, or pudding mado of the 
Hour of Indian corn, constitute here, as in other parts of 
Northern Italy, the eommon food of the peasantry. The 
people of Canton Ticino are Catholics. [See Ticino.] The 
population of Bellinzona is about 1300. (Carta, Manimlc 
di Geografta, Milan, 1826.) Bellinzona is seventy-five miles 
S.S.E. of the Hospice of tho St. Gothard, fourteen miles 
north of Lugano, and thirty miles from Como, the first 
town of the Austrian territories on the road to Milan. 
(Kasthofer, Voyage dans les petits Cantons et dam les 
Alpes Rhetiennes ; Walsh, Voyage en Suisse, en Lombardie, 
et en Pihnont ; Ebcl's Manual.) 

BELLMANN, CHARLES MICHEL, a Swedish poet, 
who is justly entitled to the fame of originality above all 
his Swedish contemporaries, was born at Stockholm in 
1741, and died in 179C. He studied at the University 
of Upsala, and after he had left it'was enabled to devote 
himself entirely to liis favourite pursuits of poetry and 
literature by the liberality of Gustavus III., who appointed 
him to a nominal office, with a competent income, and the 
title of secretary of the court. The king had already fa- 
vourably noticed Bellmann's earliest productions, which were 
a metrical translation from the German of Schwcidnitz's 
'Evangelical Dying Thoughts' (* Evangelische Todesge- 
danken'), published when he was only sixteen; and a poem 
entitled * Zion's Hogtid' (the * Festival of Zion'); to which 
somo years afterwards were added : ■ Bachi Tempel ' (the 
* Temple of Bacchus'), the most important of his poems; 
Friedmann's 'Epistler og Songer;' and a Swedish transla- 
tion from the German of Gellert's * Fables/ His posthu- 
mous works, * Skaldestykkcn' (' Poems'), and Friedmann's 
.•Handskrifter' (Friedmann's 'Manuscripts'), were pub- 
lished; the first at Stockholm, 2 volumes, 1812, and the 
second at Upsala, 1813. Bellmann's poetical pictures gene- 
rally represent scenes of the lowest life in Sweden ; but they 
are so chaste, so true, so full of imagination, and their 
colours are so lively, that the reader forgets the scenes of 
vulgarity to which he is introduced, and finds himself sud- 
denly transported from low tap-rooms to cheerful habita- 
tions of joy and song. To enter, however, fully into the 
spirit of Bellmann's lyrical productions, it is necessary, not 
only to read them, but also to hear them sung to tho tunes 
which were composed expressly for them. Bellmann had 
a heart open to friendship, ho was a cheerful companion, 
and bore a good moral character. (See Ersch and Grubef s 
' Encyclopedia.) 



BELLO^NA, the goddess of war among the Romans, 
corresponding in some measure with Enyo of the Greeks; 
but much confusion has arisen in the study of antient my- 
thology from the habit of looking upon the names of the 
Greek and Roman deities as convertible with one another. 
Where there are some points of resemblance, there are often 
still more of dissimilarity, especially as regards those deities 
which were the objects of religious honour among the Ro- 
mans before the introduction of Greek and Asiatic forms of 
worship. The Saturn of the Romans, for example, is far from 
identical with the Kionos of the Greeks; Minerva, again, 
differs much from Pa-llas, and Diana from Artemis, The 
greater part of the deities strictly belonging to the Romans 
have names which have grown out of the language itself. 
This eannot be said of the Greek deities. Thus Bellona 
is properlv a feminine adjective, which with the noun dea 
signifies the goddess of war (from belto, war) ; so Pomona, 
the goddess of fruit (porno) ; Portunus, or Portumuus, 
the god of harbours (portu) ; Vertumnus, of change (versu, 
antiently vertu) ; Silvanus, of woods (silva) ; Luna, or 
Lucina, the goddess of light (luc, and perhaps luci) ; For- 
tuna, the goddess of chance (fort, or more probably from 
an obsoleto noun fortu) ; Dianus, afterwards Janus, the god 
of light, until the Greek Apollo usurped this character; 
Diana, or Jana (a name actually used), the goddess of light 
or moon (die, day). On the same principle, no doubt, are 
formed the names of Vulcanus (compare fulgeo, ^Xtyw, 
shine, blaze), Neptuniis (compare vivru, wash, and nt/mpha 9 
a goddess of water), Saturnus (compare satur, full), Picum- 
nus, Pilumnus, Faunus ; and we might perhaps look upon 
Auctumnus (from auctu, increase) as a deity. 

Another principle which pervades the Roman mythology 
is the division of each object of fear or desire between deities 
of either sex. (Niebuhr, Roman Hist.) We have already 
seen Dianus and Diana. Besides these, there occur Saturnus, 
the god of plenty ; Ops, the goddess of plenty ; Vulcanus 
and Vesta, the god and goddess of fire ; Tellumo andTellus, 
of earth ; Neptuniis and Nymph a (Nimfa would be a more 
eorrcct Latin form), of water ; Jupiter, or rather Jove, and 
Juno, of air. la the samo way they had Mavors (or Gra- 
divus), together with Bellona, to preside over war. 

The temple of Bellona was founded, according to Pliny 
(xxxv. 3), in the year 259 of Rome, by App. Claudius, the 
colleague of P. Scrvilius Priscus. Livy, however (x. 19), 
refers the foundation to AppT Claudius Caucus, the colleague 
of L. Volumnius, in the year of Rome 456 ; and the latter 
is confirmed by an inscription in Gruter (389. 4j, Both 
accounts will be substantially true, if the latter only rebuilt 
the temple. When any Roman family had once connected 
its name with a publie work, those who afterwards bore the 
name had a pride in keeping up the connexion. The temple 
was situated in tho ninth region, between the Carmental 
Gate and the Flaminian Circus, and consequently without 
the walls of Servius, It was on this account tho place 
usually selected by the Roman senate and eonsuls for the 
reception of embassies from hostile powers, and also of their 
own generals, especially when these came to claim a tri- 
umph ; for the imperium, or supreme military authority, 
was at once annulled by an entrance into the city, and with 
it all claim to a triumph. Near the temple was a column, 
over which a spear was hurled as a declaration of war against 
any foreign state. (Ovid, Fasti, vi. 201.) This rite was 
introduced to supply the place of another. According to 
the original ceremony, a herald, or fecial, proceeded to the 
frontiers, and hurled a spear of defiance into the hostile 
territory ; but as the limits of the empire were extended, 
this beeamc impracticable. 

The goddess was usually represented as wearing a hel- 
met, and bearing a shield in one hand, in the other a fire- 
brand, a spear, or a lash. Sometimes she was blowing a 
trumpet, or uttering a war-cry and rushing to tho combat. 
Her imago is seen on the coins of the Bruttii, or Brettii. 
(Montfaucon, Ant. Ex. i. 126.) 

. The wildest extravagance marked her worship. Her 
priests (Bellonarii), like those of Cybele and Bacchus, af- 
fected insanity (Juvenal, iv. 123), whirling their heads round 
with fearful rapidity, and shrieking out words of pretended 
prophecy. On the 24th of March, which was appropriately 
called the day of hlood, they exhibited their zeal by making 
incisions in their arms, and sprinkling all around with their 
blood. The more prudent among her followers, however, 
contrived to produce the appearance of wounds without any 
self-torture, a laxity which the Emperor Commodus cor- 



B E L 



ins 



C E L 



reeled by a special precept that tho devotees of tho goddess 
khould make boml fide Incisions; but, besides the priests 
officially attached to the worship of the goddess, tlicro were 
volunteers who, impostors or enthusiasts, frequented her 
temple and exhibited tho samo symptoms of phrcuzy. Such 
scenes indeed were to be seen In the temples of other deities, 
but more particularly in that of Bellona. The wretched 
creatures were called fanatici (fiom/(//?o, a temple), which, 
though a term of reproach or compassion among the edu- 
cated, was a titlo of honour in their own estimation, and 
proudly engraved on public monuments. Sco an inscrip- 
tion given by Gruter, 313, 1, *To Q. Caeeilius Apollinaris, 
fanatic of tho temple of Bellona/ and another in 312, 7. 

The worship of Bellona was not unlike that of the goddess 
Ma, in the sacred cities of Cappadocia and Pontus called by 
the common namo of Coniana; and hence the Roman 
'writers often use the title of Bellona when speaking of tho 
'Cappadocian goddess. Strabo in the same way calls her Enyo. 

The earliest orthography of tho namo of the Roman god- 
dess was Duellona, agreeing with duellum, tho older form 
of belJum. [See article B, for the interchange of du before 
a vowel with b.] 

BELLOWS. This term is applied not only to the com- 
mon instrument in use, but to any machine which serves to 
forco a current of air against a fire. The principle of all 
these different adaptations of parts is the same, and is very 
•similar to that of a forcing-pump. By one motion a vacuum 
•would he made, if it were not for a valve which opens to- 
wards the incipient vacuum, and admits the air: by a con- 
trary motion the air just admitted is expelled, not by the 
valve which is now closed, but by any other orifice. 

When a furnace is to be supplied with a perpetual blast 
of air, it may have two separate bellows, worked by the 
samo machinery, in such a way that one is discharging air 
whilo the other is receiving a new supply. The incon- 
venience of tins construction is, that the blast, though per- 
petual, is not of uniform strength. The blast- furnaces of 
Merthyr, in Wales, are worked by one huge air-pump, 
which condenses the air in spherical reservoirs, out of which 
tho blast-pipes lead to the furnaces. In cases where a 
uniform and gentle blast Is required, as in the organ, the 
air is condensed into a reservoir called the wind -chest, which 
supplies the pipes. [See Organ.] A patent has lately been 
obtained for a construction b£ which a perpetual and uni- 
form blast is produced, and instruments for domestic use are 
manufactured.- It consists in a vaned wheel, which is cn- 
%-losed in a vessel communicating with a tube, tho vessel 
and tube being, in their longitudinal section, In form like 
that of a retort. * A supply of air is obtained by holes in the 
sido of the vessel, so that, on turning the vane by an exterior 
apparatus, the air is driven through the tube, and tho blast 
thus created is permanently supplied by tho lateral holes. 
Theso instruments aro very cheap, and more effective than 
the bellows in common use. 

The oldest representation of bellows is in tho Egyptian 
paintings copied in the work of Rosellini, now (1835) in 
course of publication. (ScoM.C. PI. L.) There are two 
pair of bellows, one on each side of the fire, with which they 
are connected by long tubes of wood or eune, terminating in 
pointed metal snouts. A string is -attached to each bellows, 
and the blower takes one string In his right hand and the 
other in his left. He presses with ono foot on tho bellows 
that is filled with air, at tho same timo raising his other 
foot from that which is just exhausted, and also pulling up- 
wards with the string that is-attached to it. 
• BELLU'NO, a town in the Lornbardo- Venetian king- 
dom, and the chief placo of the province of the samo name, 
which forms the most northern part of Austrian Italy, 
•being divided from Carinthia by tho Norio Alps. In tho 
•time of the Venetian republic, the district called 'il Bellu- 
nese ' was circumscribed within narrower limits than the 
.present province of Bolluno, which includes the territories 
of Feltrc and Cadoro. The province of Belluno is bounded 
' by the Tyrol on tho west, Friuli on the east, Carinthia on 
tho north, and the province of Troviso on tho south. It is 
watered in its length from N. to S. by the river Piave. The 
population of tho province amounts to 1*2,000. (Serristori, 
ftigg* Stati9tico deW Italia.) Tho country is moun- 
tainous, and affords good pastures. Cattle, and the produce 
of tho dairy, timber, which is cut from the mountain forests 
. and floated down the Piave to Venice ; and copper from the 
mines of Agordo, constitute the chief wealth of the country. 
Tho vino and other. fruit- trees thrive, on the lower hill*. 



about the valley of the Piave. Tho country abounds with 
game. An account of the copper- mines of Agordo, and the 
works connected with them, has been published by Corniani 
dcgli Algarotti {Dello Slabilintento delle Mi mere e relative 
I'ubbriche del Distretto d Agordo, 8vo. Venozia, 1823), Tho 
towns of tho province aro Belluno, Keltre, and Cadoro. The 
town of Belluno Is built on a hill, near the right or western 
hank of the Piave, in 4C° 10 r N. lat., and 12* 20' E. long., 
and 55 miles N.N.E. of Padua. It is a bishop's see, and 
is the residence of the delegate or governor of tho province. 
Its population is about 8000. Tho cathedral was built after 
Palladio'S design. Tho palace of tho government is a hand- 
some structure; and the town is adorned with several 
marble fountains. It has a gymnasium, and an ' lnstituto 
d'fcducazione/ or higher School for the education of females, 
besides elementary schools for the children of both sexes. 
Pcrrin Victor, one of Napoleon's generals, Marshal of 
France, and Duke of Belluno, took his title from this place. 

BELON, PIERRE, one of the fathers of natural history 
on the revival of letters, was born at a hamlet in a parish of 
the French province of Maine, somewhere about the year 
1518. Deservedly great as is tho fame which lie acquired, 
nothing seems to be known concerning his family, which 
Is generally considered not to have been of note. Medicine 
and botany were his studies at a very early period of his life ; 
and the bishops of Mans and of Clermont, and afterwards 
the cardinals of Tournon and of Lorraine, were his patrons. 
To their festering caro he owed his education, the means of 
travelling, and the opportunities of publishing tho observa- 
tions which he so well knew how to make. 

He visited Germany, Bohemia, Italy, Greece, Egypt, 
Palestine, and Asia Minor, and appeared in Paris, after 
three years of absence, in 1550, with a fine and extensive 
collection, which he arranged : he then proceeded to publish 
his works. 

In 1357 he traversed Italy, Savoy, DauphinS, and Au- 
vcrgne. In 1564, when he was about forty-fivo years old, 
he was cut off in tho midst of his useful career by the arm 
of an assassin, as he was returning to Paris. The Bois de 
Boulogne was the scene of this murder. 

It would be out of place in a work of this description to 
give a catalogue of his various and excellent publications. 
The sciences of botany, zoology, geography, and antiquity, 
were all enriched by his labours. 

Henry 11. and Charles IX. of France reflected honour on 
themselves by tho esteem which they showed for this cele- 
brated man, who was far in advance of the ago in which 
he lived. [See Birds.] 

BELOOCHISTAN, or the country of the Beloochcs, 
extends along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the river 
Indus nearly to the straits of Ormuz, beginning on the east 
with Cape Monfce or lias Mooaree, and terminating with 
Cape Jask on the west. In the interior it extends farther 
east and west, so that its extreme boundaries are 57° 50' 
and 69" 10 r E. long., and 24° 50' and 30°40' N. lat. Its 
avorago length may be COO and breadth 300 miles, which 
will give an area of 180,000 squaro miles, or about the sirr- 
.face of the British island and one-half more. 

This country was formerly considered as constituting part 
of Persia and afterwards as belonging to Afghanistan ; but 
it has lately been ascertained that its dependence on Caubul 
is merely nominal, and it is now considered as a separato 
country. 

The countries bordering it on the east, and lying on both 
sides of the lower course of the Indus, are under the do- 
minion of a Beloochee family, and on that account often 
included in Beloochistan; but we shall treat of these dis- 
tricts in the article Sindk. 

The central parts of Iran (Persia) are occupied by exten- 
sive deserts, which extend from S.E. to N.W. upwards of 
COO miles, and in hreadth in some places from 400 to 500. 
These doserts arc inclosed on all sides by a wide border of 
mountain-tracts. Beloochistan forms the most southern 
part of this border, and separates the deserts from the Indian 
Ocean. A considerable part of tho deserts is included in 
its boundary, and Is called the desert of Beloochistan. 

The desert forms its northern boundary, except at its 
north-eastern corner, where an elevated mountain-region 
joins the numerous ranges inhabited bv the Cawkers, a 
savage nation subject to Afghanistan. This mountain-re- 
gion, oxtending southward and terminating in a single 
rango on the shores of tho Indian Ocean, divides Beloo- 
chistan from Sinde ; but a considerable tract, lying on tho 



BEL 



199 



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declivity and at the foot- of the mountains, is under the do- 
minion of the Khan of Kelat, and forms the province of 
Kutch Gundava. The western boundary of Beloochistan 
is likewise formed by mountain-ranges, which begin on the 
coast with Cape Jask and Cape Bombarack or Ras Ke- 
razee, at the latter of which the straits of Ormuz commence, 
and stretch northward to the desert, where they terminate 
with the Surhud Mountains, which divide the Persian pro- 
vinces of Mogistan and Kerman from Beloochistan. 

The Hal a Mountains, which begin at Ras Mooarce and 
rise abruptly to a conspicuous height, run for about a hun- 
dred miles N.E., and form in this space one single chain 
with a few short lateral ones, which extend in breadth from 
thirty to forty miles, and separate the plains on the Indus 
from those of the province of Lus. Near 26° N. lat. the 
principal chain begins to run due north, and continues 
thus to the most northern extremity of the country. At 
the same place (26° N.) a high lateral chain branches off 
to the N.W., in which direction it continues for upwards of 
200 miles, declining afterwards gradually to the N. and 
N.E. till it terminates nearly at the most northern point of 
Beloochistan with the Ajrum range. At a short distance 
from the Ajrum range the Tukkatoo Mountains begin, and 
running east, soon join the Hala range, which is here called 
the Umhar Mountains. 

The extensive tract enclosed by these ranges is an up- 
land country and comprehends the provinces of Jhalawan 
and Sarawan, with the intervening district of Kelat, and 
the two districts of Mustoong and Shawl, which form the 
most northern angle of Beloochistan. \This upland country 
extends nearly 200 miles in breadth in 23° N. lat, but it 
grows somewhat narrower to the north and south of this 
parallel ; but even at the most northern extremity it may 
be a hundred miles across. 

Where this upland country is widest, that is, in the pa- 
rallel of Kelat and about fifty miles to the north and south 
of it, the whole surface is covered with a succession of high 
mountains and narrow valleys, with only small levels be- 
tween them. The highest part of this mountain-tract is 
about Kelat, where the elevation of the whole country may 
be not much less than 8000 feet above the level of the sea. 
To tho south, as well as to the north of it, are some plains of 
considerable extent, which, like a succession of terraces, 
seem to decrease in elevation as they recede from the eon- 
tral mass. Such plains on the south aro those of Soherab 
(from thirty to forty miles in length and from ten to twenty 
in breadth), Khozdar, and Wudd. and on the north the 
Desht be Doulut (the desert without riches) and the plain 
of Quetta. These plains are generally divided from one 
another by ridges twenty miles and upwards in breadth. 
That part of the province of Sarawan which is to the west 
of the mountains and borders on the desert has a large 
portion of lovel ground stretching out in extensive plains. 

Tho climate in the higher parts of this upland country 
resembles that of the northern countries of Europe, and has 
four seasons. Snow falls from October to the end of Fe- 
bruary ; and from the elose of the month of November to 
the beginning of February the whole eountry, even the 
valleys, aro covered with it ; at the same time the frost is 
very intense and commonly attended with north-eastern 
winds. The winter is followed by a good deal of rain in 
February or Mareh, and then eomes the dry season, which 
lasts to September. September and October aro showery, 
and so is the whole eold season, except during frosty weather, 
when the air is keen and bracing. The heat is never un- 
pleasant, unless it may be a few days at tho close of the 
summer, and in the country bordering on the great desert. 
The mountains consist of hard black or grey rocks; and 
the earth in the plains and valleys is mixed with such a 
profusion of pebbles and stones, that there is often not the 
slightest appearance of mould; yet in some placos the 
crops of wheat, barley, and jawaree {holcus sorghum), are 
plentiful, and other places afford excellent pasture for sheep 
and cattle. t Wheat is sown in August and September and 
reaped the' June following. Rice i3 only planted in the 
low valleys, where there is a supply of water to keep it 
flooded, which is only practicable in the southern districts. 
In tho northern districts there is not a single stream which 
is above the rank of a rivulet, unless when swollen by heavy 
rains or the melting of snow. 

Kelat or Kelaut-e-Nausseer is the residenco of a khan, 
whose dominion extends over a country larger than England. 
This town is enclosed with a wall of mud, and stands partly 



on the declivity of a hill, on which the palace of the khan is 
built. It contains 3750 houses and about 20,000 inhabitants. 
Among the smaller towns are Sarawan, with 500 houses, 
and Kharan, which is somewhat larger, in the province of 
Sarawan, and Zuhuree in Jhalawan, with from 2000 to 3000 
houses. In the district of Shawl is Quetta or Kwotta, with 
400 houses, a place of some trade. 

At the .northern extremity of the upland country which 
we have here described, the plains of Iran approach nearer 
to those on the Indus than at any other place, and as a 
smaller number of mountain-ridges here opposes the pro- 
gress of the traveller, this district has been chosen for the 
common line of communication between the high plains of 
Iran and those on the Lower Indus. Two passes aro already 
known, each of which begins at the town of Quetta in Shawl. 
One traverses the Hala Mountains in a southern direction 
and leads to the town of Dadur in Kutch Gundava. This 
pass, running through the Vale of Bolan, has received tho 
name of the Pass of Bolan. The other road passes from 
Quetta south-west to Mustoong, thence south to Kelat, and 
from Kelat in a south-eastern direction to Gundava, the 
capital of the province of Kutch Gundava. The latter pass 
is practicable for loaded camels. 

The province of Kutch Gundava forms a striking con- 
trast with the upland country. It extends on tho eastern 
side of the Hala Mountains, and belongs, properly speak- 
ing, to the plains on the Indus ; but it does not extend to 
the hank of that river, being separated from it by a desert 
tract. Its length from north to soutji is about 120 miles, 
but the habitable and fertile part of it is little more than 
sixty miles broad. Tho southern boundary is formed by a 
jungle of low trees, which between Saatee and Poonoo runs 
east and west, and extends southward to the Indus, whose 
hanks it fringes. 

The whole, of this province consists of a plain of arid 
white soil, the crusted surface of which, in dry weather, is 
cracked like the dried bed of a marsh. It would be unfit 
for cultivation but for the rivers, which in tho rainy season 
inundate a large portion of the plain, and whose water is 
brought by canals and embankments to the places which 
lie farther off, and reserved to fertilize the country in the 
dry soason. The two most considerable rivers are the Naree 
and the Kauhee, both of which issue from the mountains 
where the Tukkatoo range crosses the Umbar ehain and 
unito nearly in tho centre of the plain. Its course hence 
is southerly to Cunda, where the river goes off to the west, 
nearer the mountains, and losos itself in the sand and im- 
penetrable jungle. According to some, tho Naree reaches 
tho sea, (Conolly.) This river has an immense quantity of 
water when heavy rains prevail or the snow on the moun- 
tains melts, but it is often almost dry for months at a time. 
This plain partakes of the elimate of the intertropical 
countries, the year being divided between the dry and the 
rainy season. The latter lasts during the south-west monsoon 
(from July to September), and the dry season occupies the 
remainder of the year. The winters are very mild, but the 
heat of the summer is oppressivo. In tho latter season the 
Bade* Sumoom or pestilential wind blows frequently, and 
many people lose their lives by it. Kutch Gundava is a 
grain eountry, and many sorts aro cultivated to a great ex- 
tent, more espeoially jawaree, bajree (holcus xpicatus)^ and 
wheat, besides cotton, Indigo, and til (sesamum). The vil- 
lages in this fino plain are very numerous, and are increasing 
every year. Gundava, the capital, is not so largo as Kelat, 
but is better built, and probably contains about 20,000 in- 
habitants. The other considerable places are Dander, Bhag, 
and Lheree, of which Dadur contains 400 houses and 
Bhag or Baugh 2000. 

The province Lus, which extends along the shore of the 
Indian Ocean, between the sea and the upland region, is a 
plain perfectly flat, and in general barren, except on the 
banks of the rivers, where it produces abundant Crops of 
grain, sugar-eanes, &e. The remainder is partly covered 
with sand and partly baro and stony, or diversified with 
thick jungle. Along the sea- coast a salt marsh extends 
twelve or fifteen miles inland, which is diversified with 
tamarisk and other jungle, and in many places perfectly 
white with salt. To the north of Bela tho eountry is undu- 
lating, and, towards the mountains, hilly. 

This plain is separated from Sinde by the Hala Moun- 
tains, and by another chain from Mukran. This latter 
branches off from the upland region to the north of 26° 
N. lat,, and runs in a south-western and southern direction 



B K L 



200 



DEL 



to Ras Kutcherie, where it terminates en the shores of the 
bay of Sen mean v. On this chain a Hindoo pagoda, called 
Ilinglatz, stands, from which it receives the name of lling- 
latz Mountains. Two passes lead ever this range, one at 
the temple, called the Hinglatx Pass, and the ether farther 
to the north near Bel a* called Bela Pass. Two passes like- 
wise traverse tho llala Mountains* one net far from the 
coast leads to Kurachce, and the other farther to tho north 
to Hyderabad. There is one pass to the upland, which is 
called Kehun Wat, or ' the mountain road/ 

The whole coast of this province lies en the bay of Sen- 
meany, which is formed on the cast by Uas Mooarce and 
Chilney Island, the Bibacta of Ne arch us, and en the west 
by Cape Arubah, or Oremarwh in Mukran. It is a largo 
sheet of water, said to be free from rocks or shoals, and 
contains a good port, named by Nearchus Port Alexander. 
This bay receives tho river Poorally, the Arabis of Near- 
chus, which rises nerth-cast of Bela, runs along the base 
of the Jhalawan Mountains, and afterwards turns to the 
south, in which direction it traverses tho plain and reaches 
the sea about two miles S.W. of the village of Senmeany. 
At Lyaree, twenty miles N.N.E. of Senmeany, it becomes 
navigable for small boats. At Bela it is only from fifteen to 
twenty vards wide, and a foot or two deep in the dry season, 
but during the rains it is a quarter of a milo across and 
unferdable. The bar at the mouth of the river has only 
two fathoms of water on it at lew water, but near the vil- 
lage of Sonincany the river is from six to seven fathoms 
deep. Bela, en the northern bank of the Poorally, has 
2000 houses, and in iU vicinity the sugar-cano is much 
cultivated. Lyaree has between 1600 and 1800 houses. 

The countries which we have described are under the 
immediate or inediato sway of tho khan of Kclat, and pay 
him obedience. In the remainder of Bcloochistan his au- 
thority is only nominal. 

The province of Meckran, or Mukran, called Gedrosia by 
the anticnt geographers, extends from the western boundary 
of Lus and Jhalawan, to the borders of Persia, and from 
the shores of the sea to the desert of Bel oochistan. It is 
divided from this desert by a rango of mountains, called the 
AVushutee, or Much Mountains which run E. and W., and 
on the east aro connected with the mountains of Jhalawan, 
en the west decline to the N.W, and join the mountain- 
region of Kehistan. Another range of mountains runs 
nearjy parallel with the Wushutee Mountains, at a distance 
of from twenty to fifty miles from tho sea, being on the east 
connected with the Ihnglatz range, and en the west with the 
mountain-region called Bushkurd. None of these ranges 
seems to attain any great height. The southern range di- 
vides Mukran into two parts, the upland and coast, but both 
are very little known. 

The upland of Mukran seems to consist of a succession 
of plains, divided from one another by ridges of hills or 
mountains, which, commonly running N. and S., connect tho 
two mountain-ranges which form its boundary. The soil of 
these plains generally consists of hare rock, and large tracts, 
according to Arrian, arc covered by sand. {Anab. Alex, vi. 
2 4 , &c.) It is observed, that whenever these plains exceed ten 
or twelve miles in width, they arc found to be little better 
than complete deserts, except at the immediate base of the 
hills which bound them, where tbey are cultivated. Most of 
theso plains, however, do net seem te be at a great elevation 
above the level of tho sea, because nearly in all of them the 
date-palm grows, and produces such excellent fruit, that 
Mukran is noted for it. The best are these of the valley of 
Pnnigoor, situated nearly in the centre of the province. 

The sea-coast consists of Hat bare plains, very little ele- 
vated abovo high water-mark, which contain many salt- 
marshes, and extend to the base of the nearest mountains. 
They frequently show ne trace of vegetation: Nearchus 
says (htdtke t chap. 26) that the sheep which were supplied 
by the natives to the ships of Alexander had a fishy taste 
from being fed on fish, there being ne grass in the country. 
The wretched mode of life of the inhabitants of this coast, to 
whom the Greeks gavo the general name of Ichthyophagi, 
or Fish-eaters, is described by Nearchus (chap. 29). 

Tho climate of Mukran and of Lus approaches to that of 
the intertropical countries: both provinces h a vo four sea- 
sons, two wet, one hot and one cold. The first wet season 
begins In Pobruary or March, and lasts only two or three 
weeks ; tho wind blows from N.W. The second wet season 
comes on with tho couth-west monsoon, and continues 
through June, July, and August These wet seasons arc 



particularly favourable te the growth of grass, and change 
many tracts into pasture ground. The hot season begins 
after the rain in spring, and continues till October, those 
months excepted in which the south-west monsoon blows. 
The heat is sometimes go excessive, as to prevent even tlw 
natives from venturing abroad during the days called tho 
Khoorma Puz, or 'date ripening,* which takes plaeo in 
August The cold season lasts from December to February, 
but even then the air is warmer than- at any time in the 
upper parts of Jhalawan and Sarawan. During the hot 
season the winds blew continually from the sea inland, and 
though they are seldom known te be fatal to animal life, 
they destroy vegetation. 

No part of Bcloochistan suffers more from scarcity of 
water tnan Mukran, except the desert Owing te the com- 
paratively small elevation of the mountains, the hard nature 
of the rocks of which they consist, their bareness of vegetation, 
and the stony and sandy surface of the plains, the abundant 
rain which descends is net absorbed, and no permanent 
streams are formed. During the rain the water- courses aro 
changed in a few hours into rapid torrents, frequently several 
miles wide, but a few days afterwards they dwindle down 
te insignificant brooks, and in the dry season they entirely 
cease te flew, and water is found only in a few places in 
their beds. These beds arc usually overgrown with thick and 
impervious jungle, which supply food for camels and goats, 
and harbour many different descriptions of wild beasts. 

The river Sudnck forms a small harbour at its mouth, a 
mile from which is the village Pusunce, a place of some trade. 

The river Dust, or Dustcc Nuddec, or Bhugwur, is a 
small river at its mouth, but it is supposed that it rums u 
distance of six or seven degrees of latitude in a direct lino 
to tho coast, and that the water from its northern extremity 
traverses little less than a thousand miles. It seems to be 
the same river, which, under the name of Boodoor, traverses 
the desert of Bcloochistan, and in Sarawan is called Bale. 

Kedge, which is considered the principal town of Mukran, 
is a little place en tho Dust river, with a small fortress on a 
high rock. 

At thewestern extremity of Mukran stands an extensive 
mass of meuntain-ridges, wnich seem te rise to a consider* 
able elevation, and te enclose high and cold valleys. They 
are net fit for agriculture, and arc inhabited only by herds- 
men. This mountain-district is called Bushkurd. 

The mountains of Kehistan, which occupy the northern 
corner of Bcloochistan, aro connected with thoso of Bush- 
kurd by a range, which attains a considerable height and 
divides the plain of Mukran (mere especially that of Kus- 
surkund, which is twenty-five miles long and nearly as 
broad), from that of Lushar and Bunpoor, which fonn the 
plain (or Mygadec) ef Kehistan. These plains are similar 
to theso of Mukran, and produce dates in abundance. The 
sandy desert ef Bunpoor, which extends westward, divides 
these plains and the mountains ef Bushkurd from the Per- 
sian province of Kirman. 

The northern half of the province ef Kehistan and the 
contiguous districts ef Mukran constitute another moun- 
tain-system, called tho Surhud Mountains (or cold moun- 
tains), en account of their elevation. Between 29** and 30° 
N. lat, they are visible at the distance of eighty or ninety 
miles. Their declivities and lateral branches towards the 
desert ef Bcloochistan are covered with trees, and contain 
many fertile districts and valleys, with a black loamy soil ; 
and even some of the loftiest mountains havo fine earth te 
their very summits. But the western declivities and 
branches aro commonly nothing but a black rock destitute 
ef verdure. These mountains are rich in mineral produc- 
tions. There are several brooks of brine, and semo pools 
of water are covered with a scum similar te naphtha. 
Iron, copper, and ether metals arc plentiful, and worked 
enough te supply the consumption ef the inhabitants. Sal- 
ammeniae is the native product of a mountain ealledKoh 
i-Neushadir (or the hill or sal-ammoniac), and found in the 
fissures ef the rock. Brimstone is plentiful. 

The climato ef this mountain- tract resembles in some 
measure that of Sarawan and Jhalawan, but is much milder. 
It partakes ef tho rains of the south-west monsoon, but these 
rains, wliich in Mukran arc always regular, are here often 
partial, and at other times so heavy as to destroy iho crops ; 
m either case they arc follow ed by a famine. The Kehukeo, 
or hilly part of Kohistan, contains ne placo of note. In the 
Mydanee or plain, the town of Puhra, which contains AGO 
houses, is tho largest 



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•201 



B E L 



The desert of Beloochistan extends to the north of the 
AVushutee range, between the provinces of Sarawan and 
Kohistan, and measures, E. and W., about 200 miles. * No 
northern boundary can be assigned to it, since it continues 
northward to the banks of the Hilmend river, where it is 
called the desert of Sejestan. Nearly in the middle it is 
traversed from N. to S. by a river called Boodoor, which 
flows southward towards the coast, and on both sides of it 
the desert presents a different aspect. On the east the sur- 
face is covered by a very light and red sand. This sand is 
thrown by the wind into an irregular mass of waves running 
principal iy E. and W., and varying in height from ten to 
twenty feet. Most of these waves rise perpendicularly on 
the opposite side to that on which the prevailing wind 
blows, and when seen from a distance they resemble, a new 
brick wall The side facing the wind slopes off with a gra- 
dual declivity to the base of the next windward wave, or 
near to it. and a hollow or path is thus formed between tnc 
waves. It is difficult,* and in some cases impossible, to 
ascend the leeward or perpendicular face! even for camels 
Onlv two plants have been observed growing on this*sand. 
To the west of the river Boodoor the surfaco is covered with 
a hard black gravel, on which no trace of verdure is seen ; 
nor even the most trilling irregularity in the surface. The 
bed of the river is covered with a thick jungle of different 
kinds of trees and brushwood, the haunt of wolves, jackals, 
and other wild animals. The sultry air on this desert is 
frequently refreshed by tornados, accompanied by torrents 
of rain, which fall in extremely large drops, but are imme- 
diately absorbed. Without these tornados it would be im- 
possible to pass through the desert at any season ; and from 
June to September it cannot be traversed, notwithstanding 
the prevalence of these gusts, for in this season the winds 
are so scorching and destructivo as to kill both animals and 
vegetables. They are called Julot or Julo, * the (lame/ or 
Bade' Sumoom, • the pestilential wind.* This description 
reminds us of the difficulties experienced by the army of 
-Alexander in traversing the sandy deserts -of Gedrosia. 
(Arrian, vi. 23, &c.) 

It is difficult to guess what portion of Beloochistan is 
available for agricultural purposes: it is however certain 
that not one-hundredlh part is actually under cultivation. 
The districts fit for pasture -are much more extensive, but 
both together do not probably amount to one-tenth of the 
whole surface, even if the desert is not taken into the 
account. Yet the inhabitants display ingenuity and indus- 
try in somo branches of agriculture. 

All kinds of grain known in India are cultivated in Bc- 
oochistan, a3 rice, wheat, barley, bajree {holcus meatus), 
jawarec, inoong (phaseolus mungo), maize or Indian corn, 
dal (vetch), mutter (a kind of pea), til (sesamum), and 
chunna {deer artetinum). Rice will not grow in Gundava. 

About Kclat a great variety of vegetables are cultivated, 
turnips, carrots, cabbages, lettuces, cauliflowers, peas, beans, 
radishes, onions, celery, parsley, garlic, egg-fruit, cucum- 
bers. Madder is cultivated with great care in the districts 
north and east of Kelat, cotton in great abundance in Kutch 
Gundava, and indigo in different places. The sugar-cane 
grows chiefly on the plains of Luss. 

The upland country about Kelat abounds in all fruits 
grown in the countries of Europe, as apricots, peaches, 
grapes of various kinds, almonds, apples, pears, plums, cur- 
rants and cherries, figs, pomegranates, mulberries, melons, 
to which pistachio-nuts, plantains, and guaivas aro to bo 
added. Tho water-melons attain such a size, that one man 
is unable to raise them. Tho almonds are excellent in 
the northern districts of Shawl and Moostoong. The lower 
countries have other kinds of fruits, especially the date, 
which is cultivated with great care in Moikran, where it is 
considered as tbo best gift of heaven ; the value of theso 
trees is much enhanced by their thriving best in a gravelly 
and barren soil. 

The numerous herds of cattle require much fodder, and 
the culture of artificial grass is not neglected. It docs not, 
however, extend farther than to the culture of oushpoosb, or 
camel grass, a peculiar kind of clover, which grows with a 
stalk a foot or two high, and has leaves like shamrock. 

The sides of some mountains are covered with trees, and 
they are also found in the jungle, which generally covers 
the wide bed of the rivers. The best timber is protluced by 
hetupoors (a species of Ziztjphus Jujuba) and tho tamarind 
trees. The former resemble teak, and are very hard. Most 
of the trees of ihis country arc not known in Europe, and 



many of our trees, as the oak, ash, fir, &c. are unknown 
there. 

The domestic animals, consist of horses, mules, asses, 
camels, dromedaries, buffaloes, sheep, goats, dogs, and cats. 
The horses are strong, well boned, and large, especially to 
the south of Kelat, and' in Kutch Gundava; in Luss and 
Mukran they are small, and deficient in spirit. Sheep are 
mostly of the flat-tailed kind. Among the domestic animals 
the camel and dromedary aro most highly prized, especially 
-the dromedaries, on account of their fitness for the long 
and remote marauding expeditions to which the inhabitants 
are so prone. Camels are not found in the lowland coun- 
tries. 

Of wild animals thero are lions, tigers, leopards, hyenas, 
wolves, jackals, tiger-cats, wild dogs, foxes, hares, mon- 
gooses, mountain-goats, antelopes, elks, red and moose deer, 
wild asses, &c. Tho wild-dogs are numerous and ferocious. 
They frequently hunt in packs of twenty or thirty, and will 
seize a bullock and kill him in a few minutes; but being 
timid, they keep in the most impenetrable jungles. Lions 
and tigers are rare. The hyena alone attacks man, but 
only when urged by severe hunger, or when irritated. 

Of domestic birds only fowls and pigeons occur: there 
are no geese, turkeys, or ducks. Of wild birds almost every 
kind known in Europe and India is met with, and tho bus- 
tards, jungle- fowls, and black partridges are very numerous. 
Hawking is a favourite pastime with some of the chiefs in 
the western districts, and they pay great attention to tho 
instruction of their birds. y 

In somo of the larger rivers, especially in the Poorally, 
fish are plentiful at somo places ; and the few inhabitants of 
the sea-coast gain their chief subsistence by fishing : but it 
does not seem that fish are abundant along the shore. 

Gold and silver are found in J hula wan, in the mines near 
the town of Nal, not far from Khozdur, whero these metals 
have been discovered in working for iron and lead. They 
are not, however, extracted from the ore at the place, but 
are sent in their native state to the Punjaub. Lead, iron, 
copper, tin, antimony, brimstone, alum, and many kinds of 
mineral salts and saltpetre, occur in various places. Salt- 
petre is dug up in some places in a native state, but at 
Kclat is extracted from the earth, and is preferred to that 
which is found pure. Rock-salt is very common in Ko- 
b is tan. 

As many parts of Beloochistan have never been visited by 
observing travellers, we are very imperfectly acquainted 
with the races of men that inhabit this extensive country. 
We know onlv those which live in the eastern and northern 
districts, tho Belooches and the Brahooes, who differ con- 
siderably in their figure and language, and partly also in 
manners and character. 

The Belooches are a tall, active raco of men, not possess- 
ing great physical strength, but adapted and inured to 
changes of climate and season, and accustomed to undergo 
every species of fatigue. They have a long faco and promi- 
nent features, a dark complexion, and black hair. The 
Brahooes aro short and strong-boned ; their faces are round, 
and their lineaments fiat: numbers of them have brown 
hair and beards. Their external appearance reminds us of 
the Mongol race. In activity, strength, and hardiness, few 
people surpass them ; and they are both inured to the cold 
of tho mountainous regions of Beloochistan and the hot 
plains of Kutch Gundava. 

The Beloochee language partakes considerably of the 
idiom of modem Persia, and at least one-half of tne words 
are borrowed from that language, but greatly disguised 
under a corrupt pronunciation. Lieutenant Pottinger, after 
travelling for some timo among them, was enabled, by his 
knowledge of the Persian language, to understand almost 
every sentence spoken by the Belooches in their own tongue. 
The language of the Brahooes is quite different from tho 
Persian; but it contains a great number of Hindoostaneo 
words, and strongly resembles as to sound the Punjaubee, 
or the dialect spoken in the Punjaub. 
r The Bclooehcs are subdivided into three principal tribes, 
the Nharoocs, Rhinds, and Mughsees, of which the first aro 
the most distinguished. They inhabit the mountains of 
Kohistan exclusively, and are settled in considerablo num- 
bers^ in the eastern upland country to the north and south 
of Kelat. The other two tribes huvo settled in Kuteh Gun- 
dava, where they are incorporated with tho Juths, or culti- 
vators of ihc soil. The Belooches, but especially the Nhu- 
rooc«* consider private theft dishonourable and disgraceful, 



No. 230. 



[THE PENNY.CYCLOiVEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-2 D 



BEL 



202 



DEL 



but the plunder and devastation of n country are viewed as 
highly honourablo actions; and accordingly they are ranch 
addicted to predatory incursions, which they uxeculo with 
surprising activity and quickness. Their manners are pas- 
toral. They usually reside in ghedans or tents, made of 
black felt or coarse blanket, stretched over a frarao of wicker- 
work. An assemblage of such ghedans is called a looinun, 
or village, and its inhabitants constitute a kheil, or society. 
Like all other pastoral nations, they arc hospitable, indolent, 
and fond of hunting. Unless occupied by some favourite 
amusement, they will spend whole days in lounging from 
one ghedan to another, smoking and gambling. They have 
commonly two wives, and sometimes more. They treat 
their women with attention and respect, and are npt so 
scrupulous about their being seen by straugers as most Mo- 
hammedans, although they by no means allow them to 
appear in public at all times. They are avaricious, revenge- 
ful, and cruel. 

The Brahooes, who principally inhabit the province of 
Jhalawan, and are also dispersed towards the north as far 
as the desert, are a still more unsettled wandering nation, 
always residing in one part of the country during tho sum* 
mer, and emigrating to another during the winter season : 
they likowise change their immediate places of abode many 
times every year in quest of pasturage for their flocks, a 
practice which is rare among the Belooehes. But many of 
them are husbandmen, and laborious hard-workers. On 
the plains to tho south of Kelat they till large tracts of land, 
and sell grain, cheese, and ghee, with a few coarse blankets, 
carpets, and fells. They are not less hospitable, nor less 
faithful in adhering to their promises, than the Belooehes ; 
but they are more quiet and industrious; less inclined to 
rapine and violence, though at least equal in bravery ; and 
their manners are mild and inoffensive, though uncivilized 
and uncouth. They are grateful and faith fut and exempt 
from revenge, cruelty, and avarice. The task of the family 
is divided among botb sexes, nearly as in most countries in 
Europe. The men tend tho flocks and till the ground : the 
women are occupied in milking, making butter, cheese, and 
ghee, and working carpets, felts, and coarse white cloth. 
Both sexes mingle more together than is usual in the coun- 
tries of western Asia. Both nations are Soonee Musulmans, 
and consequently many of their usages arc regulated ac- 
cording to the precepts of the Koran. 

Tbe Dewars and Julhs live dispersed among these two 
nations, the former about Kelat, the latter in Kutch Gun- 
dava. The Dewars, or Dehkans (i.*. the villagers), are 
agriculturists, and do not migrate. They speak the com- 
mon pure Persian. In stature they are below the middle 
size, with blunt features, high cheek-bones, and full cheeks. 
They aro quiet and harmless in their disposition, and civil 
and obliging to strangers, but not given to hospitality. 

The Juths, who form the great bulk of tho population of 
Kuleh Gundava, show, by their manners, appearance, and 
customs, that they are descended from the aboriginal Hin- 
doos. The Julhs, like the Dewars, have been converted to 
the Mohammedan faitb. 

Tho inhabitants of Luss speak a language similar to that 
of Sinde, and strongly resemble the Hindoos, especially in 
their apathy and the want of energy in their countenances. 

The inhabitants of the sea-coast of Mukran are a puny 
and deliealo race, when compared with the Beloochcs and 
Brahooes. Their blacker complexion may probably bo attri- 
buted to their frequent intermarriages with the Arabs of 
the opposite coast. In tbe interior of Mukran some pastoral 
tribes wandor about, but we hardly know anything of them, 
as well as of the pastoral inhabitants of Busbkurd. In the 
towns and places of commerce a great number of Hindoos 
are settled as merchants, and they are commonly the 
wealthiest inhabitants. 

Tho commerce of Beloochistan is not of much importance. 
It exports grain from Kuleh Gundava and Luss, dates from 
Mukran, and horses from Kelat and Gundava. The im- 
ports consist principally of some metals, apices, and manu- 
factured goods of silk and cotton; to which salt from Moul- 
tan may be added. 

The government of Kelat is despotic, but limited by a 
feudal system. The sirdars or chiefs of the tribes are bound 
to furnish their quota of soldiers, and to attend the court. 
They are partly Hereditary, and partly chosen by the tribes 
themselves. In the western districts the authority of the 
khan is only nominal ; and government is iu the hands of 
tho sirdars, who are commonly cboaen by the people, but do ' 



not enjoy extensive authority, Tho tribes hero are, pro- 
perly speaking, a number of petty republics, in which every 
member feels that he has a right of revenging his own 
wrongs, and of giving his voto on all matters of public inte- 
rest. (Pottinger, Travels in XeloodUttan and Sinde; Co- 
nolly's Journey to the North of India, &.c. ; Burnes's 
Travels to Bokhara ; Map of Central Asia, bv Arrowsniith.) 

BELOPOL or BYELO-POLYE, tho capital of a circle 
in tho province of Charkoff» in European Russia, at tho 
conlluenee of tho Vira and Kriga, tributaries of the Seim ; 
it is of modern date and surrounded by a rain part of earth 
and a moat. It contains eight churches of wood, nearly $00 
houses, besides forty-six wooden storehouses, had in 17t-3 a 
population of 9050 souls, mostly of the agricultural class, 
which has now increased to about 10,000: it has extensive 
distilleries of brandy, and has Nearly markets, but it is not 
a place of much trade or of any note for operative industry. 
It is about 140 miles (212 versts according to Georgi) to the 
N.W. of Charkotr, in 51° 5' N. lal., and 34° 35' E. long. 

BELO'PTKRA, in zoology, a fossil genus established by 
Deshayes and described by Blainvillo as an animal entirely 
unknown, containing in the back part of its muscular en- 
velope a symmetrical calcareous or bony shell, formed of 
a thick solid summit very much loaded behind, and a front 
tubo more or less complete, the cavity of which is conical 
and annular, the shell or bono having wing-shaped appeu- 
dages without anv anterior shield-liko prolongation. 

Do Blainville divider the geuus into two sections. The 
first consists of species whose wing-shaped appendages are 
united below the summit, and whose cavity U somewhat in 
tho shapo of a scuttle- (hotte) ; of this section Beloptera 
sepioidea is given as an example, 




Side tWw, Za4vicw. Internal cartty. 

(IMoplera irpiotdeo,] 

The second includes species whose wing- shaped appen- 
dages are distinct, and whose cavity is completely conical 
with traces of chambers and of a siphon. Of this division 
Beloptera belemnoidea. is given as an illustration. 




(Beloptera bckmooidcji.] 



De Blainville observes that this genus ought to bo placed 
at tho end of the sepiacea or cuttles ; and that the first of 
the species is evidently very much allied to the bones of 
those animals, while the second approaches the belemnite*. 

After all, the probability is, that these bodies are only 
portions of the bones of some of the cuttle-fishes; and this 
appears to have been the opinion of Cuvicr. 

If a perfect bone of the common species of our coasts bo 
closely examined, a structure very analogous to tbe conical 
circularly-grooved cavity of Beloptera* although in a more 
expanded form, will be observed. These fossils have been 
found in tho London clay, aud othor beds above the chalk. 

Voltz, in his memoir on Belemniles, makes Beloptera 
sepioidca a distinct genus under the name of Belo&crpia. 

BELOS/EPIA. [See Beloptera.] 

BELSIIAM, THOMAS, a dissenting minister of the 
Unitarian persuasion, was born at Bedford. April 15, 1750, 
O.S. On his mother's side he was descended from the Earl 
of Anglesey : his father, the Rev. James Belsham, was a 
man of classical attainments. Two of his Latin poems, 
Mora Triumphant and Cattadia, have been praised by com- 
petent judges. This gentleman, intending to bring up his 



BEL 



203 



BEL 



son Thomas to his own profession, placed him under the 
tare of eminent schoolmasters until he was of an age to be 
sent to the Dissenting Academy at Daventry, then under 
the superintendence* of Dr. Ashworth, where he was a 
student for five years. By the time his studies were 
completed, his talents and acquirements attracted such 
notice that he was appointed assistant tutor, an office 
which he continued to fill for seven years. Being then 
desirous of entering upon tbe duties of his profession, he 
spent three years, in connexion with a congregation of 
Protestant Dissenters, at Worcester, where he was greatly 
esteemed for his learning and urbanity, and was so much 
attached to the society of the place, that he yielded with re- 
luctance to the importunity ot his friends who were desirous 
of placing him at the head of the academy at Daventry. 
He returned to this place in 1781, in the capacity of theolo- 
gical tutor and head of the institution, which situation he 
held till 1789. In addition to the labours which devolved 
upon him in tbe institution, he became tbe minister of the So- 
ciety of Protestant Dissenters in the town, and in both capa- 
cities he was so eminently successful, that he might probably 
have continued in them during the remainder of his life, but 
for a change which took place in his religious dpinious. He 
had been educated in the doctrines of Calvinism, hut having 
embraced Unitananism, he relinquished his connexion botb 
with the academy and with his congregation. About this 
time, a new college being established at Hackney by those 
Dissenters who were friendly to unrestrained religious in- 
quiry, it was placed under the direction bf Mr. Bel sham, 
but, in a few years, it Sunk for want of funds to support it. 
Before tbis event took place he was chosen to the vacant 
pulpit of Dr. Priestley, by the Gravel Pit congregation, 
where he again entered upon those exertions which were 
most congenial to his tastes. Eleven years afterwards, in 
IS 05, on the death Of Dr. Disney, the colleague and suc- 
cessor of Mr. Lindsey, Mr. Belsharn removed to Essex 
Street Chapel, London, of Which he continued the pastor 
during the rest of his life. 

From the time that Mr. Belsham avowed his conversion 
to the doctrines held by the Unitarians, he espoused their 
cause with great zeal, and advanced it by applying his 
talents and learning to its defence. One of his earliest pub- 
lications was A Review of Mr. Jlllberforce's Treatise, 
entitled A Practical View of the prevailing Religious Sys- 
tem of Professed Christians, &c, 1798, in which it Was 
the writer's design to place the theological doctrines main- 
tained by the amiable and eloquent author of the * Prac- 
tical View/ in contrast with those professed bv Unitarians. 
In 1811 he gave to the public the results of his investiga- 
tions on the most Important subject that had ever occupied 
his mind, in a work entitled^ Calm Inquiry into the Scrip- 
ture Doctrine concerning the Person of Christ. His single 
sermons, on subjects chiefly suggested by public events, 
would make up several volumes, and his controversial 
writings are numerous. Tbere is hardly any branch of 
theology, or of the doctrines or evidences of revelation, on 
which Mr. Belsham has not published his thoughts. His 
Evidences of the Christian Revelation is a powerfully argu- 
mentative and sometimes eloquent work, which had a large 
sale, and was perhaps the most popular of his performances. 
His last work, and that, perhaps, on which his reputation 
must rest, was A Translation of the Epistles of Paul the 
Apostle, with an Exposition and Notes. He had been pre- 
viously employed on a work of which he is now known to have 
been the editor,— The Improved Version of the New Testa- 
ment. But Mr. Belsham's literary works were not exclusively 
theological. In 1801 he published Elements of the Philo- 
sophy of the Human Mind and of Moral Philosophy. As 
a follower of Hartley, he resolved all mental phenomena 
into the association of ideas. His theory of morals supposes 
the ultimate happiness to harmonize with the greatest gene- 
ral good, and he concludes that * self-love and benevolence 
can only be reconciled by religion.* Besides his numerous 
obituary sermons, he published Memoirs c£ the late Re0. 
Theophilus Lindsey, M.A., including a Brief Analysis of 
his Works, Sfc, 1812, a piece of biography both interesting 
and useful. In the same tomb which contains the remains 
of this venerable pastor rests Mr. Be.sham, whose proudest 
boast it was to be, as he is described on the stone which 
eovers it, • the friend, associate, and successor of Priestley 
and Lindsey.' 

(See Memoirs of the late Rev. Thomas Belsham, by John 
Williams, 8vo. 1833.) 



BELSHAM, WILLIAM, an active writer on politics 
and history, brother of Thomas BeHham, was born in 175?, 
and died November 17th, 1827, at Hammersmith. He 
resided at one period at Bedford, and was intimately ac- 
quainted with several of the most celebrated public men 
belonging to tbe Whig party, to whose politics he was 
strongly attached. His literary career commenced in 1 789, 
by the publication of a series of * Essays, Historical, Poli- 
tical, and Literary/ in 2 vols. 8vo. These were followed by 
Letters and Essays, published at various periods, on the 
Test Laws, the French Revolution, tbe Distinction between 
the Old and New Whigs, Parliamentary Reform, and the 
Poor Laws. In 1793 lie published, in 2 vols. 8vo., 'Me- 
moirs of the Kings of Great Britain of the House of Bruns- 
wick-Lunenberg.' In 1795 he again appeared as an his- 
torical writer, by the publication of * Memoirs of the Reign 
of George III., to the Session of Parliament ending 1 793/ 
in 4 vols. 8vo. To these were added the 5th and 6th vo- 
lumes, in 1801. In 1798 he published, in 2 vols. 8vo., a 

* History of Great Britain from the Revolution to the Ac- 
cession of the House of Hanover;' and in 1806 his histo- 
rical works were published in a uniform edition in twelve 
8vo. volumes, Under the title of ' History of Great Britain 
to the Conclusion of the Peace of Amiens in 1802.' He 
was also the author of the following miscellaneous works. 
In 1797 * Two Historical Dissertations: 1. On the Means of 
the Ministerial Secession in 1717. 2. On the Treaty of 
Hanover, 1725/ being a reply to some Animadversions con- 
tained in Coxe's Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole. In 1793 
'Two Historical Dissertations on the Silesian War, and on 
the Character and Conduct of Louis XVI/ In 1800 a 

* Reply to Herbert Marsh's Vindication of the History of 
the Politics Of Great Britain and France;' and in 1801 

* Remarks on a late publication, styled "The History of the 
Politics of Great Britain and France.'" In 1802 * Remarks 
on the Peace of Amiens/ He was also the author of a 
volume on the ' Philosophy of the Mind/ 'Letters to Wil- 
berforcc/ and a * Chronology of the Reigns of George III. 
and IV.' (Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica.) 

BELSHAZZAR mm*&3 or ^#^2. BoXr&nrj>) was 

the last king of Bahylon of the Chaldaeaii dynasty. He is 
the Nabonncdusof fierosus, Nabonadius of the Canon Pto- 
lemsci, Nabodenusof Alexander Polyhist., Nabonnidochus of 
Mejrasthenes Abydenus in Euseb. Chron. Arm., Labynetus 
of Herodotus, Naboandelus of Josephus. Belshazzar was 
the son of queen Nitocris. He perished 538 or 539 before 
Christ, In tbe seventeenth year of his reign, in the night 
when Babylon Was stormed by Cyrus whilst tbe attention of 
the court was engaged by a splendid festival. 

According to Berostis, as quoted by Josephus, Belshazzar 
being defeated in battle" against Cyrus, escaped to Borsippa, 
where he surrendered and was graciously received by Cyrus, 
wbo sent him to Carmania, where he lived to the end of his 
days. But this account of BeroSus, who makes various incre- 
dible Statements, is inconsistent with the testimony of the 
Bible. Herodotus, who describes the capture of Babylon 
by Cyrus, Says nothing of the death of Belshazzar : the ac- 
count of Xenophon in his Cyrtmcedia, which is not of 
course considered as historical authority, says that tho king 
was killed, but he does not mention his name. 

According to pnU ]2 pD'DV (ed. Brelthaupt, p. 26), 
one of the eunuchs ha\lng heard Daniel's interpretation of 
the menk mkxe TEK8L upharsin, Dan. v. 25, in the fol- 
lowing night cut off Belshazzar' s head and brought it to 
Cyrus and DariuS, who besieged Babylon. Cyrus adored 
God, and resolved to restore the Jews to their country and to 
rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. 

(See Dan. chap.v.and vii.; Is.xiii. 14; Comp. Jer.v. 31, 
41; Josephl Ant. x. 11,2; Apion. i. 20; Eusebii, Chron. 
Armen. i. p. 43, and pp. 60, 61, 72; Eusebii Prteparatio 
Evangelita, ix. 41 ; Herodotus, i. 77, 188, !91 ; Xenuphon, 
Cyropcedia, vli. 5 ; Bernholdi Dissertation, Dan. v. Altorf. 
1740, 4to. ; Opferhaus Splcil. Hist. Chron. 2G3, &c. ; Usserii 
J dfctta/etftotheyear3448; Hartmann £ysf. Chron. 342, seq.; 
Jahn's Eiuleitung li. 1. 216 ; Berthold 4, Exc. zum Daniel, 
pp. $48, 856.) 

MarshamtookBclshazzarforlivilmerodach. (Can. Chron, 
597.) Gattercr (Handbuch der Universal geschichte, 1. p. 
293) took him for Laborosoarchod, the son and successor of 
Neriglissar. George Syncellus took him for Neriglissar 
himself. (Chron. pp. 223, 230 ; comp. Cedren. Hist. p. 1 13. 

The history of Belshazzar has been a favourite subject for 

2D2 



BEL 



204 



B E L 



poets and artists: tho painting of Belshaz/.ar's Feast by 
Martin, and the dramas of Mtlman and Hannah More on 
this subject, are well known. 

Tho Assyno-Bubylonic name given to Daniel at theeourt 
of Nebuchadnex*ar was "ISNtfiifo. Bcluhazxar. (Dan. i. 

7, ii. 25, iv. 5, vi. 15. x. 1.) Tho names of the sovereign 
and the favourite indicate the esteem in which Bel was held, 
and mean the Prince of Bet, i.e. Prince tchom Bel favours. 

BELSK or BYELS'K, the chief town of a circle of that 
name in tho province) of Bialystok in western Russia, and 
formerly the capital of the 'Polish voyvodeship of Pod- 
lachia, "is a neat, well-built, paved town on the Biala, a 
small stream which traverses tho fertile country that lies 
around iL It has two lloman Catholic churches and a 
united Greek and Carmelite monastery ; but the population, 
which is once said to have been 5Uuu,"is at present reduced 
to about 1800 souls, among whom are but few Jews, to 
whom BcKk has, among other privileges, that of refusing a 
settlement within its junction. 52 3 40' N. lat and -20° 
2' E. Ion*;.; about twenty-three miles (thirty-five versts) 
south of Bialystok. 

BELT, winch in Danish, as in English, signifies a girdle, 
is the name given to two of tho three straits by which the 
Baltie Sea is joined to the Cattegat. They are distinguished 
by the addition of Great and Little. 
"The Great Belt, which is the middle ono of the three 
straits, and the widest outlet for tho waters of the Baltic, 
begins on the south, about 5*1° 50' N. lat, between the south- 
ern extremity of the island of Langeland and the western 
shares of Laaland, and terminates on the north between 
Rees Ness on the island of Zealand, and the southern ex- 
tremity of Samsoc. Its length may be about seventy miles. 

The narrowest part of the strait is at its southern ex- 
tremity, where it is, properly speaking, divided into two 
straits by the island of Langeland ; for the narrow sea be- 
tween that island and those of Arroe, Taasing, and Fionia 
is comprehended under the name of Great Belt, and is 
hardly more than four miles in breadth. The principal 
branch between Langeland and Laaland is rather more than 
eight miles wide. To the north of the* northern extremity 
of Langeland the breadth of the strait varies between 
sixteen and twenty-four miles. 

Except near the shores the depth of the water is consider- 
able, but very irregular, varying from five to twenty-five 
fathoms. But some small and low islands and many shoals 
render the navigation difficult and dangerous, and on that 
account the passage of the Sound is preferred. In the last 
war, however, English men-of-war commonly passed through 
the Belt. The merchant-vessels which pass through it are 
obliged to pay the eustoraary duties at' Nyborg or Nyeborg, 
on the island of Fionia. The shores on both sides of the 
strait, being low and irregular, form many good harbours 
and anchorages. 

Between Nyborg in Fionia and Corsoer in Zealand, where 
the strait is only sixteen miles across, a regular communi- 
cation is established by steam-boats and smacks. In the 
good season the passage is not difficult ; but in the latter 
purt of the autumn and in winter it is difficult and danger- 
ous, especially on account of the pieces of floating ice whieh 
in scvero weather become very numerous, and aro sometimes 
cemented together by hard frost. It is then sometimes ne- 
cessary to make one part of the passage in a sledge and the 
other in a boat When in such circumstances snow begins 
to fall, the small island of Sprogoe, which lies in the strait, 
but considerably nearer to the coast of Fionia than to that of 
Zealand, offers a place of re luge. The Danish government 
has erected a building on this island for the reception of 
travellers. 

The Little Belt, the most western of the three straits, 
begins on the south between tho islands of Arruo and Alsen, 
and extends, between the island of Fionia and Jutland, to 
the Capes called Oger Ness on Fionia, and Bieornsknuddc 
on Jutland. Its length Is upwards of eighty miles, butlts 
width varies considerably. Towards the southern extremity, 
between the islands Arroe and Alsen, it is generally above 
ten miles across. At Assens, a town of Fionia, it narrows 
suddenly to about five, and farther north it grows by degrees 
narrower* so that between tho town of Middelfart on Fionia, 
and the opposite coast at Snoghoe, the distance hardly 
amounts to three-quarters of a mile. At Frederieia, where 
the vessels which pass the strait pay the customary duties, 
the strait is little more than a milo wide, 



Tho depth of tho water is considerable, varying from four 
to twenty-seven fathoms; but tho nawi^ition is danjrerous, 
on account of the low islands (Aariic, Bangle, and Fanoc), 
the numerous shoals, and the violent currents whieh con- 
stantly run through the strait from south to north, 

Tho shores of the island of Fionia ore low ; but on tho 
mainland they rise in a few places, thouuh nowhere to any 
considerable height Regular places of passage aro be- 
tween Frederieia and Striib, and Snoghoe and Middelfart 

(Catteau, Tableau de la Mer Bait i que; Glicmann, Geo- 
graph. Description of Denmark ; and Pauly's Topography 
of Denmark; Glieinann's Map.) 

BELTEIN, or BELTANE, the name of a kind of fes- 
tival, formerly and probably still observed in Ireland and 
Scotland, in most places on the 1st of May. In some parts 
of the west of Scotland it is observed on St, Peter's day, 
June 29. In Ireland we find two belteins, one on tho 1st 
of May, the other on the 2 1st of June. To the beltcin, also. 
in all probability, the fires which were formerly and are per- 
haps yet lighted in many parts of England on Midsummer 
Eve, are to be referred. 

Beltein signifies the fire of Baal, the worship of whom is 
supposed to have existed in England, Scotland, and Ireland 
in the remotest period of druidical superstition. The Phoe- 
nician Baal probably denoted the 'Sun [see Baal], as Ash- 
taroth did the Moon. Beltcin was therefore the fire lighted 
in honour of the Sun, whose return and visible influence 
upon the productions of the earth was thus celebrated. La 
na Beat Una, and neen na Beal Una, in the Irish language, 
are tho day and eve of Beal's fire. (Fairy Legends and 
Traditions of the South nf Ireland; and MacCurtin's 
English- Irish Diet., 4 to. Par. 1732. p. 451.) 

The following account of the beltein is given in Focaldir 
Gaoidhitge-Sax-Bhearia, or an Irish-English Dictionary 
(by O'Brien), printed at Paris, 4 to. 1763 : — 4 Bcdliine, or 
be\l~t\ne % ignis Beli Dei Asiatici : i.e. tinc-Beil. May -day, 
so called from large fires which the Druids were u*ed to 
light on the summits of the highest hills, into which they 
drove four-footed beasts, using at the same time certain 
ceremonies to expiato the sins of the people. This pn*ran 
ceremony of lighting these fires in honour of the Asiatic 
god Bclus, gave its name to the entire month of May, which 
is to this day called mi na Bcal-tine in the Irish language. 
Dr. Keating, speaking of this fire of Bcal, says, that the 
cattle were driven through it and not sacrificed, and that the 
chief design of it was to keep off all coiUagious disorders 
from them for that year : and he also says, that all the inha- 
bitants of Ireland quenched their fires on that day, and 
kindled them again out of some part of that fire. The abovo 
opinion about the cattlo is confirmed by the following words 
of an old glossary, copied by Mr. Edward Lhuyd : Da tcne 
soinmech doguitisita drufthc contincet laib moraibforaib 
agus do berdis na ceatra cntra or tcomandnib cecha bliadna 
the main sense of which is, that the Druids lighted two 
solemn fires every year, and drove all four-footed beasts 
through them in order to preserve them from all contagions 
distempers through the eurrent year.' 

In Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, 
vol. xi. 8vo. Edinb. 1794, p. 620, the minister of Callander 
in Perthshire, speaking of* peculiar cu>toms t * sa\s t ' Upon 
the first day of May, whieh is called Beltau or Beltein-ttay, 
all the boys in a township or hamlet meet in the moors. 
They cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by cutt- 
ing a trench in the ground of such circumference as to hold 
the whole company. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast 
of eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard. They 
knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers 
against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide 
the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to one 
another in size and thape, as there arc persons in the com- 
pany. They daub one of these portions all o\cr with char- 
eoal, until it be perfectly black. Tliey put all the bits of 
eake into a bonnet. Every one, blindfold, draws out a por- 
tion, lie who holds the bonnet is entitled to the last bit 
Whoever draws the black bit is the devoted person who is 
to be sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore, 
in rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man 
and beast. There is little doubt, 1 tho writer adds, 4 of theso 
inhuman sacrifices hating been once ofTercd in this country 
as well as in the East, although they now pass from the act 
of sacrificing, and only compel the devoted person to leap 
three times through the flames, with which the ceremonies 
of this festival aro closed/ 



BEL 



205 



BEL 



The minister of Logerait, in Perthshire, gives a similar 
account {Ibid, vol. v. p. 81) of the celebration of the beltein 
in his parish. He says, *On the 1st of May, O.S. a festival 
called Bella n is annually held here. It is chiefly celebrated 
by the cow-herds, who assemble by scores in ilie fields to 
dress a dinner for themselves, of boiled milk and eggs. 
These dishes they eat with -a sort of cakes baked for the 
occasion, and having small lumps, in tho form of nipples, 
-aised all over the surface. The cake might, perhaps, be 
an offering to some deity in the days of Druidism." 

Mr. Pennant's account of this rural sacrifice is more 
minute. He tells us, that on the 1st of May, in the High- 
lands of Scotland, the herdsmen of every village hold their 
Bel-tein. ' They cut a square trench in the ground, leaving 
the turf in the middle ; on that they make a ftre of wood, 
on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal, 
and milk, and bring, besides the ingredients of the caudle, 
plenty of beer and whiskey : for each of the company must 
contribute something. The rites begin with spilling some 
of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation ; on that, 
every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised 
nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, 
the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some 
particular animal, the real destroyer of them. Each person 
then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and, Hing- 
ing it over his shoulders, says, " This I give to thee, preserve 
thou my horses;" "This to thee, preserve thou my sheep;" 
and so on. After that they use the same ceremony to the 
noxious animals : '* This I give to thee, O fox ! spare thou 
my lambs :'* " This to thee, O hooded crow 1" " This to thee, 
eagle!" When the ceremony is over, they dine on the 
caudle ; and, after the feast is finished, what is left is hid by 
two persons deputed for that purpose ; hut on the next Sun- 
day they re-assemble, and finish the reliques of the first 
entertainment/ (Pennant's Tour in Scotland, 8vo„ Ches- 
ter, 1771, p. 90.) 

General Vallancey, in his Essay on the Antiquity of the 
Irish Language, 8vo. Dublin, 1772, p. 19, noticing the 1st 
of May, says, ' On that day the Druids drovo all the cattle 
through the fires, to preserve them from disorders the en- 
suing year. This pagan custom is still observed in Munstcr 
and Connaught, where the meanest cottager worth a cow 
and a wisp of straw practises the same on the first day of 
May, and with the same superstitious ideas. # (See also the 
Survey of the South of Ireland, p. 233.) 

Jamieson, in his Etymological Dictionary of the Scot- 
tish Language, vol. i. in voce, says, 'In Ireland Beltein is 
celebrated ou the 21st of June, at the time of the solstice/ 
This is beyond a doubt a second festival of Beltein. He 
adds, ' There, as they make fires on the tops of hills, every 
member of the family is made to pass through the fire ; as 
they reckon this ceremony necessary to ensure good fortune 
through the succeeding year/ Beltein, he says, is also ob- 
served in Lancashire. Hutchinson, in his History of Cum- 
berland, vol. i. p. 77, speaking of the parish of Cumwhet- 
ton, says, ' They hold the wake on the eve of St. John, with 
lighting lires, dancing, &e. The old Belteing.' 

In Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Accowit of Scotland, 
8vo. Edinb. 1792., vol. iii. p. 105, the minister of Loudoun 
in Ajrshire says that the custom amongst the herds and 
young people to kindle fires in the high grounds in honour 
of Beltein is now kept there on St. Peter's day, that is 
June 29th. 

The practice of lighting fires on Midsummer eve in Eng- 
land, in honour of the summer solstice, is fully illustrated 
by Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, vol. i. p. 238, et seq. 

Jamieson says, ' Although the name of Beltein is un- 
known in Sweden, yet on the last day of April, i. e. the 
evening preceding our Beltein, the country people light 
great fires on the hills, and spend the night in shooting. 
This with them is the eve of Walburg's Mess. The first of 
* May is also observed/ 

BELTIUS, THE, a small horde of Tartar extraction, 
who dwell along the hanks of Abakan, in the Russian pro- 
vince of Tomsk, in Siberia. In features and dialect they 
most resemble the Sagay-Tartars ; like them they are 
heathens, and only differ from them in the custom they have 
of never burying their dead, whose bodies they suspend to 
large trees : for this purpose they select the most secluded 
and unfrequented spot they can find, and hang up the 
corpse in a deal coffin, after placing the most valuable gar- 
ments of the deceased, as well as his household utensils, 
some victuals, and a saddle, in the coffin. In general they 



have two wives, and their refusal to abandon this habit is 
said to be the only bar to their conversion to Christianity. 
They bring their tribute to the Russian government, to tlie 
fortified town of Kuznezk, where all -differences that may 
arise between them are adjusted. Their numbers do not 
exceed 150 bows and arrows, or males of mature age ; at 
least, this is the quota for levy of the tribute. (Georgi and 
Vsevolovskv.) 

BELTS," JUPITER'S. [See Jupiter.] 

BELTURBET, in the barony of Lougbtea, and county of 
Cavan, on the river Erne, sixty-one miles N.W. by W. from 
Dublin. The town formerly returned two members to the 
Irish parliament. It is a corporate town; governed by a 
provost, and is chiefly the property of the Laneshorough 
family. There is extensive commonage in the environs, 
and turbary attached to each holding. Here is a good 
market -ho use, with sessions -house above ; and a spacious 
church, in the church-yard of which there are the remains 
of an extensive fortification. The water communication to 
Ballyshannon is complete, and might be opened to the sea 
at comparatively little cost, and with immense advantage to 
both the county Cavan and Fermanagh. In 1821 the 
population of Belturbct was a little above 2000: it does not 
seem to have increased within the last ten years. In 1824 
there were in the town four schools, and altogether in the 
parish eleven, educating 310 males and 238 females. (Stat. 
Surv. of County Cavan; Pettigrew and Oulton's General 
Register; Commissioners* Reports.) / 

BELU'GA. [See Sturgkox.] 

BELUR TAGH. [See Botfm Tagh.J 

BELUS 6n or ^Jft, /3>]\oc) was the name of the chief 
deity of the Babylonians and Assyrians. The Chaldee 
Bel (7i?H), as well as the Hebrew Baal (/££l)i means 

Lord. The Greeks were apt to substitute Zeus for Belus, 
and the Romans Jupiter. The planet Jupiter was also 
worshipped under the name of Baal by the old Arabians 
as the chief star of happiness. The temple of Belus at 
Babylon was plundered and much damaged by Xerxes. 
Alexander gave orders for its restoration, but the priests 
being slack in executing the work, he intended to employ 
the whole army in rebuilding the temple. [See Babylon.] 
According to Herodotus (i. 7), Belus was the father of 
Ninus. 

(See Isai. xlvi. 1 ; Jer. 1. 2, li. 44 ; Baruch vi. 4 ; Herod, 
i. 178, IS 1-183; Diod.Sic. ii. 8,10; Paus. i. 16,3, viii.33. 1; 
Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 30, xxxviii. 55, 58 ; Arriani, Anab. iii. 16, 
vii. I c, 1 7 ; Cie. Nat. Deor. iii. 1 6 ; Norhcrg, Onomast. p. 28 ; 
Gesenius, Jes. vol. ii. pp. 28C, 337, 358 ; Winer's Realwor- 
terbucfi, under Bel.) [Sec Baal.] 

BELUS, the name of a small river of Syria, tne sand of 
which was used for making glass. (See Plin. v. 19, and the 
story in xxxvi. 2C) 

BELVEDE'RE, in architecture, is a small building con- 
structed at the top of a house or palace, and open to the 
air, at least on one side, and oflen on all. The term is an 
Italian compound, signifying ' a fine view ;' and in Italy it is 
constructed expressly for that purpose, combined with the ob- 
ject of enjoying the cool evening breeze, which blows tresher 




[View of lhe Belvedere of the Vatican, from a print (n lhe UriUVi Museum. 



BEL 



200 



BEL 



on the heusc-lop than in the confined streets. Many houses 
in Rome have belvederes, for the most part of a simple 
form. The most celebrated const ruetion of this kind at 
Rome, which is in the Vatican, was built hy Bramnnte inthat 
part railed the court of ihe Belvedere. The form of this 
building is semicircular, and it stands over an enormous 
niche, a remarkable featuro in the facade, of whieh the bel- 
vedere makes a part. From this belvedere the view is one 
of the finest that can be imagined, extending over the whole 
eitv of Rome and the Campagna, bounded by the distant 
Apennines, the tops of which arc covered with snow [ for jilarge 
part of the year. Belvederes are not uncommon in France ; 
but the term is applied rather to a summer-house in a park 
or garden, than to the constructions on the tops of houses, 
although small edifices, similar to those In Italy, are some- 
times constructed on the tops of buildings for the purpose 
ofcoraraandingafineview. There is a small building in 
AVindsor Great Park which is ealled a Belvedere. 

k is not improbable that the wooden trelliee-work, so 
common In the painted representations of buildings at 
Pompeii, was a construction similar in its purposo to the 
belvedere of the modern Italians. {Plans and El 'evations, in 
MSS. of the Vatican, 3 vols, fol., and a View of the Vati- 
can in the King's Library, Brit. Mux. ; Encyclopedic Mi- 
thodiquc. art. 'Architecture;' Cell's Pompeii, plates.) 

BELVISIA'CE/B, a little-known natural order of plants, 
comprehending ono genus only, discovered in the kingdom 
of Oware, by Palisotdc Bcauvois, who called it Napoleona; 
it was subsequently named Belvisia after its discoverer. 
[See Beauvois.] ft has been figured under the name of 




[Kelvin* caralc*.] 

1, calyx viewed from »We; 9, Cit tame in proAlfti 3, Uio outor corolla; 
4, Uio inner corolla ; 6, lite tumens teeu from abort j 6, one of the ttamcu* 
Mparate ; 7, an wary col Uuough. 

Nopoleona imperialis in the Flora of Oware and Benin, 
where we find the only account of it It was discovered in 
the neighbourhood of the town of Oware, growing to the 
height of seven or eight feet, and loaded with large broad 
bright blue (lowers, sitting close upon the branches. They 
arc remarkable for having a superior calyx of five pieces, to- 
gether with a double mono]>etalous corolla, of which the 
outer forms a flat crenellcd disc, and tho interior is divided 



into a great number of regular narrow segments. The sta- 
mens arc only five, or rather perhaps ten, united by pairs 
into five parcels,resembling so many petals. The stigma 
is peltate with five angles, and covers over the anthers. 
The fruit is said to be a berry, with a single cell, containing 
a parcel of seeds lying in pulp. From such an account it 
will be evident to the botanical reader that this must be 
one of the greatest curiosities in the vegetable kingdom. 

Palisotdc Beauvois, its discoverer, considered it ihe typo 
of a new natural order allied to the gourds; Brown, wo 
believe, suspcets its relation to the passion- (lowers ; Lindlcy 
originally stationed it near Styraeea?, but, in his AVriu, 
plaees it near tho Campanulas. It is probable that it has 
been Inaccurately described, and that no exact opinion can 
be formed about it until it has been examined in a frc^h 
state. In the mean while we give a figure of it, copied 
from the Flora of Oware, in the hope that this notiee may 
fall into the hands of soma traveller visiting the remote 
country in whieh it grows. 

BE'LYTA, in entomology, a genus of the order Hy- 
menoptera, and family Proctotrvpida. The spceies of this 
genus arc minute four-winged flies, having the antenna? 
fourteen or fifteen -jointed, filiform in the males, and 
thickened towards their extremity in the females. They 
frequent sandy situations. 

BELZO'NI. GIOVA'NNI. was a native of Padua, but 
of a family originally from Rome, as he himself states in 
the preface to his work on Egypt. II o passed his early 
vouth at Home, where he intended to enter the monastic 
life, but the French invasion of that city in 1798 altered 
his purpose, and in the year 1800 he left Italy, and 
Visited in succession several parts of Europe. His family 
supplied him occasionally with remittances, but as they 
were not rich, Bclzoni exerted himself to gain a living by 
his own talents. He turned his attention chiclly to hydrau- 
lics, which he had studied at Rome. In 1803 he arrived in 
England, where he soon after married; and after nine 
years' residence in England, during part of whieh he gained 
Ills living by exhibiting feats of strength, he set olTwith his 
wife for Portugal and Spain, from whence he proceeded to 
Malta, and from Malta to Egypt, where he arrived in 1815. 
His object in going to Egypt was to construct an hydraulic 
machine for irrigation, which should raise the water quicker 
and ;n greater quantity than the clumsy engines then used 
in that country. He proposed his plan to Meheinet All 
Paeha, hy whom it was approved. Bclzoni constructed a 
machine in the pacha's garden at Zubra, near Cairo, and 
the experiment proved successful, but owing to the preju- 
dices and opposing interests of the natives, it was abandoned 
before it was completed. Bclzoni then deeided upon visiting 
Thebes, and his intention becoming known to Mr. Burek- 
hardt, the latter gentleman prevailed upon Mr. Salt, tho 
British consul, to employ Bclzoni to removo the colossal 
bust, commonly, but incorrectly, called the Young Mcmnon, 
which he accomplished with great ingenuity, shipped it in a 
banre, which sailed down to Kosctla, and thence to Alex- 
andria, where it was shipped for England. This head, 
now in the British Museum, is one of tha finest speci- 
mens of Egyptian colossal sculpture, Bclzoni, on his 
return to Cairo, received a present through Burckhardt, 
half of which was paid by Air. Salt. For the whole parti- 
culars of this transaction, see Bclzoni* s Travels, and also a 
compressed narrative of the same in vol. i. of the Egyptian 
Antiquities, British Museum, in the Library i\f Enter- 
taining Knowledge. Before embarking the colossus, Bel- 
zoni made an excursion higher up the country, visited the 
great temple of Edfu, and the islands of Elephantine and 
of Phiht?, and proceeded into Nubia as far as the second 
cataract. lie was the first to open the great temple of 
Abousambul, or Ipsambul, which is cut in tlio side of a 
mountain, and the front of which was so much encumbered 
by tho accumulated sand, that only the upper part of it was 
visible. Ho succeeded in partly clearing the sand which 
stopped the entrance, and thus made the interior of this 
ant tent rock-cut temple known to the world. In 1817 Bcl- 
zoni mado a second journey into Upper Egypt and Nubia, 
during which he made excavations at Carnak, on the east- 
ern side of the Nile, and found there a colossal head of 
granite, several statues, an altar with basso- rilievi, sphinxes, 
&e. The colossal head and an arm ten feet in length, both 
belonging to one colossus, arc now in the British Museum. 
But one of the greatest discoveries of this enterprising tra- 
veller was the opening of a splendid tomb in tho Bcban cl 



BEL 



201 



B E M 



Molouk, or Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. He found 
out by guess the right entrance, which had been blocked up 
for many centuries, had it cleared, and at last made his way 
into the sepulchral chambers cut in the calcareous rock, 
and richly adorned with pictures in low relief, and hiero- 
glyphics painted in the brightest eolours. Belzoni made 
drawings of the chambers, took impressions in wax of the 
figures and hieroglyphics, noting carefully the various co- 
lours, and thus constructed a perfect fac-simile of this mag- 
nificent tomb, which was afterwards exhibited in London. He 
also brought to England a sarcophagus of arragonite (com- 
monly called an alabaster sarcophagus), which he found in a 
chamber of the great tomb. Mr. Salt paid Belzoni's ex- 
penses in these undertakings, besides giving him a remu- 
neration, and received for his share part of the antiquities 
which Belzoni collected, and among the rest the sarcopha- 
gus, which he afterwards sold to Mr. (now Sir John) Soane 
the architect for 2000/. (See the Life and Correspondence 
of Salt by J. Halls.) Belzoni also opened numerous other 
sepulchres excavated in the ridge of rocks atGournou,at the 
foot of the Libyan mountains, near western Thebes. The 
difficulties and labour he had to encounter are described in 
his own plain but forcible style. ' The entrance to the tombs 
of Gournou is roughly cut in the rocks, and the sand nearly 
chokes up the passage. In some places there is not more 
than a vacancy of a foot left, which you must pass through 
creeping like a snail. Some of these passages are 200 or 
300 yards in length, and at the end you find yourself in a 
more convenient place, perhaps high enough to sit in it. 
But what a place of rest ! You are surrounded in all direc- 
tions by heaps of mummies ; the black walls, the faint light 
given by the eandles or torches, the naked Arabs holding 
the torches, all covered with dust, and looking like living 
mummies, all this forms a scene thatjeannot he described. 
A vast quantity of dust arises, so fine that it enters tho 
throat and nostrils, and a great strength of lungs is required 
to withstand the strong etlluvia from the mummies. When 
I attempted to sit, my weight bore on the body of an em- 
balmed Egyptian, and it crushed it as if it had been a band- 
box. I sunk altogether among the broken mummies, with 
a crash of bones, wooden cases and rags, which raised such 
a dust as kept me motionless for a quarter of an hour till it 
subsided/ (Belzoni's Narrative.) 

Belzoni's next undertaking was the removal of an obelisk 
from the island of Philao, the shaft of which was twenty-two 
feet long, and two wide at the base, which he accomplished 
with no other aid than poles, rotten palm ropes, and a few ig- 
norant Arab peasants. He placed it in a boat, and contrived 
to pass it safely down the falls of Assouan. The obelisk 
was landed at Alexandria, and is now in the possession 
of Mr. William Bankes, at whose expense it was removed, 
and who has since erected it at Kingston Hall in Dorsetshire. 
The removal of this obelisk was attended with some unplea 
sant occurrences. Some persons, employed or bribed by 
Drovetti, a Piedmontese, formerly a consul, and now a col- 
lector of antiquities, endeavoured by violenco to prevent 
Belzoni from effecting the removal of the obelisk, which 
they wished to secure for their master. On Belzoni's re- 
turn to Thebes, he was assailed by two Italians in Drovetti's 
service, and many Arabs : a scnfllo ensued, in which Bel- 
zoni was in danger of his life. He, however, with his usual 
boldness, surmounted all difficulties. His high stature and 
robust frame, great strength, and commanding mien, gave 
him great influence over the Arabs, who, like all semi- 
barbarous people, pay great respect to physical superiority. 

Belzoni discovered also the entrance into the second great 
pyramid of Jizch, and penetrated into the central chamber, 
the cxistenco of which was before unknown, though it ap- 
peared, from an inscription found thero, that it had been 
entered by the Arabs. In September, 1818, he again left 
Cairo, went to Esne, and thence struck across the Desert to 
• the shore of the lied Sea. He there discovered the ruins 
of the antient town of Berenice, and visited likewise the 
emerald mines of Mount Zaharah. In the following year 
(1619) be went on another excursion to Lake Mceris, and 
from thence to the smaller Oasis, which lies due west of it. 
No European was known to have visited the spot before 
him. Belzoni erroneously supposed it to be the Oasis of 
Jupiter Amnion. At la<t, in September, 1819, he left 
Egypt, after a residence of five years, during which ht* made 
numerous and important discoveries, in which there was 
more novelty, as well as difficulty, than in those made by 
the French during their occupation of the country. 



Belzoni returned to Italy, and visited his native town, 
Padua, the citizens of which had a medal struck, with the 
date of that year, 1819, in commemoration of his dis- 
coveries. On his arrival in England, he published his 
Narrative of the Operations and recent Discoveries within 
the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations in Egypt 
and Nubia, 4to. London, 1820, with an Atlas. In 1823 
he set off once more for Africa, with the intention of 
penetrating to the city of Timbuctoo, the object of so many 
unsuccessful attempts. He undertook this journey on his 
own account, unassisted by any government or society. He 
landed at Tangier, accompanied by his wife, and thence 
proceeded to the city of Fez, whence he intended to proceed 
to Tafilelt, and join the great caravan which assembles 
there to cross the Desert into Soudan. Messrs. Briggs of 
Alexandria contributed 200J. towards the funds for the ex- 
pedition : but the jealousy of the Moorish or Jewish traders 
prevented his obtaining the requisite permission from the 
emperor, and he then repaired to Mogadore, and embarked 
for Cape Coast, whence he proceeded to the Bight of Benin, 
which he seems to have guessed was the most direct way to 
reach the Niger. He there met with a negro from Kashna, 
who had been a sailor on board the Owen Glendower frigate, 
and who was returning to his own country. Belzoni and 
he agreed to travel together to Houssa. Belzoni was well 
received by the king of Benin, who gave him much useful 
information for his journey. Every thing seemed favourable 
to his undertaking, when he was attacked by a dysentery, 
which, after a few days, terminated h& life on the 3rd of 
December, 1823, at a place called Gato, in the kingdom of 
Benin. He was buried there under a large tree, and a 
simple inscription was placed on his tomb. The day be- 
fore his death he wrote to his friend Mr. Hodgson, who 
was on board the brig Swinger in the Bight of Benin, 
intrusting him with some directions concerning his pro- 
perty, and with his last affectionate farewell to his wife. 
Belzoni was frank and kind-hearted, trusty and honourable, 
and to great simplicity of manners united intelligence, 
firmness, and perseverance. He was eertainly One of the 
most enterprising and sagacious of modern explorers, but 
lie appears to have been apt to take offence, and to have 
been too prone to suspect the intentions of those with whom 
he came in contact. The reader will find in Hall's Life of 
Salt an account of the transactions between the British con- 
sul and Belzoni as to making collections, together with the 
history of the sale of the valuable sa/cophagus, which is 
now (1335) in the possession of Sir John Soane. 

BE'MBEX, a genus of hymenopterous insects, forming 
the typical group of the Bembicidco of Leach, a family of 
the Fossores. The chief generic characters arc as follows : — 
Palpi very short ; maxillary palpi four-jointed ; labial two- 
jointed ; mandibles with a single tooth internally; the 
anterior wings have three submarginal cells (the third ex- 
tending to the apex of the marginal), and two recurrent 
nervures both springing from the second submarginal ; 
labium and mandibles prolonged into a rostrum, or beak ; 
body smooth, nearly conical, hut rather (lat beneath— in the 
male frequently furnished with two or more spines at the 
apex. Legs, in the female spinose, anterior tarsi strongly 
ciliated. This genus connects Monedula with Philanthus. 
the species are peculiar to hot climates, and, in some 
instances, very much resemble wasps, both in size and 
colour. The female forms oblique cylindrical burrows in 
sandy hanks, with a cell at the end of each ; her next object 
is to collect Hies, such as the species of syrphidajand mus- 
cidas, as food for her young : in the excursions made for this 
purpose, she is exceedingly rapid in her motions, and pro- 
duces a loud buzz in Hying. Having furnished a cell with 
five or six flies, she deposits a single egg in it, and, after hav- 
ing carefully closed its mouth, proceeds in the same manner 
with another cell. AVhcn hatched from the egg, the larva 
devours these tlies, and changes into the pupa state, and 
shortly after to the perfect insect. Although these insects 
are not strictly social, as the bees and wasps, yet generally 
the burrows of many of tho same species are formed in the 
immediate neighbourhood of each other. 

Upon leaving her burrow, the female takes great pre- 
caution to secure its entrance from her enemies, by stop- 
ping tho mouth with sand. No precaution, however, is 
sufficient to protect it from the intrusion of its parasites. 
Among others, the beautiful Panorpes carnea is enabled, by 
the spined structure of its legs, to make its way through the 
sand-protected entrance — which it takes the opportunity of 



BEM 



20S 



B E M 



doing during the aoscnco of the female Bembcx : entering 
with the tail foremost, it deposits an egg, which hatches 
in the following spring ; the larva of^the Bembcx then be- 
comes fi>od for that of the Panorpe*. 

BEMBIDl'ID/K. among coleopterous insects, a family of 
the division Geode}>hoga of MacLeay. Theso are minute 
carnivorous beetles, whieh generally frequent damp situ- 
ations, such as the margins of rivers, ponds, and ditches : 
they are usually of a bright blue or green metallic eolour, 
having two or four pale yellow spots on the elytra. It U 
doubtful whether this family ean hold the same rank in the 
Geodephaga as thoso of the Carabidca. llarpalidrs. &c. : 
the species, however, may be easily distinguished by the 
minute terminal joint to the palpi. Tho eharaeters of the 
several genera contained in this group are as follows : — 

A. Body depressed and linear. 

a, Antenna* with the third and fourth 

joints equal Lymnteum. 

b. Antcnnso with the fourth joint 

longer than the third. 

B. Body rather ovate. 

a. Thorax transverse, not truncate, 

heart-shaped : 

a, Posteriorly rounded : 

1. AVhole.' .... 

2. Emarjrinate. 

b. Posteriorly aeute. 

b. Thorax truncated, heart-shape : 

a. The posterior angles very aeuto 
and prominent: . 

1. Antenna; with the third, fourth, 
and fifth joints long. 

2. Antennas with the third, fourth, 
and fifth joints short. 

b. The posterior angles slightly 
aeutc-defiexed : 

1. Eyes moderate. 
Thorax rather remote from the 

abdomen at the base. . 
**Thorax closely united to the 
abdomen Tachypus. 

2. Eyes large Bembtdium. 



Cillenum. 



Tachys. 

Philocthus. 

Ocys. 



Perypkus. 
Notaphus. 

Lopha. 




co ex) m 

2 3 4 

W W G3 



1. Heart of «nc of lhr Kembidiide, thawing th« form of the palpi— a. lhe 
terminal joinl; S. Thorax or Tachvi ( 3. Thorax of l'hilorlhut; 4. Thorax of 
Ocyi ; 5. Thorax of l*eryphus ; 6. Thorax of Lopha ; /• Thorax of Tachypm . 

BE'MBO, PIETRO, was bom at Veniee in 1470. His 
father was a patrieian of Veniee, and a man of considerable 
taste for elegant literature. Being sent by the senate in 
1483 as prcetor or governor of Ravenna, he restored and 
embellish «1 the scpulehral monument ereeted in that city to 
the memory of Dante, by Guido della Polenta. His son, 
who showed an early disposition for learning, studied at 
Padua and at Ferrara, and afterwards went to Sieily, where 
lie learned Greek from Agostiuo Lascaris at Messina. On 
his return to hi« native country, he repaired to the littlo town 
of Asolo, near Treviso. which had beeome the residence of 
Caierina Cornaro, the widow of James Lusignano, the last 
king of Cyprus, who having resigned her kingdom to the 



Venetian senate, was enjoying a splendid ineome, with the 
title of queen, and holding a w>rt of little court in that plea- 
sant retirement. She was a woman of elegant taste and 
refined education. In September, 1*190, she gave somo 
splendid entertainments on the occasion of the niarriajre of 
her favouritejady in waiting, to whieh she invited many per- 
sons of distinction, and ninongothrrs \oung Bcmbo, whose 
family was related to hers. According to the usages of chi- 
valry still in fashion in that age, some of the hours of leisure 
between the banquets, tournaments, and other pageants, 
were employed in learned or witty conversations, nnd espe- 
cially in speculative diseussions on the subject of love, some 
praising it as the source of human happiness, others blaming 
it as the eause of much misery, &c. From these disquisi- 
tions Bembo derived the plan of a work, whieh he billed 
Gli Asolani, from the name of the place. It is, or rather 
pretends to be, a collection of what was said in those enter- 
tainments by the several disputants on the nature, quali- 
ties, and effects of love, distinguishing the pure sentiment 
from tho grossness of the passion that goes by that name, 
and ending in a moral strain on the contemplation of divine 
love, or the love between the Creator ana his creatures. 
Tho metaphysical part of the reasoning is derived from 
Plato's philosophy, whieh was in high favour at that time 
among the learned of Italy. This work of Bembo was re- 
ceived with considerable applause, and the book is still 
esteemed as a specimen of good Italian prose. 

Bcmbo's father wished him to devote himself to the 
eivil service of his eountry, by entering on some official 
employment, in whieh his noble birth and connexions 
would have enabled him to aspire in eourse of time to the 
highest dignities of the republic Bembo, however, pre- 
ferred going to Rome, and becoming a candidate there for 
ecclesiastical preferment, as better suited to his taste for 
study. His father opposing his design, Bembo resolved to 
devote himself to the monastie life, and he east his eyes on 
the abbey of la Croee dell' Avellana, situated in the moun- 
tains near Urbino. Having repaired to the town of Urbino 
previous to shutting himself up in his intended retirement, 
he was so kindly received by the then Duke Guidobaldo di 
Montefeltro and Elizabetha Gonzaga. his eonsort, that he 
changed his mind, and took up his residence at their court, 
which was distinguished both for the personal character of 
the sovereigns and for the encouragement whieh they gave 
to the learned. At Urbino Bembo began to write Italian 
poetry, in whieh he imitated the style and the harmony of 
Petrareh : and here also he beeamc intimately acquainted 
with Giuliano de Mcdiei, third son of the great Lorenzo, and 
afterwards Duke of Nemours, who was then residing at 
Urbino. After the death of Duke Guidobaldo, whieh was 
soon followed by that of his duchess, Bcmbo and Giuliano 
agreed to proceed to Rome ; but previous to his departure 
from Urbino, Bembo left a token of his gratitude for the two 
amiable sovereigns in an affectionate eulogiuin : De Guido- 
baldo Feltrio, deque Eli sabetha Gonzaga, Urbirri Ducibus. 
It is in the form of a conversation between Bembo, Sadoleto, 
Beroaldo, and Sigismondo da Foligno, and is really interest- 
ing from being written with sineerily and true feeling, and in 
praise of two deserving persons. The sketch of the Duchess 
Elizabeth is a touching specimen of real pathos. Like her 
relative Lucrezia Gonzaga, Elizabeth was a bright speci- 
men of Italian female character in the midst of a most 
eormpt age. 

Soon after Bcmbo had arrived at Rome, Cardinal de* 
Medici, brother to his friend Giuliano, was raised to the 
pontifical chair under the name of Leo X. This was to 
Bembo a most fortunate event. Leo appointed him his se- 
cretary, together with the learned Sadoleto. Tho briefs, 
letters, and other official aets whieh the two secretaries 
wrote in the name of the pontiff, were distinguished for 
their classical style, carried almost to fastidiousness. Rome 
was at that time the seat of dissipation aud licentiousness, 
as well as of learning. Bembo shared in the common pro- 
pensity, and several of the Latin verses which he then 
wrote are stained by indeeent images and expressions. His 
elciry on Galatea is one of the best specimens of his Latin 
IKietry. After Leo's death in 1021, he went to Padua, 
where he fixed his residence. Leo had amply provided 
him with eeclesiastieal benefices; and Bembo. who was 
now enabled to graiify his taste for literature and the arts, 
became a munifleent patron of learning, and collected a 
rich library nnd a eabinet of rare medals. At Padua he 
completed his work on tho Italian language, at whieh he 



B E N 



209 



B E N 



had laboured assiduously for many years . Prose dj M. Pie- 
tro Bembo, nelle quali si ragiona delta Volgar Lingua, di- 
vise in tre libri, Venezia, 1525. This work was dedicated to 
Cardinal dc* Medici, afterwards Pope Clement VII. It is 
one of the earliest works on the rules of the Italian lan- 
guage : it has gone through many editions, and is still much 
esteemed. Bcmbo's Italian poems were published some 
years after, Rime di M. Pietro Bembo, Venezia, 1530. In 
1530, the Council of Ten commissioned Bembo to write the 
history of the Venetian republic, beginning from the year 
14S7, where Sabellico had left it. Bembo wrote it in Latin, 
and carried it to the year 1513, Historia* Venetce libri xii. 
He afterwards wrote an Italian translation of his work: 
Historia Viniziana, volgarmente scritta % which was pub- 
lished after his death at Venice, in 1552, with a life of the 
author. This translation was long after republished, in 
1 790, by Morelli, the librarian of St. Mark, in two vols. 4to. 
with many corrections from Bembo's autograph, and with 
a fine likeness of the author, engraved by Bartolozzi from a 
painting by Titian. 

Bembo had been for many years settled at Padua in stu- 
dious retirement, after renouncing the licentiousness of his 
early years, as well as all prospects of ambition, when in 
1539, Pope Paul III. unexpectedly sent him a cardinal's 
hat. Bembo, more perplexed than pleased at his promotion, 
took time to consider whether lie should accept of it ; he 
had as yet taken only the minor orders, which are not bind- 
ing for life. He however accepted it, and at Christmas, 1539, 
he was ordained presbyter, when he received the insignia of 
the cardinalship, and proceeded to Rome, where he chiefly 
resided for the remainder of his life. He died at Rome in 
1547, in his 78th year, and was buried in the church of Santa 
Maria super Minervam. His friend Girolamo Quirini raised 
a splendid monument to his memory in the church of St. 
Anthony of Padua. Of Bembo's three illegitimate chil- 
dren, whom he had during his residence at Rome in the 
pontificate of Leo X., one died young ; another, called Tom- 
raaso, became a churchman; his daughter Elena married 
Pier Gradenigo, a Venetian nobleman. Bembo was inti- 
mate with Delia Casa, Castiglione, Sadoleto, and most of 
the Italian literati of his age. His epistolary correspondence, 
botb Latin and Italian, was published in parts, and at 
different times. Epistolarum Familiarum libri VI. et 
Evistolarum Leonis X. Pont, Max. nomine scriplarum, 
libri XVI, 8vo. Venetiis, 1552 ; Bembi et Sadoleti Itpisto- 
larurn liber units, Florentine, 1524 ; Lettere di Pietro Bembo, 
4 vols. 8vo. Venezia, 1552. Bembo's Italian verses were 
published in 1530, Mime di M. Pietro Bembo, and after- 
wards frequently reprinted. 

BEN (^, constructed* 13 or 13, son) is the first syllable 

in many Hebrew names, which may be compared with our 
forms of names like Morrison, Johnson, Robertson, &c. : 
for instance, TTiTlH, Benhadad, is the son or the wor- 
shipper of Hadad, or Adod, the ehief idol of the Syrians. 
T^N"!!!, Benoni, is son of my pain: TO'H^li Benjamin, is 

son of the right (hand), i.e. son of happiness. These ex- 
amples show that not only literal sonship but also metaphy- 
sical relation is expressed by Ben. 

BEN, BEIN, or BHE1N, is a word which exists in the 
Scottish dialect of the -Gaelic language, and has been 
adopted in our language to indicate the most elevated sum- 
mits of the mountain-ranges which traverse that part of our 
island to the north of tbo Firths of Clyde and of Forth. 
The corresponding term in some parts of Europe is Pen, 
which occurs in the names of several places in Cornwall and 
Wales, in the Penine Alps, in the word Apennines, and 
prohably in the Cevennesof France. Tho number of moun- 
tains to the proper names of which this word is prefixed is 
very considerable. We shall only notice here the most im- 
portant and best known. 

Ben Nevis, in Inverness-shire, 55° 50' N. lat., and 5° W. 
long., rises abruptly from a narrow and low plain by which 
it is separated from Loeh Eil, the northern portion of Loch 
Limine, and attains an elevation of 4368 feet above the level 
of the sea, and is perhaps tho highest mountain of Great 
Britain, though its summit rises to little more than one-third 
of the height of Mont Blane. The lower portion consists of 
granite and schistose rocks, and the upper is a mass of 

• The construct «tate or regime n of a Shemttic noun I* thai ah or truing by 
w/iich Is cxpTtited that It governs a following genitive, a» in the example* 
(fivrn. 



porphyry. This extensive mass of rocks is on the north 
bounded by the deep valley of the Spean and on the south 
by that of Glen Nevis. On the east it is connected by a 
much lower range of lulls with the Grampians. The lower 
parts of the mountain, especially towards the south and 
south-west, are usually covered with rich grass, which is 
generally saved for winter consumption. The green pas- 
ture extends upwards, gradually growing thinner to the 
middle of the mountain, where it is succeeded by some 
mosses intermixed with stones for a short way, after which 
nothing appears above but an immense heap of loose stones. 
The summit is an extensive Hat plain, strewed with loose 
rocks. In a few hollows near the summit patches of snow 
usually lie all the year round, and in one of these hollows 
facing the north, a little below the highest point, snow 
always remains during the whole year. 

Ben Mae Dhu, the highest summit of the Cairn-Gorum 
Mountains, is second only to Ben Nevis. The Trigono- 
metrical Survey, whose results however have not yet been 
published, has determined it to be 4305 feet above the level 
of the sea. This mountain summit may be considered as 
the centre of the Cairn-Gorum range, situated where the 
counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Inverness meet, and ex- 
tending on both sides of the meridian 3° AY., and between 
57° 5' and 57° 10' N. lat. It overhangs the southern ex- 
tremity of Loch Avon, which is so deeply embedded in 
this range, that during several of the winter months the 
sun never shines on the surfaco of tbe lake. 

Ben Lawers, in Perthshire, extends between 56° 30' and 
56° 35' N. lat. near the meridian of 4° 15', and occupies 
with its declivities a considerable part of the northern banks 
of Loch Tay. It is, according to the Ordnance Survey, 
3948 feet in height, and rises more than 1000 feet above 
all the hills that immediately surround it. This mountain 
is of very easy ascent. 

Ben Cruachan, in Argylcshire, is formed by an extensive 
mountain mass, whose circumference is supposed to be up- 
wards of twenty miles, and extends along the northcwi 
extremity of Loch Awe and the northern banks of the water 
of Awe, between 56° 25' and 56° 30' N. lat., and westwards 
of the fifth meridian of Greenwich. It is composed of grey 
granite, and its descent towards the north-east and the 
shores of Loeh Etive is steep and bare, mixed with pastures 
of a subdued brown colour. Towards Loch Awe and the 
river Awe its declivities are comparatively gentle, and at 
its foot a narrow tract of low land extends along the lake 
and river. The Ordnanco Survey states its height at 3669 
feet; 4 its highest parts form two steep eones of which the 
most northern is the higher. 

Ben Vorlich, in Perthshire, extends between 56° 20' and 
56° 25' N. lat. west of tho meridian 4° along the southern 
side of Loch Earn, and terminates at the junction of tho 
Earn and the Ruchil, forming one continuous and lofty wall. 
With the exception of Ben Venu, the leading feature of 
Loch Catcran (Katherine), says M'Culloch, no mountain in 
Scotland presents a declivity so wild and various, such a 
continual succession of bold precipices and deep hollows, of 
ravines and torrents, and of woods dispersed in every mode 
of picturesque distribution. 

Ben Ledi, in Perthshire, extends on the western sido of 
Loeh Lubnaig, where it rises with a steep and roeky de- 
elivity immediately from the lake to a height of nearly 3 000 
feet above the level of tho sea. 

Bon Venu extends along the southern shores of Loch 
Katherine in Perthshire, and presents the most striking 
features in tho pieturesque scenery by which that lake is 
distinguished. The Trossachs, celebrated for their beauty, 
extend on its lower slopes and at its foot. [See Trossachs.] 
Ben Lomond, in Stirlingshire, at no great distance to the 
south-west of Ben Venu, is the best known of the moun- 
tains *of Scotland on account of its forming the southern 
extremity of the Highlands,* and its situation near the 
banks of Loeh Lomond, whose eastern shores are formed 
by the gentle slope of the mountain. It is of easy ascent 
and distinguished among the mountains of North Britain 
by being covered with vegetation up to tho very summit. 
This mountain rises to 3TJ7 feet above the level of tbe sea, 
and affords from its western slopes a fine view over Loch 
Lomond and its islands. 

Ben Wcvis or Wyvis, though probably not tho highest 
summit to the north of Glenmore, is the best known, be- 
cause it forms the western boundary of the plains of Ding- 
wall and Cromartv. It rises between 57°40' and 57° 45' N 



No. 231. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. I V\— 2 E 



BEN 



210 



BEN 



hL, and near the meridian of 4° 30', and has been found by 
tho Ordnanco Trigonometrical Survey to be 3000 feet above 
the sea. It does not, however, attain that height abruptly, 
but by numerous steep slopes interrupted by narrow and 
sloping plains. (M'CulloeVs Highlands and Wetter n 
Islands; Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland ; Sir 
Thomas Dick Lauder's Account of the Great Floods, &c) 

BENARES, one of tho eight districts into which tho 
province of Allahabad is divided, lies between 25° and 26° 
N. laU and 82° and 84° E. long. This district, or zamin- 
dary, formerly constituted an appanage of the dominions 
of Oudc, by whose vizier, Asoph-ud-Dowlah, it was ceded 
in 1775 to the East India Company, as a compensation for 
the aid which had been granted to him in the preceding 
year, and hy which he was enabled to reduce to subjection 
the tributary chief of the Rohillas. In the following year, 
1 776, this zamiudary was grantod to the Rajah Cheyt Singh 
of Benares, subject to tho payment of an annual tribute to 
the company. The violation of this agreement on tho part 
of Mr. Hastings, then governor-general of India, formed one 
of tho charges brought against him on the memorable occa- 
sion of his impeachment by the House of Commons. 

In August, 1781, Mr. Hastings repaired in person to 
Benares, and placed tho rajah under arrest in his own 
palace, whence he was rescued byhi3 subjects. The natives 
oeing unable, however, to make a successful stand against 
tho English troops, the Rajah Chevt Singh was deposed, 
and his nephew, a minor, set up m his stead, a larger 
amount of tribute being exacted from hhn, and the govern- 
ment of tho district being placed under officers who were 
made directly responsible to tho governor- general and 
council. Tho tribute, which was originally fixed at 22,G6,180 
Sicca rupees (about 280.000J.), was raised on this occasion 
to 40 lacs of rupees (about 500,000/.) per annum. The con- 
sequences of this measure are thus described by its author, 
who passed through the country in February, 1784 : * From 
the confines of Buxar,' says Mr. Hastings, * to Benares, I 
was followed and fatigued by the clamours of the discon- 
tented inhabitants. The distresses which were produced by 
the long-continued drought unavoidably tended to hcigBten 
the general discontent, yet I have reason to fear that the 
cause existed principally in a defective, if not a corrupt and 
oppressive administration. I am sorry to add, that from 
Buxar to the opposite boundary, I have seen nothing but 
traces of complete devastation in every village.' 

The rajah has sinco becomo a mere stipendiary of the 
company's government, which, in 1795, took entire posses- 
sion of the revenues, and proceeded to administer the affairs 
of the district, making an annual allowance of about 12,000/. 
lo the rajah for his personal support. On the occasion 
just mentioned the British government passed a regulation, 
enacting that the last decennary assessment for the land 
revenue, which had been made under its sanction, should 
be considered as a permanent settlement. At the same 
time the courts of judicature which were superintended by 
native judges wero abolished ; and in lieu of them were 
established one city and three zillah courts, together with a 
provincial court ot appeal, all similar in their constitution 
and jurisdiction to tho corresponding tribunals in the pro- 
vinces of Bengal, Bahar,* and Orissa. By another regula- 
tion the powers of the Suddcr Dcwanny Adawlut, and 
Nizamut Adawlut, tho supremo courts of the Company at 
Calcutta, were extended over the district of Benares. 

Tho collcctorato of Benares includes tho three districts of 
Benares, Ghazeepore, and Juan pore, of which Benares is the 
least in extent, but the most important with regard to re- 
venue, as appears from the following statement, given to the 
Committee of tho Houso of Commons which sat in 1832 : — 

AiM*ismcut. 
1*29 30. 

1C,96,899 rupees. 
13,23,4-19 „ 
10,82,391 „ 



Benares . 

Ghazeepore 

Juanporo" 



Suture miles. 

350 
, 2,850 
> 1,820 



5,020 41,02,739 „ 

Tho district of Benares has Ghazeepore on tho north 
and east, Juanporo on the wost, and Mirzapbro on the 
touth. Tho land is, for the most part, rich and well culti- 
vated. Barley, wheat, and a species of peas are tho prin- 
cipal vegetables cultivated for tho food of tho inhabitants. 
Flax is raised only for tho oil expressed from its seeds. A 
considerable quantity of sugar is made in tho district, but 
its most profitable productions are indigo and opium. 



The district is well watered bv the Ganges and tha Goomty 
rivers, as well as by several small tributaries to those streams, 
and having now enjoyed a long period of peaco and security, 
tho inhabitants havo realised the advantages offered by its 
soil and climate, and tho district exhibits many signs of 
prosperity. For about nine months in the year tho climate is 
temperate, and sometimes during the winter fires are found 
agreeable in the houses. During the three months from April 
to Juno hot winds prevail, and for a time destroy the verdure. 

The number of inhabitants in tho district is not known. 
Tho population of tho three districts which form the col- 
lcctorato has been estimated variously at from three to five 
millions, but all authorities appear to agrco as to the fact of 
its having rapidly increased of late years. 

(Hennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan ; Mill's His* 
tort/ of British India; Letter from li. S. Jones, Esq., to 
the Chairman of the Select Committee on East India 
Affairs, inserted in the Report of that committee in 1832.) 

BENARES, the capital of tho district of that name, is 
built on the north bank of the Ganges, which here makes a 
fino sweep; the convex sido of the curve is that on which 
the city is built; 25° 30' N. lat., and 83° 1' E. long. 

Benares is celebrated as having been in autient times the 
seat of Brahminical learning. According to Major Rennell, 
' its antient namo was Kasi, but there are no notices con- 
cerning it in tho works of the antient geographers.' Dr. 
Robertson speaks of the city as having been, ' from time im- 
memorial, the Athens of India, the residence of the most 
learned Brahmins, and tho seat both of science and litera- 
ture.' Sir Robert Barker, who visited Benares in 1772, has 
described an observatory there, in which he found instru- 
ments for astronomical observations of very large dimen- 
sions, and constructed with great skill and ingenuity : tra- 
dition attributes the building of this observatory to tho 
Emperor Akbar. 

The streets of the city are, for the most part, only a few 
feet broad, and the houses, which are built of stone and 
lofty, are so close together that the sun's rays can hardly 
penetrate to the pavement. The streets are described as 
being covered with every kind of filth, which renders the 
placo highly disagrccablo as a residenco to Europeans 
When seen from the river the appearance of the city is 
beautiful. The eye is pleased with the great,varicty of tho 
buildings, some of which are highly ornamented, and have 
terraces on their summits; tho view is greatly improved by 
the numerous flights of stone steps which lead from the 
banks of the river to Hindu temples and other public build- 
ings. The number of brick and stone dwellings is said to 
exceed 12,000, besides which there are abovo 16,000 houses 
built of mud. 

Many of the houses are of large dimensions. It is cus- 
tomary for each story to be rented by a separate family, and 
somo of the buildings aro thus said to contain each 200 
inhabitants.- The more wealthy Hindus live in detached 
houses, with open courts, and surrounded by walls. 

Almost in the centre of tho city is a largo mosque, built 
by Aurungzebe on the site of a magnificent Hindu temple, 
which he destroyed for tho purpose of erecting the present 
building : the mosque has two minarets, the height of which 
is 232 feet from tho level of the Ganges. 

The dwellings of the European residents aro at Secrolc, 
about three miles from the city. This placo was the scene 
of a tragical event in January, 1799, when the deposed 
nabob of Oude, irritated by the British government re- 
quiring him to transfer his residence from Benares to Cal- 
cutta, proceeded with a body of armed attendants to tho 
house of the Company's resident, Mr. Cherry, whom they 
assassinated, together with four other European gentlemen. 
Tho nabob, Vizier Ally, inatio his escape with about 400 
followers to Azimghur, but was taken in the December fol- 
lowing and imprisoned in Calcutta. 

The native population of Benares is at all times very 
great. In 1803 tho resident inhabitants were estimated to 
amount to 582,000, nnd the number is now supposed to bo 
oven greater. Nino-tenths of tho population are Hindus, 
and tho remainder Mohammedans. 

The sacreduess of tho city in the estimation of Hindus 
makes it the constant resort of pilgrims from all parts of 
Hindustan, and a great number of these devotees, being 
exceedingly poor, subsist upon charity, and are consequently 
often reduced to a stato of the greatest misery. According 
to Mr. Tennant, 'hunger, wretchedness, and discaso seem 
to meet your eye in every direction,' A considerable num- 



BEN 



211 



BEN 



ber of Turks, Persians, and Armenians are constantly in the 
city. Several of the natives are men of great wealth, who 
act as bankers, and have been accustomed to facilitate the 
money operations of the East India Company. Some also 
are dealers in diamonds and other precious gems, which are 
brought to Benares from Bundelcund. 

A great part of the instruction formerly given at Benares 
was gratuitous, from the prevailing idea that all the religious 
merit of the act would be lost if any payment were taken 
from the pupils. It does not appear, however, that the 
teachers had any scruples about receiving donations from 
pilgrims or from Hindu princes. At the time of the esta- 
blishment of the British empire in India, the schools of 
Benare3 were in a declining condition. The Hindu Sanscrit 
College of this city was established by the English resident, 
Mr. l)uncan,in 1791. This institution has since been prin- 
cipally supported by the Company's government: some of 
the scholars contribute towards the expenses. An English 
class was added to this college in 1827, when the number of 
students was 259; in 1830 the number was increased to 
237. Other schools have been established in Benares during 
the present century, and have been partly endowed by na- 
tive inhabitants. In one of these sehools nearly 200 children 
are instructed in the English, Persian, and Hindustannce 
languages, as well as in writing, arithmetic, general history, 
geography, and astronomy. 

The government of the city, as well as of the district of 
which it is the capital, bas been virtually exercised by the 
British since 1775, The rajah of Benares holds merely a 
nominal authority, and is a stipendiary of the Company. His 
residence is at Ramnaghur, about a mile from the city on 
the opposite side of the river. 

Benares is 83 miles travelling distance from Allahabad, 
460 miles from Calcutta, 130 from Oude, 189 from Luck- 
now, 950 from Bombay, and 1 103 from Madras. 

(Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindustan; Mill's His* 
iorij of British India ; Tennant's Indian Recreations ; 
Hodge's Travels in India; Report of Committee of the 
House of Commons on the Affairs of India, 1832, public 
and political sections.) 

BENAVI'DES was a native of Quirihue, in the pro- 
vince of Concepcion, in Chili. Himself and a younger bro- 
ther entered the patriot army at the beginning' of the revo- 
lution. The elder brother attained the rank of a serjeant in 
a Buenos Ayres battalion. In 1814 both brothers were 
found guilty of some eapital offence, and sentenced to death. 
Being placed in the condemned cell, they eontrived to make 
their escape, set fire, as it is supposed, to the field depGt, 
and went over to the royalists, in whose service they were 
the scourge of Chili for four years. At the battle of Maypo, 
in 1818, they were made prisoners, but not being recognised 
till the Chilian general nad offered a general amnesty to 
all military offenders, they escaped unpunished. The 
supreme director, however, desiring to ria the country of 
them, sent them with a strong escort to the province of La 
Plata. Not far from Santiago, the officer of the escort 
discovering that the prisoners had attempted to bribe the 
men to let them escape, ordered them both to be executed. 
The two brothers, tied together, were made to kneel on the 
ground, and a volley was fired upon them. The younger 
Benavides was shot dead. The elder received two balls, one 
of wbich passed through his right shoulder, and the other 
through his left side. The serjeant of the detachment also 
gave him a cut with his sword in revenge for tho loss of his 
family, whom Benavides had destroyed, and tho soldiers, 
after throwing somo earth and stones upon the bodies, 
withdrew. Benavides, when he found that his executioners 
had left him, with great difficulty threw off the earth and 
stones, and having untied the cords with which he was 
fastened, he stripped bis dead brother of his shirt, in order 
to bind his wounds with it. Notwithstanding the acute pain 
of his wounds, he reached the hut of a poor old man, 
where, without any other eure than washing his wounds 
every day with water, in little more than two weeks he found 
himself strong enough to undertake his journey. He set 
out accordingly towards Santiago, and contrived to enter 
the city secretly. His wife solicited, through a great patriot, 
her relative, and a particular friend of General San Martin, 
an interview between that general and her husband ; and 
Benavides engaged himself again to serve in tbe patriot 
army, the general having first given him a written promise 
that he would keep his name secret. San Martin sent Be- 
navides, under the chargo of one of his officers, who did 



not know him, to General Valcarce, then commanding the 
republican forces near Concepcion, with an order to place 
him on his staff, and, while keeping a sharp eye over hiin, 
to avail himself of Benavides's knowledge of the country, of 
his great influence over the Araucanian Indians, and of his 
former connexion with the Spaniards. To Benavides's ad- 
vice and counsel the patriots were indebted for the conquest 
of tbe district of Lajas, and of the Fort del Nacimiento. Un- 
fortunately General Valcarce made Colonel Freire, then 
governor of Concepcion, acquainted with the secret, and that 
officer, in a warm discussion with Benavides, had the impru- 
dence to tell him that a man of his character was not to be 
trusted. Irritated at the insult, Benavides disappeared two 
days after, and went over to the Spaniards. General San- 
chez, who commanded at that time the Spanish forces on 
the frontier of Chili near Concepcion, gave him a commis- 
sion in Araueo, and from that moment Benavides com- 
menced the most cruel and desolating war against the inde- 
pendent Chilians. In the spaee of two years, with the help 
of the Araucanian Indians, he committed cruelties upon 
the patriots too revolting to relate. In 1821 the Chilians 
armed an expedition 'against him, and Benavides being 
abandoned by all his followers, sailed for Arica, with the 
intention of joining the Spaniards in Peru. His launch 
having entered a cove near Valparaiso in quest of water, 
one of his own men betrayed him. He was taken and exe- 
cuted at Santiago on the 23rd of February, 1823. {Memoirs 
of General Milter.) / 

BENBOW, VICE-ADMIRAL, was born in 1650. His 
whole life, from boyhood to his death, was spent in active ser- 
vice at sea ; and though he was by no means a very successful 
or brilliant commander, he was distinguished throughout his 
career for his courage and professional enterprise. He early 
attracted the favourable notice of James II., the great re- 
former of our naval service ; and after the revolution was 
much employed by King William. An anecdote, involving 
a punning play upon words, which was by no means a 
frequent pastime of the last-named monarch, is told with 
reference to Benbow, which well illustrates the estimation 
in which he was held by him. It was proposed to send out 
a naval expedition to the West Indies, to watch tho pro- 
ceedings of the French in that quarter ; and after several 
names were proposed for the command of the expedition, 
William exclaimed, *No; these are all fresh-water beaus; 
but the service requires a beau of another sort — therefore 
wo must send Admiral BenAow?.* 

The service by whieh Benbow is best known in our naval 
history was his last On the 11th of July, 1702, he left 
Port Royal in Jamaica, in quest of a French squadron, com- 
manded by M. du Casse, a very brave and skilful officer. 
On the 19th of August, Benbow came up with the French 
force, and though inferior in number and weight of metal, 
immediately attacked them, A running fight was kept up 
for four days ; hut owing to the cowardice or treachery of 
the officers under his command, the brunt of the engage- 
ment was thrown upon Benbow's own vessel. On the 
morning of the fifth day he renewed tho chase and fight, 
but was wounded by a chain -shot, which broke his right 
leg to pieces. He was earricd below, but very soon ordered 
his cradle to be brought upon the quarter-deck, so as to 
command a view of tbe action as he lay there. Tho 
engagement lasted till it was dark; but so far from re- 
ceiving any assistanco from his officers, they addressed a 
written remonstrance to bim, in wbich they declared the 
inability of the English force to contend with that under 
Du Casse. Thus counteracted, he sailed back to Jamaica, 
had the officers immediately put under an arrest, and tried 
by court-martial. They were condemned on the clearest 
evidence ; two of the captains were shot, and the rest were 
visited with various degrees of punishment. Benbow sur- 
vived just long enough to hear his own conduct vindicated 
and applauded. He died of tho wound in his leg, on the 
4th of November, 1702. (Biographia Brilanntca ; Tindal, 
Continuation of Rapin's Hist, of England.) 

BENCH. [See Bank.] 

BENCHER. [See Inns of Court.] 

BENCOOLEN, a settlement in the possession of the 
Dutch on the west coast of the island of Sumatra, in 4° 10' 
S.lat., and 102° 50' E. long. 

In order to carry on the pepper trade with advantage, the 
English East India Company formed an establishment at 
Bencoolen in 1685, to which they afterwards gave the name 
of Fort Marlborough. This settlement did not dt first fulfil 

2E2 



BEN 



213 



n K N 



the promise of advantage which led to its formation. In 
1687 Mr. Ord, the head of the establishment, was poi- 
soned, and we learn from tho early records of the Company 
that they entertained in that year" serious thoughts of aban- 
doning the station, and transferring their otficcrs toPriaman 
orAtcheen. In 1694 the factory was, however, described 
as being very prosperous, and in the following year the 
Company obtained by grant from the rajah an addition to 
their settlement, which in conscquenco included the town 
of Sillibar. During the next twehty-five years the English 
settlors were much harassed in consequence of disputes 
between rival chiefs, in which the settlers were compelled 
to take a part, and in 1719 the English were nearly all de- 
stroyed by the natives. 

jiencoolen, with the other English settlements on the 
coast of Sumatra, was nearly destroyed by a French force 
under Count D'Estait^g in 1760, bu| the town was soon 
rebuilt. This settlement had long ceased to be of any po- 
litical or commercial importance to the East India Com- 
pany. Pepper, the produce for obtaining which the factory 
was originally established, was procured on better terms 
from Prince of Wales' Island and from the Malabar coast. 
Attempts were made in 1796 to cultivate the nutmeg and 
clove, but the quality of theso spices proved so inferior to 
the produce of Amboyna as to give little enconragemcut for 
persevering. The small importance of the Company's trade 
to Bencoolen is shown by the fact that the average annual 
cost of the consignments sent there from Europe in the ten 
years between 1814 and 1824 did not amount to 3000/. 
The expense of the establishment was, on the other hand, 
very considerable, and far exceeded the revenue; the latter, 
during the five years from 1819 to 1824, did not average 
more than 7133/. per annum, while the average amount of 
charges during the same time was 92,322/. per annum. 

The East India Company made no sacrifice therefore in 
delivering up Bencoolen to the Dutch government. This 
cession was made in 1 825, at which time all the other British 
settlements in Sumatra were also given up in exchange for 
the Dutch settlements en the continent of India, including 
the town and fortress of Malacca. 

The district or province of Bencoolen has, since its cession 
to the Dutch, been made dependent upon their settlement 
at Padang. Bencoolen district is now described as being 
bounded to the north and west by the district of Indrapoor, 
and on the east and south by Lampung. The total popu- 
lation is said (rather vaguely) to amount to 100,000 souls. 
During tho occupancy of the English, the numbers were 
estimated at only 20,000, but the district was then not so 
extensive as it has since been made. Since 1825 tho Dutch 
settlers aro said to have discovered coal-mines in the in- 
terior, which produce fuel of a quality little inferior to 
the coal of Europe. This discovery, if the means of trans- 
port to tho shore are not too costly, and if the favourable 
report as to quality should be confirmed, will prove of much 
value in the probable event of the extension of steam navi- 
gation in the eastern seas. 

The town of Bencoolen is small but tolerably well built 
and of a pleasing appearance. It has a bad character with 
respect to healthiness. Fort Marlborough, which stands 
only a short distanco inland, is said to be more healthy. 

The population of Bencoolen town is of a very mixed 
description, including Europeans, Dutch, and English, and 
their descendants; Chinese, Malays, settlers from Pulo 
Neas, an island lying off" Tapanooly Bay on the western 
coast of Sumatra, and some negroes. 

The cultivation of the spice plantations is kept up by the 
Dutch, the labour being performed by slaves, who are prin- 
cipally brought from Pulo Neas and from the island of 
Dally. Debtors are likewiso considered as slaves, being 
obliged to work for the benefit of their creditors. 

Bencoolen trades with Batavia, Bengal, the Cororaandel 
coast, and the more northern ports of Sumatra. The im- 
ports are ch icily cloths, rice, salt, opium, tobacco, sugar, 
and some European manufactures, part of which aro re- 
exported, with the produce of the district, to other parts on 
tho island, or are sent into the interior. {Early Itecords of 
the East India Company, inserted in the Report of the 
Committee of the House of Lords on tho Foreign Trade of 
the Country in 1820 and 1821 ; Report of Select Committee 
of the House of Commons on the Affairs of the East India 
Company, 1832; Marsden's History of Sumatra; Count 
Hogendorp's Coup d'CBil sur rile de Java et les an tret 
Posmsions NiertandaUes dans VArchipel des Indes.) 



BEND-EMIll (also written Bandamir or BumUmetr) t 
is the name of a river in Forestall, or Persia Proper, tho 
Araxcs, Cores, or Cyrus of the anticnt Greek and Roman 
geographers, and sometimes called Kur by oriental writers. 
Strabo (xv. e. 3, p. "29, Casaub.) says that the founder of 
the Persian monarchy was originally called Agradatcs, but 
that he assumed (prtXn/3«) thenamo Cyrus from this river 
tho passage is thus read in all tho MSS. ; but most editors 
(altering fitriXapf into /«n/3a\i) make the author say that 
Cyrus gave the river his own name, its previous appellation 
being Agradatcs: Groskurd, the most recent German trans- 
lator of Strabo, and A. F. Pott (Etymologische ForscJiun- 
gen, Introduct. p. xliv.) have given the preference to tho 
reading of the MSS., which is doubtless the right reading. 
According to the map accompanying Sir "William Ousclcy's 
Travels, it has its origin in the hills towards the north of 
Shiraz, and Hows in a direction to the S.E.E. towards the 
lake Bakhtegan. In its course it traverses the beautiful and 
productive valley of Marvdasht, or Mcrdcsht, whero it is 
joined by a small tributary stream from tho north, the 
Palwar, (according to Kinncir, the Shamicr.) and passes by 
the celebrated ruins of Pcrscpolis, which arc situated 
on its left or northern side ; farther on it llovs through 
the district of KurbSl, where it is divided into numerous 
channels to fertilize the ground. The part of the water 
which is not spent in the irrigation of the ground, falls 
into lake Bakhtegan, at a distance of about fifty miles 
towards the east from Shiraz. Niebuhr, who crossed the 
Bcnd-Einir in his way from Shiraz to Pcrscpolis, describes 
it as a very rapid river, and says that a bridge of bricks, 
300 feet Ion?, was built across it. Bend-Emir is also the 
name of a village situated on the river. The name of both 
the village and the river alludes to the extensive mounds 
or dykes constructed here in the tenth century by the emir 
Azad-al-daulah, by which a tract of country of considerable 
extent was fertilized. (See Band ; Ousolcy's Travels, vol. ii. 
p. ISO, scq. ; Niebuhr s Voyage en Arabic, <J*c. vol. ii. p. 9S ; 
Kinncir, Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire,^. 59; 
Strabon's Erdbeschreibvng von Groskurd, vol. iii. p. IS", 
188, Berlin, 1S33, Svo.) 

BENDER (formerly Teckin or Tiginc, called by the 
Russians Bendery, and by the natives Tigino), a fortified 
place, and the chief town of the circle of Bcndersko-Kdou- 
kansk, in Bessarabia, which is the most south-western pro- 
vince of the Russian dominions in Europe. The town is si- 
tuated in 4C° 50' N. lat., and 29° 35' E. long. It lies on the 
right hank of the Dniester, and is built on the land-side in 
the shape of a crescent Up to the commencement of the 
present century it belonged to Turkey, and was considered 
a post of such high militarv importance, that its fortifica- 
tions were strengthened and enlarged by that power. at 
various times. It is still inclosed by a wall and deep 
broad ditch, and retains its citadel, which is constructed 
on an eminence; the defences, however, have of late years 
been used for the erection of soldiers* quarters, maga- 
zines, Sec. The streets are narrow, gloomy, and kept in a 
filthy stato; the mosques, twelvo in number, have been 
mostly converted toother purposes; and there are likewise 
an Armenian and Greek church, as well as a synagogue 
in the to\tn. Bender has seven gates, and two suburbs, 
which are inhabited by natives, whose occupation is mostly 
agriculture and grazing. Its population, which in former 
times was 20,000, is at present reduced to less than 5000 , 
the chief source of their support is a salt*petrc work, some 
tanneries, iron-smithios, and three paper-mills. Its cele- 
brity dates from tho early part of tho last century, when 
Achmet III. granted an asylum in his dominions to Charles 
XII. of Sweden, after he had lost his army in the battle of 
Pultawa, on the 8th of July, 1709, and had (led to Bender, 
lie was permitted to take up his residence in the adjoining 
villagoof Varnitza on the Dniester, where he lived for the 
next four years; but by his offensive conduct, maliciously 
aggravated in the eyes of the Turks by the intrigues of 
Catherine of Russia, ultimately brought upon himself the 
hostility of his host, whom he had the temerity to brave by 
resisting several thousand men with a handful of followers in 
a barricaded houso. His generous enemy, however, allowed 
his royal prisoner to escape, and make his way peaceably 
back to his native country. Bender was twice taken by 
assault in Catherine's time. On tho last of these occasions, 
in 1771, General Panin stormed it, put the garrison and in- 
habitants, to the number of 30,000, to the sword, and then 
burnt the town. Russia, in dictating the subsequent treaty 



BEN 



213 



BEN 



of Kutskuk-KainanUhy. (21st July, 1774.) restored tlie 
ruins of the place to the Turks. In the campaign of 1809, 
the Russians again assailed and captured it without much 
effort, but restored it to Turkey at the peace of J assy : and 
it once more fell into their bands two years afterwards, in 
the campaign which terminated with the treaty of Bucho- 
rest, in 1812, by the terms of which Bender and the sur- 
rounding districts were ceded to Russia. 

BENEDICT, SAINT, the founder of the order of Bene- 
dictine monks, was born at Nursia in the dukedom of Spo- 
letto in Italy, about the year 430. He was sent to Rome 
when very young, and there received the first part of his 
education ; when fourteen years of age he removed to Sub- 
laco, a desert place about forty miles distant, where he was 
concealed in a cavern ; his place of retirement, for a con- 
siderable time, being known only to his friend St.Romanus, 
who is said to have descended to him by a rope, and sup- 
plied him daily with provisions. The monks of a neigh- 
bouring monastery subsequently chose him for their abbot : 
their manners, however, pot agreeing with those of Benedict, 
he returned to his solitude, whither many persons followed 
him and put themselves under his direction, and in a short 
time he was enabled to build no fewer than twelve monaste- 
ries. About the year 523 he retired to Monte Cassino, where 
idolatry was still prevalent, and where a temple to Apollo yet 
existed. Having converted thepeopleoftheadjacentcountry 
to the true faith, he broke the statuo of Apollo, overthrew 
the altar, and built two oratories on the mountain, one dedi- 
cated to St. Martin, the other to St. John. Here St. Bene- 
dict also founded a monastery, and instituted the order of 
his name, which in time became so. famous and extended 
all over Europe. It was here too that he composed his 
* Regula Monachorum ;* which docs not, however, seem to 
have been confirmed till fifty-two years after his death, 
when Pope Gregory the Great gave his sanction to it. 

Authors are not agreed upon the place where St. Bene- 
dict died ; some say at Monte Cassino, others affirm it to 
have been at Rome, whither he had been sent by Pope Boni- 
face. Stevens, in the * Continuation of Dugdale's Monaa- 
ticon/ places his death about the year 543, others in 547 ; 
the day, however, stands in the calendar fixed to March 21. 
Gregory the Great, in the second 'Book of his Pialogues,* 
has written a • Life of St. Benedict/ and given a long de- 
tail of his supposed miracles. Dupin says that the ' Regula 
Monachorum' is the only genuine work of St. Benedict. 
Other tracts are, however, ascribed to him, particularly a 
1 letter to St. Maurus,' a ' Sermon upon the Decease of 
St. Maurus,' a 'Sermon upon the Passion of St. Placidus 
and his Companions,* and a ' Discourse de Ordine Monas- 
ter^.' (See the Life by St. Gregory, already mentioned, re- 
printed in the Acta Sanctorum of the BoIIandists, for the 
month of March, torn. in. fol. Antv. 1653; Butler's Lives 
of the Saints, 8vo. Dubl. 1779, vol. iii. p. 231 ; Chalmers's 
Biograph. Dictionary, vol. iv. p. 433.) St. Gregory states 
that he received his account of St. Benedict from four abbots, 
the saint's disciples, namely Constantine, his successor at 
Monte Cassino, Simplicius, the third abbot of that house, 
Valentinian, the first abbot of the monastery of Lateran, 
ami Honoratus, who succeeded St. Benedict at Sublaco. 

BENEDICTINE ORDER. The exact year when the 
monks who followed the rule of St. Benedict were first esta- 
blished as an Order is unknown. The essence of the rule 
was that tbey were to live in a monastery subject to an 
abbot. The ' Histoiro des Ordres Monastiques,* torn. v. 
4to. Paris, 1718, upon Mabillon's authority, places the date 
of the monastery of Piombarole, near Monte Cassino, at 
least as early as the year 532, anterior to St. Benedict's 
death. The progress which this order made in the west, in 
a short time, was rapid. In France its interests were pro- 
moted by St. Maur or Maurus, in Sicily by St. Placide, in 
Italy by St. Gregory the Great, and in Frisia, at a later 
period, by St. Wilbrod. Tbe reciprocal protection afforded 
to the interests of the papal see by the Benedictine Onler 
and to the interests of the Benedictine Order by the Roman 
pontiffs, sufficiently account for the Order's advancement. 
There were nuns of this Order as well as monks ; but the 
time and original institution of the Benedictine nuns is quite 
uncertain. (See Stevens's Contin. oftheMonasticon, vol. i. 
p. 168.) 

The Benedictine Order is said by many (see Monast. 
AngL old edition, vol. i. p. 12, Reyner, Apostol., tr. i. p. 
202, Stevens, vol. i. p. 164) to have been brought into 
England by St. Augustine and his brethren, a. d. 596, and 
to have continued from thence to the Dissolution under 



several improvements ; but others (as Marsh am in his Pro* 
puiaion prefixed to the Mona^ticon, Patrick in his Additions 
to Gun ton's History of Peterborough* pp. 234,246, Hickes, 
Dissert. Epistolaris, pp. 67, 68, &c.) consider that the Be- 
nedictine rule was but little known in England till King 
Edgars time, and never perfectly observed till after the 
Conquest In the Decern Scriptores, col. 2232, it is said 
that St. Wilfrid brought it into England a.d. 666, and in 
the Quindecem Scriptores, and by Patrick in his Additions 
to Gunton, p. 247, with greater probability, that he im- 
proved the English cburch by it. It is expressly men- 
tioned in King Kenred's charter (Mon. Angl. old edition, 
torn. i. p. 145) to the monks of Evesham, a.d. 709, and in 
the bull of pope Constantine granted in the same year to 
that monaster)*. (See Moti. AngL ut supr., W ilk ins, Con- 
cil. vol. L p. 71, Spelm. vol. i. p. 213.) But Bede, who has 
given us a very accurate account of tbe state of religion in 
this island till a,d. 73 f, has nothing or it; nor is there any 
mention of it in the first regulation of the monks in 
England by Archbishop Cuthbert in the great synod at 
Cloveshoe. (Wilkins, Condi, vol. i. p. 94, Spelm. vol. i. p. 
245, a.d. 747.) If Wilfrid really advanced this rule, it was 
not over all England, but in Kent only. (See Patrick's 
Additions to Gunton's Peterborough, p. 247.) And if the 
charter of King Kenred and the bull of pope Constantine 
be genuine (for all tbe antient grants produced by the 
monks are not so), this rule, which is there prescribed 
to the monks of Evesham, is said in the bull to ' have 
been at that time but little used in , those parts.* So 
that, instead of the Saxon monks being all Benedictines, 
there were probably but few such till the restoration of 
monasteries under King Edgar, when St. Dunslan and St. 
Oswald (who had been a Benedictine monk at Fleury in 
France) not only favoured the monks against the secular 
clergy, but so much advanced the Benedictines that Wil- 
liam of Malmesbury (De Gestis Pontif 1. iii.) says this order 
took its rise here in England from St. Oswald. The Ely 
historian (whose work is printed in Wharton's Anglia Sacra, 
vol. i. p. 604) says, that King Edgar gave Ethelwold the 
manor of Suthborne, now Sudborn, in Suffolk, to translate 
the rule of St. Benedict into English, which seems to con- 
firm the opinion of its being then but little known. 

All our cathedral priories were of this order, except Car- 
lisle, and most of the richest abbeys in England. Reyner 
(Apottolat. vol. i. p. 217) says, that the revenues of the 
Benedictines were almost equal to those of all the other 
orders. Tanner (Notit. Mmiant. edit. Nasm. pp. li. Iii.) enu 
merates one hundred and thirteen abbeys, priories, and cells 
of this order in England, the sum of whose revenues, at the 
time of the Dissolution, amounted to 57,892/. 1*. 1 Id., besides 
seventy-three houses of Benedictine nuns, whose revenues 
amounted to 7985/. 12*. lrf., making a total of 65,877/. 14*. 

The Benedictines, says Tanner, were much against all 
new orders of religious. By the second Lateran council 
they were obliged to hold triennial chaplers, which those of 
this nation generally held at Northampton. (See Widmore, 
Hist. Westm. Ab. pp. 79, 82.) 

Fosbrooke, in his British Monachum, 4to. London, 1817, 
p. 109, has given an abstract of the Benedictine rule, chielly 
from the Sanctorum Patrum Begulce Monastics, 12mo. 
Lmiv. 1571. It evidently received enlargements at different 
times, the whole of which were consolidated in the concord 
of rules promulgated by Dunstan in the reign of Edgar. 
(See the * Concordia Regularum S. DunstaniCantuariensis 
Archiepiscopi/ printed by Reyner in his Apostofatns Bene- 
dictinorum in Anglia, Append. P. iii. p. 77, and republished 
in tbe first volume of Dugdale's Monasticon.) This concord 
of rules regulated the practice of the English monks till 
the year 1077. Tbe Clugniacs, Cistercians, Grandmontines, 
Premonstratensians, and Carthusians, were, in reality, 
branches only of the Benedictine order, living under the rule 
of St. Benedict, but observing a different discipline. For a 
notice of the learning of the Benedictines, see St. Maur. 

The habit of the Benedictine monks was a black loose 
coat, or a gown of stuff reaching down to their heels, with a 
cowl or hood of the same, and a scapulary ; and under that 
another habit, white, as large as the former, made of flannel ; 
with boots on their legs. From the colour of their outward 
habit the Benedictines were generally called Black Monks. 
(See Tann. Notit. Monast., pref. p. viii.; and Fosbrooke, Brit. 
Monarh. p. 3S2.) Stevens, in his Continuation of the Mo~ 
nasticon, vol. i. p. 164, says, the form of the habit of theso 
monk* was at first left to the discretion of the abbots, and 
that St, Benedict did not determine the colour of it. Dug- 



DEN 



214 



BEN 



dale, both in the Monasticon and in hi* History of JFar* 
mckskirA, vol. i. p. 156, Ins given a representation of the 
Benedictine monk in his habit. 

The habit of the Benedictine nuns consisted of a blaclc 
robe, with a scapulary of tho same, and under that robe a 
tunic of white or undyed wool. When they went to the 
choir, they had, over all, n black cowl, like that of tho monks. 
Dugdale, in tho Monasticon, has given an engraving of a 
Benedictine nun with her cowl : and Stevens, Con tin, vol. i. 
p. 1H9, an engraving of another without her cowl. 

BENEDICT I. succeeded John III. in the sec of Rome, 
in the year 575. His name was Bonosus, and he was a 
native of Rome. Little is known of him except that he 
was on friendly terms with the Emperor Tiberius II., and 
that Rome in his timo was threatened both by the Ix>n go- 
bards and by the Vandals, He died in 578. and was suc- 
ceeded by Pela^ius II, (Platina, Vita* Pontiflcum.) 

BENEDICT II. succeeded Leo II. in 684. He waited 
nearly a year before his nomination, which took place in 
683, was "confirmed by the Emperor Constautine IV., with- 
out which confirmation he could not be consecrated. Con- 
stantino, however, exempted the Roman see from the cus- 
tomary tribute wbich was paid at the election of every new 
bishop, and he is said also to have ordered that in future 
the new bishops elected by the Roman clergy and people 
should be ordained, without waiting for the imperial con- 
firmation. IIo also sent to Rome some locks of the hair of 
his two sons, Justinian and Heraclius,as a token of homage 
to the Roman see, which were received with great ceremony 
by the clergy and the people. Benedict is reported to have 
been pious and charitable, and well learned in the scrip- 
tures. He restored and adorned several churches at Rome, 
namely, those of St. Peter, Sta. Maria ad Martyres, &e. 
Benedict died in 685, and was succeeded by John V. 

BENEDICT III. succeeded Leo IV. in 855. Between 
these two popes some writers, and Platina among the rest, 
have placed the famous female Pope Joan, whose story is 
now acknowledged by all parties to have been a fable first 
promulgated, not by Protestant writers, as is often ima- 
gined, but by one Martin us, a Pole, and a Cistercian monk, 
who was penitentiary to Pope Innocent IV, in the thirteenth 
century, and who wrote a Chronicon Summnrum Ponti- 
/?ewm,"and another work on the antiquities of Rome, which 
is full of absurdities. (Sec Panvinio's able discussion of 
this much controverted point in a note to Platina' s work.) 

The election of Benedict III. was violently opposed by a 
party among the clergy of the Roman provinces, who nomi- 
nated Anastasius, a Roman priest. The Emperor Louis II. 
being appealed to, sent his missi or deputies to inquire 
into the matter; but the deputies meeting first with the 
partisans of Anastasius, decided in his favour, and Ana- 
stasius making his solemn entrance into Rome, occupied 
the Late ran Palace, stripped Benedict of his pontifical 
garments, and fiut him in prison. The clergy of the city, 
however, persisted in their election of Benedict, and the 
people loudly supporting the same, the imperial deputies, 
probably better informed of the merits of the question, drove 
Anastasius away, and confirmed Benedict, who forgavo his 
adversaries, except tbe bishop of Porto, who would not give 
up Anastasius, and was consequently superseded. During 
Benedict's pontificate, Romo suffered a great inundation 
from the river Tiber, which was followed by a destructive 
epidemic disease. The Saracens at the same timo were 
ravaging Apulia and Campania. Benedict died in 858, and 
wan succeeded by Nicholas I. Some particulars of this 
pope's life arc found in Garampi's dissertation De Nummo 
Argent co Benedict i ill. 

BENEDICT IV. succeeded John IX. about the year 
900. The crown of Italy, after the extinction of the Carlo- 
vingkui dynasty, was disputed between Berengarius Duke 
of Friuli, and Louis, son of Boson King of Aries or Pro- 
vence. Louis, having obtained the advantage, came to Rome 
in 901, and was crowned Emperor and King of Italy by 
Benedict But in the following year Berengarius, who had 
taken refuge in Germany, returned and defeated I>ouis at 
Verona, and took hiin prisoner. After this event, Benedict 
diod in 903, and was succeeded by Leo V. 

BENEDICT V. was elected in 964 by the Romans, in 
opposition to Leo VIIL, whilo the latter was gono to the 
north of Italy to ask the Emperor Otho's support against 
his predecessor John X1L, who, after being deposed by an 
assembly of tho Roman elerey for his irregular conduct, 
had returned to Rome, and driven I^co from his see. 
John, after putting lo death or cruelly mutilating several of 



his opponents, died suddenly, and the Romans, regardless 
of their previous election of I^co VI II., nominated Benedict 
Otho quickly appeared before Rome with an army, and re- 
duced the city by famine. A new assembly of tho clergy 
was convoked, Benedict's election was declared null, ami 
Leo was reinstated in his see. Benedict was exiled hy 
Otho to Germany, and he died soon after at Hamburgh in 
965. By several writers he is considered only as an in- 
truder, but in the late Papal chronologies published in 
Italy wo find him placed among the regular popes. 

BENEDICT VI. succeeded John XIII. in 972. Tho 
Emperor Otho I. soon afterdying in Germany, the Romans, 
released from the fear of that powerful sovereign, broke out 
into their wonted tumults, imprisoned Benedict, and a car- 
dinal of tho name of Boniface, surnamed Francone (Platina 
says a patrician of the naino ofCincio or Ccnci), caused 
him to be strangled in the castle of St. Angclo in 974. Car- 
dinal Boniface assumed the papal dignity, but was shorlly 
afterwards expelled, and tied to Constantinople. Don us II. 
is mentioned by some writers as the next pope, but nothing 
is known of him, except that he died after a few months, 
and was succeeded by 

BENEDICT VII . of the family of Conti, who was elected 
in 975. He was bishop of Sutri "at the time of his election. 
On being chosen pope, ho assembled a eouneil, and excom- 
municated the anti-pope Boniface. During his pontificate 
the Emperor Otho II. came repeatedly to Rome, while he 
was engaged in tho war against the Greeks of Apulia and 
the Saracens of Calabria. Otho died at Rome in 983, and 
was buried in the vestibule of St. Peter's ehureh. Benedict 
died about the same time, and was succeeded by John XIV. 
The chronology of the popes in the tenth century is rather 
confused, and the dates are not exactly ascertained. 

BENEDICT VIIL, of the family of Conti, who suc- 
ceeded Sergins IV. in 1012, was a native of Tnsculum. 
A rival candidate of the name of Gregory, after losing the 
election, raised a faction against Benedict, whom ho drove 
out of Rome. Benedict, however, being supported by the 
Emperor Henry II., returned soon after, and in the following 
year, 1013, Henry and hisconsort Kunegundcame to Rome, 
where they received tho imperial crown from the hands of 
the pope. In 1016 the Saracens from Sardinia having 
landed on the coast of Tuscany, took the town of Luni, 
where they committed great ravages. Benedict assembled 
a force by sea and by land, attacked the Saracens, and 
defeated them : their chief Musat. or rather Musa, had 
time to escape, but his wife, whom the chroniclers call the 
queen, was killed, and the valuable jewels that adorned her 
head wcro sent by the pope to the Emperor Henry. This 
event led to the conquest of Sardinia by the Pisans, who 
were urged to it by the pontiff. In t020 Benedict under- 
took a journey to Germany, for the purpose of inducing 
Henrv to send an army into Italy to oppose tho Greeks, 
who nad become masters of Capua, Aseoli, and other 
places, and threatened to subjugate Rome itself. Henry 
came in the following year : he obtained several successes 
over the Greeks, and took Capua and Troja, and other 
towns of Campania and Apulia. Benedict died in 1024, 
and was succeeded by his brother, who assumed the name 
of John XIX. 

BENEDICT IX., a relative, some say a nephew, ot the 
two preceding popes, succeeded John XIX. in 1034. He 
was a boy at tho time of his election, some say ten years old, 
but this is doubted by Muratori, who however, as well as 
Baronius, acknowledges that his election was irregular, 
owing to his youth, and that it was obtained through his 
family interest and through money, which was profusely 
lavished for the purpose by his father Albcrico, a powerful 
baron. Benedict was distinguished by his licentiousness 
and profligacy, and by the state of anarchy in which Rome 
was plunged during his pontificate. The Romans at last 
expelled him in 1044, and chose in his stead John Bishop 
of Sabina, who took the name of Silvester III. ; but six 
months afterwards Benedict returned at the head of a party, 
drove away his competitor, and excommunicated him. Per- 
ceiving, however, that he was held in detestation by the 
clergy and the people, he sold his dignity to John Gratianus, 
who assumed the name of Gregory VI. Tho Emperor 
Henry III., in order to put an end "to these scandals, as- 
sembled a council at Sntri, which deposed all the three popes, 
Baronius says that Gregory VI. voluntarily renounced his 
claims for the peace of the church, and he places him in 
the series of legitimate popes. (See F. Hardouin's History 
of the Councils, concerning this of Sutri.) The original 



BEN 



215 



BEN 



name both of Silvester and of Gregory heing John, has led 
some writers into the error of inserting here a John XX. as 
another Antipope. Henry III. having entered Rome, ac- 
companied hy the fathers of the Council of Sutri, the latter, 
in conjunction with the clergy of Rome, elected Suidger 
Bishop of Bamberg, who took the name of Clement II., and 
was consecrated at Christmas, 1046. But in October of the 
following year Clement fell suddenly ill and died, and, as 
some suspected, of poison administered to him by the deposed 
Benedict, who immediately after forced himself again into 
the papal see, where he remained till the following July, 
1 048, when the Emperor Henry, at the request of the Ro- 
mans, sent them Poppo Bishop of Brixen, who, on arriving 
at Rome, was consecrated, and assumed the name ofDa- 
masus II. But twenty-three davs after his consecration he 
died at Palestrina, upon which the see of Rome remained 
vacant for more than half a year, until Bruno Bishop of Toul 
in Lorraine was elected in 1049, and assumed the name of 
Leo IX. What became of Benedict afterwards is not clearly 
ascertained, nor the epoch of his death, but it is generally 
believed that he died in some convent. (Sec Muratori, An- 
nali d Italia ; Peter Damianus, Baronius, and Pope Vie 
tor lll.'s dialogue in the 18th vol. of the Lyons Bihliotheca 
Patrum.) The last, who was a contemporary, says posi- 
tively that Benedict's first election was obtained through 
bribery ; that he followed the steps of Simon Magus instead 
of those of Simon Petrus; that his conduct while pontiff 
was detestable ; and that he sold the pontificate to Gre- 
gory VI. for a considerable sum of money. Gregory, after 
heing deposed, went into exile to Germany, where he died in 
a convent. He was accompanied hy the monk Hildehrand, 
who became afterwards known as Gregory VII. 

BENEDICT X. (John Bishop of Velletri), a native of 
Capua, was elected by a faction after the death of Stephen 
IX., in 1058, but Hildehrand, Peter Damianus Bishop of 
Ostia, and other prelates, supported by the Empress Agnes, 
assembled a council at Siena, which nominated Gerard 
Bishop of Florence, who took the namo of Nicholas II. 
Benedict did not submit till the following year, when Ni- 
cholas made his entrance into Rome. Panviuius and other 
writers do not place Benedict among the legitimate popes, 
but we find him in the chronological tables puhlishcd in 
Italy. 

BENEDICT XI. (Nicholas, Cardinal of Ostia) was a 
Dominican and native of Treviso. He was elected in 1303, 
after the death of Boniface VIII. He excommunicated 
those who had laid violent hands upon Boniface at Anagni, 
hut he soon after forgave the Colon n a family, and arranged 
the disputes of his predecessor with Philip the Fair, King 
of France. He sent Cardinal di Prato to Florence, to act 
as mediator between the factions which distracted that city. 
After a short pontificate of nine months, Benedict died at 
Perugia in 1304. The contemporary historians, and Dino 
Compagni in particular, speak highly of his character and 
virtues. He was succeeded by Clement V., after an iutcr- 
rejrnum of nearly eleven months* 

BENEDICT XII. (Jacques Fournier, a nativoof France) 
succeeded John XXII. in 1334. Tho popes at that time 
resided at Avignon. Benedict laboured in earnest to reform 
the abuses and corruptions of the church, that had grown to 
an alarming exteut under his predecessor. He was also 
melined to accede to the entreaties of the Romans, and 
transfer the papal see again to Rome, hut was prevented by 
the policy of the French King, Philip de Valois, supported 
hy the intluence of the numerous French cardinals at the 
papal court. His strictness in enforcing disciplino among 
the monastic orders excited many enemies against him, 
who- endeavoured to cast aspersions upon his character. He 
died at Avignon in 1342, and was succeeded by Clement VI. 
Sevoral biographies of Benedict XII. are found in Baluze's 
Lives of the Avignon Popes, and in Muratori, Per. Ital. 
Scriptores. 

BENEDICT XIII. (Cardinal Orsini, Archbishop of Be- 
nevento) succeeded Innocent XIII. in 1 724. He was simple 
in his habits and manners, strict in his morality, generous 
and charitahle, and although zealous for maintaining the 
prerogatives of his sec, yet conciliating and unwilling to 
resort to extremes. Unfortunately ho bestowed his confi- 
dence upon Cardinal Coseia, a man of some abilities, hut 
covetous and ambitious, and who became hateful to the 
Romans through his avarice and his abuso of the pope's 
favour. The people, however, know how to distinguish be- 
tween the favourite and his master, whom they respected - 
for his virtues, his good intentions, his disinterestedness, and 



for the acts of heneficence and justice which he performed. 
The old dispute about the Bull Unigenitus still agitated 
the Church of France. [See Clement XI.] Benedict suc- 
ceeded in reconciling in some measure the dispute, by pre- 
vailing on the Cardinal de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris, 
to accept the Bull, and by issuing another Bull, called Pre- 
tiosus, from its first word, in which he gave an explanation 
of the former, and an exposition of the doctrine of grace. 
In this pontificate King John V. of Portugal insisted on a 
cardinal's hat being bestowed on the Nuncio Bichi, who had 
been residing a long time at his court, but the congregation 
of cardinals being unfavourable to the grant, John broke off 
all correspondence with the court of Rome, drove away the 
subjects of the pope from his dominions, and forbade the 
remittance of the usual fees and tithes to Rome. The 
ecclesiastical affairs of Sicily also were hi a state of great 
confusion, owing to the disputes between the Tribunal de 
Monarchia and the court of Rome on matters of jurisdiction. 
Benedict, by timely concessions, put an end to the quarrel. 
He also exerted himself to settle the controversy with the 
king of Sardinia respecting the right of nomination to several 
abbacies and other henefices in Piedmont, which, however, 
was not finally arranged till after his death. But he settled 
the dispute concerning the island of Sardinia, by waiving 
the pretensions of the papal investiture which had been put 
forth by Clement XL He also obtained of the Emperor 
Charles VI. the restoration of Comacchio and its territory to 
the papal state. Lastly, Benedict showed himself anxious 
for the preservation of peace in Europe : he favoured, by 
means of his nuncios, the negotiations o^Paris and Soissons 
in 1727-8, which led afterwards to the treaty of Seville in 
1729 between France, Spain, England, and Holland, in 
which the successions of Tuscany and Parma were finally 
settled. Benedict increased the pension settled by his pre- 
decessors on the Pretender James Stuart, who had fixed his 
residence at Bologna. He died at the beginning of 1730, 
and was succeeded by Clement XII. Benedict XIH/a 
works, including sermons written by him hefore his exalta- 
tion, were published at Roma in 3 vols, folio, 1728. 

BENEDICT XIV. (Cardinal Prospero Lamberlini of 
Bologna) succeeded Clement XII. in August, 1740. He 
was already favourably known for his extensive learning 
and for the suavity of his temper and manners. He began 
his pontificate by finally adjusting the long disputes with 
the court of Sardinia concerning tho nomination to several 
abbacies and other benefices, besides certain ecclesiastical 
fiefs in Piedmont, which he gave up to the house of Savoy. 
(Botta, Storia d Italia, lib. 41.) He restored likewise the 
good understanding between Rome and Portugal, and with 
the kingdom of the two Sicilies, which had heen interrupted 
under his predecessors. He saw that the times were changed, 
and that the court of Rome could no longer enforce the ob- 
solete pretensions of Gregory VII., or Innocent III.; he 
therefore, in his intercourse with foreign powers, assumed a 
tone moderate yet dignified, by which he won general con- 
fidence and respect. During the war of the Austrian suc- 
cession he remained strictly neutral, and although he could 
not prevent the Spaniards and the Austrians, who were 
disputing tho possession of the kingdom of Naples, from 
marching through his territories, on which they even fought 
a battle at Velletri, they stipulated not to enter his capital, 
and to spare, as far as it lay in the power of the respective 
commanders, the lives and properties of his subjects. Peace 
being at length restored to southern Italy, Benedict was 
enabled to turn his chief attention to the improvement of 
his own dominions. He encouraged learning, and was 
generous towards the learned. Rome became again in his 
time the seat of scienco and of the arts. The mathema* 
ticians Boscovich and Le Maire, the Cardinals Valenti, 
Qucrini, and Passionei, the philologist Quadrio, tho ar- 
chitects Vanvitelli and Polani, and other distinguished 
men, were employed or eneouraged hy this pope. He 
embellished Rome, repaired churches, among others the 
splendid one of Santa Maria Maggiore, constructed magni- 
ficent fountains, that of Trevi among the rest, built the vast 
granaries near the Thermae of Diocletian, and dug out the 
obelisk of the Campus Marti us, which was afterwards raised 
hy Pius VI., founded chairs of physies, chemistry, and ma- 
thematics in the University of Rome, added to the collection 
in the Capitoline Museum, established a school of drawing, 
enlarged the great hospital of S. Spirito, established acade- 
mies for the instruction of the prelates of his court, in 
ecclesiastical history, in the canon law, in tho knowledgo of 
the rites and discipline of the church, &c, Nor did he 



n k n 



21G 



BEN 



neglect his native town Bologna, to whose Institute of 
Sciences he contributed by donations. 

He instituted nt Home a congregation or board for the 
yur ( x>*c of examining the character, morals, and other quali- 
fications of candidates for vacant sees; and he was also very 
anxious f>r the maintenance of correct morals among his 
clergy. He found the treasury poor and encumbered, but, 
by reductions and economy, ho rc-ostablihhed a balance in 
the finances of tho state. lie did nothing for hisown family; 
and he is said to have forbidden his nephew, who was a se- 
nator of Bologna, coming to Rome. During tho eighteen 
years of his reign Rome enjoyed peace, plenty, and pros- 
perity, and half a century after his death tho pontificato of 
l^ambertini was still remembered and spoken of at Rome as 
the last period of unalloyed happiness which the country had 
enjoyed. Nor was Benedict careless of the welfare of other 
countries. He wrote, in 1 74 6, to tho Empress Maria Theresa 
in favour of the Genoese, who were subject to the most cruel 
exactions from the Austrian commanders; and he after- 
wards showed a like sympathy in favour of the poor Cor- 
ticans. who were in their turn oppressed by the Genoese. 
Bcnodict had a strong sense of moral justice, which made 
him hostilo to violence and oppression. His tolerance is 
well known, and it exposed him to the censure of the 
rigorists among the College of Cardinals. "Without exhi- 
biting anything like indifference to the doctrines of the church 
of which" he was the head, he showed urbanity and friend- 
liness towards all Christians, of whatever denomination, 
whether kings or ordinary travellers, who visited his capital. 
His correspondence with the great Frederic concerning the 
ecclesiastical affairs of the province of Silesia, which that 
sovereign had conquered from Austria, was carried on by 
him in the most conciliatory and liberal spirit. The Protes- 
tants of Germany revered Benedict. With regard to France 
ho carefully avoided every thing that could in the least en- 
courage the fanatical party in that country in reviving the 
persecution against the Protestants of Languedoe. Seeing 
France distracted by quarrels between the Jesuits and the 
Jansenists, the court and the iarliamcnt, the priests and the 
philosophers, and lamenting amidst all this the licentious- 
ness of Louis XV. and his courtiers, and the weakness and 
incapacity of the ministers, he used to exclaim that * France 
ought indeed to be the best governed country in the world, 
for its government seemed to be left entirely to the care of 
Providence/ (Botta, Ston'a d Italia, lib. 46.) He signed, 
in 1 741, a concordat with Charles King of Naples, by which 
he checked the abuse of church immunities and asyla, 
allowed church property to be subject to taxation, restricted 
the ordination of priests, whose number in the kingdom was 
excessive, circumscribed the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical 
courts, and established a mixed tribunal of churchmen and 
Jaymcn for deciding on all contested questions in the inter- 
pretation of the concordat. This was tho beginning of the 
great ecclesiastical reform which was effected in the kingdom 
of Naples by Charles III. and his son Ferdinand. (Col- 
letta, Storia del Reame di Napoli.) He abolished the 
patriarchate of Aquileia, which was a source of disputes be- 
tween the Venetians and the House of Austria ; and he 
reduced the number of holidays, feste di precetto, which 
working-people were obliged to observe. Benedict was no 
favourer of too Jesuits, or rather of their worldly policy, and 
he is said to have given that society hints which, if followed, 
might have averted the catastrophe which overtook it after 
his death. Benedict was learned, not only in theology, but 
in history, in the classical writers, and in elegant literature, 
and he had a taste for tho fine arts. Some of his numerous 
repartees, which he loved to utter in his own vernacular 
Bulognese dialect, arc still familiar at Rome ; and others 
may be found scattered in the various accounts of him given 
by contemporary travellers, especially by the Abbe Richard, 
in his Voyage en Italic Lambcr tini may be said to have 
introduced a new system of temperate and conciliatory 
policy into the court of Rome, especially in its transactions 
with foreign powers, which has been in great measure fol- 
lowed by his sueeossors. His works were published at Rome 
in 12 vols. 4 to. The most remarkable aro his treatise Zte 
Scrvorum Dei Beatification e et Beatorum Canonizations in 
f mr books, a work full of historical and theological learning ; 
De Stpwdo Dioeesanoy which is also much esteemed; Insti- 
tntiones Eccle&iatiierc ; De Misscc Officio, libri iii. : besides 
his fhdfarium, or collection of hulls, issued by him, anil 
several letters and dissertations in Italian; among other*, 
a disquisition concerning the expediency of curtailing the 
number of holidays, which last, together with several contro- 



versial letters upon the same subject, were also published 
separately at Lucca, 1748, under tho title of Ruccolta di 
Scritturc con cent en ti la Diminuzione deile Fate di i'recctto. 
Benedict XIV. died on the '2nd of May, 1758. being past 
eighty years of age, and was succeeded by Clement XIII. 
See an account of the numerous aeadomics he founded at 
Rome : Notizia delle Academic erette in Roma ;#r ordine 
dclla Santitd di iV. S. Papa Beneditto XIV Roma, 
1740. 

BENEDICT, ANTIPOPE (Pedro de Luna), a nativo 
of Aragon, was made a cardinal by Gregory XL After 
the death of that pope, when the great schism broko out 
between Urban VI. and Clement VI L, He Luna attached 
himself to the latter. After Clement's death in Avignon in 
139-1, the cardinals of his party elected De Luna as his suc- 
cessor, in opposition to Boniface IX., who had succeeded 
Urban at Rome, and ho assumed tho name of Benedict 
XIII. France and several other states which had acknow- 
ledged Clement, now acknowledged Benedict, with the un- 
derstanding that he should renounce his dignity whenever 
required for the peaco of the church. But De Luna had no 
intention of fulfilling his part of the engagement. Mean- 
time, both Boniface and his successor Innocent VII. died at 
Rome, and the king of France and other sovereigns were 
anxious to put an end to tho schism. The cardinals at 
Rome, however, elected Gregory XII. , and he and Bene- 
dict excommunicated each other. France now renounced 
tho cause of Benedict, and the cardinals of both parties 
agreed to assemble a council at Pisa, which deposed both 
popes in 1409, and elected Alexander V. Gregory, how-, 
ever, was still acknowledged by Ladislaus, king of Naples, 
and Benedict was acknowledged in Spain. Alexander V. 
died soon after, and the conclave assembled at Bologna, 
elected John XXIII. Soon after the council of Constance 
met, which assembly deposed John for his irregular conduct, 
and confirmed also "the deposition of Gregory and Benedict. 
Martin V, was elected pope. Gregory submitted to the de- 
cision of the council, John was obliged to submit by force, 
but Benedict, who was in Spain, remained as tenacious as 
ever of his assumed dignity, and excommunicated all his 
antagonists. Alfonso, king of Aragon, acknowledged him, 
and Benedict resided at Pcniscola with a few cardinals of 
his own appointment. At last, in 1424, Benedict died at 
the age of ninety. Some of his cardinals elected as his 
successor an obscure individual, whom they styled Benedict 
XIV., of whom nothing is known ; while others appointed 
another successor, who called himself Clement VIIL, but 
soon after made his submission to Martin V., who was at 
length acknowledged by the whole western church. (Du- 
pin, Hist aire du Schisme, and the histories of the Councils 
of Pisa and of Constance.) 

BENEDICTION, the act of invoking the favour of 
God, prosperity, long life, and other blessings upon indivi- 
duals. Tho word is derived from the Latin, ben edi cere, 
which originally meant 'to speak well," or 'to praise or 
commend/ and was afterwards employed for * to wish well,' 
(see Ducange's Ghssarium.) The ceremony of blessing 
is of a very remote antiquity. We find in the Scriptures, 
that the patriarchs before they died, solemnly bestowed 
their blessing on their sons. Isaac giving by mistako 
to his younger son Jacob the blessing which he in- 
tended for his elder son Esau (Genesis xxvii.) is an in- 
teresting instance of this custom. In Numbers vii. 23-6, 
the words are specified in which the high priest was to 
bless the people of Israel. Aaron blessed the people, 

* lifting his hand towards them/ (Leviticus ix.) Christ 
after his resurrection, and before parting from his disciples 
at Bethany, 'lifted up his hands and blessed them.* (St. 
Luke xxiv. 50.) In the early church, the bishop gave his 
blessing to tho people with his hands extended towards 
them. In the Roman Catholic church it is the custom for 
the bishop to lift up his right hand towards the peoplo with 
the fingers extended, and with it to describe tho sign of 
the cross, in commemoration of the Redemption. This be- 
nediction, * Benedictio super populum,' is also given by the 
bishop from the altar in the mass service, with the words 

* Bcncdicat vos Oinnipotens Deus." The priests also give 
the benediction, but with some difference in the form and 
words, and they can only give it at mass, or while administer- 
ing the sacrament, or in other solemn ceremonies ; but the 
bishop has the power of giving it any where or upon any 
occasion he may think fit. In the Roman Pontifical c are 
found the various forms of benediction, One of the most 
impressive instances of this ceremony i* that of the pope 



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217 



BEN 



in full pontificals, attended by the eardinals and prelates, 
giving- his benedietion ' Urbi et Orbi ' on Easter Sunday 
after mass, from the great gallery in the front of St. Peter's 
ehurch, while the vast area beneath is filled with kneeling 
spectators. 

The benedietion forms an essential part of many eere- 
monics of the Catholic ehurch, sueh as the coronation of 
kings and queens, the confirmation of abbots and abbesses, 
the eonsceration of ehurehes, altars, and saeramental vases. 
Tbese are all performed by the bishop, and are accompa- 
nied by different ceremonies, sueh as anointing, imposing 
of hands upon the head of the person consecrated, &e. 
The benedietion of ehureh utensils, of bells, of sacerdotal 
garments, of churchyards, &c, may be performed by priests. 
The nuptial benedietion, wh:ch is an essential part of the 
marriage eeremony, is given by the parish clergyman. The 
priests also in some instances give benediction to houses, 
fields, horses, cattle, &c, by sprinkling them with holy 
water. This eustom of blessing those things which are for 
the uso or support of men is of great antiquity. It is 
found in St. Gregory's ' Saeramcntale/ and, before him, in 
that of Pope Gclasius I., who lived in the fifth century. 
Tbc * benedietio mensas et ciborum/ was a general praetice 
among all Christians before sitting down to dinner: the 
English eustom of saying graec is a continuation of it. 

There is also in Catholic churches a serviec which is 
commonly called, in Italy at least, ' the Benedietion,* and is 
performed on particular days, and generally in the evening; 
after certain prayers being said or sung, the consecrated 
nost is raised up by the officiating priest, who describes 
with it the sign of the eross towards the congregation. 

The benedietorium is the vase containing the boly water, 
which is placed at the entranec of Catbolie ehurehes for tbe 
use of the people, who dip their finders into it and eross 
themselves as they go in and out. The water is blessed by 
the priest, and is mixed with salt. 

The pope begins his bulls and other communications ad- 
dressed to Catholic individuals with the greeting * Salutem 
et apostolieam benedietionem.'* (See the Dictionary of 
Jurisprudence, art. Benediction, in the Encyclopedic Me- 
thodique, and also the Dictionary of Theology in the same 
collection.) 

BENEER. A subdivision of the distriet of Sewad in 
the province or kingdom of Caubul, in Afghanistan. Be- 
nccr is separated from Sewad by steep hills, and is thinly 
inhabited by a tribe of Afghans. The district of Beneer, 
the modern boundaries of which are ill-defined, oeeupies a 
position about the 3-lth degree of north latitude, and the 
70th degree of east longitude. It is described in the Ayfn- 
i-Akbari, under the name of Bembher, in the following 
manner. 'The length of Bembher is sixteen, and the 
breadth twelve eoss/ (the eoss varic3 considerably in differ- 
ent parts of India, being sometimes as little as one English 
mile, and in others places double that measure.) ' On the 
east lies Puekcly, on the north KinoreandCashghur, on the 
south Attoek Bcnaris, and Sewad is the western extremity. 
There are two roads to it from Hindustan, one by the 
heights of Surkhaby, and the other by the Molondery 
hills.' 

The river Burindroo, which traverses the centre of Be- 
neer, enters the Indus about twenty miles above Torbela. 
A strip of land about one mile broad on each side of this 
river is of fertile quality, and being favourably circumstanced 
for irrigation, produces riee. The remainder of the country 
is rugged, yielding generally only a spceies of millet, but 
there are many small valleys, in which superior kinds of corn 
arc produced. The slopes of hills are formed for the purpose 
of cultivation into terraces one over another. In these si- 
tuations the plough cannot be introduced, neither is irriga- 
tion practicable. The principal agricultural implement 
used in these situations is the hoe, and as rain is the sole 
dependance of the cultivator for watering his fields, the har- 
* vests are preearious. (Aytni-Akbari, by Abul Fazl ; El- 
plnnstone's Embassy to Caubul.)' 

BENEFICE, from the Latin Benejtcium, a term applied 
both by the eanon law and the law of England to a provi- 
sion for an ecclesiastical person. In its most comprehensive 
sense it includes the temporalities as wel! of archbishops, 
bishops, deans and chapters, abbots and priors, as of par- 
sons, viears, monks, and other inferior spiritual persons. 
But a distinction is made between benefices attached to 
communities under the monastic rule (sub rcgukl), which 
are ealled regular benefices, and those the possessors of 



whieh live in the world (in sseeulo), which are thenee ealled 
secular benefices. The writers on the eanon law distin- 
guish, moreover, between simple or sineeure benefices, 
whieh do not require residence, and to whieh no spiritual 
duty is attaehed but that of reading prayers and singing 
(as ehaplainries, eanonries, and ehantries), and sacerdotal 
benefices, whieh are attended with cure of souls. 

Lord Coke says, 'Benefieium is a large word, and is taken 
for any eeelesiastieal promotion whatsoever.' (2 Inst. 29.) 
But in modern English law treatises the term is generally 
confined to the temporalities of parsons, vicars, and perpe- 
tual curates, whieh in popular language are ealled livings. 
The legal possessor of a benefiee attended with cure of 
souls is ealled the incumbent. The history of the ongin 
of benefices is involved in great obseurity. The property of 
the Christian ehurch appears, for some centuries after the 
apostolic ages, to have been strietly enjoyed in eoinmon. 
It was the duty of the officers ealled deacons (whose first 
appointment is mentioned in Acts, eap. vi.) to reeeive the 
rents of the real estates, or patrimonies as they were ealled, 
of every ehureh. Of tbese, as well as of the voluntary gifts 
in the shape of alms and oblations, a sufficient portion was 
set apart, under the superintendence of the bishop, for the 
maintenance of the bishop and elergy of the diocese; an- 
other portion was appropriated to the expenses of public 
worship (in whieh were in eluded the charge for the repairs 
of the ehurch), and the remainder was bestowed upon the 
poor. This division was expressly inculcated by a canon of 
Gelasius, pope or rather bishop of Rome, a.d. 470. (See 
Father Paul's Treatise on Ecclesiastical Benefices, eap. 7.) 
After the payment of tithes had become universal in tho 
west of Europe, as a means of support to the elergy, it 
was enacted by one of the eapitularies of Charlemagne, that 
they should be distributed according to this division. When 
the bishoprieks began to be endowed with lands and other 
firm possessions, the bishops, tocneourage the foundation of 
ehurehes, and to establish a provision forihe resident clergy, 
gave up their portion of the tithes, and were afterwards 
by the canons forbidden to demand it, if they could livo 
without it. 'Although the revenues of the ehurch were 
thus divided, the fund from whieh they were derived re- 
mained for a long time entirely under the same administration 
as before. But by degrees every minister, instead of carrying 
tho offerings made in his own ehurch to the bishop, for the 
purpose of division, began to retain them for his own use. 
The lands also were apportioned in severalty among the re- 
sident elergy of each dioeesc. But these changes were not 
made in all places or all at one time, or by any public 
ediet, but by insensible degrees, as all other customs are 
introduced. (See Father Paul's Treatise on Benefices, eap. 
9 and 10.) ■ Some writers have attributed the origin of 
parochial divisions to a period as early as the fourth century; 
and it is not improbable tbat this ehange took plaee in some 
parts of the Eastern Empire, either in that or the succeeding 
age. Some of the constitutions of Justinian seem to imply 
that in his time (the beginning of the sixth century) the 
system of ecclesiastical property, as it existed in the East, 
was very similar to that which has prevailed in Catholic 
countries in modern times.' The churches, monasteries, and 
other pious foundations, possessed landed and other property 
(slaves among the rest), whieh, by the constitutions of Jus- 
tinian, they were restrained from alienating, as they had 
been in the habit of doing to the detriment of their succes- 
sors. (See Aulhenticorum Collatio t ii. 'on not alienating 
eeelesiastieal lands.') 

The general obscurity that hangs over the history of the 
Middle Ages prevents us from ascertaining, with precision, 
at what period the changes we have alluded to were intro- 
duced into the west of Europe. This, however, seems clear, 
that after the feudal system had acquired a firm footing in 
the west of Europe, during the ninth and tenth centuries, its 
principles were soon applied to eeelesiastieal as well as lay 
property. Henee, as the estates distributed in fief by the 
sovereigns of France and Germany among their favoured 
nobles, were originally termed benpjicia [see Bkneficium], 
this name was conferred, ,by a kind of doubtful analogy, 
nnon the temporal possessions of the ehureh. Thus, the 
bishoprieks were supposed to be held by the bounty of the 
sovereigns (who had by degrees usurped the right origi- 
nally vested in the clergy and people of filling them up 
when vacant), while the temporalities of the inferior eeele- 
siastieal offiees were held of the bishops, in whose patronage 
.and disposal they for the most part then were. The man- 



No. 232. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.- 2 F 



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218 



BEN 



Tier of inveMitnro of benefices in those early times was pro- 
bably the samo as that of lay property, by the delivery of 
actual possession, or of some symbols of possession, as the 
ring and crozier, which wero tho symbols of investiture ap- 
propriated to bishopricks. 

Benefices being thus endowed, and recofjniscd as a species 
of privaio property, their numbor gradually multiplied 
during the ages succeeding that of Charlemagne. In Eng- 
land especially several causes contributed to the rise of paro- 
chial churches. ' Sometimes' (says Dr. Burn, Eccles. Law, 
titlo Appropriation) * the itinerant preachers found encou- 
ragement to settle amongst a liberal people, and by their 
assistance to raiso up a church and a little adjoining manse. 
Sometimes the kings, in their country vills and scats of 
pleasure or retirement, ordered a place of worship for their 
court and retinue, which was the original of roval free 
chapels. Very often, tho bishops, commiserating the igno- 
ranco of the country people, took care for building churches 
as the only way of planting or keeping up Christianity 
among them. But tho more ordinary method of augment- 
ing tho number of churches depended on the piety of tho 
greater lords ; who, having largo fees and territories in the 
country, founded churches for the service of their families 
and tenants within their dominion. It was this that gave 
a primary title to tho patronage of laymen ; it was this 
made tho bounds of a parish commensurate to those of a 
monor : and it was this distinct property of lords and te- 
nants that by degrees allotted new parochial bounds, by tho 
adding of new auxiliary churches.' [Sec Advowso*.] 

It appears, however, from the last-mentioned author, that 
if thcro were any new fee erected within a lordship, or there 
were any people within the precinct not dependent on the 
patron, they were at liberty to choose any neighbouring 
church or religious house, and to pay their tithes and make 
their offerings wherever they received the benefits of reli- 
gion. This by degreos gave rise to the arbitrary appropria- 
tion of tithes, which, in spite of positive enactment, continued 
to prevail till the end of the twelfth century, when Popo In- 
w«ent III. by a decretal epistle to the archbishop of Can- 
terbury, enjoined the poyment of tithes to the ministers of 
the respectivo parishes where every man dwelt. This in- 
junction, though not having the force of a law, has been 
complied with ever since, so that it k now a universal rulo 
of law in England, that tithes ore due of common right to 
the parson of the parish, unless there be a special exemption. 
■[For the noturc or these special exemptions, see Tithes.] 

The twelfth century was else tho tera of an important 
change in the manner of investiture of ecclesiastical bene- 
fices in England. ' (See Blackstone, vol. ii. p. 23 ; Father 
Paul, c. 24.) Up to this time the simple donation of tho 
•patron was sufficient to confer a le^al title to a benefice, 
jirovided the person to whom it was given was in holy orders, 
i'or otherwise ho must he first presented to the bishop, who 
had power to reject him in case of unfitness; but the popes, 
who had in the eleventh and twelfth centuries successfully 
contended against every other species of ecclesiastical in- 
vestiture being exercised by laymen, now procured that the 
presentation of the potron should not be of itself suflicicnt 
to confer an ecclesiastical benefice, even though aualified 
by the discretionary power of rejection (in case the benefice 
was given to a laymen), which was already vested in tho 
bishop. This was the origin of the ceremonies of institu- 
tion, which is the mode of investiture of tho spiritualities ; 
and induction, which is the mode of investiture of tho tem- 
poralities of a benefice. Where the bishop was the patron 
of the benefice, the two forms of presenilation and institu- 
tion wcro united in that of collation. 

For the origin and naturo of ecclesiastical patron ago in 
England as a subject of property, the rules of law which 
opply to it as such, tho limitations within which and the 
forms according to which it must bo exercised, and the 
mode by which it may bo vindicated; together with the 
respectivo rights of the bishop or ordinary, the arch- 
bishop, and the crown, in the caso of lapse, see Advowsox ; 
and also Bum's Ecclesiastical Law, art. Advowson, Bene- 
fice, But it may bo mentioned in this place, that a recent 
stat. (3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 27) has made somo important 
alterations in tho law on this subject. 1. By the old law, 
suits for recovery of advowsons were not within tho statutes 
of limitations; but tho 30th sect, of the aborcmentioncd act 
subjects them to a period of limitation of three successive 
incumbencies or sixty years, during which tho enjoyment 
pf tho benefice has been by virtue of a titlo adverse to that 



of the person instituting the* suit* By the 33rd section tho 
utmost period within which an ndvowson can be recovered, 
is limited to a hundred years from the timo of an adverse 
presentation, without any intermediate exercise of the right 
of patronage by the person instituting the suit, or by any 
persons from whom he derives his title. Tho 36th section 
of tho act abolishes certain anticnt remedies for tho dis- 
turbance of the right of patronago ; so that except in certain 
casos, specified in tho 37th and 33th sections of the act, tho 
sole method of vindicating the right now is by writ of 
Quare Impedit, [Soe Quark Imprdit.] 

Although the popes, in denying to laymen the right of 
oeclcsiastieal investiture, had still left them in possession 
of the substantial part of tho patronngo of benefices, oven 
this privilege was for some centuries not only very much 
questioned, but in many instances entirely wrested from 
them by papal encroachment (Father Paul, c. 30, et seq>; 
Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. ii. c. 7.) 

The first attacks by the popes upon tho rights of private 
patrons (which took place towards the latter end of tho 
twelfth century) assumed tho form of letters of request 
called 'mandates' or 'expectatives,' praying that benefices 
might be conferred on particular individuals. What was 
first asked as a favour was soon after claimed as a right, 
and rules were laid down as to grants and revocations of 
expectatives. Tho popes next proccoded to claim tho 
patronago of all benefices vacantia in curia*, i. e. which 
fell vacant by the incumbents dying at tho court of Rome. 
The number of these, through tho management of that 
court, which contrived on vnrious pretences to draw cccle- 4 
siastics of all ranks to Romo from different parts of Europe, 
became by degrees very considerable. But Clement V. in 
the beginning of the fourteenth century went beyond all 
his predecessors, by laying it down broadly as a maxim, 
that tho full and free disposition of all ecclesiastical bene- 
fices belonged to the pope. (Clementines, lib. ii. tit. 5. c. 1 ; 
F. Paul, c 35.) It followed as a conscqucnco from this 
principle, that the popo couM make reversionary grants or 
provisions, as they were called, during the lives of the in- 
cumbents ; and that he could reserve such benefices as he 
thought fit for his own peculiar patronage. At the samo time, 
dispensations from the canons against non-residence and plu- 
ralities, and permissions to hold benefices in cemmendam wcro 
freely granted, so that by these and similar means in some in- 
stances fifty or sixty preferments were held by tho same per- 
son at once. The evils of this system were felt all over Eu- 
rope. The best benefices wero everywhere filled with Italian 
priests, ignorant alike of the language end habits of the people 
to whose spiritual wants they were bound to minister. Eng- 
land in particular suffered so much from papal encroach- 
ments daring the reign of Henry III., that the English 
deputies at the Council of Lyons (about a.d. 1245) com- 
plained to the pope that the foreign clergy drew annually 
from England upwards of 70,000 marks. This remon- 
strance produced no effect, but tho system at length became 
so intolerable, that a determined plan of opposition to it 
was gradually formed in the principal nations of western 
Europe. In this opposition our own ancestors took tho 
lead, and their efforts were in the end completely success- 
ful* Tho parliament, assembled at Carlisle in the 35th 
year of Edward I., wrote a strong remonstrance to Popo 
Clement V. against tho papal encroachments on the rights 
of patronago and tho numerous extortions of tho court of 
Home. This remonstrance appears to have produced no 
effect, but it may bo cited as a proof of the spirit of the 
times. Tho government of Edward II. was too feeble to 
act upon this spirit. Tho first princo who was bold enough 
to assert the power of the legislaturo to restrain the papal 
encroachments was Edward III. After complaining in- 
effectually to Clement VI. of the abuse of papal reservations, 
ho (a.d. 1350) procured tho famous Statute of Pro visors 
(25 Ed. III. stat. G) to be passed. This act provided that 
all elections and collations should he free according to law, 
and that in case any provision, collation, or reservation 
should be made by the court of Romo of any archbishoprick, 
bishoprick, dignity, or other bencfico, the king should for 
that turn have the collation of such archbishoprick or other 
dignities elective, &c. 

This statute was fortified by several others in this and 
tho succeeding reigns, 27 Ed. III. stat. I.e. 1; 38 Ed. 
III. stat. 1. c. 4 ; 3 Rich. II. c. 3 ; 7 Rich. II. c. 12 (which 
enacts that no alien shall be capable of being presented to 
any ecclesiastical preferment); 12 Rich, II, c, 15 j 13 Rich, 



BE N 



219 



BEN 



II. stat. 2. c. 2 and 3 ; 16 Rich. II. c. 5 ; 2 Hen. IV. c. 3 ; 
7 Hen. IV. c. 8; 3 Hen. V. c. 4. These statutes, which 
inflict very severe penalties on persons endeavouring to 
enforce the authority of papal bulls and provisions in Eng- 
land, are sometimes ealled, from the initial words of the 
writ issued in execution of the process under them, the 
statutes of pr&munire ; and the offence of maintaining the 
papal power is itself (according to Blackstone, vol. iv. p. 
112) called by tbe name of preemunire. [See Praemu- 
nire.] Tbe statutes against papal provisions (though not 
very strictly enforced) remained unrepealed, in spite of the 
attempts of the popes and tbeir adherents to obtain their 
abrogation. 

The rights of ecclesiastical patronage having been th\is 
solemnly vindicated bv the English parliament, have, in 
their fundamental principles, remained unaltered to the 
present time. Tbe ceremonies of presentation and institu- 
tion in tbe case of lay patrons, and of collation where the 
bishop is patron, are still necessary to give a title to all 
benefices with cure of souls, except those which are techni- 
cally called perpetual curacies and donatives ; and the title 
so given is incomplete without corporal induction into pos- 
session of the temporalities of the benefices. Tbere are, 
also, certain acts enjoined either by the canon law or statute, 
the non-performance of which will subject the Incumbent 
to deprivation of the benefice Into which he has been law- 
fully inducted. 

There Is no difference between institution and collation 
as to the action itself, but they differ somewhat in their re- 
spective consequences. Thus, by institution, the church Is 
said to be full against all persons but tbe king, and if It has 
been full for the space of six months, this is a sufficient 
answer to any action by private persons, or even by the king, 
where he claims as a private patron and not hy royal prero- 
gative, as in case of lapse, or otherwise. But, by collation, 
the church is not full, so as to rentier a p]ea to that effect 
available in the temporal courts, except against the collator. 
Every clerk before institution or collation is required by the 
canon law to tajto the oath against simony, and the oath of 
canonical obedience to the bishop, and to declare by subscrip- 
tion his assent to the doctrine of the king's supremacy, to 
the Book of Common Prayer, and the Thirty-nino Articles. 
Tho subscription to the Tnirty-nine Articles is also Imposed 
by statute 13 Eliz. c. 12, upon all persons to be admitted to 
any benefice with cure of souls. Moreover, the statutes 
1 Eliz. c. 1, and 1 Will, and Mary, c. 8, sec. 5, require that 
every person collatod or promoted to any ecclesiastical bene- 
fice shall, before he takes upon himself to supply or occupy 
the same, tako the oaths of allegiance and supremacy; and 
by statute 13 and 14 Car. II. c. 4 (commonly called the Act 
of Uniformity), every parson and vicar shall, before his ad- 
mission to be incumbent, subscribe a declaration of confor- 
mity to tho Liturgy of the Church of England as by law 
established. 

The acts of institution or collation so far confer a right to 
the temporalities of tho benefice, that the clerk may enter 
upon tho glebo land and take the tithes, but he cannot sue 
for them or grant thqm until induction. By induction the 
church becomes full, even against the king, and the clerk is 
seised of the temporalities of the benefice, and invested with 
the full rights and privileges of a parson, persona ecclcsitv; 
but by the Actof Uniformity he must, within two months after 
he is in actual possession of Ins benefice, upon some Sunday, 
openly beforo his congregation! read tbe morning and even- 
ing prayers, and declare his assent to the Book of Common 
Prayer, on pain, in case of neglect or refusal, of being ipso 
facto deprived of his benefice. The same statute obliges 
him, on pain of deprivation, to read publicly, within three 
months after his subscription to the declaration of confor- 
mity to the Liturgy, the bishop's certificate of his having 
made such subscription, together with the declaration itself ; 
but the statute 23 Geo. III. e. 23 makes an exception 
where the incumbent is prevented by some lawful impedi- 
ment, to be allowed and approved of by the ordinary of the 
place. Tbe same penalty of deprivation is imposed by 13 
Eliz. c. 1 2, in case of an incumbent failing, within two months 
after induction, to read publicly in the church the Thirty- 
nine Articles, and to declare his assent to them. The 23 
Geo. III. c. 28, provides, that, in case of sickness or other 
lawful impediment, it shall be deemed a sufficient eornpliance 
with the statute of Elizabeth if the incumbent reads the 
Articles, and declares his assent to tbem at the same timo 
that he declares his assent to the Book of Common Prayer. 



Finally, by statute 1 Geo. I. sess. 2, c. 13, the parson must; 
within six months after his admission to tbe benefice, take 
the oaths of allegiance and abjuration in one of the courts at 
Westminster, or at the general quarter-sessions of the peace, 
on pain of being incapacitated to hold the benefice, and of 
incurring certain other disabilities therein specified. Such 
are tbe means by which a clerk's legal title as parson, rector, 
or vicar is acquired and maintained. 

Every parson or rector of a parish with euro of souls, and 
where the parsonage is appropriated, every vicar, or per- 
petual curate, though in his natural capacity an individual, 
is in contemplation of law a body corporate, with perpetuity 
of succession. The rector or parson is entitled to the free- 
hold of the parsonage house and glebe lands, as well as the 
tithes of tbe parish, except where a special exemption from 
the payment of tithes exists by prescription or otherwise ; but 
owing to the practice of appropriation, which formerly pre- 
vailed to a great extent in England, and has been attended 
with very remarkable consequences, these are frequently 
vested in laymen, who have vicars or curates under them 
to perform the spiritual duties. [See Advowson.] This 
custom was not confined to spiritual corporations aggregate, 
but deans and other officers in cathedrals, and in some places 
even parish priests, procured the privilege of appointing a 
vicar to perform the spiritual duties of the church, wbile its 
revenues were appropriated to themselves and tbeir suc- 
cessors. Hence it happens that in some places a rector 
and vicar are instituted to tbe same church ; in which case 
the rector is excused from duty, and the rectory is called a 
sinecure benefice, as being sine curd animarum. (Burn's 
Eccles. Law. tit. Appropriation.) In order to effectuate an 
appropriation it was necessary that the patron should obtain 
the consent of the king and the bishop, as each of these 
had an interest in the patronage of the church in case of 
lapse, wbich, as a corporation never dies, could not take 
place after the appropriation ; and upon the making an 
appropriation! an annual pension was reserved to the bishop 
and his successors, called an indemnity, and payable by the 
body to wbom the appropriation was made. In an aniient 
deed of appropriation preserved in the registry of the arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, the ground of the reservation is ex- 
pressed to be for a recompense of the profits which the bishop 
would otherwise have received during the vacancy of tho 
benefice. (Burn, ibid.) 

After the appropriation the appropriators and their suc- 
cessors became perpetual parsons of the ehurch ; but if the 
corporation were dissolved, tbe perpetuity of persons being 
gpne, tho appropriation ceased, and the church recovered its 
rights. 

This principle would have come into extensive operation 
at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in England, 
If tbe legislature had not expressly provided against it. By 
the statutes %1 Henry VIII. c. 28, and 31 Henry VIII. 
c. 13, the possessions of theso religious houses, and by a 
subsequent statute, 32 Henry VIII. c. 24, those of the 
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, were all vested in the 
crown. In each of tbese statutes parsonages and tithes are 
expressly included, and the first two confirm the royal 
grants made or hereafter to be made of this property," Tithes 
aro also included in two subsequent statutes, 37 Henry 
VIII. e. 4, and 1 Edward VI. c. 14, by which the posses- 
sions of chantries and religious fraternities are given to the 
crown. The last of these statutes empowers the king's 
commissioners, therein referred to, to ordain and sufficiently 
endow vicars In perpetuity in parish churches annexed to 
the religious fraternities whoso possessions wcro confis- 
cated by that act ; and also to endow in perpetuity a 
schoolmaster or preacher in such places where the religi- 
ous fraternities or incumbents of chantries were bound 
by the original foundation to keep a schoolmaster or 
priest. Tbe property acquired by tbe crown from tho 
above-mentioned sources, and from the dissolution of alien 
priories in the reign of Henry V., was freely bestowed by 
tbe kings of England, especially Henry VIII., not only 
upon spiritual persons and corporations, but upon laymen. 
Hence it is that there arc so many instances in England at 
the present time of not merely the right to tithes, but tho 
property of entire rectories being vested in laymen. Theso 
benefices are sometimes called lay but more eoinmonly im- 
propriate rectories, as being (according to Spelman) im- 
properly in the hands of laymen. Tho rector is, in that 
case, termed the impropriator ; but this appellation is now 
indiscriminately applied* not only to lay individuals and cor- 

2F2 



B.E X 



220; 



J} I£ N 



porn lions, but to all spiritual persons and corporations* who, 
cither by virtuo of anticnt appropriations, or by grants from 
tho crown since the dissolution of the religious fraternities, 
are entitled to tho tithes and other revenues of tho church, 
without performing any spiritual duties. By statute 32 
Henry VIII. c, 7, the remedies which the law had provided 
Vi the ecclesiastical courts for the subtraction of tithes are 
communicated to laymen, and their title to tithes is put on 
the same footing with that to land, by giving them tho same 
or similar actions for vindicating their estates in those and 
other ecclesiastical profits against all adverse claimants 
whatsoever. In short, tithes and other fruits of benefices 
when vested in laymen, are liablo to the same process of 
execution for debt, and subject U the same incidents of 
alienation, descent, escheat, and forfeiture as all other incor- 
porated real property. Moreover, by statute 43 Kliz. c. 2, 
tithes impropriate are made liable to poor-rates. They arc 
also included in the Land-tax Acts; and by the late statute 
of Limitations, 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 27, actions and suits for 
their recovery are subject to the sarao periods of limitation 
as thoso for tho recovery of land. 

Another consequence of appropriation in England, be- 
sides the vesting tho possessions of the church in laymen, 
was the endowment of vicarages. The appropriating corpo- 
rations at first used to depute one of their own body to re- 
side and officiate in the parish churches by turns or by lot, 
and sometimes by way of penance ; but as this practice 
caused scandal to the church, especially in the case of mo- 
nastic orders whose rules were thereby violated, the monks 
by degrees ceased to officiate personally in the appropriated 
churches, and this duty was committed to stipendiary vicars 
or curates, who were, however, removable at the will of the 
appropriators. One of the numerous pretexts urged by the 
monastic bodies for obtaining appropriations had been that 
thev might bo the better enabled to keep up hospitality in 
their respective houses, and that they might relieve the poor. 
These duties, however, wcro so far neglected as to give rise 
to general discontent In addition to which the officiating 
priests were very poorly paid, and oppressed with hard ser- 
vice, and consequently unable to answer the calls of hospi- 
tality and charity. At length the legislature, by way of a 
partial remedy to these evils, enacted (15 Richanl II. c. 6), 
'That in every licence for the appropriation of a parish 
church it should be expressed that the diocesan bishop 
should ordain, in proportion to the value of the church, a 
competent sum to be distributed among the poor parish 
loners annually, and that the vicarage should be sufficiently 
endowed.' Still, as the vicar was removable at pleasure, he 
was not likely to insist too strictly on the legal sufficiency 
of the endowment. Therefore, to establish the total inde- 
pendence of vicars upon tho appropriators, the statute 4 
Henry IV. c. 12, provided, 'That from thenceforth in every 
church appropriated t there should be a secular person or- 
dained vicar perpetual, canonically instituted and inducted, 
and covenably (fitly) endowed by the discretion of the ordi- 
nary, to do divino service, and to inform the people, and to 
keep hospitality there ; and that no religious, /.'.regular 
priest, should in anywise be made vicar in any church appro- 
priated.* From the endowments made in pursuance of this 
statute have arisen all tho vicarages that exist at tho present 
day. The title of the vicar to tithes and other ecclesiastical 
dues, such as Easter oflfcrings (which arc said to be due to 
the parson or vicar of common right), and customary pay- 
ments for marriages, burials, and baptisms, depends primarily 
upon the deed of endowment. As, however, the rector and 
vicar are persons equally capable in law of holding such pro- 
perty, tho deed is not always conclusive evidence in any 
question that may arise between these parties as to their re- 
spective rights ; but it is said, that where either of them has 
for a long time had undisputed enjoyment of any particular 
portion of tho tithes or other fruits of the benefice, which is 
not consistent with the terms of tho original deed, a variation 
of that deed by some subsequent instrument may bo presumed 
in favour of such long enjoyment. The endowments of 
vicarages have generally consisted of a part of the glebe- 
land of the parsonage, and what arc technically called the 
small tithes of tho parish. In somo places, also t a portion 
of the great tithes has been added to the vicarages. [For 
tho legal distinction between great and small tithes, sec 
Titties.] 

A vicarage by endowment becomes a distinct benefice, of 
which the patronage is vested in tho impropriator or sine- 
cure rector, and la said to bo appendant to tho rectory. It 



follows that the vicar t being endowed with separate revenues, 
is enabled to recover his temporal rights without tho aid of 
tho patron. 

The loss of the original Act of Endowment is supplied by 
prescription ; t. c. if the vicar has enjoyed any particular 
tithes or other fruits by constant usage, tho law will presume 
that he was legally endowed with them. 

If tho impropriator, cither by design or mistake, presents 
tho vicar to the parsonage, tho vicarage will bo dissolved, 
and the person presented will be entitled to all the ecclesi- 
astical dues as rector. [On the subject of tho dissolution 
of vicarages, sec Vicar age.] 

It is to be observed that the statute 4 Henry IV. c. I?, 
did not extend to appropriations made beforo the first of 
Richard II. Ilcnco it happens that in some appropriated 
churches no vicar has ever been endowed. In this case 
the officiating minister is appointed by the impropriator, 
and is called a perpetual curate. lie enters upon his 
official duties by virtue of the bishop's licence only, without 
institution or induction. It appears, moreover, from Dr. 
Burn (Eccfes. Law t tit. 'Curate'), that there wcro some 
benefices which, being granted for the purpose of support- 
ing the hospitality of the monasteries. (in memos monn- 
chorum) t ana not appropriated in the common form, escaped 
the operation of the statute of Henry IV. In this case, ac- 
cording to the same author, the benefices were served by 
temporary curates belonging to the religious houses, and 
sent out as occasion required ; and sometimes the liberty 
of not appointing a perpetual vicar was granted by dispen- 
sation, in benefices not annexed to tables of the monas- . 
tcrics. When such appropriations t together with the charge 
of providing for the cure, were transferred (after the disso- 
lution of monasteries) from spiritual societies to single lay 
persons (who, being incapablo of serving them themselves, 
were obliged to nominato a person to the bishop for his 
licence to serve the cure), the curate by this means became 
so far perpetual as not to be removable at the pleasure 
of the impropriator, but only for such causes as would occa- 
sion the depriving of a rector or vicar, or by the revocation 
of the bishop's licence. (Burn, ibid,) Though the form 
of licences to perpetual cures expresses that they last only 
during the bishop's pleasure, the power of revocation, thus 
reserved to the bishop, has seldom, if ever, been exercised. 

There is another kind of perpetual curacy which arises 
from the erection in a parish of a chapel of case subject to 
tho mother church. But the curacies of chapels of case arc 
not benefices in the strict legal sense of the word, unless they 
have been augmented out of the fund called Queen Anne's 
Bounty." The officiating ministers arc not corporations in 
law with perpetuity of succession, as parsons, vicars, and 
other pcrpotual curates. Neither arc chapels of ease subject 
to lapse, although the bishop may, by process in the eccle- 
siastical courts, compel the patrons to fill thein up. But the 
statute 1 Geo. I. sess. 2, c. 10, provides that all rhurches, 
curacies, or chapels, which shall be augmented by tho 
governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, shall be from thence- 
forth perpetual cures and benefices, and the ministers duly 
nominated and licensed thereunto shall be in law bodies 
politic and corporate, and have perpetual succession, and be 
capable to take in perpetuity ; and that if suffered to remain 
void for six months they shall lapse in like manner as prc- 
scntativc livings. [See Chapel; Curate.] 

The district churches built in pursuance of several recent 
acts (as 58 Geo. III. c. 45 ; 59 Geo. III. c. 134 ; 3 Goo. IV. 
c. 72 ; 5 Geo. IV. c. 91 ; 7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 72 ; I and 2 
Will. IV. c. 38 ; 2 and 3 Will. IV. c. CI) aro made perpe- 
tual cures, and the incumbents corporations. 

A donative is a spiritual preferment, whether church, 
chapel, or vicarage, which is in the free gift of the patron, 
without making any presentation to tho bishop, and without 
admission, institution, or induction by mandate from tho 
bishop or any other; but the donee may by the patron, or 
by any other authorised by the patron t bo put into possession. 
Nor is any licence from the bishop necessary to ]>erfcct the 
donee's title to possession of the donative, but it receives its 
full cflfect from the single act and sole authority of tho 
donor. The chief further peculiarity of donatives is their 
exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. 

The manner of visitation of donatives is by commissioners 
appointed by the patron. If tho patron dies during tho 
vacancy of a donative benefice, tho right of nomination de- 
scends to his hcir-at-law t and docs not belong to his ex- 
ecutors, as is the case with the patronago of presentativo 



BEN 



221 



BEN- 



livings. Donatives, if augmented by Queen Anne's Bounty, 
become liable to lapse, and also to episcopal visitation. 
(Statute 1 Geo. I. sess. 2, c. 10.) But no donatives can be 
so augmented without the consent of the patron in writing, 
under his hand and seal. Botb perpetual curates and in- 
cumbents of donatives are obliged to declare their assent to 
the Thirty-nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, 
in the manner prescribed by the statute 13 Eliz. c. 12, and 
the Act of Uniformity above-mentioned, and must also take 
the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, accord- 
ing to the provisions of statutes 1 Geo. I. sess. 2, c. 13, and 
9 Geo. II. c. 26 ; and the right of patronage, both of per- 
petual curacies and donatives, is to be vindicated by writ of 
Quare Impedit. (Burn's Eccles. Law, tit. 'Donative.') 

Neither the augmentation nor the alienation of benefices 
with cure of souls has ever been favoured by the policy of 
the English law. To prevent the former was one of the 
objects of the statutes of Mortmain, one of which (23 Hen. 
VIII. c. 10) expressly makes void all assurances of lands in 
favour of parish churches, chapels, &c. 

It migbt have been reasonably expected that, at the time 
of the dissolution of monasteries, the clergy would have 
received back those revenues whicb, being originally vested 
in them for religious purposes, had been subsequently ap- 
propriated by the monks. Sueh a measure, however, was 
not agreeable to the temper either .of King Henry VIIL 
or his parliaments. When that king came to a rupture 
with the pope, he resolved to free his dominions from the 
payment of first fruits and tenths to the papal treasury. 
The first of these taxes consisted of one year's whole profits 
of every spiritual preferment, according to a valuation of 
benefices made by the pope's authority : the second, of the 
tenth part of the annual profit of each beneGce, according 
to tbe same valuation. The payment of these to tho pope 
was prohibited by statute 25 Henry VIIL e. 20 ; and th« 
next year by statute 26 Henry VIIL c. 3, the whole of the 
revenue arising therefrom was annexed to the crown. The 
last-mentioned statute directed these taxes to be paid ac- 
cording to a new valuation of ecclesiastical benefices to be 
made by certain commissioners appointed for the purpose. 
This valuation is what is still called the valuation of the 
king's books. The statute 26 Henry VIIL c. 3, was con- 
firmed by statute 1 Eliz. e. 4. [See First Fruits and 
Tenths.] 

The subsequent proceedings of Henry VIIL, after the 
appropriation of the possessions of the monasteries, tended 
rather to enrich the collegiate and other corporations aggre- 
gate with the revenues of tho ehurch, than to revest them 
in their antient possessors. Nor was the latter object the 
aim of his successors, until more than a century after his 
death ; but after the restoration of Charles II., the scandal 
of lay impropriations gave rise to some relaxation of the 
statutes of mortmain. Thus by statute 1 7 Car. II. c. 3, 
power was given to lay impropriators of tithes to annex such 
tithes to, or settle them in trust for, the parsonage or vicar- 
age of the parish ehurch to which they belonged, or for the 
perpetual curate, if there was no vicarage endowed; and by 
the same statute, in cases where the settled maintenance of 
the parsonage or vicarage, with cure, did not amount to the 
full sum of 100/. a year, clear of all charges and reprizes, 
the incumbent was empowered to purchase for himself and 
his successors, lands and tithes, without license of mortmain. 
Another statute of the same reign (29 Car. II. c. 8) con- 
firms, for a perpetuity, such augmentations of vicarages and 
perpetual curacies as had been already made for a term of 
years by ecclesiastical corporations, on granting leases of 
impropriatory rectories. The act also confirms future aug- 
mentations to be made in the same manner, subject to a 
limitation which has since been taken off by statute 1 and 2 
Will. IV. e. 45, by which the provisions of 29 Car. II. c. 8 
have been considerably extended. But the principal aug- 
mentation of the revenues of the church was made under 
the provisions of the statute 2 and 3 Anne, c. 11. By this 
act, and by the queen's letters-patent made in pursuance of 
it, all tho revenue of the first fruits and tenths was vested 
in trustees, for the augmentation of small benefices. This 
fund is what is usually called Queen Anne's Bounty, and 
has since been further regulated by statutes 5 Anne, c. 24 ; 
6 Anne, c. 27 ; 1 Geo. I. sess. 2, c. 10 ; 3 Geo. I. c. 10. 

The trustees, who are certain dignitaries of the church, 
and other official personages for the time being, arc incorpo- 
rated by the name of * tho governors of the Bounty of Queen 
Anne, for the augmentation of the maintenance of the poor 



clergy,' and have authority to make rules for the distribution 
of the fund, which rules are to be approved of by the king 
under his sign manual. Every person having any estate or 
interest in possession, reversion, or contingency, in lands or 
personalty, is empowered to settle such estate or interest, 
either by deed enrolled or will, upon the corporation, without 
licence of mortmain ; and the corporation are empowered to 
admit benefactors to the fund into their body. (For the 
principal rules established by the corporation, with respect 
to augmentations and the operation of these rules, see Burn's 
Eccles* Law, tit. * First Fruits and Tenths.') 

The 1 Geo. I. sess. 2, e. 10, renders valid agreements 
made with benefactors to Queen Anne's Bounty, concerning 
the right of patronage of augmented churches in favour of 
such benefactors, where the agreements are made by persons 
or bodies corporate having 'such an interest in the patron- 
age of such' churches as the act renders necessary ; but an 
agreement by a parson or vicar must be made with consent 
of his patron and ordinary. The governors are also em- 
powered by the same statute to make agreements with 
patrons of donatives or perpetual cures for an augmented 
stipend to the ministers of sueh benefices when augmented, 
to augment vacant benefices, and with the concurrence of the 
proper parties, to exchange lands settled for augmentation. 

It should be observed tbat a modern statute of mortmain, 
the Statute of Charitable. Uses, 9 Geo. II. c. 36, imposed 
certain forms, a strict compliance with which was necessary 
in all gifts to Queen Anne's Bounty, whether by deed or will. 
But these restrictions have been removed by statute 43 
Geo. III. c. 107, as far as respects gifts of real property for 
augmentation of the bounty ; and a recent provision for 
the augmentation of benefices not exceeding 150/. per an- 
num is made by 46 Geo. III. e. 133, which discharges all 
such benefices from tbc land-tax, without any consideration 
being given for the discharge, with a proviso that the whole 
annual amount thus remitted shall not exceed 6000/. 

The alienation of the temporalities of benefices, even in 
perpetuity, was not forbidden by the common law, provided 
it were made with the concurrence of the principal parties 
interested, viz. the parson, patron, and ordinary. Thus, at 
the common law, lands might have become exempt from 
the payment of tithe by virtue of an agreement entered into 
between the tithe-payer and the parson or vicar, with the 
necessary consent, for tho substitution of land in lieu of 
tithe. But the statute 13 Eliz. c. 10 prohibits, among 
other bodies corporate, parsons and viears from making any 
alienation of their temporalities beyond the life of the in- 
cumbent, except by way of lease for twenty-ono years, or 
three lives, * whereupon the accustomed yearly rent or 
more shall be reserved and payable yearly during the said 
term.' . Further restrictions are imposed by tho stat. 18 Eliz. 
c. II, which requires that where any former lease for years 
is in being, it must be expired, surrendered, or ended within 
three years next after the making of the new lease, and all 
bonds and covenants for renewing or making leases contrary 
to this and the last-mentioned statute arc made void. The 
stat. 14 Eliz. e. 11, as to houses in towns, extends the term 
specified in the 13 Eliz. c. 10 to forty years, but prohibits 
leases of such houses in reversion, and allows of absolute 
alienation by way of exchange. But the consent of patron 
and ordinary is still necessary in order to make the leases of 
parsons and vicars binding upon their successors. It is suid 
that about the time when these statutes were passed, it was 
a practice for patrons to present unworthy clergymen to their 
vacant benefices, on condition of having leases of those 
benefices made to themselves at a very low rate. The con- 
sequences of this were not unlike what ensued from the 
appropriation of benefices by monastic corporations: the 
incumbents did not reside, and the churches were indiffer- 
ently served by stipendiary curates. To remedy this evil, 
it was provided by stat. 13 Eliz. c. 20 (made perpetual by 
3 Car. I.e. 4), .that no lease of a benefice with cure should 
endure longer than while the lessee should be ordinarily 
resident and serving the cure, without absence for more 
than eighty days in any one year, but should immediately, 
upon non-residence, become void ; and that the incumbent 
should forfeit one year's profits of the benefice, to be dis- 
tributed among the poor : but the statute contains an ex- 
ception of tho case where a parson, allowed by law to have 
two benefices, demises the one, upon which he is not most 
ordinarily resident, to his eurate. The 18 Eliz. c. 11, pro- 
vides that process of sequestration shall bo granted by the 
ordinary to obtain the proGts so forfeited. By stat 14 Eliz, 



BEN 



222 



BEN 



c. 11, bonds and covenants, and by stat. 43 Elir. e. 9, judg- 
ments entered into or suffered in fraud of tho stat. 1 3 E1U. 
c. 20, arc made void. 

The 13 Eliz. c. CO, also renders void all eharges upon eccle- 
siastical benefices by way of pension or otherwise, This last 
provision has been hold to extend to mortgages and annui- 
ties, even if made only for tho life or Incumbency of the 
mortgager. But tho strictness of the laws prohibiting all 
alienations by or in favour of ecclesiastical persons, has in 
modern times been somewhat relaxed by the legislature for 
purposes of public convenience. Thus the General lnclosure 
Act, -II Geo. III. e. 109, and the Land-tax Redemption 
Act (42 Geo. III. c. 116, amended by 45 Geo. III. c. 77,50 
Geo. III. e. 58, 53 Geo. III. e. 123, 54 Geo. III. c. 17, and 
57 Geo. III. c. 100) oonfer ample powers of purchase and 
alienation for such purposes. 

Other acts, as 17 Geo. III. o. 53 (amended by 21 Geo. 

III. c. 60, and 5 Geo. IV. c. 89), empower ecclesiastical in- 
cumbents, with eonsont of patron and ordinary, to raise 
money by sale or mortgage of tho profits of the benefice, for 
a term, for the purpose of building and repairing parsonage 
houses ; and the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty are 
permitted to advance monoy for tho same object. (See 
also 43 Geo. III. o. 108, and 51 Geo. III. c. 116.) 

Again, the stat. 55 Geo. III. c. 147 (amended by 1 Geo. 

IV. c. 6, 6 Geo. IV. e. 8, and 7 Geo. IV. e. 6G) empowers 
incumbents, vrith consent of patron and ordinary, and ao- 
cording to tho forms prescribed by the aot, to exchange 
their parsonage houses and glebe lands, and to purchase and 
annex to their benefice other parsonage houses and glebe 
lands. (See also 56 Geo. Ill, c. 141.) And by the above- 
mentioned stat 1 and 2 Will. IV. c. 45, reotors and vicars 
are enabled to charge their benefices in favour of chapels of 
ease within thoir cures. 

Although an ecclesiastical benofice cannot be alienated 
for tho satisfaction of the incumbent's debts, the profits may 
be sequestrated for that purpose, even where the debt arises 
from an annuity which the incumbent has attempted to 
charge upon the benefice. (Vide 2 Barn, and Adolp. 734.) 
And this is the ordinary practice upon a judgment against 
a clergyman in one of tne temporal courts. The writ of 
fieri facias issues against him as in the easo of a layman, but 
the sheriff returns that he is a beneficed elerk, having no lay 
fee ; upon which a writ of levari facia* issues to tho bishop 
of the diocese, by virtue of which the profits of the benefice 
are sequestrated until the whole debt is satisfied. (See Se- 
questration.) 

In case of a beneficed clorgyman sooking bis discharge 
under tho insolvent act, the assignees of his estate must 
apply for a sequestration, in order to render the profits of 
the bouefice available for the payment of his debts. (See 
7 Geo. IV. e. 57, s. 28.) 

Tho duties and liabilities of spiritual persons comomore 
properly under the head of Clergy, but it is not inconsist- 
ent with tho subject of the present article to mention the 
non-residence of spiritual persons upon their benefices, which 
(besides being cognizable in the ecclesiastical courts) is 
visited with severe penalties by different acts of parliament. 
The principal of the old enactments on tho subject is stat. 
21 lien. VIII. o. 13(amonded and enlarged by 25 Hen. VIII. 
c. 16; 28 Hen. VIII. c. 13, and 33 Hen. VIII. c. 28), which 
imposes certain penalties upon persons wilfully absenting 
themselves from their benefices for one month together, or 
two months in the year. 

But this act excepts tho chaplains to the king and royal 
family, those of peers, pcoresses, and certain public officers, 
during their attendance upon the household of such as re- 
tain them ; and also all heads of colleges, magistrates, and 
professors in the universities, and all students under a cer- 
tain ago residing lhere bona ftde for study. And the king 
may grant dispensations for non-resideuco to his chaplains, 
even when they aro not attending his household, Tho resi- 
dence intended by tho law must bo in the parsonage house, 
if there be one; but if there be no house of residence, the 
incumbent must reside within tho limits of the benefice, or 
of tho city, town, or parish where the benefice is situate, pro- 
vide*! such residence bo within two miles from tho church 
or chapel of the benefice: and in all such cases a residence 
may be appointed by the bishop, even without tho limits of 
the benefice. These acts (winch extend also to archdea- 
conries, deaneries, and dignities in cathedral and collo- 
giate churclics) have been consolidated and amended by 
btat. 57 Geo. III. c 99. By this act, every incumbent ab- 



senting himself from a benefieo with cure, without licence, 
for lho period of three months consecutively, or at several 
times for so many days as are equal to this period, and 
abiding elsewhere than at some other benefice, forfeits 
for an absenco exceeding three months, but not above six 
months, ono-third of tho annual value of tho benefice, clear 
of all outgoings except the curate's salary. Absences of a 
longer duration aro subjected to proportional penalties, and 
the whole of the penalty in each case is given to tho party 
suing, together with such costs as aro allowed by tho prac- 
tice of tho court where the action is brought. All who 
were exempt from residence before tho last statute are still 
exempt, and tho exemption is extended to several others, 
including publie ofiicers in either of tho two universities, ana 
tutors and publie oflieers in any college. Students in the 
university are exoraptcd till they aro thirty years of age j 
and the king's prerogative to grant dispensations for non- 
residenco to his chaplains is not affected by tho statute. 
But no person can have the benefit of an exemption, unless 
he make a notification of it every year, within six weeks 
from the 1st of January, to tho bishop of the dioceso. Be- 
sides tho exemptions, the bishop may grant a licence for 
non-residence for the illness or infirmity of an incumbent, 
his wire, or child, and for other causes specified In the act ; 
and if the bishop refuses a licence, the incumbent may ap- 
poal to the archbishop. The bishop may also grant licences 
for non- residence for causes not specified in the aot, but in 
that case the licences must bo allowed by the archbishop. 
Licences may bo revoked, and no lioenco can continue in 
force above three years from tho time of its being granted, 
or after the 31st of December in the second year after that 
In which it is granted. The act also contains directions 
with respect to the lists of exemptions and licences fornon- 
residenec, which are to bo kept in the registry of each dio- 
cese for publie inspection. 

The act 57 Geo. III. c. 99 provides also for tho appoint- 
ment of licensed curates in benefices, the incumbents of 
which are absent with or without lieonoe or exemption, and 
regulates the salarios of such curates upon a scale propor- 
tioned to the value of each benefice, and tho number of the 
population within its precincts; and in all cases of non-resi- 
dence from sickness, age, or other unavoidable cause, tho 
bishop may fix smaller salaries at his discretion. 

There are other liabilities which parsons, vicars, and other 
spiritual persons necessarily incur in respect of their bene- 
fices. Thus, by 43 Klia. e. 2, they are rateable in respect of 
their benefices for the relief of the poor; and, although tho 
burden of the repairs of the body of the church falls upon 
the parishioners, the reotor (and, where the parsonage is ap- 
propriated, the impropriator) is liablo for the repairs of the 
chaneel. And tho stat. 35 Ed. I. sess. 2, the objeot of which 
was to prohibit rectors from cutting down trees in church- 
yards, contains an express exception of the case where such 
trees are wanted for tho repair of the chancel. 

Besides the liability implied In tho last-mentioned prohi- 
bition, all occlesiastieal incumbents aro liable for dilapida- 
tions. A dilapidation is said to be the pulling down or de- 
stroying in any manner any of the houses or buildings be- 
longing to a spiritual living, or suffering them to run into 
ruin or decay, or wasting or destroying the woods of the 
ohurch, or committing or suffering any wilful waste in or 
upon the inheritance of tho church. Such proceedings may 
he prevented by the spiritual censures of tho ordinary : and 
tho profits of the benefice may be sequestered until the 
damage he repaired; and the Court of Chancery will, at 
the suit of the patron, grant an injunction to restrain this as 
woll as overy other species of waste. Or the next ipcum- 
bont may recover damages for dilapidations either in the 
Spiritual Court, or in an aetion on tho caso at common law 
against his predecessor, or, if ho bo dead, against his per- 
sonal representatives. 

The remedies for tho subtraction of tithes given bv tho 
law of England to the clergy are sufficiently ample. Thus 
stat. 2 and 3 Ed. VI. enables them cither to recover tho 
tithes themselves in the Spiritual Courts, together with tho 
double value of such tithes in addition, or to recover tho 
treble value in the temporal courts. Soino recent statutes, 
and particularly 53 Geo. III. c. 127, and 7 Goo. IV. o. 15, 
have also given a summary remedy for tho recovery of tithes 
under a certain amount before two justices of the peace, 
who are empowered to levy them by distress. But ques- 
tions of title to tithes belong to the temporal courts only, 
and are generally determined by a suit on the equity side 



BEN 



223 



BEN 



of the Court of Exchequer. The subject of the different 
species of defence to suits of this nature will be more pro - 
.perly considered under tbc head of Tithes ; but it should 
be observed that by the old law, upon the principle of 
' nullum tempus oecurrit eeelesia?/ there was no period of 
limitation to these suits, so that the church could, at any 
distance of time, recover land or tithes, which it could he 
proved to have enjoyed within legal memory, t. e. since the 
accession of Richard I. To remedy this with respect to 
tithes, the stat. 2 and 3 Will. IV. cap. 100, after appointing 
.periods of limitation for tithe suits by the king, by lay persons, 
and corporations aggregate, whether spiritual or temporal, 
"provides that in all such suits by spiritual persons or cor- 
porations sole, a claim of discharge from the payment of 
tithes by the customary commutation called a modus, or of 
a total exemption by prescription, shall be indefeasible upon 
evidence showing that the modus was paid or exemption had 
for the whole time that two persons in succession may have 
held tbe benefice in respect of which tithes are claimed, and 
for not less than three years after the appointment, institution, 
or induction of a third person thereto. And it is further 
provided, that if tho period of the holding of such two por- 
sons be less than sixty years, it shall be necessary, in order 
to establish the modus or the exemption, to show its existence 
for so long a time as with that period shall make up ihe 
full period of sixty roars ; and also for the further period of 
three years from the appointment, institution, or induction 
of a third person to the same benefice* The statute con- 
tains an exception for the cases where it shall be proved 
that the modus was paid, or the exemption had, by consent 
evidenced by some deed or writing. 

And with respect to actions and suits for recovery of lands 
or rents by parsons, vicars, or other spiritual corporations 
sole, the 29th sect, of 3 and 4 Will. IV. c, 27 subjects them 
to the period of limitation of two successive incumbencies, 
together with six years after tbe appointment of a third per- 
son to the benefice, or in case of this period not amounting to 
.sixty years, then to tho full period of limitation of sixty years. 

Having thus shown how possession of the different kinds 
of benefices in England is acquired and maintained, and 
what arc the principal legal incidents of such possession, it 
remains to consider how benefices may be vacated or avoided. 
And this may happen several ways : 1. By tho death of tho 
incumbent ; 2. By resignation, which is made into tho hands 
of the ordinary, except in the ease of donatives, which must 
be resigned into the hands of the patron, who alone has 
jurisdiction over thein. The resignation must be absolute, 
unless it be for tho purpose of oxehangc, in which ease it 
may be made on the condition that the exchange shall take 
full effect. Where two parsons wish to exchange benefieoa, 
they must obtain a licence from the ordinary to that effect ; and 
if the exchange is not fully executed by both parties during 
their lives, all the proceedings arc void. (Sec Burn, Ec~ 
cles Law, tit. Exchange.) 3. A bencfieo may be avoldod 
by the incumbent's being promoted to a bishoprick ; but tho 
avoidance in this caso does not take place till the actual con-' 
secration of tho new prelate. The patronage of tho benefice 
so vacant belongs for that turn to the king, except in the ease 
of a clergyman, beneficed in England, accepting an Irish 
bishoprick ; for no person can accept a dignity or benefice in 
Ireland until he has first resigned all his preferments in 
England; so that in this case the patron, and not the king, 
has the benefit of the avoidance. Tho avoidance may be 
prevented by a licence from the crown to hold the benefice 
in eomincndam. Grants in commendam may be either 
temporary or perpetual. They aro said to be derived from 
an anticnt practice in the Roman Catholio church, whereby, 
when a cbnreh was vacant, and could not be immediately 
filled up, the care of it wa3 commended by the bishop or 
other ecclesiastical superior to some person of merit, who 
should take the direction of it until the vacancy was filled 
up, but without meddling with the profits. This practice, 
however, in process of time being abused for the purposo of 
evading the provisions of the canon law against pluralities, 
became the subject of considerable complaint, and of some 
restraints, by the authority of popes and councils, and parti- 
cularly of tho celebrated Council of Trent in tbe sixteenth 
century. (Vido Father Paul's Treatise on Benefices.) A 
benofico may be granted in commendam to a bishop after 
consecration, but then the patron's consent must be ob- 
tained, in order to render the eomincndam valid. [See Com- 
mendam.] If the incumbent of a donative be promoted to 
a bishoprick, no cession takes place, but it see ma that ho 



may retain the donative without a commendam, 
Vinor's Abr. tit. Presentation, K. C ) 

4. If an incumbent of a benefieo with cure of souls accepts 
a second benefice of a like nature without procuring a (lis* 
pensation, the first, by the provisions of the canon law, is 
so far void, that the patron may present another clerk, or 
the bishop may deprive ; but till deprivation no advantago 
can be taken by lapse. And the stat. 21 Hen. VIII. e. 13 
provides, that where a person, having a benefice of the value 
of 8/. per annum or upwards, according to tho valuation of 
the king's books, accepts any other, the first shall bo ad- 
judged void, unless he obtains a dispensation in conformity 
with the provisions of the statute. And dispensations not 
in conformity with the statute are declared void, and heavy 
penalties are imposed upon persons endeavouring to procure 
them. But by virtue of such dispensations, spiritual per- 
sons of the king's eouneil may hold three benefices with 
cure, and the other persons qualified by the statute to re* 
ceive dispensations may each hold two such benefices. 

The persons who may receive dispensations are the king's 
chaplains, those of the queen and royal family, and other 
persons who arc allowed by tho statute to retain a certain 
number of chaplains, and also the brethren and sons of all 
temporal lords, the brethren and sons of knights, and all 
doctors and bachelors of divinity and law, admitted to their 
degrees in due form by the universities. The privilege is not 
extended to the brethren and sous of baronets, as the rank 
of baronet did not exist at the tirao when the statute was 
passed. [Seo Chaplain.] / 

Tho statute expressly excepts deaneries, archdeaconries, 
chanccllorsbips, treasurerships, ehantershipa, prebends, and 
sinecure rectories. Donatives are within the statute, if a do- 
nativo is tho first living; but if a donative is the second living 
taken without a dispensation, the first is not made void by 
the statute, the words of which are * instituted and inducted 
to any other/ words not applicable to donatives. But it 
seems that both in the cases cxecptod by tho statute, and 
in the case where the second living ia a donative, a dis- 
pensation is equally ncecssary in order to hold both prefer- 
ments, as otherwise the first would be voidable by the 
canon law. 

The stat. 36 Geo. HI. c. 83 has brought chapels and 
churches, augmentod by Queen Anne's l>ounty, within the 
Statute of Pluralities, by enacting that such churches and 
chapels shall bo considered as prcsentative benefices, and 
that the license to serve them shall render other livings 
voidable in the same manner as institution to prescntativo 
benefices. It appears that both by the common law, and 
by the provisions of stat. 3 7 Hen. VIII. c. 21, and 17 Char. 
II. c. 3, a union or consolidation of two benefices into one 
might with consent of patrons, ordinaries, and incumbents, 
be mado in such a manner as not to be affected by tho 
Statuto of Pluralities. (See Church, and Burn's Eccles, 
Law, tit. Union.) 

For the manner of obtaining dispensations from tho 
archbishop, and for the form of such dispensations, and of 
the confirmation thereof by tho lord chancellor, and the pro- 
visions which the canon law requires to be inserted in such 
dispensations, see Burn's Eccles. Law, titlo Plurality. 

5. Another mode of avoidance of a benefice, is by de- 
privation under a sontencc of an ecclesiastical court. The 
principal causes on which sentence of deprivation is usually 
founded, arc heresy, blasphemy, gross immorality ; or con 
vietion of treason, murder, or felony. 

G. A benefice may be avoided by act of the law ; as where 
the incumbent omits or refuses to subscribe the Thirty- 
Nine Articles, or declaration of conformity to the Liturgy, 
or to read the Articles or Book of Common Prayer, in pur- 
suance of the statutes which render those acts necessary. 
But the most remarkable mode of avoidance which is to bo 
classed under this head, is that for simony, in pursuance of 
the stat. 31 Eliz. c. G. By this statute for the avoiding of 
simony, it is among other things enacted, that if any patron, 
fur any sum of money, reward, profit, or benefit, or for anv 
promise, agreement, grant, bond, of or for any sum of 
money, reward, gift, profit, or benefit, shall present or collato 
any person to an ecclesiastical benefice with cure of souls or 
dignity, such presentation or collation shall be utterly void, 
and the crown shall present to the benefice for that turn 
only. Tbe statute also imposes a penalty upon the parties 
to the simoniaeal contract to the amount of double the value 
of a year's profit of the benefice, and for ever disables the 
person- corruptly procuring or accepting the benefieo frora 



BEN 



224 



B E N 



enjoying the same. And by stat. 1C Anne, sess. 2. c. 12, a 
purchase by a clergyman, either in his own name or that of 
another, of "the next presentation/or himself* is declared to be 
simony, and is attended with tho same penalties and for- 
feiture as are imposed by the statute of Klizabcth. Upon 
tho construction of this statute of Klizabcth it has been 
held, that if the next presentation can be shown to have 
been purchased with tho intention of presenting a particular 
person, who, upon a vacancy taking place, is presented ac- 
cordingly, this fact is sufficient to render the transaction 
simoniacal. An exception has indeed been inado in the 
case of a father providing for his son by the purchase of a 
next presentation, but the principle of this exception has 
lately been denied. (Vide 2 B. & C. G52.) 

The circumstanco of the incumbent being at the point of 
death at the time of the contract, may also vitiate tho 
transaction; except where tho fee simplo of the advowson 
is purchased, in which ease it has been decided that the 
knowledge of the state of the incumbent's health does not 
make the purchase simoniacal. 

It has been a question much agitated in our courts, whe- 
ther a presentation is valid where the person presented 
enters into a bond or agreement, either generally to resign 
tho benefice at the patron's request, or to resign it in favour 
of a particular person specified in the instrument. After 
several contrary decisions in the courts below, it was finally 
decided by the House of Lords towards the latter end of the 
last century, that general bonds of resignation were simo- 
niacal and illegal. A similar decision has lately been made 
by the same tribunal with respect to bonds of resignation in 
favour of specified persons. As there is no objection on the 
grounds of public policy to tho last-mentioned instruments, 
if restrained within due limits, the interference of the legis- 
lature has been thought necessary in order to regulate 
transactions of this nature. On this account, after a retro- 
spect ivo act (7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 25) had been passed, to re- 
medy the hardships that might otherwise have been occa- 
sioned by the last-mentioned judgment of the House of 
Lords, it was finally enacted by the 9 Geo. IV. e. 94, that 
every engagement, bond fide made for the resignation of 
any spiritual oilice or living, in favour of a person, or one of 
two persons to be specially named therein, being such per- 
sons as were mentioned in a subsequent section of the act, 
should be valid and effectual in the law, provided such en- 
gagement were entered into before the presentation of the 
party entering into the same. By the section referred to, 
where two persons arc specially named in the engagement, 
each of thein must be. cither by blood or marriage, an uncle, 
son, grandson, brother, nephew, or grand nephew of the 
patron (provided the patron is not a mere trustee), or of the 
person for whom the patron is a trustee, or of the person by 
whose direction the presentation is intended to he made, or 
of any married woman whose husband in her right is patron, 
or of any other person in whose right the presentation is 
intended to be made. The deed' containing the engage- 
ment to resign must be deposited for inspection with the 
registrar of the diocese wherein the benefice is situated, and 
every resignation made in pursuance of such an engage- 
ment must refer to the same, and state the name of the 
person for whose benefit it is made and becomes void, 
unless that person is presented within sLx months. The 
statute is limited in its operation to eases where the pa- 
tronage is strictly private property. 

There are certain benefices of which the patronago i3 
either by custom or act of parliament vested in certain 

Eublie officers or corporations. Thus, the lord chancellor 
as the absolute patronage of all the king's livings which arc 
valued at 20/. per annum or under in the king's books. 1 1 is 
not known how this patronage of the chancellor was derived ; 
Lut it appears from the rolls of parliament in tho 4th Ed. 
111., that the chancellor at that time had the patronage of 
all the king's livings of the value of 20 marks or under, 
and it is not improbable that at the time of makiujr the new 
valuation of benefices in the reign of Henry VIII., a new 
grant was made to the chancellor by the crown, in consi- 
deration of the altered valuo of ecclesiastical property. By 
stat, 3 James I.e. 5, popish recusants are disabled from 
exercising any right of ecclesiastical patronage, and the 
patronage of livings in the gift of such persons is vested in 
the two universities, according to the several counties in 
which the livings are situate. This disability was con- 
firmed by tho subsequent statutes 1 Will. & Mary, e. 20, 
12 Ann. sess. 2. e 4 14, and extended to eases Vliero the 



right of patronage was vested in a trust eo for a papist ; and 
is not removed (along with the other disabilities affecting 
Roman Catholics) by stat. 10 Geo. IV. e. 7. But tho last- 
mentioned act provides, that where any ecclesiastical pa- 
tronage is connected with any office in the gift of tho 
crown, which olliee is held by a Hoinau Catholic, the pa- 
tronage, so long as the office is so held, shall be exercised 
by the archbishop of Canterbury. 
'Though the stat. 10 Ann. e. 12 restored the rights of pa- 
tronage in Scotland (which had been abolished by the act 
of the Scotch parliament which established the presby- 
terian form of church government at the beginning of Will. 
III.' s reign), this law was so unpopular that it was for a 
long time resisted, and became almost nugatory. The 
people gradually assumed to themselves the privilege of 
approving of their pastors before they were inducted ; and 
this popular sanction, which was denominated a call, was 
regarded as indispensable, and as possessing more authority 
than the presentation of the patron. The General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland in 1 752 (chiefly through the 
influence of the historian Robertson) passed a vote cen- 
suring this practice, and vindicating the rights of patronage 
as established by the legislature. (Sec Stewart's Life of 
Robertson.) It seems, however, to have been the occasional 
though not uniform practice of that church subsequently 
(notwithstanding positive law) to require a certain concur- 
rence of the people before the person presented to a benefice 
was invested with the cure of sonls. (See Smith's Wealth 
of Nations, book v. chap. 1.) This concurrenco appears, 
howovcr, to have been, in a great measure, a matter of form, 
until a recent determination of the General Assembly de- 
clared that a call should be indispensable in all cases. The 
Scotch law upon this subject is quite unsettled, and ob- 
viouslv requires the interference of the legislature. Tho 
church of Ireland being the same with that of England, the 
ecclesiastical polity of each is in its main principles the same. 
The same law of ecclesiastical patronage, the same classifi- 
cation of benefices, the same circumstances of lay impropria- 
tions, and in short, the same ecclesiastical privileges and dis- 
abilities may prevail in each country. But a most important 
alteration in the distribution of the revenues of the Irish 
church was effected by the 3 & 4 Will, IV. e. 37, amended 
by 4 St 5 Will. IV. a 90. By this act certain ecclesiastical 
commissioners are established as a corporation, for the aug- 
menting of small liviugs out of the funds, which come into 
their hands by virtue of the act, and for other ecclesiastical 
purposes. The funds in question arc to arise, partly from 
the revenues of certain bishopricks which are abolished, 
and the surplus revenues of the rest above certain limits 
fixed bv the act ; partly from the money paid by the tenants 
of lands held under bishops' leases renewable for ever, for 
a conversion of such leasehold interest into a perpetuity ; 
and partly from a tax levied on all ecclesiastical dignities 
and benefices, according to a scale of taxation specified 
in a schedulo to the act; in consideration of which tax all 
first fruits are abolished. The jrommissioncrs arc invested 
with extraordinary powers by the act. Thus, they have 
authority to disappropriate benefices united to dignities, and 
to unite them to vicarojjes in lieu thereof. They have also 
the jx)wer of suspending the appointment to benefices 
which are in the gift either of the crown, of archbishops, 
bishops, or other dignitaries, or of ecclesiastical corporations, 
where it appears that divine service has not been performed 
within such benefices for three years before tho passing tho 
act. The subject of the better regulation of the revenues 
and discipline of the Irish church still (1835) engages the 
attention of the legislature. 

We have already mentioned the attempts of tho popes to 
acquire the right of patronage to all ecclesiastical benefices 
in Europe, and the successful measures that were taken in 
England for resisting their pretensions. After ineffectual 
attempts had been made at the councils of Constance and 
Basle in 1414 and 1433 to check the papal encroachments, 
each of the principal European governments seems to have 
asserted in some measure its own ecclesiastical indepen- 
dence, either by entering into concordats with the pope, 
or assuming the right of controlling his pretensions by 
national legislation. The latter course seems to have been 
adopted by Snain towards the cud of the fifteenth century. 
(See Ilallam » Midille Ages, vol. ii. p. 361.) The emperor 
of Germany in 1 <U8 entered into a concordat at Aschuficn 
burg with the pope, which is said to l>e still the law of tho 
Catholic states of Germany. By this treaty the pope oh 



BEN 



225 



BEN 



tained the right of collation to all benefices that fell vacant 
during six alternate months of the year. By the Prag- 
matic Sanction of Charles VII. of France, published in 
1438. all mandates and reservations with respect to bene- 
fices in that country were abolished for the future. This 
ordinance was followed, in the beginning of the sixteenth 
ccniury", by the concordat of* Francis I. and Leo X., which 
remained till the time of the French revolution a funda- 
mental law of the Gallican church. By this treaty the pope 
gave up his indefinite claims to the patronage of benefices, 
and received a small stipulated patronage in return ; and 
the substantial part of the patronage of bishoprics was 
vested in the crown. The modern concordat of Pius VII. 
with Napoleon, though destructive of the liberties of the 
Gallican church, does not appear, so far as respects the right 
of the popo to interfere with the patronage of benefices, 
to be a material innovation upon the concordat of Francis I. 
[See Concordat.] 

For the numerous abuses with respect to the patronage, 
acquisition, and transmission of benefices that prevailed in 
the Roman Catholic Church, especially in Italy, during the 
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, see Father Paul's Trea- 
tise on Benefices, cap. 44-46. 

The Council of Trent in 1547 attempted to reform some 
of these evils, as that of pluralities and commendams, here- 
ditary succession to benefices, and non-residence ; but left 
the great abuse of papal reservations untouched. 'The con- 
sequence of this, according to Father Paul (cap. 50), was 
that in his time (at the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury) the reservations were multiplied to such a degree, that 
the pope had five-sixths of the benefices in Italy at his dis- 
posal, with very reasonable hope3 that the remaining sixth 
would go the same way. In confirmation of this state- 
ment, the same author gives a list of the benefices which at 
that time came under the pope's patronage by reservations ; 
and concludes with saying, 'Whoever shall put these reserva- 
tions together will be found to have done the pope no 
wrong in the calculation, and that he hath at least five 
times as many collations as all the other collators put 
together/ 

The following Table is abstracted partly from a Parlia- 
mentary Return presented to the House nf Commons in 
1834, and partly from the Report of the Comynt'ssioners 
appointed to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of 
England and Wales, published June, 1835 : — 



St, Asaph, 
H3 • < 



Salop (pnrt) . . 
Carnarvon (pnrt) . 
Denbigh (part) 
Flint (part) . . 
Merioneth (pari) . 
Montgomery (part) 



:i5cr,l£K 



Banger,! 






Bath awl 
Weill, 430 



Bristol, 253. 



33J 






Canter- 
bury, 3 IC 



COUNTIES. 






Anglesey . . 
Carnarvon (pnrt) 
Denbigh (part) 
Merimiolli (part) 
Montgomery (part) 



Somerset (part) 

Dorset , . . 
Gloucester (part/ 
Somerset (fart) 



thick* (part) . 
Kstcx (pnrt) 
Kent (pnrt) 
Middlesex (part) 
Oxford (part) . 
Suffolk (part) 



Surrey (part} . 
Sussex (pari) . 






133 



179 



*?!< 



259 
33 



-% 



1*3 



192) 



19- 



3C9 



4 

4 
3U 
15 
2 
3 
15 
SO 



37* 



I'upu- 
laiiou. 



16,735 
l,79tf 

68,825 

45,6*5 
9,93* 

48,201 



191,156 



49,325 
64,652 
13,195 
25.331 
12,159 



163,712 



403.795 



159,272 

72,369 

405 



232,026 



2,053 

4,875 

239,222 

15,241 

470 

4424 

71.007 

17,880 



405,27! 



B. 

. £ 



42.59: 

> 35,064 

120,310 

, 77,056 

* 123,9*6 



43 



, -L 



3,564 



4,923 



18,579 



13310.668 



174 



14,656 



Carlisle, 
124 



Chester, 

630 



Cbichcstcr\ 

267 



Cumberland (part) 
Wesl more land (pt.) 



SI. David, 

400 



Durham, 
193 



Ely. 150 



Exeter, 6131 



Gloucester J 



COUNTIES. 



Chester .... 
Cumberland (part) 
Lancaster . . . 
Westmoreland (pt.) 
York,N. Kid. (pt) 
N E. Rid. (pt.) 
Denbigh (part) 
Flint (pari) . . 



Sussex £part) . 

Hereford (part) 
Brecon . . . 
Cardigan . . 
Carmarthen 
Glamorgan (part) 
Mont gome ry (part) 
Pembroke . . 
Radnor (part) . 
Moninoulh (pari) 



Cumberland (part) 
Durham . . 
Northumb. (pi.) 



233 



\ 



Hereford, 
321 



Llandaff, 
192 



Lichfleld 

ami 
Covenlry, 

610 



Lincoln, 
1251 



London, 
640 



Cambridge (part) 
Norfolk (part) , 



Cornwall] 
Devon . 



Gloucester (part} 
Wilts (pari) . 



Hereford (part) 
Monmoulli (part) . 
Salop (part) . . 
Worcester (part) . 
Montgomery (pari) 
Radnor (pnrt) . . 



Glamorgan (part) 
Monmouth (pari) 



Derby . . , 
Salop (part) 
Station! (part) . 
Warwick (pari) 



100 129 135.002 



hi 



334,391 
50,170 
1,336,854 
32,692 
60,823 
53,072 
1.C09 
1434" 



530 631 1333,958 



289 30? 254,460 82,673 122 9,440 



157 159 
I I 



153 160 133,722 



Bedford . . . 
Bucks (pnrt) . 
HerU (part) , 
Hunts . . , 
Leicester . , 
Lincoln . . , 
Norlliampton(part) 
Oxford (part) . 
Rutland (pnrl) . 
Warwick (pnYl) 



Norwich, 
1026 



M 



Oxford, 196 



631 7H 795,416 



296 330 315^12 



Popu- 
lation. 



112,653 
22,349 



L 22,487 44 3,684 3 



> 169,495 267 23,239 4 



3371 

47.763 

64."" 

100,740 

37.190 

2.743 

81,4*5 

19.719 

720 



525 561 353.451 



140 214 469.933 



132,127 
995 



300,938 
494,478 



194,18) 



239 314,065 
1.447 



346 360 206.327 



221 223 181,244 



Rucks (part) • 
Essex (part) 
Herts (part) . 
Middlesex (pnrt) 



Cambridge (part) 
Norfolk (part) . 
Suffolk (part) . 



Oxford (part) 



13/0 1377 899,468 * 



1178 



207 



.54 



107340 
5,588 
71378 
1-2.710 
3379 
4.932 



89.422 
91,822 



237,170 
122,486 
402,042 

283.783 



650 6551.045,481 



95.433 

1 42.1 II 

7H.742 

53.192 

197.003 

6071 317,465 

2.125 

10.9S6 

2.257 

104 



\ 170.101 



81,552 14311,405 3 



> 93,552 15/12,905 



36.347 113 6,74? 



> 373,976 629 48,347 18 



650 689 1,722,685 



1210 



237 



236: 

312.632 

64.599 

1 343,089 



9.286 
389.059 
291,793 



690,133 



140,700 51,395 



60,653 20711,464 



74,457 9B 8,556 2 



56,495 75 6,593 2 



59 16 



307 24,948 



267,742 35135,118 2 



37 



1031 7,954 



l^^L^f VS d n? mb * rof ^ nefi f cl,il i ft e ^i retlirncd V! *l ie Commws.oners, including sinecure Iteclories, but exclusive of Benefices ami 
■^^,!^T^9^JSf Ofl ^ clte- vJ 4 l7, ^ .* B " A**"* 1 * Amount of ihe gross Incomes oflncumbcnls in each Diocese, cxclm 
5£ii \ -u %ioT° tal,8,l98i t? 8 t t , „ C - £ nn, V er of ?T ie * ta encI ' Vioce *"- Total - 5 ^- D. Amount of Stipends to Curates In 



Total, 424,5 19/. 



No. 233. 



K. Number of Benefices In each Diocese not returned to the Commissioners. Total, 178. 

[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



annexed to othei 

exclusive as before 

a ench Diocese. 



Vol,IV.-2 G 



BEN 



22G 



BEN 



peterboro'. 



Northern ptou f part) 
Rutland ti»*rt> 



achetter, f 



398 



Yfoehet- 
t#r,419 



COUNTIES. 



Yorlc, 891 



Cambridge (part) 
Kent (part) , 



Berks . . • 
Wilts . * • 
Gloucester (part) 



Hants . • 
Surrey (pert) 



3-dop (part) • 
StflfTonl (pwrO • 
Warwick Iftt) 
Worcester (part) 



Nor thumb, (part) , 
Notts . . . , 
York, E. Hid. (part 

, N.KfcUpart; 

,, W. Riding - 



re 

&5 



299 
46 






100 



107 



*» 



110 



♦- 



I * 



9U 

m 

1ST. 

173 



Popu- 
lation. 



177.311 
17.1* 



1*4,339 



1JM 
199.933 



191375 



1 43,399 

238.709 
535 



334,633 



314£30 
415,327 



i;» 



21G 



729.60; 



n. 

X 



> 99.381 
V 44.66! 

> 131. 2S 
| 153, 



r, 



i>> 



61 



11.966 



6.551 



74l|g^fl.496^3S| 




993 



73,255 



XS 



."0 



111 



18.174 



19,85* 



9,002 



233,990 390 99.W319 



Total Number of 1'arUfce*. 11.077; of Churches and Chapels. 11.825; 

P T Dkme 3 ^' Number of Benefices In each returned to the Coramls- 
sloners. Including sinceare Rectories, but exclusive of lleuclkes annexed 
toother Preferments. Total Number of Benefices, 10417. B. Aggr*«.te 
Amount of the cross Incomes of Incumbers lu each Diocese, exclusive ns 
bXe mentioned. Total. 3.193.499*. C Number of Curates In each 
r***se Total 5.297. D. Amount of Stipends to Curates in each 
lHocise. Total, 424.5491 E. Number of Benefices In each Diocese not 
returned to tho Commissioner*. Total 179. 

The Annual Average for each person upon the Total Gross Income retiirued 
u 30J/. i and the Annual Average npon the Tctel Net Income: returned Is 233/. 
The Annual Average of the C urates' Stipends rs U\t. 

Tho Total Number nf Benefice* In Eugland and Wales. Including those 
not returned to the Commissioners, hut exclusive or those annexed to other 1 : re* 
f^rnuSllnnDmberJ.ls 10.718. Of thes* Benefices 297 are under 50/.; 16J9 
£S«StolS"i 1*>2 from 100/. to 150/.: 135t from lWMoSOO/.: }** gj» 
200? ^ 300/.: 13:6 from 300/. to 400/.; S30 from 400/. to 500/. ; 954 from 500/. 
InTMt i 323 from 7*0/. to 1000/ ; 134 from 1000/. to 1500/.; 33 from 15001 
to 9000/.; 18 from 9000/. nnd upwards. Of these last, one is the rectory of 
Stanhope In the diocese of Durham, of tlio net annual value of 4343/.; mid 
nnother Is tho rectory of Doddington In the diocesa of Ely of the juet annual 
value of 7306*. Thn dinoesc of Sodor and Man Is Included iu thn total uumber 

° The Total Gross Income of the Benefices iu England and Wales, Including 
thoie rwtrrtorned, and falculuted upon the Averago of those rolurneU, H 
3951.159/.; und the Total Net Income of the same Is 3,055,451/. 

If the nmoant of the Curates' Stipends which Is included lu the Income 
of the Incumbents, Is subtracted therefrom, ihe Net lncoino returned will be 
reduced to 9,179,961/.. giving au Averago of 244/. to ench lucumbenl. 

Table classing the Patronage of Benefices, and showing 
the Number possessed by each Class. 



DIOCESES. 


i 


hi 
H 

ll 


"g-gfrfi 


1*1 

.1" o 2 


*- T it 


1 

> 
2 


o 

•H 

i i. 


St. Asaph . . • 
Bangor . . . • 
fiftth and Wells 
Bristol . . . . 
Canterbury . . . 

Carlisl 

Chester . . . • 
Chichester . . . 
St. David's . . . 




91 
12 
IP 
4 

96 
19 

a 


190 
78 
29 
15 

14* 

to 

34 
81 

10a 


* r 

39 
11 
J6 
97 

34 
21 
16 


9 
7 
103 
42 
36 
19 
997 
49 
61 


1 

3 
23 
14 
14 

3 
13 
15 
12 


19 

29 
294 
159 
87 
51 
299 
130 
159 


4 

to 

2 
6 


Durham . • • . 


12 


45 


36 


£9 


4 


66 




ixeter ■ . 


2 


HI 


91 


13 


40 


39 




fir* 


44 


69 


117 


11 


^09 


A 


Gloucoater . • . 


99 


30 


35 


40 


2G- 


133 


3 


Hereford . . • ■ 


9« 


36 


2rt 


54 


11 


1/9 




l^ebfieU ft Coventry 
Lincoln . • • . 


53 
156 


1H 
73 


10 
C3 


122 

• 177 


6 

102 


633 


5 




U 


6 


3,*} 


19 


7 


lis 






7-"i 


*6 
r>5 


53 
47 


105 
1S4 


C8 

86 


9r; 

696 






95 


13 


Oxford 4 * * » 


19 


13 


22 


. 16 


52 


78 




l'rtrr borough . • 
Rochester > • * 
Salisbury > . • 
Wiueh#»tar . • * 
Worcester . • - 
York 


31 

10 
33 
30 
2» 
103 


IS 
15 

S3 

H 

57 


19 

17 

4t 
15 
39 

ul 


40 
8 

67 
79 
29 
257 


3-2 
4 
CO 
53 
15 
33 


171 
44 
154 
197 

397 


5 


Sodor and Men . . 


15 


8 


• ' 


• ■ 


• ■ 


1 




Total . . 


952 


1219 


7*7 


1851 


7ii r 


60961 


53 



The above classification comprise* only tha patronage rtt*rn*4 to tne 
Commissioners. There ate 178 ikm -returns, and 86 returned omitting f«e 
pnlronsge. 

As the rntronage Is frequently divided between different classes of patrons, 
and Is Included mnder each, h Is obvious that the ag jnegata totsl of the abova 
numbers will not agree with tha total ntunWr of bcuaoces, 

* This lucluilcs the patronage or nomination eiotcised by rectors and 
vicars. 

t Tills number does not comprise tha iMngs In the patronage of thn dean 
and canons of Chriit Church, which Is Included among the deniis and chap- 
ters ; audit is further to be observed, that united livings, and livings with 
chapels annexed, hava in either case been treated as singlu benefices. 

Table, classing the Appropriations and Impropriations, 
showing the Number possessed btf each Class, and the 
Number 0/ Cases in each Diocese tn which the Vicarage 
is partly or wholly endowed with the Great Tithes. 




Tho number of vicarages of which the Impropriations have not been re 
turned to the Commissioners, Is 923. 

Where the Impropriation or appropriation of the great tithes is shored 
betweeu owners or different classes, it Is Included under each clnss. 

There are some few cases of rectories In which tba rector has only n por- 
tion of the great tithes, the remainder being the property of a spiritual person 
or body, or of a lav-lmproprintor \ and in Jertcy and Gummcy the bem-flces 
are merely nominal rectories, (he Incumbent not being entitled in any caw 
to more than a portion (generally one- third) of the gieat tithe*, the C rerun 
or governor taking tho residue; and In some cases the whold goes to Uie 
Crown ot governor, 

BENEFI'CIUM, a Latin word, literally ' a (rood depd ;' 
also ' a favour/ * an act of kindness.' This word had several 
technical significations among the Romans, 

When a proconsul, proprcetor, or qaccstor, returned to 
Romo from his province, ho first gave in his accounts to the 
treasury ; after which he might also give in tho names of 
such persons as had served under him in the province, 
and by their conduct had deserved well of the state. To 
do this was expressed by the phrase, * in bencfictis ad 
rorarium defcrrc,'— ' (o gite in to the treasury the names 
of deserving nersons;' and in tho ease of certain oflicers 
and persons, this was to bo done within thirty days after 
the proconsul, &c. had given in his accounts. The object 
of this practico was apparently to recommend such indivi- 
duals to publio notico and attention, and in many eases it 
would be a kind of introduction to future honours and emo- 
luments. It docs not seem quite certain, if money was 
given to those thus recommended,, in the time of Cicero. 
(Cicero, ad Divers. V. 20. Pro Archia, 5.) Bencficium, in 
anotV r sense, means some honour, promotion, or exemption 
from certain kinds of service, granted by a Roman governor 
or commander to certain of his soldiers, hence called Bcncfi- 
ciarii. (Cveiar, de Bello CYn7i,i.75.iii.88; Sucton, Tiber. 12.) 
Numerous inscriptions given in Grutcr show how common 
this practico was: in some of them the title is represented by 
tho initial letters B.F.,only ; Bencficiarius Legati Consularis 
(li. 4) ; B.F. Proconsulis (exxx. 5.) &c. Under the emperors, 
bencficia appear to have signified any kind of favours, privi- 
leges, or cmolumenU granted to a subject by the sovereign ; 
and Suetonius observes (Titus, 8.) that all the Ca?sars, in 
conformity with a regulation of Tiberius, considered that, 



BEN 



227 



PEN 



on their accession to the supremo power, all the grants 
(beneficia) of their predecessors required confirmation ; but 
Titus by one edict, without solicitation, confirmed all grants 
of previous emperors. The grants made by the emperors, 
which were often lands, were entered in a book called the 
Liber Beneficiorum, which was kept by the chief clerk of 
benefices, under the care of the Comes Rerum Privatarum 
of the emperor ; or it was kept by a person entitled ' A Com- 
mentariis Beneficiorum,' or clerk of the benefices, as we 
learn from a curious inscription in Grutcr (dlxxviii. 1.) 
This inscription, which is a monumental inscription, is in 
memory of M. Ulpius Pheedimus, who among other offices 
held that of clerk of benefices to Trajan : the monument 
was erected in the reign of Hadrian, a.d. 131, by Valens 
Ptuedimianus, probably one of the same family, who styles 
himself wardrobe-keeper (a veste). 

Beneficium, in the civil law, signifies any particular privi- 
lege : thus it is said (Dig.\.4.3.) that "the beneficium of 
the emperor must be interpreted very liberally ; and by tbe 
Julian law, de bonis cedendis, a debtor was said to receive the 
benefit (beneficium) of not being taken to prison. (Codex 
vii. Tit. 71.) 

Beneficium, among the writers of the middle ages, signi- 
fied any grant of land from the fiscus, that is, the private 
possessions of the king or sovereign, or any other person, for 
life ; so called, says Ducange, beeause it was given out of 
the mere goodwill (beneficium) and liberality of the grantor. 
But it is evident from what we have said, that this kind of 
grant was so called, after the fashion of the grants of the 
Roman emperors. A beneficiary grant in tho middle ages 
appears to have been properly a grant for life, that is, a 
grant to the individual, and accordingly corresponds to usu~ 
fructus, and is opposed to proprietus. The name benefi- 
cium, as applied to a feudal grant, was afterwards changed 
for that of feudum ; and the terms beneficium and feudum 
are often used indifferently in writings whieh treat of feuds. 
[See Feud.] For further remarks on the term beneficium, 
see Ducange, Glossarium, #<% ; and Hotman, Commenta- 
rius Verborum Juris, Opera. Lugd. fol. 1599. 

BENEFIT OF CLERGY. The privilege or exemption 
thus called had its origin in the regard which was paid by 
tho various sovereigns of Europe to tho early Christian 
Church, and in the endeavours of the popes to withdraw 
the clergy altogether from seculaT jurisdiction. In England, 
(heso attempts, being vigorously resisted by our earlier kings 
after tho Conquest, only succeeded partially and in two par- 
ticular instances, namely, in procuring, 1. tho exemption 
of places consecrated to religious purposes from arrests for 
crimes, which was tho origin of sanctuaries [see Sanc- 
tuary]; and 2. tho exemption of clergymen in certain 
cases from criminal punishment by secular judges. From 
the latter exemption came the benefit of clergy, which arose 
when a person indicted for certain offences pleaded that he 
was a clerk or clergyman and claimed his privilegium cleri- 
cale. Upon this plea and claim the ordinary appeared and 
demanded him ; a jury was then summoned to inquire into 
the truth of the charge, and according to their verdict the 
accused was delivered to the ordinary either as acquit or 
convict, to undergo canonical purgation, and then to be dis- 
charged or punished according to the result of the purgation. 
This privilege, however, never extended to high treason nor 
to offences not capital, and wherein the punishment would 
not affect the life or limb of the offender (qum now tangunt 
vilam el membrum). It is singular that previously to the 
statute 3 and 4 Will. III., which expressly includes them, 
this privilege of clergy never extended by tho English law 
to women, although it is clear that, by the canon law, nuns 
were exempted from temporal jurisdiction. 

In early periods of the hi9tory of this privilege in England, 
the benefit of clerjry was not allowed unless the prisoner ap- 
peared in his clerical habit and tonsure to claim it ; but in 
process of time, as tbe original object of the privilege was gra- 
dually lost sight of, this ceremony was considered unneces- 
sary, and the only proof required of the offender's clergy was 
his showing to the satisfaction of the court that he could read, 
a rare accomplishment, except among the clergy, previously 
to the 15th century. The consequence was, that at lengtn 
all persons who could read, whether clergymen or lay clerks, 
as they were called in some antient statutes, were admitted 
to the benefit of clergy in all prosecutions for offences to 
which the privilege extended. The mode in which this test 
i>f reading was applied is thus described by Sir Thomas 
Smith in his ■ Commonwealth of England,' written in 



1365. * The bishop,' says he, ' must send one with au- 
thority under his seal to be a judge in that matter at every 
gaol delivery. If the condemned man demandeth to be 
admitted to his book, the judge commonly gi vcth him a 
Psalter, and turneth to what place he will. Tbe prisoner 
readeth so well as he can (God knoweth sometime very 
slenderly), then he (the judge) asketh of the bishop's com- 
missary, Legit ut clericus f The commissary must say legit 
or non legit, for these be words formal, and our men of law 
be very precise in their words formal. If he say legit* the 
judge proceedeth no further to sentence of death; if he say 
won, the judge forthwith proceedeth to sentence/ 

The clergy, however, do not appear to have universally 
admitted that the mere fact of a prisoner's ability to read 
was to be taken as a conclusive proof of his clerical charac- 
ter. A curious case is recorded in the Year Book, 34 Hen. 
VI. 49 (1455), which greatly puzzled the judges. A man 
indicted of felony claimed the benefit of clergy ; upon which 
the archdeacon of Westminster Abbey was sent for, who 
showed him a book, in which the felon read well and fluently. 
Upon hearing this, the court ordered him to be delivered to 
the archdeacon on behalf of the ordinary ; but the arch- 
deacon refused to take him, alleging that tho prisoner was 
not a clerk. This raised a serious difficulty ; and the ques- 
tion was one of particular importance to the prisoner, as the 
judges deliberated whether he must not of necessity be 
hanged. He was, however, remanded to prison, and the 
subject was much discussed by the judges for several terras; 
but, luckily for tho culprit, the conscientious archdeacon 
beihg removed, his successor heard the prisoner read, and 
consented to receive him ; whereupon he was delivered to 
the ordinary, the judges saying 'that in favorem vitce et 
libertatis ecclesia, even where a man had once failed to 
read, and had received sentence of deatb, they would allow 
him his benefit of clergy, under the gallows, if he could then 
read, and was received by the ordinary.' Another case is 
recorded in the 21st year of Edw. IV. (1481), in which a 
felon read well and audibly in the presence of the whole 
court; but the ordinary declared 'won legit ut clericus for 
divers considerations.' Upon which judgment was given 
that ho should be hanged ; ' And so,' says the reporter, ' he 
was, utaudivU {Year Book, 21 Edw. IV. 21.) But though 
a felon might claim the benefit of clergy to the last moment 
of his lifo, it was an indictable offence to teach him to read 
for the purpose of saving him. Thus in the 7th Richard II. 
(1383), the vicar of Round Church in Canterbury was ar- 
raigned and tried, ' for that by the license of the jailer 
there, he had instructed in reading one William Gore, an 
approver, who at tbe time of his apprehension was un- 
learned ;' {ineruditus in lecturd.) (Dyer's Reports, p. 206.) 
It may readily be conceived that questions between tho 
temporal courts and tho ordinary would ariso as the art of 
reading became more generally diffused ; and it was pro- 
bably on this account that an express provision was made 
by tho legislature in order in some degreo to obviate the 
occurrence of such difliculties. The statute 4 Henry VII. 
e. 13 (1488), revived the distinction between actual clergy- 
men and such persons us had accidentally acquired a com- 
petent skill in reading, by providing that no person once 
admitted to the benefit of clergy should a second time be 
allowed the same privilege, unless he produced his orders ; 
and to mark those who had once claimed the privilege, the 
statute enacted that all persons, not in orders, to whom it 
was so allowed, should be marked upon the ' brawn of the 
left thumb' in the court, before tho judge, before such person 
was delivered to the ordinary. After tho offender was thus 
burned in the hand, he was formerly delivered to the ordinary 
to he dealt with according to the ecclesiastical canons, and to 
make purgation by undergoing the farce of a canonical trial. 
This second trial took place before the bishop or his deputy ; 
there was a jury of twelve persons, who gave their verdict 
on oath; witnesses wcro examined on oath; the prisoner 
answered on oath ; and twelve compurgators swore that 
they believed him. On this occasion, though the prisoner 
had been convicted at common law by the clearest evidence, 
or had even confessed his guilt he was almost invariably 
acquitted. The whole proceeding before the ordinary is 
characterised by Chief Justice Hobart, at the beginning of 
the seventeenth century, ' as turning the solemn trial of 
truth by oath into a ceremonious and formal lye.* (Hobart's 
Reports, p. 291.) To removo this discreditable abuse of the 
forms of justice, the statute 18 Eliz. c. 7, enacted that in 
all cases after an offender had been allowed his clergy, he 

2G2 



BEN 



228 



BEN 



should not bo deli\crc<l to the ordinary, but be at once dis- 
charged by tho court, with a provision that he might be 
detained in prison for any time, not exceeding a year, at 
the discretion of the judge before whom he was tried. 

By various statutes passed in the course of the last cen- 
tury, the court before which an offender was tried and ad- 
mitted to his clergy were empowered to commute tho burning 
in tho hand for transportation, imprisonment, or whipping ; 
and subsequently to tho passing of these statutes it is be- 
lieved that no instance has occurred of a convict being 
burned in the hand. 

The practieo of calling upon a convicted person to read in 
order to provo to tho court his title to the benefit of clergy 
continued until a comparatively late period. A case is men- 
tioned in Kclyngo's Reports, p. 51, which occurred in 1666, 
where the bishop's commissary had deceived the court by 
reporting, contrary to the fact, that a prisoner could read ; 
upon which Chief Justice Kelyngc rebuked him severely, 
telling him * that he had unpreached more that day than lie 
could preach up again in many days/ and fined him five 
marks. At length the statute of the 5th of Anne, c. 6, 
enacted that the benefit of clergy should be granted to all 
those who are entitled to it without requiring them to read ; 
and thus tho 'idle ceremony of reading," as Mr. Justice 
Foster justly terms it, was finally abolished. 

The absurd and perplexing distinctions which the conti- 
nuance of this antiquated and worn-out clerical privilege 
had introduced, having become extremely detrimental to 
the due administration of justice, it was enacted by one of 
the recent statutes for the consolidation and improvement 
of tho criminal law, commonly called Peel's Acts (namely, 
7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 23, s. 6), "'that benefit of clergy with 
respect to persons convicted of felony shall he abolished.' 
Since the passing of this statute, the subject is of no prac- 
tical importance whatever; but those who may be inclined 
to pursue it as a matter of historical curiosity may find the 
following references useful : — Blackstone's Commentaries, 
vol. iv. chap. 23 ; Hale's Pleas of the Crown, part ii. e. 45 : 
Harrington's Observations on Antienl Statutes; Hobart's 
Reports, p. 2SS. 

BENEFIT SOCIETIES. [See Friendly Societies.] 

BENEVE'NTO, a town belonging to thu Papal State, 
though geographically enclosed within the province of Prin- 
cipal Ultra, in the kingdom of Naples. It is situated on 
a hill at the junction of two valleys, in which the rivers Ga- 
lore and Sabato flow, and between Mount Tabu rn us to the 
west, which separates its territory from the plains of Cam- 
pania, and the central chain of Apennines to the cast, which 
divides it from the plains of Puglia. The Calore, one or 
two miles above Benevcuto. receives tho Tamaro which 
comes from the north from Mount Matcse. After winding 
round the northern side of the town, the Calore recehes just 
l>elow it the Sabato which comes from the south, after which 
tlio united streams flow to the Volturno above Cajazzo. 
Benevento is 30 miles N.E. of Naples, in 41° 7' N. lat. and 
14° 43' E. long. This town, belonged in antient times to 
the Samnitcs, and was then called Maleventum, the etymo- 
logy of which name has been fancifully but not satisfactorily 
explained by some writers. 

The Caudinc forks, in which the Roman army on its 
way from Calatia, the modern Cajazzo, to Maleventum, was 
obliged to surrender to the Samnitcs, are generally sup- 
posed to have been between Arpaja and Montesarehio, on 
the direct road from Naples to Benevento, although observ- 
ing travellers had remarked that the localities did not by 
any means correspond to the description of that celebrated 
defile piven by Iivy. (See Eustace's Italy, vol. iii. eh. 3.) 
CluvenuB, however, pointed out a more probable spot, in a 
narrow defile watered hy the river Isclerus, which flows into 
the Volturno near Duccnta. Late travellers who have ex- 
amined this defilo have confirmed the assertion of Cluverius. 
The Isclerus, now called the Faienza, a small mountain 
stream coming from the south-east above Cervinara, crosses 
I lie high road between Arpaja and Montcsarchb, and then 
enters a long and narrow defile between Mount Taburnus 
and a branch of tho Tifata ridge, and after passing bv Mo- 
jano and Santa Agata dei Goti, enters the plain of tho Vol- 
turno, into which it flows nearly opposite Calatia or Cajazzo. 
This was tho most direct way for the Romans from the 
banks of the Volturno to Maleventum. This pass has two 
inrrow openings, one near Mojano, and the other near Santa 
Agata, with a small plain between, formed by the receding 
•ides of Mount Taburnus, while tho valley of Arpaja, 



through which the hi^h road parses, has only one narrow 
defile, and has three openings instead of two. and moreover 
has no stream running through it. (Seo a Memoir on tho 
subject by J. P. Gandv, in Keppcl Craven's Tour, with a 
small map of the localities.) Tho Romans, having after- 
wards defeated the Samnitcs, and taken Maleventum, sent 
a colony there, and changed its name to Bene vent urn. The 
Appian road passed through Bencventum. [See Antoni- 
nus, Itinerary of.] The people of Bene vent nm remained 
firmly attached to Rome during the second Punic war. 

After the fall of the western empire, Benevento was 
subject to the general vicissitudes of barbarian invasions 
like the rest of Italy, until it was taken in the sixth century 
by the Ixmgobards, who established here a dukedom, which 
included all their conquests in Samniuin, Campania, and 
Apulia. The dukes of Benevento, owing to their vast pos- 
sessions and their remoteness from the Longobard capital, 
Pavia, were almost independent. When Charlcmagno de- 
stroyed the kingdom of the I^ongobards, the duchy of Be- 
nevento maintained itself as an independent stale, and its 
dukes assumed the title of princes. They were cften at 
war with tho Creeks, the Franks, and the Saracens, and 
also with their neighbours of Naples. The principality was 
afterwards split into three, Capua and Salerno having be- 
come independent of Benevento. The Normans took Be- 
nevento and gave it up to the pope, who bestowed on the 
Norman chief the investiture of Apulia and Calabria. The 
popes, however, allowed the old princes of Benevento to 
remain as feudatories of the Roman Sec until 1077. when 
Landulphus, the last prince of Benevento, died, leaving no 
heirs. From that time Benevento has remained under the 
direct dominion of the popes, and although it has been re- 
peatedly seized hy .various kings of Naples, it has always 
been restored on making peace. In 1S06, Napoleon, having 
conquered Naples, took Benevento also, and gave it to Tal- 
leyrand with the title of prince, but it was restored to the 
pope in 1815. Benevento is governed by a cardinal sent 
from Rome, with the title of legale. Near Benevento lho 
famous battle. look place between Manfred and Charles of 
Anjon in 1265, in which Manfred lost his crown and his 
life. He was buried on the banks of the Calore, under a 
heap of stones thrown upon him by Charles's soldier* ; hut 
his remains were afterwards disinterred by order of the 
bishop of Cosenza, and carried to the banks of the river 
Verde on the borders of Abruzzo. (See Dante, Purgatorio, 
canto iii.) Charles's soldiers after the battle pillaged Bene- 
vento, which had offered no resistance, murdered most of 
the people, not sparing old men, children, or priests, \iolaied 
the women, and partly destroyed the town. (Borgia, Mc- 
morie htoriche di Benevento.) 

The present territory of Benevento, which belongs to the 
pope, is limited within narrow boundaries; it extends sonic 
seven or eight miles along each of the two valleys of the 
Sabato and Calore, and contains fourteen villages. The 
population of the town is reckoned at 16,000, and that of 
the territory at about 6000 more. The surface of the ter- 
ritory is stated at about 7000 rubbia, a Roman land mea- 
sure equal to about four Knglish acres. (Calindri, Saggio 
Statistico dello Stato Pontificio.) Tho country is hilly, but 
fcrtilo in corn, fruit, and pasture, and it abounds, with 
game. The river Sabato supplies it with fish. The town 
is surrounded by walls, and has an old castle at its eastern 
extremity; the streets aro narrow and steep; tho climate 
is subject to fogs in winter and oppressive heat in summer. 




[From llrhtdh Mttfcum. Acturu «lze. Topper; weight tOO (jnunt., 

The cathedral is an old and vast building, butdispropor 
tionately low; its vault is supported hy a number of (luted 
marble columns, which are believed to belong to the Roman 
period. The middle gato of the church is of sculptured 
nronxc, of good workmanship, and representing scriptural 
subjects. A has relief of a hoar adorned for sacrifice, now 
fixed on the ouUside wall of the church, is supposed to 
bo of very remote antiquity. . Adjoining the cathedral is 
tho.arehicpiscopal palace. In the square before it stands 



BEN 



229 



B K N 



a small granite obelisk; which, according to Champollion 
{Precis, p. 95), belongs* to the reign of Domitian. . There 
are several other churches and convents, a seminary, and a 
palazzo pubblico or town -house, which is a fine structure. 
The old monastery of Santa Sofia, now suppressed, was rich 
in archives, chronicles, and other historical records, which 
have been lost or dispersed in the vicissitudes of the country. 
The church adjoining the monastery is an octagon, and is 
adomed with eight granite columns. In the court of the 
cloisters is a well, the mouth of which is hewn through a 
very large capital of the Ionic order. There are also some 
remains of an amphitheatre and of a Roman bridge, and 
many inscriptions, rilicvi, and other fragments, of which a 
full account is given in De Vita's Thesaurus Aniiquitatum 
Heneventanarum, 2 vols, fol. Rom. 1754-64. But the most 
interesting monument of antiquity is Trajan's triumphal 
arch, which forms one of the city gates on the road to 
Puglia, and is called the Porta Aurea. It is a single arch 
of Parian marble, and ent-ire with the exceptiou of part of 
the cornice : both its sides are adorned with four Corinthian 
pillars raised on high pedestals. The frieze and pannels, 
as well as ihe interior of the arch, are covered with rich 
sculpture, representing Trajan's achievements and his 
apotheosis. The figures are in alto rilievo, and exquisitely 
executed; but unfortunately most of them are damaged, 
and there is hardly one of them entire. De Vita has given 
an engraving and a description of this arch, which is one 
of the finest in existence. Benevcnto is 125 miles K.S.E. 
of Rome. 

BENEVOLENCE, a species of forced loan , or gratuity, 
and one of the various arbitrary modes of obtaining supplies 
of money, which, in violation of Magna Charta, were for- 
merly resorted to by the kings of England. The name 
implies a free contribution, with or without the condition of 
repayment; but so early as tho reign of Edward IV. the 
practiee had grown into an intolerable grievance. That 
king's lavish liberality and extravagance indueed him to 
levy benevolences very frequently ; and one of the wisest 
and most popular acts of his successor, Richard III., was 
to procure the passing of a statute (cap. 2) in the only par- 
liament assembled during his reign, by which benevolences 
were declared to be illegal ; but this statute is so expressed 
as not clearly to forbid the solicitation of voluntary gifts, 
and Richard himself afterwards violated its provisions. 
Henry VII. exacted benevolences, which were enforced in 
a very oppressive way. Archbishop Morton, who solicited 
merchants and others to contribute, employed a piece of 
logic which obtained the name of * Morton's fork/ He 
told those who lived handsomely, that their opulence was 
manifested by their expenditure ; and those who lived eco- 
nomically, that their frugality must have made them rich • 
so that no class could evade him. Cardinal Wolsey, among 
feoine other daring projects to raise money for Henry VIII., 
proposed a benevolence, which the citizens of London ob- 
jected to, alleging the statute of Richard III.; but the 
answer was, that the act of a usurper could not oblige a 
la.vful sovereign; Elizabeth also ' seat out her privy seals,' 
for so the circulars demanding a benevolence were termed; 
but though, individuals were committed to prison for re- 
fusing to contribute, she repaid the sums exacted. Lord 
Coke, in the reign of James I., is said to have at first de- 
clared that the king could not solieit a benevolence, and 
then to have retracted his opinion, and pronounced upon its 
legality. 

The subject underwent a searching investigation during 
the reign of Charles L, as connected with the limitation of 
the king's prerogative. . That king had appointed commis- 
sioners lor the collection of a general loan from every indi- 
vidual, and they had private instructions to require not less 
than a certain proportion of each man's property in land or 
goods, and had extraordinary powers -given them. The 
name of loan given to this tax was a fiction which the most 
ignorant could not but detect. Many of tho common peoplo 
were impressed to serve in the navy for refusing to pay ; 
and a number of the gentry were imprisoned. The deten- 
tion of five knights, who sued the Court of King's Bench 
for their writ of Haboas Corpus, gave rise to a most im- 
portant question respecting the freedom of English biibjects 
from arbitrary arrest, and out of the discussion which then 
arose, and the contests respecting the levying of ship-money, 
&c, came the distinct assertion, and ultimate establishment 
,of the great principle of English liberty. .The 13 Car. II. 
stat. 1, cap. 4, provides for a voluntary present to his ma- 



jesty, with a proviso, however, that, no aids of that nature 
can - be but by- authority of parliament. The Bill of Rights, 
in 1688, repeats what Magna Charta declared in 1215, that 
levying of money for, or to the use of the crown, by pretence 
of prerogative, without grant of parliament,, for longer time, 
or in any other manner than the same is or shall be granted, 
is illegal. 

(Hallam's Constitutional History of England, and Tur- 
ner's History of England.) 

BENGAL,- a large province of Hindustan, which derives 
much importance from the circumstance of its being the 
seat of the supreme government in British India. 
• . Boundaries. — Bengal is bounded on the south by the Bay 
of Bengal and the district of Midnapore in Orissa, on the 
east by the Burmese empire, on the north by Nepaul and 
Bootan, and on the west by the province of Bahar. It is 
situated between 21° and 27° N. lat. and 86° and 93° 
E. long. The length of the province from cast to west may 
he estimated at 350 English miles, and its average breadth 
from north to south, at 300 miles: the area is estimated 
by Major Rennell at 97,241 square miles, or upwards 
of 8000 square miles more than Great Britain. It appears 
from the various surveys that have been made of different 
parts of the province, that its surface is divided in nearly 
the following proportions, viz. : — 

Parts. 

Rivers and lakes ..... 3 

Sites of towns and villages, roads and tanks . 1 
Land deemed irreclaimable and barren . . 4 

Land in cultivation, or capable of improve- 
ment, viz.: — 
Free lands ...... 3 

Lands in tillage, liable to payment of rent to 

the Company's government . . .9 
Waste lands ...... 4 

— 16 

24 

From its geographical position, Bengal is advantageously 
circumstanced in regard to security from foreign invasion. 
The sea- coast, which forms nearly die whole southern boun- 
dary, is guarded by shallows and impenetrable woods. It 
has only one considerable port, and that is difficult of access. 
The eastern boundary is protected by a belt, the breadth of 
which varies from ten to twenty miles, and whieh is covered 
.throughout with the rankest and most luxuriant vegetation, 
forming an impassable barrier. * On the north rises a chain 
of lofty mountains, containing a scanty and half-civilized po- 
pulation, who obtain a bare subsistence from an ungrateful 
soil. On the west alone Bengal is vulnerable, but even 
there the natural barrier is strong, while its population and 
resources are such as might bid defiance to any hostile force 
that could be brought against it. 

Character of the Soil. — The general character of Bengal 
is that of a Hat champaign eountry ; there are no hills of 
considerable elevation in the province. The districts in 
which some elevations occur, are Chittagong and Tiperah 
on the east, Silhet on the north-east, and Birbhoom on the 
west, hut even in these districts the hills occupy only a 
small part of the surface. 

The soil most general throughout Bengal is a light loam, 
in whieh sand greatly predominates. Except in tracts which 
aro annually inundated, the stratum of productive earth 
which covers the barren sand is seldom more than a few 
inches in depth. The annual inundations here spoken of 
are occasioned by the swelling of the rivers in the rainy 
season ; as tho water afterwards drains away it leaves a de- 
posit of decayed vegetable matter, which renews the pro- 
ductiveness of the soil. 

/?wer*.— Bengal is intersected in every direction by navi- 
gable streams, for the iuu*t part aflluents of the Ganges, by 
which river the province is watered from its north-western 
boundary at Purneah to the sea. The Brahmapootra enters 
the province of Bengal at its north-eastern extremity, whenco 
it Hows with a westerly eour.se through the district of Rang- 
amatty, then takes a southerly direction, winding occa- 
sionally towards the cast, and falls into the Bay of Bengal 
at the spot where ihe Ganges has iis principal embouchure. 
[Sec Gangks and Brahmapootra.] The other principal 
rivers arc the Cosi, Conki, Dummoodah, Jhinayi, Korotoya, 
Manas, and Tecsta. 

The Cosi rises in the Nepaul Hills near Catmandoo, tho 
capital of Nepaul, and enters Bengal twenty miles-, north of 



BEN 



230 



BEN 



Nauthnoro in Purncah ; it then flow* nearly due south, and 
joins the Ganges at the south-western corner of Purncah, 
where it forms the boundary between Bengal and Bahar. 
The Conki is a considerable mountain-stream, which has its 
source in Tibet It enters Bengal in Purneah district, to 
the north of Allygunge, eastward of the Cosi, and between 
it and the Teesta; it then Hows with a winding course to* 
wards the south, and after being joined by the Mahananda, 
which receives its name, it joins the Ganges at Nabobgungo 
about seventeen miles above Bauleah. The Dummoodah 
rises among the hills in the district of Ramghur in Bahar. 
This river reeeives many tributaries in Its eastward course 
through Ramghur ; it enters Bengal at the western ex- 
tremity of Burdwan, passes the town of Burdwan, and 
then, turning abruptly to the south, joins the Hoogly a few 
miles below Futtah, and not far from the cestuary of the 
Hoogly. Above the influence of the tides, the Dummoodah 
is shallow, and except in the rainy season not navigable. 
Where the river passes through the hilly country two er 
three hours 1 rain fills it, but it runs dry again in a short 
time, so that it is only when the rains are regular that boats 
can pass. When the river is (ailing the boats are hauled 
up to wait the next rise, which often comes so suddenly as 
to overwhelm everything in its way. The influence of the 
tide reaches only to Omptha, about twenty- five miles in a 
direct lino from tho junction of the Dummoodah with the 
Hoogly. * Above Burdwan there is more water, and the 
river is used for the conveyance of goods. The Jhinayi river 
is a branch of the Brahmapootra, which it quits at Shazad- 
pore, about ten miles below Dewangunge. The Jhinayi 
tlows first to the south and then to the west, and discharges 
itself into the lakes or jeels of Nattore. The Korotoya, 
which rises in Tibet, enters the provinee of Bengal at its 
northern boundary, dividing from each other the districts 
of Rungpore and Dinajepo'rc; after a' short course to the 
south-west it falls into the Teesta. In the rainy season the 
Korotoya is navigable for boats of small burthen, but the 
principal commercial use that is made of this river is to 
tloat considerable quantities of timber down its current. 
Tho Manas is a small river, which forms tho boundary of 
the British dominions at the north-eastern extremity of 
Bengal, whieh province it separates from Bijnee t a princi- 
pality paying tribute to the ruler of Boot an. The Si an as 
flows to tho south-west, and after thus forming a territorial 
boundary for about seventeen miles, falls into the Brahma- 
putra at Jughigopa in 26° 12' N. lat., and 90° 35' E. long. 
The Teesta is said to rise in Thibet, and to form there, 
through part of its eourse, the boundary of the Chinese 
empire. Finding a passage through the Himalaya range 
it falls precipitately down the face of a mountain, about fifty 
miles north of Jelpigory, a small town in Rungpore district, 
sixty-five miles north -north-west from the town of Rungpore. 
The Teesta separates the British territory from Bootan as 
far south as Gopaul»unge, a village on the east bank of 
the river in 26° 38' N. lat., and 88° 49' E. long. South 
of this village the territory on both sides of the Teesta 
belongs to the British, and the stream thence continues 
within the province of Bengal until it joins the great eastern 
trunk of the Ganges near Nabobgungo in 24° 35' N. lat., 
and 88° 27' E. long. The Teesta is navigable at all seasons 
for boats of small burthen to within ten miles of the northern 
frontier of the British dominions. It is much swollen in the 
rainy season, and advantage is taken of this eireumstanee 
to transmit goods by it in vessels of considerable size. 

Besides the rivers here mentioned Bengal eontains many 
water-courses communicating with navigable rivers. During 
the rains these tributaries also are navigable by boats, 
which convey the produce of the soil from the doors of the 
ryots for shipment in larger vessels on tho more considerable 
streams. It is said that there is hardly any spot in tho 
province which is more than twenty miles from a river na- 
vigable in the driest seasons. 

Tho rivers of Bengal are constantly ehanging their 
eourses, an effect which is attributed by Major Renncll to 
the loose materials of which the soil is composed, and which 
easily yields to tho friction of the stream. Tho manner in 
which this effect is produced is thus described by the Major: 
• I can easily suppose, that if tho Ganges was turned into a 
straight eanal, eut through tho ground it now traverses in 
the most winding parts of its eourse, its straightness would 
be of short duration. Some yielding part of tho bank, or 
that which happened to be the most strongly acted on, would 
first be corroded or dissolved : thus a bay or eavity would bo 



formed in tho side of the bank. This begets an tn flection of 
the current, which falling obliquely on the side of the bay, 
corrodes it incessantly. When the current has passed the 
innermost part of the bay, it receives a new direction, and 
is thrown obliquely towards tho opposito side of the canal, 
depositing in its way the matter excavated from tho hay, 
and which begins to form a shallow or bank contiguous to 
tho border ef tho eanal. Here then is the origin of such 
windings as owe their existence to the nature of the soil. 
Tho bay, so corroded, in time becomes large enough to give 
a new direction to the body of tho canah and the matter ex- 
cavated from tho bay is so disposed as to assUt in throwing 
the current against the opposite bank, where a process simi- 
lar to that I have been describing will be begun/ 

There are many instances of a total change efcoi*vc in 
some of tho Bengal rivers. It is stated by Major Rcnnell 
that * the Cesi river (equal to the Rhine) once ran by Pur- 
ncah (town), and joined the Ganges opposite Rajimnl. Its 
junction is now forty-five miles higher up. Gour, the antient 
capital of Bengal, stood on the old bank of the Ganges, al- 
though its ruins are four or five miles from tho present 
bank. During eleven years of my residence in Bengal, the 
outlet or head of the Gellinghy river was gradually removed 
three quarters of a mile lower down ; and by two surveys of 
a part of the adjaeent bank of the Ganges, taken about the 
distance of nine years from each other, it appeared that tho 
breadth of an English mile and a half had been taken away. 
This is, however, the most rapid ehange that I have noticed, 
a milo in 4 ton or twelve years being the usual rate of en- 
croachment in places where the eurrent strikes with the 
greatest force — namely, where two adjoining reaches ap- 
proach nearest to a right angle. In such situations it not 
tin frequently excavates gulfs of considerable length within 
the bank. These gulfs are in the direction of the strongest 
parts of tho stream, and are in faet the young shoots (if I 
may so express myself) whieh in time strike out and become 
branches of the river, for wo generally find thein at those 
turnings that have the smallest angles/ 

Lakes, — There are a great number of extensive jccls 
(shallow lakes) in Bengal. The greater part of these con- 
tain little or no water during the dry season, but are so 
swollen by tho rains as to offer facilities for the conveyance 
of produce in boats of large dimensions. Some of these 
jeels are navigable throughout tho year. It is supposed that 
these stagnant sheets of water were originally parts of tho 
channels of great rivers, tho courses of which have been 
changed by the moans just described. 

The instability of the soil which admits of these ehanges, 
is one reason why the buildings throughout the province 
are usually of a frail description. The habitations of the 
poorer classes are made of sueh slight materials, that few 
of them will last beyond the second or third year, while the 
dwellings of tho wealthy are of a very homely description. 
Few persons caro to expend much money in the erection 
of a building, which by an ordinary casualty may be da- 
maged or destroyed in a few seasons. 

Climate. — There is considerable regularity in the ehanges 
of the seasons in Bengal. The four months preced- 
ing tho setting in of the periodical rains, which gene- 
rally commence early in June, are dry, and tho heat 
during this time progressively increases, until it becomes 
seareely supportable even by'tlie natives. During April, 
the heat is occasionally tempered by thunder-storms, ac- 
companied by rain and wind from the north-west. In 
Juno and July the rain is violent, and with little or no 
intermission, so that it is raro to expericneo an interval of 
fair weather which lasts for moro than one or two days 
together. The quantity of rain that falls at this season 
has sometimes been equal to four or five inches of water 
in twenty -four hours : this however is far beyond the 
average, since the annual fall of rain varies from seventy to 
eighty inches, but very rarely exceeds the larger quantity. 
From July to tho beginning of September tho weather is 
less decidedly rainy, the dry days recur more frequently 
and occupy longer intervals, the rain too, when it falls, is 
less violent. In September tho dry season again prevails, 
and the heat is intense. This is considered the most un- 
healthy part of the year, especially to Europeans, an effect 
which may in part be attributed to the profuse exhalations 
eauscd by tho rays of the sun acting upon the land when sa- 
turated with moisture. 

In the dry and colder part of the year tho dews are so 
heavy, as probably to compensate for the daily exhausting 



BEN 



231 



'B'E.U 



powers of the sun, and to supply the moisture necessary for 
carrying forward vegetation. 

The rivers begin to swell near their sources before the 
rains set in, owing to the melting of the snows on the moun- 
tains of Tibet. At first the rising proceeds at the rate of 
about one inch daily ; at the end of about two weeks, the 
rate of increase is accelerated, and before tho setting in of 
the rains, amounts to nearly three inches in the day. Dur- 
ing the rains the daily rise is as much as five inches. At 
this time all the lower parts of Bengal contiguous to the 
courses of the Ganges and Brahmapootra, are covered 
with water by the rains before the rivers are sufficiently 
swollen to overflow their banks. But after this has oc- 
curred, the country presents one uniform surface of water 
for an extent of more than 100 miles. In order to pre- 
vent the mischief that might ensue from the rushing of 
so great a body of water from the overcharged rivers, 
dikes are constructed in various situations, which are kept 
up at a great expense. In some situations the banks of 
the Ganges are artificially raised on each side to confine 
tho water, which thus flows during the rainy season, at a 
higher level than the adjacent country. The progressive 
increase of this inundation is arrested before the middle of 
August, by the ceasing of the rain in the mountains, 
although much still continues to fall in the plains. After 
the beginning of October the water rapidly subsides, its 
disappearance being hastened by the prodigious evapo- 
ration. 

The boats used for passing on the rivers are of considerable 
size, and in shape like pleas uro-barges ; they draw four to 
five feet water, and are called Budgerows. In the dry 
season their course down the stream does not exceed forty 
miles in twelve hours ; at other times from fifty to seventy 
miles are passed in that time. The current is strongest 
during August and September, when the water is subsid- 
ing. In ascending the streams, the boats are tracked by 
oxen, and rarely advance more than twenty miles a day 
direct distance, although, from the winding of the rivers, the 
distance passed through may be double that number of 
miles. The periodical swellings of tho rivers have some- 
times been attended by disastrous consequences. In 1763, 
the descending stream, then near its greatest elevation, 
being met by a violent storm of wind, the water of the 
Brahmapootra near Luckipore, where that river takes the 
name of tho Megna, suddenly rose six feet, and swept away 
the inhabitants of the whole district with their cattle and 
houses. At other times equally fatal effects have been 
caused by the absence of the periodical rains. This mis- 
fortune happened in 1770, and produced a famine. Tho 
nabob, and those of the inhabitants who possessed stores 
of grain, distributed it gratis to the poor, but that re- 
source was speedily exhausted, and the starving natives 
then thronged to Calcutta. The magazines there being 
unprovided, these miserable people died in the streets in 
sueh numbers, that a large party of labourers was employed 
daily by the government to cast the bodies into the river. 

Natural productions. — Tho produce of the soil in this pro- 
vince includes almostevery kind of grain and pulse cultivated 
in Europe, with other objects proper to tho climate of the 
country. Rico is the most generally and extensively grown 
of all theso objects, and is found in almost every part of the 
province in an endless variety of species. In the manage- 
ment of the laud for this, the most important object of cul- 
tivation, embankments are formed for retaining the water 
on the plains, and for preserving it in- reservoirs on the 
higher grounds, whence it is conveyed as occasion requires, 
for the purpose of irrigating the lands below. Many tanks 
have been built for the same purpose. Some of these owe 
their construction to pious motives, others to a love of osten- 
tation and the desire of fame. These purposes were ful- 
filled by the original formation of these works, but the 
same motives do not operate for their preservation, aftd no 
one being individually interested in keeping them in repair, 
thev are suffered to becomo first useless from want of care, 
ami then noxious from the quantity of decaying plants con- 
stantly found in them. Wheat and barley are sown at the 
commencement of the colder season, and arc reaped before 
the setting in of tho rains. The winter season is also 
chosen for the raising of great varieties of peas and beans. 
Millet is another article of importance in the rural economy 
of Bengal, and in the western districts maize is very gene- 
rally cultivated. 
Linseed, mustard-seed, palma christi, and sesamum, are 



grown for the quantity of oil which' they yield, and which 
is consumed in vast quantities throughout the province. 
Oil is also made from the cocoa-nut. The cold season is 
chosen for cultivating linseed and mustard ; the seeds of 
sesamum ripen after the rains, and cocoa-nuts are gathered 
at all seasons. 

Sugar, cotton, indigo, and tobacco, are among the most 
important productions of the country. Mulberry-trees, the 
leaves of which are necessary for the sustenance of silk- 
worms, and poppies for the opium which they yield, are also 
objects of extensive cultivation. 

The implements of husbandry in use throughout tho 
province are of the rudest description. Ploughs cost 
less than half-a-erown of our money, and the operation of 
ploughing, owing to the thinness of the soil, is a mere 
scratching of the land. It is considered a large harvest 
which yields in the proportion of forty bushels of rice to the 
English acre, which is a return of about fifteen for one of 
the seed. 

It is not uncommon to reap two harvests in the year 
from the same field, one of wheat or barley, and the other 
of pulse, millet, or seeds for oil. 

Orchards of mango-trees are seen in e*vdry part of 
Bengal ; date-trees are equally common ; and in the central 
parts of the province there are plantations of areca palms. 
Pine-apples, citrons, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, grapes, 
almonds, tamarinds, plantains, ginger, carrots, potatoes 
onions, and garlic, are plentiful in most parts. Apples and 
pears are found ouly in the northern districts. Bamboos, 
which, from the quickness and luxuriance of their growth, 
are so useful to the peasantry of India for the construction 
of their dwellings and many other domestic uses, are every 
where seen. Flowers are abundant, beautiful, and in great 
variety, but, except roses and a few others, they are scentless. 
The eattle employed in husbandry-labour are of small 
size, and their value is seldom greater than five or six 
rupees (ten or twelve shillings) per head. The religious 
restrictions of the'Hindus prevent all eare for the improve- 
ment of cattle. Buffaloes are kept for the sake of their 
milk; the expense attending them being less than that of 
keeping Cows. Sheep are far from being numerous ; thejr 
are of very diminutive size, but when well fed their flesh is 
excellent. Their wool is used for making coarse blankets 
for the nativo population. The horses of Bengal are of a 
very inferior breed, ill-shaped, and but little adapted for 
labour of any kind. Elephants and camels, which are 
much used among the wealthier inhabitants, are kept in 
good condition, and are very serviceable on journeys, and 
for the conveyance of goods. 

The streets of every town in Bengal are infested by dogs, 
many of which are without owners. The woods or jungles 
teem with animal life. The jackall is heard howling at the 
close of every day. Innumerable apes and monkeys inhabit 
the woods, and frequently visit the villages, where they are 
fed by the inhabitants, who consider them sacred animals. 
The sanctity of the Brahminy bull secures for him every- 
where the kindest treatment, and he rambles over the 
country not only without molestation, but receiving caresses 
from all the people by whom he may be met. Red-deer, fal- 
low-deer, elks, antelopes, and goats are numerous through- 
out tho province ; and in some parts, particularly the Delta 
of tho Ganges, lions and tigers are very numerous, and 
every year carry off many of the natives. 

A large species of heron (Atdea Argata) frequents tho 
towns in considerable numbers, where they perform the 
offico of scavengers, and are so useful that no disturbance 
is ever offered to them. The stately air with which they 
stalk about has occasioned these birds to receive the name 
of adjutants. They feed on reptiles, and on thq various kinds 
of garbage so liberally scattered in the streets of every 
Indian town, and which in a climato like that of Bengal, 
surcharged with heat and moisture, would, if not removed, 
soon produce a pestilence. 

Fish is exceedingly abundant, and within the reach of 
almost every class of inhabitants, particularly at certain 
seasons, when the poorer among the natives are said to 
contract diseases from eating too plenteously of this descrip- 
tion of food. The fish most highly esteemed is the mango 
fish, to which that name has been given from the circum- 
stance of its making its appearance during tho season when 
that fruit is most abundant. The man^o-fish is a sea-fish, 
which ascends the rivers at that time, mit is, never found 
beyond the influence of the tides* nor is it ever seen in any 



B E N 



232 



B E N 



mers except those of Bengal and Ava. The bicVtec and 
sable-fish aro much esteemed by Europeans, Mullet are 
very numerous in the rivers within a certain distance of the 
sea". They are taken by shooting them with small shot, as 
they swim against tho stream close to the surface. A small, 
but excellent kind of oysters is found on the coast of 
Chittagong. Turtle are procured from the island of Chc- 
duba in the bay of Bengal. Almost every river in the pro- 
vince is infested by alligators, and in all tho largo rivers 
uorpoiscs ascend to a distance of 200 miles from the sea. 

Minerals.— The province of Bengal is poor in mineral 
productions. Tho hills in Silhet produce ironoro. Iron 
is made at Punduah by a curious process, which at once 
smelts the ore and renders its malleable. Granular iron 
ore of the fineness of sand is washed clean and mixed 
with water into a soft mass or magma ; bits of reed, sticks, 
or leaves are then dipped in it, and take up as much as 
they will hold, and theso when pretty dry arc thrown into 
the top of a small clay cupola-furnace and melted. It ap- 
pears from this detail, tnat the ore must possess a great 
degree of purity. The ore might be collected in large 
quantities, and as limestone cf good quality and coal are 
found in the same range of bills, tho smelting might be 
easily effected. Some petroleum springs exist in the same 
district. [Sec Silhet.] 

Coal is abundant also in the .Jungle Mahals whence it 
can be easily conveyed to Calcutta in the rainy season, 
down the DummooJah river. Coal and iron ore arc both 
of them procured in Birbhoom, and iron-works have long 
been carried on there by the natives. Extensive forests 
occur in the neighbourhood of these works, and the smelt- 
ing is performed by means of charcoal. 

Progress of Jin g fish political power in Bengal. — The 
commencement of the power of the English in Bengal 
dates fiom the year 1G52, when, through the iuflucnco of 
a medical gentleman who had been sent to the court of 
tho Mogul, where he bad successfully applied his pro- 
fessional skill, a license was given permitting the Eng- 
lish East India Company to trade to an unlimited extent 
free from all payment of customs' duties : this privilege was 
granted upon payment of the merely nominal sum of 3000 
rupees. The first settlement made by our countrymen in 
the province appears to have been at the town of Iloogly, 
twenty-three miles higher up the river than the city of 
Calcutta. The station here formed was considered subor- 
dinate to the presidency of Sural. 

It was not until 1C98 that the English factory was re- 
moved from Iloogly to Calcutta, and that Fort AVilliara was 
built. This station was obtained by purchase as a Zamin- 
dary. In 1 707 the subordination to Madras ceased, and 
Calcutta was made a separate presidency. In 1717 the 
Company obtained a license from the Mogul, permitting 
the purchase of lands contiguous to the factory, and con- 
firming the exemption of their trade from duties. In 1756 
tho English authorities in Calcutta having been induced by 
the dread of hostile proceedings on the part of the French, 
then at war with England, to strengthen their fortifications, 
the Soubahdar of Bengal, Suraja Dowla, who had never 
been friendly to the English, made this a pretext for 
attacking the city. The outposts wcro attacked on the 
18th of June, 1756, and were badly defended. The fort 
held out only two days, dur*ing which timo it was deserted 
by tho women and children, as well as by tho principal 
people of the factory, and at the expiration of the time 
mentioned the place was carried by storm. On the first 
day of the following year Calcutta was retaken by the 
English ; on the 23d of June following the nabob was de- 
feated at Plasscy by Lord Clive ; and early in July was 
assassinated by order of the son of his successor. 

From this time may be dated the beginning of the abso- 
lute government of the English in Bengal, although the 
Dew an nee, or authority, to collect the revenue, was not 
formally given by the ftlogul Shah Allum until the 12th of 
August, 1 7C5. Previously to this cession the possessions 
of the East India Company in Bengal were the factories of 
Cossimbaxar, Dacca, and Calcutta, with a district in the 
vicinity of the last-named city denominated the 24 Per- 
gunnalis, situated principally to the south of Calcutta, on 
the east side of the Iloogly river. The grant of this dis- 
trict was made in the first instance (1759) as the personal 
Jaghire, or leasehold estate, of Lord Clive, by whom it was 
enjoyed until 1775, when it came into the full possession 
©f the East India Company. 



The grant of tho Dcwannco already mentioned was con- 
trary to the wishes of Nujeem ad Dowla, then soubahdar 
or nabob of Bengal. Such, however, was the power cf the 
English that he was obliged to submit, and mado over 
the management of the province, with all its advantages, to 
the Company, upon the assignment of an annual pension 
equal to nearly half a million sterling. At the same time 
an annual payment of twenty-six lacs of rupees, at that 
time equal to about 300,030/./was promised on the part of 
the Company to tho Mogul Shah Allum, but this annuity 
was considered to he forfeited, when in 1771 that prince 
placed himself voluntarily in tho hands of the Maharattas. 
The payment for which tho nabob had stipulated was ■ Ru- 
pecs 17,78,854 for his house, servants, and other expenses 
indispensably necessary, and rupees 24,07,277 for the sup- 
port of such'scpahis, peons, and berkundasscs as might be 
thought proper for his answarry only.* The sums wcro 
reduced by a treaty with his successor Mobarck-al-Dowlah 
in 1770 to rupees 15,81,991 in the former, and rupees 
16,00,000 in tho latter account. The whole stipend of this 
family was afterwards fixed at rupees 1C,00,000, at which 
rate it has remained ever since. 

Since the occurrence of those events the English have 
remained undisputed masters of the provinco of Bengal, 
the capital of which has become the scat of government to 
which the governors of the other presidencies have been 
made subordinate. From this circumstance the political 
occurrences within this province must be* considered as 
applicable to the whole of British India, under which head 
will he given a statement of the rise, progress, and present 
condition of our Eastern empire. 

Political divisions. — The province of Bengal is divided 
into seventeen di>tricts as follows: — Backcrgungc, Bir- 
bhoom, Burdwan, Chittagong, Iloogly, Jessorc, My man - 
singh, Moorshtdubad, Nuddca, Purncah, Rajshahy, Rung- 
pore, Silhet, Tipera, the twenty-four pcrgunnahs, Midnapore, 
and the Jungle Mahals. 

Population. — The population of these districts in 1S22 
was estimated at 23,353,750, in a statement given in tho 
'Appendix to the Report of the Select Committee of the 
House of Commons on the Affairs of the East India Com- 
pany,' which made its report in V831. This statement was 
given on the authority of a memorandum appended to the 
polico report of Mr. Henry Shakespeare, superintendent of 
police in the Lower Provinces, in the year 1822, on which 
the Bengal government in their letter to the Court of 
Directors, dated the 3rd of November, 1S2C, observed : 4 Its 
accuracy cannot be confidently relied on, but the calcula- 
tions are probably not far wide of the truth.' Tho total 
population of the. provinces immediately subject to the pre- 
sidency of Bengal is stated in the same report to have been 
estimated in 1822 at C9,7 10,071 souls. 

The cities and principal towns of the province arc said to 
contain 1,214,000 inhabitants, who arc thus distributed: — 
Calcutta, including the suburbs . G25.000 
Dacca .... 180,000 

Moorshedabad . ... 150,000 

Burdwan . . . 53,000 

Chandcrnagoro . . , 41,000 

Purneah , . . 33,000 

Rajmahal . . . 30,000 

Dinagcporo . . . 28,000 

Naraingungo . . . 20,000 

Malda .... 18,000 

Gour .... 13,000 

Chandcreona . . . 18.000 

The remaining population is collected in villages, each 
containing from 100 to 500 inhabitants. These arc princi- 
pally built near the banks of navigable rivers, so that a 
stranger passing along the stream would form a very ex- 
aggerated notion of the populousncss of the count ry. 

The houses in Bcngalcsc towns arc not regularly arranged 
in tho form of streets, but the residences of different divi- 
sions of the inhabitants arc in different quarters : Hindus 
occupy one quarter, Mohammedans another, Europeans 
and their descendants another, and that quarter in which 
the Hindus reside is often further subdivided, so that 
different castes, or followers of different professions, arc di- 
vided from the others ; brahmins arc not found intermixed 
with weavers, nor these with barbers, nor the last with cul- 
tivators, scribes, potters, &c This subdivision, although 
pretty generally observed, is not universal. Tho houses of 
persons in easy circumstances oro usually brick buildings 



/ 



BEN 



233 



BEN 



with flat roofs, and niostly two stories high. The dwellings 
of the poorer classes are mere huts, or rather each family 
occupies a set of huts, each one of which is appropriated *to 
its own particular use, and "the whole are surrounded and 
divided from other dwellings by a fence. Except in the 
large towns, there are no inris, but travellers can always find 
an empty hut of which- they may take possession. 

Bengal is inhabited by various races, among which the 
Hindus maybe estimated at four- fifths of the population. 
They are the aborigines of the country. Early in the 
thirteenth eentiiry, the conquest of India by the followers 
of Mohammed brought a considerable number of tbat sect 
into the' province. The hilly country,, which forms the 
northern and eastern boundary of Bengal is inhabited by a 
race whose features' prove them to have been of 'Tartar ori- 
gin. Towards the west there is a" mixed population, made 
up of various races, among whom Mohammedans and 
Afghans are the most numerous. 

The Bcngalese are in' general men of handsome features 
and lively dispositions, but wanting in bodily strength, and 
of weak constitutions. Their manners towards superiors 
are mild, and their general character is that of pusillanimity. 
They are, notwithstanding, insolent and overbearing to their 
inferiors, and all authorities concur in assigning them a 
very low rank in the scale of moral character. In tbis re- 
spect they are among tfie most degraded of the native races 
of India ; they are wanting in truth, honesty, and good faith 
to an extreme of which Europearusociety furnishes no ex- 
ample. *The practice of cheating, pilfering, tricking, and 
imposing, are/ according to Mr. Charles Grant, * so common, 
that the Hindus seem to eonsidcr them as they do natural 
evils. Menial servants who have been long in plaee, and 
have even evinced a real attachment to their masters, are, 
nevertheless, in the habitual practiee of pilfering from them. 
Selfishness, in a word, unrestrained by principle, operates 
universally ; and money, the grand instrument of selfish 
gratifications, maybe called the supreme idol of the Hindus. 
The tendency of that abandoned selfishness is to set every 
man's hand against every man.* Speaking -of the lowest 
class, Mr. Grant says, 'Discord, hatred, abuse, slanders, 
complaints • and litigations,, prevail to a'surprising degree. 
No stranger can sit down tmong them without being struck 
with the temper of malevolent contention and animosity as 
a prominent feature in the character of the society. It is 
seen in every village. Tho inhabitants live among each 
other in a sort of repulsive state ; nay, it enters into almost 
every family. Seldom is there a household without its in- 
ternal divisions, and lasting enmities, most commonly, too, 
on the score of interest. The women partako of this spirit 
of discord. Held in slavish subjection by the men, they rise 
in furious passions against each other, whieh vent them- 
selves in such loud, virulent, and indecent railings, as are 
hardly to be heard in any other part of the world. Though 
the Bcngalese have not sufficient resolution to vent their 
resentments against each oth«r in open eombat, yet rob- 
beries, thefts, burglaries, river piraeies, and all sorts of de- 
predations where darkness, secresy, or surprise ean give 
advantage, are exceedingly eommon, and have been so in 
every past period of which any account is extant. Bene- 
volence has been represented as a leading principle in the 
minds of the Hindus, but those who make this assertion 
know little of their eharactor. Though a Hindu would 
shrink with horror from the idea of directly slaying a cow, 
which is a sacred animal among them, yet he who drives 
one in his cart, galled and excoriated as she often is by the 
yoke, beats her unmercifully from hour to hour without any 
eare or consideration of the consequence. Filial and pa- 
rental affection appear equally deficient among them, and 
in the conjugal relation the eharacteristie indifference of the 
peoplo is also discernible among thoso who come most within 
the sphere of European observation, namely, the lower orders.' 

The picture here given is sufficiently unfavourable, but as 
it was drawn by one who passed a great part of his life 
among the people ho has described, and attained a high 
rank among those intrusted with tho management of the 
Company's affairs, and as, in all its main points, it has been 
abundantly confirmed by other writers of unquestionable 
authority, there is unhappily no reason for believing that it 
is false or overcharged. 

A great part'of the criminal jurisprudence of Bengal was, 
for a loii£ scries of years, occupied with the suppression of 
* decoity, or a system of robbing in gangs, and it is only 
within the last few yours that any material eheck has been 



given to this practice. Decoity has been followed so com 
pletely as a profession, that instances have occurred where 
whole families have practised it from generation to genera- 
tion. No obloquy is attached to .the name of Decoit, 
which, on the contrary,-has been considered to give the 
possessor a higher rank than that^of a mere ryot or cul- 
tivator. The decoits of Bengal, unlike the professional rob-> 
bers of .other countries, have often settled homes, possess 
land, .and associate freely with men of the most influence in 
tbeir villages, to whom their profession is no secret. Decoits 
are found among Mohammedans as well as Hindus. When 
at length their guilt is established, they me?t death with an 
indifference which, but for the littlevalue. that is attached 
to life in India by the lower classes, would pass for fortitude, 
a virtue the possession of whieh is at variance with tho 
general features of their character ; its substitute, indif- 
ference, which is exhibited by the detected robber, doubtless 
proeeeds from the privations of various kinds under which 
their lives are passed, and the absenee of all rational hope 
of ameliorating their lot in this life. 

Out of 1649 eases of heinous crimes committed in the 
lower provinces of Bengal in 1828, as reported by the su- 
perintendents of police, 1260 were thefts and robberies com- 
mitted without violence ; of the remaining 3S9 the large 
proportion of 282 were attended with loss of life, 144 being 
elassed as Wilful murders, 122 ashomieidcs,and 16 as having 
occurred in violent affrays. 

Education. — There are few countries/in which tbe hulk 
of tho population is at onee poor and well instructed, and 
the province of Bengal does not furnish an exception to 
this remark. The great schools or eolleges in the cities 
and towns are mostly of recent establishment, and owe 
their existence to Europeans. These eolleges, which will 
be noticed farther on, are undoubtedly useful establish- 
ments, but they are necessarily limited in their sphere, and 
however zealously promoted eould, of themselves, effect but 
little towards educating tho children of the native popula- 
tion. It is to schools in . the villages, whero ninctcen- 
twentieths of the people live, that we must look for the chief 
good to follow from instruction. These schools are very, 
numerous, indeed it is a rare case to find a village in Bengal 
unprovided with one, but it is still more rare to find one 
whoso means are eommensurate with the wants of the 
people. The instructor are, for the most part, incompetent, 
and if even this were not the case, the poverty of the people 
is such, that few among the villagers can spare from their 
scanty earnings the trifling sum requisite to pay for tbe effec- 
tual instruction of their children. It is customary for parents 
to send their boys to these sebools at a very early age, when 
the charge made for their instruction is exceedingly low, but 
quite high enough in comparison with the benefit to be de- 
rived. Tbe education of Hindu children generally begins 
when they are Cwe years old, and tbe eases are rare in 
which .pupils are continued in the sehools after they are ten 
years of age. The reasons for this early removal are, tho 
necessity under which the parents are plaeed to put their 
ehildren as early as possible in the way of earning their own 
subsistence, and the fact that although the 'payments de- 
manded by the instructors are at first so moderate as to be 
within tbe means of the greater number of parents, yet as 
their pupils make progress the fees required aro increased 
out of all proportion, and to a degree which eompels the 
greater part of parents to withdraw* their ehildren beforo 
they attain the age at which tbey eould make most pro- 
gress. Even when this cause is not allowed to operate, tho 
amount of knowledge acquired is very limited, and com- 
prises only reading, writing, and the elementary rules of 
arithmetic. Through an absurdity for which it is difficult 
to account, the reading whieh is taught is nearly useless to 
the pupils in after-life. The books most commonly used are 
eoin posed in a language or dialect quite different from that 
in common use, so that the pupil learns to repeat a vast num- 
ber of verses and phrases without knowing what they mean, 

A few learned Brahmins are accustomed to give lectures 
in theology, astronomy, law, and logie, to all who choose to 
attend them, and without making any charge for their in- 
structions, since they do not wish.to compromise the dignity 
of science by bartering it for money. « The number of their 
pupils is nevertheless small, very few youths being qualifiod 
by previous study for profiting by leetures upon such abstruse 
subjects. The only effectual means at present in operation 
for instructing the native population of the province are fur- 
nished by the government of the East India Company, and 



No. 234. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.— 2 II 



B E N 



2;M 



n e N 



in a few cases from gifts, somo of them munificent, contri- 
buted by wealthy natives in aid of establishment* promoted 
by the government. The greater part of these establishments 
have been founded smce the renewal of the Company's 
charter in 1813. Previous to that time the Mohammedan 
College, or Madrissa. of Calcutta was tlw only institution for 
educating native children under the direct patronage of the 
government within the province. This college was founded 
in 1781 by Warren Hastings. At tho renewal of tho 
charter in 1813 the Companv was hound to expend one lac 
of rupees annually for this object. This Bum (about 1 0,000/.) 
would do but little towards providing instruction for the 
population of tho three presidencies, and the Company has 
not considered itself to be thus restricted by the terms of the 
enactment. In tho six years from 1825 to 1830 inclusive 
the expense on the score of education has amounted to 
257,535/., or 42,922/. per annum, on the average, and of this 
amount 185,030/., or 30,838/. per annum, has been ex- 
pended in the presidency of Bengal. There aro no means 
of ascertaining what part of this sum was appropriated for 
educational purposes in the province of Bongal ; a consider- 
able proportion of it was spent for establishments at Agra, 
Delhi, and Benares, and a considerable sum was appro- 
priated in Calcutta for providing school-books, which are 
thence supplied to all parts of British India. 

When we consider tho immonsity of tho field, compre- 
hending a population more than four times as great as that 
of tho United Kingdom, the sums here mentioned will ap- 
pear to be quite inadequate to the end proposed, nor indeed 
does it seem possible for the English government to provide 
sufficient funds for insuring its accomplishment. It is not 
probablo that this effect will ever be produced except through 
tho general and hearty co-operation of the mass of the in- 
habitants, and this cannot bo looked for except by slow 
degrees, as the natives rise from tho state of poverty in 
which, for the most part, they now pass through life. This 
improvement may probably be accelerated by the increasing 
number of Europeans who are expected to avail themselves 
of tho advantages held out by the recent alterations in the con- 
stitution of the East India Company, by forming tradiugand 
agricultural establishments in different parts of the country. 

Commerce* — The external commerce of Bengal is of great 
magnitudo. Tho following statement of imports and exports 
from Europe and America, during tho year 1831-32, is the 
latest that has yet been completed : — 



Import* into Bengal. 



M^rchandlte. 
Uupcct. 

From Great Britain 1,72,27,317 
M Foreign Europe 3,72,0,18 
„ N.&iS. America 8,S9,037 



Total imports 



Treasure. 


Tout. » 


Uupoei, 


Rupee*. 


. 


1,72,^7,917 


5,625 


3,77,663 


9,06,402 


17,95,439 


9,12,027 


1,94,01,019 



1,84,88,992 
Exports from Bengal. 

Merchandise Ttvoiurr, Total. 

ToGn*at Britain. Kupres. Bniwv*. Rupees.* 

By the E. I. Comp. 96,79,862 73,fc0,815 1,70,69,677 

„ private merchants 1,1 8,40,413 36,42,784 1,54,83,197 

Total to Gr. Britain 2,15.20,275 1,10,32,599 3,25,52.874 

To Foreign Europe 1 7,72,003 . , 1 7,72 003 

„ N. & S. America 34,70,303 , . 34,70,363 



Total exports 2,67,62,641 1,10,32,599 3,77,95.240 

Tho great difference here observable in tho amount of 
imports and exports is not, as might be supposed, accidental, 
nor is it peculiar to the year for which the statement is 
given, but is uniformly experienced, and In nearly an equal 
degree. This difference affords good evidence of tho pecu- 
niary advantage derived by this country from its connexion 
with India. The balanco which during a course of years is 
thus brought from that country, exhibits the profits or 
savings of the proprietors of East India stock, aim of indi- 
vidual European traders or residents whoso surplus funds 
are sent to this country, to which the possessors return 
from time to time in order to enjoy their accumulations. 

A considerable part of the trade between India and China 
is carried on from Calcutta. The shipping employed in this 
branch of trade in the five years from 1827-28 to 1331-3:! 
was as follows : — 

From Calcutta to Canlon. 
Ships. Ton*. 

27 . 17,079 
16 , 11,544 
18 . 5,373 
25 . 10,112 
25 . 8,485 
The most valuable part of this trade, as regards its 
amount, is the shipment of opium to China, tho extent of 
whieh appears from tho following statement : — 



From Uantou to Calcutta. 



1827-28 
1828-29 
1829-30 
1S30-31 
1831-32 



Shlpa. 


Tun*. 


18 . 


6,159 


N , 


5,923 


15 . 


4,855 


20 . 


7,278 


20 • 


6,711 



Statement of the Consumption 


and Value of Indian Opium in China, ir 


\ each Year, from 1816-17 /o 1830-31. 


1 

From AprO I, 


PATNA AtfD I1BNARES OPIUM. 


MALWA OPIUM. 


TVjlI. 


Season). 


Chests. 


Highest 

Price, 


Lowest 

Trice. 


Average. 


Value. 


Clicsls. 


Highest 
Price. 


Loweil 

Price. 


Average. 


Value. 


Chests. 


Value, 






Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Dollars. 


Dollars. 




Dollars. 


1816-17 


2,610 


1,320 


1,030 


1,200 


3,132,000 


600 


950 


800 


875 


525,000 


3,210 


3,657,000 


1817-18 


2,530 


1,330 


1,200 


1,265 


3,200,450 


1,150 


* 800 


*600 


612 


703,800 


3,630 


3.904,250 


1818-19 


3,050 


1,200 


800 


1,000 


3,050,000 


1,530 


850 


600 


725 


1,109,250 


4,580 


4,159,250 


1819-20 


2,970 


1,320 


1,150 


1,235 


3,667,950 


1,630 


1,400 


950 


1,175 


1,915,250 


4,600 


5,683,200 


1820-21 


3,050 


2,500 


1,300 


1,900 


5,795.000 


1,720 


1,S00 


1,230 


1,515 


2,605,800 


4,770 


8,400,800 


1821-22 


2,910 


2,500 


1,650 


2,075 


6,038,250 


1,718 


1,600 


1,050 


1,325 


2,276,350 


4,628 


8,314,600 


1822-23 


1,822 


2,550 


2,080 


1,552 


2,828,930 


4,000 


1,500 


l,0b0 


1,290 


5,160,000 


5,823 


7,938,930 


1823-24 


2,910 


2,500 


1,100 


1,600 


4,656,000 


4,172 


1,050 


800 


925 


3,859,100 


7,082 


8,515,100 


1824-25 


2,655 


1,450 


900 


1,175 


3,119.625 


6,000 


950 


550 


750 


4,500,000 


8,655 


7,619,625 


1825-26 


3,442 


1,150 


800 


913 


3,141,755 


6,179 


850 


560 


723 


4,464,450 


9,621 


7,608,205 


1826-27 


3,661 


1,250 


800 


1,002 


3,668,565 


6,308 


1,060 


860 


942 


5,941,520 


9,969 


9,610,085 


1827-28 


5,134 


1,220 


815 


998 


5,125,155 


4.401 


1,420 


950 


1,204 


5,299,920 


9,535 


10,425,075 


1828-29 


5,965 


1,100 


830 


940 


5,604,235 


7,771 


1,250 


750 


963 


6,928,880 


13,132 


12,533,115 


1829-30 


7,143 


1,000 


805 


860 


6,149,577 


6,857 


1,030 


740 


862 


5,907,580 


14,000 


12,057,157 


1830-31 


6,660 


1,050 


790 


870 


5,790,204 


12,100 


760 


520 


588 


7,114,059 


18,760 


12,904,263 



Opium forms more than one-half of the value of tho car- 

foes sent from tho different presidencies in India to China, 
'he trado in this drug is contraband ; the vessels in which 
it is sent aro wholly laden with it and remain at Lin tin, to 
which placo tho Chinese traders resort with their junks, 
bavin jj previously agreed for tho purchase, and paid the 
price in money to an agent in Canton, by whom thoy are 
furnished with orders, addressod to tho master of ono of 
^-lto-ship£L *° r * no delivery of the stipulated number of 
chests. ^^ 

The other principal articles shipped from Bengal to China 
ore saltnot* ' pc ar ^» cornelians, coral, woollen and cotton 



manufactures of Europe, and rice. The returns have been 
made in silver bullion, known as Sycec silver, and in bills 
of exchange drawn upon the govcrnm A nt at Bengal by 
the factory at Canton, and given in payment for the in- 
vestment of tea sent to Kurope. A different course will 
necessarily be given to this trade, now that the commer- 
cial character of the East India Company has been dis- 
continued. 

The following table contains a statement of the value of 
the trado carried on between Bengal and the Arabian and 
Persian Gulfs, in tho seven years from 1821-22 to 1827-28, 
the latest period to which tho returns are brought down :— 



Then U eridetiiljr »n error In iht numbers SOQ, 600, In one or Win j but w« hart strictly follows* the original account. 



BEN 



'235 



BEN 



Years. 


■■ ■ ' ■ '■ ■ ' ■ — — ! 

IMPORTS. 






EXPORTS. 




EogHsh. 


Arab. 


Value of Imports. 


Eo S 


luh. 


Arab. 


Value of Exports. 




Ships. 


Toos. 


Ships. 


Tons. 


Rupees. 


Ships. 


Tons. 


Ships. 


Tons. 


Rupees. 


182122 


11 


4,446 


16 


7,770 


-36,25,178 


15 


6,748 


18 


7,461 


47,40,902 


1822-23 


10 


4,071 


11 


4,800 


38,54,718 


10 


4,261 


10 


4,177 


34,64,404 


1823-24 


12 


4,617 


10 


4,331 


24,18,321 


6 


1,833 


9 


4,385 


34,15,597 


1824-25 


3 


956 


10 


4,378 


18,19,883 


4 


1,752 


7 


3,455 


27,13,344 


1825-26 


2 


505 


11 


4,954 


22,53,338 


7 


2,938 


10 


3,641 


31,47,972 


18*26-27 


3 


902 


11 


4,547 


11,56,276 


17 


6,525 


8 


3,273 


21,86,501 


1827-28 


9 


3,604 


15 


6,256 


21,27,048 


9 


3,958 


14 


6,259 


22,54,434 

i n 



AboUt-two-thirds of the trade between the continent of 
India and the eastern islands is carried on with Bengal. 
Its amount in the three years from 1829-30 to 1831-32 is 
here given :— - 





Imports. 


Total 
Imports. 


Exports. 


. Total 
ExporU. 


Years. 


Merchao- 
dise. 


Treasore. 


Merchan- 
dise. 


Treasore. 


1829-30 
1830-31 
1831— 32 


Sicca Rs. 
17,53,860 
20,71.978 
12,29,572 


Sicca Its. 
14,93,804 
21.42,222 
10,70,127 


Sicca Rt. 
32.52,664 
42.14,200 
22,99,969 


Sicca Ri. 
44.95,865 
44,76.357 
21.6C.796 


Sicca Rs. 
27,770 
55,076 
24.732 


Sicca Rs. 
45.23,635 
45.31,433 
21.91,523 



The trade between these islands and the presidencies of 
Madras and Bombay, during the same years, amounted to 
the following sums : — 





MADRAS. 


BOMBAY. 


A ears. 


Imports. 


Exports. 


Imports. 


Exports. 


1829-30 
1830-31 
1831-32 


Madra* 

Riiptres. 

16.00,415 

19,51,9 72 

1,06,896 


Madras 

Rupees. 

23,47,227 

17,37,137 

1,19,069 


Bombay 

Rupee 4. 

77,436 

8,36,031 

8,79,236 


Bombay 

Rupees. 

6,97,490 

4,18,929 

5,11,327 



The trade of Bengal with England comprehends an im- 
mense variety of objects. The principal articles of import 
are various metals, foreign wine and spirits, beer, woollen 
and cotton cloths, cotton yarn, glass, and hardware ; in re- 
turn for which the exports are, silk and silk manufactures, 
indigo, sugar, saltpetre, and lac-dye. Of these artieles indigo 
is by far the most important, its value being equal to nearly 
one-half the total exports to Europe from the province. It 
is principally cultivated in Moorshedabad, Nuddea, and 
Je3sorc in Bengal, and Tirhoot in Bahar, where there are 
altogether from 300 to 400 factories in operation. But little 
indigo was exported frohi India before the beginning of the 
present century. Cotton can hardly be said to form part OF 
the export trade of Bengal, which province does not produce 
more uf that article than is required for the use of the inha- 
bitants. During the period when all the fine muslins con- 
sumed ili Europe Wtre exported frem India, the quantity of 
cotton grown in Bengal did not e^ual one-eighth of the 
cpiantity worked up there into piece goods. The necessary 
sujpply was imported from the Detcan, the Dooab, and va- 
rious parts of the Maharatttteouritry. In one particular yeaf, 
thb Value of cotton whieh passed through the frontier cus- 
tom-house of Manjee at the confluence Of the Gogra and 
Ganges, amounted m value to a crorc of rnpeds (one million 
sl^Hing), but this was an extraordinary importation, and a 
considerable part of it was shipped from Calcutta to this 
counlry. One of the most extraordinary revolutions in 
trade that was evefc witnessed has been brought about by 
the cotton-spinning and weaving machinery in this country, 
previous to whieh the cotton fnece-goods brought from India 
ibrmcti th6 bulk of what was used in Great Britain. Now, 
the comparatively small importations are all, or nearly all, 
re-exported, and we in our turn have become manufacturers 
for a great part of the population of India. The quantity 
of cotton goods exported to that quarter in 1833 was sixty 
millions of yards, besides five million pounds of eotton twist, 
for the use of the Bengalese weavers. This trade has grown 
un since the opening of the intercourse with India on the 
part of private adventurers in 1813. 

With the exception of tho districts on the eastern frontier, 
silk is grown iii every part of the province of Bengal, and 
forms a considerable part of its exports ; nearly the wholo 
quantity of raw silk that is shipped is cent to England, 



which likewise receives mbre than half of the silk fabries ex- 
ported from the province. 

Sugar, which has for a long time been largely produced 
in this province, does not form a great proportion of its 
exports, a fact which may be attributed to the imposition of 
discriminating duties in favour of the sugar of other posses* 
sions, by the only countries likely to become consumers of* 
the produce of Bengal. It is probable that the distinction 
thus made by the legislature of this kingdom, in favour Of 
our West Indian possessions, will not be persisted in inueh 
longer, and in that case it is Confidently expected that Bengal 
would contribute very largely to the supply of our markets 
with an article now become one of the tieeessarics of life. 

Saltpetre is another article of importance ih the external 
commerce of Bengal. Nearly sevett^eigfiths of the Whole 
quantity shipped from the province eomes to this country. 
This branch of trade is valuable, from its furnishing & ma* 
terial part of the freight of homeward-bound ships* the 
weight and bulk of saltpetre being great in proportion to iU 
money value, while the opposite eandition holds With regard 
to the greater part of the productions of India* When the 
contemplated alteration shall be effected In regard to the 
duty on sugar, this article will offer a similar advantage td 
ship-owners, and in a much greater degree than saltpetre* 

The import trade of Bengal from England may be ek 
pected to fall short of its former amount, now that our private 
merchants have direct intertunrse with Ghiha. A great 
part of what is ealled 'the eountry trade*.' between Calcutta 
and Canton, has consisted uf British manufactures, which 
how go direct from London and Liverpool. 

From France Bengal receives wine and brandy in much 
larger quantities than the s:imc articles were formerly sup* 
plied by England. The returns are principally made in 
saltpetre and indigo. 

To Ponugal eotton piece-goods form the principal ex- 
port ; the imports consist almost wholly of bullion and wine. 
As regards the latter article, a great alteration has occurred 
of late years, in the substitution, by the European residents 
in India, of sherry for Madeira wine; and, on the other 
hand, the pieee-goods of India are now mainly superseded 
in Portugal by the cheaper products of English looms. A 
large part of the trade of Portugal with China has been 
carried on intermediately through Calcutta, at which port 
the Portuguese traders take in opium and eotton, the re- 
turns for Which go direct from Canton to Portugal, or to the 
transatlantic possessions of that country. A trade nearly 
similar in its character has been kept up between Bengal 
and Brazil, since the political separation of the latter eountry 
from Portugal, but this eommerce has declined in amount 
of late years. 

The United States of America take from Bengal silk, 
piece-goods, and indigo, with some other articles of Indian 
produce to a small amount. North America has little to 
offer of its own produce in exchange, and consequently the 
imports thence consist mostly of specie, or of metals and 
manufactured goods procured from Europe. Of late years, 
some eonimon cotton fabrics of America, under the name 
of 'domestics,' have found a market in Rcngah 

Bengal exports to Java piece-goods and opium, and re- 
ceives in return copper of Japan, Banca tin, with pepper 
and spices, the produce of Java. The trade with Sumatra 
has nearly eeased, since the cession of Bencoolen to the 
Dutch. To Manilla cotton piece-goods are sent; the re- 
turns are copper and silver from the South American mines, 
and a few trifling articles of fragrant woods and spices, the 
produce of the Philippine isles. 

From the Coromandel coast ehank-sherls arc brought, to 
a considerable value. These shells are employed by the 
Hindus in their. religious worship, and are cut into bracelets, 

2 112 



B E N 



23(? 



]} IS N 



cr worn round the ando: payment for them is usually made 
in rice, and in some European goods. Ceylon supplies Ben- 
gal with cocoa-nut oil, coir, a few pearls, some spices, and 
clmiik-shclls, in return for piece-goods, sn»ar, silk, and rice. 
Teak timber, sandal-wood, coir, cocoa-nut*, and sonic drugs 
are received from Malabar, which takes in payment piece- 
goods, metals, and British woollens, with dates, raisins, coral 
and pearls .brought from the Arabian and l'eman Gulfs. 
From the countries bordering on these gulfs Bengal receives 
Persian copper, almonds, dates, coffee, gums, pearls, coir, 
cocoa-nuts, pepper, and bullion, the last in a largo propor- 
tion, chiefly in the form of Spanish dollars, Persian rupees, 
gold tomauns, and Venetian sequins. The returns arc made 
in cotton piece-goods, silk goods, indigo, sugar, and grain. 

The Mauritius is supplied with largo shipments of rice 
from Bengal, and gives in return pepper and spices from the 
Malabar coast. f « " t * 

Penang, and of late years Singapore, have been the chief 
entrepots of the trado carried on between Bengal and the 
straits of Malacca, Borneo, Celebes, and the Molucca inlands. 
The most valuable part of tho import trade from thisquurlcr 
is treasure, in the form of gold-dust from Borneo and Su- 
matra, and dollars and Sycee silver brought by Chinese 
vessels. Besides the precious metals, Bengal receives pep- 
per, spices, tin, various drugs, betel -nut, and wax. Cotton 
piece-goods, opium, and rice form the principal articles of 
export from Bengal to these settlements. 

F rom tho Burmese empire Bengal imports timber and 
planks, with a considerable value ofgold and silver treasure, 
both of which roctals,are in the form of circular Hut cakes 
of various sizes and standards, from pure gold or silver to 
two-thirds alloy. Small quantities of wax, sapan-wood, 
ivory, and drugs are likewise furnished by this trade to 
Bengal, which returns British cotton goods, grain, iudigo, 
sugar, and opium. 

Military Forces. — In estimating the military force of 
Bengal, it is not possible to separate the proportion em- 
ployed in the province from that stationed in oil. or provinces 
under the same presidency. The fallowing numbers must 
therefore be taken as applicable to the entire possessions of 
the British, within the presidency of Bengal, including Be- 
nares, Bareilly, the ceded districts on the Nerbudda, and 
districts ceded by the rajah of Bcrar. 

According to a return made from the India House by the 
military, secretary in 1832, the military force in Bengal, 
according to the most recent accounts, was as follows: — 
Engineers— Oflicers, European 
Native . 



Non-commis. Offi- 
cers and Privates 

Artillery — Europ., Horse, Oflic. 45 

Privates 1,313 

„ Foot, O fliccrs 89 

Privates 2,956 



44 
12 

— 56 



813 



869 



1,358 



3,045 



Nativo, Horse, O (fie. 18 

Priv. 407 

„ Foot, Officers 85 

Privates 3,029 



• 4,403 



425 



3,114 



-3,539 



Cavalry — Euro. (King's) Offic. 
Priv. 

„ Native (Coinp/s) Offic. 
Priv. 



7,942 



1,235 



9,211 



Infantry — European, Officers . 289 

Privates, 8,061 

„ Native, Officers . , 2,964 

Privates . . 77,513 



10,446 



8,350 



-80,482 



S8.832 



Carried forward 



108,089 



Brought lorward . 


108.0S9 


Invalids ..... 


2.746 


Pioneers ..... 


851 


Hospital— Surgeons and AsmUt -Surgeons 222 




Native Doctors . , 235 







457 


Staff, including Commissariat 


440 



Total . . . 112,533 

The expense of this army, as stated in the same return 
by tho auditor of Indian accounts, amounted to the gross 
sum of 4,329,537/. It'docs not appear that the cost of mili- 
tary stores sent from England is included in this state- 
ment. 

Revenue, #c.— It is not possible to draw any distinction 
between the financial results of the province of Bengal and 
those of the entire presidency, which latter, therefore, are 
here given, under different heads, for the year 1632-33, the 
latest for which any detailed account has been given : 

Revenues and Charges of the Ren gal Presidency for the 
year 1S32-33. 

Kiijwea. 

Land revenue . ... G, 5 J, 03, 293 

Stamp duties .... . 25,71,943 

Saver and Abkarec revenues . . . 40,03,401 
Sah monopoly . . 1,72,62,960 

Cost and charges . 58,73,396 

I, .13,89,564 

Opium monopoly . . 1,15,11,841 

Cost and charges . . 38,43,579 

76,68.262 

Customs .... 70,73,727 

Other receipts .... 87,17,693 



Charges of collecting stamp duties, 
land saver and Abkuree reve- 
nues, and custom duties , 1,13,02,630 
Civil and political charges . 87,15,451 
Judicial a lid police . , 1,08,97,894 

Military and miscellaneous . 4,26,91,451 



10,63,27,893 



Interest on debt 



Surplus revenue 



7,36,07.426 
1,52,14,969 



8,83,22,395 
Rs. 1,80,05,493 



'or £1,800,549 

(Ayin-i-Akbari ; Rcnncll's Memoir of a Map of Hindu- 
stan ; Mills's History of British India ; Mr. Charles Grant's 
Observations o» the Stale of Society among the Asiatic 
Subjects of Great Britain ; various Reports of Committees 
of both Houses of Parliament appointed to inquire into the 
affairs of the East India Company in 1821, 1828, 1830,1831, 
and 1832; Tables of the Revenue, Population, <$*c\ of the 
U?iited Kingdom, part iii. ; AVilson's Review of the Exter- 
nal Commerce of Bengal (published in Calcutta); M'Pher- 
son's History of the Kuropean Commerce icith India; Dr. 
Francis Hamilton's (late Buchanan) Statistical Survey of 
certain Districts of Bengal : MS. iu the Library of th 
East India Company.) 

BENGALI LANGUAGE. Among tho numerous ver- 
nacular dialects now spoken in northern India, and appa- 
rently descended for the most part from the ancient classical 
language of the country, the Sanscrit, few possess stronger 
claims upon the attention of tho linguist as well as the 
politician than the Bengali, the colloquial medium of a 
population of more than twenty millions, spread over a 
territory of about 100,000 square miles. The alphabet 
employed by the natives in writing, and adopted by Euro- 
peans in printing books in the Bcn^filT language, is evi- 
dently borrowed from the Devanfigari. the character pecu- 
liarly appropriated to fix the Sanscrit language : both com- 
prise fourteen vowels and diphthongs, mid thirty-three con- 
sonants. The resemblance in form which the Bcngult bears 
to the Devnnfigari character is nearly the same as that of the 
current English handwriting to the form of letters employed 
in printing. The ground- work of the Bengali language is 
altogether Sanscrit, just as that of tho Italian or Spanish is 
Latin, with a comparatively small addition of words which 
cannot be traced to that source. But the refined system of 



BEN 



231 



BEN 



grammatical inflexions, which constitutes' so prominent a 
characteristic of the Sanscrit language, has in Bengali 
almost entirely disappeared; and the want of terminations 
marking -the cases and numbers of the noun, or the.persons 
and tenses of the verb, is supplied by particles and other 
auxiliary words,* often rather clumsily subjoined (hardly 
ever prefixed) to the mutilated stems of Sanscrit words. 
The Bengali has, however, preserved to a very considerable 
extent the faculty, so conspicuous in Sanscrit, of forming 
compound words, and recent writers have largely availed 
themselves of this advantage, especially in treatises on 
Hindu law and on philosophical subjects : we allude espe- 
cially to the Bengali translation of the second book of the 
Miiakshard (a Sanscrit law-book of high authority), pub- 
lished byLakshmf NaravanaNyayalankSra (in 1824. 8vo.), 
and to that of the Nyayadarsana, by Kdsinatha Tarko- 
panchanana (Calcutta, 1821, 8vo.). 

It does not appear that the Bengali language was ever 
employed for literary purposes prior to the sixteenth cen- 
tury. The earliest Bengali work extant is the Chaitanya- 
Charitamrita, by Krishnadusa, a disciple of the Vaishnava 
fanatic Chaitanya, the founder of a new mode of the worship 
of Krishna, who lived towards the close of the fifteenth 
century. This work, which is said to be almost as much 
Sanscrit as Bengali, was till within very recent times fol- 
lowed by only a few compositions, the most important of 
which were the poetical versions, from Sanscrit into Ben- 
galt, of the Mahabhdtata, by K&sidasa, and of the Rama- 
yana, hy KtrtivSsa ; these works are very popular in 
Bengal, and are frequently recited at the houses of Hindoos 
during several days, before assemblies of two or three hun- 
dred auditors. Kheraananda is named as tho author of a 
hymn called Manusd-mangala, which is still recited at the 
festivals in honour of the goddess Manas;!, in the western 
provinces of Bengal. A treatise on arithmetic, written in 
verse, is ascribed to Subhancara : this work, and a treatise 
called GurudakshinCt, appear to have been the only ele- 
mentary books composed by natives of Bengal for the pur- 
poses of education. A new epoch in Bengali literature seems 
to have begun with the foundation of the college of Fort 
William near Calcutta, and with the labours of Dr. Carey 
and Ins colleagues the Serampore missionaries, to whom, 
according to the expression • of a native author, may be 
cribed • the revival of the Bengalt language, its improve- 
ment, and in fact its establishment as a language.' The 
r Bible and various works of modern literature were trans- 
lated into Bengalt, and printed: among others, ' Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's Progress,' by F. Carey (Serampore, 1821), * Ras- 
scla*,* by Raja Krishnachandra Roy, and the * Discourso 
on the Advantages of Knowledge/ published hy the Society 
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. At the same time 
various elementary works were printed, partly by the mission 
press at Serampore, » and partly under the superintendence 
of the Calcutta School-Book Society. An impulse was 
thus given to the cultivation of the language among Euro* 

f >eans as well as among the natives, and the taste of the 
atter for reading is attested by the fact that no less than 
six newspapers in the Bengal? language are now circulated 
in Calcutta and its vicinity. One of the latest publications 
in Bengalt that has come under our notice is * A Dictionary 
in English and Bengalt, translated from Todd's edition of 
Johnson's English Dictionary, by Ram Comulscn' (Seram- 
pore, 1834, 2 vols, 4to.), a work which does high honour to 
the zeal and perseverance, and, as far as we may prcsnmo 
to give an opinion, to the talont and skill of the translator. 
(See the account of this work given hy a competent judge 
in' the (London) Asiatic Journal, for April, 1835, pp. 
221—236.) We are indebted to the author's preface for 
the greater part of the' preceding remarks concerning the 
literature of the Bengali language. 

To Europeans who wish to commence the study of the 
Bengalt language, the following elementary works and 
dictionaries ^may be recommended : A Grammar of the 
Bengali language, by the Raja Rammohun Roy (Cal- 
cutta, 8vo.) : Rudiments of Bengali Grammar, by G. C. 
Hanghton (London, 1821, 4to.); Bengali Selectioris, with 
a translation and a vocabulary, by the same author (Lon- 
don, 1822. 4to.). Dictionaries in Bengalt and English have 
been published by H. P. Forster (Calcutta 1799, 2 vols. 
4to.) ; Dr. Carey (Serampore, 1S23, 3 vols. 4to. ; abridged 
in 2 vols. 8vo. by F\ Carev and Marshman, Serampore, 
1827—30);* W. Morton (Calcutta, 1823, 8vo.): and Sir G. 
C. Haughton (London, 1833, 4to.). 



* BENGA'ZI, a town of Barbary, situated at the eastern 
entrance of the Greater Syrtis, inthe district of Barea/ It 
stands close on the sea-shore, at the extremity of a beautiful 
plain, extending to the foot of the Cyrenaie chain of moun- 
tains, which are fourteen miles to s the S.E. The coast is 
sandy for about half a mile inland, but beyond there is a 
mixture of rock and excellent soil, which is well wooded, and 
supplies the town abundantly with corn and vegetables ; cattle 
and sheep are brought from the neighbouring mountains. 

The port appears formerly to have been capable of con- 
taining vessels of two and three hundred tons burden ; but 
it is fast filling up with sand and alluvium, brought down by 
the heavy rains which annually deluge the town, and boats 
only can now enter where, fifty years ago, large ships used 
to lie. It is well protected by a reef of rocks lying across 
at a short distance from the mouth, which leave a narrow 
andditlicult channel on each side, only accessible to vessels 
drawing seven or eight feet water. The harbour doubtless 
communicated in former times with a large salt-water lake 
(probably the Tritonis of Strabo, p. 836) to the southward 
of the town, but from the accumulation of sand this com- 
munication is now interrupted during the summer months. 
At the entrance of the harbour stands the eastle, con- 
structed on the ruins of some antient building, which are 
still visible above the soil; but the present structure is so 
slightly put together with small stones and mud, that it is 
deemed prudent not to fire salutes from it. It is provided 
with nine guns, cightcen-poundcrs ; its form is square, with 
round towers at three of the angles; but the fourth, the 
only one which would prove offensive to Vessels entering the 
harbour, is occupied by a pile of buildings appropriated to 
the harem of the governor. 

The houses, like most Arab buildings, are constructed of 
rough small stones, cemented with mud instead of mortar. 
They eonsist of a ground-lloor only, which is built round a 
quadrangular open court-yard, into which tho doors of the 
several chambers open, but the chambers seldom communi- 
cate with each, other: this court-yard is not paved, and in 
the better class of houses there is a well in the eentre. The 
roofs are Hat, formed of rafters, over which are laid mats, then 
a quantity of 'sea-weed or other vegetable rubbish, and over 
the whole a thick stratum of mud, beat down to form a ter- 
race, on whieh it is not uncommon to see grass and barley 
growifig, and goats feeding very contentedly. Those who 
can afford it spread a preparation of lime over the mud, 
which form3 a surface impervious to the weather, as long as 
the coating remains in good condition, and serves to collect 
the rain into some general reservoir. During the heavy 
rains whieh oecur from January till March every year, these 
frail fabrics give way, and fall in on their indolent tenants, 
who generally neglect all repairs till they are roused from 
their lethargy by the screams of wife and children, fre- 
quently seriously wounded by the fall of the roof.r At this 
season the streets are literally converted into rivers, the 
market is without supplies, from the impossibility of driving 
theeattle into town, and many thousand sheep and goats 
perish from the bleak winds and chilling rains which then 
prevail. 

The market-place eontains a pool of stagnant and putrid 
water, which is the common receptacle for all the blood and 
offal of the animals killed there, and of these offensive pests 
there are several in various parts of the town. -From this 
and the general filth of the place, it is not surprising that 
Bengazi has become proverbial for (lies, the swarms of which 
are really a most serious nuisance during the day, and aro 
exchanged at night for myriads of lleas and mosquitoes. 
' Bengazi is in the dominions of the pasha of Tripoli, under 
whom it is governed by a bey, generally connected with the 
pasha's family, as from its commerce it is considered a lucra- 
tive appointment. The bey, his officers, and the troops re- 
side in the eastle. The town contains about 2000 inhabit- 
ants, a large proportion of whom are Jews and negro slaves : 
the former, in spite of the many heavy exactions on them, 
are the principal merchants and tradesmen of tho place. 
The exports consist chiefly of cattle, com, and wool; for 
the .'first of these Malta always offers a ready and (with a 
favourable passage) a lucrative market : indeed this branch 
alone employs a great number of small vessels during the 
summer months. 

Dysentery^ liver complaints, cutaneous diseases, and fevers 
are common in Bengazi, but cases of ophthalmia are com- 
paratively rare. Ships touching at this port are always 
sure to find a plentiful supply of beef, mutton, and poultry, 



D E N 



23R 



H E N 



with fruit, vegetable a, and water. The fig and r>ahn flourish 
abundantly; tho fiir-tree, for the most part wild, produces 
only a small fruit, which never eoines 10 perfection ; but the 
fruit of the palm-tree forms too essential a part of Arab food 
to allow the native* to neglect anv of tho necessary pre- 
cautions for ensuring the growth and ripening of dutes, 

Bengazi occupies the site of theBercnico of the Ptolemies, 
and of tho Hesperis of earlier times, one of tha Cyrenaic 
eities ; but very few remains now appear above ground to 
mark its former importance, and Berenice has disappeared 
beneath a soil which now only bears a miserable dirty Arab 
town. Very extensive remains are, however, still found 
wiihin half "a mile around Bengasi, tit the depth of a foot or 
two below the surface ; and whenever a house is intended to 
1)0 built, tho projector has only to send a fow men to exea- 
vato in the neighbourhood to discover the most beautiful 
specimens of Greeinn architecture ; but as these are gene- 
rally too large for the purposes of modern buildings, they 
lire broken up on the spot into small pieces, to be imbedded 
in the mud which forms the greater portion of the present 
dwellings. 

» Though the walls of Berenice were completely rebuilt 
by Justinian (Proeopius irtpi KTur^iarutv, book vi.), scarcely 
a vestige of them now remains above the ground; but 
to the north of the town reservoirs may be traeed, with 
troughs of stone, which served either for the rceeption of 
rain or other water brought from the springs of sweet 
water about half a mile to tho eastward of the town, 
where all tho wells are at present braekish. At the time 
of the heavy rains, many coins and gems are continually 
washed down from this spot, where a bank of twenty or 
thirty feet has been formed by the rubbish of the antient 
city. • From the nature of the country immediately around, 
its' lakes and swamps, it is .probable that Berenice did not 
extend much beyond tho limits of the present town. It is 
remarkable that in the quarries whenee the materials for 
the antient city were procured, whieh, when not far from 
the town, were usually exeavated for tombs, no sepulehral 
traces could be found : they must, therefore, he sought be- 
neath the soil with other remains. 

Some of these quarries are sunk perpendicularly down 
below the plain to a considerable depth, and arc not visible 
tfll closely approaehed. Besides these there are some sin- 
gular ehasras of natural formation, whose bottoms present a 
Hat surfaco of oxcellent soii, several hundred feet in length, 
enelosed within steep and for the most part perpendicular 
sides of solid rock, rising to the height of sixty or seventy 
feet before they reaeh the level of the plain. They gene- 
rally present a sceno of the greatest luxuriance ; and in 
these calm and beautiful retreats the authors from whom we 
quote appear to reeognise the far-famOd gardens of the Hcs- 
perides described by Seylax. (Hudson's Minor Geogr, 
vol. i.) In support of this hypothesis, they also adduce Pliny 
(v. 5) and Ptolemy, corroborated by the original name of the 
town, whieh was ealled the town of tho Ilcspcrides. 

Some of these chasms have assumed the form Of lakes, 
in most of whieh the water appears to be very deep, rising 
in some nearly to the top, and in others about twenty ftet 
below. There are also several subterranean caves, one of 
which, at the depth of about eighty feet below the surface 
of the plain, contains a large b6dy of-fresh water, said to run 
far into the earth, and in some places thirty feet deep. 
This eavo widens out into a spaeious ehamher, the sides of 
which have evidently been shaped by the ehlsel, and it rises 
to a considerable height. This body of water has been 
supposed to be the Lcthon or Ladon river of the antient 
writers. The lake at the back of the town may probably be 
the Tritonis bf Strabo, but the Island in it on which stood 
the Temple of Venus has disappeared. The neighbourhood 
of Bengazi still offers mueh for the researeh of the intelli- 
gent traveller. Benga2i Castle lies in 32* V N. lat., 20° 3' 
K. long. 

(Beechey*s Expedition into Africa ; Delia Cella's A r tir- 
tative; Pacho's Voyage dans ta Marmarique* la Cyre- 
na'iqtie, <?r.) 

BENGKL. The writings of few (German divines have 
exercised so much influence upon English Christians as 
those uf Johann Albrceht Bengel. Few have read his 
works, but many are influenced by their readers. John 
AVealey states in the prefaea to his explanatory notes Upon 
the NewTcstamant, winch are a symbolical book*, or one of 

• lAhA nymlwlici It U> «am* (riven toconOoioni of lailh In genera), And 
lo those of tbe Lutheran ctinich fa parlicuUr. 



tho standards of the Methodist connexion, and to which 
every Wesley an methodic preaehcr has to declare hia 
assent, *I oneo designed to write down barely what oc- 
curred to my own mind, consulting none but tho inspired 
writers ; but no sooner was I acquainted with that great 
light of tho Christian world (lately gone to his reward) 
Bongelius, than I entirely ehaiiged my design, being tho- 
roughly convinced it might bo ot' more servico to tho cause 
of religion wero I barely to translato his "Gnomon Novi 
Testament!," than to write many volumes upon it. Many 
of his excellent notes I have therefore translated ; many 
more I have abridged ; omitting that part whieh was purely 
critical, and giving tho suhstanco of the rest. Those va- 
rious readings likewise whieh he has showed to have a vast 
majority of antient copies and translations on their side, I 
have without scruple incorporated with the text ; which, 
after his manner, I have divided all along (though not 
omitting the eommon division into ehapters and verses, 
which is of use on various aecounts) according to the matter 
it eon tains, making a larger or smaller pause, just as the 
sense requires. And even this is such an help in many 
plaees, as one who has not tried it can searcely conceive.' 

Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, 
passes a similar encomium upon Bengel. 

Bengel was born on the 24th June, 1667, at Winncnden, 
about fifteen miles from Stuttgard ; his father was a Lu- 
theran clergyman in Winnendem His first instruction he 
reecived from his father, who, eontrary to the harsh practice 
of those times, emplojed an easy and agreeable method of 
teaching. Bengel enjoy fed but for a short time the tare Of 
his father, who died of an epidemic* whieh raged in his 
nativo town, in tho year 1G93: ho wa$ in the habit of 
visiting the meanest habitations of the poor, and thus died 
in the discharge of his ministerial duties. The armies of 
Louis XIVi invaded the country a few months after the 
death of Bengel* s father, and burned the houso which his 
mother had bought. His father's library was destroyed in 
the conflagration. From this time Bengel was educated 
and supported by David Wendel Spindler, a friend of his 
father's. This gentleman kept a sehool in the eastle at 
Winnenthal, but was afterwards driven from place to place, 
until he was appointed, in 1699. one of the masters of the 
grammar sehool at Stuttgard. He took Bengel with him 
wherever he went. At Stuttgard, Bengel made very satis- 
factory progress in the antient and modern languages, but 
would have been deprived of a university education, had 
it not been for his mother's marriage, after ten years widow- 
hood, with Johann Albreeht Gioeckler, who was steward 
to the convent at Maulbronn. It is to this pious in an 
the chureh owes tho services of Bengel, who was re- 
ceived in 1703 into the theologieal college at Tilbingen, 
where ho studied, for the first year, philosophy and philo- 
logy* and afterwards theology. He continued here until 
1707, when he finished his academieal career by a public 
disputation, * De theologht mysticaY and then became cu- 
rate In the parish of Metzingen. He had not been there a 
fortnight, before he discovered his inetliciency to discharge 
faithfully the duties of a minister of tho Gospel, and the 
general defeets of a university education for this purpose, 
In about a year he was reealled as tutor to his eollege. He 
himself states his opinion, 'That it is very desirable, after 
having aequired in a country parish a practical turn of 
mind (gustuni plcheium et popularem), to return to eol- 
lego to study divinity afresh;' At this time he wrote an 
essay on tho holinoss of God, ' Syntagma de Sanctitate Dei,' 
in which he especially endeavours to prove that, according 
to Seripiure and reason, all divine attributes aro contained 
in holiness. Soon afterwards he was appointed preceptor 
of the seminary at Dcnkendorf, where 'he read especially 
the letters of Cicero with his pupils, among whom he main- 
tained a mild but striet diseipiine. Bengel did not destroy 
tho natural playfulness of the youths committed to his earn. 
At a later period of his lifo ho became prelate * in Wiirtem- 
berg. Though Bengel was 60 weakly aftorlu's birth, that ho 
reeeived private baptism, nevertheless ho readied the age of 
sixty- fivo years. Ho was soveral times subjeet to dangerous 
disorders, especially in tha iatter part of his iife. It became 
his habit to consider life as a constant tendency to death, and 
he endeavoured to familiarize himself with the thoughts of 
death ; hut ho did not agree with those divines who eonsider 
tho whole of divinity to be nothing more than the art of dying. 

• Tlio tillo prelate In Wurtcmberg nearly corrcipondg lo lhat of bishop in 
Kn gland. 



BEN 



239 



BEN 



According to Bengel, the Christian has not so mueh to wait 
for death as for the appearance of Jesus Christ, and the 
most important business for every man is to come from a 
state of sin into a state of graee, and afterwards not to look 
for death, but for the Lord, Death had originally no place 
in the economy of God, and was only introduced afterwards. 
Bengel did not think highly of the artificial mode of dying, 
and followed his own ideas on death. He would not die 
with spiritual pomp, but in a common way, and was em- 
ployed to tho last with his proof-sheets. It was as if he 
was ealled out of his room during the hours of work. 

Bengel left a numerous family : many of his descendants 
still remain, although six of his twelve children died before 
him. His great-grandson Burk, aelergyman in the kingdom 
of Wiirtemberg, published in 1831 a life of Bengel, which 
eontains more authentic statements than former biographies, 
and is about to appear in an English translation. 

The literary fame of Bengel has been principally esta- 
blished by his excellent edition of tho Greek Testament, 
which excited the emulation of Wetstein, and facilitated the 
subsequent researches of Griesbach, Scholz, and Lachmann. 
His * Novi Testamenti Grceci recto cautequc adornandi 
Prodromus' was printed at'Stuttgard, 1723, 8vo., and also 
at Tiibingcn, 1734 and 1790; 'Cyclns, sive de anno magno 
Solis, Lunao, Stellarum Consideration Ulm, 1745, 8vo. ; 
* Ordo Temporum, a principio per Pcriodos (Economise 
Divinae,' Stuttgard, 1753, 1770, 8vo. ; 'Traetatus de Sin- 
ccritate N. Test. Greece/ Halle, 1 763, 4to. ; ' Apparatus 
Criticus Novi Testamenti,' Tubing. 1763, 4to. ; 'Gnomon 
Novi Testamenti in quo ex nativa verbomm vi simplicitas, 
l>rofunditas, concinnitas sensuum ccelcstium indicator;' the 
best edition was printed at Ulm, 1763, 4to., Tubing. 1773, 
4to. His 'Introduction to the Exposition of the Apocalypse* 
was translated by J. Robertson, M.D., Lond. 1757, 8vo. 
This, as well as his *Reden ubcrdieOfTenbarung Johannis,* 
have still their admirers, who see in the events of our days 
the fulGlment of Bengel's Apocalyptical predictions. 

Wo translate the following extracts in order to show the 
character of Bengel. 

' There is no stronger proof of tho truth of the Holy 
Scriptures, and of all relations, doctrines, promises, and 
thrcatenings contained therein, than tho Holy Scriptures 
themselves. (Veritas sui ipsius est index.) Truth compels 
us to adopt it; I recognise tho hand-writing of a friend 
without the messenger's telling me from whom the letter 
eomes ; tho sun is not seen by means of a torch, or any 
other heavenly body, but from its own rays, although a 
blind man eannot comprehend how this is. 
^ ' The effieacy of the divine word is supernatural ; some- 
times it overpowers, especially such to whom it is new ; it 
unexpectedly captivates them and kindles faith in them 
before they have thought what is faith, and why they should 
give credit to it. This is something else than to be con- 
vinced of human histories and mathematical proof. But 
every one should endeavour to handle the word of God de- 
ecntly, which is done if we seareh and examino everything, 
and accept the truth as something desirable because it is 
truth ; and if we consequently obey the will of God and 
eall for his assistance, and by an endeavour to grow con- 
stantly in tho knowledge of our Lord, and to show to others 
the right way. Those who do this obtain an internal as- 
surance (Johnvii. 17, viii. 31, 32; Romans xii. 2); only 
such as do this obtain true wisdom, eommunion with Jesus, 
the seal of the Holy Ghost, and a foretaste of eternal joy. 

'The Holy Scriptures should be more read in the 
churches. Ingenious ideas, ornamental figures,. audaeious 
conclusions, high, strong, and fiery words, falsely so called, 
since they are eold as ice, are of very little moment ; be- 
cause if edification consist in admiration of fine inventions, 
in a mental pleasure, and a gratification of the ears, the 
very tbing takes place whieh St. Paul ealls to make the 
Cross of Christ being made of none effect. This is the 
destruction which wasteth at tho noon-day of our enlight- 
ened times.* 

' The Holy Seriptures eontain, besides the foundation of 
our salvation, many other precious materials. We should 
not consider tho Bible as a mero collection of passages and 
examples, nor as separate remains of antiquity, but as one 
whole of the divine eeonomy with the human race in a 
system which begins with the beginning and terminates 
with the end of all things. Although every Biblieal book 

ha* rb"d el ir al t wlil)g *° r *' xcl 6 '^ me * n% to,oy lliat lbe U8Ual P u! P itdIl i' lo y 



is in itself complete, though every Biblical author has his 
own style, there breathes nevertheless one spirit in all, and 
one idea 'penetrates them all. It becomes us to eonsider 
nothing as useless, beeause ono easts constantly a light on 
the other. 

* The experience of our days proves the evil consequences 
of considering only parts of the Scriptures. Either there 
arises a false outcry of salvation* and grace, which is the 
case among the Moravians, who constantly dwell upon the 
articles of passion t, or an over-statement of the natural 
light, so as to reduce the Scriptures within the limits of 
reason. 

1 1. Reason is a noble, excellent, and invaluable power, 
wherewith man perceives divine and natural things within 
and without himself. 

* 2. But reason is miserably corrupted, and not only ex- 
tremely ignorant, but also subject to doubt and error. 

*3. But man retains, in spite of this corruption, a great 
preference over other animals ; he is not a horse or a mule, 
but a man who ean understand what is offered to him. 

*4. Many things which reason understands were also 
known to the heathen J. 

* 5. Reason is an organ of truth. 

' The Confession of Augsburg is, in comparison with other 
productions of that obscure age, something great : the other 
symbolical books also have so much internal value, that they 
should be studied even if they had not so great an historical 
importance. But confessions of faith sl>ould never be made 
a barrier against a further progress in the knowledge of 
truth : those divines who do this might command the sun 
to stand still in a summer's morning at four o'clock beeauso 
there is light enough. 

' As man consists of body and soul, so also the divine in- 
stitutions have body and soul ; let us take caro not to mis- 
take the glass for the spirit which it eontains, nor the scab- 
bard for the sword. The external events and the pro- 
phecies form tho bones of the canonical books, but their 
spiritual doctrine is the muscles. The body cannot be without 
bones, nor the Holy Scriptures without external events. 

'The book Siraeh and the Wisdom of Solomon are des- 
titute of thoso external events, and are considered neverthe- 
less to be canonical by such as find pleasure in the spiritual 
only. But if we only eonsider our internal spiritual ex- 
perience, without directing the attention to the manifold 
or solid wonders of God in the whole world and his ehurch, 
we may easily fall into scepticism, therefore it is good not to 
ho exclusively occupied with such matters, books, and exer- 
eises, which belong to the central point of the Gospel, be- 
cause we beeomo in this manner too delicate. The external 
coverings are not in vain ; it is as with the sweet pea, which 
becomes by far more perfect, especially for seed, if we leave 
it in the pod. The word of God is always delieious and 
good ; but on account of the necessary human explanation 
it causes sometimes an over-satiety. 

'The antients had an unscriptural opinion that-all the 
condemned should be saved by tho united intercession of all 
the saved, but this eould not be tormed the going into 
eternal damnation. It is a hard saying, ' until thou have 
paid the uttermost farthing;* but this cannot mean an ab- 
solute eternity, otherwise it eould not be said until. 

1 It is questionable whether the sum of sins committed by 
the righteous will not be greater than the sum of all jsins 
committed by the unrighteous, because the former sin in a 
more subtle manner than the latter. 

'If we knew how highly tho unhappy departed spirits 
value their temporal life, and now expenence so bitter dis- 
appointment, we should not fear spectres, which perhaps 
are by far more afraid of the living than we of them. It is 
best not to notice them, not to be presumptuous, not to in- 
terfere with, nor to seek for them, but just to go on as if 
they were not. 

* The apparitions of deceased persons havo probably their 
fixed period, after which they eease ; probably they continue 
until all the ligaments between soul and body are entirely 
dissolved. It is probably as with a fortress, if we aro com- 
pelled to quit it we must pass many gates and walls.. For 
souls which are sunk into impurity, it is especially difficult 
to he disentangled from the bonds of matter; from the ex- 
pression in the Revelations, chap, xviii. v. 2, " Babylon is 

* i. e. The talking of those who tMnk to save and to be saved by saving 
Lord, Lord. 

i I e. The doctrine of salvation by the sufferings of Chrtit. 

t H means that jitopleevcn without revelation were elevaled high above 
brutes. 



B E N 



210 



B E N 



become the habitation of devils*, and tbo hold of every fonl 
spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bin!,*' we 
perceive a distinction between those unclean spirits which 
were once human, and the devils.' 

In the year 1 742 Bengel was induced by the councillor of 
state, J. J. Mosscr, to express publicly his opinion con- 
cerning the Moravians. He stated that they behaved as if 
the word of God went out from them alone, and as if the 
kingdom of Heaven was their exclusive right. 

To the question why we should pray especially for princes, 
he answered, * because God wills that all should como to the 
knowledge of the truth, and since the great in this world 
cannot bo reached by doctrine, this defect must be supplied 
by the prayers of the faithful.' 

Once when some visitors were pleased to observe how Ben- 
gel's doves came to the window to eat from his hand, he said, 
* You see that it is possible to servo merely by faith, so it is 
also with the worship of God. If one has credit among men, 
the customers increase. So it is also with God— if He frets 
credit as the hearer of prayer all Uesh turns to him. If I 
desire to know a man, I should like to see how he converses 
in his closet with his God. It is certain that we cannot buy 
God's favour for money ; but because our Mammon is al- 
ways iu some degree unrighteous, I give especial alms when 
any of my family are siek." 

'Why is the discipline of the Calvinistic Church so 
despotic?' 'Because men arc such as they describe their 
God, and they have, according to their doctrine of predesti- 
nation, a despotic God.' 

Bengel declared the Latin work of Spinoza on human 
servitude to be a most beautiful book, because it proves that 
in man one passion follows after another, so that he is with- 
out liberty, like clock-work. This is true as long as the 
man is without grace, but grace gives liberty, and then men 
should immediately make use of their free agency. 
. BENGER, MISS ELIZABETH OGILVY, was born 
at the city of Wells in 17 78. She was an only child, and 
her father, who was a purser in the navy, dying abroad in 
1 796, her mother was left with very slender means. Miss 
Bcnger's early life was consequently passed amidst many 
privations, one of the greatest of which was her inability to 
gratify her ardent thirst of knowledge and lovo of hooks. 
At this period, as she herself used to relate, it was her com- 
mon practice to plant herself at the window of the only book- 
seller's shop in the little town which she then inhabited, to 
read the open pages of the publications there displayed, and 
to return again, day after day, to examine whether, by good 
fortune, a leaf of them might be turned over. From a very 
early period she aspired to literary distinction, and in her 
twelfth year her mother was prevailed upon to let her attend 
a boys* school for the purpose of studying Latin. At thir- 
teen" she wrote a poem entitled * The Female Geniad/ which 
was published; and though containing, as might be sup- 
posed, many imperfections, it exhibited the dawnings of 
genius. 

1 In 1802, in order to gratify her daughter's earnest wish, 
Mrs. Benger came to reside in London ; and a lady who 
had previously known Miss Benger, and estimated her as 
she deserved, introduced her to a circle of friends which in- 
cluded Mrs. Barbauld, Mrs. .loanna Baillie, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Hamilton, Dr. Aikin, Dr. Gregory, and others. Miss Aikin 
was amongst the number of her warmest friends; and it is 
from a short account of Miss Bengcr's life by this lady that 
the information contained in. the present notice is obtained. 
The young and eager girl, who at one period derived her 
literary gratifications from the shop-wjndow of a country 
bookseller, was often enabled, says Miss Aikin, to assemble 
round her humble tea-table names whose celebrity would 
have attracted attention in the proudest saloons of the me- 
tropolis. 

Miss Bengcr's first literary efforts were directed to the 
drama, but in this department she did not prove successful, 
and she soon abandoned it. She next wrote a pocin on the 
•Abolition of the Slave Trade,' which, with two others, was 
published in 4to., with engravings. She also published two 
novels, to which she did not attach her name. None of the 
above works can be considered as very perfect compositions. 
It was as a biographical writer that she obtained her t\r>t 
decided success, and her reputation became fully established 
by her historical biographies. At the period of her death, 
which occurred after a short illness, on the 9th of January, 
1827, Miss Benger was engaged in writing 'Memoirs of 
Henry IV. cf France.* In private lifo she was fcincerely 



beloved and esteemed for the warmth of her heart and dis- 
interested character. 

The following is a list of Miss Bengcr's biographical 
works; — 1. • Memoirs of Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton,* 2 vol*, 
small 8vo. 2. ' Memoirs of John Tobin,* I vol. small avo. 
3. * Memoirs of Klopstock and his Friends,* prefixed to a 
translation of their Letters from the German. -I, * Memoiis 
of Anno Boleyn,' 2 vols, small 6vo. 5. * Memoirs of Mary, 
Queen of Scots,* 2 vols, small Svo. * 6. * Memoirs of Eliza- 
beth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia,* 2 vols, small 8vo. A com- 
plete edition of Miss Bengcr's historical works has been 
published in 5 vols, small 8vo. 

BENGUELA, a district on the west coast of Africa, other- 
wise written Buengnela, Bariquclla, Bankella, and Uank- 
hclla. It is bounded on the norm by Angola, from which it is 
divided by the river Coanza, in 9 9 20' S. lat. Some accounts, 
however, carry it no farther north than to the river Longa, 
in 1 1° S. lat.. and others no farther than to the river Catuin- 
bela, which falls into the sea a little to the south of the 12th 
parallel of latitude. It is commonly considered as extending 
southward as far as Cape Negro, according to Captain Owen, 
in 15 a 40' 7" S. lat, 1 1° 53' 3" E. long. The district im- 
mediately to the south of it is called Mataman. To the east 
the old accounts place the province of Kimba, and the coun- 
try of the Jagg a (or Giagga) Kassangi, from which it is 
separated by the river Cuneni. Some authorities, however, 
extend the eastern limits of the southern portion of Ben- 
guela across a range of lofty mountains farther in the inte- 
rior, called the Mountains of Cold and of Snow (Cavuzzi's 
terms are Monti Freddi and Monti Ncvosi). This is said 
to he the same range which, to the east of Angola, is called 
the Crystal Mountains, and still farther to tho north the 
Mountains of Silver. 

Benguela is stated to have been formerly one of the seven- 
teen provinces of Angola, or rather of the great kingdom 
called by the natives Congo, of which Angola, Congo Pro- 
per, and Loango were also parts. Benguela. however, hal 
effected its independence before the arrival of the Portu- 
guese on those coasts towards the end of the fifteenth een- 
tnry. Since their conquest of the whole country, Benguela 
has again been reduced to the rank of a province, subject to 
the governor-general, who resides at St. Paul dc Loando, 
tho capital of Angola. There is, however, a resident sub- 
governor at S. Felipe, the capital of Benguela. 

Benguela was visited in 1589 by the English navigator 
Andrew Battel, whose curious relation may l>e found in 
Purchas; in 1667 by the missionaries Angclo and Carli (a 
translation of whose voyage is also in Purchas, and in ull 
the common collections); in 1682 by Father Mcrolla (a*s3 
in Purehas) ; and in 1688 by James Barbot. In modern 
times the coast has been surveyed by Captain W. F. \V. 
Owen and Captain Vidal. 

Tho interior of the country is said to be very mountainous. 
On the coast immediately to the south of the mouth of the 
Coanza is a considerable promontory called Cape Ledo, 
About a degreo farther to the south is the native capital, 
now called Old Benguela. The modern capital, called 
S. Felipe, or Su Philip de Benguela, the latitude of which, 
according to Mr. Bowdieh's map, afterwards referred to, is 
nearly 12° 10' S., stands at the bottom of a somewhat deep 
bay, called the Bahia das Yaccas, or Bay of Cows, and als > 
the Bahia de Torre, or Tower Bay, from a rock shaped like 
a tower. According to Battel, this bay affords good and se- 
cure anchorage. 

Captain Vidal, having passed Cape Negro, the coatt 
immediately to the north of which he describes as less 
desolate than that farther south, although still poor, * the 
few trees being so stunted in their growth as more to re- 
semble bushes,' arrived at the town of Benguela on tho 
30th of November, 1825. It is, he says, * sitnaicd iu an 
open bay, formed to tho south-west by a projecting point 
of cliffs, above which is Mount SombreiYo, known moro 
generally among the English by tho name of St. Philip's 
Cap, on Recount of its peculiar form.' The governor, 
Senhor Joao Victor, spoke English remarkably well, having 
received his education at Ueadiug in Berkshire ; but as he 
had come from Europe only u few days before, he could give 
them very little information, lie said that Benguela was 
then rapidly declining, but that somo years back it had 
possessed a greater trade than St. Paul de Loando, export- 
ing annually about 20,000 slaves. The slaves, it seems, 
had of late become scarcer, in consequence of the cessation 
of hostilities among the tribes in the interior. According 



BEN 



241 



BEN 



to the governor, ' the' natives in the interior will not permit 
the Portuguese, or any other people with straight ?iair % to 
enter their territory, and a journey of twenty days is the 
utmost they (the Portuguese) have ever heen known to 
accomplish ; but through the medium of a large and power- 
ful trine whose possessions lie at that distance, they some- 
times ohtain information respecting their settlements on 
the east coast.* The huildings in the town of Benguela 
were found to he of half-haked hricks, with mud for cement, 
the whole coated hy a thick plaster of shell lime. They are 
never repaired, hut when a house falls down a new one is 
huilt. The site of the towu is a marsh, full of stagnant pools, 
and the place is considered so unhealthy, that it goes hy 
the name of Hell among the Portuguese, who say that none 
of their countrywomen have ever heen known to live in it 
above a few months. The population is ahout three thousand, 
most of whom are free hlacks or slaves. The chief defence 
of the place is a large fort, now fast going to decay. It is-built 
principally of earth, and mounted a large numher of honey- 
comhed guns ; hut the garrison, Captain Vidal says, was 
quite insufficient for its occupation. They saw no sheep, hut 
goats and hullocks, the latter a very small species, in great 
ahundance. The elephants, they were told, had now hecome 
scarce, but there were still plenty of lions and tigers ; and 
a small river near the town contained numerous hippopotami 
and alligators, which, when the water got dry, were some- 
times wont to invade the town in a body, and give hattle 
to the inhabitants. Captain Vidal left Benguela on the 
5 th of Decemher. Captain Owen also touched at the place 
on the following day, hut remained only a few hours. He 
says, * The only chart that the governor possessed of the 
harbour, or neighbouring coast, was an old parchment ma- 
nuscript, on a very small scale. It did not appear that the 
Portuguese had any settlement to the southward of Ben- 
guela, while the neighbourhood of Victoria and Theresa 
rivers, which we call Catamaran Point, was only known to 
the governor as the salinas, whenee they proeure salt. The 
Portuguese sailors have a great dread of Port Negro, which 
they always avoid ; and it is reported that many vessels are 
annually wrecked in its vicinity, the crews, when saved, 
generally walking to Benguela, as the nearest place of 
refuge.' They saw hero ahout a hundred negroes of both 
sexes chained together in pairs, who had just arrived from 
a great distance in tho interior, to he exported for slaves. 
They were worn to skeletons with want, fatigue, and disease. 
In the man of part of the west coast of Africa, prefixed 
to Mr. T. E. Bowdich's Account of the Discoveries of the 
Portuguese in the Interior of Angola and Mozambique 
(8vo. Lon. 1824), which was constructed in 1790 hy a Por- 
tuguese military officer, partly from his own observations, 
and partly from the communications of the commandants 
of the Portuguese fortresses in the interior, the rivers that 
fall into the sea or flow towards it, between the Coanza 
and Cape Negro, are the following, in the order in which 
they occur from north to south ; the Longa (immediately 
above Old Benguela), the Cuvo, the Gunza (at the mouth 
of which, on the left hank, stands Fort Novo Redondo), 
the Quicombo, the Egito, the Inhandanha, the Catumhela, 
the Marihomho (of which a southern branch is called the 
Bandeco), at S. Felipe de Benguela, the Copororo (into 
which the Quianhecua falls from the south), the S. Ioao 
de Quiana (which appears to fall not into the sea, hut into 
a lake near the coast), the Dongue, the Cangala, the Sen- 
hehari, the Monaia, all of whieh also, as well as three 
succeeding rivers to which no names are given, lose them- 
selves in lakes near the sea, the Rio dos Mortes, into which 
the Cohal falls from the south-east, and finally a large 
river, to which no name is given, at Cape Negro. The 
Cunene, or Cuneni, in the interior, of which only a very 
small portion is delineated, is represented as flowing to- 
wards the south, after having heen joined about the 15th 
parallel of latitude, and hetween the 17th and 18th degrees 
of longitude (east from Greenwich) hy five or six other 
streams from the east and north-east. In this map, he- 
tween the rivers Copororo and dos Mortes, are placed in 
succession tho savage trihes of the Mocoandos, the Moco- 
rocas and the Mucoanhocas ; and to tho east of these is tho 
territory of the Quilengues. *To the south of the Rio dos 
Mortes are the wandering trihes of the Cohaes, to the east 
of whom, divided from them by the Rio Cohal, is the terri- 
tory of Donjau. To the south of Cape Negro are tho Mu- 
cuambundos, with the eountry called Hila, or Auyla, to tho 
cast of them. From between tho J6th and 1 7th to near the 



19th degree of latitude, the country "on the sea coast is 
described as wild and desert. Below that it is inhabited hy 
the Mucuixes, to the east of whom are Hecahona, and the 
territory of Oimha. fc 

In the hody of Mr. Bowdich's work (pp. 25 — 64) a lono 1 
account is given of an expedition of discovery into the 
interior of Benguela conducted in 1 785 hy Gregorio Mendes, 
at the head of a party of about thirty -Europeans and one 
thousand natives. The account is ahstracted from the 
manuscript journal of Mendes, which, along with other 
papers of Baron Mossamedes, the then captain-general of 
Angola, was put into the hands of Mr. Bowdich hy the 
haron's son, the Count da Lapa. The party, setting out 
from S. Felipe de Benguela on the 30th of Septemher, 
proceeded along the coast until they reached the Rio dos 
Mortes. They appear to have then taken their way along 
the hank of that river, and to have penetrated through the 
interior hy a semicircular sweep, till they again reached 
the sea coast at the mouth of the Copororo. The map, 
however, on which Mr. Bowdich has traced their route 
exhihits hut a very imperfect agreement with his descrip- 
tion of the journey. They found the soil on the hanks of 
the Copororo capahle of excellent cultivation, and the chiefs 
to whom the land belonged in possession of large quantities 
of hlack cattle, sheep, and goods, which they refused to 
sell, hut presented very freely to the commander of the 
expedition, together with some fine maize and celery. To 
tho south of this the country hecame very hilly. Occa- 
sionally some tolerahle water was found, hut in general it 
was very hrackish. Lakes hoth of salt and of fresh water 
frequently occurred. They also came to some large forests. 
Inhabitants were found as far as the expedition proceeded, 
and their dialects, though differing from the Bunda spoken 
in Angola, were all intelligible to those who understood 
that language. The expedition terminated on the 29th of 
Decemher. 

Mr. Bowdich states that, according to an unpuhlished 
memoir of M. de Souzas, who was governor-general of 
Angola till the year 1780, the interior of Benguela is pre- 
ferahle to that of Angola both for commerce and saluhrity. 
Battel speaks of many mines of silver, and also of other 
metals, as existing in Benguela. There are likewise, ac- 
cording to Cavazzi, mines of rock-salt, hut of inferior qua- 
lity to that found in Angola. The vcgetahle productions 
appear to he the same with those of the neighbouring 
countries. Merolla particularly mentions the numerous 
date-trees as the most distinguishing ornament of the coast. 

The old accounts descrihe the climato of Benguela as 
extremely unhealthy, at least for Europeans, who on their 
first arrival are stated to hecome generally unwell. The 
missionaries Angelo and Carli, from a notion that there was 
something in the air which poisoned not only the water, hut 
also tho fruits of the earth, and even the flesh of animals, 
declined the invitation of the governor of S. Felipe to dino 
with him, till he had given them the strongest assurances 
that neither the meat nor drink set hefore them should he 
the produce df the eountry. The miserable appearance of 
the whites whom they saw, also determined them to refuso 
to leave any of their companions with the governor, who had 
no priest in his establishment, and was very anxious to have 
one. When Merolla, however, visited the place fifteen 
years afterwards, ho found a vicar-general there; hut he was 
the only Christian minister in the whole country. Benguela 
was then made uso of hy the Portuguese as a place of 
hanishment for malefactors. 

According to Cavazzi (seo a translation of his account in 
Lahat's Ethiopie Occidentale), there had hefore his time 
(the middle of tho seventeenth century) been numerous 
herds of European eattle and sheep in Benguela, but they 
had then almost all perished, partly from the badness of the 
water, partly in eonsequence of the devastations of tho 
Giagas, a race of fierce savages, hy whom the country had 
heen frequently invaded. He says that it still ahounded in 
elephants of immense size, which were sometimes to be seen 
ranging in troops of a hundred or two ; and that there were 
also many lions and tigers, crocodiles and serpents. The 
people he descrihes, although some of them had been for- 
merly christianized, as having all hecome most ohstinate 
pagans. Battel says that the natives eall themselves Endal 
Ambondos (there is a race called Amhondos in Angola), 
and he descrihes their hahits and manner of life as in tho 
highest degree harharous and brutal. He also represents 
them as a very cowardly race, 



n* 235. 



[THE .PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.]; 



Vol. IV.-2 I 



BEN 



242 



BEN 



BENI is the status constructs of the plural of the Arabio 
trord Ebn or Ibn, 'a son/ It occurs in eastern geography 
as a component part of many names of families or tribes, as 
Bent Terntm, * the sons of Tcmtm," i. e. the tribe of TemTin. 
or lhc Temimidcs; Bern Omayyah, * the sons of Omayyah,' 
t e. the family known in history under the eurrcnt name of 
the Oinmiades ; Tiah Beni Israel, ' the desert of the sons of 
Israel/ the name of a dreary wilderness towards the north 
of Mount Sinai. 

BEN! HASSAN-EL-QADYM, or Old Beni-Hassan, 
a very large village of Egvpt, near the east bank of the 
Nile, in 27° 53' N. lat., ancl 30* 55' E. long. It is called 
'Old* to distinguish it from another village, a little to the 
south of it ami nearer to the Nile, which appears to have 
been founded about sixty years since, when the inhabitants 
of Beni-Hassan-el-Qadym were driven, by the encroach- 
ment of the sands upon the grounds around the village, to 
seek a more eligible site. But although abandoned and deso- 
late, the village is not ruined. M. Jomard, who contributed 
the description of this place to the great work on Egypt, found 
a largo proportion of the houses entire, and to appearance 
new. The place is of no importance but as marking the site 
of the catacombs in the neighbourhood, which are among the 
finest and most interesting in Egypt. The most important 
of these catacombs are in a mountain a little to the north of 
Beni-Hassan-el-Qadym ; and near them, in what was once 
the bed of a steep torrent, is a large natural cave, which 
Hamilton conjectures may have given to the spot its Greek 
name of Sepos Artemidos, or Cave of Artemis ; for he will 
not allow with M. do Pauw that the namo was applied to any 
of these artificial excavations, the architecture and general 
disposition of which too much resemble those of other Egyp- 
tian grottoes, which were confessedly appropriated to the 
use of the dead, for any doubt to be entertained of their 
character. This mountain is composed of calcareous stone, 
containing nummulites, and the ehain to whieh it belongs 
is from 200 to 300 feet in height ; but in front of tho prin- 
cipal ehain there is a lower one formed by the debris of the 
rock, shells, and sand. In this mountain are the excava- 
tions, about thirty in number, all at the same height in the 
rock, and all having their entrances on the same platform. 
According to Mr. William Hamilton, these grottoes must 
have been the cemeteries of tho principal families of the 
name of Hermopolis, whieh town is directly opposite to 
thein on the other side of the river. There are stil] remains 
of stone roads, which lead from the river's side in straight 
lines to the entrance of the principal grottoes. 

Many of tho grottoes are of considerable extent, consist- 
ing of one, two, or three apartments each ; the largest of 
which is about seventy feet square, Hamilton says, out ho 
is probably mistaken, as M. Jomard does not mention any 
so large, and Mr. Legh seems to describe the largest as not 
exceeding sixty feet in length by forty in breadth. In front 
of the principal grottoes are small porticoes of four or more 
columns, and other columns support the roof, that is, have 
been left there in the excavation of the roek. The roofs are 
for the most part arched, but in none does any instance of 
a constructed arch occur. The eolumns are, in general, of 
the same character with those of the great portico at Ash- 
mounein, or Hermopolis Magna, but the proportions are not 
so massive, being from twelve to eighteen feet in height, 
but never more than three feet in diameter at the base. 
They appear to represent four large palm branches tied to- 
gether near the small ends, and set upright on the thicker 
ends, with traces of other bands at equal distances all the 
way up. Tin's contrivanco, which is still actually employed 
by the natives in the construction of reod-huts, appears to 
have suggested the first idea of this kind of column, which 
is in such frequent use in various parts of Egypt, as tho 
column with what is called the bell-capital is evidently in 
imitation of the trunk of tho palm-tree with its spreading 
branches. Columns fashioned in the manner of those at 
Beni Hassan have neeessarily a iluted appearance, and M. 
Jomard says that they arc precisely similar to thoso which 
arc found m the most early Greek temples, and analogous 
to the Grecian- Doric, thus enabling us to trace an early style 
of European architecture to the banks of the Nile. In the 
catacombs, the columns are usually eovered with painted or 
sculptured hieroglyphics, and this circumstance, while it 
makes an unimportant difference, sufficiently attests that 
the pilhrs in question wero really and properly Egyptian. 

The interior distribution of the excavations is very various. 
The walls of all of them, liko tho columns, havo been covered 



with paintings, some of which are in perfect preservation, 
and with the eolours as vivid as if recently applied, while 
others have been defaced through the fanaticism or zeal of 
the Moslems, and probably of the early Christians. Tho 
interior of one of tho principal grottoes has been entirely 
eovered with a thin coat of hard and durable plaster, painted 
so as to resemble a variegated marblo. Mr. Hamilton has 
given a very elaborate account of these paintings; and from 
his descriptions, and those of M. Jomard, it appears that they 
mostly represent scenes of familiar life, and afford a most 
interesting view of tho habits and occupations of the anticnt 
Egyptians. 

It is impossible, within our limits, to give an adequate 
idea of the endless variety of domestic and rural occu- 
pations which are pourt rayed on these walls. "We there 
see the processes which were followed in the eulturc of 
corn, hemp, and 'flax, and in the manufacture of arms 
and ropes; we have views of boats navigating the Nile; 
and scenes of fishing, hunting, dancing, wrestling, sham- 
fighting, &e. * It does not appear that horses were employed 
in tho labours of agriculture in Egypt ; perhaps it was con- 
sidered that they were too expensive, or that tho light soil 
did not require them. Some of the fishing scenes arc very 
curious: besides the eommon mode of fishing with the drag 
net. a superior personage is in some of them represented 
as throwing his spear at the fish in the stream. Several 
hippopotami are seen walking at the bottom of the river, or 
with their heads above water ; while servants are paddling 
on their 11 oats of rushes among the sedges and reeds to 
drive these animals away, in which they are assisted by 
water-dogs. Tho fish 'arc delineated with great minuteness. 

Among the most interesting of tho representations is a 
scene of antelope hunting, where the animals arc pursued 
by hunters armed with spears, and leading greyhounds in 
leashes, a scene precisely similar to that which may still be 
witnessed among the Arabs in the neighbouring deserts. 
Dancing is frequently represented; sometimes with men 
and women together, but generally separate. The move- 
ments and attitudes of the men are in general very elegant . 
some of them exhibit feats of activity apart, others dance 
together, and one man stands upon his head. The dances 
of the women are much more extraordinary ; their attitudes 
being quite as strained and unnatural as those of the mo- 
dern almas. In the gymnastic exercises, the amazing va- 
riety of postures and the expressive manner in which they 
are drawn are equally creditable to the expertness of the 
Egyptians in this sort of amusement, and to the ingenuity 
of the artist. In one of the grottoes there are no less than 
180 single combats represented, each perfectly distinct from 
any other, and all executed with equal spirit Hamilton 
says, he was surprised to find no professors of the art of 
boxing among them. One curious scene exhibits a man in 
the act of being punished with the bastinado ; he lies on his 
belly, and one man holds his legs and another his arms, while 
a third inflicts the punishment; the affair is altogether 
such as may now be seen every day at Cairo. It is remark- 
able that the representations arc almost entirely of a civil 
character, notwithstanding the solemn purposes to which 
the excavations appear to have been consecrated. The na- 
tives as usual assign the origin of these works to the genii. 
Norden strangely enough attributed them to 'holy hermits, 
who made their abodes there :' but although they may in 
later times have been occupied by recluses, it is evident that 
they were in the first instance designed as catacombs, for 
tho remains of mummies hayc been found, even in the great 
ehambcr of the principal grotto, and all the grottoes have in 
one or other of tho apartments mummy-pits, or perpendi- 
cular graves near the wall, and holes have been perforated 
in the walls to serve as ring-l>olts for the convenience of 
letting down the bodies. (Hamilton's sEgyptiaca ; De- 
scription de rEgypte, vol, iv. 8vo.; Lcgh's Narrative of a 
Journey in Efn/vh p. 86, 87, &e. ; Rosellini's Plates, &c.) 

BENIN, BIGHT OF, in the Gulf of Guinea, is con- 
tained between Capo Formosa to the east, and Cape St. 
Paul's to the west, the distance between which is 30U geo- 
graphical miles in an east-by-south direction, while that 
along the eoast is nearly 350 miles. It is, with very few 
exceptions, one continuous line of low, marshy, sandy 
shore, intersected by numerous rivers and scstnarics, more 
especially towards Capo Formosa, where they form allu- 
vial islands, which are part of tho delta of the Quorra. 
Tho 'swampy character of tho ground extends in somo 
places upwards of fifty miles inland from the beach, and 



BEN 



243 



BEN 



is thickly wooded in most parts with mangroves, and 
other aquatic plants; in the wet season large tracts are 
inundated. The principal towns along the coast arc 
Quitta (Danish fort), Great and Little Popoe, Whydah 
(English, French, and Portuguese factories), Porto Novo, 
the sea-port of Ardrah, Badagry, and Lagos. The prin- 
cipal rivers which empty themselves into this hight are 
the Lagos, Benin, Escardos, Forcados, Ramos, Dodo, and 
Sengana, all of which, except the Lagos, communicate 
with each other and with the Quorra. Of these, the only 
rivers accessible to shipping are the Benin, Escardos, and 
Forcados. The whole coast is shallow, hut . shoals gra- 
dually and regularly, so that a vessel may run along it, 
keeping in soundings of forty to fifty feet, with stiff muddy 
bottom, at the distance of about four miles from the beach. 
The current always sets along the shore to the eastward, at 
the rate of half to l£ mile an hour. The prevailing winds 
are from the westward; but this coast is subject to violent 
tornados, which always blow from the north-east, and are 
accompanied by heavy cold rains, which sometimes* depress 
the thermometer 10° or 15°. There is always a heavy 
surf rolling on the beach, which makes landing every 
where dangerous, even in light canoes. The dry season 
commences in this bight in August, and continues till Ja- 
nuary ; the land and sea-breezes are stronger and more re- 
gular here, and in the Bight of BiafFra, than on any other 
part of this coast, and they havo no harmattan winds. In 
the months of February and .March the tornados are most 
frequent and violent, and in the alternations of calms and 
light winds, the thermometer will frequently rise to 90°, some- 
times to 100°. In the rainy season, during temporary ces- 
sations, the density of the vapours which rise in the atmo- 
sphere is most oppressive. 

The chief articles of trade at the towns on the coast, as 
w«ll as up the rivers, are palm-oil and ivory ; little gold is to 
be seen on this coast, and the use of it is almost unknown 
at Whydah. The necessaries of life may bo procured at all 
tbe larger towns cheap and in abundance ; of fruits and 
vegetables there is great variety and plenty. 

This coast was first visited by the Portuguese about tlio 
)*ear 1485, and afterwards by the Dutch ; but the first ac- 
count of the English trading here was in 1553, when Cap- 
tain Windham procured a cargo of Guinea pepper in tho 
Benin River. 

BENIN RIVER, formerly called by the Portugueso 
Rio Forraoso, empties itself into the Bight of Benin, about 
115 miles to the N.N.W. of Cape Formosa; the latitude of 
the N.W. point of entrance is in 5° 46' N., and 5° 3^ E. 
long. At its mouth the river is two miles wide, and has 
across it a bar of mud, clay, and sand, extending from four 
to five miles off, on which there is not more than twelve or 
thirteen feet at low water spring-tides. A short distance 
from the sea its width diminishes to half a mile, and at New 
Town, eighteen miles up, it is little more than 500 yards 
across. The depth of water does not exceed twenty -four feet 
in any part. At New Town, which lies on the southern 
bank, and is the port of Waree, two branches strike off 
nearly equal in magnitude to the main trunk ; one runs to 
tho N.E., called Gato Creek, to the town of that name, 
which is the port of Benin, and the other to the S.E. with 
the River Forcados or Warree, whilo the main stream conti- 
nues its direction to the E.N.E., and according to the report 
of the natives, at about fifty miles up, is not navigable for 
vessels of more than fifty tons. There are also smaller 
creeks branching off before reaching these larger ones, as 
Calabar Creeks, just within the entrance point to the right, 
and Lago arid Waceow Creeks, higher up on the opposito 
shore ; but these are only navigable for small boats. 

On the southern bank of the river, which belongs to the 
kingdom of Warree, the first town, ealled Salt Town, lies 
just within the mouth j tbe second, six miles farther up, is 
called Bobee or Lobou, and the next New Town. Opposite 
New Town, on the eastern point of the Warree Creek, is 
Reggio Town. Both shores of the main branch, as* well as 
the creeks as far as Gato on one side, and Warree on the 
other (with the exception of a few spots), consist of impe- 
netrable morasses covered with mangrove-trees, and gene- 
rally inundated, even during the dry season, as tho banks 
are very low. Formerly several European nations, as the 
Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French, had establish- 
ments on this river, eh icily at Gato ; but trade has so much 
decreased, that they have been all abandoned, and merchant- 
vessels now trading here merely hire a house for bartering 



in as long as may be necessary. The slave-trade, which is 
carried on to a great extent in all the rivers of this coast, ap- 
pears to be the cause of the decline of legitimate commerce. 
This riveri like all the others on the coast, is pestilentially 
unhealthy, and the mortality that invariably occurs in the 
crews of vessels trading here is appalling; the disease is a 
malignant remittent fever, which generaliy proves fatal with- 
in the third day after the attack. The chief articles procured 
in this river are palm-oil and ivory; pod-pepper (Cayenne) 
was also once an object of commerce, but is now more plenti- 
fully procured from the West Indies. In exchange the na- 
tives take cloth (scarlet particularly), beads, guns, and gun- 
powder, hardware, spirits, &c. The tide flows six hours at 
full and change, and rises five or six feet; during the rainy 
season the ebb is very rapid, and frequently washes away 
portions of the river banks. 

BENJAMIN, Tribe of. [See Israel, Tribes of.] 
, BENJAMIN of Tudela, a Jewish rabbi, and author of 
the Itinerary, was the son of Jonas of Tudela, and was 
born in the kingdom of Navarre. He was the first Eu- 
ropean traveller who went far eastward. He penetrated 
from Constantinople through Alexandria in Egypt and 
Persia, to the frontiers of Izin, now China. Saxius, who 
follows Wolfius's Bibliotheca Hebraica, places the date of 
Rabbi Benjamin's travels about 1160. Tney ended in the 
year in which he died, a.d. 1173. (Gantz, Tsemach David, 
foL 39, quoted by Baratier, Diss, I. sur i?. Benj.) 

Casimir Oudin {Comment \de Script. E/cles. ed. Lips. 1 722, 
torn. ii. col. 1524) probably gives the true character which 
Rabbi Benjamin bore among his countrymen, when he 
says that he was a man of great sagacity and judgment, well 
skilled in tho sacred laws, and that his observations and 
accounts have been generally found to be exact upon exami- 
nation, he being remarkable for his love of truth. The 
work is no doubt a curiosity, as the production of a Jew in 
the twelfth century ; but considered in itself, the Itinerary 
has only a small portion of real worth : for, in addition to 
the fabulous narrations which lead the reader to suspect 
him when he speaks the truth, there are many errors, omis- 
sions, and mistakes. Benjamin's principal view seems to have 
been to represent the number and state of his brethren in 
different parts of the world, and accordingly he merely men- 
tions the names of many places to which we are to suppose 
he travelled, and makes no remark about them, except per- 
haps a brief notice of the Jews found there. When he 
relates anything farther, it is often trilling or erroneous. 

Wolfius says, the Itinerary was first printed at Constan- 
tinople, in 8vo. 1543; at Ferrara in 1556, and a third edi- 
tion at Fribourgin 1583. It was translated from the Hebrew 
into Latin by Benedictus Arias Montanus, and printed by 
Plantin at Antwerp, 8vo. 1575. Constantine L'Empereur 
likewise published it, with a Latin version, and a prelimi- 
nary dissertation and large notes, printed by Elzevir, 12mo. 
1633 ; in which year Elzevir also printed tho Hebrew text 
alone in a very small size. It was translated into Dutch by 
Jan Barn, 16mo. Amst. 1666. J. P. Baratier translated it 
into French, 1734, 2 vols. 8vo* another edition in French, 
translated from the Latin of Anas Montanus, was published 
in Bergeron's Voyages /aits principalement enAsiedans le 
xii. xiii. xiv. et xv.sicclcs, 4to. a la Haye, 1735 ; and a third 
has been recently published in a volume entitled Voyages 
autour du Monde en Tartarie et en Chine, 8vo. Par., 1&30. 
An English translation, with notes, was published in 8vo. 
Lond. 1783, by the Rev. B. Gerrans, mado from the Hebrew 
edition published by Constantine L'Empereur at Leyden in 
1633. (See Wolfius's Bibiioth. Hebraica, torn. i. p. 247 ; 
Monthly Review, vol. lxx. p. 347 ; Chalmers's Biog. Diet. 
vol. iv. p. 449.) 

BENNINGTON, a post town of the United States, and 
capital of a county of the same name in the state of Ver- 
mont; distant 103 miles S. by W. from Montpelier, the 
capital of the state, and 338 miles N.N.W. from Washing- 
ton. Bennington is the oldest town in Vermont, having' 
been chartered in 1749, by Benning Wentworth, governor 
of New Hampshire. A battle was fought here in August, 
1777, between 1600 American militia under General Stark, 
and a British detachment under Colonel Baume, who had 
been despatched by General Burgoyne to seize a depot in 
New Hampshire Grants. The British were defeated ; and 
this affair is considered to have largely contributed to the sur- 
render of Bnrgoyne's army, which followed soon after. Ben- 
nington is situated in a good fanning district, on the borders 
of New York, and i3 a place of eome trade and manufacture. 
. 212 



BEN 



214 



BEN 



It has several handsome buildings, and Mount Anthony in 
tho town contains a cave, in whicn there are many beautiful 
stalactites, Tho population of tho town was 3419, in 1830. 
(View of the United States, 1833; II in ton's History and 
Topography of the United States ; Companion to American 
Almanacs, q*c.) 

BENT GRASS, a fpecies of Agrostis, creeping and 
rooting by its bent and wiry stems, whenco it becomes ex- 
ceedingly difficult to eradicato from any soil of which it has 
taken possession. 

BENTHAM, JAMES, author of the ' History of the 
Church of Ely,* was bom in the year 1708. He was the 
fourth son of the Rev. Samuel Bentham, vicar of AVitebford 
near Ely, and was descended from a very antient family in 
Yorkshire, which had produced an uninterrupted succession 
of clergymen from the time of Queen Elizabeth. Having 
received the rudiments of classical learning in tho grammar- 
school of Ely, he was admitted of Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, in 1727, and took the degree of B.A. in 1730 and 
M.A. in 1738. His first preferment was the vicarage of 
Staplcford in Cambridgeshire, in 1733, which he resigned 
in 1 73G, on being made a minor canon in the church of Ely. 
In 1767 he was presented to the vicarage of Wyraondham 
in Norfolk, which he resigned in the year following for the 
rectory of Fcltwell St. Nicholas, in the same county. I This 
he resigned in 1774 for the rectory of Northwold, which he 
exchanged in 1779 for a prehendal stall at Ely. In 1783 
he was presented to the rectory of Bow-hrick-hill in Buck- 
inghamshire, by the Rev. Edward Guellaume. 

From his first connexion with the church of Ely, Mr. 
Bentham appears to have directed his attention to the study 
of church architecture, the varieties of which, from the ear- 
liest period to the time of the Reformation, were constantly 
within his view. Having previously examined with great 
attention every historical monument and authority which 
eould throw light upon his subject, and after he had circu- 
lated, in 1 756, a catalogue of the principal members of the 
church (abbesses, abbots, bishops, priors, deans, preben- 
daries, and archdeacons), in order tocollect further informa- 
tion concerning them, he published * The History and An- 
tiquities of the Conventual and Cathedral Church of Ely, 
from the foundation of the Monastery, a.d. G75, to the year 
1771, illustrated with copper-plates,' 4to. Cambridge, 1771. 
He received great assistance in the compilation of it from 
his brother, Dr. Bentham, and from tbo Rev. William Colo 
of Milton. By a strange mistake, his remarks on Saxon, 
Norman, and Gothic architecture were long attributed to 
the celebrated Mr. Gray, merely because Mr. Bentham had 
mentioned his name among those to whom ho was indebted 
for communications. The ' History of the Church of Ely ' 
was reprinted at Norwich in 4to. 1812, by Mr. William 
Stevenson; who in 1817 published a' Supplement' to the 
first edition in the samo size. 

* In 1769, when the dean and chapter of Ely had deter- 
mined upon the general repair of their church, and the 
judicious removal of the choir from the lantern to the pres- 
bytery at the east end, Mr. Bentham was requested to 
superintend that concern as clerk of the works. He was 
yet intent upon his favourito subject, and to the close of life 
continued to make collections for the illustration of the 
antient architecture of this kingdom, which, however, his 
various avocations prevented him from arranging. 

He also contributed to promote works of general utility 
in his neighbourhood, and rendered great assistance in the 
plans suggested for the improvement of the fens by drain- 
ing, and the practicability of increasing the intercourse with 
the neighbouring counties by means of turnpike roads, a 
measure till then unattempted. A letter on the discovery 
of the hones of tho original benefactors to the monastery of 
Ely, and some Roman coins found near Littleport, printed 
in the * Arehooologia' of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. ii. 
p. 364 ; with ono or two pamphlets on local improvements 
in Cambridgeshire, were Mr. Bentham's other publications. 
Ho died at his prcbendal house in tho college at Ely, where 
ho had resided for the greater part of his life, on November 
17th, 1794, aged eighty-six. 

(See Cole's Athena Cantabrigienses, M.S. Brit. Mus., 
vol. B. ; Nichols's Lit. Anccd. vol. iii. p. 484 ; Chalmers's 
Biogr. Diet. vol. iv. 
Bentham's Hist, 
BENTHAM 
his father, Mr. Jeremiah Bentham, an eminent solicitor, 
adjacent to Aldgate Church in London, on the 15th of 



wan j^i*. nncca. vol. in. p. q»4 ; onaimers s 
;ol. iv. p. 480 ; Stevenson's Supplement to 
St. of Ely, pp. 1-20.) 
I, JEREMY, was horn at tho residence of 



February, 1 747*8. At eight years of age he entered West- 
minster School ; and at thirteen he was admitted a member 
of Queen's College, Oxford, at both which places he is 
said to have been distinguished. The ago at which he en- 
tered Oxford belongs more to tho practice of former times 
than that of later years. At sixteen he took his degree of 
B.A., and at twenty that of M.A. When the time came 
for attaching his signaturo to the Thirty-nine Articles of 
the Church of England, what ho suffered from scruples of 
conscience is thus related by himself* — 

• Understanding that of such signature the effect and sole 
object was, the declaring after reflection, with solemnity 
and upon record, that tho propositions therein contained 
were, in my opinion, every ono of them true ; what seemed 
to me a matter of duty was, to examino them in that view, 
in order to see whether that were really the caso. The ex- 
amination was unfortunate. In some of them, no meaning 
at all could I find : in others no meaning but one which, in 
my eyes, was but too plainly irreconcilcable either to reason 
or to scripture. Communicatirvg my distress to some of my 
fellow eollegiates, I found them sharers in it. Upon inquiry, 
it was found that among tho fellows of the college there was 
one, to whose office it belonged, among other things, to re- 
move all such scruples. We repaired to him with fear and 
trembling. His answer was cold ; and the suhstanco of it 
was— that it was not for uninformed youths, such as we, to 
presume to set up our private judgments against a public 
one, formed by some of the holiest as well as*bcst and 

wisest men that ever lived I signed : but by the • 

view I found myself forced to take of the wholo business, 
such an impression was made as will never depart from me 
but with life." 

At Oxford, Bentham was one of the class who attended 
tho lectures of Blackstone on English law. His ' Fragment 
on Government' shows at how early an age he began to feel 
dissatisfied with the arguments of that writer. The fol- 
lowing passage traces in his own words the course of his 
opinions : — 

• Perhaps a short sketch of the wanderings of a raw hut 
well-intentioned mind, in its researches after moral truth, 
may, on this occasion, be not unuseful ; for the history of 
one mind is the history of many. The writings of tho 
honest but prejudiced Earl of Clarendon, to whose integrity 
nothing was wanting, and to whose wisdom little but the 
fortune of living something later — and the contagion of a 
monkish atmosphere ; these, and other concurrent causes, 
had listed my infant affections on the side of despotism. 
The genius of the place I dwelt in, the authority of the 
state, the voico of tho church in her solemn offices ; all 
these taught me to call Charles a martyr, and bis opponents 
rebels. I saw innovation, where indeed innovation, but a 
glorious innovation, was, in their efforts to withstand him. 
I saw falsehood, whero indeed falsehood was, in their dis- 
avowals of innovation. I saw selfishness, and an obedience 
to the call of passion, in the efforts of tho oppressed to 
rescue themselves from oppression. I saw strong counte- 
nance lent in tho sacred writings to monarchic government, 
and none to any other ; I saw passive obedience deep 
stamped with tbo seal of the Christian virtues of humility 
and self-denial. 

' Conversing with lawyers, I found them full of tho vir- 
tues of their original contract, as a recipe of sovereign efii- 
cacy for reconciling tho accidental necessity of resistanco 
with the general duty of submission. This drug of theirs 
they administered to mo to calm my scruples, hut my un- 
practised stomach revolted against their opiate. I bid 
them open to mo that page of history in which the solemni- 
zation of this important contract was recorded. They shrunk 
from this challenge ; nor eould they, when thus pressed, do 
otherwise than our author has done— confess the whole to 
be a fiction. This, me thought, looked ill ; it seemed to me 
the acknowledgment of a bad cause, the bringing a fiction 
to support it. "To prove fiction, indeed," said I, " there is 
need of fiction ; but it is the characteristic of truth to need 
no proof but truth. Have you, then, really any such pri- 
vilege as that of coining facts? You aro spending argu- 
ment to no purpose. Indulge yourselves in the licence of 
supposing that to be true which is not, and as well may you 
supposo that proposition itself to be true which you wish to 
prove, as that other whereby you hopo to prove it." Thus 
continued I unsatisfying and unsatisfied, till I learnt to see 
that utility was the test and measure of all virtue, of loyalty 
as much as any ; and that tho obligation to minister to 



BEN 



245 



BEN 



general happiness was an obligation paramount to and in- 
clusive of every other. Having thus got the instruction I 
stood in need of, I sat down to make my profit of it. I bid 
adieu to the original contract; and I left it to those to 
amuse themselves with this rattle who could think they 
needed it.' {Fragment on Government, note p. 47, et seq.) 
Bentham's prospects of success at the bar were extremely 
good, his father's praetiee and influence as a solicitor being 
considerable, and his own draughts of bills in equity being 
distinguished for their superior execution. In one of his 
pamphlets (Indications respecting Lord Eldori) he thus 
relates the circumstances which led to his retirement from 
the practice of his profession : — 

'By the command of a father I entered into the profes- 
sion, and, in the year 1772, or thereabouts, was called to the 
bar. Not long after, having drawn a bill in equity, I had 
to defend it against exceptions before a Master in Chancery! 
" We shall have to attend on such a day," said the solicitor 
to me, naming a day a week or so distant, " warrants for 
our attendance will be taken out for two intervening days ; 
but it is not customary to attend before the third." What 
I learnt afterward was— that though no attendance more 
than one was ever bestowed, three were on every occasion 
regularly eharged for ; for each of the two falsely pretended 
attendances, the elient being by the solicitor charged with a 
fee for himself, as also with a fee of 6s. 8d. paid by him to 
the master : the eonsequenee was — that, for every attend- 
ance, the master, instead of 6*. Sd., received 1/. ; and that, 
even if inclined, no solicitor durst omit taking out the three 
warrants instead of one, for fear of the not-to-be-hazarded 
displeasure of that subordinate judge and his superiors. 
True it is, the solicitor is not under any obligation thus to 
charge his client for work not done. He is, however, sure 
of indemnity in doing so : it is accordingly done of course. 

These things, and others of the same complexion, 

in such immense abundance, determined me to quit the 
profession ; and, as soon as I eould obtain my father's per- 
mission, I did so : I found it more to my taste to endeavour, 
as I have been doing ever since, to put an end to them, 
than to profit by them.* 

In 1776 appeared his first publication, entitled A Frag- 
ment on Government, from which an extract has already 
been given. This work, being anonymous, was aseribed to 
some of the most distinguished men of the day. Dr. Johnson 
attributed it to Mr. Dunning. In 1 780 his Introduction to 
the Principles of Morals and Legislation was first printed ; 
but it was not published till 1 789. 

He visited Paris in 1785, for the third time, and thence 
proceeded to Italy. From Leghorn he sailed for Smyrna, in 
a vessel, with the master of which he had formed an en- 
gagement before leaving England. After a stay of about 
three weeks at Smyrna he embarked on board a Turkish 
vessel for Constantinople, where he remained five or six 
weeks. From Constantinople Mr. Bentham made his way 
across Bulgaria, Wallachia, Moldavia, and through a part 
of Poland, to Crichoff in AVhito Russia. At that place he 
stayed at his brother's, afterwards Sir Samuel Bentham, at 
that time lieutenant-colonel commandant of a battalion in 
the emperor's service, till November, 1 78 7, when his brother, 
who was on an excursion to Cherson, being unexpectedly 
detained for the defence of the country against the appre- 
hended invasion of the Capitan Pacha, he returned to Eng- 
land through Poland, Germany, and the United Provinces, 
arriving at Harwich in February, 1788. 

In 1791 was published his Panopticon, or the Inspection 
House, a valuable work on prison-discipline, part or which 
consists of a series of letters, written in 1787, from Crichoff 
in White Russia, where also he wrote his letters on the 
usury laws. 

In 1792 Mr. Bentham presented to Mr. Pitt a proposal 
formed on hi* Panopticon plan of management. It was 
embraced with enthusiasm by Mr. Pitt ; Lord Dundas, 
homo secretary; Mr. Rose, secretary of the treasury ;*and 
Mr., afterwards Sir Charles Long, now Lord Far nborough. 
Notwithstanding that enthusiasm, by a cause then un- 
known, it was made to linger till the close of the session of 
1794, when an act passed enabling the treasury to enter 
into a contract for the purpose. When Mr. Abbot's finance 
committee was sitting, Mr. Pitt and his colleagues took the 
opportunity of employing its authority in support of Mr. 
Bentham' a plan, against the opposing, and, to every body 
oat of the cabinet, secret influence. Years were spent in 
a struggle between the ministry and that influence, and 



spent in vain ; for after land, now oeeupied by the present 
Penitentiary, had been paid for at the price of 12,000/., 
for the half of which sum the incomparably more appro- 
priate land at Battersea Rise might have been had, 
when it had been put into the possession of Mr. Bentham, 
the whole was stopped for the want of the signature of 
George III. to a certain treasury document, for the issue of 
1000/., as compensation for the surrender of some leases to 
enable him to enter into actual possession. Mr. Bentham's 
plan for 1000 prisoners would have eost the publie between 
20,000/. and 30,000/. : the existing plan for 600 has already 
cost at least ten times that sum; and yet the ' Quarterly 
Review,' not very long ago, expended some of its wit upon 
Mr. Bentham, as the author of the Millbank Penitentiary. 
Dear and good is better than cheap and bad ; but here it 
was eheap and good against dear and bad. 

The history of such a life as Bentham's is the history of 
his opinions and his writings, whieh gave him a higher 
celebrity abroad than he enjoyed at home. Certain ex- 
cellent treatises of his were admirably edited in French 
by his friend and the friend (a remarkable concurrence) 
of Mirabeau and Romilly, M. Dumont. From these Ben- 
tham became well known on the Continent; indeed bet- 
ter known than in his native eountry, and more highly 
esteemed, as appears from the following incident that oc- 
curred during a visit he paid to France in 1825 for the be- 
nefit of his health. Happening on one occasion to visit one 
of the supreme eourts he was recognised on his entrance. 
The whole body of the advocates rose and paid him the 
highest marks of respect, and the court invited him to the 
seat of honour. 

From about the year 1817 Mr. Bentham was a bencher 
of Lincoln's Inn. He died in Queen Square Place, West- 
minster, where he had resided nearly half a century, on the 
6th of June, 1832, being in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 
Up to extreme old age he retained, with ranch of the intel- 
lectual power of the prime of manhood, the simplicity and 
the freshness of early youth ; and even in the last moments 
of his existence the serenity and cheerfulness of his mind 
did not desert him. 

' He was capable/ says his friend Dr. Southwood Smith, 
to whom he bequeathed his body for the purposes of anato- 
mical seienee, in the lecture delivered over his remains, ' of 
great severity and continuity of mental labour. For up- 
wards of half a century he devoted seldom less than eight, 
often ten, and occasionally twelve hours of every day to in- 
tense study. This was the more remarkable, as his phy- 
sical constitution was by no means strong. His health, 
during the periods of ehildhood, youth, and adolescence, was 
infirm ; it was not until the age of manhood that it acquired 
some degree of vigour: but that vigour increased with ad- 
vancing age, so that during the space of sixty years, he 
never laboured under any serious malady, and rarely suf- 
fered even from slight indisposition ; and at the age of 
eighty- four he looked no older, and constitutionally was not 
older, than most men are at sixty. Thus adding another 
illustrious name to the splendid catalogue which establishes 
the fact, that severe and constant mental labour is not in- 
compatible with health and longevity, but conducive to both, 
provided the mind be unanxious and tho habits temperate. 

1 He was a great economist of time. He knew the value 
of minutes. The disposal of his hours, both of labour and of 
repose, was a matter of systematic arrangement; and the 
arrangement was determined on tho principle, that it is a 
calamity to lose the smallest portion of time. He did not 
deem it sufficient to provido against the loss of a day or an 
hour : he took effectual means to prevent the oecurreneo of 
any sueh calamity to him ; but he did more : he was careful 
to provide against the loss even of a single minute; and 
there is on record no example of a human being who lived 
more habitually under the practical consciousness that his 
days are numbered, and that " the night cometh, in whieh 
no man can work.'' ' (Dr. S. Smith's Lecture, pp. 56-7.) 

' That he might be in the less danger of falling under 
the influence of any wrong bias,* wo still quote Dr. South- 
wood Smith's Lecture, ' he kept himself as much as possible 
from all personal contact with what is called the world. 
Had he engaged in the active pursuits of life, money- 
getting, power-acquiring pursuits, he, like all other men 
so engaged, must have had prejudices to humour, interests 
to conciliate, friends to serve, enemies to subdue ; and there- 
fore, like other men under the influence of such motives, 
must sometimes have missed the truth, and sometimes have 



B e a 



24G 



BEN 



concealed or modified it. But ho placed himself abovo all 
danger of this kind, by retiring from the practice of the pro- 
fession for which he had been educated, and bv living in a 
simple manner on a small income allowed him by his 
father: and when, by tho death of his father, ho at length 
caine into the possession of a patrimony which secured him 
a moderate competence, from that moment he dismissed 
from his mind all further thoughts about his private for- 
tune, and bent *the whole power of his mind, without dis- 
traction, to his legislative and moral labours. Nor was ho 
less careful to keep his benevolent affections fervent, than 
his understanding free from wrong bias. lie surrounded 
himself only with persons whoso sympathies were like his 
own, and whose sympathies ho might direct to their appro- 
priate objects in the activo pursuits of life. Though he 
himself took no part in the actual business of legislation 
and government, yet, either by personal communication or 
confidential correspondence with them, he guided the minds 
of many of the most distinguished legislators and patriots, 
not only of his own country, but of all countries in both he- 
mispheres. To framo weapons for tho advocates of the re- 
form of the institutions of his own country, was his daily oc- 
cupation and his highest pleasure; and to him resorted, for 
counsel and encouragement, the most able and devoted of 
those advocates; vhilo the patriots and philanthropists of 
Europe, as well asthosoof the new world, the countrymen of 
Washington. Franklin, and Jefferson, together with the legis- 
lators and patriots of South America, speak of him as a tute- 
lary spirit, and declare the practical application of his princi- 
ples to be the object and end of their labours/ — pp. 49-50. 

The leading principle of Bentham's philosophy is, that 
the end of all human actions and morality is happiness. 
By happiness Bentham means pleasure and exemption from 
pain ; and the fundamental principle from which he starts 
is. that the actions of sentient beings are wholly governed 
by pleasure and pain. He held thdt happiness is tho sum- 
mum boktim, in fact, the only thing desirable in itself; that 
all .other things are desirable solely as means to that end : 
ihdl therefore the production of the greatest possible amount 
of happiness is the only. fit. object of all human exertion; 
and consequently of all morals and legislation. 

In expounding his doctrines, Mr. Bentham has laid 
them open to the cavils of many disingenuous minds, and 
prejudiced against them many generous and honest minds, 
chielly, as it appears to ns, from not having himself suffi- 
ciently entered into tho metaphysical grounds of them. 
His system has been branded with the namo of 'cold- 
blooded,' 'calculating,* 'selfish.* It may be shown, how- 
ever, that what Bentham termed *$clfish,' would inordinary 
language frequently be termed, In the highest and purest 
degree, disinterested and benevolent. Among the very last 
things which his. hand penned, in a book of memoranda, 
was found the following passage : ' I am a selfish man, as 
selfish as any maii can be. But in me, some how or other, so 
it happens, selfishness has taken the shape of benevolence. 
No other man is there Upon earth, the prospect of whose 
sufferings would bo to ine a pleasurable one : no man is there 
upon earth, the sight of whose suffering would not to hie be 
a more or less painful onet no man upon earth is there, the 
eight of whose enjoyment, unless believed by me to be de- 
rived from a more than equivalent suffering endured by some 
other mitn, would not be of a pleasurable nature rather than 
of a painful one. Such in mo is the force of sympathy 1' 

Now here is a man, who- throughout his whole long life 
never purchased a singlo gratification at the expense of pain 
to another ; whose whole happiness throughout life eon>istcd 
in the contemplation of tho happiness of the millions of 
* all nations, and kindreds, and peoplo and tongues/ for 
whom ho laboured with tho earnestness of one who indeed 
felt that • the night comcth in which no man can work ;* aud 
who at the age of eighty-four, carried to his grave the purity 
and lhc guilelcs^ness of early childhood ; and yet calls bini- 
gelf seljinh, * as selfish as any man can be/ 

Tho last passage quoted from Dr. S. Smith, we think 
contains, or at least points to the explanation ofsomoof 
thoso peculiarities which probably narrowed tho sphero of 
Beniham's usefulness, certainly lowered tho degree of his 
greatness. We allude to the circumstance of his * surround- 
ing himself only with persons whoso sympathies wero liko 
his own/ It has always appeared to us that Bentham se- 
cluded himself loo much. The greatest political and legis- 
lative philosophers in all ages have mingled, at least occa- 
lionally, in the basilicas of men, if not testing, at least 



relieving their abstruser meditations, by tho study of man 
as engaged in action. Thoso too among them, who havo 
exercised most influence over the minds of mankind, have 
been content, however far their thinking departed from 
theirs, in tho general at least to * speak with the vulgar/ 
But Bentham, from tho time when tic embarked in original 
speculation, not only secluded himself from the general con- 
verso of his contemporaries, but occupied himself very lilllo 
in studying the ideas of others*, who like himself had devoted 
their lives to thinking. The effect of the first was to render 
his style inaccessible to the mass of his countrymen ; of tho 
other to produco what has been aptly termed one-sidedness 
of mind. Hisappcars, indeed, from all tho evidence that wo 
have collected concerning it, to have been an understanding 
which, though singularly acute and original, had no great 
facility in apprehending the thoughts of others. Now such 
an understanding, though vastly superior to that large class 
of passivo, understandings which arc able to store them- 
selves with' the thoughts of other men, but there slop, is 
almost necessarily excluded from the first order of preat 
minds, which possess an equal power in mastering the ideas 
of others, and striking out new ones of their own. Without 
this power, a man, however original, will waste much of 
his energy in making discoveries that have been made long 
before he was born. His theories, too, will be apt to be 
wanting in comprehensiveness. And this is a fault which 
no pains-taking, which no acutcness ever can remedy. 

An assertion of Bcnthain's, that 'all motives are ab- 
stractedly good/ has called forth a good deal of criticism, 
and not a little virtuous indignation ftmong certain critics. 
These critics, however, have generally committed the blun- 
der of confounding motive and intention. Mr. Bentham 
never affirmed that all intentions are good ; uor even that 
all motives are equally likely to produco good actions. By 
saying that all motives are in themselves good, he merely 
means as he himself explains it (* Morals and Legislation/ 
vol. i. p. 169.) that pleasure is in ihclf a good, a inoiivo 
being substantially nothing more than pleasure or pain, 
operating in a certain manner, i.e. some pleasure which the 
act in question is expected to be a means of continuing or 
producing ; somo pain which it is expected to be a means 
of discontinuing or preventing. And he distinctly lays it 
down, that although in a single given act, ' goodness or bad- 
ness cannot; with any propriety, be predicated of motives/ 
yet it may of ' disposition— a kind of fictitious entity, 
feigned for the convenience of discourse, in order to express 
what there is supposed to be permanent in a man's framo 
of mind, where, on such or such an occasion, he has been 
influenced by such or such a motive, to engage in an act 
which, as it appeared to him, was of such or such a ten- 
dency/ (Morals and Legislation^ vol. i. p. 218.) 

Bentham appears, from the number of tables scattered 
through his works, to have been particularly fond of tabu- 
larizing; and, liko many other makers of tables, as well as 
other things, he does not show, to our apprehension, any 
extraordinary excellence in this favourite pursuit. He was 
fond of heaping division upon division in almost endless 
extent: and verv frequently his classes are distinguishable 
by no logical differentia that we havo ever been ablo to dis- 
cover; but form that species of division which has received 
the name of a distinction without a difference. A very re- 
markable example of this occurs in his • Essay on Nomen- 
clature and Classification/ He gives the following euume- 
ration of the faculties of tho mind :— 

1. Perception, 9. Attention. 

2. Judgment 10. Observation. 

3. Memory. 11. Comparison. 

4. Deduction, t. e. Ratioci- 12. Generalization. 

nation. 13. Induction. 

5. Abstraction. 14. Anal) sis. , 
C. Synthesis, that is, Corn 1 - 15. Mcthodization, or Ar- 

bination. rangeinent. 

7. Imagination. 16. Distribution. 

8. Invention. 17. Communication. 

• One of the moil striking Inatanec* cf thl* U tho following nataice in hi* 
* Proniolopy,' it pot th union* work 6f Mr. Ilea tin in. • W'hilo Xenophon va* 
wriltng hUtory, and Uuelld traelUng jrcotnelry, Socr*i«* and Plato wire 
talking nonaeufo, undsr pretenc* of talking wudora nnd morality. This 



moral Sty of lhcirt com! tied In worth: this ftwdoiu of theirs wa* tin* denial of 
tn<ulrrf kmmn to every inn n't experience.* Now. tt U truly rcrtukaMo that 
th* morality of *wr*tc* resemble* that of Uentbam In Almoitctrry «'«nmtfesl» 
•ml the Inferiority of Hcmliara* manner of oxi»u*ition to thai uf Socratf s 
la mainly Mtributtble to lhe circumstance mriitinnctl In lho text. Whiin 
D-ntham med In •eclusion, Socrule* lived cuntlantly In the worhl. lint 
Soeiate* wit two thousand year* In advance of lilt age, Uentharo ]*>hnj>i & 
tenth or that timo \>cmzq hi*, See another note oa this subject, j»p, Ul, */, 



SEN 



247 



BEN 



It will he unnecessary to point out the degree either of 
metaphysical or logical merit displayed in this classification, 
which in truth is only an example of what is frequent in 
Bentham — a substitution of cataloguing for analysis. Any- 
thing like the application of a searching analysis would 
nave greatly diminished the catalogue, and hv consequence 
greatly simplified the subject, and anything like the appli- 
cation of a logical method would have greatly altered the 
arrangement. Bentham, with his usual honest candour, 
gives in a note the following classification by Condillac (£o- 
gique, ch. vii.) : 1. Attention; 2. Comparaison; 3. Juge- 
ment ; 4. Reflexion ; 5. Imagination ; 6. Raisonnement 

In the essay from which the above is taken, Bentham has 
indeed fully succeeded in showing the faultiness of D'Alem- 
bert's Systcme figure des Connaissances humaines, in the 
Discours preliminaire of the Encyclopedie, intended, as 
D'Alembert himself says, as an improvement upon the 
encyclopaedical tahle of Lord Bacon ; hut the one which he 
has offered in the room of it is not a whit less faulty, though 
the faults are different. The limits to which we are here 



necessarily confined will only permit us to indicate these 
things without going into the proof of f;hem. The reader 
who wishes for more satisfactory knowledge 'on the* subject 
will naturally refer to* the works themselves, which are well 
worthy of perusal on many accounts, hut on none more than 
their pre-eminent tendency to incite to thought the mind" of 
Him who reads them. - J,# 

From the general character of Bentham's tahularization, 
however, we would except the division which seems to have 
been conceived by him of the field of law." Among some 
valuable tables which Professor Austin drew up for the 
use of his class in the London University, was one exhibiting 
the Corpus Juris ' (' Corps complet de Droit'), arranged in 
the order "which* seems to have been conceived by Mr. Ben- 
tham, as expounded in his Trailes de Legislation, more 
particularly in the Vue generate d'un Corps complet de 
Droit. It is particularly worthy of remark that, in the 
tahle of which we subjoin an outline, Bentham, without 
intending it, has formed a corpus juris very nearly similar 
to that of the Roman classical jurists. 



National, Muoicipol, or Internal, Law (i.e. Jus Civile, in one of its numerous senses) : 
containing -j 



International, or External Lnw (i*. t. Jus 
Inlegrarutn Gentium). 



Droit Politique 
(i.#. Jus Publicum): containing - 



Droit Civil (as opposed to Droit Politique {h #. Jus Privntuml i 
containing - 



Droit Constitutionncl: relatiDj? to 

1. The Powers of the Sovereign, in the large 
nnd correct signification. ' 

2. The Distribution) of the Sovereign Powers 
wheo not united in n tingle person. * 

3. The Duties of the governed towords the 
Sovereijju* 



Law regarding 
The Rights and Obligations of Persons 
who arc clothed with Political Powers 
in subordination to the Sovereign. 



Code General, ou Lois Generates (t.#. JusKerum) : 
containing -i 



Codes Particnliers on Rccueil de Lois Parttculieres ((.«. Jus Perion&rum)> 



I 



Droit Substantif (or The Law) : 
containing -i 



Droit Civil, 



Droit Penal. 



Law 



Droit Adjectif (or Law of Procedure) i 
containing -i 

of Civil 



Procedure. 



Lav of Criminal Procedure. 



Bentham's great merit, and that prohahly hy which his 
name will he most remembered, was as a philosophical 
jurist, and writer on legislation. His excellence in this de- 
partment mainly consisted tn substituting rational principles 
as rules of law in the place of the time-honoured maxims 
which hardly any one before his time had dared to dispute. 
It has been said, indeed, and said truly, that the doctrine of 
utility, as the foundation of virtue, is as old as the earliest 
Greek philosophers (see the Protagoras of Plato ; also the 
Memorabilia of Xenophon) ; aud has divided the philosophic 
world, in every age of philosophy, since their time. But 
the definitions of natural law, natural justice, and the like, 
which pervade all the writers on legislation attd law from 
"Ulpian down to Montesquieu and Blackstone, show how 
little progress had he en made, previously to Mr. Bentham, 
in the application of this great principle to the field of law. 
For his services in this department Bentham deserves, 
and wedouht not will receive, the admiration and the grati- 
tude of all ages.* 

It is impossible to know what the philosophy of jurispru- 
dence and legislation owes to Bentham, without knowing 
what was the condition of it when he began his labours. 
No system of law then established, least of all that of the 
country of his hirth, exhibited in its construction a compre- 
hensive adaptation of means to ends. The ages to which 
the English law owed its foundations may have produced 
some works in architecture deserving of admiration, but 

• From these absnrd aod misty sublimities, however, the exposition given 
by Socrotcs (Xcnoph. Mem. lib. W. rap. 4) is rcmork.ibly free. Socrates en- 
deavours, with bii usual neutcness, to prove ri avri Vkcuw <ri xat) teftiftw. 
HU object is lo show that that is unjust which is a breoch of some law hu- 
man (i. e. set by the sovereign legislotor to subjects) or divine, nnd ho takes 
the prioei pie of utility to be the index or exponent of this class of laws." He 
conteoils with ranch foccnuily that the misery, which U the inevitable come- 
quence of certain acts, is ot once the sanction with which the Deity bus ormed 
some of hU uo revealed commands nnd hy which t\m reveal* them, lltit the 
Horn on lawyer* ond their modern successors, in nlmo't every country of Eu- 
rope, instead of taking their philosophy from Socrates, adopted Uio fustian of 
the Stoics. Conclusions very similar lo those of Socrates are nrrived nt by 
Professor Austin in Us * Province of Jurisprudence Determined.* 



it has certainly produced no such fabric of law, notwith- 
standing the loud eulogies of the English lawyers. And 
that fabric, faulty from its foundations, was rendered stjll 
more so hy the patch-work manner in which additions were 
made to it. Though the Gothic structures of Westminster 
Hall and Abbey would he far too favourable a representation 
of the Gothic structure of our law, there was till lately near 
them, in the two houses of parliament, with their marked 
want of architectural adaptation to their end, their incon- 
venient committee rooms, and their endless labyrinth of 
circuitous staircases and passages that ' led to nothing,* no 
very imperfect type, no had material image of it. To borrow 
the significant language of Mr. Bentham nimseif {Rationale 
of Judicial Evidence > vol. i. p. 6), *It appeared to me,* he 
says, *that no private family, composed of half a dozen 
members, could suhsist a twelvemonth under the governance 
of such rules : and that were the principles from which they 
How to receive their full effect, the utmost extravagance of 
Jacobinism would not be more surely fatal to the existence 
of society than the sort of dealing whieh, in these seats of 
elaborate wisdom, calls itself by the name of justice. That 
the incomprehensibility of the law, a circumstance which, 
if the law were wise and rational, would be the greatest of 
all abuses, is the very remedy which, in its present state, 

§ re serves society from utter dissolution; and that if rogues 
id hut know all the pains that the law has taken for their 
benefit, honest men would have nothing left they could call 
their own/ 

The English people had contrived to persuade themselves 
that the English law, as it was when Mr. Bentham found 
it, was the perfection of reason. It was a fahric reared hy 
the most powerful and exalted intellects, hy wisdom little 
and only short of divine. To utter a word thereforo that 
might tend to impugn such a system was the height of 
arrogance and presumption; to raise a hand against it was 
absolute profanation, nay, the most atrocious sacrilege. 
Accordingly, when Mr. Bentham commenced his attack, he 



8EN 



243 



BEN 



Was at first looked upon as a sort of harmless lunatic. By 
and by, however, ho began to be regarded in a more so- 
rious light— as a madman, who might he dangerous if not 
put under somo restraint Ho was assailed from all sides 
with all sorts of weapons, from the stately contempt of the 
dignified man of office down to tho ridiculo and scurrility of 
tho small wits and critics. Nevertheless he did not slacken 
in tho work he had begun, hut continued it with unwearied 
and reiterated efforts. 

Mr. Bentham fought this battle for nearly sixty years, 
and the greater part of that time ho fought it alono ; for 
a long timo, too, almost without making a single con- 
vert to his opinions. Latterly, M. Dumont gave him con- 
siderable assistance by putting his ideas into French.* At 
length his energy and perseverance were rewarded with 
some degree of success. Some of tho leaders of public 
opinion became convinced, and they, in their turn, con- 
vinced or persuaded others. Mr, Bentham has not been 
merely a destroyer. Indeed he considered it a positive duty 
never to assail what is established, without having a clear 
view of what ought to be substituted. In somo most im- 
portant branches of tho science of law, which were in a 
more wretched state than almost any of the others when he 
took them in hand, he seems to have left nothing to be 
sought by future inquirers ; we mean the departments of 
procedure, evidence, and the Judicial establishment. He 
nas done almost all that remained to perfect the theory of 
punishment It is with regard to tho civil code, that he 
has dono least, and left most to be done. Yet even here 
his services have been very great ; particularly by exposing 
the viciousness of the existing language of jurisprudence; 
and by what he has done towards enforcing the expediency 
of a code, that is, of a complete and systematic body of 
law. 

Ono of the excellencies of Mr. Bcntham's early writings 
is the ease and elegance, the force, and raciness of their 
style. This remark may surprise those who take their idea 
of Bentham from the specimens presented by those of his 
critics, whose object was to depreciate by turning him into 
ridicule. Certainly, ho gave some occasion for this by some 
peculiarities which he contracted in the later period of liis 
life. But of the truth of our remark above, any reader may 
satisfy himself by referring to Mr. Bcntham's earlier works ; 
we ivould particularize the ' Fragment on Government* 
the * Defence of Usury/ the ' Plan of a Judicial Establish- 
ment* or even the * Panopticon ;' from which last, a work 
but little known, we shall give an extract, which by its elo- 
quence will surpriso many in whose minds the name of 
Bentham has long been associated with sentences un- 
readable from the roughness of the materials, and the clum- 
siness or the complication of tho structure. Everybody has 
lieard of Burke's eulogy of John Howard, generally styled 
■tho philanthropist, but few know that Bentham has also 
^written a eulogy of Howard, which may challenge competi- 
tion, we think, even for eloquence with Burke's. Speaking 
of the want of leading principles, order, and connexion in 
Howard's publications, he says : — * My venerable friend 
.vas much better employed than in arranging words and 
sentences. Instead of doing what so many could do if they 
would, what ho did for tho service of mankind was what 
scarce any man could have done, and no man would do, 
but himself. In tho scale of moral desert the labours of 
the legislator and tho writer are as far below his, as earth is 
below heaven. His was the truly Christian choice ; the lot 
in which is to bo found tho least of that which selfish 
nature covets, and the most of what it shrinks from. His 
kingdom was of a better world* he died a martyr, after 
living an apostle/ — Panopticon, Postscript part ii. p. 2. 

In the style of the work from which the above is ex- 
tracted, there is a vigour, a freshness, a vivacity, a playful- 
ness, a felicity of expression, that renders the perusal 
perfectly delightful. Indeed, of theso qualities instances 
abound, even in some of his works that are reckoned 
most unreadable ; for example, in the Rationale of Judi- 
cial Evidence. This makes us the moro rccret Bentham 's 
seclusion, to which wo havo before alluded, inasmuch as its 
tendency was to mako him less cultivato the above qualities 

• The 'TraU^ade Uftblation' flnl appeareU In 1802. In 1SW a comulcla 
e«U<en of Uiom wnrW of Benlhara. which were edited In French by Dumont. 
Vh« ynUbhrd ml !Uu«t#Ii In itx drmf roU. royal 8to. Of tliU edition ICOO 
eoplr* h*re been already told. It Ii computed thai of Mr. llenltiama work*, 
chiefly tho*e on legislation, not fewer thau 80,000 volume* have tx-en »old In 
Knroi* and America. In the French* Spaniih, Italian, aud powof late in tbo 
i krman and FuUah language i. 



of writing. For, though wo doubt whether Mr. Bentham 
could ever havo acquired first-rate powers of metaphysical 
analysis,, wo are of opinion, however paradoxical that opi- 
nion may appear to some, that he was fitted by the graces 
of a style as easy and clear as Hume'» and far more vigor- 
ous, pure, and Idiomatic, to have become ono of tho most 
popular proso writers that England has ever produced. But 
the momentous and noble object which was tho aim and end 
of all Bcntham's labours was probably quite incompatible 
with present popularity. He appears himself to have fully 
felt tnis, and he has forcibly aud aptly expressed it in tho 
following passage, speaking of one of his most complete 
and valuable works, the Rationale of Judicial Evidence. 
9 Tho species of readers for whose use it was really designed, 
and whoso thanks will not be wanting to tho author's 
ashes, is the legislator; the species of legislator who as yet 
remains to be formed ; the legislator, who neither is under 
the dominion of an interest hostilo to that of the public, 
nor is in league with those who are.* — Rationale of Judicial 
Evidence, vol. i. p. 23. 

Mr. Bcntham's lot in life may on the whole be pro- 
nounced to have been a peculiarly happy one ; even though 
unattended with a very widely diffused reputation in his 
nativo country ; and even though, instead of that, exposed 
to the attacks of contemporary writers. His easy circum- 
stances and his excellent health enabled him to devote his 
whole time and energies to those pursuits which exercised 
his highest faculties, and were to him a rich and unfailing 
source of the most delightful excitement. On the other 
hand, his retired habits preserved him from personal contact 
with any but those who valued his acquaintance ; and, as 
for the writers who spoke of him with ridicule and eon- 
tempt, he never read them, and therefore ihey never dis- 
turbed the serenity of his mind, or rufllcd the tranquil 
surface of his contemplative and happy life. 

Mr. Bentham's principal works are the 'Introduction to 
the Principles of Morals and Legislation/ the * Fragment 
on Government,' the 'Rationale of Judicial Evidence,' in 
five volumes, including a very full examination of ihe pro- 
cedure of the English courts ; the 'Book of Fallacies,' tho 
• Plan of a Judicial Establishment,* one of his most finished 
productions, printed in 1 792, but never regularly published ; 
his 'Defence of Usury/ 'Panopticon/ an admirable work 
on prison discipline, ' Constitutional Code/ and many 
others: besides the treatises so well edited in French by M. 
Dumont, from the above works and various unpublished 
manuscripts, which contain all his most important doc- 
trines. 

BENTHEIM, an earldom, lying to the west of the Ems, 
and situated between the Prussian province of Westphalia, 
and tho Dutch province of Overijssel; it extends from 
52° 16' to 52° 40' N. lat., and from 6° 2S' to 7° 1 V E. long., 
and is comprehended In the Hanoverian province of Osna- 
bruck. Its name is derived from the castle and family ot 
the Benthcim-Benthcims. It is a compact territory, about 
399 square miles in superficial extent ; the surface is in ge- 
neral a uniform level, and the soil, though sandy, is in most 
parts productive. It is watered by the Veehte and its tri- 
butaries, the Aa and Dinkel : tho Vcchto is used along 
its whole line for lloating timber, and is navigable from 
Nordhorn to Zwoll. Bcnthcim contains a number of mo- 
rasses and moors, which yield excellent peat, is partially 
wooded, produces abundance of grain, rape-seed, llax, and 
potatoes, rears considerable quant ilies of horses, homea 
cattle, sheep, and geese, and its woods and streams are 
well-stocked with game and fish. Sand-stone, mill-stones, 
and free-stone arc raised along tho hills, near Bcniheim and 
Gildehaus, and exported to Holland ; potter's-clay and coals 
arc also among its mineral products, and sulphurous springs 
exist in the forest of Bcnthcim. It has no manufactures of 
any importance, except tho spinning of flax-yarns and linen- 
weaving. The climaie, though not free from fogs, is healthy 
and temperate. The earldom contains four towns (Bcnthcim 
with 1800 inhabitants, Schiittdorf with 1400, Nordhorn with 
1200, and Ncuenhaus with 1400), one market-village, sixty- 
two villages and hainlcts, and about 4400 houses; the popu- 
lation, which amounted to 24,364 souls in 1812, and 25,569 
in 1828, is at present estimated at about 26,100. In 1812, 
the number of houses was 3795 ; and in 1S28, 4375. The 
inhabitants arc of German descent, and use the Westpha- 
lia n dialect ; but in manners they assimilate to their neigh- 
bours, tho Dutch, und Dutch is also spoken in somo few 
places, Tho majority of the inhabitants are of tho reformed 



BEN 



Cr±u 



BEN, 



Lutheran persuasion ; the Roman Catholics, who eorapose 
five out of nineteen parishes, are included in the diocese of 
Osnahriick. The eounts of Bentheim were raised hy the 
Prussian monarch to the rank of princes in 1817, and have 
at present a seat among the twenty-six members in the 
upper house of the Hanoverian legislature. In 1753 they 
pawned their inheritance for thirty years to Hanover; but 
having failed to redeem it, Napoleon cancelled the obliga- 
tion on their paying to Hanover a sum of 32,000/. (800,000 
francs) in 1804. Two years afterwards he placed Bentheim 
under the sovereignty of the Grand-Duke of Berg, and in 181 
annexed it to the French empire, as part of the department 
of the Lippc. In 1813, however, Hanover, upon recovering 
its independence, refused to ratify the above adjustment 
of the debt due from Bentheim, and under the treaty of 
Vienna, retained it in full sovereignty, allowing the eounts 
an annuity of 15,000 dollars <24 75/.),' until the year 
1823, when the debt was paid off, and the original posses- 
sors were re-instated in their patrimony. The earldom is 
divided into the two districts of Bentheim or the Upper Earl- 
dom, and Ncuenhaus or the Lower Earldom. The little 
town of Bentheim is built on the side of some rising ground, 
at the summit of which stands the old, fortified, ancestral 
castle ; it has a mineral spring and baths. 52° 30' N. lat., 
and 7° 0' E. long. 

BENTHEIM-STEINFURT is an antient earldom in 
Westphalia, immediately adjoining the preceding, and held 
by the same family : it met with the same fate as their other 
possessions in Napoleon's times; but after the fall of Na- 
poleon in 1816 it was placed under the sovereignty of the 
king of Prussia, who conferred the rank of princes on its 
possessors. It occupies an area of about thirty -one square 
miles, has about 3800 inhabitants, contains one town, Stein- 
furt on the Aa (the capital of the Prussian circle of that 
name in the government of Miinster), with about 2400 in- 
habitants, and three hamlets. The revenue of this earldom 
is about 2050/. Bentheim and Steinfurt, with some minor 
estates in this part of Germany, form a territory of about 
504 square miles, the annual revenue of which accruing to 
the prince-counts of Bentheim- Bentheim, is estimated at 
105.000 dollars (14,437/. 10*.). 

BENTI'VI (zoology), or Bientiveo, the Brazilian name 
for the Tyrannus sulphuratus of Vieillot. Swainson, who 
has paid great attention to the tyrants (Tyrannidce), con- 
siders that it makes the nearest approach to Latiius (butcher- 
bird) of any bird yet discovered ; * not only/ says this elose 
observer, 'from its greatly eompressed bill, but by feeding 
upon reptiles, and thus hecoming partly carnivorous. We 
have more than once taken from the stomach of this species 
lizards in an entire state, sufficiently large to excite surprise 
how. they could possibly have been swallowed by tho bird." 
Azara mentions its haunting the dead eareases which the 
Caracaras (Polybortts Braziliensis) had left, for the sake of 
the pickings; and Swainson observes, in confirmation of 
this, that ' its claws, unlike those of all other tyrants, are 
but slightly curved; thus enabling the bird, when so en- 

faged, to walk without difficulty upon the ground.' [See 
YRANT.] 

BENTIVO'GLIO, GipVAWNI, was son of Annibalo 
Bcntivoglio, who, after being for some years at the head of 
the commonwealth of Bologna, was murdered by a rival 
faetton in 1445. Giovanni was then a boy six years of age. 
In 1462 he was made 'Principe del Scnato* of Bologna, 
and by degrees engrossed the sole authority of the republic. 
The Melvezzi family conspired against him in 1489, but 
were detected, and eruelly proscribed. About twenty indi- 
viduals of that family, or its adherents, fell by the hand of 
the executioner, and the rest were banished. Giovanni 
showed himself stern and unforgiving, and he hired hravos 
who exceuted his mandates in various parts of Italy. At 
the same time, like his more illustrious contemporary Lo- 
renzo de* Medici, he was the patron of the arts and of learn- 
ing; he adorned Bologna with fine buildings, and made 
collections of statues and paintings, and MSS. Popo Ju- 
lius II., having determined to reduce Bologna under tho 
direct dominion of the papal see, marched an army against 
thateity in 1506, and Bentivoglio, after forty- four years* 
dominion, was obliged to escape with his family into the 
Milanese territory, where he died two years after at tho age 
of 70. His two sons were replaced by the Freneh in 1511 
at the head of the government of Bologna ; hut in the next 
year the French being obliged to leave Italy, Bologna sur- 
rendered again to the Pope in June 1512, and the Benti- 



voglios. emigrated to Ferrara, where they settled under the 
protection of the Duke d'Este. 

BENTIVO'GLIO, E'RCOLE, was grandson of Gio- 
vanni. He was born at Bologna in 1506. He accom- 
panied his father in his emigration to Ferrara, where Duke 
Alfonso had married his aunt. He was employed by the 
House of Este in several important missions, during one of 
whieh he died at Venice in 1573. Ercole wrote some Satire, 
whieh are considered next in merit to those of Ariosto, 
and also several Commedie, which were much applauded at 
the time : he was also a lyric poet of some celebrity. 

BENTIVO'GLIO, GUIDO, born at Ferrara in 1579, 
was a descendant of the Bentivoglios, who had been rulers 
of Bologna in the preceding century. He studied at Padua, 
and returned to Ferrara in 1597, when the Court of Rome 
took possession of that duchy, in disregard of the claims of 
Cesare d'Este, the collateral heir of Alfonso II., the last 
duke. 'Ippolito Bcntivoglio, Guido's elder brother, had 
shown himself attached to the Duke Cesare, to whom he 
was related, and had thereby incurred the displeasure of 
Cardinal Aldobrandino, the papal legate. Guido, who was 
naturally of a supple, insinuating character, contrived to 
effect a' reconciliation between them, and also between Ce- 
sare himself, who took the title of Duke of Modena, and 
Pope Clement VIII. "When the pope soon after came to * 
Ferrara, he took particular notice of young Guido, and when 
Guido, in 1601, proceeded to Rome, he was made a prelate 
of the papal court. After the death of Clement in 1605, 
his successor Paul .V. sent him as nuncio to Flanders, 
although he was only twenty-six years ofage. His mission 
was to endeavour to re-establish concord between the various 
parties in that country long distracted by political and reli- 
gious dissensions, and to bring them again into submission 
to the papal spiritual authority. It was during his residence 
in Flanders that he wrote his historical work on the insur- 
rection of that country against the Spaniards, in 1566, and 
the subsequent wars between the Duke of Alba, and the 
other generals of Philip II. and the Hollanders (Delia 
Guerra di Fiandra, in three parts, 3 vols. 4to., Cologne, 
1632-9). He brings his narrative down to the year 1607. 
The work is of eourse written in the spirit of an advocate of 
the church of Rome and of the Spanish authority, but as such 
it displays considerable fairness, being superior in this respeet 
to the work of his contemporary the Jesuit Strada, on tho 
same subject, whose partiality for the Spaniards Bcntivoglio 
himself eensures. The language, like that of all BentivoghVs 
works, is pure, and tho style is grave and dignified. 

In 1616 Bcntivoglio was sent nuncio to Franee, whero 
he won the favour of Louis XIII. and his eourt, by the 
mildness and courteousness of his manners, and his pru- 
dence and tact in diplomatic affairs. In 1621 he was mado 
a cardinal, and he became afterwards the friend and con- 
fidant of Pope Urban VIII., whom he often assisted with 
his counsels. Urban, however, was very imperious and ob- 
stinate, and in his old age was swayed by his nephews tho 
Barberini and their party. Bcntivoglio was one of the few 
men at his eourt who eould and would speak at times the 
truth without flattery. In 1641 Bentivoglio was made 
bishop of Terracina. When Urban VIII. died in 1644 it 
was the general opinion that Bentivoglio would be his 
successor in the papal chair, which probably he expeeted 
himself. But he fell ill and died, at the age of sixty-five, 
before the eardinals in eonclave assembled had time to 
make their choice. Bentivoglio was regular in his conduct 
and morals, but he was fond of pomp and grandeur in his 
establishment, a taste then very prevalent at the eourt of 
Rome. The other works of Bentivoglio are, Relazioni 
/aite in tempo delle Nwiziature di Fiandra e di Francia, 
4to., Cologne, 1630. In this work, which may also be ealled 
historical, he describes the manners and character of the 
nations among whom be lived, and the remarkable incidents 
of his timer It was translated into English by Henry Earl 
of Monmouth, fol. London, 1652. Memorie con lequali de- 
scrive la sua Vita, 8vo., Amsterdam, 1648 : this is a sort of 
diary of his life, published after his death. Of this and the 
two preceding historical works, Gravina the Italian critie 
observes, that Bentivoglio is an elegant but not deep writer, 
that he was shy in manifesting his real sentiments and the 
secret councils of courts and statesmen, of which * ho is 
often silent, not through ignorance or earelessness, but 
through prudential caution/ Lettere, 8vo., Roma, 1654. 
This last work is held in much estimation for the correet 
ness of the language, and flueney and ease of the style, 



Ho. 236. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA/) 



Vol. IV.-2 K 



BEN 



250 



BEN 



and is therefore often put into the hands of students of 
Italian. Tho grammarian Biagioli published an edition of 
these letters at Paris, 1807, with useful notes, which has 
born frequently re primed fur tho uso of schools. In tho 
Barberim library at Uomc, are three more volumes of Ben- 
tivoglio't letters in MS., of which only somo have been 
extracted and published. They wcro written from Flanders 
and France during his lone residenco in those countries. 

BENTLEY, RICHARD, born January 27, 1662, was 
tho sun of a small farmer or yeoman, resident tit Oulton, hi 
tho pariih of Roth well, near" Wake field, in Yorkshire. Ho 
was educated at tho grammar school of Wakefield, and at 
St John's College, Cambridge ; of which ho was admitted a 
siiar. Ma v 24, 1676. No fellowship falling vacant to which 
he was eligible, ho accepted tbe mastership of tho grammar- 
school of Spalding in Lincolnshire, early in 1682. After 
holding that office for a year, bo resigned it to become private 
tutor to tbo son of Dr. Stillingfleet, afterwards Bishop of 
Worcester. Ho accompanied his pupil to Oxford, where ho 
was admitted to the same degree of M.A. as he held at 
Cambridge. His residence at Oxford contributed to ad- 
vance both his reputation and learning; he bad access to 
the manuscript treasures of tho Bodleian library, and became 
intimate with Several distinguished members of the univer- 
sity, especially Mill, the celebrated editor of the Greek Tes- 
tament* and Bernard, then Savilian Professor. A series of 
his letters to and from the latter is published in tbe Museum 
Critieum, v. ii. p. 533. At this time ho meditated two very 
laborious undertakings:— a complcto collection of 'Frag- 
ments of the Greek Poets/ and an editiou Of tho three 
priori pal Greek lexicographers, Hesychius, Suidas, and tbe 
Efymologicum Magnum , to bo printed in parallel columns 
in the same page, Neither scheme, however, was carried 
into e fleet To the edition of Callimachus, published by 
Graovius in 1697, Bchtlcy contributed a collection of the 
fragments of that poet. But his reputation for scholarship 
was established by a performance of much moro confined 
nature — a dissertation on an obscure chronicler, named Ma- 
lalas. which was published as an Appendix to Dr. Mill's 
edition of tho author, in 1G91. [See Mal&las. Mil*..] 
This showed such an intimate acquaintance with Greek 
literature, especially tho drama, that it drew the eyes of 
foreign as well as British scholars upon him, and Obtained a 
warm tributo of admiration from the great critics, Grtovius 
and Spanhcim, to this new and brilliant star of British lite- 
rature. 

Bentley was ordained deacon in March 1690. In 1C92 he 
obtained tho first nomination to the lectureship newly 
founded under the will of Mr. Boyle, in defence of religion, 
natural and revealed. [See Boylk, Robert/) He spared no 
labour to improve tbis opportunity of establishing bis repu- 
tation as a divine. He chose for his subject the confuta- 
tion of atheism: directing his arguments more especially 
against tho system of Hcbbcs, of which, he says, * tho 
taverns and coffee-houses, nay Westminster Hall and the 
very churches wcro full.* The latter portion of the course 
was devoted to prove the existence of a Creator, from the 
evidences of design in the constitution of tho universe, as 
explained by Newton ; whose great discoveries, published 
in tho Principia, about six years before, were slowly re- 
ceived by the learned, and continued a scaled book to the 
world at large. To clear the points in which ho himself 
felt any difficulty, ho entered into a correspondence with 
Newton, whose replies were published in 1756, by Bentley's 
nephew. Thcso lectures were received with great applause, 
and established (he author's reputation as a preacher. In 
October, I 692, he was rewarded with a stall at Worcester, and 
in tlte following year was appointed keeper of the King's 
library. In 1694 he was re-appointed Boyle Lecturer, 
and followed up his refutation of atheism by a defence of 
Christianity against tho attacks of Infidels. This second 
series of sermons was never published, and at present no 
trace of their existence can be found. In 1696 ho took tho 
decree of D.D. at Cambridge ; and On this occasion, in his 
public exercise (or in academical language, his act), he 
appeared again as a defender of revealed religion. 

Bentley's appointment to the offico of King's Librarian 
was tlte accidental cause of his writing the celebrated Dis- 
sertation on the Epistles of Phalaris. Tbe onco famous 
controversy between Boylo and Betitlcy arose out of an 
alleged want of courtesy on (he part of tho latter, relative to 
tho loan of a MS. from the King's Library to the Hon. 
C.Boyle, au undergraduate of Chf tst'a Church, Oxford, of 



Eromising talents, who had unflcrtaken to edit the Episttes 
fco Boylk, Charles], and who resented tho supposed 
slight In a pettish passage in the preface (Jan. 1, 1695). 
On seeing this, Bentley addressed to Boyle a courteous ex- 
planation of his conduct, expecting tho offensivo passage to 
m cancelled or retracted ; but he obtained no satisfaction, 
and was told ho might seek his redress in any method lie 
pleased. Two years elapsed heforo ho took public notice 
of the insult. It so happened that Bentley had made up 
his mind that the Epistles ascribed to Phalaris wcro spu- 
rious, before this quarrel occurred; and in 1697 ho was 
called on by his friend, tho learned Wotton, to stato tho 
grounds on which ho camo to that conclusion, in fulfilment 
of a promise to that effect This he did in an Appendix to 
the second edition of Wotton's Reflections on Antient and 
Modern Learning. At tbe end of it ho notices the unjust 
charge mado against him by Boyle, whose performance ho 
criticises wilh much asperity. Tbis work created a great 
sensation, especially among the Cbristchurch men, who 
chose to consider it as an insult to tho whole society. 
Boyle, however, seems to have been esteemed unequal to 
avenge it ; for a knot of the best scholars and wits of tho 
collego united their pens to punish Bentloy, not by fair ar- 
gument, but by every artifice which wit and malice could 
devise. Not only his learning, but his character, literary, 
moral, and personal, were attacked: and it is alike singular 
and discreditable, that so virulent a hatred as was shown in 
this quarrel should havo been excited by so slight a cause. 
The joint work, in which the celebrated Attcrbury was the 
chief performer, appeared in March, 1698, and was entitled, 
Dr. 'Bentley* s Dissertations on the Epistles o/ Phalaris 
and the Fables of JEsop examined, by the Hon. Charles 
poyle, Esq. It obtained such a degree of popularity, as 
gives some reason for supposing that Bentley had already 
made himself known and disliked for that presumptuous 
arrogance which he displayed so remarkably in after-life. It 
has been so long and so generally acknowledged that in 
this controversy Bentley was triumphantly victorious, that 
many may bo surprised to hear of the extremely favourable 
reception which tho Oxford rejoinder obtained; the blow 
was commonly thought fatal to Bentley's reputation as a 
scholar. 

A number of lampoons and attacks of various sorts wcro 
made upon him, of which Swift's Battle of the Books is the 
only one which has obtained celebrity. Bentley was in no 
hurry to reply to tbe storm of ridicule and abuse which as- 
sailed him on all sides : it was his maxim, ho said, that no 
man was ever written out of reputation, except by himself. 
He therefore took time to mature his answer, and ill the be- 
ginning of 1699 published his enlarged Dissertations on the 
Epistles of Phalaris, which has finally set at rest the ques- 
tion in dispute. This, however, is the least part of the. 
merits of the work. Professedly controversial, it embodies a 
mass of accurate information relative to historical facts, an- 
tiquities, chronology, and philology, such as we may safely 
say, has rarely been collected in the same space: and the 
rcadcrcannot fail to admire the ingenuity with which things 
apparently trilling, or foreign to the point in question, aro 
madeefiective in illustrating or proving tbe author's views. 
Nothing shows so well how thoroughly digested and familiar 
was tho vast stock of reading which Bentley possessed. The 
banter and ridiculo of his opponents are returned with inte- 
rest, and tho reader is reconciled to what might seem to savour 
too much of arrogance and the bitterness of controversy, by 
a sense of tho strong provocation given to the author. War- 
burton, no friend to Bentley, said that he had beat the Ox- 
ford men at their own weapons. Tho Oxford champions 
expressed their intention to reply, but tbey probably felt their 
ground to bo cut from under their feet, for they published 
no answer ; nor was Bentley again called into the field 
by any worthy antagonist. 

At the end of the Dissertation on Phalaris Bentley ex 
amines and denies the authenticity of the epistles ascribed 
to Themistoclcs, Socrates, Euripides, and others. He also ' 
denies the genuineness of the fables which bear Ai sop's 
namo (as to their form, entirely, as to their suhstance, in a 
great measure), and traces the ^Esopcan (A t\rw 7ri7oi pvQot) 
Fables through a number of hands down to the compara- 
tively modern and corrupt proso version now extant. [Seo 
yKsop and Babrius.] ' 

On the first of February, 1700, Bentley, by the gift of tho 
crown, was instituted Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
and resigned his stall at Worcester inconsequence of that ap- 



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pomtment. In the following year, June 24, he was admitted 
Archdeacon of Ely. Subsequently he was appointed Chap- 
lain both to William III. and to Queen Anne. On the 
4th Jan. 1701, he married Joanna, daughter of Sir John 
Bernard of Brampton, in Huntingdonshire, a lady of amiable 
temper and cultivated mind, with whom he lived in har- 
mony and happiness throughout their union. 

His new situation was admirably suited to meet and gra- 
tify the wishes of a scholar; and as a supporter andencou- 
rager of literature, Bentley's conduct is deserving of much 
praise. He took an active part in re-modelling and render- 
ing useful tbe University press; he gave his countenance 
and assistance to Kuster, wbo undertook a new edition of 
Suidas to be printed at tbat press; he undertook his edition 
of Horace, published afterwards in 1711; he wrote his 
Critical Epistles to Kuster on the Plutus and Clouds of Aris- 
tophanes, two of which, written in 1708, are published in 
the Museum Criticum (vol. ii., see page 403, seq.)» together 
with a Letter to Barnes on the Epistles ascribed to Euripi- 
des, dated Feb. 22 1692-3. A series of emendations, pre- 
viously unpublished, of the same plays, will he found in the 
Museum Criticum (vol. ii. p. 126). He also transmitted in 
1 708 a long and valuable letter toHerasterhuis, devoted prin- 
cipally to tbe correction of the fragments of comic authors 
in the 1 0th book of Julius Pollux, of whose Onomasticon 
that eminent critic had recently published an edition. He 
made an important improvement in the system of college 
examinations for fellowships and scholarships, by substituting 
for the old and loose method of oral examination, that system 
of written exercises which is still pursued, and which has 
contributed perhaps as much as any one cause, to the high 
reputation which the college has long maintained for purity 
of election as well as for the talents of its members ; and he 
laboured with success for the improvement of the college 
library. Bentley's conduct in other collegiate affairs was 
far from praiseworthy. He showed almost from the first 
a domineering, arhitrary, and selfish, almost a sordid temper, 
which disgusted tho best members of the society, and, in 
the end, involved him in a protracted lawsuit, much obloquy, 
and much uneasiness. Many of his regulations were bene- 
ficial, but even in these he contrived to put himself in the 
wrong, by stretching his power beyond tbe Hmiu to which 
the statutes of Trinity have strictly and sedulously confined 
the Master's authority. Among these we may particularly 
mention his lavish expenditure on the improvement of the 
lodge, or master s dwelling-house ; an arbitrary appropria- 
tion of the college revenue to a purpose which, if not un- 
desirable, was at least not necessary, which caused great 
discontent in the society. So also the repairing, or we might 
almost say the rebuilding, of the present noble chapel of the 
college, a measure most praiseworthy in itself, hecame offen- 
sive and injurious to the fellows from the manner in which 
it was done. The same censure is due to many of tbe 
Master's fiscal and other regulations. 

The fellows seem soon to have made up their minds that 
their new Master (who was likely to be unfavourably re- 
garded from his being educated not in their own hody, but 
at St. John's) was a grasping arhitrary man; and the 
bickerings between him and the senior fellows of the col- 
lege grew frequent The most ohjectionable of his acts 
appears to have been that of intruding fellows into the 
body, not hy the regular and statutable course of election, 
but by what he termed presumption, by which candidates 
were chosen to future vacancies ; and as the mode was 
unjustifiable, so his choice of persons to benefit by it was 
had. Towards tbe close of 1709 an open rupture took place 
hctwecn tbe Master and the seniors. The former is said, 
in a fit of passion, to have used the words ' From henceforth 
farewell peace to Trinity College ;* and they were verified 
by a long series of ruinous litigation, by which the college 
suffered grievously in purse, discipline, and reputation. 
The seniors appealed against tbe Master to the visitor. 
Unfortunately a doubt existed whether the Bishop of Ely or 
the crown was the visitor; and Bentley, supported hy a party 
among the junior fellows whom he had gained over to his 
interest, succeeded, by every artifice which legal ingenuity 
and indomitable pride and obstinacy could suggest, in de- 
laying the decision of this question till 1733, when the 
House of Lords finally decided that the bishop was visitor. 
Bishop Greene immediately summoned Bentley to appear 
before him, and in 1 734 pronounced sentence of depriva- 
tion against him. But Bentle/s ohstinaey and fertility of 
expedients supported him even in this extremity. Availing 



himself of what appears to he a blunder in transcribing the 
statutes, where it is said that the Master, after senteuce of 
deprivation hy the visitor, shall be deposed per eundemvice* 
magistrum (by the same vicemaster, where the abbreviated 
form (vicem.) of the word vicemagistrum seems, by a 
blunder of the copyist, to have been changed into visita- 
torem), he refused to vacate his office until the vice- 
master had carried the sentence of the visitor into effect* 
which, as the vicemaster was one of bis most devoted followers, 
was equivalent to annulling the visitor's decision. He thus 
resisted, for four years, the utmost efforts of his adversaries to 
procure execution of the sentence, until the death of Bishop 
Greene, in May 1738, put an end to the suit. We have 
not attempted to give even an abstract of these proceedings, 
for an ahstract could not well be made intelligible. To those 
who have leisure for such by-gone points of curious dis- 
cussion, Dr. Monk's minute account of the whole suit will 
be full of interesting information. 

In 1717, Bentley, by one of his hold and unscrupulous 
manoeuvres, procured himself to be elected Regius Profes- 
sor of Divinity. He chose for tbe subject of his proba- 
tionary lecture a discussion of the celebrated text 1 St. 
Jobn, v. 7, on the three heavenly Witnesses, in wbich, main- 
taining the doctrine of the Trinity, he gave a history of the 
verse, which he decidedly rejected. This work has never been 
printed, and Dr. Monk bas not been able to discover it. It 
was seen and read in MS. by Porson and some other scholars 
of tbat day. Not content witb heing at variance with the col- 
lege, he placed himself in the same position with respect to 
the whole university, in the very firs^ year of office, by an 
attempt to extort from those persons who were to he created 
doctors of divinity a larger fee than it had been usual to pay. 
The claim, in Dr. Monk's opinion, was not undeserving of con- 
sideration ; but, like most of Bentley's actions, it was prose- 
cuted in a violent and offensive manner, and a warm dispute 
arose out of this paltry beginning; in the course of which 
the Master of Trinity and Regius Professor of Divinity, 
one of the first dignitaries of the university, was, by a grace 
of the senate, passed by a majority of more than two to one, 
degraded and deprived of all his degrees, Oct. 17, 1718. 
Against this sentence Bentley petitioned the king. The 
matter was referred to the Privy Council, and carried thence 
into the Court of King's Bench, which, after more than frve 
years of undignified altercation, issued a mandamus, Y<fo. 7, 
to the university to restore Richard Bentley to all his de- 
grees, and to every other right and privilege of which they 
had deprived him. 

It sbows in a strong light the remark ahle activity and 
energy of Bentley's mind, that these harassing quarrels, 
which must have occupied a large portion of his time and 
attention, interfered so little with his critical pursuits. 
Some of his works, performed during this long period 
of disturbance, we have already noticed ; we have to add 
a largo and valuahle hody of notes and corrections of 
Cicero's Tusculan Questions, published in Davis's edition 
of that work in 1709 (Riehardi Bentleii Emendatione& in 
Ciceronis Tusculanas). In 1710 he wrote his Emenda- 
tions on the comic poets, Menander and Philemon, sug- 
gested by Le Clere's edition of the fragments of those 
authors. Tbe task was one for which Le Clerc was utterly 
unfit: and it is said that motives of personal hostility had 
some intluenee in inducing Bentley to demonstrate that he 
was so, which he did with no sparing hand. The work was 
anonymously printed in Holland (Emendationes in Menan- 
dri et Philemonis Reliquias, ex nupera 'editione Joannis 
Clerici ; ubi mulia Grotii et aliorum, plurima vero Clerici, 
errata castigantur), under tbe signature of Phileleutherus 
Lipsiensis: but Bentley was universally known to be the 
author. Under the same name he again appeared in 1713, 
as a defender of revealed religion {Remarks on the Dis- 
course of Free-thinking) in his reply to Anthony Collins's 
Defence of Free- thinking. His answer to the sophistry 
and fallacies pervading that book was judicious and effect- 
ive ; and for the eminent serviee done to the church and 
clergy of England by * refuting the objections and exposing 
the ignorance,' to use the words of the University Grace, of 
the writers calling themselves Free-thinkers, Bentley re- 
ceived the thanks of the University of Cambridge hy a vote 
of the Senate, Jan. 4, 1715. He also did no small service to 
soienco, by effecting the publication of a new and improved 
edition of Newton's Principia, whicb was intrusted, in 
1709, by the venerable author to tho management of the 
eminent mathematician, Roger Cotes. It appears also from 

2K2 



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Jurin i preface to his edition of tho Geography of Varenius 
(Cambridge, 1712), that he was induced to undertake tin* 
work by Bcntley. In 1716 Bentlcy announced a plan for 
publishing a new critical edition of tho Greek Testament, 
and explained his views on this subject in a letter to Arch- 
bishop \Vako, printed in Dr. Monk's Life, chap. xii. For 
four years ho meditated over this design, upon which ho 
spared neither labour nor expense. He made fresh collations 
of the celebrated Alexandrine and Bcza MSS. [see Alex- 
andria* Codkx], and of other less important MSS. in Eng- 
land : and he had the assistance of tho eminent biblical critic 
AYetstcin and other scholars, in collating MSS. on tho conti- 
nent. In 1 720 he published proposals and a specimen of the 
intended work, which was to be published by subscription, in 
two volumes, price three guineas for small and five for large 
paper. Tho proposals arc printed in the Biographia Brt- 
tanniea, and in Dr. Monk's Life, ch. xv. A largo number 
of subscribers was obtained, but from some unexplained 
cause, the work was never carried into publication. Mnny 
persons ascribed this to the attacks made on the author by 
Conyers Middleton, the historian of Cicero, a violent and im- 
placable enemy of Bcntley. From this opinion Dr. Monk 



dissents ; and it is discountenanced by the well-known har- 

jharacter, and his * 
for all his adversaries. 



dihood of Bcntley's character, and his habitual contempt 



We have still to go back to notice a work which, per- 
haps with the exception of the Dissertations on Phalaris, 
is the most remarkable of Bcntley's labours, his edition 
of Horace, undertaken in 1701, but not completed till 
1711. In the progress of this work he involved himself 
in needless difficulties; for, contrary to the usual practice 
of scholars, he introduced his emendations into the text, 
and, still more unusually, caused the text to be printed 
off in 1 706, long before the notes were ready. Many of 
the alterations, it may be supposed, his mature judgment 
would disallow ; for in the preface, he expresses his regret 
for more than twenty of them : and it is probable that 
ho stretched his ingenuity to defend many others which 
ho did not really approve. The tone of the preface 
is so arrogant, that Dr. Monk says. ' Bcntley's character 
for presumption has been established by those few pages, 
more than by all the other productions of his pen. An 
account of the plan of tho work will be found in the Life of 
Bent ley, ch. x. Between 700 and 800 alterations arc intro- 
duced into the text, in the defence of which unusual inge- 
nuity and a vast depth of learning aro shown. Many of 
them have been adopted by the best subsequent editors; 
but tho bulk of them are now rejected as unnecessary, 
harsh, or prosaic. Nevertheless, Bcntley's Horace is a noble 
monument of the author's learning, critical skill, and ac- 
quaintance with the Latin language. 

We can do no more than notice, and refer to Dr. Monk's 
Life, for an account of some of Bcntley's minor labours, as 
his • Letter on tho Sigcan Inscription,' published by Ed- 
mund ChUhull, his revision of tho ■ Thcriaca of Nicandcr,* 
made at tho request of Dr. Mead, and printed in the ' Mu- 
seum Criticum,' v. i. pp. 370. 445; an intended edition of 
* Lucan,' never published, though he wrote notes on tho 
poet, which fourteen years after his death were published 
at the Strawberry-hill press, attached to the text and notes 
of Grotius ; an intended edition of * Ovid,' meditated out of 
spito to Burman, and an edition of the ■ Fables of Pha?drus,' 
undertaken to revenge himself on Dr. Hare, a former friend, 
agauut whom he had conceived an offence. This was ap- 
pended to an edition of 'Terence/ published in 1720, which 
aeserves a different notice, as being one of tho most honour- 
able and unexceptionable of the author's performances. The 
text professes to bo corrected in no less than a thousand 

f daces, and the reasons for almost every change aro given 
n the notes. It is especially remarkable for the nicety 
of cure in accentuation, and tor the metrical skill which it 
di'playh : and contains a valuablo dissertation upon tho 
metres of Terence, which Dr. Monk characterises as the 
' clearest and most satisfactory account which has yet been 
written of that difficult subject/ Tho best edition is that of 
Amsterdam, for which Bcntley, with his usual liberality in 
such matters, sent the publishers an English copy with his 
last corrections. 

In 173 1, Bentlcy, much to the detriment of his reputation, 
undertook to publish an edition of the * Paradise Lost/ lie 
proceeded on a supposition, first started by Klyah Fen ton, 
that Milton, by his blindness, being obliged to employ an 
amanuensis, his poem miglu reasonably bo supposed to 



have been much corrupted, between its deliver)' from his 
own lips, and its issue from the press. -There is certainly 
some truth in this, but Bcntley pushed the theory beyond 
all reasonable bounds ; for he created an ideal friend, whom 
he supposed to have filled tho office of editor, and to whom 
he ascribes not only the numerous verbal errors, which he 
professes to detect, but the introduction of whole lines, and 
even passages of many verses. It is probable that Dr. 
Monk's view of the case is correct, and that Bcntley in- 
vented this fiction of an editor, to take off the odium of 
perpetually condemning the taste and judgment of Milton 
himself. But in this point of view the editor's presumption 
is intolerable ; and his self- con fidenco and flippant tone of 
criticism is equally offensive, especially when directed 
against a man of genius so different from his own. Bcnt- 
ley does not appear to have had much poetic feeling. His 
criticisms of Horace have been condemned as prosaic, and 
his criticisms on Milton display the samo fault in a more 
eminent degree. Nor was he qualified by taste or study 
to appreciate the store of Italian and romantic learning 
which Milton in his poem has interwoven with his classical 
reading. Bentley thus at last gave testimony of the truth 
of his own saying, that no man was ever written out of 
reputation but by himself: his work excited almost univer- 
sal dissatisfaction ; resentment on the part of tho admirers 
of Milton ; distress and regret on the part of thoso who 
wished well to the editor. Nevertheless, like every thing 
else of Bcntley's, it displays much critical acumen ; and 
the ingenuity of the commentator might have been admired, 
if it had been united with a decent share of modesty. 

The history of Bcntley's edition of Homer belongs rather 
to the article Digamma: since the characteristic feature of 
it is an attempt torestore the prosody of Homer by the in- 
sertion of that long forgotten letter. This was a great un- 
dertaking for a man turned of seventy, for he did not begin 
it till the year 1 732, though his opinion relative to the Di- 
gamma seems to have been made up several years before. 
The task was difficult ; for even supposing that his views of 
the lost letter were strictly correct, yet the changes of ortho- 
graphy and language introduced in the course of many 
ages, so complicated the question, that often where the 
metro was before correct, the insertion of the Digamma 
rendered it unprosodiacal. Bcntley did much, though he 
was not altogether successful. 'He corrected and noted 
| the two poems from beginning to end ; availing himself of 
the collations of all the manuscripts to be procured, and 
amending the text wherever he could, from the lexicons 
and grammarians. Many of the verses which were unma- 
nageable he rejected, though tho number condemned does 
not come near to that which a late editor, who pursued a 
similar plan, found it convenient to discard. The frequent 
changes and erasures of his own corrections which appca; 
in his copy, prove the uncertainty and difficulty of the un- 
dertaking : independently of the lines affected by the Di- 
gamma. many others presented obstacles to the restitution 
of metrical propriety; and the character of Bcntley's criti- 
cism, which had become more daring as his years increased, 
sometimes led him to harsh attempts at alteration/ (Monk, 
ch. xx.) Payne Knight has more recently renewed the at- 
tempt; but to say the least, without its meeting with the 
general acceptation of scholars. Bcntley's intended work 
was broken off in 1739, when he had not completed the 
notes on the 6th book, bv a paralytic stroke. Shortly before, 
he had published his edition of'Manilius, which tiad been 
prepared for the press no less than forty-five years. 

Bcntley's literary career ends here. lie recovered suffi- 
ciently to bo ablo to amuse himself; and the concluding 
years of his life were spent in tho tranquil enjoyment of the 
society of his family and of a few attached friends. Richard 
Cumberland, the dramatist, was his grandson by his 
daughter Joanna, and has left in his Memoirs a pleasing 
account of tho veteran scholar's condescension and good 
nature. Mrs. Bentlcy died in 1740, and Bentlcy survived 
her little more than two years. He died July 14, 1 742, 
and was interred in the College chapel. 1 1 is library passed 
into the hands of his son, Dr. Hichard Bcntley, a man of 
learning and talent, but of too desultory habits to obtain 
eminence in any pursuit. The books were purchased after 
his death by the house of Lackington ; from which they 
were re- purchased by the British Museum, it is said without 
any advanco of price ; a piece of liberality which deserves 
to ho generally known. Bentlcy had one other child, a 
4aughter, in addition to the two already mentioned 



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As a scholar, Bentley stands in the first rank. It is 
to be regretted, for the sake of his own fame, as well as 
for the interest of literature, that so much of bis time 
was occupied by disputes concerning questions of place 
and money. With less violent passions, less ambition, 
selfishness, and pride, he might have been one of the most 
shining ornaments of his age. But if in tbis article we 
have not been sparing instrongexpressionsofcensure.it 
is right to add that he conciliated tbe warm affections of his 
family and his friends ; and be wbo does so can scarcely be 
an unamiable man, when bis natural temper has fair play. 
There i3 a long article on Bentley's life in the Biographia 
Britannica, which is enlarged, we believe chiefly on Cum- 
berland's authority, in tbe second edition published by 
Kippis. The most elaborate life of him is that recently 
published by Dr. Monk, now bishop of Gloucester: for 
which* a vast mass of documents and manuscripts in the 
possession of Trinity College, the University of Cambridge, 
the Palace of Lambeth, and a variety of other sources, has 
been carefully examined. Monk's 'Life of Bentley * is eer- 
tainly one of tbe most complete specimens of biography 
that we are acquainted with, and perhaps it would be diffi- 
cult to name any scholar whose life has been written with 
so much research and such a scrupulous regard to accuracy, 
as that of the great Master of Trinity. 
BENTURONG. [See Ictidks.] 
BENYOWSKY, MAURITIUS AUGUSTUS, Count 
de, Magnate of Hungary and of Poland, was born at Wer- 
buena, or Verbowna, tho hereditary lordship of his family, 
in the county of Nitiria in the kingdom of Hungary, at the 
beginning of the year 1741. He was son of Samuel Count 
de Benyowsky, a general of cavalry in the emperor of Aus- 
tria's service, and of Rosa, baroness of Revay, lady and 
hereditary countess of Tburocz. Tbe youug count was 
educated at Vienna, and about the court, and at the early 
age of fourteen, as tbe fashion was in those days, he entered 
the Austrian army. The seven years* war was then on tbe 
point of breaking out, during which the reigning empress, 
Maria Theresa, had to make head against Frederic tbe 
Great of Prussia. 

In 1756 Benyowsky fought under the celebrated Marshal 
Braun in the battle of Lowositz, where the Austrians were* 
defeated by the Great Frederie in person. In 1757 he was 
engaged in the desperate battle of Prague, and in the fol- 
lowing year he fought at Schweidnitz and Darmstadt. His 
eourage and decision of character were remarkable, and as 
a mere stripling Benyowsky saw more of war than many 
veterans see in the whole eourse of tbeir lives. 

In the year 1761 he was invited by an uncle, who was a 
magnate of Poland and Starost in Lithuania, to join him in 
Lithuania, and make good bis rights to Polish honour, and 
qualify himself to succeed to his relative's property and 
places. It should appear from their name, that the Ben- 
yowsky family were of Polish origin. While absent in Lithu- 
ania the count's father died, on which his brothers-in-law 
took possession of all the Hungarian estates, which consti- 
tuted the main part of his hereditary property. After having 
in vain summoned tbem to surrender the land, Benyowsky 
determined to take the law into his own hands, and do him- 
self right by force, two processes which he seems to havo 
been much addicted to all his life. He suddenly appeared 
in Hungary, and arming the vassals and peasantry on the 
estates, who were much attached to him, he began to make 
war on his brotbers-in-law, whom he would soon have dis- 
possessed had not the empress and the authorities of the 
Hungarian diet interfered, and finally obliged him to retire 
to Lithuania. During his domiciliation in Lithuania, whieh 
then formed the third great province or division of the 
Polish State, Benyowsky repeatedly memorialized the 
Empress Maria Theresa touching the disputed estates in 
Hungary, but without suceess. It is probablo that his 
rights were not quite so clear to the Austrian government 
as they seemed to himself, and his violent mode of proceed- 
ing, and his abandonment of their military service, were not 
likely to conciliate that jealous and circumspect eourt. Soon 
tiring of an inactive life, Benyowsky repaired to the mari- 
time city of Danzig, with tbe notion of studying navigation 
practically as well as theoretically. He mado several voyages 
to Hamburg, and in 176G sailed from Hamburg to Am- 
sterdam, whence he eame to Plymouth. Being in England 
in 1 767, ho was on the point of engaging in a voyage to the 
East Indies, when he received letters from certain of the 
magnates and senators of Poland, engaging him to return 



and join, in his quality of Polish nobleman, the confederal-' 
tion which was then forming to resist the encroachments of 
the Russians and the Empress Catherine, who had suc- 
ceeded three years before in securing the elective crown of 
Poland to her former lover, Stanislaus Poniatowsky. Giving 
up his Indian voyage, Count Benyowsky set out for Warsaw, 
where he arrived in July, 1767, and took the oath required 
by tbe confederating nobles. As the moment of action had 
not yet arrived, he employed his leisure in making a journey 
to Vienna, and once more pressed his right to the Hun- 
garian estates on the Austrian court ; but his representa- 
tions were useless, and he departed for Poland with a deter- 
mination never again to set his foot in Austria, Hungary, 
or any part of Maria Theresa's dominions. On his way 
back, while passing through the county of Zips in Hungary, 
he fell sick of a fever, and was laid up for several weeks in 
the house of a gentleman of distinction named Hensky. 
His host had three daughters. During his sickness and 
convalescence Benyowsky made love to one of tho young 
ladies, whom he married shortly after. He thus found 
himself in possession of happiness and tranquillity, but it 
was his fate never to remain long in such circumstances. 

In the beginning of 1 76S, only two or three months after 
his marriage, the Polish confederation, known under tbe 
name of the Confederation of Barr, took up arms against 
Russia, on which Benyowsky, without mentioning his in- 
tention to his bride, went and joined them in the field, as he 
was bound to do by the oath he had taken the preceding: 
year. At the opening of tbe campaign he was appointed 
general of cavalry. For some time the Polish confederates, 
were everywhere successful, and the Count contributed 
to most of the victories. But in the unfortunate battle 
of Szuka, after being dreadfully wounded, he was made* 
prisoner by the Muscovites, who treated him not as a brave- 
and honourable enemy, but as a revolted subject or a 
brigand. 'I was taken/ he says in his Memoirs, * prisoner 
in open war, after having received in all, during the cam- 
paign, seventeen wounds/ The Russians loaded hirn with 
chains, and threw him, with eighty of his comrades, into the 
dungeon of a fortress, that had no light or air except a little 
that straggled through a chink which opened upon the 
casemates. In consequence of no attention being paid to. 
their wounds, and of tbe closeness and foulness of the at- 
mosphere, tbirty-five of the patriots died during the twenty- 
two days he was kept there. From this dreadful confine- 
ment Benyowsky was marehed with a large body of Polish, 
prisoners to Kiew, and thence to Cazan, in the interior of 
Russia. While at the latter eitv, some Russian noblemen* 
who had organized an extensive conspiracy against the 
Empress Catherine, seeing the influence he possessed over 
the minds of the Polish prisoners, who far outnumbered 
the Muscovite garrison of the place, treated privately with 
Benyowsky in order to induce him to join in their plots* 
According to the Count's own relation of these transactions, 
though ho takes eredit to himself for caution and prudence, 
be had many interviews with the conspirators, among whom 
were many of the Russian clergy, and aetually engaged to 
join his arms to theirs in case they should be successful in their 
first rising at Cazan, and should give him and his Poles the- * 
necessary weapons, ammunition, and appointments. Nearly 
all his biographers have overlooked these facts, which cer- 
tainly go to account for Catherine's implacable enmity 
towards him, though they neither excuse her brutality, nor, 
considering the position in whieh he stood, cast any morp.l 
stain on his character. Benyowsky was not Catbcrinr/s 
subject ; he was a prisoner of war ; and tbe barbarous treat- 
ment he reeeived justified whatsoever effort he might make 
to regain his own and his countrymen's liberty, 

A sudden quarrel between two of the conspirators, two 
Russian lords, upset the whole plot, for one of these men, in 
order to ruin the other, went and denounced it to the! governor 
of Cazan. Benyowsky was accused, but eseaped at midnight 
from the quarters assigned to him, just as the soldiers en- 
tered the nouse to drag him before the confo'unded and 
enraged governor. A major of the Polish army was the 
companion of his flight, whieh Benyowsky managed through- 
out with wonderful address and talent. Instead of attempt- 
ing to hide himself in the provinces, he determined to go 
straight on to the crowded capital, where he fancied he 
eould lie eoncealed until some foreign vessel should be 
found to carry him out of Russia. According to his own 
showing, his thorough knowledge of this defeated conspi- 
racy and of the persons engaged vn it, greatly facilitated his 



BEN 



254 



BEN 



r war*, for wrcral noWemen, whose estates lay on hi* road, 
did ill thcv «v>ultl to help him, fearing that if ho were caught 
bvthe government, he might mako disclosures fatal to thera- 
»elvc*. After many curious adventures he reached St. Pe- 
tersburg, whero lw hired apartments in an hotel, making 
1 U companion, the major, pas» himself ofTas his valct-de- 
ehambre. The system of espionttage established by tho 
Empress Catherine was almost perfect, yet Bcnyowsky was 
well nigh mocking all its vigilance. Looking about him 
for a trustworthy man. he became acquainted with a Ger- 
man apothecary, who negotiated a passage for him and his 
friend with the'inastcr of a Dutch vessel then at St. Peters- 
bur'. The Dutchman agreed to receive them on board 
ond° smuggle them out of tho harbour, and as he said ho 
was ready to sail early the following day, he appointed to 
meet the Count on the bridge of Neva at midnight. Bcn- 
yowsky ropaircd with the major to tho spot at the time ap- 
pointed, and there impatiently expected the captain, who 
presently appearing, saluted them, and beirged them to 
stay where they were for a few minutes while he went to 
dopatch his last business with his merchant. They waited, 
nor did tho captain fail to return. As he camo on the 
bridge he beckoned to the Count, who went to meet him, 
but at the moment he was about to express his gratitude to 
tho Dutchman for saving him from slavery or death, twenty 
Russian soldiers knocked him down, seized him and his 
friend, and carried them to the lieutenant-general of police, 
who, well knowing who they were, subjected them to a long 
and brutal examination. Benyowsky tells us himself that 
this examination principally turned on the conspiracy of 
Cazan, on tho part he had taken in it, and on his know- 
ledge of the Russian nobles engaged in it. He says his 
sense of honour and humanity determined him to give no 
evidence on this head, and that, at a subsequent examina- 
tion, the Russians threatened to force confession from him 
by tho rack and torture. Eventually, however, he was 
given to understand, tbat by engaging never more to enter 
her imperial majesty's dominions, and never again to bear 
arms against her or any of her allies, he should be permitted 
to leave the country. Having signed a solemn engagement 
to this efTect, ho was put into a rude carriage, which set off 
under a strong escort of Cossacks. At first he thought they 
were conveying him to the frontiers, but he soon discovered to 
his horror that his destination was Siberia, where Catherine 
had already consigned thousands of the Poles, and among 
them several princes, magnates, and Catholic bishops, which 
last had taken an active part in the confederations of Thorn 
and Barr, and excited the Poles of the Roman church 
against the Russians of the Greek church. 

Under every chango of his fortunes Benyowsky had 
the valuable art or natural faculty of interesting pcoplo 
in his fate, and of making friends among all kinds of 
men. On his way from Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia, 
to Tomsky, he won the affection of a roving Tartar, a 
dealer in furs, who was in the habit of trading with tho 
Chinese settled near tho banks of tho Amoor. This man 
proposed to tho Count that ho should cludo his jruards and 
escape with hiia across the great deserts of Tartary to 
China. Benyowsky, who was destined to escape to tho 
celestial empiro by water, listened eagerly to tho friendly 
Tartar's project, but the sad state of his wounds, which, 
never having been properly attended to, were still open, 
and the prospect, in such a state, of a land journey of three 
hundred leagues, made him give it up in despair. 

From tho town of Tom>ky Benyowsky was sent on to 
the river Yenisei through a desert country, in passing 
which hi* escort lost, through fatigue and hunger, eight 
Cossacks and twelve horses. He now learned that tho 
place of his exilo was not in any part of Siberia, but in the 
still more savajro country of Kamtchatka. On the 16th 
of October, 1770, the exiles reached Okhotsk, where they 
embarked to perform the remainder of tho journey by 
waicr. During tho voyago across the ocean tho Counts 
exertions and nautical skill saved the ship from wreck. 
They did not arrivo in Kamtchatka until the 2d of De- 
cember, and they were no sooner there than Benyowsky, 
*ho had conferred with many other exiles during tho 
journey, and obtained soino geographical information, re- 
sohed to attompt his escape by way of Japan or China. 
Hi* plans were facilitate! by the unsuspecting Russian 
EOAcruor, who engaged him to teach tho Latin, French, 
and German languages in his family. Aphanasia, a beau- 
tiful girl of sixteen, the governor's youngest daughter, for 



whom he tails us he constructed a musical instrument, fell 
in love with him, and cherished her passion, not knowing 
that tho Count was a married man. When all his plans 
for escape wcro matured, and a vessel obtained on the coast, 
the poor girl discovered the whole plot, but she would not 
betray her lover, though hor concealment in tho end led to 
the death of her fathor, who was killed in an attempt to 
put down the revolted exiles. Nay, even after that event, 
and when she was informed by ono of his enemies that 
Benyowsky had a wife in Hungary, her infatuation still 
continued, and she resolved to accompany him on his peril- 
ous voyage. After a number of adventures and narrow 
chances of failure, having thoroughly repaired their vessel, 
and baited twenty-two bears for sea-stock, on the 11th of 
May, 1771, Benyowsky set sail from Kamtchatka with 
eighty- five men, who wero nearly all exiles, and some few 
of them people of rank like himself. In the month of 
September in tho same year, the ship, carrying an Hun- 
garian (lag, arrived at >Iacao in China, The voyago had 
been very disastrous"; for two months they had suffered 
hunger and thirst; only sixty-two of thoso who had em- 
barked wcie alive, and of the sixty-two only some ten or a 
dozen could stand upon deck. Aphanasia was among the 
dead. In China Benyowsky found two ships of the French 
East India Company, in which ho embarked with all his 
people, having determined to seek employment at the 
court of France. 

During tho homeward voyago he spent a fortnight at the 
island of Madagascar, and this circumstance influenced the 
rest of his life. In the month of August, 1 772, he reached 
France, where ho was joined in December by his wife from 
Hungary. At the end of the samo year the French go- 
vernment engaged him to form an establishment in Mada- 
gascar, and on the 14th of February, 1774, he arrived in 
that island, where he soon ingratiated himself in a wonder- 
ful manner with the natives in the neighbourhood of the 
bay of Anton-Gil, on which he fixed his littlo colony. lie, 
however, imprudently engaged with these allies in their wars 
with some of the other peoplo of Madagascar, and sec ins 
eventually to have abandoned his old plan of forming 
merely a commercial settlement for the moro ambitious 
♦project of making conquests in the island. In his Memoirs 
lie lays the wholo blame of this change of views on tho 
French ministry, who, ho says, sent him orders to establish 
his unlimited superiority by force. What is certain is, that 
M. dc Kerguelen, a naval commander, landed the crews of 
his ships ; that then a destructive and barbarous warfare 
was carried on against tho blacks of Madagascar ; and that 
almost as soon as the ships withdrew, the blacks drove 
Benyowsky and his companions from the island, and de- 
stroyed his establishment, which had existed for nearly five 
years. 

Disgusted with the French, he quitted their service, and 
again accepted a command in the Austrian army. But 
the visions of wealth and absolute freedom and independ- 
ence in tbo great African island still pursued him, and on 
December 25, 1 783, ho presented proposals to the British 
government to found a colony in Madagascar on their 
account, stating in his memorial that the chiefs and people 
Of that country had appointed him their supreme head. 
With this curious document his Memoirs (the MS. of 
which, written in French, is preserved in the library of the 
British Museum) como suddenly to an end; nor do we 
learn from his own pen what degreo of countenance the 
Knglish government gavo him. It should appear, however, 
that he had no authority given him to uso tho king of 
England's name, or to carry his flag, and that the assist- 
ance which ho received in this country was merely from 
private individuals, and the friends ho everywhere gained. 
11 is ardour was not damped by this want of government 
encouragement, and he resolved to return to Madagascar. 

Tho accounts of the last adventures of this extraordinary 
man ore given in rather different ways. The difference, 
however, is not great, and all his biographers agree as to the 
circumstances of his end. Wo adopt, as most authentic, 
tho details given by tho Knglish editor of \\h Memoirs, Mr. 
W, Nicholson, who looked into the subject with a very care- 
ful eye, examining a great mass of documentary evidence, 
and consulting the parties engaged in the expedition. 

Having obtained some co-operation and credit in England, 
Benyowsky, wiih his family and a few associates, sailed for 
Maryland, in tho United States, on the 14th of April, 1784, 
on board the Robert and Ann, which ship also carried a 



BEN 



255 



BEN 



cargo belonging to the adventurers, worth about 4000/. 
His reasons for visiting America, arid hot going to Mada- 
gascar direct, appear to have .been these: he could get no 
European flag to cover bi3 expedition; and he thought he 
might obtain a flag and an extensive co-operation from the 
enterprising citizens of the United States, whose independ- 
ence as a nation had been fully recognised by England 
in the month of September of the preceding year, 1783. 
And, in effect, a respectable house of Baltimore was in- 
duced to enter into Benyowsky's .schemes, and supplied the 
Count witb a ship of 45D tons burden, armed with twerity 
6-pounders and twelve swivels. ^.Tbe same merchants also 
furnished stores arid part of a cargo to trade with. Every 
one on board took an oath of discipline and obedience to the 
Count, but a supercargo, named by T the merchants, went to 
take care of their, goods and interests. This ship, which 
was called the Intrepid, sailed from Baltimore) for the har- 
bour of St. Augustine, on the east coast of Madagascar, on 
the 25th of October. 1784. On account of the pregnancy 
of Madame Benyowsky, the count left his family behind 
him in America. The voyage, from the beginning, was a 
slow and unlucky one. In the early part of January, 1785, 
the Intrepid made the coast <if Brazil, whence Benyowsky 
wrote the last letter his friends ever received. About a 
month afterwards the ship ran' aground at the island of Juan 
Gonsalvez, arid it was hoi before April that she was got off 
and made sea-worthy. . Benyowsky then stood acrpss the 
Southern Atlantic for the African continent. He doubled 
the Cape of Good Hope, without puttirig into port there, 
and after touching and resting for a short time at Sofala, 
he at last (on the 7th of July! 1^85) ca,st anchor at Mada- 
gascar, in the bay of Antahgara, ten leagues, to the S.W. 
of the bay of St. Augustine. . He, there, disembarked with 
his immediate associates! and began to unload part of the 
cargo, consisting, probably,, of the four-tjibusahd-pounds*- 
worth he had brought from England. It is then stated 
that Laniboin, king of Northern Madagascar, whom he had 
known on his former visit,.. came to pay his respects, and 
that a body of the race o oi* tribe called Seclaves, under their 
chief or king, came also arid encamped near to Benyowsky ; 
that the Count proposed to enter into the solemn coiripact or 
oath of blood with tlie Seclaves!. arid, {hat their chief de- 
clined on the pretext of being much fatigued by his journey. 
From the protest of the master, of the. Arrieriean ship, it 
should furthef appear, that on the night of the 1st of Au- 
gust, between the hours of .ten and eleven, a heavy firing 
was heard and seen exaotiy at the spot where the Count.bad 
encamped; that between .five and six on the following 
morning a few scattered shots were beard in a s'rhall wood 
about a mile up the country: that at daylight no signs were 
perceived of any white men on shore ; that all the effects 
they had landed had been removed.; and that, lastly, seeing 
their own dangerous B position, with few hands, and a want 
of arms and provisions, the people on board the ship weighed 
anchor and Hood away with all speed for the island of Jo- 
hanna. From Johanna they went to Oibo, where the super- 
cargo sold both sliip and cargo for the benefit of the under- 
writers. From this protest it should seem that Benyowsky 
met his death at the hands of the savages, hut as the con- 
trary is known beyond a doubt, entire discredit is thrown on 
the ship- master's evidence. Mr. Nicholson saw a letter 
from one of the persons on board the ship, which states that 
the writer and another individual were not at all convinced 
that the firing they beard on shore proceeded frorii tbe 
natives and that they sighed the master s protest ' because 
they were overborne by numbers.* And in another letter 
from. an officer who was carried prisoner to the Islo of France 
after the ascertained final destruction of the. Count's party, 
Air. Nicholson found, indeed, mention of a Grifig heard by 
nfoht, but, contrary to , the toaster's protest, this officer 
affirmed that the ship, to their r great astonishment* sailed 
away in sight of those on shore, who in vain pulled after her 
in the boats or canoes of the country. .The. writer of the 
same letter stated, that fifteen* days after the vessel had 
abandoned him, the CoUht departed for Angoutci, leaving 
most of his people behind, to follow him ; that all his men 
fell sick soon after and died, with the exception of two, who 
remained with him to the last. 

But though thus abandoned, the resources of this extra- 
ordinary man did not fail him. He' put himself at the head 
of an armed force of tbc natives, and seized tho magazines 
and warehouses of the French, who, to the'. annoyance of 
the Madagascar sdvagei, had formed more than one esta- 



blishment on the island. He then busied himself in erecting 
a town, after the fashion of. the natives, near to Angoutci, 
whence he sent a detachment of a hundred blacks to take 
possession of the, French factory at Foul Point ; but this 
expedition was frustrated by a French frigate that came to 
anchor off the said point. In consequence of these move- 
ments, the governor of the Isle of France sent a ship to 
Madagascar with sixty French soldiers, who landed and 
attacked the Count on the morning of the 23rd of May, 
1786. Benyowsky awaited their approach in a small re- 
doubt he had thrown up, with two small cannons, two 
Europeans, and some thirty or forty natives. The blacks 
fled at the first fire of tbe French, and the Count having 
received a ball in his right breast, fell behind the parapet, 
whence he was dragged by the bair, and expired a few 
minutes after, in the forty-fifth year of his age. 
. '(Memoirs and t Travels of M. <4. Count. de ( Benyowsky ; 
written by himself* .Translated from the original MS. 
2 vols. 4to. London, 1^90.) , , 

BENZAMIE>E. Benzoic acid is supposed to contain an 
inflammable compound .body, which has been termed ben- 
zule, and is composed of 5 equivalents of hydrogen, 2 of 
oxygen, and 14 of carbon : this compound is capable of 
combining with sulphur, chlorine, and some otber ele- 
mentary bodies. k Tbe chloride of benzule absorbs ammo- 
niacal gas, with the extrication of much beat. By com- 
plicated affinities a white solid is formed, which, after sa r 
Juration witb ammonia, consists of benzoate of ammonia 
and lenzamide, , so called. because it bears to benzoate of 
ammonia the same relation that qxamide bears to oxalate 
of ammonia; ,by cold water, the benzoate of ammonia is de- 
posited, and the benzamide remains unacted upon. 

Di*. Turner represents henzamide theoretically as a 
compound of benzule arid dinituret of hydrogen, but he 
remarks that other hypotheses may be formed respecting its 
constitution. . . v , , 

I^enzamide has the following properties : it fuses into a 
limpid liquid at i$ l J°, which concretes into a foliated mass 
on coolirig ; when, strongly heated it .boils, and volatilizes 
unchanged. . Cold water dissolves only a little, but boiling 
water takes it iip readily and without decomposition ; alcohol 
and boiling jctlier both dissolve it ; it crystallizes in pearly 
rhombic prisms ; a cold solution of potash does not decom- 
pose it, but when they .are heated tojgether, ammonia is 
evolved and benzoate of potash is left ; it 13 also decomposed 
by boiling sulphuric acid. t 

In whatever way the elements of henzimide may bo 
combined, it .is represented as consisting ultimately of 7 
equivalents or hjdrogen, 2 of oxygen, 14 of carbon and 
1 of azote. . ... 

.BENZINE. ^ When one part of. benzoic acid was mixed 
with three. parts of hydrate ot'Jime arid subjected to distilla- 
tion, M. Mitscherlich obtained a fluid haying the following 
properties, and to which the name of benzine is given. It 
is limpid, colourless, of a peculiar odour, and its density js 
0*83; it boils at 187° Fahr.; it congeals in ice into a crys- 
talline matter ; it is slightly soluble in water, hut readily so 
in alcohol and jcthcr. The density of its vapour is 277. 
Its composition is similar to that of the solid compound of 
hydrogen and carbon discovered by Faraday. Its action upon 
chlorine and nitric and sulphuric acid is very peculiar. 
, BENZO'IC ACID. This acid, as its name imports, is 
usually obtained from the resinous substanco called gum 
benzoin or benjamin; it occurs also in some other vegetablo 
bodies, as the balsam of Peru and of Tolu, storax, and in 
the tlowers of the trifolium melilotus officinalis. It is found 
also in the urino of the cow, horse, and other herbivorous 
animals, and also in that of children. 

It maybe prepared from benzoin cither by sublimation or 
by precipitation ; the former method is employed in the Lon- 
don, arid the latter in the Berlin Pharmacopoeia. t The pro- 
cess of sublimation is perfectly simple ; the benzoin being 
subjected to a moderato heat in a proper vessel, the benzoic 
acid rises' in vapour and is condensed in the upper and cool 
part of it. As thus obtained it is mixed with a considerable 
quantity of empyreumatie oil, which gives it both colour and 
smell ; the greater part of this oil is separated by absorption, 
and pressure, and the acid being then resublimed, retains 
but littje, and rather ah agreeable, odour; it is frequently 
called flowers of benzoin or of benjamin. 

In the t Berlin Pharmacopoeia four parts of benzoin, re-, 
duced to powder, are first digested and then boiled in water, 
with nine parts of carbonate of soda; tbe solution of ben- 



BEN 



25G 



BEN 



roate of soda thus formed is decomposed by sulphuric acid, 
which, combining with the soda, separates the benzoic acid, 
the ureater part of which is precipitated, owing to its slight 
solubility. 

Benzoic acid may also bo precipitated by muriatic acid 
from tho evaporated urine of the cow, and somo other ani- 
mals, and also from the water which runs from dunghills. 
The arid has a disagreeable smell, which may be nearly got 
rid of by boiling It in water with animal charcoal. When fat 
and tallow are distilled an empyreumatic product is obtained, 
which if boiled with powdered chalk in water, yields ben- 
soato of lime, and this, upon tho addition of muriatic acid, 
gives benzoic acid; it results from the decomposition of the 
animal matter, was formerly supposed to be a peculiar 
aeid, and from its origin was called sebacic acid. 

The properties of benzoic acid are, that when pure it is 
colourless ; it crystallizes in soft and rather elastic crystals, 
which have scarcely any smell ; its taste is rather aromatic 
and penetrating than sour; by exposure to the air it under- 
goes no ehango; it requires two hundred times its weight of 
cold or twenty-four of boiling water for solution ; en cooling, 
a crystallized mass is obtained, which resembles fat in ap- 
pearance ; alcohol takes it up readily and in large quantity ; 
prismatic crystals oro procured by the spontaneous evapo- 
ration of the spirit. The anueous solution acts but feebly 
upon litmus paper; it comlvnes readily with alkalis, earthy 
and metallic oxides, forming salts which ore called ben- 
zoates. 

Benzoic acid fuses and sublimes at a gentle heat, but a 
part of it is decomposed by the process ; if strongly heated 
it takes fire and burns with a bright yellow flame ; when 
mixed with sand and heated, it yields more combustible 
gases than any other substance ; it dissolves in sulphuric 
and nitric acid without being decomposed, 

Benzoic acid is a compound of hyarogen, oxygen and car- 
bon ; but according to the experiments of Wohler and 
Licbig, (An. de Chimie ct de Physique, li. 273,) it is to be 
considered as the oxide of a compound inflammable body, 
which they term benzule; this is composed of 5 equivalents 
of hjdrogen=5, 2 of oxygen = 16, and 14 of carbon = 84 l its 
equivalent is consequently 105; anhydrous benzoic acid 
consists of 1 equivalent of benzule 105 + 1 equivalent 
of oxygen = 8, its equivalent being 113; but the crystal- 
lized benzoic acid contains in addition 1 equivalent of water, 
making its equivalent 122 : this water cannot be separated 
by heat, and it exists in the benzoate of lead, but not in thul 
of silver, which is anhydrous. 

The saline compounds of benzoic acid are not very impor- 
tant; the alkaline and earthy salts arc generally soluble in 
water, and so also are somo of the metallic benzoutcs, 
especially Mioso of manganese, nickel, and cobalt, whily the 
perbenzoate of iron is insoluble; advantago has been taken 
of this property to soparate peroxide of iron from the <vxides 
abovo named. For this purpose it is requisite that the iron 
should be entirely in the state of peroxide; tho solution 
should contain no excess of acid, and the benzoate should 
bo perfectly neutral ; when these precautions are duly ob- 
served, a palo red insoluble perbenzoate of iron is precipi- 
tated, which is stated to be separable by hot watei into a 
soluble supcrsalt and an insoluble subsak. 
* The benzoate* of lead, mercury, and silver are among the 
more Insoluble salts of this acid; when the benzoate of 
ammonia is added to a solution of nitrate of silvor, a white 
pulverulent anhydrous benzoate of silver is precipitated; it 
is, however* completely soluble in boiling water, and is 
deposited as tho solution cools in brilliant foliated crystals. 

BENZOIC ACID is obtained from several sources, such 
as from benzoin by sublimation, or by precipitation, for 
limo and tho fixed alkalies extract it from benzoin, and 
from tbeso it can be separated by tho addition of an acid. 
It w also obtained from balsams, of which it is an essential 
constituent ; from certain fragrant substances, such as va- 
nilla, eanella bark, ambergris; from some grasses, and the 
ajriricu* volyaccus. It exists in the form of a benzoate in 
tho unno of infants, in that of many herbivorous animals, of 
the beaver (castor fiber), and even of the dog. 

There is somo differenco in the qualities of the acid, ac- 
cording to the sourco whence it in obtained: for medical 
purposes tho acid procured from benzoin by sublimation, 
and termed * flowers of benzoin,' should alone be used. 

Sublimed benzoic acid occurs in white, needle-like prisms, 
which, when in maw, have a flocculent appearance, with a 
toft, silky lustre. The odour is said to be owing to a little 



empyreumatic oil; tho taste is at first sweetish, but after- 
wards very pungent; the specific gravity is 0'C57. Its acid 
quality is manifested by reddening turmeric paper; it is 
scarcely solublo in water, whether warm or cold ; it is com- 
pletely soluhlo in alcohol : it therefore enters into the com- 
position of the Tinctura camphorce composxta of the London 
Pharmacopoeia, and the Tinctura opii ammonxata of the 
Pdinburgn Pharmacopoeia, twd preparations lot\g known 
under the namo of paregoric elixir. The uso of these re- 
quires caro and judgment. [See Balsams.] 

Benzoic acid has been recommended to be inhaled with 
the vapour of water in consumption and spasmodic asthma. 
In tho former of thesc f diseases it is of no efficacy, and in 
the latter of very little. Benzoic acid, combined with ex- 
tract of conicum, forms a useful expectorant in the humid 
asthma of old or feeble persons. 

BENZOIN or BENJAMIN, a resinous substance com- 
monly but improperly termed a gum. It is extracted from 
the Styrax benzoin, which grows in Sumatra, by making 
incisions in the trunk. It hardens very quickly, and is 
imported in the state of brittle masses, which when fractured 
present a mixture of white, brown and red grains, fre- 
quently as large as an almond. The fracture of benzoin 
is conchoidal, and tho lustre is greasy ; its specific gravity 
is from 1*063 to 1*092. Its smell is agreeable, resembling 
that of vanilla. It melts at a moderate heat, and yields 
benzoic acid, of which it contains about eighteen per cent. 

-According to tho analysis of Unverdorben, benzoin con- 
tains besides benzoic acid and a little volatile oil, threo 
different resins. If benzoin be reduced to fine powder, and 
boiled in an excess of a solution of carbonate of potash, the 
benzoic acid, and a resin are dissolved, which may be 
precipitated together by muriatic acid; when the precipitate 
is boiled in water, the acid and a little extractive matter are 
dissolved, and the resin is left, amounting to about 003 of 
that of the benzoin; this resin is of a deep brown colour: it 
is soluble in concentrated alcohol, but slightly so in rother 
and volatile oils, and insoluble in the oil of petroleum. 
This resin is weakly electro-negative ; it does not decompose 
acetate of copper, but precipitates acetate of lead ; carbonate 
of potash dissolves it but slowly. Thecompound of this resin 
with potash is soluble in anhydrous alcohol but neither in 
rother nor in oil of turpentine. The aqueous solution is preci- 
pitated by muriate of ammonia. The greater part of benzoin 
is insoluble in solution of carbonato of potash, and it leaves 
a bright brown residue ; from this rother extracts one resin 
and leaves another. When the tether is evaporated, the resin 
dissolved in it remains. It is very soluble in alcohol and in 
oil of caraway, but not in oil of petroleum. It does not de- 
compose acetate of copper: it dissolves readily in potash, 
and is not precipitated from solution by excess of it. Am- 
monia does not dissolve it; its compounds with earthy and 
metallic oxides arc insoluble in rother. 

The resin, which is insoluble in carbonate of potash, and 
remains unacted upon by rother, is brownish. It is soluble 
in alcohol, but not in the volatile oils nor ammonia. Potash 
dissolves it readily, but a great excess of the alkali precipi- 
tates the compound which is formed. This and tho former 
resin, when precipitated by an acid from solution in potash 
and exposed to tho air while moist, aro converted into the 
first resin, or that which is dissolved by carbonate of potash 
and alcohol. If the two last resins be subjected to dry dis- 
tillation, they yield at first a volatile oil, which is very 
slightly empyreumatic, and which, like the oil of hitter 
almonds, is converted by the action of tho air into benzoic 
acid. 

Benzoin is employed in tho preparation of benzoic acid; 
it is also used by pcrmmers. 

BENZOIN is improperly called a gum, since it is quite 
in solublo in water, and appears to be intermediate between 
resins and balsams. It is a natural production of several 
plants, but is Yielded only by ono in sufficient quantity to be 
worth collecting. Tho Styrax benzoin of Dryanuer, or 
Liihocarpus benzoin, as it is called by Blumo, was ascer- 
tained by the former of these naturalists to be the source of 
this substance, and was described and figured by him in the 
Phihs. Trans, of 1787, vol. lxxvii. p. 307, t. 12. Previous 
to his time it was supposed to be obtained from the Laurus 
benzoin, though Linnrous had pointed out the incorrectness 
of this opinion, and from the Terminalia angustifoliaiJucq.), 
which possess tbe odour, but yield little of the substance. 
The odour is also imparted by some grasses, such as tho 
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet-scented vernal meadow* 



BER 



257 



BER 



grass), and the Holcu's odoratus (sweet-scented soft grass), 
to which hay owes its fragrance when drying. 

The benzoin of commerce, sometimes called Asa dulcis, 
and vulgarly termed Benjamin, is obtained solely from the 
Lithocarpus benzoin, a tree growing in Sumatra (see Mars- 
den's Sumatra, i. 233), Borneo, Java, &c, from which it 
flows spontaneously in small quantity, but is obtained in 
greater abundance by making incisions in the stem beneath 
where the branehes are given off, as soon as the tree has at- 
tained the age of five or six years. These incisions are re- 
peated every year for about twelve years, when the tree be- 
comes exhausted: each tree yields annually about three 
pounds. When it first flows from the tree it is soft, but 
gradually hardens by exposure to the air. The finest 
kind, which is whiter, and often in grains, flows from the 
youngest trees; this is called Benzoe amygdaloidcs. . The 
benzoin which is met with in commerce is generally in 
cakes or fragments of different sizes, of a yellowish or fawn 
colour, covered with a whitish powder, intermixed with 
pieces of wood or leaves. AVhen broken it exhibits a vitro-* 
ous fracture, presenting portions of an almond-like shape, 
which are whiter than the surrounding portions, transpa- 
rent, and friable. The more of these white pieces that occur 
in any specimen, the more it is esteemed: from exposure 
to the air ihey assume a yellowish hue. An inferior kind, 
called benzoe in sortis, is grayish brown, of a dull aspect, 
not transparent, with many portions of wood and bark inter- 
mixed with it. 

Benzoin is of the specific gravity of 1*063, is friable and 
easily powdered, during which process it causes sneezing, 
has an agreeable balsamic odour, and tastes at first sweetish, 
afterwards balsamic and stimulating. It melts at a mode- 
rate degree of heat, and evolves a white smoke and pleasant 
odour. The fumes which arise consist of benzoic acid, which 
may be easily condensed in a white ilocculent mass, called 
flowers of benzoin. The odour is attributed by Dr. Thomson 
to the presenee of a volatile oil, whieh accompanies the 
acid. 

Benzoin is entirely soluble in alcohol and ether, but in- 
soluble in fixed or volatile oils. Its alcoholie solution added 
to water, becomes of a milky appearance. 

Stolze analyzed the white and brown kinds, and found 
them to consist of — 

White Benzoin, Hrown Benzoin, 
100 parti. 100 parts. 

Yellow resin, soluble in ether 7y'83 8*80 

Brown resin, insoluble in ether 0*25 G9*73 

Benzoic acid , , ♦ 1980 19*70 

Extractive . . . 0*00 0*15 

Impurities . , . O'OO TI5 

Moisture and loss , . 0*12 0*17 
A trace of volatile oil. 

In its action on the system benzoin resembles the other 
balsamic resins, being stimulant and cxeiting, as well as im- 
proving the quality of the secretions of the mucous mem- 
brane of the lungs. It was formerly employed as an expec- 
torant inch ronie catarrh and In asthma; and it may occasion- 
ally be serviceable when, from deficiency of nervous energy, 
expectoration is difficult, and an accumulation of mucus takes 
place in the lungs. It eannot fail, however, to prove hurtful 
if such accumulation arises from difficult circulation through 
the lungs, connected with organic disease of the heart, which 
is frequently the source of the spasmodic symptoms called 
asthmatic. It has also been recommended in cases of im- 
perfect development of eutaneous eruptions, but it cannot 
l>e relied on in such cases. 

In the present day it is chiefly employed to yield benzoic 
aeid, and as an ingredient in pastilles, or to burn in censers 
in Catholic churches. It enters into the composition of the 
Tinctura beneoini composita, the use of which is mostly 
confined to old ulcers : its application to recent wounds is 
rery improper. [See Balsams.] A solution of benzoin in 
alcohol, added to twenty parts of rose-water, forms the cos- 
metic called Virgin's milk. 

BENZONE. A compound of hydrogen, oxygen, and 
carbon, obtained by Mr. Pcligot from the action of lime on 
benzoie acid. Its properties have been but little investi- 
gated. 

BERAR. A large province of the Dcccan, or south 
of Hindustan, between 17° and 23" N. lat., and 73° and 
83° E. long. This province or state is under the protec- 
tion of the English government in India, and governed 
by a native sovereign, known sometimes as rajah of Bcrar, 
but more commonly as rnjah of Nagpore. Berar was 



formerly of much greater extent than it is at present. Ma-* 
jor Rcnnell thus describes the possessions of the rajah as 
tbey stood in 1788. * The Berar or Nagpore rajah, Moo- 
dajee Boonslah, possesses the principal part of Berar, to- 
gether with the province of Orissa. The remainder of 
Berar is held by the Nizam, or Soubahdar of the Deccan, 
who pays a chout, or fourth part of its clear revenues to 
Moodajce. On the west and south, the Berar dominions 
border on, or are intermixed with those of the Nizam : on 
the north-west and north are the provinces of Bopaul, 
Gurry-Mundella, &c. tributaries of Poonah; together with 
the territories of Adjid Sing. On the east, the Nagpore 
territories thrust themselves between the British possessions 
in Bengal, and those in the northern Circars, so as to oc- 
cupy near 180 miles of the country adjacent to the sea; and 
of course to break the continuity of their possessions on the 
sea-coast Moodajee's dominions are very extensive, being in 
length from cast to west 550 British miles, and in some 
places 200 from north to south.' 

At present tbe rajah's possessions are bounded on the 
norlh and east by part of the British dominions under tho 
presidency of Bengal, consisting of the province of Gund- 
wana, and a territory known as * tbe ceded districts on 
the Nerbudda;' on the west are the Nizam's dominions, 
and on the south Aurungabad and Boeder. Its greatest 
length from north to south is about 290 miles; the mean 
length is. not above 150 miles; its greatest breadth from 
east to west is 240 miles, and the mean breadth not above 
140 miles. 

This reduction of territory has beep brought about at 
different times since the beginning of the present century. 
By the treaty of Deo^aum in December, 1803, the English 
acquired from the rajah the province of Cuttack, including 
the port of Balasore. This cession served to connect the 
Bengal provinces with the northern Circars subject to Ma- 
dras, an object which had long been considered desirable. 
The rajah further ceded the provinces of Sumbulpore and 
Patna, which were subsequently restored to him, and he 
also gave up some districts on the Hyderabad frontier, 
which were made over by the British to the nizam. In 
1809 Berar was invaded by Ameer Khan, a Patan chief, 
at the head of a numerous body of undisciplined and licen- 
tious troops, but he was obliged to retire on the advance of 
two detachments of English troops to the rajah's assistance. 
On that occasion a negociation was opened for a subsidiary 
treaty with Berar, but it was not until after the death of the 
then rajah in 1316 that an alliance of that kind was con- 
tracted. 

In 1817 the rajah, Appah Sahib, joined the Peshwa in 
hostilities against the English government. Their forces 
were, however, speedily dispersed ; the rajah was taken 
prisoner, and sent under a military escort to Bengal, but 
while on his march he made his escape. After wander- 
ing about from place to place for many years, he has re- 
cently taken up his residence at Joudpore. * He of course 
forfeited his throne/ and the government of his dominions 
was thereupon established in June, 1818, in the person 
of Bajec Rao Booslah, then a minor. On this occasion 
a portion of the country was retained by the English in lieu 
of a pecuniary subsidy, and the remainder was administered 
by British officers, under the superintendence of the East 
India Company's political resident at the court of Nagpore. 
This state of things continued during eight years and a 
half, wben the rajah having arrived at years of maturity, 
was put in possession of part of his territory of the estimated 
yearly value of 26 lacs of rupees (260,000/.), the remain- 
ing portion, which yielded 17 lacs (170,000/.), being re- 
tained under English management as security for the 
payment of that part of the rajah's army which had been 
disciplined and was officered by Englishmen. These dis- 
tricts have since been given up to the rajah, under an ar- 
rangement concluded with him in December, 1829, which 
provided that, instead of his furnishing a contingent of 
3900 horse and 2000 foot soldiers, he should maintain a 
force of only 1000 horse, and pay an annual tribute to the 
East India Company of 8 lacs of rupees (80,000/.) In thus 
withdrawing from the actual management of the state, the 
Company's government has stipulated that in case of any 
gross misrule or oppression being exercised towards his 
suhjeets on the part of the rajah (it is not provided who is 
to judge when this case shall arise), that government shall 
be at liberty to resume the management, through its own 
officers, of districts in which disorders may have been pro- 
duced by harsh and oppressive acts. 



No, 237. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 2 L 



n k n 



259 



B E R 



Berar stands on a high level, tlio approach to which is 
bv a chain of ghauts or mountain passes, which give to the 
inclosed province the character of a valley. The geogra- 
phical details of this eountry are hitherto bnt imperfectly 
known. One part of tho ghauts hero mentioned was ex- 
amined by European ofilccrs in 1816, that service having 
been undertaken in eon sequence of the passes which they 
contained serving for the predatory incursions of bodies 
of Pimlarrics. It is said that the general character or 
the entire surrounding range is similar to the part thus 
surveyed, which comprehended an extent of nearly sixty 
mile*! The part examined is represented as being 4 a 
yurccs'ion of high grounds, with here and there a small 
olmV visiblo above tho rest; the deep breaks and ravines, 
which lead in some places to a gentle, and in others to a 
more abrupt desecnt into the valley of Bcrar, being only 
perceived when nearly approached. Some of these ghauts 
are impassable for carnages, laden camels, or bullocks; 
*omo for horses, and somo arc mere hill- paths. The surface 
of the bills in this section of the chain is covered with loose 
stones and low jungle, and bnt little cultivation is seen ; 
noil her is there any timber large enough for building/ In 
l$t6agreat proportion of the villages near the lulls that, 
were surveyed were found to he deserted, the tract of 
country being desolate and apparently unappropriated. In 
the early part of the present century, before the ces- 
sions made under the treaty of Deogauin, the whole of 
Bcrar was so thinly inhabited, as to contain only 2,500,000 
in a territory of 70,000 square miles. A very largo pro- 
portion of the country is even now In the hands of people 
who are called ' wild Zamindars,' and whose connexion 
with the government consists only in their paying small 
quit-rents. 

Tho principal rivers of the Berar are the Tuptec, the 
Wiirda, the Wyncgunga, and the Mahanuddy. The Tuptec 
ri«es in the Nyardv hills, near the fortified town of Baitool, 
in 21° 55' N. lat.. a*nd 78* 4' E. long., 56 miles E.N.E. from 
EHichpore. It tlows thence in a westerly direction, and 
passing through the provinces of Candeish and Gujerat. falls 
into tho sea about twenty miles south of Sura t. The Wurda 
rises in the pcrgunnah of Mooltye, and tlowiug south-south- 
cast, forms the boundary between Bcrar and the dominions 
of the Nizam. It joins the Wyncgunga at Sconny, a short 
distance below Chanda. The Wynegunga has its source 
in the district of Scouny Chapparah, 1S50 feet above the 
level of the sea. It passes through the town of Chapparah, 
in 22* 24' N. lat., and 79° 58' K. long., and (lowing south 
through tjic towns of Bnndara and Ambora, traverses 
the western division of Bcrar, and falls into the Godavery 
near Cbiuoor. The Mahanuddy rises in tho high lands 
about thirty miles to the eastward of Kakair, It flows 
to the north by Conkair and Dhnmdcrcc through the 
district of Choteesghur, and enters Sumbhulpore a few 
miles east of Sri Narrain. The Mahanuddy is navigablo 
between July and January from the eastern districts of 
the province to Cuttack. "With this exception, Berar is 
without any navigable stream. The Wurda and Wyne- 
gunga are rendered unavailable in this respect by the 
rapids and numerous rocks which they present. Tho Wync- 
gunga is sometimes used for transporting timber in the 
rainy season. 

The province U subdivided into nine districts, viz. :— Bcy- 
tulbarry, Gawelghur, Kullum, Mahoro, Maihker, Nagpore, 
Nernallah, Wanssim, and Wyncgunga. 

Beytulbarry is of small extent, situated south of the 
Ajuntee Ghaut, between the twentieth and twenty-first 
degree of north latitude. But little is known of this district. 
The town of Ajuntee is the onlv place of any note which it 
eontajn*. This town, which is fortified, is in 20° 34' N.lat., 
and 76° 5C R. long., and stands on table-land near to an 
important pass through tho Berar mountains: t lip place is 
thinly inhabited. Gawclghur is of considerable extent, and 
situated about the twenty-first degree of N. lat. To the 
nnnh-c«*t tho surface of the country rises into hills of con- 
siderable Novation; the other parts of the district, whieh 
are lens hilly, aro intersected by numerous small streams, 
which render the noil nroductive. Gawelghur, the capital 
of the district, is a fortified town, in 2t* 22' N. lat., antl 77° 
24' K. long., built on a high rocky bill in a range of moun- 
tains which dnide the purees of the Tuptec and Poonah 
rivers, Kulluin, an to whirh district we know very little, 
lies Iwtwoen the nineteenth and twenty- Ant degrees of 
N. lat., and is bounded on the post by tho river Wurda* 



The district of Mahorc has not been dewribed by any mo? 
dern authority. The fort of that name, which is situated in 
to" 54' N. lat., and 78' 8' 1. long., is said by Abul Yv%\ to. 
be ' very pleasantly situated upon a mountain, and near it 
is a Hindu temple, called Jugdeena, dedicated to Doorga.' 
Maihker is a small district above the Ghauts, between tho 
twentieth and twenty-first degrees of N. lat. The town of 
Maihker stands among the hills, in 20° 6' N. lat., and 76* 
50' E. long. The district of Nagpore, with its capital, will 
bo separately noticed. [Sec Nagpokk.] Ncmatlah ts si- 
tuated above the chain of mountains which extend from 
Ajuntee to the river Wurda, This district is thinly pooplcd 
and indifferently cultivated ; it is watered by the Puma, 
and a great number of small tributaries which (low from tho 
mountains. The town of Nernallah is mentioned by Abul 
Fazl as ' a large fort, containing many buildings, and 
situated on the top of a mountain/ Waussim is situated 
above the Ghauts. The principal town, Wanssim, is in 
20* 10' N. lat., and 77° 22' E. long., and eighty-three miles 
fc.N.E. from Julua, tho capital of Julnapore district, in 
Aurungabad. 

The Wyncgunga district, so named from the river by 
which it is intersected, has never yet been surveyed, and its 
area is unknown. This district occupies a part of the west- 
ern division of the province ; that portion whieh lies on the 
west side of the Wyncgunga river is for the most part hilly, 
and is occupied by the ' wild Zamindars* already mentioned • 
this part of tho district is very imperfectly cultivated, owing 
to the extortions practised upon the ryots. On .the east 
sido of the river, where the authority of tho rajah is more 
directly exercised, and the cultivators have the fruit of their 
labour better secured to them, the whole eountry is brought 
under culture. Tho numerous ruins of towns, forts, and 
tanks in this district show that it was once much moro 
peopled than at present. While under tho direct manage- 
ment of the English, the number of inhabited villages in 
this district was ascertained to # be 2 til, and the total 
population 690,770 persons. 

The more settled or civilized parts of the province of 
Berar arc connected with the government by the system 
known in India as the village settlement. Under this sys- 
tem, each village (comprehending under that description, 
the farms within a given district) contains a head man called 
the potail, with whom the government arranges the amount 
of rent to be paid in each year by the ryots or small fanners. 
In Berar, the ottieo of potail is usually considered to be 
hereditary, but the government ■claims the power of dis- 
missal. The suras demanded by the -government of the 
rajah vary from year to year according to the necessities of 
tho state, and jire exacted from tho potails. by whom they 
are collected from the ryots in proportions determined by a 
sort of rent-roll, in whieh the supposed value of every field 
in the district is set forth, The aggregate payments made 
by the cultivators arc to a greater amount than is demanded 
by the government, the difference constituting the profits of 
the potail. While the province was under the management 
of the British, the assessments were made with greater re 
gularity, and varied only when bad seasons rendered on 
abatement necessary. 

In petty eases, both of a criminal and civil naturo, the 
potail acts as judge, assisted sometimes in the latter descrip- 
tion of cases by a body of arbitrators, an institution known 
through the greater part of Hindustan as the Punchayct. 
These arbitrators, as the name implies, are usually fi\c in 
number, of whom two are selected by each party in the 
cause, and the fifth is nominated by the local authority. 
The more serious criminal offences are tried before tlio: 
raj ab in person, or in places distant from tho seat of his 
government by a sonbahdar, who is usually a military officer; 
Civil suits, in whieh the sums in dispute aro considerable^ 
arc tried before the same authorities, the reason for which 
is stated to be, not so much the wish to distribute even- 
handed justice, as * tho desire of tleccing both parties* In 
these cases a sum equal to the fourth part of the amount 
in dispute goes to the rajah as a fine on the loser, and 
another fourth part is taken from the gainer as payment 
for the troublo of deciding the cause. 

The chief productions of the province are wheat, rice, 
Indian corn, peas, vetehes, flax fur the oil contained in its 
seeds, sugar, betel-leaf, and tobacco. The wild indigo plant 
is generally met with, but is not cultivated. 

Domestic slavery exists, but not to any great extent. In 
times of scarcity it is not uncommon for parents to sell their 



PER 



259 



B E R 



children, who are received into the families of the purchasers, 
and are usually treated with kindness. 

The education of children appears to he hut little attended 
to in the dominions of the rajab of Berar. In a report made 
in 1826 by Mr. Jenkins, the East India Company's resident 
at Nagpore, to the Bengal government, it is stated that 
* education is chiefly confined to the children of Brahmins 
and those of tbe mercantile classes, and the education tbey 
receive does not seem much calculated to promote their 
moral or intellectual improvement. All the other classes 
are extremely illiterate : it is a rare circumstance to find one 
amongst them who can write his own name. The only order 
who ever look at books are Brahmins, laid their reading is 
confined to subjects of Hindu divinity/ Whatever schools 
there. are have been established in the larger towns; and 
taking the whole of them into the calculation, it would 
seem that not more than one child in eighty in the pro- 
vince receives the benefit of instruction. 

It does not appear that any support is given by the govern- 
ment for the encouragement of education, either by the esta- 
blishment of free schools, or the grant of lands or pensions 
to any of the teachers, who depend entirely on payments 
made by the parents of pupils. The average rate of these 
payments may be taken at three annas {A\d.) per month for 
each scholar; and as the average number of pupils in each 
school is only twenty, the annual income of the teacher will 
not exceed on the average forty-five rupees (4/. 10*.) per 
annum. 

The trade of the province is limited to internal traffic, and 
this only to a small extent, owing to the want of facilities 
for transporting goods. It is doubtless owing to the absence 
of external commerce that so little is known of the features 
of the country and the condition of tbe greater part of its 
inhabitants. 

(Ayin-i-Akbari ; Renneirs Memoir of a Map of Hin- 
dustan; Mills's History of British India ; Evidence given 
by Mr. Jenkins, late political resident at Nagpore, before 
the Committees of the Houses of Lords and Commons ap- 
pointed to inquire into the affairs of the East India Com- 
pany in 1830 and 1332.) 

BERAT,*an important town in the northern part of Al- 
oania, in European Turkey. It is on the right or north 
bank of a river called by the various names of Crevasta, 
Kavroni, or Beratina (the antient Apsus), which is here 
about as broad as tbe Thames at Richmond. The sur- 
rounding district is inhabited by the tribe of Albanians, 
called Toske (To<nri&c)t and the town itself is, next to 
Skodre* or Scutari, tbe most important place in Albania. 
It is in 40* 43' N. lat., and 19° 52' E. long. 

The valley in which it is situated is magnificent ; it is 
better cultivated than tbe country to the southward, and 
the inhabitants are more civilized. There is a fine bridge of 
eight arches over tbe river, and a citadel or acropolis, upon 
a hill. This acropolis was much enlarged by Ali Pasha 
in the present century; its circuit contains a small town, 
and many Greek churches of the Lower Empire. The 
lower part of its walls exhibits some massive building of 
the antient Greeks. It is likely that this acropolis once 
formed the whole town, and that the lower town, which is 
outside its walls, is an addition made by the Turks. It 
mounted forty cannons before it was taken by Ali Pasha 
from Ibrahim, Pasha of Avlona, whose stronghold it was ; 
and it is likely that, in consequence of Ali's additions, tbe 
number has been increased. 

Tbe lower town, which lies chiefly on the S.E. side of the 
acropolis, is large, and contains thirteen Turkish mosques. 
Tbe bazaar, which is handsome and spacious, lies close to 
the river. It abounds in articles brought from Constanti- 
nople and Macedonia, as well as in foreign goods imported 
through the port of Avlona. 

The inhabitants of Berat are estimated at 9000,* and are 
almost entirely Mohammedans, though the town is the see 
of a Greek archbishop. Tho women wear a cap or bonnet 
in shape like a bishop s mitre, nearly two feet high ; it is 
generally made of blue eloth, is well stuffed, and fastened 
under the chin by ribbons. Blue is the predominant colour 
in female apparel at Berat. 

In 1809, Berat, then in possession of Ibrahim, Pasba of 
Avlona, was besieged by Omer Bey Vrioni, general to Ali 
Pasha of Joannina, and bombarded from the neighbouring 
heights. Ali's troops were supplied with Congrcve rockets, 

" Thii U th« number tffen Vy M. Bslbl; in Dr. HoUuri'i Twelt \n Alba- 
nU tike population U giiea at £3,000, 



under the direction of an English officer; and so much 
were the garrison and townspeople terrified by these new 
instruments of destruction, that Ibrahim was obliged to ca- 
pitulate, upon condition of retiring with his suite and trea- 
sures to Avlona. 

(Hughes's and Kobhouse's Travels in Albania; Balbi, 
Abrege de Geographies * 

BERAUN, one of the central counties of the king 
dom of Bohemia, the most northerly point of which skirts 
Prague, the capital, contains an area of 1110. square 
miles, and lies between 49° 32' and 50° 4' No lat., and 
13° 38' and 14° 49' E. long. "There is no part of Bohemia 
more diversified with lulls and mountains ; none in which 
there are finer plains, and few more densely peopled. The 
northern districts are watered by the Beraun or Beraun ka, 
which flows across them into the Moldau ; the north-eastern 
by the Sazava, another tributary of the Moldau ; the western 
by the Litawka, which runs into the Beraun; and tbe Mol- 
dau itself winds through the county from the south in a 
somewhat north-easterly direction, receiving tbe Sazava 
and Beraun before it reaches Prague. The inhabitants 
who were 137,517 in J 3 17, and 169,455 in 1S30, amount at 
present to about 175,000, and speak almost exclusively the 
Bohemian tongue. They live in ten towns, twenty-two 
market-towns, and 771 villages ; the number of regular 
houses is 24,164, and tbat of tenements of all descriptions, 
including the houses, is 37,485. The produce of the soil is 
timber, grain, and -vegetables in large quantities, with a 
small quantity of wine and hops ; tbe breeding of horses (in 
1830, 6578) and sheep (in 1830, 94,071) is considerable and 
thriving; and tho country has various manufactories, prin- 
cipally of cottons, linens, hose, potashes, and paper. It 
raises alum in a pure state, ,.and much iron, particularly 
near Horzovitz, in the western part of Beraun, the principal 
spot on tho domains of tbe earldom of Webna, which has 
about 1900 inhabitants; in this neighbourhood are four 
high-blast furnaces, besides smelting-houses, smithies, and 
iron-ware manufactures. It also produces silver, red-lead, 
and quicksilver, as well as coals. Iron is likewise raised at 
Obecnitz and Allhiittcn, on Count Collerodo's estates in the 
central part of Beraun, cast of the great ' Brdy Forest/, 
which Intersects it in a south-westerly direction from the 
banks of the Moldau to its most southern border. Near 
Przibrain, a town on the Litawka with nearly 4000 in- 
habitant^, in the south-west of the country, there are con- 
siderable silver and lead mines, and pig and sheet lead 
works. 

The celebrated castle of Karlstein, about five miles N.E. 
of Beraun, built by Charles IV. in 1343, is the most remark- 
able of the seven or eight hundred burgs in Bohemia, and 
is a favourite place of resort,' on account of the numerous and 
valuable specimens which it contains of the earliest state of 
painting in Germany and Bohemia. The raising of marble, 
and the manufacture of porcelain and earthenware, also give, 
employment to the inhabitants. Beraun, the capital of the 
province, called Slawoszow in Bohemian, and Verona and 
Berne in old chronicles, lies in the north -wost at the con- 
fluence of the Beraun aud Litawka; it is surrounded by 
an antient wall and ditch, contains 2S6 houses* and about 
2200 inhabitants, is the seat of a gymnasium and monastery 
of Piarists, and manufactures considerable quantities of 
earthenwaro for the Prague market. 49° 58' N. lat., and 
14° 5' E. long. 

BERBERl'DEiE, a natural order of plants belonging to 
the great class of Endogens, or Dicotyledons. It is readily 
known by three characters: — 1. Its anthers open by re- 
flexed valves; that is to say, tlie face of each cell of the 
antber peels off except at the point, where it adheres as if it 
were hinged there. 2. Its stamens are opposite the petals. 
3, Its flowers are usually formed upon a ternary plan, there 
being three or six sepals, a like number of petals, and of 
stamens. This last character is more liable to exception 
than the two others. The remarkable structure of the antber 
is found in no European plants except Berberideca and the 
laurel tribe [see Laurinkje] ; and as the latter has neither 
petals nor a ternary arrangement of the parts of the flower, 
it can never be mistaken for these. The present order con- 
sists of bushes or herbs, extremely dissimilar to each other 
in appearance, inhabiting the cooler parts of the world, 
being unknown in the tropics, except on the summits of 
lofty mountains. They are not met with in Africa or the 
South Sea Islands. Their juice usually stains yellow, and 
their bark, or stems, if not woody, are bitter, and slightly 

2L2 



B K tt 



2bO 



B E R 



astringent* on which accounts they have been received into 
the Materia Medica of all countries Tho most remarkable 
genus is Berukkh. 




[Rcrberti vulgmrU.] 
I. An expanded flovrer. 2. The calyx wtlhout th« p«Uli. 3. A i*t*l with 
a «timen tn front of It, 4. A stamen by llself. with the valrei of it* anther 
rcflexed. 5. An oviry cul through, »howiu« the position of the ovules. 6. A 
ripe seed. 7. A seel Ion of the latter, showlo; that the embryo Ilea in albumen. 
8, An embryo separated from lite seed, 

BE'RBEKIS, a genus of plants belonging to the natural 
order Berberidea, among which it is immediately known 
by its shrubby habit, berried fruit, and the presenco of 
glands upon its petals. It is also remarkable for the irrita- 
bility of its stamens, which, when the fdament is touched on 
the inside with the point of a pin, or any other hard instru- 
ment, bend forward towards the pistil, touch tho stigma with 
the anther, remain curved for a short time, and then par- 
tially recover their erect position : this is best seen in warm, 
dry weather. After heavy rain the phenomenon can scarcely 
be observed, owing, in all probability, to the springs of the 
filaments having been already set in motion by the dashing 
of tho rain upon them, or to the llowers having been forcibly 
struck against each other. The cause of this curious action, 
like all other vital phenomena, is unknown. It is ascribed 
to what is called local irritability, but this is not throwing 
much light upon the subject. All that we certainly know 
concerning it is this, that the irritability of the filament is 
alTected differently by different noxious substances. It lias 
been found by Messrs. Macairo and Marcet, that if you 
poison a berberry with any corrosive agent, such as arsenic 
or corrosive sublimate, the filaments become rigid and brittle, 
and lose their irritability ; while, on the other hand, if the 
poisoning be effected by any narcotic, sucli as Prussic acid, 
opium, or belladonna, the "irritability is destroyed by the 
filaments becoming so relaxed and llaccid, that they can be 
easily bent in any direction. It is difficult to draw from this 
curious fact any other inference, than that in plants as well 
a* In animals there is something analogous to a nervous 
principle, which is moro highly developed in some plants, or 
in some organs, than in others. 

The species of which this genns consists are interesting 
both for their utility and their beauty, on which account we 
shall describe the more remarkable kinds in some detail, 
especially as we find much to add and to correct in all the 
summaries of the genus that havo yet been published. The 
value of the bark and root of the common barberry for dyeing 
leather and linen of a yellow colour, is well known. Mr. 
Uovle has shown that this property is extended to the spe- 
cie* of India, especially to his Berberis aristata ; and it has 
been ascertained by Vnuqnelin, that a plant found on tho Nil- 
gherries (the BJmctoria) is inferior to few woods for dyeing 



yellow. The acid quality of tho fruit has rendered all Jho 
species more or less esteemed : that of B. aristaia and Bi 
Sepalensis is dried by the mountaineers of India as r nisi lis, 
anu sent to tho plains for sale. The bitterness and astrin- 
gency of the bark has caused them to be received into tho 
list of useful medicinal plants ; and it will be interesting to 
our classical readers to know that it has lately been ascer- 
tained by Mr. Royle, that the XtV(ov 'ti'&roV (Lycium In- 
dicuni) of Dioscorides, concerning which so much doubt 
has always existed, was an Indian species of barberry, now 
called Berberis Lycium. (For the conclusive evidence upon 
which this rests, seo Royle's Illustrations of the Botany of 
the Himalayan Mountains, &c. p. 63.) The supposed in- 
jurious effects of the barberry upon corn have already been 
shown to be a popular error, under the article /Hcimux. 

To persons having gardens this genus has particular 
attraction on account of the great beauty of many of the spe- 
cies, which are, however, but ill understood, even by bota- 
nists themselves. AVe venture to offer the following as a 
correct account of those which aro cultivated. They aro 
obviously divided into two great groups, of which the first 
has undivided leaves, like the common barberry ; and the 
others are pinnated, after the manner of the leaf of an ash- 
tree. Botanists call these Mahonias. Ash-barberry may 
be taken as their English designation. 

$ 1, Leaves simple. — Tuuk BARnERRins. 

* Leaves thin, deciduous; Jlotcers solitary. 

1. Berleris Sibirica (Siberian barberry). — Leaves obo- 
vate, obtuse, deeply and irregularly toothed ; llowers soli- 
tary, shorter than the leaves; spines deeply divided into 
from three to seven shining partitions. A small shrub found 
on exposed rocks on the hills and lower mountains of Altaic 
Siberia, where it is very common. It is to be procured in' 
the choicer collections of this country, to which it was ori- 
ginally introduced by. Pallas, who has figured it in his F/ora 
Bussica, tab. 67. Tho berries are, according to Pallas, obo- 
vate, and of a red colour. This does not thrive in England, 
but is always a scrubby bush of inelegant ap|>carance. 

* * Leaves ///in, mostly deciduous ; Jlotcers in racemes. 

2. Berberts Crettca (Candian barberry).— Spines in threo 
or more divisions ; leaves small, obovate, acute, nearly free 
from toothings ; llowers in very short, compact racemes. 
Not uncommon on the mountains of Candia and Greece, 
whence it has been brought to our gardens. It is a dwarf, 
scrubby hu3h, looking like a starved specimen of the com- 
mon barberry. Its berries are said to be black, ovate, two- 
seeded, and austere rather than acid. 

3. Berberts vulgaris (the common barberry). — Spines in 
three deep divisions ; leaves obovate, with fine spiny tooth- 
ings ; llowers in drooping racemes, which are longer than 
the leaves. This common species appears to inhabit equally 
tho north of Europe, Asia, and America in woods and 
thickets, especially in limestone countries. De Candolle 
remarks that it extends in Europe from Candia to Christ i- 
auia, and that while in northern latitudes it is a valley plant, 
it becomes in the south exclusively n mountaineer, climbing 
so high on Mount /Etna as to be tho most alpine of the 
shrubs of the sterile belt of that mountain at the height of 
7500 feet. Like all such plants, it has in the course of ages 
formed numerous varieties: these are, however, chiefly con- 
fined to the fruit, there being a great similarity in the foliago 
of all except one. Those known in the gardens are the fol-* 
lowing: — 1. The common red-fruited; 2. The stoneless, 
which differs from the first in nothing except the want of 
seeds; 3. The tchite, or yellow fruited; 4. The violet, 
purple, or black-fruited; and, 5. The sweet -fruited. Tho 
latter, although called sweet, is scarcely less acid than the 
common barberry, with which its fruit agrees in colour : but 
its leaves are a much brighter green* and shining instead of 
dull: it is found wild in Austria. Besides these there is in 
the catalogues a Canadian barberry, which appears to be 
nothing more than a common barberry brought from North 
America; and Berberis Daurica and Altaica, neither of 
which merit to be distinguished from B. vulgaris. 

This species is usually a hush from four to six feet high ; 
but in Italy it becomes as largo as a plum tree, living a 
couple of centuries or more. The wood is hard, but brittle, 
and is ehielly employed by the dyers for staining yellow. 
The acid qualities of this fruit render it unfit to eat raw, but 
it makes one of the moj»t delicious of preserves. 

A, Berberis Canadensis (Canadian barberry).— Spines di- 



BER 



261 



BER 



vided into three equal lobes; branches covered with little 
elevated points ; leaves oblong, distantly and coarsely 
toothed ; flowers in corymbose racemes, nodding. Found in 
the northern states of North America. This plant is not 
now in our gardens. It is generally considered the same 
as Berberis vulgaris, because the specimens called B. Cana- 
densis, both in gardens and herbaria, certainly are so; but 
this, the true plant of Miller and others, appears to be 
abundantly different from the common species in the cha- 
racters hero assigned to it: its -leaves are, moreover, of a 
thicker texture. We have a wild specimen gathered by 
Frazcr, which entirely agrees with what is said of the species 
byPursh. 

5. Berberis crattzgina (hawthorn barberry). — Spines sim- 
ple ; leaves oblong, strongly netted, with a straggling ser- 
rature here and there; tlowors in dense, drooping, many- 
flowered racemes which are scarcely longer than the leaves. 
Described by De Candolle from specimens collected in Asia 
Minor. Young plants of what is said to be this species are 
in the gardens, but they havo not yet flowered. 

C. Berberis Iberica (Iberian barberry). — Spines often 
simple, but sometimes three-cleft ; leaves nearly undivided ; 
flowers in loose, nearly erect racemes, much longer than the 
leaves. . A native of Iberia, and very like B. vulgaris, from 
which its smaller toothless leaves, and thin, almost upright 
racemes of smaller flowers at once distinguish it. The ber- 
ries are dark purple. There is a bad figure of it in Watson's 
DendrolagiaBritannica t ]i\ate2(>, under tho erroneous name 
of Berberis Sinensis. 

7. Berberis Sinensis (Chinese barberry). — Spines three- 
parted, or none ; leaves lanceolate, very acute, much netted, 
entire, or regularly toothed ; flowers numerous, in drooping 
racemes, which are not much longer than the leaves. A 
native of the north of India and of China, where it was found 
during Lord Macartney's embassy, between Pekin and 
Jehol. More common in French than English gardens. 
Its leaves arc sometimes almost toothless, sometimes rather 
finely, and occasionally very coarsely toothed. They are 
much smaller, thicker, and more netted than those of B* 
Iberica, which this species most resembles. The berries 
are said by De Candolle to be dark-purple : we find them a 
dirty red, on plants which we are certain he considered to 
belong to this species. 

* * * Leaves leathery, evergreen ; /lowers solitary, or 
in clusters, 

8.* Berberis IFallichiana (Wallich's barberry). — Spines 
long, slender, three-parted ; leaves oblong, lanceolate, deep- 
green, sharp -pointed,* finely serrated; flowers very nume- 
rous, in clusters shorter than the leaves. A native of Nepaul, 
and apparently of the higher part of the country. It has 
never yet been introduced to our gardens; but it is exceed- 
ingly well worth procuring on account of its deep-green 
evergreen leaves. < B. atroviridis is another name for it. 

9. Berberis dulcis (sweet-fruited barberry). — Spines long, 
slender, simple, or three- parted; leaves obovate, obtuse, 
with or without a bristly point, quite entire, glaucous on the 
under-side ; flowers solitary, on slender stalks, twice as long 
as the leaves. A native of the south-western part of South 
America, from the Straits of Magalhaens to Valdivia, where 
it forms a small evergreen bush. Its fruit is round, black, 
about as large as a pea : it is said to be sweet, and well 
suited for making tarts or preserving. This species has 
been some years in this country, but is at present very rare. 

10. Berberis heterophylla (various-leaved barberry). — 
Spines strong, three-parted ; leaves obovate, lanceolate, 
acute, either entire or with from thrco to five spiny teeth, 
very deep green ; flowers solitary, on stalks about twice as 
long as the leaves. An inelegant bush about three feet 
high,* bare of leaves, and having nothing but its rarity to 
recommend it ; it is a native of the Straits of Magalhaens; 
in the gardens it is usually called B. ilici/olia ; there is a 
figure of it in Hooker's Exotic Flora, vol. i. t. 1*1. 

11. Berberis empetrifolia (crow berry-leaved barberry). — 
Spines slender, long, in three or five deep divisions ; leaves 
linear, with a spiny point, rolled back at the edge, collected 
in bundles in the axils of the spines ; flowers solitary, 
growing on stalks about as long as the leaves. A very cu- 
rious and pretty plant, as yet rare in this country ; found 
wild, from the Cordilleras of Chili to the southern point of 
the American continent, over the whole of which country 
it appears to be very common. In general aspect it is much 
more like a heath.than a barberry.. 



Besides these species there are several of great beauty 
as evergreen shrubs to be procured from South America : 
of these Berberis aciinacantha, an extremely common plant 
between Valparaiso and St. Iago, might be easilv intro- 
duced. 

* * * * Leaves leathery, evergreen; flowers in racemes. 

12. Berberis floribunda (many-flowered barberry). 

Spines very stiff and three-parted ; leaves oblong or oblong- 
lanceolate, nearly entire or toothed in various degrees, some- 
times very deeply and coarsely veined ; flowers in long 
loose slender racemes. Apparently extremely common in 
the whole of the north of India, where it forms a tall bush, 
varying considerably in the form and size of the leaves, 
and in the degree in which they are toothed, but always 
well marked by its slender, pendulous, or erect racemes of 
flowers, which are much longer than the leaves, and in no 
degree corymbose. It is to be found occasionally in the 
more choice collections of this country. Out of accidental 
variations in -its mode of leafing and flowering, the spurious 
species called B. afflnis and ceratophylla have been con- 
stituted. By Dr. Wallich, in his great distribution of the 
Herbarium of the -East India Company, it has been mis- 
taken for B. aristata, which is altogether another plant. 

13. Berberis Asiatica (raisin barberry). — Spines small 
and weak, simple or three-parted ; leaves oblong or obovate, 
acute, somewhat glaucous beneath, either entire or coarsely 
or even finely toothed ; flowers in short compact racemes 
not longer than the leaves. Found in Nepaul and Kamaoon 
very abundantly, forming a tall bush ;vitn the habit of the 
common European barberry. The fruit is round, covered 
over with a thick bloom, and has altogether the appearance 
of the finest raisins. It is produced abundantly in this 
climate, where the plant is now not very uncommon. The 
very short racemes are the principal distinction of this spe- 
cies when in flower. 

14. Berberis dealbata (whitened barberry). — Spines 
scarcely any ; leaves roundish, coarsely toothed, rather 
glaucous, white beneath ; racemes very short and compact, 
pendulous. Recently introduced by the Horticultural So- 
ciety from Mexico. It is a tall, slender, evergreen bush, 
with deep-brown branches and scarcely any spines. The 
leaves are sometimes wedge-shaped and three-toothed, hut 
more frequently nearly round, with two or three spiny teeth 
on each side. It is sometimes called in the gardens by mis- 
take Z?. glauca, which is a different species. 

15. Berberis aristata (bristle-leaved barberry). — Spines 
three-parted, simple, or wanting; leaves obovate, acute, 
shining on both sides, with a few bristle-pointed teeth on 
either edge ; racemes always more or less compound and 
corymbose. A native of the mountains of Iridia, extending 
from the Himalayan range down the Nilgherry as far as 
Nuera Ellia and Adam's Peak in Ceylon ; it is a hardy snb- 
evergrecn bush in the gardens. Its stature is that of the 
common barberry, but it is a far handsomer species, not 
only because of its evergreen leaves, but on account of the 
fine large corymbose racemes of flowers with which it is 
covered in June. Its fruit is oblong, brownish-purple, with 
little or no bloom, and about three seeds ; the flavour is in- 
sipid, with a little acidity. The form of the leaves and their 
degree of toothing are too fallacious to be cited as marks by 
which this may be distinguished from other species. It is, 
however, immediately known by its compound racemes of 
flowers, which have a corymbose appearance, as is well 
represented in the Botanical Register, t. 729, where the 
plant is called B. chitria; the chitri of the Nepaulese is how- 
ever not this plant, but Berberis petiolaris, a species not 
yet in England. 

Besides the foregoing there are still, some beautiful species 
to introduce from the south of Chili, particularly one found 
by Mr. Bridges near Valdivia, with shining holly-like leaves, 
long racemes of orange-colonred flowers, and young branches 
covered with rusty down. We particularly invite tho atten- 
tion of travellers in Chili to this plant, the seeds of which 
would certainly reach England in safetv if mixed with 
tenacious earth and rammed into a box. 

} 2. Leaves pinnated ; all evergreen. — Ash-Barbkrriks. 

16. Berberis fascicukiris (Californian ash-barberry). — 
Leaflets ovate, finely toothed, not shining; flowers in short 
compact clusters; stem tall and woody. Found in the 
mountainous parts of California and Mexico. A very hand- 
some, evergreen shrub, with pinnated leaves which are by 



a k n 



2G2 



B K R 



i* mean* shining, and of a paler preen than several of tho 
other*. It is rather too delicate to bear tho winters of the 
neighbourhood of London without some protection ; hut it 
would, in all probability, be perfectly hardy in the south- 
western parts of Great Britain. It is readily known by tho 
generally rounded appearanco of its clusters of tlowcrs, 
which appear in June. Figured in the Botanical Register, 
vol. ix. plate 702, under the namo of B. pinnata. 

Mahonia divers\folia of tho gardens seems to bo tho samo 
as this ; and the story of its having been brought from 
Monte Video is probably not true. 

\ 7 . Berberis aquifolium (holly-leaved ash barberry). — 
Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, Hat, deeply and regularly toothed, 
remarkably shining ; flowers in long narrow racemes ; stem 
tall and wooay. A native of North-west America 'from 
New Albion to Nootka Sound, growing in woods, whero it 
forms a thick and rich underwood. It has been introduced 
to this country of lato years, and is perhaps the handsomest 
hardy evergreen we yet possess. Its foliage is of a rich 
flecp shining green, becoming purple in the winter ; it bears 
frntt in somo abundance, which consists of clusters of 
roundish black berries, having their surface covered with a 
rich violet bloom. They havo no merit as fruij, but would 
probably bo greedily sought by game, for the protection of 
which in coverts this species seems well adapted, if it could 
only bo obtained in sufficient quantity. Tho difficulty of 
propagating it has hitherto tnado it a scarco plant; but 
seeds might be easily obtained from tho Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany's settlements in North -west America. It most resem- 
bles B. fasicularis, from which its large shining leaves at 
once distinguish it; and it is perfectly hardy, which that 
species is not. Flowers in May and June ; it has been 
figured in the Botanical Register, vol. xvii. plato 1425. 

IS. Berberis repeiu (creeping ash-barberry). — Leaflets 
few, somewhat glaucous, especially on the under side, ob- 
long, when old rounded at the point, with shallow toothings ; 
flowers in crowded, compound, erect racemes; stom very 
dwarf; runs at the root. Found wild on the cast sido of 
tho rocky mountains of North Ameriea, and perfectly hardy 
in our gardens. Its stems do not grow abo o ix or nine 
inches high, and aro loaded with a profusion of rich yellow 
flowers, which constitute the principal beauty of the species. 
Its fruit is unknown. A good figure of it has been pub- 
lished iu the Botanical Register, vol. xiv. plate 1176. No- 
thing can be moro unlike B. aquifolium than this is, al- 
though the two havo occasionally been most unaccountably 
confounded. 

19. Berberis glumacea (long-leaved ash-barberry). — Leaf- 
lets numerous, ovate-lanceolate, eoarsely toothed, of a dull 
glaucous green ; flowers in long, narrow, erect racemes ; 
stem very dwarf; scales of the leaf and flower-buds stiff 
and glumaeeous. A nativo of North-west Aincriea, grow- 
ing in shady grassy places in woods. The stem of this 
species does not crow more than six or eight inches high, 
and is, in faet, snorter than its leaves, which consist of 
about six pairs with an odd one, and arc jointed at every 
pair of loatlets in tho man nor of a bamboo stem. The fruit 
lit roundish and insipid, of a fine glaucous purple. This is 
less raro than B. aquifolium, and is an object of curiosity 
moro than of utility. It loves to grow in a shaded Atno- 
rican border, where it is protected front the fiercer rays of 
the lun. It is figured in tho Botanical Register, vol., xvii. 
plato 1426. Berberis, or Mahonia nervosa, is another name 
for this. 

In addition to these four beautiful species thero are tho 
following, which still romain to be introduced to this coun- 
try :— Berberis LescHenaultii (the B, acanthifolia of some), 
a fine pinnated plant with round black fruit, found on tho 
Nil cherry mountains of India at tho elevation of 8000 feet. 
Berberi* Napalcnsis, a native of the mountains of tho north 
of India, where, according to Mr. Royle, it grows twelve 
feet high in shady places, at 5000 and 6000 foot of eleva- 
tion : this is a noble species, and ought to be obtained from 
India at any cost, as it would, in all probability, succeed in 
this climate. Berberi$ (ragacanthoides, with not more 
than one or two pairs of lealfcts, found along the banks of 
the river Kur, near Till is ; and Berberis caragantrfolia, a 
Chinese plant very liko the last: both the latter have tho 
points of the leaves hardened into spines. 

BKRBKRS, BRKBBK'R (Berbers is nothing else than 
Btrdbra; Barabcra being tho Arabio form of the plural 
from Berber), the name given by the Arabs to the ori- 
ginal inhabitants of North Africa, which corresponds 



to the Libyans of Herodotus, who wero the aborigines 
of tho north, and by hint distinguished from tho Ethi- 
opians to the south, and from tho Greeks and Phoeni- 
cians who had settled on the northern coast The people, 
however, to whom the name of Berbers is now generally 
applied, namely the inhabitants of the whole Atlas range 
from the Atlantic coast of Marocco to tho shores of tho gulf 
of Cabes or little Syrtis, call themselves in their own lan- 
guages Araazirgh, or Tamzircht, and are not acquainted 
with the namo of Berber, which appears to have been 
first used by the Arab writers in tho second century of 
the Hegira (eighth century of our ecra), after the Moham- 
medan conquest of North Africa and of Spain. Previous 
to this tho Arabs used to call the inhabitants of Mauri- 
tania A'djcm, or mosla'djcm, * strangers/ * who did not 
speak Arabick.* (Graberg di Hemso, Specchio geograftco e 
statittico dell Impero di Marocco, Genoa, 1834.) -In 
the council of Toledo, G94 a. d., a great number of Jews 
were ordered to leave Spain under the charge of holding 
treasonable correspondence with their brethren of Africa 
known by the name of Pilistins, who were settled in great 
numbers among tho Amazirghs and the Moors. Gra- 
berg thinks that the more civilized Jews of Spain may 
have used tho word barbaros in speaking of their neigh- 
bours aeross tho Straits, out of whtelt word the Arab 
writers of Spain in the following century may havo formed 
the word bcrbcr or Juhud cl berber, * barbarian Jew. 
The Arabian historians and geographers, however, have 
given various and more fanciful explanations of the word 
berber. Some derive it from Bar, desert, others from the 
word "bcrberna,* which signifies a murmuring, indistinct 
noise, for such the language of the North African natives 
sounded to tho cars of the Arabs, (Leo Africanus, Africce 
descriptio, and Shehabeddtn, in his Ketab Adjuman, 
written about 1450; tho latter is quoted by Rittcr, Afrika^ 
s. 24.) One of the anticnt and principal tribes of the 
Amazirghs was called He rani, or sons of Ber, a descendant 
of Madzigh, the progenitor of the whole race. (Ibn Khal- 
dun, History of the Berbers, written about 1370.) Others 
say that Ber was the son of Kis and grandson of A'ilam, 
ono of the shepherd kings of Egypt. In the antient Roman 
geography of Mauritania wo find a tribe called Verves in 
the northeastern part of Tingitana, near the western bank 
of the Molochat river, and farther south beyond tho Sebn 
river were the Vcrbicco and the Ncctiberes. According to 
Graberg the origin of the word Berber might be traced tc 
those, as the b and the rare interchangeable letters. Whe- 
ther, thereforo, tho word Berber is of indigenous, or Arabic, 
or Greek and Roman origin is still a matter of doubt. It 
has been, howevor, generally employed by tho Arabian 
writers, whon speaking of the North African aborigines. 
Among the earliest of theso writers who speak of the Ber- 
bers, we find Ilcsham ben Mohammed al Khelebi, who lived 
in tho beginning of the 9th century,. Kaid Aiad Ben Mttsa, 
who died about 05 G, and Abul Kasem Mohammed Ibn 
Hhaukal, who wrote about 970. 

With regard to the origin of the Berbers, we find it like- 
wiso involved in obscurity. Tradition among themselves, as 
well as the accounts of tho Arabian writers who have written 
concerning them, seem to point to the land of Canaan as the 
country they came from. Ahmed ol Fasi, in his Ketab el 
Giammar, says that tho Berbers are a colony of Philistines 
who took refuge in Africa after David had killed Gialout or 
Goliath (Hcrbelot,art. Gialout). Others say that they aro tho 
descendants of tho Canaanitcs and Amalckitcs driven from 
Palestine by Joshua. Thero is now a tribe of Berbers near 
Mcquinez called Ait Amor, said to bo the descendants of 
the Amorites. Procopius (Vandalicorura, II.) says that 
the Gcrgashitcs, Jebusitcs, and other nations being driven 
out of Palcstino by Joshua, built cities in Libya, and occu- 
pied tho country as far as tho Straits of Gibraltar* ; and he 
also asserts that in his timo thero were at Tangier two 
marblo columns with inscriptions wt tho Phoenician lan- 
guage, to the following import: — * Wo lly from the robber 
Joshua, tho son of Nun.* But Procopius also says that thero 
wero other nations settled in Libya before the arrival of 
theso strangers. Though the statement of Procopius may 
bo worth little, it serves at least to show that tho tradi- 
tion of tho old relationship between the Canaanites and 
the natives of North Africa existed in his time. Graberg, 
without controverting the tradition of tho Canaauito and 
Philistino emigrations, thinks that tho Araazirgh race 
existed in North Africa previous to the age of Joshua, and 



BER 



263 



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the traditions of the Shellooh are in favour of that suppo- 
sition. The Shellooh, it must be observed, are a clans- 
people, and great genealogists. They eall themselves the 
descendants of Mazigh, son of Canaan, and eonsider their 
northern neighbours, the Brebber of Fez, as Philistines, 
descendants of Casluhim, son of Mizraim. Ibn Khaldun 
says of the Berbers in general that they are descended 
from Ham, like the anticnt Egyptians. Graberg, Host, 
Marsden, and others who have paid attention to the Tam- 
zirgt language, think that it has no affinity to the lan- 
guages commonly palled Shemitic. At the end of Cham- 
berlayne's Oratio Dominica, London, 1715, there is a 
Latin epistle from Jezreel Jones about the lingua Shilhensis, 
which, he says, was once the language of both Mauri- 
tanias, but is now confined to the inhabitants of Messa, 
(Sejelmesa?) Dara, Sus, and the Reephean Mounts. The 
difference between its various dialects consists, he says, 
chiefly in the pronunciation : in many places they have 
several words to express the same thing; their sounds 
are hissing and guttural ; many Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and 
Punic words are mixed with their language, and they gene- 
rally use the prefix Ait to the names of their tribes. He 
compares their habits to those of the Irish ; and he gives 
a vocabulary of about one hundred words of the Shillooh 
language with the Latin meaning. The numerals are as 
follows : — 1, yean ; 2, seen ; 3, crat ; 4, koost ; 5, summost ; 
6, sutheast; 7, sad; 8, tempt; 9, tzaw; 10, murrow; 11, 
yean d'murrow ; 12, sin d'murrow, &c. ; 20, ashedeen; the 
other multiples of ten, he says, are Arabic : 1 00 is tameadon $ 
1000 is woaphodon. Shaw, in his vocabulary of the Sho- 
viah or Algiers Berber, gives ewan for 1, seen for 2, and 
the other numerals, he says, are Arabic. 

Numerous other emigrants from the East are reported to 
have settled on the eoasts of Northern Africa at very 
remote times, Jflercules and his companions, Armenians, 
Medes and Persians, &c. Of the Persians we are told that 
on landing they turned their boats topsy-turvy, and used 
them as huts (Sallust, de Bello Jugurth,, c. 18): but 
these traditions cannot be considered as of any historical 
value. The Phoenicians and Greeks came next, and after- 
wards the Romans, Vandals, Jews, Arabs, &c. This will 
account for the great admixture of races in various parts of 
the eountry, especially near the coasts ; but still one race, the 
Amazirgh, appears distinct from the oldest times on record 
as haying maintained its identity, its habits, and a separate 
language till the present day. The name Mazigh or 
Amazirgh may be traced in the Greek and Roman writers, 
in the Maxyes of Herodotus ; in the Masices of Ptolemy, 
who lived in Western Tingitana, between the river Zilis 
and the cape Hernuoum, now cape Cantin; in the Tamu- 
sigaof the Periplus, now Tafelne, south of Mogodor; and 
probably in the Massyli and Massa;syli of the Roman geo- 
graphers. The little island before Algiers is called by 
Ammianus Marcellinus, Insula Mazucana, and by the oldest 
Arabian writers Jeezira Beni Mazighanan. Eustathius, in 
his notes to Dionysius Periegetes (1. 195), calls Iarbas, the 
Numidian, king of the Mazices and the pomades. Tho 
town pf Mazagan, near the mouth of the Umrai-er-R'bie'h, 
still hears the same name. 

With regard to the Arab immigrations previous to Mo- 
hammed's rora, Ibn al Raquiq, who wrote in the 11th cen- 
tury, in his tree of African generations, quoted by Leo 
Africanus aud by Marmol, says that the Sabroans came 
from Arabia across the Desert, under Melek Ifriki, who 
gave his namo to Africa, Thoy consisted of five tribes, the 
Senhagia, Massmudah, Zeneta, Hawara, and Gumera. 
These were probably the Quinquegentani of the Romans, 
* They,* he says, * were called African Berbers, while the 
inhabitants of Tingitana who had settled there in very 
remote times were called Berber Xiloes, or Shclloohs. Tho 
latter lived m houses in the mountains, and some of the 
new comers from Arabia joined them, while tho rest con- 
tinued to live in adowar or tents. Their tribes were called 
Kabyles.* Now the very mixed raco who, under the 
name of Moors, inhabit not only the coasts and the ehief 
towns of Barbary, but are spread into the interior as far as 
Sudan, and are every whero distinct from tho Berber or 
Mazigh tribes, trace their origin to these Sabsoans or 
Himiarites. [See Moors.] 

It is now generally believed that the Berbers of Fez, the 
Shellooh of Marocco and Sus, the Showiah or Kabyles 
of Algiers, and the Beni Mozab and other tribes of * tho 
Belad el Jereed south of the Atlas, the Zuaves of the re- 



gency of Tunis, the A'deras of Ghadamis south of Tripoli, 
and the Tuaricks of the Great Desert, as well as the inha- 
bitants of the Oases of Siwah, Audjelah, and probably of 
Fezzan also, are branehesof one great parent stock, the 
Mazigh or aboriginal white race of Northern Africa. Their 
various dialects are probably derived from one common lan- 
guage, as far as can be judged from the scanty information 
we have concerning them. Sueh is the opinion of Marsden, 
Hornemann, Seetzen, Graberg, Venture, Ritter ; and such 
was also the opinion of Ibn Batuta and Ibn Khaldun, who 
was himself of Berber race, and who wrote a history of the 
Berbers ; of Abu Mohammed Salehh el Gharnati, Shehab- 
eddin, Leo Africanus, and other Arabian travellers, geo- 
graphers, and historians. (See Homemann's Vocabulary 
of the Siwah and Audjelah Dialects; Venture's Vocabu* 
laire Berber, in Langles's French translation of Horner 
mann; Minutoli's Vocabulary of the Siwah Language; 
Shaw's Vocabulary of the Showiah or Algerine Berbers ; 
Host's Efterretninger om Morokos t in which is a vocabu- 
lary Of the western Amazirgh ; and Vater's Mithridates.) 
Seetzen and Venture think that the Barabra or Berbers of 
Nubia are also derived from the same stock, and Seetzen 
was assured by one of the Barabra pilgrims, that the Ber- 
bers of the Nile understand the dialect of the Berbers of 
Moghrib, or Marocco, who come with the caravans through 
Nubia on their way to Mecca. (Seetzen's letter to Von 
Hammer in the Fundgruben des Orients, vol. iii.) On the 
coast of Adel, south-east of Abyssinia, is the harbour long 
known by the name of Berbera. The Soraaulis, the inha- 
bitants of the country, are supposed by^some to be of Berber 
race ; and the whole of this coast, from Cape Guardafui to 
the straits of Bab el Mandeb, is called Barbaria in the 
Periplus of the Erythrean sea. Again in Sudan, Ibn 
Batuta, who travelled in the fourteenth century, found a 
tribe of Berbers in the kingdom of Wadai or Bergu, which 
lies west of Darfur, and the king of the country was then 
of Berber race. (See Ritter's Africa, sec, 24, where he 
speaks of the Berbers of Nubia, and sec. 31, where ho 
speaks of those of Mount Atlas.) This supposed relation- 
ship, however, between the Barabra of Nubia and the Ber- 
bers of the Atlas is a matter of at least great doubt, and not 
to be relied upon. [Seo Barabra.] , 

The word Amazirgh signifies noble and free. The letter 
/ prefixed to a noun constitutes the article, and the same 
letter affixed to the end marks the feminine gender. Tama- 
zirgt or Torazirgt is tho name they give to their language 
and their nation. Amrgar means master, lord ; tamrgart, 
mistress, lady; agschish, male infant; tagschist, female 
child ; aram, or elgum, a male camel ; taramt, or telgumt, 
a female camel; agmar, a horse; tagmart, a mare; dabri- 
can, black, adj. mase. ; tabrieant, black fem. ; damellel, tamel- 
lett, white ; ilha, tilhat, handsome, &c. Most of their names 
of towns, countries, and rivers begin and end likewise with 
the letter/; Tafilelt,Tessct,Tarudant, Talent, &e. (Graberg, 
Specchio del Marocco.) Ritter observes in support of the 
hypothesis that the Amazirgh was once the language of all 
northern Africa as far as the Red Sea, that certain pre- 
fixes or affixes belonging to it are found in many local 
names across the whole breadth of the continent, for instance 
Daran, which moans mountain, is found in the Abyssinian, 
Taranta, in tho neighbourhood of the Hazorta tribes, who, 
like the old Bcjas, Bishareens, and other African tribes along, 
the Red Sea, he supposes to have been originally Berbers, 
and again in Dar-fur, Dar-Fungara, Dar-Kulla, &e. The 
name Tacrur, teeurol, is also found repeated in a number 
of villages. Jackson and Ritter also give short tables of 
words, eoramon both to the Shellooh dialeet and that of the 
Guanchos, the old inhabitants of the Canary Islands, who 
were a colony of the Amazirgh race. (Glassc's History of 
the Canary Islands; Bory de St. Vineent, Histoire des 
Isles Forlunees,) 

In the empire of Marocco the aboriginal race is divided 
into two great sections, called by the Arabs Brebber in the' 
north, and Shellooh in the south. The BrcbbSr inhabit the* 
northern part of the Great Atlas ehain, extending from. 
Mount ErrifiT, near the coast of the Mediterranean, between^ 
Tetuan and Gomera, down as far as the province of Tedla,* 
south of the city of Fas or Fez, and near the sources of the 
great river Umm-cr-R*bie'h. They oceupy likewise the 
eastern side of the same ehain, extending into Tafilelt and, 
Sejelmesa, towards the state of Algiers, where their brethren,* 
the Kabyles, succeed them along the line of the Atlas to thej 
eastward. Tho Berbers were once the masters of all Tafi- 



BER 



2G4 



T> K R 



leh, but were driven away by tho Arab race. The northern- 
most Berbers, east of Tel nan, also called F.rriflfecn from 
Mount Errcef, have a bad character along tho coast. The 
Berber* in the mountains live under tents, or in huts co- 
vered with mats, or in caves, but in the plains they have 
houses and villages, built generally of wood and clay, 
covered with straw, and surrounded by a wall full of loop- 
1k>1cs to fire through. They livo eh icily on tho produce of 
their cattle; they havo great flocks of sheep, and also mules 
and donkeys, but few horses, and, unlike the Arabs, they 
travel and fight chiclly on foot. Some cultivate tho ground, 
and they all rear bees, A great number of Jows live, and 
havo lived from time immemorial, among them, on a footing 
of social equality, a peculiarity which is not found among 
the Shellooh, or' indeed among any other tribe in Africa, 
where the Jews arc ever)* where moro or less despised, and 
avoided or oppressed. These Jews arc called Pi list ins by 
the other Jews of tho towns, who look upon them as here- 
tics. The name of Pilisl'.ns is sometimes applied to the 
Berbers themselves by the Shellooh, who consider them as 
Philistines, descendants of Casluhim, son of Mitzraim, and 
as having immigrated into the country in the timoof Go- 
liath, long after themselves. The sympathy between tho 
.Berbers of North Marocco and these Philistine Jews is 
attributed to a tradition among the Berbers, that their an- 
cestors at one time before the Arabian invasion professed 
the Jewish religion. This tradition is confirmed hy Arabian 
writers, especially by Abulfeda, and by Abu Mohammed 
SalAhh, author of the Ketab al Cartas, who wrote about the 
year 1326, and who says, that of the Berbers of Moghrib el 
Acsa some followed the Christian religion, others the 
Jewish, and others that of tho Magi or of Zoroaster. lie 
says also that tho descendants of Sanhagia and Kothama, 
who emigrated from Asia after David had killed Goliath, 
and settled in tho Moghrib, were professing Judaism at the 
time of the Arab conquest, and that tncy accompanied 
Tarck in his invasion of Andalusia. (Grabcrg's Marocco.) 
At present the Berlwrs in general profess, nominally at 
least, the religion of Islam, and arc more fanatical against 
the Christians than the Moors themselves. They have light 
complexions, and many have hair as fair as the northern 
Europeans; their beards are scanty and thin, differing in 
this from the other races who inhabit Marocco ; they are 
remarkably well proportioned, robust, active, lively, restless, 
and bold, and implacable in their revenge. They have a 
sinister, malignant glance of tho eye, like the'Kabyles of 
Algiers, and the instinct of cruelty seems to be strong in' 
both, Rozet and other modern travellers observe that the 
Kabyles, women as well as men, seem to delight in 'tor- 
menting their prisoners. The Berbers of Marocco are often 
at war with their Arab neighbours, and also among them-" 
selves, tribe against tribe, and family against family. Their 
hatred and revengo arc hereditary, and blood can only be 
redeemed by blood. The government of Marocco encon-' 
rages these animosities between tribe and tribe, for the 
purpose of weakening their strength, which if united might 
become extremely formidable, as the Berbers and Shellooh 
together form at least one- half of the population of the 
wholo empire. Grabcfg reckons the Berbers at above two 
millions*, and the Shellooh atone million and a half. Most 
of the Berber tribes live in a stato of almost total inde- 
pendence, under the administration of their omzargh, 
amrgar, and amucran, elders and lords who are hereditary. 
One of these, named Amrgar M'hanshc, excited a general 
insurrection in 1819, and maintained for several years an 
obstinate war against tho emperor, Tho Berbers dress in a 
woollen sleeveless jacket and trousers, with occasionally a 
blanket or a baracan over it. They shave the fore part of 
the head, leaving the hair behind' hanging down : to their 
shoulders; they wear short mustachios, and a small tuft of 
beard on the chin ; they go mostly bareheaded and bare- 
footed; they are good runners, swimmers, and huntsmen, 
and are very fond of their muskets, which are often orna- 
mented with ivory and silver at a considerable expense. 

The Shellooh are smaller mado and less robust than the 
northern Berbers, and they have darkor complexions: thev 
arc more industrious, peaceful, civilized, and humane ; thev 
work at trades and manufactures; they are more hushand'- 
men than shepherds; they live in houses called tiginin, 
made of stones and mortar, covered with roofs of bricks or 
slates ; they have villagos called teddcrt, and towns called 
murt, surrounded bv walls and towers. They have no Jews 
among thorn, and although some of their tribes live close to 



thorcof the Berbers, they keep separate from, and never in- 
termarry with them. It appears that they and the Berbers 
do not understand each other's dialect without an Inter- 
preter. The Shellooh consider themselves as the descend- 
ants of the Original inhabitants of tho country, call them- 
selves Amazirgh-Beranis, from the celobrated tribe Bcranis, 
or sons of Ber, descended of Madzig, or Mazirgh, son of 
Canaan. (See Graberg, Appendix, nolo G, On the 0/;r- 
ahgy of tlte People of Tingitana.) Every thing seems 
to confirm the opinion that, notwithstanding iho apparent 
differeneo between tho Shclloohs and Berbers, they were 
cither originally of one "race, or havo at former epochs so 
mixed tog ether as to create a great affinity between them, 
which atlinity, in courso of ages, has become again in great 
measuro obliterated. AVith regard to the Shellooh and 
Berber languages, Graberg firmly believes that they arc 
dialects of one original language, differing less than the 
Danish, Swedish, and German languages do from each 
other. The language of the Shellooh is known by the namo 
of Shillah. A Spanish missionary at Tangier, Father Don 
Pedro Martin del Rosario, who has often travelled through 
tho interior of Marocco, is well acquainted with the Berbers 
and their language, and has also been among the Shclloohs 
of tho south, said, that between the two languages thcro is 
as much rcsemblanco as between the English and the 
Dutch, and with regard to tho character of the two peoplo 
he used to comparo the Shelloohs to the French, and the 
Berbers to the Belgians, Our knowledge of the various 
Amazirgh dialects seems too imperfect yet to enable us to 
decide upon their relationship. Grey Jackson, vol. i., in the 
short eomparativo list which he gives of Shellooh and Berber' 
words, puts down for camel algrom in Shellooh, and aram in 
Berber, and then in another similar list of the Shellooh and 
Siwah dialects he marks arum in Shellooh for camel. Again r 
he suys that sheep is aouli in Berber and izimer in Shellooh, 
and afterwards he says that sheep is jellibb both in Siwah 
and Shellooh, A horse in Shellooh is marked aycese in one 
place and akmar in another, and so on in several other in- 
stances, Chenier, Ilistoire tie Maroe, gives a short com- 
parative list of Shillah and Berber; the numerals and other 
words appear nearly tho same in both. By comparing 
Shaw's vocabulary of tho Showiah or Berber of Algiers, 
Homcmann's and Minutoli*s of the Siwah language, Jcz- 
recl Jones* vocabulary of the Shillah language, Jackson's 
and Chenier s of the .Shillah and Berber of -Marocco, and 
Venture's Dictionnaire Berber, one may find occasional 
affinities among them all, especially between the Shillah, 
tho Showiah of Algiers, and that of jSiwah, In vol. ii., now 
sories, of the Transactions of the American Philosophical 
Society, is an interesting letter from Mr. Shaler, American 
Consul at Algiers, to P. du Ponceau, dated 1823, containing 
some information which he gatheied concerning the Kabyle 
or Berber tribes of the interior, and especially about the Bcui 
Mozab, together with a vocabulary of the Showiah or Al* 
gcrinc Berber In a double version, one furnished by a Jewish 
interpreter and tho other hy a Swedish gentleman, not 
named, long resident in Barbary. There seems to be great 
affinity between many words and the corresponding ones in 
the Shillah language whilst others scein like the few given 
by, Jackson of the North Berber of Marocco. -Jackson 
asserts that neither Berber nor Shillah have written cha- 
racters, and that thoso who write in them use tho Arabic 
characters. He never heard that any other characters had 
ever been in use among them ; although Marmol asserts 
tho contrary* The l^ndon British and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety published, in 1833, twclvo chapters of the Gospel of 
St. Luke in tho Showiah or Algcrinc Berber language. 
The MSS, was purchased of Mr. Hodgson, late American 
Vice Consul at Algiers, and the version was made -under 
his superintendence by a Kabyle Berber of the mountains 
near Algiers. Mr. Hattcrsley is mentioned, in the notice 
accompanying this version, as having superintended tho 
publication. The aecuraey and success of this version have 
not yet been ascertained (1£35). The characters used arc 
Arabic, though with occasional ]>cculiar forms of letters 
differing from the Arabic. The last chapter is given also in 
pure Arabic characters. . 

The Shellooh live in the western valleys of tho Atlas, 
south of Mequincz, in the province of Tcmsna ; hut they are 
more numerous south of the city of Marocco, especially in 
thu provinces of Hhahha, Sus, and Guzzula. They occupy 
also the western offset of the Atlas which runs- to tlw coast 
of the Atlantic near Santa Cruz, and which divides the 



BER 



265 



BER 



large province of Sus from the rest of the empire.' They com- 
pose the majority of the population in Sus, and especially 
in southern Sus, where Sidi Hishiam, of the imperial race 
of the Shereefs, formed, in 1810, an, independent state, in- 
habited by 250,000 people, chiefly Shellooh. The capital is 
Talent. The Shellooh are also very numerous in the pro- 
vince, of Draha, eastward of the Atlas and towards Tafilelt. 
The town of Beneali, situated in the Atlas near the sources 
of the river Draha, is the residence of the chief of all the 
independent Shellooh of the provinces of Guzzula and 
Draha. In Jackson's map of Marocco, the various tribes of 
Shellooh, Berbers, and Arabs, are marked with the initials 
of eacb nation, but how accurately we cannot tell. Most of 
the Shellooh tribes have the prefix Ait before tbeir name, 
while the Berbers have mostly adopted the Arabic prefix 
Beni, like most of the Kabyles of the state of Algiers. Of 
the character of the Shellooh, of their patriarchal habits and 
hospitality, we have favourable accounts from various tra- 
vellers, but not so of the Berbers and Kabyles, who appear 
to be thievish, murderous, and cruel. The Shellooh, how- 
ever, are also often at variance among themselves, through 
hereditary and bloody feuds. The Shellooh profess Islam- 
ism ; they have Imams and learned men of their nation ; 
they have given sovereigns, not only to Marocco, but to all 
North Africa and to Spain; the founders of the dynasties 
of the Almoravides and Almobades were Shellooh. * 

About the other divisions of the Amazirgh race, impro- 
perly called Berber, we have still less information than 
about those of Marocco, who have been till now the most 
accessible to Europeans. [For the Kabyles of Algiers, see 
Alcikrs.] The Kabyles are loosely calculated by Graberg 
and others to be nearly one million in the whole state of 
Algiers; but we have no account of any traveller who has 
lived among them in their dashkrahs in the Atlas. The 
same may be said of the Amazirgh or Kabyles of Tunis, 
who are called Zuaghes or Zuaves, and whom travellers 
have generally confounded with the Arabs; and the Moors 
of the towns call indifferently the Berbers and the Bedo- 
ween Arabs, who live in the interior, by the name of Kabyles. 
M*Gill, in his account of Tunis, does not even mention the 
Berbers, as if there were no such race, although we know 
the names of several Amazirgh tribes near Kerwan and 
towards the island of Gerbi distinct from the Arab or Bedo- 
ween tribes. [See Tunis.] 

With regard to Tripoli, the population of that state is 
essentially Arab. Tully says there aro tribes of African 
Arabs which he distinguishes from the Asiatic Arabs. But 
it appears they all speak Arabic, and it is doubtful whether 
there are any Amazirgh tribes at all. The African Arabs 
of Tripoli have a tradition that they came, in very remote 
times, from Arabia Felix under Melek Afriki. This Sabsoan 
immigration is mentioned throughout all North Africa as 
having come by land across the desert. These Sabocans 
either mixed with the prior colonies of the Amazirgh3 from 
Palestine or Egypt, or contributed to form the other and 
very mixed race of North Africa called Moors. [See 
Moors.] But the oasis of Ghadamis south of Tripoli is 
inhabited by a race not Arab ; they are called A'dcm ; they 
have a distinct language, which is called Ertana by the 
Arabs, and they are supposed to be a tribe of Amazirgh 
like those of Siwah. (Marmol's Africa ; Edrisi's Africa; 
Leo Afrieanus, Description of Africa; Ritter's Afrika; 
Paul us' Latin translation of an itinerary from Fas to Tafi- 
lelt by Ahmed Ben el Hhassan el Metsiovi, written in 1 789 ; 
Shaw's Travels in Barbary ; OttavioCastiglioni, Recherches 
sur les Berbcres AtlanLique* habitans de la Barbarie ; Ven- 
ture, Notice sur la Langue Berbere in Lanjjles* Mimoire 
sur les Oases; and the other writers mentioned in this 
article.) 

BERBICE, a district of the colony of British Guiana, was 
first setiled by the Dutch in the year 1626. In 1600 the 
colony had mado considerable progress, and the French, 
who effected a landing, levied on tho population a contribu- 
tion of 20,000 florins. * The colony was comprised in the 
charter of the Dutch West India Company ; but an ar- 
rangement had been made in 1678, with the family of Van 
Peere of Flushing, who were in fact the founders and pro- 
prietors, by which it was granted to them in perpetuity. In 
1712a flotilla of French privateers attacked the settlement, 
and exacted a contribution of 300,000 florins, which was 
filially paid by the house of Van Hoorn and Company, who 
received in return from the family of Van Peere a cession of 
three-fourths of the concern. In 1 720, the proprietors, not 



having sufficient capital for the cultivation of the land, raised 
a loan in shares, to be employed solely in the production ot 
sugar, and from this date the colony rapidly flourished. Coffee 
was introduced from Surinam, and a fort was built at the 
confluence of the Canjee with the Berbice. A negro insur- 
rection in 1 763 threatened the colony with destruction ; nor 
was it subdued till the arrival of a strong force from Holland. 
Six years after the woods were set on fire, as it was sup- 
posed, by some rebel negroes, and the conflagration extended 
from the river Courantyne to the Demerara, destroying the 
forests and devastating several rich plantations. In 1781 
Berbice fell into the hands of the British, but was re-cap- 
tured by the French in the following year. In 1 796 it again 
surrendered to the British forces with the rest of the Dutch 
settlements on this ceast, but they were all restored to Hol- 
land by the treaty of Amiens in 1802. The limits of the 
colony, which formerly extended no farther to the eastward 
than the Devil's Creek, were, after the surrendering of Suri- 
nam to the English, enlarged in 1799 by the addition of the 
country between that creek and the river Courantyne : the 
opposite boundary, separating it from Demerara, passes from 
the mouth of Abary Creek in a direct line to the southward. 
On the breaking out of the war in 1803 England .again 
took, possession of Berbice, since which time it has remained 
a British colony, haying been finally ceded by the treaty of 
Paris, August, 1814, with the condition- that the Dutch 
proprietors should have liberty to trade with Holland under 
certain restrictions. In 1831 Demerara, Essequibo, and 
jBerhice, were united under one government called British 
Guiana. , , 

New Amsterdam, the. capital of the colony, was com- 
menced in 1 796, the position of Old Amsterdam, which was 
higher up, being found inconvenient.- It stands on the east 
bank of the Berbice river, immediately above the junction 
of the Canjee, where it is intersected by canals, and has all 
the advantages of the tides. It extends about a mile and a 
half along the Berbice, and each house has an allotment of 
a quarter of an acre, completely insulated by trenches, which, 
being filled and emptied with the tide, prevent an accumu- 
lation of filth. The government house is of brick/ in the 
European style, and is considered the finest building in 
British Guiana. 

- The whole line of sea-coast, extending between fifty and 
sixty miles, is low and flat. It has a shoal along it which 
runs off about three miles, so that the land, which from the 
patches of trees appears like islands, is scarcely visible to 
vessels till they arrive in very shallow water. There are 
several small creeks along the coast navigable only for boats. 
Off the coast the current sets strong to the westward. A 
beautiful road, sixty feet broad with parapets on each side, 
runs along the shore to Demerara ; the sea-coast has been 
embanked and luxuriantly laid out in plantations. 

Berbice river falls irito the Atlantic fifty-seven miles to 
the eastward of the Demerara in 6° 24' N. lat.; at its en- 
trance it is four miles wide 'with 'low cleared land on both 
sides covered with trees in clusters, which at a distance 
appear like islands. In mid channel lies Crab Island, so 
called from the number of land-crabs on it. Crab Island is 
low and bushy, about a mile in circumference, with a spit 
of sand running out to the north and south, dividing the 
river into two navigable channels, of which the eastern has 
seventeen to twenty feet, the western only eight to thirteen 
feet water. As a harbour, however, the advantage of the 
Berbice is much lessened by a sandbar across its mouth, 
over which there is only seven feet water at low tides : this 
bar reaches eight miles off Crab Island to the northward, 
and off the east point a spit runs off which at low water 
dries five miles from the land. The entrance to the river is 
protected by three strong batteries, two on the eastern side, 
and the other called York Redoubt, on the western bank 
opposite Crab* Island. About four miles up the river is 
Fort St. Andrew, a small low fortification with four bastions, 
surrounded by a ditch and mounted with eighteen Im- 
pounder guns. An extensive swamp lies in the rear of this 
i'ort, which - is separated from New Amsterdam hy the 
Canjee, so that it cannot be commanded from any adjacent 
point. The confluence of the Canjee takes place about 
five miles from the entrance, and after branching off to the 
eastward runs a tortuous course to the southward, nearly 
parallel with the Berbice, at a distance of seven to ten miles, 
watering the territory between that river and the Couran- 
tyne. It is navigable for the small schooners of the country 
for about fifty miles, when falls and cataracts occur. It is 



No. 238. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.— 2 M 



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2CG 



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connected with tho Couruntvno by a creek, and by this 
roine dispatcher are brought from Surinam by Indians. 

Tnc Borbicc also preserves it* winding course to tho 
southward, and vessel* of two to three hundred ton* may 
to up as far as Fort Nassau, which is thirty miles directly 
inland and about fifty by the course of the river. Its banks 
ore low and coverou with sugar and coffee plantations ; 
several small creeks branch off on each sido. but are only 
accessible to boats. Bejond Nassau the Berblee is still 
navigable for small vessels for many miles. Its sourco is 
among the mountains which bound the colony to tho south- 
ward, at the distance of about sixty miles inland from tho 
sra-coast. It is high water at the entrance at ten minutes 
after six, full and change of moon ; spring tides rise eleven 
feet and neap tides eight : tho Hood runs to the westward. 
Crab Island, at tho entrance of the river, is in 6* 24' N. lat. t 
57° 12' W. long. 

Tho population of tho district, according to the latest re- 
turn )et transmitted (1333), was as follows : — 

Male*, Females. ToUl 

Whites ... 431 139 570 

Free coloured people 671 930 1,651 

Slaves . . . 10,243 9,077 19,320 



Total . . 11,345 10,196 21,541 
About one-half of the white persons, and nearly the whole 
of tho free coloured population, resided in New Amsterdam. 
The numbers of tho former were — males 161, females 95, 
total 256; and of tho latter— males 527, females 779, total 
130G, The number of births in tho same year, throughout 
the district, was 507, the number of marriages 75, and the 
deaths 622. 

There is a free-school in New Amsterdam, which was 
established in 1829, with funds supplied by tho govern- 
ment, hut it has since been supported by voluntary contri- 
butions: these have so much fallen off of late, that it is 
probable the whole expense must soon be defrayed by the 
colonial government. The system of instruction is that 
knovn as Dr. Bell's. Tho number of scholars in 1833 was 
75, of whom 50 were boys, and 25 girls. There are eight 
privato schools, but the number of their scholars is not 
known. 

The whole district is under tho ecclesiastical care of the 
rector of New Amsterdam, and is in the diocese of the bishop 
of Barbadoes. The living, which is in the gift of the go- 
venior of British Guiana, is of the yearly value of about 600A 
sterling. The church, which is situated in New Amster- 
dam, is capable of containing 50') persons. 
Berbice produced in 1833 — 

Sugar .... 11,858,006 lbs. 

Hum .... 339,393 gals, 

Molasses ...» 458,007 gals. 

Coffee 1,871,852 lbs. 

Cotton . . . . 416,731 lbs. 

in addition to the provisions required for the consumption 
of the inhabitants. The number of horses in the district in 
that year was 214, and of horned cattle 12,743. 

The commereo of the district in 1832 was of the following 
value: — Imports 86,815/., consisting principally of grain, 
dried fish, and lumber, from our North American colonies, 
and plantation stores from this country. Exports 332,931/., 
which consisted almost exclusively of sugar, rum, coffee, 
an I cotton, and were principally brought to England. No 
detailed account of a later date has vet been received. The 
uuniber of ships that entered in 1333 was— 

VeiwU. Tont. 

rrom Great Britain . . 28 7,435 

„ British Colonies . 246 14,354 

„ United Statesof America 1 139 

,. other foreign states . 14 1,146 



Tota l . . 289 23,073, 1573 men. 

The ships that cleared outward in the samo year were — 

rw* *m t* . . Vwrtl. ToOt. 

To Great Britain . , «9 7,465 

„ British Colonies . 279 16,340 

„ United States of America 2 280 

„ other foreign state* . 2 305 



Total 



312 



24,390. 1686 men, 
(Bryan Edwanh's West Indict; Bolinjjbroko's Voyage 
to the Demerary, See., 1807; Purdy'« Colombian A«- 



vigator ; Arrowsmitirs Chart ; Government Statistical 
7'ahles.) 

BERCIITESGADEN. or BERCHTOLSGADEN, a 
district in the circle of the Isar in Bavaria, l)ingat tho 
south-eastern extremity of the kingdom, and bounded on 
the cast by tho Salzburg territories in the ■ province above 
the Ens," or Upper Austria. It has an area of about 
147 square miles, with a population of about 8400 souls. 
Berehtesgadcn is as romantic and picturesque a region as 
any among tho Alns, being encircled by lofty mountains, 
such as tho Untersoerg in the north, and the * Ilohe Gohl * 
in the south, which rises behind the town of Berehtesga- 
dcn. It contains numerous delightful valleys, the most con- 
siderable of which lies along the course of the Achen. This 
river traverses the centre of tho district, and Hows out of 
the King's or St. Bartholomew's Lake, a piece of water 
nearly eight miles in length, about one mile and two- thirds 
in breadth, eighteen in circuit, and walled in by high 
mountains. The district also contains the Obersee, a small 
lako connected with tho preceding, and several smaller 
lakes. The whole face of the country is covered with lonely 
dwellings, standing like hermitages on hills, precipices, and 
narrow plateaus, and its natural features render it an object 
of great interest as well as of constant resort to the natu* 
ralist, the artist, and the stranger. The climate is raw and 
keen : grain docs not thrive; but the inhabitants find ample 
resources in its forests, meadows, and gardens, mo less than 
in the salt-mines, and their well-known skill in manufac- 
turing articles of wood, ivory, bone, &c. Berehtesgadcn 
indeed resembles a scattered manufacturing town J and the 
industry of tho females is such, that they may frequently 
be seen carrying on three occupations at the same lime, — 
driving cattle before them, carrying burthens on their heads, 
and knitting as they go along. The government salt- 
works, whose shafts when lighted up have the appcaranco 
of a fairy- palace, are situated on the Salzberg, at Frauen- 
reuth, east of the town of Berehtes^den, and yield annually 
about 7500 tons of pure salt. This district also produces 
mill -stones, lime, gypsum, and turf. The profits from the in- 
dustry of its inhabitants are estimated at upwards of 14,000/. 
sterling (150,001) gulden) per annum. The Protestant part 
of the population migrated to Berlin and Brunswick in the 
year 1732. Berehtesgadcn, the principal town, lies in 47° 
39' N. tat., and 12° 58' E. long., at an elevation of 2018 feet 
above the level of the sea, and is traversed by the Albcn, 
or Achen, which runs into the Salzach. It has a judicial 
tribunal, an office of woods and forests, an antient cathedral- 
church with pointed marble towers, a Franciscan monastery, 
and a charitable asylum ; but its most striking embellish- 
ment is the * Fiirstcnstein,' a royal palace beautifully situa- 
ted, in which arc a library, and the principal depot for the 
articles in wood, &e., which the district manufactures. 
There are a number of stocking-looms in tho town. North 
of it lies • Schellenberg,' a market-town on the Alben, close 
to the Austrian borders, with about 1 500 inhabitants. Near 
this place is an antient defile, the egress from which into 
this secluded district is marked by tho following inscription 
carved in n precipitous mass of rock: 'Pax intrantibus et 
inhabitantibus." Sjuth-west of Berchlesgaden is * Uamsau,' 
on the Klausenbach, a village of 800 souls, with quarries 
and mill-stone works in its vicinity. [See Fiiauknrkuth.I 

BERCHTOLD. LEOPOLD, COUNT, a native of-Ger- 
many, born in 1758, is celebrated for his philanthropic ex- 
ertions, having spent thirteen years in travelling throughout 
Europe, and four in Asia and Africa, with a view of miti- 
gating human sufferings, to which object the whole of his 
life was devoted. He was the author of plans for prevent- 
ing the dangers of hasty interments, for discovering the 
true causes of sickness incident to seamen, and for curing 
them. In 1797 he published at Vienna directions for the 
cure and prevention of tho plague, having travelled two 
years throughout Asiatic and European Turkey for the 
purpose of investigating its svmptoms and determining its 
character. Tho Itoyal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon 
ordered these directions to be translated into Arabic, French, 
and Portuguese. The count had previously made some dis- 
coveries as to the application of oil in this disease; and in 
the course of his remarks on the nature of the plague, ho 
states, that out of upwards of n million of inhabitaii ts carried 
ofTin Upper and Lower Egypt in tho course of forty years, it 
had not heen known that either an oilman ordealerin oil had 
fallen its victim. Count Berchtold attempted to effect reforms 
in tho state of European police, and wrote some pamphlets 



BER 



267 



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on the subject, which were printed and distributed by him 
gratuitously in different countries. Some of his plans he 
laid before the French National Assembly, and he submitted 
to that body observations on the necessity of making swim- 
ming and diving a branch of national education. Possessed 
of an ample fortune, he offered prizes for essays on various 
subjects connected with his philanthropic plans: among 
others, one of a thousand florins for the best treatise on 
•Benevolent Institutions;' and not content with this, he 
was also the founder of several such establishments. He 
was also active in making" known the advantages of vaccina- 
tion. During a famine in Germany in 1805-6, he procured 
for the poor supplies of food from districts in which famine 
did not prevail ; and in the course of the revolutionary war he 
converted the palace of Buchlowitz, on his estate in Moravia, 
into an hospital for the sick and wounded. At this place he 
died, July 26, 1809, of a contagious nervous fever. He was 
a courageous and enterprising traveller, possessed of agree- 
able manners, the eharm of which was heightened by the 
variety and extent of his information. He had been cre- 
ated a knight of the military order of St. Stephen of Tus- 
cany. 

The results of tho experienco and observations of Count 
Berchtold, as a traveller, will he found in the following 
work, which was dedicated to Arthur Young, and published 
in London in 2 vols. 12mo. : — * An Essay to direct and ex- 
tend the Inquiries of patriotic Travellers ; with further 
Observations on the means of preserving the Life, Health, 
and Property of tho inexperienced in their Journeys by Sea 
and Land; also a scries of Questions interesting to Society 
and Humanity, necessary to be proposed for solution to 
men of all ranks and employments, and of all nations and 
governments, composing the most serious points relative to 
the objects of all Travels.* 

To these volumes is appended a history of English and 
foreign works, intended for the instruction and benefit of 
travellers, and a catalogue of tbo most interesting Eu- 
ropean travels which have been published in different Ian- 
gnaircs. 

BERDYCZEFF, a considerable town in the province of 
Volhynia in Western Russia, nnd the capital of the circle of 
Staro-Constantynof, lies upon the Guilopiat, is the largest 
place in tho whole province, but though it possesses wide 
streets, many spacious houses, and some open squares, is 
altogether a badly built and wretched town. It contains 
several churches and two fortified Carmelite monasteries, in 
one of which is a miraculous image of the Holy Virgin, on 
which Pope Benedict XIV. bestowed a crown of gold in 
1753. The number of its inhabitants is about 10,000, and 
a very considerable portion of them are Jews ; independently 
of the brisk trade which they carry on, they have three fairs 
in the course of the year, at ono of which the sales of mer- 
chandise are from 1 50,000/. to 200,000/. in value, and several 
thousands of horses, chiefly brought by the Kalmucks and 
Tartar?, are exposed for sale. Berdyczeff is likewise one of 
the principal marts for furs, which are brought from the 
northern provinces of Russia, and bought in considerable 
quantities by the Turkish dealers. The other articles in 
which it traffics are, grain, wine, cattle, leather, honey, and 
wax. 49° 52' N. lat.. 2S° 55' E. long. 

BEREGH, a large county in the province ' this side of 
theTheiss/ and in tbo north-eastern part of Hungary, about 
1417 Kqnaro miles in area. It lies between 4fc° 5' and 
48° 54' N. lat, and 22° 15' and 23° IS' E. long. : its north- 
eastern districts are separated from Austrian Galicia by a 
south-eastern arm of tbc Bcskido branch of the Carpathian 
Mountains. Beregh is divided into two distinct portions by 
the highroad which leads from Unghvar through Munkacs 
into the county of Marmaros, by which it is bounded on tho 
east and south. One of these, the northern, is covered with 
ranges of mountains, many of which are crowned with 
perennial snow, and some of which exceed 3000 feet in ele- 
vation above the level of the sea ; the other, forming the 
southern portion, is a continued level of plain or swamp. 
The variea character of these two regions, on which naturo 
has bestowed a diversity of soil which yields whatever can 
be grown or raised in any other part of the kingdom, has 
obtahied for Beregh tho designation of 'Hungary in minia- 
ture.' The northern parts of the county and the western 
are traversed liy the Latorcza and its hundred arms ; the 
eastern by the Ilosva and Borsova, the first of which mingles 
with the Szernye in the great Szernye swamp ; and the 
southern and south-western ore watered almost along the 



whole line of their borders by the Theiss: Beregh is full of 
minor streams and rivulets. The great swamp of which we 
have just spoken, called by the natives the Szernye-Mocsar, 
or Gather- See, is situated in the south-eastern part of the 
county, and extends over an area of upwards of forty-two 
square miles. In the west is a canal constructed by Count 
von Schonhorn, between the years 1816 and 18*24, for the 
purpose of draining the land inundated by the Latorcza, by 
means of which he has already recovered above 14,000 
acres. 

The southern districts of Beregh are much milder in 
climate than the northern, and of much greater fertility. All 
kinds of grain are cultivated, though not to an extent ade- 
quate to the internal consumption; large quantities of oats 
and hemp are produced in the valleys ; much fruit is raised, 
and of the wine, which is partially made, the best is produced 
in the vicinity of Bereghzasz and Muzsaly. Both the moun- 
tains and plain are studded with dense and spacious forests, 
so that, of the 718,100 acres of soil which are productive, 
only 293,550 are under the plough ; the remainder, exclusive 
of 26,250 in meadows and pastures, and rather less in vine- 
yards and gardens, is wholly occupied by forests, in which 
the fir, oak, and ash are of luxuriant growth, and from 
which excellent timber is obtained. Large herds of swine 
and cattle are reared in these forests, and they abound in 
game. In the south and west particularly, fish is plen- 
tiful ; and crabs of enormous size, as well as river- tortoises 
of delicate flavour, are abundant. 

Of mineral products the mines near Bereghzasz formerly 
yielded gold ; iron is raised near Mungats and Szeleszt , 
and in other parts of the county, lime, gypsum, porcelain- 
earth of brilliant whiteness and fine quality, alum, mill 
stones, the opal, jasper, and what are called Hungarian 
diamonds, or crystal, aro obtained. The most valuable, 
however, of these products are the immense beds of solid 
alum which lie between the Borsova and the Szernye swamp, 
and between Bereghzasz and Bene. Acidulous springs 
exist in various parts, such as at Floszk6, Bakova, Lubcrka, 
&c. 

The population of Beregh has been greatlv on the increase 
of late >ears ; for it was but 64,223 in 1794, rose to more 
than 81,000 in 1805, and is now upwards of 92,000 souls. 
Of these about 53,000 are Roman Catholics and Greeks 
who have conformed to the Roman Catholic persuasion, and 
about 23,000 are Protestants; tbe Jews exceed 4000, The 
inhabitants are, by descent, principally Ruthens or Russians, 
who migrated to the south simultaneously with the Magyars, 
but settled in the districts in and about the Carpathians j 
the native Hungarians do not constitute one-third of the 
people ; the German race are found chiefly on the domains 
of the Counts von Scbonhorn, who are the proprietors of 
two-thirds of tho whole soil; and the Sclavonian of Bohe- 
mian extraction is met with in many parts. The chief 
occupations of the people are agriculture, the rearing of 
cattle, and mechanical pursuits ; but there aro few quarters 
in Hungary where the intellect has been less cultivated 
than in this county. 

Beregh contains nine market-towns, 261 villages and 
hamlets, and seven prasdia or independent settlements. It 
is divided into four circles, viz., Munkacs, the chief town of 
which bears the same name, is fortified, lies on the Latorcza, 
and has about 5000 inhabitants; Felvidek, of which Beregh 
on the Szernye swamp (in 48° 12'N. lat.. 22° 25' E. long.) 
is the largest and most populous spot ; Tiszahat, including 
the towns of Naming, Vari« and Bereghzasz, or 'the Saxon 
Beregh * (in 48" 11' N. lat., 22 3 39' E. long.), the capital of 
the county, which is celebrated for its millstones, and has a 
population of about 4300 souls; and Kaszonye, of which 
the principal town bears the same name, and is in a fine 
corn country. 

BERENGER, one of the most learned divines of the 
eleventh century, was a native of Tours. He was made 
treasurer of the church of St. Martin in that city, and 
afterwards became archdeacon of Angers. Bercngcr, Lan- 
frane, and Anselm, were the restorers of logic and meta- 
physical studies in Europe, with the assistance of Aristotle's 
works, which were about that time imported into France 
from the Arabian schools of Spain. Berenger was one of 
the first who employed logical reasoning in the study of the 
Scriptures, which had till then been interpreted according 
to tradition and the authority of the fathers. Berenger and 
Lanfrane asserted the principlo of harmony between faith 
and reason, religion and philosophy. They were, if not the 

2 M 2 



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208 



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founder*. at least the promulgators of the scholastic theology 
which became so common iu the schools during the middlo 
ages. (Sec Mosheim'sKcW*»iaWiW///*/orv, and Brucker's 
Wistaria Critica Philosophic.) Berenger maintained the 
doctrine of Scotus, that *tho bread and wino used in the 
sacrament of the Eucharist were not transformed into the 
body and blood of Christ, but preserved their natural and 
essential qualities, and were only to be considered as ex- 
ternal symbols of the body and blood of the Saviour/ This 
had been already a subject of controversy in the Latin 
church, but as yot no council had definitively decided upon 
the questiou. (For the various opinions entertained upon 
the subject in, and previous to, Berenger's time, see Mar- 
tenc's Voyage Litteraire de deitx Benidictins de la Con- 
gregation de St. Maur, torn. ii. p. 126.) Pope Leo IX. 
procured the condemnation of Berenger's doctrine by the 
councils of Rome and Vcrcelli, 1049-50, and tho book of 
Scotus was also committed to the (lames. Henry 1. of 
France assembled a council at Paris for the same purpose, 
when Berenger was again condemned and threatened with 
temporal punishment. The king, as abbot of St. Martin of 
Tours, deprived him of the revenue which Berenger derived 
from that church. Pope Victor II. summoned a council at 
Tours in 1054, at which the monk Hildebrand, afterwards 
Gregory- V1L, appeared as the pope's legate. Berenger 
was induced by denunciations and threats to retract his 
doctrines concerning the Eucharist and to make his peace 
with the church. We are not, however, sufficiently ac- 
quainted with the proceedings of this council to know how 
far and in what terms Berenger retracted. We find him 
soon after again maintaining his former tenets, upon which 
Nicholas II. summoned him to Home in 1058, and the 
council assembled in that city iu the following year drew 
up a confessiou of faith on the suhject of the Kucharist, 
stating * that the bread and wine after the priest's consecra- 
tion were not only a sacrament but the real body and blood 
of Christ, and consumed as such by the faithful/ Berenger 
signed this confession, but soon after returning to France 
abjured it again publicly. Alexander 11. endeavoured by 
persuasion to induce Berenger to adhere to the confession 
of the council of Rome, but unsuccessfully. Berenger had 
powerfal friends in France who supported him. At last, 
Hildebrand, who professed a high esteem for Berenger, 
having become pope under the title of Gregory VII., sum- 
moned him to Home in 1078, when another council was 
held, before which Berenger drew up a new confessiou of 
his doctrine, in which ho professed to believe that the bread 
and wine after consecration became the true body and blood 
of Christ, Berenger's enemies, not thinking this declara- 
tion sullieiently explicit, another council was held in 1079, 
and Berenger was induced to declare that bread and wine 
were, by the mysterious influence of the words of tho Re- 
deemer, * substantially changed into the true, proper, aud 
vivifying body and blood of Christ, not only in the qualities 
of external signs and sacramental representations, but in 
their essential properties and in substantial reality.' This 
is the famous doctrine of transubslantiation ; Berenger, in 
his confession of tho year before, seems to have attested 
only his belief of the real presence. JSnch is tho opinion of 
Mahillon and of some other theologians, both Catholic and 
Lutheran, concerning Berenger's doctrine. (See Mosheim, 
b. iii. part ii. ch. 3, note 23, by Dr. Murdoch.) 

After the last declaration of Berenger, Gregory VII. 
showed htm great kindness and esteem, and allowed htm to 
return to France; but Berenger once more retracted this 
his declaration /\f 1079. Lanl'rane wrote ajjainst him, Be- 
renger replied, and the controversy was earned on according 
to the scholastic method. Gregory VII. took no further 
notice of the dispute, nor of Berenger's retractation, (Sec 
a note by Dr. Murdoch in his edition of Mosheim, where he 
ref«rs to a curious treatise by Berenger, which throws much 
light on his intercourse with Gregory VII., and on the 
opinions of that pontiff on the subject of the controversy ; 
which treatise is found in Marteno's Thtsvurus Anecdut. % 
torn, iv, p. 99.) G/egory seems to have been for adhering 
to the uord* of tho Scriptures, 'Hoc est corpus meum' 
(Matt, XXW.2G), and not inquiring further into the nature 
of the mysterious presence. 

Berenger. fatigued and grieved with this long controversy, 
retired to Sl Cosme, near Tours, where he spent the last 
years of his life in religious and ascetic exercises until 1088, 
when he died. (See I*au franc's works ; Bercuger's letters 
in the Thesaurus An^cdotorxwx ; and Leasing'* IJerengarius 



Turonenris, Brunswick, 17"0, in which was published for 
the first time Berenger's reply to Lanfrane's treatise De 
Corpore et Sanguine J. C» winch reply losing discovered 
in the library of Wolfenbuttel.) 

BERENI'CE (1), (JltpfvUrj, the Macedonian form of 
4*f/HviVf)), one of the four wives of Ptolemy L, the founder 
of the dynasty of the Lagida; in Egypt, and the mother of 
Ptolemy 11., called Philadclphus. Berenice had a son, 
Magas, by a former husband, who was afterwards king of 
Cyrene. 




Bnl. MuKum. Copper. WcIrM 3«S grain*. 

The head is said to bo that of Berenice, the wife of the 
first Ptolemy : the inscription on the other side is * King 
Ptolemaens.' 

BERENI'CE (2), a daughter of Ptolemy Philadclphus 
by Arsinoe the daughter of Lysimarhus. She was the 
sister of Ptolemy III., Euergetc's, and was given in mar- 
riage b. c. 252 by her father to Antiochus 11. kingof Syria, 
called Theus or God, who divorced his wifo Laodice on the 
occasion. After the death of Philadclphus Antiochus di- 
vorced Berciiieo and took back Laodice, who poisoned her 
husband and put Berenice to death together with a son whom 
she liad by Antiochus, To avenge his sixer's death, 
Ptolemy III., Euergetes, invaded Syria, put to death Lao- 
dice, and overran the empire of the Seleucidac. [See p X o- 

LKMV.] 

BERENI'CE (3), the wife (about B.C. 248) of Ptolemy 
111., Euergetes ; but her parentage is doubtful. She was 
the daughter of Magas, who was king of Cyrene and half- 
brother of Ptolemy Philadclphus on the mother's side. II cr 
mother's name was Arsinoe, who, according to Niebuhr's con- 
jecture, was the daughter of Lysimachus and the divorced 
wife of Ptolemy Philadclphus, as stated in the second article 
on Arsinok. ' But the Berenice there meutioued as tho 
adopted daughter of Magas, ought perhaps to be considered 
as the real daughter of M agas by Arsinoe, either the d ivorced 
wife of Ptolemy Philadclphus, or more probably another of 
the same name. At least it is certain that Berenice, the 
daughter of Magas, who married Ptolemy Euergetes, was 
not the Berenice (2) who was married to Antiochus Theus. 
If Berenice who married Euergetes was the daughter of 
Philadclphus and the adopted daughter of Magas, we must 
suppose, which is not unlikely, that Philadclphus had two 
daughters of the same name. 

This Berenice is said to have made a vow of her hair 
during her husband's wars in Asia. Conformably to the 
vow, tho hair was placed in the temple of Venus, from 
which it was siolen, but Conon of Samos declared that it 
had been taken up to the skies and placed among tho seven 
stars in the lion's tail. Callimachus wrote a poem on the 
occasion which Is now only known from the beautiful trans- 
lation by Catullus— De Coma Berenices. The name of 
Berenice occurs in the fifth line of the Greek part of the 
Rosetta inscription, now in the British Museum, with tho 
feminine form of her husband's appellation, Eucrgctis, ' tho 
benefactress. * Berenice was put to death by her i*on Pto- 
lemy IV., Philopator, and his infamous minister Sosibius. 

BERENI'CE (4), otherwise called Cleopatra, the only 
legitimate child of Ptolemy VIII. (Sotcr 11.), reigned six 
months, the last ninetecu days of them in concert with her 
husband Alexander II., who, according to Appian ;i ml 
Porphyry, murdered her nineteen days after the marriage, 
B.C. 81. It appears from Appian that Sulla determined 
that this Alexander, who had long been au exile from 
E^ypt, should return and share the sovereign power with 
Berenice, 




Urli. Muimtn. GoM. WHthl 33 grains, »nd quit*' |»crfect 



-B E R 



269 



B E^R 



This coin may probably belong to the Berenice • the in- 
scription is * Queen Berenice/ Mionet assigns it to Bere- 
nice (3). 

"" The portraits of Alexander II. and this Berenice appear 
frequently on the great wall of sandstone which encloses 
the temple of Edfu, and the portrait of Berenice is always 
the same. See Rosellini, plate xxii. fig. 80, 81 ; and xxiii. 
29, which is a full-length portrait of Berenice. Figs. 80, 
8!, represent .respectively the heads of Alexander and 
Berenice, which are distinguished by the handsome fea- 
tures that appear to have characterized the descendants of 
the first Ptolemy. It would seem that the great sculptures 
of the inclosure-wall of Edfu, which eover it on both sides, 
were executed in the joint reigns of Alexander II. and 
Bereniee, from which fact Rosellini infers that a longer 
period must be assigned to their joint reign than the nine- 
teen days given by the ehronologers. The Athenians 
made a bronze statue of this Berenice. (Pausan. i.,9.) 
. BERENI'CE (5), a daughter of Ptolemy IX., Auletes, 
who began to reign in Egypt n.c. 81, and sister of the cele- 
brated Cleopatra. During the absence of her father at 
Rome Berenice was made regent, which oflice she held from 
about b.c. 58 to b.c. 55. Gabinius, about the close of B.C. 
55, came to Egypt with an army and restored Auletes, who 
put his daughter to death. Bereniee first married Seleucus, 
the pretended son of Antiochus Eusebes, a feeble "man, 
whom, it is said, she caused to be strangled ; and afterwards 
Archelaus, who was also put to death on the restoration of 
Auletes. (See Clinton's Fasti Hellenici, and the authori- 
ties there quoted.) 

BERENI'CE (6), a daughter of Herodes Agrippa I., 
who was the son of Aristobulus, who' was the son of Herod 
the Great. (Acts xii. ; Matthew ii.) She was the sister of 
Herodes Agrippa II., before whom Paul preached a.d. 03 
(Acts xxv. 13), and the wife of Herodes of. Chalcis, who 
seems to have been her uncle, aiid left her a young widow. 
Titus, the son of Vespasian, fell in love with Berenice, who 
had taken an active part atthe'time when Syria declared 
fn favour of Vespasian against Vitellins. (Tacit. Hist. ii. 
2, 81.) Berenice was then a young and very handsome 
woman. 'After the capture of Jerusalem she came to Rome 
(a.d. 75), and Titus is said to have been so much attached 
to her that he promised to marry her ; but on the death of 
his father he sent Berenice from Rome,* much against his 
will and hers, when he found that tho proposed match was 
disagreeable to the people. (Suetonius, Titus.) Juvenal 
(Sat. vi. 156) appears to allude to this Berenice and her 
brother Agrippa. Raeine has written a tragedy on the 
subject of Titus and Berenice. (See some remarks in the 
Biographie Universelle on llie age of Berenice.) ; 

• BERENI'CE, in Cyrenaica. [See Bengazi ; and Strabo, 
p. 836-7. Casaub.] 

'BERENI'CE, a port on the west side of the Red Sea/at 
the bottom of a bay, which is 'described by Strabo (p. 770) 
under the name of Aeathartus (ohstrueted, see Strabo): 
the island Ophiodes (Snake Island) is to the south of this : 
this island produced topazes. Belzoni describes the place 
whieh he takes to be the site of Berenice as being near the 
point where it was fixed by D'Anville (see Memoir es> sur 
CEgypte Anciemte, tfc), a little south of the parallel of 
24°. Ptolemy gives the latitude of Berenice at 23° 50', which 
is also the latitudoof Syene. Belzoni says the town measured 
1C00 feet from north to south, and 2000 from east to west. 
A small temple built of soft calcareous and sand stone, 
in tho Egyptian style, is 102 feet long and 43 [wide. A 
part of the wall whieh was uncovered by digging, was 
sculptured with well- executed figures in hasso-rilievo, in 
the Egyptian style: hieroglyphics were also found on the 
wall. 

• The recent survey of the Red Sea, made in the years 
1630-1-2-3, by Commander R. Moresby, aud Lieutenant 
T. G. CarleSs of the East India Company's service, confirms 
the description of Strabo, and the accuraey of the position 
assigned by D'Anville as the site of Berenice. 'According 
to their eliart, Berenice is at the bottom of a bay, the north 
side of which is formed by the promontory called Ras Be- 
nass, whieh is about 19 miles E. by S. from Bereniee. A 
range of high mountains runs along this part of the coast, 
leaving near the bay a small narrow strip on whieh stand 
the supposed ruins of Bereniee. The emerald mountains, 
whieh lie near the eoast and N.W. of Berenice, are of great 
height • one of them, called Jebel Wady Lehuma, about 
34 miles N.W. of Berenice, is marked in the survov as visible 



at 120 miles distance; but this is probahlynot quite correct, 
as it would give the mountain a height, in round numbers, 
of 9600 feet. Two peaks which lie S. of Berenice and near 
the coast, are marked respectively 4440 and *4036 feet. 
There is good anchorage inside of Ras Benass, but the bot- 
tom is very foul. Off Ras Benass, a few miles nearly due 
S. is the small island Macour, where the variation is marked 
8° 4' west. The lat. of Berenice according to the recent 
survey is about 23° 56', very nearly that of Ptolemy ; tho 
long, is about 35° 34'-E. « • . . 

This town of Berenice was built or restored by Ptolemy 
Philadelphus ; and a road was formed from Berenice to 
Coptos on the Nile (26° N. lat.), by whieh the merchandise 
of Arabia, India, and Ethiopia was conveyed on camels to 
the Nile, and the troublesome navigation to the head of the 
gulf of Suez was avoided. This route was chosen, because 
water was found at certain places in greater abundance 
than is common in the arid desert between the Red Sea 
and the Nile. The halting places, ten in number, between 
Berenice and Coptos, were of course determined by the si- 
tuation of the wells (Plin. vi. 23.): the distance from Bere- 
niee to Coptos is 258 Roman miles according to Pliny, or 
266 according to the Antonine Itinerary. Belzoni, from a 
rough calculation, concludes that Berenice may have had a 
population of about 10,000. (See Belzoni's Researches, <£*c, 
ii. 73, &e„ 8vo. ed.) * . 

BERENI'CE, Panchrysos, / all golden,' (Plin. vi. 29.) 
is placed by D'Anville on the west coast of the Red Sea, 
between 20° and 21° N. lat., near the gold mines of Jebel 
Ollaki, or Allaki. / 

BERENI'CE, Epi-dires, situated near the entrance of 
the Red Sea, according to Pliny, on the African side, and 
on a projecting piece of land. It was so called from being 
near a place named Dira.- (See D'Anville, Memoires, quoted 
above.) * ^ 

BERESINA, The, (BEREZYNA or BERESNA,) a 
river in Western Russia, which has two sources, one 
of which lies in the circle of Vileika, in the province of 
Minsk, and tho other in the circle of Oshmiana, in the pro- 
vince of Vilna. * Its waters flow in a bToad channel and in a 
south-eastern direction, generally between low and swampy 
banks edged with reeds and rushes ; it becomes navigable 
in an early part of its course, and is not bordered by 
any high ground except in the vicinity of BorissofF. The 
Bcrcsina, after Uowing past Beresna or Beresino (a small 
town of about 900 inhabitants in the province of Minsk), and 
Bobruisk, falls into the Dnieper, after a course of about 
260 miles, to the north of Rcshitza and south Of Horwale, 
in the eircle of Rogatsbeff and provinee of Mohileff. During 
this eourso it receives several small rivers, the most con- 
siderable of which are the Plissa, the Swisloez, which runs 
through Minsk, and the Ola. The Beresina has become 
memorahle from the disasters which befel the French army 
when Napoleon, on his retreat from Moscow, effected a pas- 
sage across it, about nine miles above Borissoff, on the 26th 
and 27th November, 1812. The Beresina or Lepel Canal, 
by uniting the Dnieper with the Diina, has established a 
navigable communication between the Blaek Sea and the 
Baltic : it is about five miles long, and unites the Diina 
with the Beresina by connecting Lake Plavia, out of which 
the Sergutsh flows into the Beresina, with Lake Bereshta : 
this last lake makes its way into the Essa by the ehannel of 
the 'Bereshta river, and the Essa falls into Lake Beloje, 
whieh is connected with the Diina through the river Ulla. 
The whole line from the Beresina to tho Ulla is about sixty- 
five miles in length, has been rendered navigable at a con- 
siderable expense, and is provided with several branch 
canals. There is a small river also, called the Lesser Be- 
resina, in the govornmentof Mohileflf. 

BERESNA or BEREZNA, a small town of Little 
Russia in tho province of Tshernigoflf, is situated on the 
Desna at a distance of thirty-six versts (about twenty-four 
miles) west of TshernigofF; it eontains six ehurches, and, 
inclusive of the villages dependent upon it, has a population 
of about 5500 souls. 51° 26' N. lat., and 31° 50' E. long. 
(Vsevoloysky ) < ' * 

BERESOFF, an extensive circle in the province of To- 
bolsk, in Siberia, traversed by the Ob, and, according to 
Georgi, situated between 61* and 77° N. lat., and 54° 
and 78° E. long; Its western boundaries are the Carian 
arm of the Icy Sea, and the most northern part of the 
Ural Mountains, whieh separate it from the province of 
Archangel;' its southern are* the eircle* of Turin sk and 



B B R 



270 



BER 



Surgutsh, and its eastern that of Turuchansk ; its northern 
boundary U the Icy Sea. Tho larger portion of this im- 
mense district lies within tho Arclie circle. Us water* aro 
the l»wer Ob, the Carian Sea, the lower lino of the Ob, 
and the gulph of Tussish, together with all their tribu- 
taries. The chain of the Ural, which runs as far north as 
tho Carian Sea, is, so far as it rospccts this circle, of mo- 
derate elevation, forming a humid, and in many parts im- 
passable barrier of rock. Tho woods, which terminate 
at 65* N. lat., gradually decline into insignificance ; from 
that point they are succeeded by shrubs and bushes, which 
eease to grow at 67°. The inhabitants are principally Os- 
tiaksof the Ob, and Simoyedes: the former dwell in wretched 
hovels of wood or earth, occasionally changing their place of 
residence, and existing upon the produce of their fishing 
and hunting; the latter wander among tho swamps of 
northern Russia, and depend on the sarao pursuits as the 
Ostiak, but with the aid of their reindeers. The least 
numerous tribe in this remote region aro the Voguls, a 
noinadie raeo, who aro only met with in the circles of Be- 
resoff and Turin sk, and whose whole property is a few hunt- 
ing weapons, a lance, a conplo of hides, and one or two 
dogs. Tho Russians, consisting of Cossacks, townsmen, and 
labourers, resido mostly in block houses, but those within tbo 
Arctic eirclo live together in groups of what are termed 
'Simovic/ or winter-cabins, in the neighbourhood of which 
the Ostiaks frequently erect their hovels. Where soil and 
climato admit, they keep a couple of cows, somo sheep, and 
swine; but no horses will thrive, and instead of that va- 
luable animal, dogs aro used as beasts of draught for trans- 
porting wood, Sec. The soil, which is in general unsuitcd 
to the growth of fH*ain, is however so productive in the 
districts between Tobolsk and Beresoff, as frequently to 
yield forty grains for every grain of corn which is sown. 
At Beresoff, in particular, tbo spring growth of vegetation 
is said to bo astonishingly rapid; yet in summer, the alter- 
nations of heat and cold are so cxeessivc, that the natives 
never think it safe to lay aside their furs. Tt is not un- 
usual for a fine clear day to be succeeded during the night 
by a heavy fall of snow ; and frosty nights generally set in 
with the month of August. 

Beresoff, or Bcresova, ' the town of birch- trees/ was 
founded in 1593, and became the capital of the circle in 
1772 : by tho Ostiaks it was formerly called * Soungoutshe- 
Vacha,' and by tho Voguls, ' Khal-ouche,' or the place 
of happiness, the terms Soungoutsho and Khal signi- 
fying 'happiness* in their respective languages. It is 
built on tho steep left bank of the Sosva or Lesser 
Ob, of twenty versts (about fourteen miles) in a north- 
easterly direction abovo the junction of that stream with 
tlio Ob. The Vogulka, another stream, coining from tho 
south-west, Hows into tho Sosva, about two miles to the 
east of Beresoff. Erman tells us ( Voyage from Berlin to the 
Icy Sea, in 1828), that ' tho town, on his first walk through 
it, produced that impression upon his mind which might be 
expected from tho site of the remotest of human habita- 
tions ; tho sky was overspread with a monotonous gloom of 
clouds, and the day scarcely distinguishable from the twi- 
light: it was veiled in that *' sumrutshnui den," or semi- 
darkness, which a Russian poet justly describes as produc- 
ing a talismanic effect on the heart of every northman, as 
ono of thoso blessings, over the loss of which the poor Sa- 
tnoyede, were he under a Neapolitan sky, would pine, as 
over the deprivation of his dearest treasure/ The houses, 
about 200 in number, arc built with planks of immense 
size, aro entered in general from a lofty flight of steps, and 
connected by wooden wells with the 'banyi/ or baths, store- 
houses, &c, which aro of inferior height and form a court- 
yard, Though there are wide intervals Itctwccn them, they 
aro ranged in streets running towards the north and cast. 
On tho opposite side of the Soswa or Sosna (pine-tree), 
which is with great propriety so called from the handsome 
forest of pines, that stretches along the precipitous banks 
of that stream, Krman describes 'the whole expanse to 
the hori2on itself, as ono uninterrupted plain of snow and 
ire / nor 'was there sound or object to Weak the cheer- 
less gloom which pervaded the streets of Beresoff, but 
columns of smoko asocuding from the chimneys/ It con- 
tains throo churches and about 1500 inhabitants, mostly 
Cossacks, and inclusive of numbers of exiles, who aro 
banished to this distant and inhospitable country for poli- 
tical or other offences. Tho pcoplo of tho town earn 
their livelihood by the chase and fishing; they barter furs, 



skins, &c, for flour, meat, tobacco, ironware, and brandy 
brought by tho ToboUk dealers, whose craft arc floated 
do\ui the Irtish into the Ob. Beresoff is the favourlto 
place of resort for the Oatiaks and Voguls, and has a very 
considerable annual fair. Tho imperial favourite. Prince 
Menzikoff, died in disgrace in this town in 1731. It is si- 
tuated about 930 versts (620 miles) to tho north of Tobolsk, 
in 63° 56' N. laL, and 65° 16' 15. long. Tho pallisaded 
spot, Obsdorsk, which lies on the right bank of tlio Polui, 
not far from the ruomh of the Ob, and is the most northern 
possession of Russia in this quarter of the globe, is a de- 
pendency of Beresoff. It is described by Erman as contain- 
ing a ehurch of wood, some dark wooden-houses (V*cao- 
loysky says five only) inhabited by Cossacks, and several 
humble Ostiak cabins, or * Yurtas/ which nre scatiered in a 
picturesque manner on the hills, scpar.Uod by narrow clefts, 
which form tho right bank of the Polui. Obsdortk is 1 188 
versts (about 792 miles) to the north of Tobolsk. 

BERG, formerly a duchy in the west of Germany, 
bounded by the duchy of Cleves on the north, by the earl- 
dom of Mark and the duchy of Westphalia on the east, by 
the Western* aid, or rather the Nisterwald (forest of the 
Nistcr, a small river), on the south, and by the Rhine on 
the west. In the year 1802 the duchy of Berg contained 
an area of 1134 square miles, with 294,710 inhabitants, 
twenty-four towns, and eighty-one villages and hamlets, 
and its net income was about 300,000 gulden, or 29,000/, 
That portion of the duchy which lies towards the Rhine is 
level and productive, but the eastern parts of it are covered 
with forests and lulls. It does not yield grain, or support 
cattle enough for tho use of the population, which is denser 
than in any other part of Germany ; but it abounds in copper, 
lead, quicksilver, and particularly iron, and contains numer- 
ous iron, steel, linen, cotton, woollen, and soap manufac- 
tories, The yearly amount of merchandise of all kinds 
which it produces is estimated at upwards of 1,500,000/. 
sterling. 

After the line of the first counts of Berg had become ex- 
tinct, which occurred in the year 1348, their possessions de- 
volved to the then prince of Julicrs (Jiilich) ; in 1380 they 
were raised to tho rank of a duchy, and forty-three years 
afterwards the principality of Juliers was incorporated with 
them. This line of princes becoming also extinct in 1511, 
both Berg and Juliers fell to the dukes of Cleves ; and 
again their line failing in 1609, the elector of Branden- 
burg and the elector-palatine both laid claim to the 
dukedom, which at that period comprehended likewise tho 
earldoms of Mark and Uavcnsbcrg. After a long series 
of wars they agreed, in 1624, to hold the c-ntire territory 
in joint possession ; ami this siato of things subsisted 
until the year 1666, when they divided it between them. 
Berg was assigned to the electors- palatine, whose possessions 
subsequently merging into the electorate of Bavaria, which 
was created a kingdom nt the beginning of the present 
century, it was ceded to France by the Bavarian crown in 
the year 1806. Tt now became the chief province of the 
grand-duchy of Berg, instituted by Napoleon on tho 15th of 
March in that year, and in conjunction with this duchy 
comprised the bishoprick of Miinster, the earldoms of Mark, 
Lin-gen, Tcckleuburg, Bentbeiin, Dortmund, and other ter- 
ritories in those quarters, extending altogether over a surface 
of about 6698 square miles, and possessing a population of 
nearly 900,000 souls. Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother- 
in-law, was constituted sovereign of this new principality, 
and retained it until the year 1808, when Napo'eon placed 
hiin on the throne of Naples. On the 3rd of March ii> the 
following year, Napoleon's nephew, then crown -princo of 
Holland, was made grand-duke of Berg, with reservation of 
the governing power to France until he became of age. Two 
years afterwards Napoleon, however, stripped the grand 
duchy of certain districts amounting to 1281 square miles 
in area, for tho purpose of incorporating them with the 
French empire. After a brief exigence of eight years tho 
grand duchy was extinguished altogether, and its component 
parts being transferred to Prussia, under the settlement 
made by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the larger portion 
of them was included in tho province of Diisseldorf, and 
the remainder was consolidated with that of Julicrs, Cleves, 
and Berg. 

BE'UGAMO, a city of Lombard)*, nnd tho capital of a 
province of tho I»mbardo- Venetian kingdom, in 45° 42' 
N. lat., and 'J° 37' K. long., twenty-five miles N.E. of Milan, 
and twenty-eight N,W. of Brescia. It is built on the brow 



BER 



271 



BER 



of a hill, commanding an extensive view of the Milanese 
plain towards the south, while on the northern side the Alps 
of Valtelina and the Grisons are seen rising one above the 
other. Bergamo lies between and at a short distance from 
the Brembo and the Serio, two affluents of the Adda. The 
province of Bergamo is bounded on the east by that of 
Brescia, on the north by Valtelina, on the north-west by the 
province of Como, and on the south and south-west by that 
of Milan. The greater part of the ground is very moun- 
tainous, consisting chiefly of the valleys of the Brembo and 
the Serio, and the upper valley of the Oglio above its en- 
trance into the Lake of Iseo. The principal productions of 
the soil are wine, oil, and fruits; vast plantations of mul- 
berry-trees supply the silk worms, which constitute the chief 
wealth of the country. The mountains afford pasture to 
numerous flocks of sheep ; and many canals serve for the 
purpose of irrigation. Iron-mines and iron-works, and 
manufactures of woollens, are also branches of industry in 
this province. The population is about 330,000. The 
people are hardy, laborious, and intelligent. 

The town of Bergamo and its extensive suburbs contain 
30,000 inhabitants. The town is surrounded by walls and 
ditches, and has a castle on the summit of the hill. Among 
the churches of Bergamo, the most remarkable are the ca- 
thedral ; the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which has 
several good paintings, and a fine monument to the memory 
of Bartolomeo Collcone, a celebrated captain of the four- 
teenth century ; the church of the monastery of St. Grata, 
which is almost entirely covered with gilding and gold orna- 
ments ; that of St. Alcssandro, which is rich in paintings ; 
and the chureh of St. Augustine, in which is the tomb of 
Ambrogio Calepino, the lexicographer, who was a native of 
Calepio, near the lake of Iseo. The Academy of Painting, 
founded by Count Giacomo Carrara, has several paintings of 
Titian, Tintoretto, Giorgionc, Paul Veronese, and other great 
masters. There are also private galleries, belonging to the 
families Scotti, Rosa, Terai, &c. Bergamo has given birth 
to several painters of note, such as the elder Palma, Moroni, 
Lotto, Cavagna, &c. (See Tassi, Vite del Pittori, Scultori, 
ed Arckitetti Bergamaschi, 2 vols. 4 to. 1793; and Bartoli, 
Pitture, Sculture, ed Architetture delle Chiese ed altri 
Luoghi pubblici di Bergamo, 1 7 74.) Bernardo Tasso, a poet 
of some merit, and father of the celebrated Torquato Tasso, 
and the learned Tiraboschi, the historian of Italian litera- 
ture, were natives of Bergamo. One of the most remarkable 
buildings of Bergamo is the Ficra, in which the annual fair is 
held, in the month of August. It is a vast quadrangle, 
with three gates on each side, and courts and streets within : 
it contains 600 shops, in which all the various manufactures 
of Lorabardy, and other provinces of the Austrian empire, 
are exposed for sale. During the fair of 1833, goods were 
sold to the amount of between twenty-five and twenty-six 
millions of livres, or above one million sterling : one-third of 
the whole consisted of silk. (Bollettino Statistico di Milano.) 
Bergamo is a bishop's see; it has a public library, with 
45,000 volumes; a lyeeum, and a gymnasium for public 
instruction, besides the seminary for the diocese, a college 
f>r boarders, and several private establishments for educa- 
tion. The whole province had, in 1832, 487 elementary 
schools for bays, and 452 for girls, which were attended 
during that year by 20,998 of the former, and 18,668 of the 
latter, which, compared with the population, is the greatest 
number of pupils among all the provinces of Lombardy. 
(Serristori, Saggio Statistico dell Italia.) There is also a 
house of industry, an asylum for youthful vagrants, insti- 
tuted in 1815, by a private ecclesiastic, Carlo Botta, for the 
purpose of reclaiming boys from bad practices and enabling 
them to earn their bread ; several hospitals, dispensaries, &c. 
It is observed, however, that beggars are more numerous in 
Bergamo than in almost any town of North Italy. 

The foundation of Bergamo, or Bcrgomum. is attributed 
by some to the Orobii, who are said to have been a colony of 
"the Etruscans. The Ccnomani Gauls invaded the country, 
and the building, or at least the restoration of Bergomum, 
is ascribed to them. Bcrgomum was afterwards made a 
Roman municipium. On the fall of the western empire, 
Borgomum was burnt by Alaric. It was afterwards rebuilt 
by the Lonjrobards, and again destroyed about the year 
900 by the Hungarians. In the tenth century Arnulph 
king of Germany, and afterwards emperor, made it a 
coilnty, of which he gave the investiture to the bishop. 
It became one of the towns of the Lombard league against 
Frederic Barbarossa, and, by the peace of Constance,] 



secured its own independence. It suffered afterwards 
during the factions of the Guelphs and Guibelines, and in 
the thirteenth century it became subject to the dominion 
of a chief called Filippo Torriani, was taken by the 
Visconti of Milan at the beginning of the fourteenth 
century, passed successively under the tyranny of several 
native and foreign chiefs, until at last, in 1427, its citizens 
gave themselves up voluntarily to the Republic of Venice, 
to which Bergamo remained firmly attached till the destruc- 
tion of that republic by Bonaparte in 1797. .The country 
people of the province of Bergamo have a peculiar dialect, 
in which the Harlequin of the Italian stage is made to ex- 
press himself. This character is said to have been con- 
ceived as an imitation, or rather caricature, of the manners 
and language of the people of the Val Brembana, or valley 
of the river Brembo, in the same manner as the Pantaloon 
was the representative of the people of Venice, Policinella 
of those of Acerra and Campania in general, &c. 

BERGAMOT, the fragrant fruit of a species of Citrus. 
BERGAMOT, ESSENCE OF, an essential oil, ob- 
tained both by pressure and distillation from the rind of 
the bergamot, the ripe fruit of the citrus bergamium : it is 
limpid, yellowish, and fluid ; that procured by pressure is 
not so fluid as that yielded by distillation, but its odour is 
more agreeable. 

The specific gravity of essence of bergamot is 0*888, its 
smell resembles that of oranges, and it is used as perfume; 
at a little below 32° Fahr. it becomes solid. 

Vauquelin made a set of experiments to discover the 
effects that were produced by the mixture of alcohol and 
this oil, in order that the fraud which is commonly practised 
of mixing them might be detected. He found that 100 
measures of alcohol dissolved 50 measures of oil, but that 
there were several anomalies in the proportions in which 
smaller quantities of alcohol dissolved the oil. The general 
results are : 1. That the oil of bergamot may contain eight 
percent, of alcohol, of the specific gravity 0'817, without its 
being perceptible when mixed with water. 2. That when 
it contains a greater quantity of it, the surplus separates, 
dissolving about one-third of its volume of oil. 3. That a 
small quantity of water mixed with the alcohol diminishes 
reraarkahly its action upon the oil ; since alcohol of specific 
gravity 0*880 dissolves only l-28th of its volume, while pure 
alcohol dissolves almost half its volume. 4. That when wc 
mix alcohol with a volatile oil, a mutual exchange takes 
place between the two fluids, the relation of which must 
vary with the purity of the alcohol; this last dissolves the 
oil, whilst the oil absorbs the alcohol. 5. That when wc 
mix alcohol of specific gravity 0*847, for example, with oil of 
bergamot, which is 0*856, the alcohol sinks to the bottom, 
and the oil swims upon it: this depends upon the oil ab- 
sorbing a part of the pure alcohol, and thus rendering the 
remainder more dense, while it becomes itself more light. 
6. That there takes place a kind of decomposition of the 
water and alcohol by tho oil ; from which it may he sus- 
pected that, if we were to mix a small quantity of diluted 
alcohol with a large quantity of volatile oil, the water would 
be separated, and be precipitated alone to the lower part of 
the vessel. Hence we learn that the dealers in perfumes 
may introduce eight per cent, of alcohol into them without 
our being able to detect the fraud by the ordinary means ; 
hut it may be discovered by the assistance of the spirit hy- 
drometer, as the density will be diminished by about 
l-100th part. Sulphuric rother docs not act on tho oil of 
bergamot like alcohol ; it unites with it in all proportions, 
and the fluids do not afterwards separate. 

BERGEN, in the kingdom of Norway, and the province 
of S6ndre Bergenhuus, is situated in 6*2° 23' 24" N. lat., and 
5° 20' E. long, from Greenwich. At an early period, attracted 
by the prolific fisheries on the coast, and particularly by the 
herring-fishery, a number of fishermen were induced to 
settle round a gulf of the North Sea, on a part of which 
the town is now built. Its convenient situation* for trade 
induced one of the antient kings of Norway, Olaf Kyrrc, 
to enlarge the place, and to build a regular town there in 
1069 or 1070. 

The island, ealled Askoen, situated about three English 
miles from the town, forms a bulwark against the sea, and en- 
closes the large bay Byeljorden, which forming two branches, 
called Vaagen and Puddcfj6rden, encircles the town. The 
town is built on a promontory, and extends round that part of 
the bay called Vaagen, which constitutes the real harbour. 
On the east side of the town aro two lakes, Lille and Store 



BER 



272 



B E R 



Lungcgaards Vandet, communicating with tlio Puddefjord. 
no tliat the town ii almost entirely surrounded by water, and 
only joins the mainland on the north-east bide. The town 
U enclosed by high mountains, the highest or which (Atri- 
kcu) is 2072 Rhinelandish (or about 2600 English) feet 
above the le\el of the sea. 

Hie armorial bearings of the town represent an antique 
castle, beneath which arc seven balls, probably in allusion 
to the seven surrounding mountains. 

Many commercial privileges were granted, and various 
useful institutions established in the town during the reign 
ofOlafKyrrc; he likewise adorned it with several magni- 
ficent buildings, among which was Christ Church, which is 
described as Iiaving been a beautiful specimen of archi- 
tecture, and was, moreover, the first Christian temple erected 
in Bergen. It was pulled down in 1531. The palace (Kongs* 
gaarden) was also built in his reign, and was situated on 
the spot on which the fortress now stands: this fort, which 
has been several times destroyed by fire, was remodelled, 
and made a regular fortress in 16-16. 

Olaf Kyrre being on friendly terms with England and 
Scotland, favoured theso nations with many commercial 
privileges, and they were the first foreigners who settled in 
Bergen. 

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, for a period 
of about 130 years, Bergen was a sort of residence for tbo 
antient kings of Norway, a circumstance which greatly con- 
tributed to its prosperity. Trade was carried on partly with 
Nordlandine, partly with the islands of Fa?roe. the Ork- 
neys, Iceland, and Greenland. In the year 1278, the Ger- 
man merchants of the Ilanse Towns obtained permission to 
settle in and trade with Bergen, by whom the English and 
Scotch were gradually displaced, and at last entirely ex- 
pelled in the year 1312. As the policy of this body was to 
monopolize the trade of Europe, they used every means to 
establish themselves in a place so advantageously situated for 
trade as Bergen, which was at that time the central point for 
the whole trade .of Norway, and offered in particular the 
best opportunity for carrying on the fish trade. In attaining 
this end, they availed themselves of the weakness of the 
kings during "political disturbances, and of the ignorance of 
the inhabitants, in those early times, as to matters of trade. 
Their privileges were confirmed and extended, in 13-13, by 
King Magnus Smaek. From this date they acquired a 
complete ascendency in the town, supplanted the inhabitants 
in every branch of commerce (even tliat with Nordlandene, 
although this was positively interdicted them), and usurped 
nn almost despotic dominion over the townsmen for more 
than one century and a half. 

About the year 1435 the Hanscatics formed a fixed trading 
establishment in Bergen, called the Hanseatic Contoir, 
whose clerks, servants, See. were under the immediate super- 
intendence of the Ilanse Towns, acted by their directions, 
frequently, in their insolence, set the laws and authorities of 
the country at defiance, caused the citizens every kind of 
molestation, unfa even carried things so far as to fortify their 
own quarter of the town, which, as it occupied tho wholo 
quay, gave them the complete command of the harbour. 
As an instance of their violence, may be mentioned the 
murder of the governor, Olaf Ncilsen, and Bishop Torlcif, 
on the 1st of September, 1455, who had incurred their dis- 
pleasure, and were cruelly put to death, together with sixty 
other persons who had taken refuge in a convent, which 
was burnt at the same time. To prevent their forming 
alliances with the inhabitants, they were prevented by their 
statutes from marrying, the consequence of which wus, that 
a licentiousness became prevalent in the town that exceeded 
all bounds. In their insolent conduct towards the citizens 
they were joined by a great number of foreign mechanics, 
who had likewise established themselves in a separate 
quarter of tho town, where they also exercised unlimited 
dominion. The oppressed citizens frequently presented their 
complaints to the government, but their wrongs were not 
rcdrc^ed until Frederick II. of Denmark, on the 25th of 
July, 15G0, issued an Act, called Odenso Recess, which 
placed more definite limits to tho privileges of the Hanse- 
atic-*, and Ix'came a law, according to which the quarrels 
between tho Hanscatics and the citizens were decided. This 
art entirely broke the supremacy of the Han seat ics, which 
had pre\iouslv received a severo hhock from the vigorous 
conduct of \Valkendortr, who was appointed governor in 
1 556. and became afterwards celebrated for his disputes with 
the astronomer, T)cho Brohe. From this period tho usurped 



authority of the Hanscatics was at an end. Other nations, 
English, French, Spanish, fee. began to trade with Bergen, 
in which the citizens themselves also partook. Although 
the Hanseatic confederacy was dissolved in 1630, Hamburgh, 
Lubec, and Bremen, still continued to i>ossess exteiiaivc 
privileges in Bergen ; but as the citizens got possession of 
the trading houses on the quay, their power and influence 
gradually declined. In 1763, when tho last of these came 
into the hands of a citizen, the only remnant of the influence 
of foreigners, which had continued during four centuries, 
entirely disappeared. 

The'trade of Bergen may be divided into two branches, the 
internal and the foreign trade. Of the first, that with the 
northern prounces of Norway, called Nordlandene, is the 
most important. These provinces receive from Bergen tho 
greater part both of the necessaries and the luxuries of life; 
and the latter in much greater quantities than might be 
imagined, the taste for luxury having of late considerably 
increased among the inhabitants of Nordlandene. In re- 
turn, Bergen receives from these provinces large quantities 
of fish, herrings, roes (rogn), fish-oil, tallow, skins, feathers, 
&c, all which articles are brought by the Nordlaudmen 
themselves in their own vessels to Bergen. They come to 
Bergen twice a year with their own yachts, the first time from 
the middle of May to the end of June, which period is deno- 
minated tho first meeting (forste stevnc) ; tbo second meet- 
ing takes place from the middle of August to the middle of 
September. At the first of these meetings from forty to fifty 
yachts arrive, loaded with about 16,000 barrels (tonder) of 
fish-oil and roes (rogn), and some fish of the summer and 
autumn fishing of the preceding year. At the last meet- • 
ing there generally arrive seventy or eighty yachts, with 
two or three hundred thousand voger of fish (a vog is about 
35 lbs.). If one barrel of oil is valued at 12 dollars*, one 
barrel of rocs at 3 dollars, and a vog of fish at 96 shillings, 
their annual amount may be estimated at 350,000 dollars 
(about 60,000/. sterling). The yachts are differently con- 
structed from other vessels. In respect to their tonnage 
they are equal to very large vessels ; but notwithstanding 
their long and perilous navigation, they are all open and 
clinker built. They stow in general from 3000 to CO0O 
voger offish, but there are some which can stow 10,000. At 
the stern they have a high and spaeious cabin ; the bow is 
likewise very high, and they have no bowsprit. * Between 
the cabin and the bows the vessels are .very wide, but not 
very high : when they are loading, a number of long poles 
are placed on both sides, against which boards are laid in 
an horizontal position. Between this fence the cargo is 
stowed, which then rises from six to eight yards above the 
water, although the sides of the vessel are searce elevated 
two-thirds of a yard above the surface. In order that the 
cargo may not break the fence by its weight, the poles aro 
bound with .strong ropes. At tho top of the cargo thin 
boards (llager) are laid close together, which form a sort of 
deck. Tlie tackle is extremely simple, consisting of one 
very high mast, which is fastened with a few strong ropes, 
without shrouds ; to this is made fast a very large square- 
sail, which is enlarged or diminished according to the htate 
of the weather and the cargo. All this description of vessels 
may be distinguished from others by their having two largo 
black squares in the upper corners of the sail, the origin of 
which is not exactly known. Each yacht has a crew of 
eight, ten, or twelve, according to her size. Although tho 
navigation is long and dangerous for open and heavy-laden 
vessels, thev are very seldom wrecked or lost: they sail only 
when they havo fair wind along the coast; when it is con- 
trary, they take in sail and come to anchor. 

It may perhaps not he uninteresting to givo a short 
account of tho fi&liing in Nordlandene, in which the Irade of 
Bergen originates. This fishing may bo divided under two 
heads, the whiter and summer fishing, the former of which 
is the more important, and is only carried on for taking the 
largo cod-fish, called in Norwegian vitrei (anellus major 
vulgaris). This fish is found in immense quantities round 
the islands of Lofoden <GS a 30' N, lat.): it varies only in 
number and fitness. The fatness gradually increases or 
decreases during a period of about seven vears: the eauso 
of this is unknown. In the beginning of 1'ebruary the fish 
arrive in large shoals {ftskebjerg, * mountains offrsh'), in 
layers one over the other, nnd several yards in thickness. 
They arc found by means of a lead, and the shoals are so 
dcm>e, that it is with some difficulty that the lead is sunk 
• M* Normcgiau ilullui tia\o brcti filimstnl as ftp-it lo W. slcrllin;. 



B E T? 



^73 



!B V ER 



through them. Sometimes the fish come so near the land, 
that one end of the net is fastened on shore. The principal 
fishing-banks are situated from half a mile to one mile and a 
half (Nordland measure) from the land, in a depth of sixty, 
seventy, or eighty fathoms. At the end of March, or the 
beginning of .April, the fish leave the banks and return to 
the ocean : these enormous quantities approach the hanks 
for the purpose of diffusing their spawn, and thus they sacri- 
Jice their life in. order to propagate the species. 
'* To this fishing the peasantry come from the whole of 
Nordland and Finmarken in their boats and yachts ; and 
many other vessels from Bergen, Trondhjem, and the towns 
in Nordlandene, in order to buy raw fish, which they after- 
wards prepare as stockfish, and roes. From Helgeland, 
and that part of the district of Salten to the south of 
Foldenfjord, the fishermen always come to Lofoden in their 
, yachts: those from the northern and nearer districts come 
only in boats. The proceeding of the former is as follows : 
— At the end of January they equip themselves for their 
departure with victuals, fishing-tackle, &c, which, under 
the denomination of bormkab, is divided into two equal 
parts, one of which is embarked in tbeir boats, and the other 
in the yacht that accompanies them. This is done partly in 
order to lighten the boats, and partly that they may not be 
too much embarrassed should the one or the other be lost. 
The fishermen divide themselves into what are called (baad- 
laug) boat-guilds, who fish in common, and divide the pro- 
duce according to certain regulations. A boat-guild consists 
of two boats, each with ten oars and five men. Every twenty 
or thirty of these boat-guilds' have a yacht in common. 
During the fishing the yacht remains at the fishery, and is 
used as a sort of magazine by the fishermen. When the 
fishing is ended, the livers and roes are salted down in 
barrels and put on board the yachts. On the return of the 
yacht to the harbour from which it is freighted, the liver is 
unloaded, hoiled, and converted into oil. It is then re- 
shipped, together with tho prepared fish that may ehance to 
have remained from the former year ; after which the yacht 
proceeds to Bergen. This is what is called the first meeting. 
They generally arrive in Bergen by the end of May or the he- 
ginning of June. The yacht on its return enters its harbour, 
takes on board the empty liver-barrels, fishing implements, 
Sec. required for the winter fishing, and sails to Lofoden, 
where the dried rund-fish is embarked and carried to Bergen. 
This is the last meeting; and on returning from this voyage 
their task is finished for that year. The yacht is paid for 
this voyage by a share in the produce of the fishing. This 13 
divided for each hoat-guild into eleven parts, of which every 
man receives one ; the eleventh part is divided between 
the owners of the yacht and the proprietors of the boats. 

To the complete equipment of a boat-guild helong oars, 
masts, sails, tackle, and the requisite implements for fish- 
ing, either with net or with line. Each guild has six or 
eight nets, of thirty fathoms in length, thirty meshes in 
depth, every mesh being, when extended, six inches long, 
composed of strong double hemp threads.* The lines are 
iOOO fathoms In length, to which are attached* 1200 large 
tinned iron hooks, by strings of a fathom in length. Besides 
this, every man must be furnished with provisions for two 
or three months. The expense of each man's equipment 
from Helgoland is estimated at about 40 dollars (C/. 13*. Ad.). 
The hoat is either the property of the fishermen, or is hired 
by them for the voyage. 

'The fishermen from Nordlandene commonly unite them- 
selves in companies of twenty, forty, or sixty boats, and sail 
along the coast of Helgeland and Salten to the islands 
called Grotuen and Lov6en. Here they wait for favourable 
winds to pass the bay \Vestfj6rd, at the spot where it is about 
forty English miles across. They are sometimes, during the 
short days, detained here a considerable time, before tho 
weather permits them to hazard the perilous passage. A 
council is held among the men, and it is decided hy a 
majority of votes whether the passage shall be undertaken 
or not ; but it not un frequently happens that some daring 
fellows seduce the others to mako an attempt in bad weather, 
and thu3 many lives are lost. 

r When the fishermen arrive at Lofoden, overy boat-guild 
proceeds to tho spot (fi&kevar) where they intend to fish, 
each having a certain place, not in consequence of any 
restriction in this respeet, but because they require a place 
for a dwelling-house, and for erecting the frames of wood 
upon which the fish is hung to dry. The house is built of 
timher, from twelve to sixteen feet square ; in the middle is 



a stove, consisting of a flat stone on the floor, arid a hole in 
the roof by which the smoke escapes, with a small window 
giving a feehle light. This cabin is inhabited by a boat- 
guild— consequently by from ten to twelve persons — who 
cook, sleep, and repair their nets during the fishing season. 
The above-mentioned frames, called in Norwegian hjeld] 
consist of wooden crosses fixed in the earth, which support 
poles laid horizontally, upon which the fish* tied, by the tail 
in pairs, are hung to dry. This scaffold must be so high as 
to prevent the fish from being taken by the fox, or damaged 
by high water. - . , , . . ^ 

The fishing is regulated according to certain rules con- 
tained in several antient laws, and of late by that of the 4th 
August, 1 827. These laws prescribe the order to he ohserved 
in the fisheries, the time for placing and removing the nets, 
the preparing, salting, and drying of the fish. Several 
persons, chosen from among the fishermen themselves, are 
appointed to superintend the observance of them. The fish 
are for the most part caught in nets, which are placed in 
the evening, and removed in the morning, after a signal 
given by these superintendents. There is, however, a dif- 
ference of opinion whether the use of the net or the line is 
the most advantageous. 

The fish are prepared in two different ways — for rund-fish, 
or as it is commonly called, stock-fish, and also for klip-fish. 
The pind-ftsh is prepared by opening the belly, taking out 
the liver and roe, and cutting off the head ; after which ope- 
ration the fish are hung in pairs upon the drying scaffold, 
and exposed to the wind and weather.- The livers are col 
lected in barrels, and the roes are parfly salted, and partly 
used as bait. The heads are dried, taken care of, and 
hrouglit home to serve as food for cows. . The klip-Jkk is 
cut along the back, and the back-bone taken out, after 
which it is salted down in the bottom of the vessel : three 
and a half to four barrels of salt, mostly French, or half 
French and half Spanish, are required for every 1000 fish. 
A vessel commonly stows 20,000 salted fish, and,' being 
loaded, departs for the coast of Helgeland, or^the northern 
part of the diocese of Trondhjem, where the principal ope- 
ration is performed in the following manner : — The fish is 
landed at a place where there are large, flat mountains with 
a southern aspect, upon which .it, is spread, and exposed to 
the sun. In rainy weather it is collected in large heaps, 
and covered with heavy stones to prevent its heing damaged. 
During this operation, which is frequently, repeated accord- 
ing to the weather, the fish undergoes a fermentation, which 
gives it a good flavour. In fine seasons this preparation is 
completed in three or four weeks. . Klip-fisb, on account of 
the humidity of the climate, is seldom prepared at Lofoden. 
In bad seasons, when there are* continual rains during the 
preparation, great quantities are spoiled. One hundred fish, 
wages and freight included, cost five, dollars, and produce 
from sixteen to eighteen vpgor of klip-fish.* , Under the pro- 
cess the fish becomes much lighter in weight; so that two 
cargoes of salt-fish give one cargo of klip-fish. If circum- 
stances are favourable, this trade gives a considerable profit, 
and indeed it ought to do so, as it is attended with consider- 
able risk. The klip-fish is not prepared by the fishermen 
themselves, hut either by the merchants settled at Lofoden 
and in the neighbourhood, or for the most part by mer- 
chants from Trondhjem, Christiansand, Molde, Bergen, &c, 
who send their vessels to Lofoden with provisions, brandy, 
salt, and other articles to be used in barter; partly with 
these articles, and partly with money, they purchase the raw 
fish. It being more lucrative to prepare rund-fish than to 
sell the raw fish for making klip-fish, the fishers seldom do 
the latter, unless they are distressed for victuals, money, or 
brandy. One hundred or one hundred and twenty raw fish 
commonly sell for one dollar or less, -but when prepared 
as rund-fish, they produce at least from four to five voger, 
which, at the rate of half a dollar per vog, give from two 
to two and a half dollars. 

The liver is brought home by the fishermen themselves, 
and their first task after their return is to prepare oil from 
it : two barrels or two barrels and a half of liver, being the 
produce of from two to five hundred fish, according to their 
fatness, give one barrel of oil, which is preserved in oaken 
casks, and bought in Bergen. 

The roes are salted in quantities proportioned to the pros- 
pect of sale, and are principally exported to France, where 
they are used as bait in the sardel (sardine) fishing. 

• A vogof klip-flsli, the largest being wlectod, averages from five to lixfiih. 
A vofj of nrtid- fish contains from tweply.flvc to thirty flih. 



Ho. 239; 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA/) 



VovIY.— 2N 



B E il 



271 



BER 



When the (Wiring season at Lofoden is over, the place 
become i as desolate as it was before animated ; but when 
the fish is to be taken down it becomes lively a$jain. This 



period, as appointed by law, commences on the 12th of 

* ch it is 
fines to remove the fish, 



June, previous to which 



prohibited under penalty of 



In order to give an idea of the immense quantity of fish 
taken here, the number of hands employed, and the amount 
of capital invested in this tbe most important fishery of 
Norway, in the districts of Lofoden and Wcsteraaleu only, 
we need but mention that during the winter fishing in 
1827 the number of boats was 2916, and of yachts 124, 
manned with 15,324 men: 10,456,000 fish wero taken, 
whieh pave 43,060 barrels of liver. If the fish is valued at 
one half dollar per vog (containing about thirty fish), the 
liver at seven dollars the barrel, and 6000 barrels of salted 
roes at one dollar the barrel, the whole will amount to 
430,937 dollars, about 72,000/„ whieh is the value of the 
produce of the fishing at Lofoden during a period of eight 
weeks.* Taking into aceount the value of the yachts, boats, 
and fishing utensils, together with the yearly expenses for 
their repair, as well as the support of the fishermen during 
the season, we have, on a moderate calculation, a capital of 
about 919,000 dollars, which must be considered very great 
when we reflect that it is furnished by simple peasants. 
The fishery of 1835 has been moro productive than that of 
five or six preceding years. 

. Although the fishing at Lofoden is productive, the net 
income of each individual is not very considerable, partly in 
consequence of the number of fishermen, and partly owing 
to the damage which the cxpensivo utensils suffer from 
storms and other contingencies. 

The income of each man from a fishing trip is estimated 
at 40 voger of rund-fish, 3 barrels of oil, and 500 raw fish, 
being altogether worth about 48 dollars in money: after de- 
ducting the expenses, which are reckoned at 27 dollars, he 
has a net profit of 21 dollars remaining (3/. 10*.). It may 
be remarked, that the produee of the fishing depends much 
on good boats and utensils, as well as on experienced 
and orderly fishermen. As they are generally obliged to 
bring their fish to Bergen or Trondhjem, they may chance 
to lose the whole, or to have tho greater part of it damaged 
by bad weather. 

It may appear extraordinary that tho Nordlandman 
should bring his produco to so distant a market as Bergen 
(about 500 English miles), while he has other towns much 
nearer, as for instance Trondhjem, Christiansand, and Molde. 
His object, however, is not only to obtain a sale for his pro- 
duce, but also a market where there is sufficient competition 
among the buyers to prevent a depression in prices, and 
where he can, at tho cheapest rate, be provided with the 
articles whieh he requires. Sueh a market he finds in 
Bergen, whose eredit as the principal place for the exporta- 
tion offish is so well established abroad, that he is always 
sure of a quick sale for his commodities, and is likewise, 
by the confluence of merchandise of every description, 
enabled to obtain what he may reauire, at the" lowest prices. 
In exchange for their fish, the Nordlandmcn purchase, in 
Bergen, corn, meal, oaken barrels, coffee, sugar, and different 
artirlcs of necessity or luxury. 

Every Nordlandman who brings his produee to Bergen 
has generally a certain merchant there who buys it of him, 
and supplies him in return with such articles as he may re- 
quire, or with ready money. Most commonly the merchant 
remains his creditor, and has then a claim on the produce 
of the following year's fishing. Thus the Nordlandmcn are 
continually in debt to the merchants of Bergen, though not 
so much now as formerly. In 17G3, for instance, the total 
amount of their debt was estimated at 5p,000/. That the 
facility of obtaining eredit should incline the men to luxuries, 
equally dangerous to their morals and unfavourable to eco- 
nomy, is a very natural consequence. A singular custom 
prevails in Bergen of the merchants, in an assembly, fixing 
tbe priecs of the fish for each year, in order to prevent them 
from rising too Inch hy competition ; but as no one is com- 
pelled strictly to adhere to thoso priecs, it has happened that 
they have risen moro than 100 per ccni. above the price 
agreed on. The great competition always prevents the prices 
from falling too low. 

Formerly, and especially during ttie Hanscatie establish- 

• Thrr* U rrkWnlly an error her* In Ih* cakuUllont th« error Met lu th« 
frtw of * barrel of trw W. are Informed by • rnlU-nwo wlwhn* Iwn In 
0* lrm4* I hat • btrm of liven U wurih two dollari or le»i. Dul nvn at lhU 
jiriM tf» —Wn l itto p will pot *tfra# vUb Uutt of cmr Norwegian coni-»j»ooUeuU 



ment, the Nordlandmcn were frequently oxposed to fraud 
from the merchants of Bergen; but at present this is not 
considered to be the case, and the circumstance that tho 
people continue to visit Bergen instead of their nearer 
neighbours, seems to confirm this supposition. 

The annual arrival of the yachts from Nordland occasions 
extraordinary life in the port and on the quays ; the harbour 
is almost blocked up with vessels : frequently the whole night 
is employed in transporting, packing, and preparing goods, 
so that this season may be considered as a continual fair. 

The trade of Bergen with tho other parts of Norway is 
by no means so important as that with Nordland. From 
the interior of the country Bergen receives iron-manu lac- 
lures, gjlass, tiles, &e. ; from the towns in the diocese of 
Trondhjem, some copper, with millstones and grindstones. 

Of foreign trade that with the Baltic is very* considerable. 
Bergen exports thither large quantities of herrings and 
other fish, and skins ; receiving in return hemp, glue, hops, 
canvas, linen, &c. Tlje trado with Denmark is extensive, 
hut is for the most part carried on in Danish vessels, which 
bring corn, pork, and other provisions. From Hamburgh, 
Bergen is inundated with merceries, cloth, cotton goods, and 
colonial articles of every description, which iar exceed the 
value of Norwegian produce exported to Hamburgh. The 
trade with Holland is not inconsiderable: the Dutch im- 
port dyes, drugs, linseed-oil, cheese, paper, and files, tho 
value of which greatly exceeds the amount of the artieles 
whieh they take in return, among which, the moss used for 
dyeina has of late years become one of the most important. 
AVith England the trade is less considerable than formerly 
coals, cloth, and manufactured goods are received in ex- 
change for fish, lobsters, tallow, and skins. Sweden sup- 
plies Bergen in her own vessels with iron, nails, vitriol, 
alum, and staves, taking in return fish, particularly what is 
called the spring-herring. Frccn Franee, Bergen imports 
large quantities of salt, wines, brandy! colonial articles, &c, 
and sends thither large quantities of fish, oils, salted rocs 
for the sardiuo fishing, and planks: this trade is carried 
on chiefly in native vessels. Bergen has considerable trade 
in the Mediterranean : the imports consist of salt, sweet- oil, 
wines, and fruits; ihe exports of large quantities of dry-fish 
and klip-fish, of which thero is a very considerable con- 
sumption in the Catholic countries during tbe fasts. 

Bergen has scarcely any commerce at all with places out 
of Europe, except that from time to time a vessel sails to 
the West Indies. 

In the year 1829 Bergen's export of fish, lobsters, Ste., 
was as follows : — 

Dry and smoked fish 68,905 skibpunds (a skibpund is about 

320 lbs. English). 
Klip-fish . . 23,200 skibpunds 
Salt-fish Sc herrings 1S3,27$ barrels 
Sajted roes . . 13,928 „ 
Train-oil , . . 1G.818 „ 
Lobsters .... 250,582 pieces. 

In 1828, the exports of these goods amounted to about 
20 per cent. more. 

1 ho most considerable article of import is corn, of which 
there wan imported, in 1829, 170,137 barrels, besides 4 750 
barrels of peas : in 1828, 181,753 barrels of corn, and 254 7 
barrels of peas wero imported. The other articles im- 
ported in 1828 were 12G,781 barrels of salt, 354,000 lbs. 
sugar, 145,000 lbs. eoflee, 4 172 lbs. tea, 245,000 lbs. tobacco, 
938,000 quarts wine, 2.939,000 staves for barrels, and 
1,650,000 "hoops, to which must bo added a lar£e quantity 
of manufactured goods. 

In 1829 Bergen possessed 205 vessels, with a tonnage of 
5475 Commerce Lasts, and about 700 seamen. 

In the same year, 622 vessels, with a tonnage of 22,249 
Commerce Lasts, were cleared inwards at the custom-house, 
of whieh 237 were Norwegian, with 7750 Commerce Lasts; 
the remainder were foreign vessels. About the same num- 
ber, and in the same proportion, cleared outwards. 

Bergen has been several times visited by £reat calami- 
ties: in tljc years 1348 and 1356 tho black pestilence, which 
was brought thither by an English vessel, carried oft* the 
greater part of the population. At other different dates, 
in the years 1G18, 1629, and 1637, the plague destroyed 
about 3000 of the inhabitants each time. It has also "frc- 
qui-ntly suffered by fire, of which the most destructive was 
tho one that happened on the 19th of May, 1702, whereby 
nearly the whole town was reduced to ashes. 



BE R 



Hi 



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At present there are about 2500 dwelling-houses in the 
town ; the population was, in the year 1825, calculated to 
amount to about 20,00d. 

The town is the residence of the high sheriff (sti/tsamt- 
mand) and the bishop of the diocese. Here is likewise the 
seat of a tribunal of second instance (stifts overrtt). There 
are five ehurches in the town, of which the cathedral is the 
most considerable. It has likewise one Latin school, one 
burgher school, and sundry others for the poorer classes : one 
of the latter has adopted the Lancasterian method. It pos- 
sesses likewise five piiblie libraries, one drawing school, one 
national museum, three hospitals, six establishments for the 
poor, one house of correction, and another prison for greater 
criminals. 

Here is also one of the three public treasuries of the 
kingdom, a division of the national bank witti three direc- 
tors, and a savings* bank. 

Bergen possesses several tobaceo manufactories, seven- 
teen distilleries, and three rope-yards;' but other manufac- 
tories that formerly existed have been abandoned. 

The harbour is good and commodious, but the entrance, 
ISergen's Leed, which is about 103 English miles' in length, 
is inconvenient, especially in the winter. The entranee is^ 
divided into two branches, of which that through Karmsund 
is the most frequented. The vessels In the harbour suffer 
from worms. 

To the fortifications of the town belong the before-men : 
tioned fortress of Bergenhuus, with about thirty guns, but 
it is considered of no £reat military importance; two 
forts, called Sverresborg and Fredriksbcrg, and several 
batteries, mounting altogether J03guns. The garrison con- 
sists of about 300 men ; the chief of the brigade of Ber- 
genhuus is tho governor. A squadron of the navy is sta- 
tioned here. 

The annual taxes paid by the town to the public treasury 
amount to 21,000 dollars, but the communal expenses are 
almost double that sum. 

The situation, viewed from the sea, is strikingly pic- 
turesquo; the town extends itself in the form of ah amphi- 
theatre round the harbour, which is constantly animated 
with boats and vessels. 

Since the last fires, some care has been taken in embel- 
lishing the town and enlarging the streets ; the market- 
place is a handsomo square, planted with trees, and sur- 
rounded with fine buildings. 

Bergen, being the most considerable commercial town in 
Norway, is consequently tnc richest. Several mercantile 
houses are supposed to ^avo large fortunes. The inha- 
bitants are in general lahorious and industrious, their atten- 
tion being particularly dircetcd to their trading pursuits. 
Bergen has nevertheless produeed several artists and men of 
learning; among whom maybe mentioned Ludvig Holberg, 
born in 1684, died in Denmark in 1754, celebrated for his 
satirieal plays and historical works ; and the landscape painter 
Dahl, at present professor in Dresden, born 1 783. 

The climate is in general humid and rainy, but not un- 
wholesome ; the winter is seldom so severe as to freeze the 
harbour. Much attention is paid to orchards in Bergen and 
the surrounding districts, and there is a greater abundance 
of fruit here than in any other part of Norway. (Commu- 
nication from Norway.) 

BEKGENHUUS, THE DIOCESE OF, comprehends 
the western part of Norway : it contains 730 German geo- 
graphical square miles, or about 15,600 English square 
miles, comprising the mainland and islands along the coast, 
of which some arc inhabited, others not, with a population 
of about 200.Q00. It is bounded on the north by Trondbjem, 
011 the east by Christiania, on the south by Christiansand, 
and on the west by the ocean. The mainland is almost 
everywhere intersected by deep gulfs, cqn fined between high 
mountains, on which there w in general little wood, but 
.good pasturage. The habitations are situated in the val- 
leys between tho mountains! or on their sides, and some- 
times near their summits. Along the gulfs and valleys 
there is, in many places, Hat ground and good corn-fields. 
In general, agriculture is very backward, and although 
some progress has been made in recent times by the peasants 
adopting a better system, yet there is only ono parish, 
Ilafsloe, whieh is not annually necessitated to buy corn. 
Copper and iron ores are found in many places, but their 
situation and the want of wood prevent, in some measure, 
their being made use of, Marble is found in several places. 
The principal branches gf industry arq, fishing on tho coast, 



especially that of herrings ; and breeding cattle on the banks* 
of the gulfs. The largest gulfs are Hardangerfj6rd, or 
Bommelfjord, 18 geographical miles, or 83 English miles, 
in length, Korsfj6rd and Gjeltefjord, the entrance to the 
city of Bergen, and Sognefjord, 16 miles in length. The 
principal river, called Leerdals Elv, has its source in the 
mountains of Fille Fjeld, and empties itself into a braneh 
of the Sognefjord. The diocese comprehends the following 
provinces (in Norwegian called Amt) : S6ndre (Southern) 
Bergenhuus, Nordre (Northern) Bergenhuus, and a part of 
the province of Romsdal called Sondmoer. As to the eivil 
administration, it is divided into five districts (Fogderier) 
containing 165 parishes.' The only barony in Norway, 
Rosehdahl, te situated in this diocese. There is no oJher 
city than Bergen. (Communication from Norway.) 

BERGEN-OP-ZOOM, a town and strong fortress in 
North or Duteh Brabant, on the little river Zoom, and near 
the right bank of the eastern branch of the Schelde. It is 
situated partly on a rising ground, and surrounded in great 
measure by marshes and sands, which are overflowed at high-- 
water, and add to the strength of its defences. It formed 
onee part of the barony of Breda, but was created into a se- 
parate marquisate by Charles V. It was one of the strong 
holds of the states-general of the united provinces, in their 
war against the Spaniards. The Prinee of Parma besieged 
it in vain in 1588, and the Marquis of Spinola likewise- 
failed before it in 1622, after sustaining great loss. After- 
wards, the famous engineer Coehorn increased its fortifica- 
tions, and it aequired the reputation pT an impregnable 
fortress. However, in 1747, the French, commanded by 
the Count' of Lowendal, took it by storm, and a hor- 
rible massacre ensued, in which 3000 of tho garrison and 
many of the citizens were butehered. It was restored to 
Holland at the peaec. When the Freneh republicans, 
under trerieral Pichegiru, invaded Holland in 1795, Bergen- 
op-Zoom surrendered to them. The English general, 1 
Sir Thomas Graham, attempted to carry it by surprise in 
the night of the 6th March, 1814, but was repulsed with 
great loss. It was restored to Holland by the treaty of 
peace in the following May, 

The town is well built, and has a fine market-plaee and 
other squares. Its population is about 6000, who ehiefly 
gain their subsistence from the garrison, and formerly at 
least, from a small transit trade in tiles and pottery between 
Holland and Antwerp. Besides the fortifications round the 
town, there are several outer forts connected with it, sueh 
as forts Moocrmont, Pinsen, Roowers, &c. It is seventeen 
miles N. by W. of Antwerp, and twenty-one miles W. by S. 
of Breda. (Balbi and Roquette, Essai Geographique et 
Statistique du Royaume des Pays-Bas; Kampen, Besc/i- 
rijving, &e.) 

BERGERAC, a town in France, in the department of 
Dordognc, and 011 the river whieh gives name to the de- 
partment. It is 322 miles S.S.W. of Paris : 44° 51' north 
lat„ 0° 28' E. long, from Greenwieh. 

The situation of this town, at ono of the most convenient 
passages over tho Dordogne, rendered it in the middle ages 
a military post of somo eonsequence. It was fortified in 
the 14th century by the English, but was taken from them 
in 1371 by Louis, duke of Anjou, brother of Charles V., 
king of Franee. *In tho religious wars of the 16th century, 
the inhabitants of Bergerac embraced the party of- the Cal- 
vlnists ; and Jean de Barri, Sieur de la Renaudie, one of 
the natives of this towii, engaged in the celebrated con- 
spiracy of Amboisc, and was indeed the leader of that disas- 
trous undertaking, in which he fell. Bergerac was after- 
wards taken and retaken several times. Louis XIII., 
having rendered himself master of it in 1621, demolished 
the fortifications, which have never been restored. Not- 
withstanding these disasters tho town and neighbourhood 
continued to be so populous, and the reformed party so 
strong, that when the ediet of Nantes was revoked, it is 
said there were forty thousand Calvinists within a circuit of 
six leagues (1G or 17 miles) round Bergerac. 

The town is situated in a fertile plain, which produces 
wine, chestnuts, grain, hemp, and wood, and pasturage for 
cattle. The manufactures of the town are chiefly of iron 
goods (the iron being forged in the neighbourhood), cannon 
and small arms, copper utensils, earthenware, paper, 
leather, hosiery, and hats. The paper mills are some dis- 
tance out of the town. The agricultural produce of the 
neighbourhood furnishes also articles of commerce; the 
wine of tho district was some years ago exported^ partly \ff 

) ?F3 



B E R 



27G 



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Holland. The Dordogtto being navigable enables the in- 
habitants to keep up constant communication with tho 
towns of libourne ami Bordeaux. Population in IS3C, 
5966 for the town, or 8557 for the whole commune. Ber- 
gcrae is tho scat of a sub-prefect, and has a tribunal de 
premitre instance, or subordinate court of justice, and a 
tribunal de commerce, or court of refcrcneo for mercantile 
disputes. 

The arrondissement of Bergerac comprehends 926 square 
miles, or 592,640 acres, and had in 1832 a population of 
116,897. It is subdivided into thirteen cantons and into 
167 communes. 

This town was tho birthplace of the Marshal do Biron, 
an eminent soldier in the war of the league, and one of the 
chief supporters of Henry IV,; also of his son tho Duo de 
Biron, who was beheaded for treason in tho reign of that 
prince. {Dictionnaire Universe! de la France; Maltc- 
Brun.) 

BERGHEM or BERCHEM, NICHOLAS, whose fa- 
mily name was Van Haerlem, was bom at Haerlem in 
162*1. Ho received his first instructions from his father, a 
painter of still lifo, of no remarkable talent Afterwards he 
becamo the pupil successively of Van Goyen, Mojanrt, Jan 
Wils, and Weeninx, During his early practice he frequently 
painted sea-ports and shipping," and his works of that period 
tear a strong resemblance to those of the last mentioned 
master; but subsequently ho devoted himself almost exclu- 
sively to landscape. Tho works of Berchem have not tho 
high ideal character which distinguishes those of Claude and 
Gas par Poussin : they evince, however, great liveliness of 
fancy, a judicious taste in selection, and a mastery in pen- 
cilling which has not often been equalled. His landscapes 
are usually enriched with architectural ruins and picturesque 
groups of figures and cattlo; and these compositions, al- 
though evidently made up of materials selected at different 
times and from various sources, are so happily arranged 
and have such an air of truth, that it is difficult to believe 
that they were not copied directly from nature. Berchem 
had an executive power which never missed its aim ; his 
touch is equally free and discriminating, whether expressing 
the breadth and richness of masses of foliage, the lightness 
and buoyancy of clouds, the solidity of rocks and buildings, 
or the transparency of water; and his distances are gra- 
duated, both in relation to lines and tints, with admirable 
truth of perspective. In his style of colouring he aimed 
rather at a subdued harmony than at sparkling vivacity ; 
and he frequently gave great grandeur to his effects by 
broad masses of shadow, whose negative quality he per- 
fectly understood and expressed. Ho painted with extra- 
ordinary dispatch, but his works betray no traces of negli- 
gence ; his finishing stops at the exact point which unites 
accuracy with freedom. 

While Bcrghcm's reputation was at its height he was 
commissioned by the burgomaster of Dort, Vandcrhulk, to 
paint a picture in competition with his distinguished contem- 
porary, Jan Both. The prico stipulated for each picture 
was 800 guilders, and a considerable sum, in addition, was 
to bo awarded to the successful competitor. Berghem 
painted a magnificent range of mountain scenery, with 
appropriate figures and numerous cattle. Jan Both selected 
an Italian landscape, filled with classical imagery, and 
glowing with the brilliancy of atmosphere peculiar to that 
country. Tho pictures were finished and placed in juxta- 
position, and the burgomaster, having attentively examined 
them, declared that he found both performances so ad- 
mirable, and their respective merits so equal, that it was 
impossible to decido between them. He then generously 
presented each artist with a sum equal to that which had 
occti promised as a premium for the superior performance. 
Berchem was indefatigable in the practico of his art, usually 
painting, even during tho summer months, from sunrise 
till sunset; yet surh was his reputation that ho found it 
difficult, even by this unwearied diligence, to satisfy the 
demand for his pictures". Descamps, in his lives of the 
Flemish painters, gives a long list of Bcrghcm's pictures ; 
there is a prodigious number of them in Holland, and they 
are frequent in English collections. Somo fino specimens 
are in his Majesty's collection and at Dulwich College. 
Many of his works have been finely engraved by Visschcr. 

Bcrghcm's own etchings and drawings were exceedingly 
beautiful and are eagerly sought after. A descriptive cata- 
loguo of them was published by Henry de Wntcr at Am- 
sterdam in 1767. The following i$ a list of the principal 



otchings:— Six plates of cows, in the title print, a milk- 
maid, marked Berghem, fecit ; six of sheep, in the title 
print, a woman on a stone ; six goats, in tho title print, a 
man sitting with a dog; eight of sheep and goats, in the 
title print, a man: five larger plates, upright, ono dated 
165*2, all marked Berghem, fee; four smaller plates of 
difforent animals, lengthways, marked N. B. ; six of tho 
heads of sheep, goats, &e, scarce. 

Single prints etched by Berghem:— A cow drinking, 
Berghem, fee, 1680; a cow watering, Berghem, inv. ct fec«,. 
fine and scaicc ; a landscape, with two cows lying and ono 
standing by, Berghem, fee. ; a landscape, with cows, &c, 
men riding on an ass, N. Berghem, fee; a landscape, with 
a woman bathing her feet in a brook, and a man behind 
leaning on a stick, with animals and figures, a ruin in the 
distance; a boy riding on an ass, speaking to anothor boy 
who is playing on tho bagpipes, called the bagpiper; land-,, 
scape, a man playing the flute, and a woman sitting ; land- 
scape, a man standing and a woman suckling an infant, 
very fine and scarce 

Berghem made a large collection of prints and drawings, 
chiefly by the Italian masters, which, after his death, was 
sold for a considerable sum. He died in 1683, aged fifty-* 
nine. (Descainps; Brvan.) ; 

. BERGMAN, TORBERN OLOF, a distinguished che- 
mist, was born on the 9th of March, 1735, at Gallic-^ 
rinberg in West Gothland, of which district his father, 
Berthold Bergman, was recoivcr of the revenues. After 
acquiring at school some knowledgo of languages, botany, 
and natural philosophy, he was sent at seventeen years of 
ago to the university of Upsala, and was intended by his 
father for tho ehurch or the bar. He soon, however, inani- f 
fested his dislike for both these professions, and after some 
opposition he was permitted to pursuo the studies for which ^ 
be had a decided preference, and he eventually devoted his 
time to mathematics, physics, and natural history. 

He paid very considerable attention to botany, and cspe 
cially to grasses and mosses; he studied entomology with 
success, and having collected several insects previously un- t 
known in Sweden, and some even quite new, he sent speci- 
mens of them to Linnrous at Upsala, who was much grati-, 
(led with the present. The first paper which ho wrote, and 
which was printed in the Memoirs of the academy of Stock ; 
holm for 1756, contained a discovery of considerable im , 
portance, inasmuch as Linnaeus, who did not at first ercdit 
the accuracy of his statements, afterwards mentioned them 
in-the most flattering terms. In somo ponds not far from. 
Upsala a substance was observed, to which tho name of 
coccus aquaticus was given, but its nature was unknown ; 
Linnaeus conjectured that it might be the ovarium of somo 
insect. Bergman ascertained that it was the ovum of a 
species of leech, and that it contained from ten to twelve 
young animals. 

Although mathematics and natural history occupied tho 
greater part of his time, he continued to prosecute the study* 
of natural history as an amusement. In 1758 he took his 
master's degree, taking astronomical interpolation for the # 
subject of his thesis ; and soon after ho was appointed 
magister docens in the university of Upsala, and while in 
this situation ho wroto several ingenious papers, for ex- 
ample, on the aurora borcalis, the rainbow, twilight, &c.. 
In 1761 he was appointed adjunct in mathematics and phy- 
sics, and his name is among tho astronomers who observed 
the first transit of Venus over the sun in 1761, whose re- 
sults descrvo tho greatest confidence, ho also made some 
important observations on the electricity of the tourmaline. 

In 1 767 Wallerius resigned the professorship of chemistry 
in the university of Upsala, and strenuously exerted him- 
self to place a pupil or relation of- his own in tho cbair 
which he had quitted. Although it does not appear to have 
been previously known that Bergman had much attended 
to chemical science, yet he immediately offered himself as 
a candidate, and to prove his fitness for the place, he pub- 
lished two dissertations on tho manufacture of alum ; and 
notwithstanding the opposition of tho ex-professor, Berg- 
man succeeded him. 

After his appointment he was assiduously occupied with 
the duties of his office, and he frequently published disser- 
tations on important branches of chemistry. In 1771 Berg- 
man married a widow lady, Margaretta Catharina Trast, 
daughter of a clergyman in tho neighbourhood of Upsala. 
He had two sons by her, both of whom died when infants; 
this lody survived her husband, and on condition of giving 



BER 



277 



BER 



up the library and apparatus which he had possessed to the 
Royal 1 Society of Upsala, she received ♦ an annuity of. 200 
rix dollars from tho king of Sweden. In 1776 Frederick of 
Prussia endeavoured to prevail upon him to become a mem- 
ber of the Berlin Academy: of Sciences and to settle at 
Berlin. The offer was highly advantageous, but though his 
health had suffered from close application and it seemed 
probable that the milder climate of Prussia might restore 
it, tbc king of Sweden, who had been his benefactor, was 
unwilling to part with him ; on this occasion he was knighted 
and received a pension of 150 rix -dollars. .. 

The health of Bergman appears always to have been 
delicate, and it was permanently injured by his intense ap- 
plication to study when he Qrst went to Upsala ; in summer 
lie occasionally repaired to the waters of Medevi, a mineral 
spring which is celebrated in Sweden, and there, on the 8th 
of July, 1784, he died. 

It is impossible to give an account of all the writings 
of Bergman, for they amount to 106 ; they have been col- 
lected into six octavo volumes, entitled Opttscula Torberni 
Bergman Physica et Chemica, excepting a few of the less 
important. 

The first chemical memoir whiA he published was ' On 
the Aerial Acid,* and printed in 1774; he sbows that this 
gaseous body, now called carbonie acid, possesses acid pro- 
perties, and is capable of combining with bases and forming 
salts with tbem. It is to he observed that he makes no 
mention of the previous labours of Dr. Black on this sub- 
ject. In 1778 appeared his paper *On the Analysis of 
Mineral Waters/ In this memoir he adverts to many cir- 
cumstances connected with their general character and 
sources, and points out the principal re-agents and preci- 
pitunts used in their examination ; the results of his ana- 
lysis were not accurate, but they wero better than those 
which had previously appeared. His paper on alum has 
already been mentioned , and although he was well ac- 
quainted with the process of manufacturing it in Sweden, 
he was unacquainted with the true nature of the salt. In 
his dissertation on emetic tartar he gives a full historical 
detail of the modes of preparing it, and its uses ; but being 
unacquainted with the nature of the different oxides of 
antimony, his ideas as to the antimonial preparations best 
fitted to form it arc not accurate. His memoir on the 
forms of crystals contains the germ of the theory of crys- 
tallization afterwards developed hy Hauy ; he" made a 
considerable number of experiments on silver, and his 
analyses of the preeious stones, though far from accurate, 
were among the first attempts to ascertain "the composition 
of these bodies. 

In 1775 Bergman published his important 'Essay on 
Elective Attractions ;* it was improved and augmented in 
the third volume of his Opuscula, published 1783, and was 
translated into English by Dr. Beddoes. In this treatise 
Bergman considers every substance as possessed of a pecu- 
liar attractive force for every other substance with which it 
unites, a force capable of being represented numerically: 
he also considered decomposition as complete; that is, 
whenever a third body c, is added to a compound a b, for 
ono of the constituents of which it has a stronger attraction 
than that whieh exists between the two, the compound body 
will be decomposed, and the whole of one of its elements 
transferred to the body added. Thus, suppose the attrac- 
tion of a for b to be represented by 1, and of a for c by 2, 
then the addition of c to a b will produce the compound a c t 
and b will be separated : thus, when lime-water is added to 
muriate of magnesia, the magnesia is precipitated and a 
solution of muriate of lime is obtained; and henee when 
muriatie acid is poured upon a mixture of lime and mag- 
nesia, it dissolves the lime and leaves the magnesia. From 
these and numerous similar faets Bergman ealled this kind 
of attraction or aflinity elective. This work contains a vast 
number of experiments : and though tho aceuracy of his 
researches and opinions have been ealled in question, and 
in many cases upon good ground, the work will long remain 
a monument of his sagacity and industry. 

BERGUES, a town in' France in the Department of 
Nord, 1 82 miles N. of Paris, through Peronne, Cambray, 
and Lille; or 160 through Amiens, St. Pol, and Haze- 
brouck. It is about five miles S.E. of Dunkerque : 50° 58' 
N. lat., 2* 24' E. long, from Greenwich. 

This town is sometimes ealled Bergues, op Berg St. 
WinoXi and is said to have risen gradually round a rien and 
celebrated Benedictine abbey, founded at the foot of a hill 



called Groenberg or the Green Mountain, and which existed 
up to the Revolution. The older topographers speak of- 
Bergues as ill built, with irregular streets and three miser-, 
able places or squares ; but M. Malte-Brun says its houses 
are all built of brick and are regular. It is surrounded bv> 
an old \ir all, with round towers placed at intervals, and has* 
been further strengthened by several works constructed byj 
Vauban, so that it still holds rank among fortified places ;> 
and in the year 1793 was besieged in vain by the^joint 
forces of the English, Hessians, and others. \Vhen the 
siege was raised in consequence of the defeat of the allies 
at Hondtschoote, the besiegers left above fifty pieces of 
cannon behind them. The principal church is that of 
the, former abbey of St. Winox, which abbey formed, as 
mentioned above, the nucleus of the town. The present, 
church is, however, a modern edifice, for the old church 
having been ruined in the prcviouswars was rebuilt during* 
the last century. Before the Revolution there were two 
parish churches, that of St. AVinox being one of them. 
The Jesuits had a college here, one of the handsomest in 
French Flanders. There is a high school at the present 
time." The little river Colme passes through one quarter of. 
the town, which is traversed by many canals. There aro: 
communications by canals with Fumes in Belgium, and 
from thence with many other Belgic towns ; with the canal* 
of the Aa, and by that with St. Omer on one hand, and. 
Gravelines on the other ; and with tbe sea at Dunkerque.r 
This last mentioned canal is capable of receiving vessels of 
300 tons burden. y 

The manufactures of the town are of cloth, linen, calico/ 
and soap ; and it serves to supply the population of the 
neighbouring towns with all the necessaries of life, butchers', 
meat, corn, butter, cheese, beer, wine, spices, sugar, leather,* 
&c. Its corn market is very considerable. The population , 
in 1832 was 5962. . . i 

The neighbourhood was formerly very marshy. There 
were two considerable marshes called Moeres (meres) ; and" 
the low situation of the town, however it might increase its 
strength as a fortress, by affording the power of inundating 
part of the environs, by no means contributed to the health: 
of the inhabitants. By proper draining of the marshes the 
district has now been rendered more salubrious, and fertile 
fields and comfortable dwellings have been substituted for, 
a watery waste. » 

So important has Bergues been regarded as a military 
station, and so fiercely has the possession of it been con-v 
tested, than in ten centuries it was eight times taken and 
retaken, seven times plundered, and three times besieged in 
vain. (Malte-Brun ; Expilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules f $c; 
Diciion?iaire Universel de la France.) 

BE'RIS, a genus of dipterous inscets, of the family 
Xylophagida. The species of this genus are small metallie- 
eoloured flies, which frequent the leaves of plants. Their 
larva} feed on putrescent wood. The generie characters are 
as follows : — Body narrow ; palpi minute, the third joint 
thiekened a little at the extremity; the two first joints of 
the antennao equal, third elongate subulate ; eyes pu- 
bescent; the scutellum with four, six, or eight points; 
abdomen with seven distinct segments ; the first joint of 
the posterior tarsi incrassate in the male ; the wings have 
four posterior cells, and sometimes the indication of a fifth. 

The ova of one of the species of this genus {beris clavipes) 
are said to be ejected from the ovipositor in the form of a 
little ebain, about an inch long, consisting of a single 
scrie3 of oval eggs, which are glued to each other in an 
oblique position. Most probably tho eggs of the other 
speeies are ejected in the same manner. 

BERKELEY, a parish in the hundred of Berkeley, in 
the county of Gloucester, 16 miles from Gloucester, 113 
from London, is divided into the borough of Berkeley, the , 
tithings of Alkington, Breadstone, Ham, Harafallow, Hin- > 
ton, and the chapelry of Stone. This place, according to 
Domesday survey, must have been of great extent, popula- 
tion, and opulence, the town itself being a royal demesne 
and free borough held of the crown ; and in that survey this 
town is one of the only two places in the county of Glou- 
cester which are stated as having a market, Tewkesbury, 
being the other. Here, also, in former times, was a wealthy 
nunnery, which owed its dissolution to Earl Godwin. The 
town, which consists of four* streets diverging from -the 
market-place, is situated on a small -river called the Avon, 
which empties itself into the Severn, a mile and a half from 
the town. , - . * * - 



BER 



278 



B E It 



In 1931 Uie inhabitants of the town were 901, and of the 
parisli 3S99 : the latter contains 14.G80 acres. The principal 
trade of the town is In coaW, whicli aro Imported from tho 
Forest of Dean in small vessels, which at spring-tides can 
conic up ta tlw town ; hut this trade, owing to tho diminution 
of the cloth manufacture in Gloucestershire, has of late con- 
siderably declined. The mirrounilihg country consists almost 
entirely "of rich meadow-lands, and tho vale bf Berkeley has 
long been deservedly celebrated for its excellent ehecso. Tho 
west side of the parish fe bounded by the Severn, which has 
here a width varying from two miles to thrco- quarters of a 
milo. The parishchnrch, dedicated to St. Mary, is a very large 
and handsome structure, in the pointod style. The west 
window Is large, and very beautiftil. Near the pulpit are two* 
recumbent 'figures, which feprcsont Thdmas Lord Berkeley 
and Margaret his wife. The former Is the original of the 
character of that tiatno In Shakspearc's play of Richard the 
Second. A simple tablet in the chancel marks tho burial 
placo of Jenner. tho discoverer of vaccination, who was a 
native of this place. Adjoining tho chancel is the mau- 
soleum of tho Berkeley family, in which are several very 
curious monuments. In the church is sculptured a largo 
toad, with the heads of two children under it, the tradi- 
tion relating to which is that the toad devoured two of the 
children of one of the lords of Berkeley. The tower, Which 
is square and modern, ha* six bells, and is situated at a con- 
siderable distance froni tlie church. Tho living is a vicar- 
age, of which Lord Segrave is the patron. The gTeat tithes 
of the parish belong to the dean and chapter of Bristol. 
There is a ehapel of ease at Stone, three miles distant from 
the church; and of four chapels belonging to dissenter* two 
are in tho town and two in the tithings; Sunday schools 
are taught at the church and at the dissenting chapels j 
and there is ah endowed school for the education of 3S boys 
and girls in reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

The' fairs are on the 14th of May and the 1 st of December. 
Tuesday is the market-day ; and there are markets for cattle 
on the first Tuesday in April, and the first Tuesday in No- 
vember.' A new market-houso was erected in 18*25, the 
town-hall over which is now used as a' chapel by dissenters 
of the sect of Independents. 

Two miles and a half from the town, at Sharpnesse Point 
(a long, low, projecting rock oh the eastern bank of the 
Severn), is the entrance into the Gloucester and Berkeley 
canal. This canal is 18 feet deep, and 60 feet hi width, 
and is navigablo for vessels of 600 tons burden. This 
canal, after traversing a distanco of 16 mile? (part of iu 
course being only divided from the Sexerh by the canal- 
bank), torminates at Gloucester, whdro there is a com- 
modious basin, bonded yards, and ample warehouses; The 
money for excavating the canal wiis raised in shares, but 
that not being sufficient to Complete the work, \i loan was 
granted by government, the payment of the interest otf 
which prevents much profit being mddeby the shareholders. 
The opening of tho canal took place in 182G. Owing lb llie 
contractions of tho river at this nart, the tide rushes past 
with great rapidity, so that It requires eon*iderable skill, and 
a knowledge of the proper time of tho tide, to enable a 
pilot to conduct a ship with safety Into lhe canal. On thi 
north bank of the canal is the towing-path' : 12*. a horse ii 
paid for towing ar vessel to Gloucester. A vessel of 50 t6hs 
requires one horse, and an" additional horse h added for 
cve*y 50 tons up to 150; in vessels above 130 ton* one 
horse is added tor every 1011 tons up to 330, above which 
burden all vessels have six horses. Brides the home trade, 
the vessels are principally from the West Indies, and tVohi 
the Baltic with deals and" timber, a part of which Is gene- 
rally floated up tho canal, that the ship may draw less 
water. The trade, notwithstanding the dangerous naviga- 
tion of the Severn, has Increased very much of late, and 
contributed to the prosperity of Gloucester. In one week, 
in the uunmcr of 1834, I4fi vessels went up the* hartal to 
Gloucester, the tonnago of Which was 7900 tons. 



Customs Revenue, — 
1833. Duties inward 
1834. 



£106.751 
131,117 



In tho year 1831, tonnago 
ii 1834, „ 

Increase 

1833. Canal Receipts 
1*34. „ 

Increase 



34G.773 tons. 
39U.3G4 „ 



52,591 tons. 

£12.130 5 
13,44* G 

£\fl\\ 1$. 



Increase , £24,366 
Berkeley Castle is situated at tho south-east side of the 
town, It is not ascertained at what date this building was 
commented, but about the year 1150 it was granted by 
Henry II. to Robert Fitzhardinge, governor of Bristol 
(who was descended from the kings of Denmark), with 
power to strengthen and enlarge it, Maurice, the son of 
Robert, was tho first of the Fitxhardiriges that dwelt at 
Berkeley, of which place he assumed the name, and fortified 
tho castle, which is situated on an eminence close to the 
town, and commands an extensive view of the Severn and 
tho neighbouring country. The castle of Berkeley is a most 
perfect specimen of castellated building : it is in complete re- 
pair, and not ruinous in any part. It is an irregular pile, 
consisting of a keep and various embattled buildings, which 
surround a court of about 140 yards in circumference. The 
chief ornament of this court is the fine exterior of the baro- 
nial hall, which is a noble room in excellent preservation, and 
adjoining it is the chapel. The apartments are very nume- 
rous, but except where' modern windows have been substi- 
tuted, they aro mostly of a gloom" y character. In one of 
them is tho ebony bed and chairs used by Sir Francis Drake 
in his voyage round the world. The entrance to an outer 
court is under a iriachicollated gate-house, which is all that 
remains' of tho buildings which arc 3aid to have formerly sur 
rounded the outer court. The keep is nearly circular, having 
one square totoer and three semicircular ones. That on tho 
north, \Vhich is the highest part of the castle, was rebuilt 
in the reign of Edward II., and is called Thorpe's Tower, a 
family of that name holding their manor by the tenure of 
castle guard, it being their duty to guard this tower when 
required. In another of tlie towers of the keep Is a dungeon 
chamber, twenty-eight feet deep, without light or any 
aperture of anV kind except at tho top: in shape it resem- 
bles the letler D, and the entrance to it is through a trap 
door in the floor of the room over it; but, from being in the 
keep r which is high above the natural ground, this gloomy 
abode is quite tree from damp. The Roman method of 
filling the inner part, or medium of the walls, with fluid 
mortar, occurs in the keep of this castle. The great stair 
case leading to tho keep is composed of large stones ; and 
oh the right of it, approached by a kind of gallery, is the 
room in whicli, from its great strength and its isolated situa- 
tion, there is every reason to suppose that Edward II. was 
murdered, with circumstances of great atrocity, on the 21st 
of Septeiiiber, 1327. It is a small and gloomy apartment, 
and till within the last century was only lighted by flech£s. 
It is stated by Holinshcd that the shrieks of the king were 
heard in the town ; but from the situation of the castle and 
tho great thickness of its walls, that is quite impossible. 
After his deceaso his heart was inclosed in a silver vessel, 
and the Berkeloy family formed part of the procession which 
attended the body to Gloucester, whero it was interred in 
the cathedral. 

Tho then Lord Berkeley was acquitted of any active par- 
ticipation in the measures which caused the death of the 
king; but shortly afterwards he entertained Queen Isabella 
and her haramour Mortimer at the castle. This Lord 
Berkeley kept twelve knights to wait upon his person, each 
of whom was attehded by two servants and a page. He 
had 24 esquires, each having an under servant and a hoive. 
His 1 entlro family consisted of about 300 persons, besides 
husbandmen, who fed at his board. In this castle foynl 
visiters have been several times entertained. After its 
having been a place bf rendezvous for the rebellious barons 
in the reign of John, that king visited it in the last 
year of his reign. Henry III, was thero twice. The other 
royal visitors have been Margaret, queen of Henry VI. ; 
Henry VII, ; Queen Elizabeth, whose name one of the 
rooms still bears; Georgo IV., when Prince of Wales; nud 
his present Majesty, when Duke of Clarence. In lhe reign 
of Henry V. a law- suit was commenced between Lord 
Berkeley'and his cousin, tho heiress of the family, which 
was continued 102 years: during whith contest the plaintiffs , 
party several times laid siege to the castle. In the civil wars 
of Charles I. this castle was garrisoned on the side of the 
king, and kept all the surrdunding country in awe ; but it was 
afterwards besieged by the army of the Commonwealth, and 
surrendered after a defence of nine days. In the west 4opr 



BE R 



279 



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of the church are several bullet holes, which are supposed 
to have been made by the besieging array. On tbe north 
of the castle is a very perfect remain of the antient fosse, 
which is now quite dry, and some very fine elms and other 
trees are growing in it A terrace goes nearly round the 
castle, and to the west of it is a large bowling-green, bounded 
by a line of very old yew trees, which have grown together 
into a continuous mass, and are cut into curious shapes. 

(Smythe's Life of the Berkeley s ; Atkins's H is t. of Glou- 
cestershire; Rudge's Hist of Gloucestershire ; Fosbrooke's 
Hist, of Gloucestershire ; and Communication from a Cor- 
respondent,) 

BERKELEY, GEORGE, son of William, of Thomas- 
■town, in the county of Kilkenny, was born at Kilcrin, near 
Thomastown, on the 12th of March, 1684. He received 
his early education at Kilkenny school under Dr. Hinton, 
was admitted a pensioner of Trinity College, Dublin, at the 
age of fifteen, and having stood successfully a strict exami- 
nation, he was admitted a fellow on the 9th of June, 1707. 
In the same year he published his first work, * Arithmetica 
absque Algebra aut Euclide demonstrata/ written before 
he was twenty years of age, and chiefly remarkable as show- 
ing the early bent of bis mind and studies. His next work, 
published in 1709, was 'The Theory of Vision/ and in tbe 
following year * The Principles of Human Knowledge* ap- 
peared. The perusal of Locke's two treatises on govern- 
ment having turned the attention of Berkeley to the doctrine 
of passive obedience, he published in 17l2 a discourse in 
favour of it, being the substance of three sermons delivered 
by him in that year in the college cbapel, whieb passed 
through several editions, but did him some injury by pre- 
venting Lord Galway from giving him some preferment in 
the Church of Ireland, for which he applied. In order to 
publish his ' Dialogues between Ilylas and Philonous* he 
left Ireland in 1713 and went to London, where he was intro- 
duced to literary and fashionable society by two men very 
opposite in their political principles— Sir Richard Steele 
and Dr. Swift He wrote several papers in the 'Guardian' 
for the former, and in his house formed a friendship with 
Pope, which continued during the remainder of his life. 
Berkeley was recommended by Swift to the celebrated Earl 
of Peterborough, with whom he set out as chaplain and 
secretary, in November, 1713, on his embassy to Sicily. 
His lordship, however, left his chaplain and part of his re- 
tinue at Leghorn, and proceeded on his embassy. On his 
return to England in August, 1714, with Lord Peterborough, 
the fall of Queen Anne's ministry having shut out all hope 
of preferment through this channel, he some time after be- 
came companion to Mr. Ashe, son of Dr. St. George Ashe, 
bishop of Clogher, on a tour through Europe, which occu- 
pied more than four years. At Paris he visited Malebranche, 
and entered iuto a discussion with him on the ideal theory, 
which was eondueted with so much heat that the excite- 
ment is said to have hastened the death of the French 
philosopher. When in Sicily he compiled materials for a 
natural history of the island, but these papers, together with 
his journal, were lost during bis journey to Naples. On 
his way home be wrote his tract, * De Motu/ at Lyons ; and 
as they had proposed the subject, sent it to the Royal Society 
of Paris, and shortly after his arrival in London printed it 
in 1721. Seeing tho misery produced about this time by 
the South Sea Seheme, he published * An Essay towards 
preventing the Ruin of Great Britain.' 

He was now received into the first soeicty. Pope intro- 
duced him to Lord Burlington, by whom ho was, recom- 
mended to the Duke of Grafton, lord-lieutenant of Ireland. 
On becoming ehaplain to this nobleman he took the degrees 
of bachelor and doctor in divinity of Trinity College, Dublin. 
About tbis time his fortune was unexpectedly enlarged. 
On his first visit to London, Swift had introduced him to 
Mrs. Esther Vanhomrigh, the eelebrated Vanessa. When 
this lady discovered the marriage between Swift and Stella 
' she altered her will, and left the. 8000/., which sho in- 
tended for him, to Mr. Marshal and Dr. Berkeley, her ex- 
ecutors. Berkeley did not, however, publish her corre- 
spondence with Swift, though she left this injunction in her 
will, but committed the letters to the flames. In 17'24 
Dr. Berkeley was made dean of Derry, a place worth 1 100/., 
and he resigned his fellowship in consequence. From the 
time of his return to England he had occupied himself with 
a scheme for the conversion of the North American savages 
by means of a missionary college to be erected in the Ber- 
mudas, He published his plan in London in 1725, and 



offered to resign his preferment arid dedicate his life to this 
benevolent project on an income of 100/. a year. Having 
prevailed on three junior fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, 
to consent to accompany him on incomes amounting to 40/! 
per annum, and having obtained, by showing the political 
advantages likely to result from his scheme, a charter for 
his eollege, and a promise of 20,000/. from the minister, he 
expressed his delight in some verses, which sbow the bene- 
volence and the enthusiasm by which he was actuated. 
The verses begin, 

* The muse, disgusted at an age and clime 
Jiarren of every glorious theme.* 

He resisted the temptation of ^n English, mitre offered 
him by Queen Caroline; and though, he married in Au- 
gust, 1728, Anne, eldest daughter, of Mr., Forster,.,the 
Speaker of the Irish House t qf Commons^ he. was iiot to 
be turned from his purpose by any prospect of advantage 
from such a connexion, but sailed in the middle- of the en- 
suing month for Rhode Island with his wife, a Miss, Hand- 
cock, two gentlemen of the names, of James, andpalton,. a 
valuable library of books, and a large suniof bis own. pro- 
party. The fellows of Trinity College do not appear to. have 
accompanied him. He took up Jn's. residence a,t Newport, 
in Rhode Island, and fqr nearly two years deyptcd, himself 
indefatigably to his pastoral labours. The government, how- 
ever, disappointed him, and he. w&s compelled after sp'epdiug 
much of his fortune and. seven year? of the prime of his, life 
on forwarding his scheme at home, and in America,, to .leave 
the scene of his philanthropic epterprise and return to 
England. Before he left, liowever, he/presented i us book's 
to tbo clergy of the province, and on reaching J H on<)pn tooj; 
the whole loss upon himself .fcy, returning all. the subscrip- 
tions wbich he bad received. In February, 1 732, he preached 
before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts. The same year he published his 'Minuia 
Philosopher,' a seriea of dialogues on the model of Plato. 
Of this work Bishop Sherlock of London presented a copy 
to Queen Caroline, with whom Berkeley had many inter- 
views after his return, and by whose patronage he was 
promoted on the 17th. March, 1734, to the vacant bishopric 
of Cloyne, a see to which he was conseprat.ed by the arch- 
bishop of Cashel on the 19th May following. He repaired 
immediately to the residence at Cloyne, and to the ex- 
emplary discharge of all his episcopal duties. Hearing 
from Addison that tbeir common friend Dr. Garth on his 
death-bed attributed his infidelity to the opinions of Dr, 
Hallcy, whose mathematical education had much influenced 
Garth, the bishop was induced to write the ' Analyst,' a 
work addressed 'to an infidel mathematician, 1 which ex- 
cited a good deal of controversy. In 1735 appeared his 
Queries proposed for the good of Ireland, and next year his 

* Discourse addresed to Magistrates/ 

Having received benefit from the use of tar-water when 
ill with tho colie, he published in 1744 ' Siris/ a work on 
the virtues of tar-water, on which he said he had bestowed 
more pains than on any otber of his productions : he pub- 
lished a second editjon with emendations and additions in 
1747. During the Scotch Rebellion in 1745 he addressed 
a letter to the Roman Catholics of his diocese, and in, 1749 
another to the clergy of that persuasion in Ireland, entitled 

* A Word to the Wise,' distinguished by so much good 
sense, candour, and moderation, that he received the thanks 
of the parties wbom he addressed. "When Lord Chester- 
field, in 1745, offered him the see of Clogher, worth twice 
as mueh as the one he held; he refused it because he had 
already enough to satisfy his wishes, and beeause.he adinjred 
the beauty of the situation of Cloyne. His ' Maxims con- 
cerning .Patriotism' appeared in 1750. His last work was 
•Further Thoughts on Tar- Water,' published in 1752. In 
July this year he determined on going with his family to 
Oxford to superintend the education of his son and enjoy 
that learned retirement to which he was attached. He 
was, however, so impressed with the evils of non-residence 
that he actually petitioned the king, for leave to resigu 
his sec, but his majesty was determined he should dio a 
bishop in spile of himself and refused his application, 
giving him at tbe same time permission to reside wherever 
he pleased. His last aet before leaving Cloyne was to make 
an arrangement by whieb 200/. a year would bp distributed 
during his absenee to the poor householders of Cloyne, 
Youghal, and Aghadda. . , 

In July, 1752, he removed to Oxford, where he was 
treated with great respect. Oh Sunday evening, January 



n e r 



2S0 



BER 



14, 1753, while lying on his couch listening to one of Bishop 
Sherlock's sermons which his lady was reading to him, 
he was seized with what his physicians called a palsy of the 
heart, and expired so suddenly and quietly that it was only 
when his (laughter went to givo him a eup of tea that she 
■perceived he was quite dead. His remains were interred in 
Christ Church, Oxford, and an elegant monument was 
erected to his memory by his widow. He had three sons 
and a daughter. In person he was stout and well-made, 
his face was benignant and expressive, and his manners 
elegant, engaging, and enthusiastic. The information with 
which his mind was stored embraced not merely profes- 
sional and philosophical learning, hut trade, agriculture, 
and the common arts of life. Besides tho works already 
mentioned he wrote some smaller pieces, which appeared in 
a collection printed in Dublin in 1752 under the title of 
* Miscellanies/ 

It shows the enthusiastic character of Berkeley, that, 
when accused of fancying he had discovered a panacea in 
tar-water, he replied, that ■ to speak out, he freely owns he 
suspects tar-water is a panacea,* " 

The writings of Bcrkelcv, which contain his peculiar 
opinions, consist in an attack upon the anti-christian tenets 
which began to prevail before his time. To look upon his 
literary labours as a whole, it will be necessary to remem- 
ber, 1, the consequences of tbe court of Charles II. 2, the 
shock which had been given to all prevailing notions of 
mental philosophy by the introduction of the writings of 
Locke. 3. The new view of the power of natural philo- 
sophy consequent upon the mathematical discoveries of 
Newton. 4. The extensive remnants of the old philosophy, 
which insinuated themselves, more or less, into the newly 
cultivated branches of science. The ■ Minute Philosopher* 
is addressed to the infidel man of pleasure; the 'Analyst* 
to the infidel mathematician; the * Principles of Human 
Knowledge,* and the 'Dialogues of Hylas and Philonous* 
to the infidel metaphysician. We shall take them in order 
of publication. 

Principles of Human Knowledge — Dialogues of Hylas 
and Philonous. The prevailing notion of matter, from the 
earliest ages downwards, had been that of a substance 
possessing an existence independent of faculties capable of 
perceiving it. The atheism of several ancient sects was 
entirely based upon a notion that matter might exist 
without a God, or in conjunction with, though independently 
of, a God. The argument of Berkeley may be divided into 
two parts. In the first he attacks the common notion of 
matter by the assertion that there is no proof of its exist- 
ence anywhere but in our own perceptions ; in the second 
he asserts the impossibility of any such independent exist- 
ence. The first point is, and always M'ill be, misunderstood 
by those who do not pay the closest attention to the 
meaning of his terms. Tor instance, Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
who was frequently happy in perceiving verbal distinc- 
tions, said he refuted Berkeley's theory by stamping with 
his foot upon the ground. That is, he imagined that 
Berkeley denied the existence of the perception of solidity, 
v Inch of course was not the case. 

The existence of matter seems so bound up with our 
notions of ourselves, and so completely demonstrated by 
our senses, that the question raised by Berkeley will be 
better understood by referring to something in which there 
is the samo question in a more open form. Let the reader 
turn to tho article Attraction (v. iii. p. G9), in which it is 
asserted that Berkeley's attack on matter is the samo as 
that of a certain class of speculators on attraction. The 
connexion is as follows; the earth moves exactly as it 
would move if the snn attracted it physically (see v. iii. 
p. C8). To any one who should assert jmysical attraction (as 
there defined) it might be justly ansircred that the mere 
phenomenon only proves that the Creator wills that sort of 
effect to take place which does take placo; but whether by 
what our imperfect ideas would express by direct agency, 
or whether by subordinate agency (or by means of angels 
as in Mihon), or whether by means of a positive attracting 
quality which is made a constituent part of the essence of 
matter, as much as extension or impenetrability, and 
therefore as much beyond tho reach of further inquiry ; or 
whether by means of any intermediate physical agent, 
such as a tluid or other distinct kind of matter — cannot bo 
known. For it is little more than a verbal truism to say that 
an effect which may arise from twenty different species of 
pauses must not be positively assigned to any one of them. 



To the believer in an intelligent Creator t&nd tt is only 
to such that the negativo part of Berkeley** argument 
applies) the case may be thus put. You admit that your 
existence and your power of perceiving, as well as the per- 
ceptions by which tho second makes you know the first, are 
ultimately (whatever may he the intermediate steps) to be 
traced to the will of the Creator. You cannot figure to 
yourself the uniform nature of the perceptions which you 
receive as coining directly from the Creator, but you suppose 
a power of imparting them to be made inherentin a certain 
substratum (tins is Berkeley's vrord) which you call matter? 
But if you admit that it is in the power of the Creator to 
furnish von directly with those ideas of space, figure, 
colour, &.c. which to you constitute the material world, 
without any intervention of which you can form a positive 
conception; how do you know that he has not dono so? 
The answer must be that there is no such knowledge ; and 
this is the point on which Berkeley has never been, and it 
is not too bold an assertion to say never can be, refuted. 

The positive part of Berkeley's theory, in which he asserts 
tho impossibilitv of matter, lays him open to precisely the 
same answer wnich those may receive who actually assert 
its existence. We cannot in our limits show the several 
grounds on which he supposes ho has established his 
point. He has a notion that what he calls an idea (wo 
should say jyerceptiuu) cannot be imparted unless there be 
something resembling the idea in that which communicates. 
It is very di moult to abbreviate an argument which handles 
the nature of ideas, but tho leading notions seem to us to 
be contained in the following quotation (J forks, v. i. p. 
2G), with which we shall close this part. The reader will 
observe that axioms are assumed as doubtful at least, and 
by no means so convenient as that of the existence of 
matter; also that the first paragraph assumes the point in 
question. 

1 Some truths there arc so near and obvious to the mind 
that a man need only open his eyes to see them. Such I 
take this important one to be, to wit, that all the choir of 
heaven and furniture of the earth, in a word, all tin so 
bodies which compose the mighty frame of the world, have 
not any subsistence without a inind; that their being is to 
be perceived or known ; that consequently so long as they 
are not actually perceived by me, or do not exist in my 
mind or that of any other created spirit, they must either 
have no existence at all, or else subsist in the mind of some 
eternal spirit/ 

• There is not any other substance than spirit, or that 
which perceives.' • For an idea to exist in an unperceiving 
thing, is a manifest contradiction; for to have an idea is 
all one as to perceive; that therefore wherein colour, figure, 
and the like qualities exist, must perceive them ; hence it 
is clear there can be no unthinking substance or substratum 
of these ideas.* 

" But say you, though the ideas themselves do not exist 
without the mind.yet there may be things like them whereof 
they arc copies or jcscmblances, which things exist without 
the mind, in an unthinking substance. I answer, an idea 
ean be like nothing but an idea ; a colour or figure can be 
like nothing but another colour or figure.' 

Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher. This is a series 
of dialogues between two atheists and two Christian theists. 
The former arc of the class of • good company * philosophers 
who have disappeared with * vrit* and ' verses.* The follow- 
ing caricature of them is in the dialogues. 

1 Euphranor. Where doth he pick up all his improve 
ment ? 

1 Crito. Where our grave ancestors would never have 
looked for it, in a drawing-room, a coffee-house, a chocolate- 
house, at tho tavern, or groom-porter's. In these and the 
like fashionable places of resort, it is tho custom for polite 
persons to speak freely on all subjects, religious, moral, or 
political. So that a young gentleman who frequents them 
is in tho way of hearing many instructive lectures, seasoned 
wiih wit and raillery, and uttered with spirit. Three or four 
sentences from a man of quality, spoke with a good air, 
make more impression and convey more knowledge than a 
dozen dissertations in a dry academical way. You may 
now commonly see (what no former age ever saw) a young 
lady or a Petit Maitrc nonplus a divine or an old-fashioned 
gentleman who hath read many a Greek and Latin author, 
and spent much time in hard methodical study.* 

The Analyst, and Defence of Freethinking in Ma the 
maths, The object pf these tracts (the second of which is 



B E R 



2SI 



'BE ft 



a rejoinder to a reply to the first)' is by "pointing out the 
difficulties in the subject of fluxions, then almost ( newly in- 
vented, to show one of two things; either that mathema- 
ticians were not such masters of reasoning as to make 
their opinions on religious subjects more valuable than 
those of other people ; or else that there were, in the science 
of fluxions, incomprehensible points as difficult as those of 
religion," and yet logically established. It was a" very 
dangerous use of analogy, considered with reference to the 
interests of the cause it was meant to serve ; but it is by no 
means the only instance of an attempt to place mathema- 
tical "on a similar footing with moral difficulties. The 
points on which Berkeley insisted have sinee been cleared 
up, and the publication of the Analyst was the immediate 
cause of the work of Maclaurin on the subject. 
, The style of Berkeley is very clear, and his bold method 
of thinking and absence of all adhesion to great authorities 
'make his works, even now, valuable to the student. ' These 
same qualities make them difficult to describe, and the 
peculiar nature of the subjects which he treated has caused 
them to be misrepresented, so that their true scope is less 
understood than that of any other writings of his day. 

(See his Life prefixed to his works published in 2 vols. 
4to. in 1784, written by the Rev. Dr. Stock from particulars 
furnished by Berkeley's brother, and first published anony- 
mously in 1776; Howard's Essays and Dissertation* and 
Sir James Mackintosh's Dissertation, Enc. Brit.; Adam 
Smith's Essays on Philosophical Subjects, London, 1795.) 

BERKENHOUT, DR. JOHN, the son of a Dutch 
merchant, was born at Leeds about the year 1730. He 
was'educated partly at the grammar-school of that town, 
and partly in Germany; and he afterwards made the tour 
of Europe in company with one or more English noblemen. 
He then entered the Prussian service as a cadet, and rose 
to the rank of captain. When the war broke out between 
England and France in 1756, he quitted the Prussian and 
obtained a company in the English service. On the con- 
clusion of peace in 1760 he quitted the army, and com- 
menced the study of physie at Edinburgh. During his 
residence there he wrote a work entitled ' Clavis Anglica 
Lingua) Botanicso ; or a Botanical Lexicon, in which the 
terms of botany, particularly those which occur in the works 
of Linnams and other modern writers, are applied, derived, 
explained,, contrasted, and exemplified/ (London, 1764, 
small 8vo. not ' paged.) This is a useful little work, and 
perhaps the first of its kind published. The following 
articles are short specimens of this lexicon : — 
* ' Calycifibrsc (a calyx, and fibra, a fibre), a natural class 
in Scopolfs Mora Carniolica.' 

' ' Panduri forme folium (Pandura, a musical instru- 
ment), shaped like a Spanish guitar, oblongum, in/erne 
latius, lateribnsque coarctatum. 

' Sagittatum folium (sagitta, an arrow), a leaf shaped 
like the head of an arrow, triangulares bast excavatum, 
angulis posticis instruction, as in the Convolvulus 
arvensis t and sepium, Rumex acetosa t Erica vulgaris.* 

Berkenhout took the degree of doctor of physic at Leyden 
in 1 765, on which occasion he published his ■ Dissertatio Me- 
dica inauguralis de Podagray dedicated to his relation Baron 
de Bielfeld (4 to. pp. 28). On returning to England, Dr. Ber- 
kenhout settled at Isleworth in Middlesex ; and until his 
death, which took place in 1791, employed a great part of 
his time in writing on an immense variety of subjects. In 
1766 his ' Pharmacopoeia Medici* appeared, which reached a 
third edition in 1 782. The third edition is a small octavo 
of 1 1 7 pages ; it consists of a list of simple substances, with 
a description of their properties, followed by a table of 
doses, and a selection of prescriptions. The following list 
of synonyms to Alkali Vegetaoile (potash) may interest 
some readers. Cineres Russici, Cincres Clavellati, Pot 
ashes, Pearl ashes, Alkahest Glauberi, Marcoft, Blanch 
ashes, Cendres Gravellees, Sal Tartari, Sal Absinthii, 
Nitrum fixum, Fluxum nigrum, Cassob., Lapis infernalis. 
(3rd edition, p. 11.) 

His ' Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain 
and Ireland* came out by a volume at a time in 1769, 1770, 
and 1771. The copy at the British Museum is bound up 
with a shout treatiso entitled tho ' Naturalist's and Tra- 
veller's Companion" (I*ondon, 1772, 8vo. pp.69). It has 
no name, but is probably by the same indefatigable 
author. 

In 1 771 he published ' Dr. Cadogan's Dissertation on the 
Qout examined and refuted;* and in 1777 - Biographia 



Literana ; or a Biographical History of Literature, contain- 
ing the lives of English, Scotish, and Irish authors, from* 
the dawn of letters in these kingdoms to the present time, 
chronologically and classically arranged :' London, 1771, 
4to. pp. 537. This volume contains the authors who lived 
from the beginning of the fifth to the end of the sixteenth 
century. ', In a very long preface dated from Richmond in! 
Surrey, the author promises his readers a second, third; 
and fourth volume, but they never made their appearance. 

Dr. Berkenhout's next work was ' A Treatise on Hysterical 
Diseases, translated from the French/ In 1778 he was 
sent with eertain commissioners appointed to treat with 
America, and on his return obtained a pension in consi- 
deration of his political services, and the losses sustained 
by giving up practice for a time. 

In 1780 he published 'Lucubrations on Ways and 
Means, inscribed to Lord North/ His next work was an 
* Essay on a Bite of a Mad Dog ;' and in the following year he 
published his ' Symptomatology/ * The writer of his life 
in Chalmers's ' Biographical Dictionary/ to whom we are in- 
debted for most of these particulars, speaks of the ' Symp- 
tomatology' as of a book, * too universally known to require* 
any recommendation/ • Yet it is a book which we have 
never seen even in a quotation or a catalogue, and of which 
we suspect that it would not be very easy at present to 
procure a copy. 

In 1788 appeared Dr. Berkenhout's ' First Lines of "the 
Theory and Practice of Philosophical Chemistry/ -The 
title ' First Lines* is taken from Cullen'p- ' First Lines of the 
Practice of Physic/ as that again was probably borrowed 
from Haller's *Primao Linea) Physiologise/ The biogra- 
pher just quoted says, that the book 'exhibits a satisfactory 
display of the present state of chemistry/ In our opinion it 
hardly exhibited the state of chemistry even at the time it 
was published, but was a smart, pleasant, readable intro- 
duction to the science. The eulogy in question, however, 
was probably reprinted from a contemporary writer. 

In 1779 he published a continuation of Campbell's 
' Lives of the Admirals,' 4 vols. 8vo. His last publication, 
according to the writer of his life, was 'Letters on Edu- 
cation, to his Son at Oxford/ 1791, 2 vols. 12mo. Whether 
this is a mistake or not we will not venture to decide, but 
we think it probable. We have seen a similar work en- 
titled ■ A Volume of Letters from 'Dr. Berkenhout to his 
Son at the University/ but it is in one octavo volume (of 
374 pages), is printed in 1790, and addressed to a son at 
the University of Cambridge. Some of these letters are 
curiosities of their kind. Thus, in the tenth letter, the au- 
thor, not being surprised that his son has forgotten at the 
Charter-house all the arithmetic that he knew before his 
admission, begins to instruct him in the very elements of 
the science. In the twenty-second and twenty-third letters 
he supposes his son equally ignorant of geography, and 
after furnishing him with a few of the more prominent 
facts in this branch of knowledge, he says ' Thus, I flatter 
myself, I have fulfilled my promise in communicating, in 
the compass of two not very long letters, as much geogra- 
phical knowledge as you will ever want/ (p. 211.) This 
satisfying system of geography is contained in eighteen 
loosely printed octavo pages. 

The last 140 pages are occupied with botany, and this is 
certainly the best part of the work. In a series of imagi- 
nary herborizing excursions, Berkenhout demonstrates 
many of the plants growing about Cambridge, and he would 
appear to have been really on the spot when writing, for 
he continually uses such phrases as ' There is one now in 
the walks of Queen's College/ 'Three days ago I met 
with a specimen at the back gate of St. John's/ ' This 
Salvia verbenacea you will find in great plenty in the field- 
path opposite the horstf-bridge of Trinity College/* &e. &c. 
These were the principal works of Dr. Berkenhout, a man 
who, though certainly undeserving of the lavish panegyrics 
of his friends, left but little to be said against him by his 
enemies. He was active, energetic, and indefatigable, from 
the earliest to the latest years of his life, and though he 
has no claim to the rare praise of creating knowledge, it 
would be unjust to deny hii/i the credit due to those who 
acquire and diffuse it. 

• Dr. Berkenhout »kys he does not know where Unnwit got i &*™& 
conlum. • uniew from Pliny. **">, I think, .mention, it utha ^ame oj '* town in 
Phrygia/ Linnreu. obtained conium tfrm tbe fountain whence many 
Latin word, ofthe kind came • the G*pek A •'«'« O™*™) u found ta ** 
bcit aulhors. 



No. 240. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.} 



Vol, IV.— 2 O 



B E R 



2S2 



BER 



BERKIIAMPSTEAD. or more properly. BERKTI AM- 
STED.er. at length, BERKHAMSTED ST. PETERS, 
a market- town situated in a deep valley, on the south-west 
side of the river Bulborn and the Grand Junction Canal, 
nhiehhere run together in a line parallel to the high road: 
it U in the county of Hertford and hundred of Dacorum, 
twenty-six and a half miles N.W. from I^ondon. Tho town 
seem** to bo of Saxon origin: the name is certainly Saxon. 
Norden says that the Saxons called it Berghamstedl because 
it was seated among tho hills, Berg signifying a hill. Ham a 
town, and Stedt a seat; or we may consider it compounded 
of the words Burg, a fortiOod place, and Hum-Sttde, tho 
fortified Hamstede (homestead), to distinguish it from 
Heban Hampstede, now corrupted to Hemel Hampstede, a 
town in the neighbourhood. The addition of St. Peter's 
distinguishes this Berkhamstcd from Bcrkhamstcd St. 
Mary, otherwise Northchurch, also in this neighbourhood. 
The kings of Mcrcia had certainly a palace or castle at this 
place, and to this wo may attribute tho growth, if not the 
origin, of the town. William the Conqueror eame to Berk- 
hamsted on his way through Wallingford to London after the 
battle of Hastings, and was obliged to make some stay there, 
his further progress having been intercepted by Frederic, ab- 
bot of Su Al ban's, who caused the trees that grew by the road 
side to be eut down and thrown across the way. A grand 
meeting was afterwards held at Berkhamsted between Wil- 
liam and the nebles and prelates who belonged to tho power- 
ful confederacy which this ahbot, who was of the royal blood 
of the Saxons^ had organised with tho object either of com- 
pelling tho Norman to ride according to the antietit laws 
and customs of the. country, or else of doing their utmost 
to raise Edgar Atheling to the throne. William thought 
it prudent to take the required oath, which was adminis- 
tered by Frederic, upon' the relics of St, Alban. It is 
veil known how William neglected this oath when he was 
firmly seated on the throne. In the distribution of territory 
among his followers which then took place, the easrtle and 
manor of Berkhamsted were given to his half-hrother the 
earl of Moreton. Poraesday Book informs us that the 
property was rated at thirteen hides, and that it was 
worth twenty-lour pounds in the time of^King Edward, 
twenty pounds when bestowed on the earl, but only sixteen 
pounds at tho then present time. Among other curious 
particulars iu this acoount, it is mentioned that the land 
contained two arpends of vineyards. There were in the 
borough at this time fifty -two burgesses who paid four pounds 
a-year for toll, and had half a hide, and (wo, mills of the 
anuual rent of 20*,, The earl enlarged and strengthened 
the castle ; but in the time of his son it \vas seized by Henry 
L, and, according to most accounts, razed to the ground, 
and the town and manor reverted to the crown. Henry II. 
held his court there at one time, and granted very valuable 
privileges * to the men and merchants of tho Honour of 
Wallingford and Berkhamsted St. Peter's.* Among them 
it was ^wanted that they should havo * firm peace in all his 
land of England and Korinandy, wheresoever they shall be,' 
with the enjoyment of all the laws and customs which they 
bad in tho time of King Edward the Confessor, and King 
Henry his grandfather. Ho also granted that wheresoever 
they should go with their merchandises to buy or sell 
through all England, Normandy, Aujou, aud" Aquitaine, 
they should be Irce from all tol} and all secular customs 
and exactions, and all senile works ; and should any man 
Tex or disturb them, he rendered^ himself hable to a penalty 
often pounds. 

Robert Moreton, tho Conqueror's brother, was Earl of 
Cornwall ; and we And that the honour of Berkhamsted 
almost invariably accompanied every subsequent grant of 
that earldom. Iho castle was rebuilt in the reign of King 
John, and was afterwards besieged by ^ouis the Dauphin 
of France, who had come over \o nssist the discontented 
baron*. The besieged held out till the king sent them, 
order* to surrender. When Edward 1,11., in the 28th year 
of his roign, advanced his eldest son Edward; the Black 
Triuee to tho title and dignity of Duke of Cornwall, the 
castle and manor of Berkhamsted were given to him, * to 
bold to him, and tho heirs of him, and the eldest sons of 
tho kings of England, and the dukes of tho said place/ 
Accordingly, the property has since descended from the 
crown to the luccesnive princes of Wales, as heirs to the 
throne and dukes of Cornwall, under whom it has for the 
last three centuries been leawd'out to different persons. 

The plat* seems altogether to have declined in import- 



ance since it ceased to be even occasionally a royal rcsi , 
dencc. The castle appears to have been gradually ruined 
by neglect. Tho mansion house, now eallcd Berkhamsted 
Place, is said to have been erected out of the ruins of the 
castle, early in the seventeenth century. The greatest part 
of this mansion was destroyed by fire about 1GC1, and only 
ahout a third part was afterwards repaired, which forms the 
present residence. The castle itself was situated to tho 
east of the town, and though the buildings are now reduced 
to a few massive fragments of wall, enough remains to 
evince the antient strength and importance of the fortress. 
The works are of a circular form, approaching to tho figure 
of an ellipsis, and include about eleven acres. It was de- 
fended on the north-west side by a double and on tho 
other sides by a triplo moat; these moats are still in some 
parts wide and deep. The original entrance was at tho 
south-east angle. On the bank l>et\vecn the second aud 
third moat, from the outside, are two rude piers of masonry, 
between which the entrance prohably lay over draw-bridges 
connecting the several moats. The space inclosed by the 
inner moat is surrounded by a wnll constructed with Hints 
coarsely cemented together, within whieh stood the hahitable 
part of the castle. Strongly as this castle was fortified, it 
could not have been tenable after the invention of cannon ; 
as its site, though elevated, is commanded by still higher 
eminences on the north and north-east. 

At the parliaments holden at Westminster in tho 11th 
aud 13th or Edward III., Berkhamsted had two representa- 
tives, hut there is no reeord of such return from this place 
on any other occasions. So also its charter of incorporation, 
granted by James I., scarcely survived the reign of his son 
Charles, who is said to have had a great affection for the 

Elaco, in eonsequence of having been nursed at the manor- 
ouse with his elder brother Henry, under the care of Mrs. 
Murray, It is certain that the place was much distinguished 
by the favour of Charles, hoth before and after his aeccs* 
sion to the throne. When James I. was nbout to incorpo- 
rate the town, many of the inhabitants petitioned against 
the measuro under the apprehension that the new charter 
might impair or destroy some of the important privileges 
which they already enjoyed under autient grants. After 
the Restoration an attempt was made to revive the corpo- 
rations, but it did not succeed. The petty sessions for the 
Berkhamsted division are held in tho town, There is a 
market on Saturday, and fairs are held on Shrove-Monday 
aud Whit-Monday for cattle; 5th August for cheese; 20th 
Septeraher and 11th October, the two last being the statute 
fairs. The parish contained 484 houses in, 1531, with a 
population of 2369 persons, of whom 1287 were females. 

The town of Berkhamsted consists of two streets. The 
priucipal, called the High Street, extends about half a mile 
along the high road ; the other, which is smaller, branches 
out from the church towards the site of tfce castle, and is 
hence called Castle Street. The houses are mostly of brick, 
and irregularly built, but are interspersed villi a fair pro 
portion of handsome residences. The church, which is de- 
dicated to St. Peter, stands in the middle of the town, and 
is built in the form of a cross, with a square cmhattk-d 
tower rising from the intersection. This tower contains 
four haudsoine Gothic windows, and has at the south-east 
angle a projecting octagonal staircase. On the outside ol 
the tower, next the street, t\iere is a sculpture of an angel 
supporting a shield, on which the arms of England impale 
those of the church of St. I'aul. The nave is divided from 
the aisles by five columns and two half columns on each 
side, sustaining plain pointed nrches, over each of which is 
a poinded arched window. The western window; is large and 
ramified ; all the others are like it, in the pointed style, hut 
vary in size and description.. Various small chapels and 
chantries were founded here in Qatholie times, and are still 
partially divided from the body of the church. It contains 
a large number of sepulchral memorials, soii\e of which are 
very curious aud interesting. One of the least obtrusive is 
in memory' of the mother of Cowpcr the poet, who uas born 
at the parsonage house on the 2Gih November, N. $., 1731, 
his father, Dr. John Cowper, being then rector of the 
parish. The living, which is a rectory' i" tbe diocese of 
Lincoln, is in the gift of the erown, and its present ave- 
i;a;ro net income is 333/. The church accommodates HOtj 
persons. m 

Tho donations which have been made to this parish for 
the erection of almshouses, and otherwise for the relief of 
the poor, are so numerous, hut of so little consequence sepa- 



•fe E R 



283 



fiER 



lately, that it is sufficient to limit our notice to the establish- 
ments for education. In the 15th of Henry VIII. the inha- 
bitants of Berkhampsted agreed to appropriate the lands of 
their guild or brotherhood of St. John the Baptist (which 
had formerly supported an hospital for poor sick persons 
and lepers) to the erection and support of a free school in 
the town. Dr. Ineent; Dean of St. Paul's, London, who 
was a native of the town, and president of the guild, actively 
promoted this transaction, and added to the endowment his 
own lands in the town. Afterwards fearing that the name 
of 'brotherhood' might render the endowment insecure, ho 
procured a charter of incorporation from the king, which 
was supplied by a new charter in the following reign. Au*- 
thority having thus been obtained to erect and found 'one 
free school within the said town, of one meet man being a 
•schoolmaster, and the other meet man being an usher, 
"for the teaching of children in grammar, freely, without 
any exaction or request of money for the teaching of the 
same children not exceeding the number of 144/ the present 
school- house, a large and strong brick building near the 
church, was erected; and in the next reign the establish- 
ment was incorporated as a royal foundation. All Souls 
College is visitor under the charter of Edward VI. The 
annual value of the property is now 634/., and the salary of 
the master (appointed by the king) is 250/., and that of the 
usher 125/. ; but for a long time this rich foundation has 
been altogether inefficient. An old parishioner stated, in 
1830, to the commissioners for inquiry concerning charities, 
that he did not remember more than five free boys in the 
school at any one time during the last fifty or sixty years. 
The master and usher of this school have for a long time 
been either irregularly resident or non-resident (1835). 

A charity school was founded in 1 727 under the will of 
Thomas Bourne, who bequeathed 8000/. for the erection 
and endowment of a school, the property of which is at 
present 9300/1, in New South Sea Annuities, yielding an 
annual interest of 279/. Under this charity twenty hoys 
and ten girls are taught, clothed, and provided with books ; 
their parents also receive 1*. a week each. They are 
received at the age of six and upwards, and remain till 
fourteen. The boys are taught English, writing, arithmetic, 
and the girls English and work, with writing in the last 
Jear of their stay. The master and mistress are at liberty 
to take any number of pay scholars; the former has a 
salary of 30/. and the latter o'f 15/. There is also an allow- 
ance of 2/. 10*. to each fur firing. 

(Chaunry*s Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire ; 
Clutterbuck's History and Antiquities of the County of 
Hertford; Gough's Camden's Britannia; Braylcy's * Hert- 
fordshire* in the Beauties of England and IVales ; Twejity- 
fifth Report rf the Commissioners aj/pointed to inquire 
cojicernxng Charities, &e.) 

BERKSHIRE, or, as it is written by our older topogra- 
phers, BARKSH1RE,* an English county in the midland 
district, included within the basin of the Thames, which 
forms, in its sinuous course from the neighbourhood of 
Lechlade in Gloucestershire to below Windsor, the northern 
boundary of the county, and separates it from the counties 
of Gloucester, Oxford, and Bucks, which lie on the other side 
of the river. The county of Wilts borders Berkshire on 
the west; the line of division between them, though irre- 
gular, has a general bearing N.N.W. and S.S.E. from the 
bank of tho Thames to a few miles south of Hungerford. 
A line, running with tolerable regularity east and west, and 
coinciding in one part with the course of the river Auborne 
or Emborne, a feeder of the Kennet, and in another part with 
the. course' of the river Loddon, a feeder of the Thames, 
separates the county from Hampshire; and on the south- 
east a line running north-east and south-west separates it 
from Surrey. 

The dimensions of the county are as follows: — length, 
east and west from the border of Wiltshire between Hun- 
gerford and Lambourn to Old Windsor on the Thames, 
furty-lhrce miles, nearly; breadth, north and south from 
the bank of the Thames north ; west of Oxford to the border 

• *Tli« county »hich *c call ttarktbire wai anlienlly named by the Latin 
writer* •Mlerelicrla;" hy Die Saxons Bennoc-rcyne (Uerroe-scyTe), which 
name Amt MVm*\rn»i* derive* from llerroc. & certain wood where grewptctity 
of j 10 **. other* from an mk dUl»arfee*l (which ihe word brroke mcnnsl, at 
which, in critical times, the inhabitants used to inert to consult utxmt lheir 
attain. (Goiijth'i Cimdrn.) In Lelan-I't Itinerary (vol. H. fol. 2) it Is caller! 
Bnrkshir. The name, wltalwver be tit oricmil moaning, geems to bo incindrd 
In the appellation rfren by C«»ar (licit. Oall. v. 21) lo a tribe which LnUa- I 
bited thin county— the Bi-brooi ; for bark and broc ore in Uci the lame. 



of Hampshire, near Newbury, thirty-one miles, nearly. ' A 
line of about fifty-two miles may be drawn from the north- 
western extremity of the county to Old Windsor, but this 
line, from the irregularity of the northern boundary, will 
not lie entirely within the county. The area of the county 
i3 given at 758 square miles, equal to 485,120 acres, In the 
table appended to Anrowsmith's great map of England; 
or at 752 square miles, or 481,280 acres (or computing by 
the separate parishes, 472,270 acres); according to the popu- 
lation returns. The population tn 1831 was 145,389. 

Reading, the county town, lies thirty-eight miles in a 
straight line west by south of St. Paul's; London, or thirty- 
eight miles (measured from Hyde Park corner) by the road 
through Windsor Great Park, or thirty-nine through Maiden- 
bead. 

^ Surface, Rivers, and other natuml features*— The prin- 
cipal high land in this county consists of a range of downs 
running W. by N. or W.N.W. from the banks of the 
Thames between Reading and Wallingford, into the north* 
ern part of Wiltshire. These hills, which, with the Marl- 
horough Downs in Wiltshire and the Ghil terns of Buck- 
inghamshire, form one chalky range, rise in some parts to 
a considerable elevation. At Scutchamfly station, on the 
Cuckharasley hills, a part of this range, a short distance 
south-east of Wantage, the height is 853 feet, and the 
White Horse Hill, which forms a part of the range, and is 
near the western border of the county, is 893 feet high. It 
may be observed of the wltole chalk range of which these 
Berkshire hills form a part, that the northern or north- 
western declivity is more elevated and has a steeper slope 
than the other. This declivity is also marked by its 
bemg bare of wood and covered with a fine turf. ThesO 
diameters are preserved in that part which lies within 
Berkshire. The southern slope of the range, which de- 
scends to the vale watered by the Kennet, sinks for the 
most part gently, the chalk disappearing under reddish 
clay, sand, and gravel. The western part of the chalk 
range, which is the most elevated, is used for sheep-walks. 
These are of good quality, hut not to be compared in extent 
with those of Wiltshire or Dorsetshire. The eastern part 
of the range is sufficiently covered with soil to become 
arable. The streams which rise on the northern declivity 
flow into the Thames ; those which rise on the southern 
slope How into the Kennet, which drains tho waters of the 
south part of the county, or into a small stream which falls 
into the Thames a few miles above Reading. There are 
some hills which skirt the valley of the Thames in the 
northern part of the county, from the neighbourhood of 
Farringdon to below Oxford. These hills consist of shelly 
oolite, and calcareous and shelly sand with gritstone. 
(Green ough's Geological Map of England.) Between 
these hills and the chalk range, already described, is the 
fertile vale of White Horse, which is drained by the Ock. 
The vale of White Horse opens into the low lands which 
line the right bank of the Thames from Abingdon to a 
point a few miles at>ove Wallingford, at which point the 
vale of Aylesbury, drained by the Thame, opens into the 
valley of the Thames on the left bank, just below Dorchester. 
There is some high land (463 feet high in one part) oi\ tho 
border of the county towards Bagshot in Surrey. 

The south and east sides of Berkshire have a large propor- 
tion of woodland. Leland.in his Itinerary, Vol. ii. fol. 2, speaka 
of a • great warfeage of timbre and fier wood it the west 
ende of the (Maidenhead) bridge,* and this wood,' he adds, 
* cummith out of Barkshir, and the great woddis of tho furest 
of Windelesore and the greate Frithe.* Tho predominant 
wood is hazel, intermixed with oak, ash, beech, and aider. 
The whole of the south part of the county was once occupied 
by the forest of Windsor, which extended in one direction 
into Buckinghamshire, and in another into Surrey as far 
as Chertsey, Cobham, and even Guildford, and reached west- 
ward as far as Hungerford along the vale of the Kennet. 
The vale of the Kennet was disforested by charter in the 
year 1226; and a considerable part of Windsor Forest is 
now in a state of cultivation* an act having passed for its 
inclosure in the year 1813. A great part of Bagshot Heath 
was within the boundaries of the forest (Lysons's Magna 
Britannia.) 

The principal river of Berkshire is the Thames, whioh 
however is not, in any part, included within the county, hut 
forms, as already noi iced, its northern border. The direct 
distance between the two points where the river first touches 
the county and where it finally leaves it is about fifty tw<j 

2 O 2 



BER 



no f 
col 



BER 



miles; but from the winding course of tho stream, the dis- 
tance measured along the bank is 105 to 110 miles. The 
navigation of the stream commences soon after it touches 
the border ef Berkshire, \\z. at SU John's Bridge, near 
Lcchladc, where the river is 238 feet abovo the sea at low 
water; but the navigation, though much improved since 
tho year 1793, is still tedious and uncertain, especially for 
large" boats. The Thames produces barbel, trout, pike, and 
various ether eommon fish, besides earp and tench, sup- 
posed to be brought into it by Hoods. 

Tho Kcnnct, which rises in Wiltshire, enters the county 
near Ilungcrford, having previously served for a short dis- 
tance as a boundary between Wiltshire and Berkshire. 
From Hungerford tho stream t runs eastward (being much 
divided, and flowing in several channels: see Ordnance 
Maps, No. XII.) by Avington and Kentbury to Newbury, 
below which it receives the Lambourn, which rises in tho 
chalk hills above the town ef the same name. The Kennet 
then continues its course (being still frequently divided into 
several smaller streams which again unite) to the village of 
JUdermaston, and there bending to the north-east to Read- 
ing, falls into tho Thames a littlo below that town. That 
part of its course which ean be considered as belonging to 
this county is about thirty to thirty-two miles; the course 
of the Lambourn to its junction with tho Kennet is about 
fifteen miles. Both of these rivers produce trout, nike, bar- 
)>el, eels, crayfish, perch, chub, roach, and dace. 1 ho trouts 
of tbe Kennet arc of great size; those of tho Lambourn aro 
of a paler colour and not so much esteemed. The Kennet 
is made navigable from Newbury to the Thames, a distance, 
by the stream, of about twenty miles. In the eourse of 
this navigation there are twenty-ono locks; the highest 
point is 264 feet above tho level of the sea at low water ; 
the fall from thenco to Reading is about 134 feet. 

The Loddon rises in Hampshire, and for some distance 
separates that county from Berkshire, llowing towards the 
W.N.W. Near tho village of Swallowfield it turns to the 
N.N.E. and flows to Hurst Park, receiving by the way the 
Emme Brook. From Hurst Park it turns to the N.W. and 
flows into tho Thames between Reading and Henley. Its 
whole length is nearly thirty miles, of which about six miles 
are along tho border of Berkshire and twelve within that 
county. Above its outfall its waters divide and flow into 
the Thames by several channels. Leland, in his Itinerary \ 
observes that no crossed its different arms by four bridges. 

The Oek rises in the western part of the county, runs 
a general E.N.E. course, and receiring many tributaries by 
• the way, falls into the Thames near Abingdon. Its whole 
.course is about twenty miles.* The fish in it are pike, es- 
teemed remarkably fine, pereh, gudgeon, roach, dace, and 
e ray fish. 

The Auburn, or Embornc, rises in the south-western 
corner of the county, and llowing eastward divides it from 
Hampshire. Near Brimpton it turns to the north, and 
falls into tbe Kennet after a courso of about eighteen 
miles. Tho other streams are too small to claim particular 
notice. 

Besides the navigation of the Thames and the Kcnnct, 
Berkshire has two canals, viz. the Wilts and Berks Canal, 
and the Kennet and Avon Canal Tho former com- 
mences in the river Thames just below Abingdon, and is 
carried through the valo of White Horse past Wantage into 
Wiltshire : crossing this county near Swindon, Wootton 
B as sett, Calne, Chippenham, and Mclksham, it joins tho 
Kennet and Avon Canal not far from tho last-mentioned 
town. The height of the Thames at the commencement of 
this canal is 180 feet above the sea at low water, and tho 
canal rises in its 'courso through this county till it enters 
Wiltshire, where it attains its summit level of 345 feet, It 
supplies with fuel the district through which it passes, and 
enables the agriculturist to send his corn and other pro- 
duce to market. The Kennet and Avon Canal commences 
at Newbury, forming a continuation of tho River Kennet 
Navigation, and passes up the Vale of Konnct by Hunger- 
ford and Great Bedwin to Crofton in Wilts, near which its 
summit lovel begins. From this level it continues its eourse 
by Devizes, Scmington (a village at which it is joined by 
the Wilts and Berks Canal), Trowbridge, and Bradford to 
Bath. The elevation ef the highest point of the Kennet 
navigation is 264 feet, and tho summit level of tho Kennet 
and Avon Canal, at Crofton tunnel, is 210 feet more. A 
littlo way above Ilungcrford tho canal is carried over the 
Kennet by an aqueduct of three arches. 



♦The principal roads which pass through Berkshire are 
thoso from London to Bath and Oxford. Both these enter 
the county at Maidenhead, a little beyond wlu'eh they sepa- 
rate, the Oxford road running nearly due west to Henley, just 
beforo entering which it leaves the county, and the Bath road 
running south-west to Heading. Thero are two other roads 
from London to Reading, both of which pass through Egbam 
in Surrey, and, separating there, run nearly parallel te each 
other, until they reunito a few miles before they reach 
Reading. From this town tho Bath road passes through 
Newbury and Ilungcrford, just after which it enters Wilt- 
shire. The principal other roads are ono from Ixndon to 
Cirencester, which, branching off from the Oxford road 
near Nettlebcd in Oxfordshire, runs through Wallingford 
and Wantage : another road to Cirencester, which, branch 
ing off from the Oxford road at Dorchester (Oxfordshire), 
runs through Abingdon, and uniting with tho first-men- 
tioned road at Faringdon, crosses tho Thames at St, John's 
Bridge, near Lechladc, into Gloucestershire : one from Ox- 
ford to Kingselerc and Whitchurch (Hants), and so to 
Winchester and Southampton, which entering Berkshire 
near Wallingford, runs through it in a southern direction 
into Hampshire, without passing through any market-town 
except Wallingford: one from Oxford by Abingdon and 
Eastllsley to Newbury, from which town two branches run, 
one to Andovcr (Hants) and the other to Whitchurch 
(Hants) ; two from Oxford to Hungerford, one by Wantage, 
and one by Abingdon; one from Lambourn to Newbury, 
and one from Reading to Basingstoke in Hampshire. 

The turnpike roads in tbis county are good, as aro also 
the private roa<}s in the south-eastern part, especially about 
Reading. The private roads in the Valo of Whito Horse 
are deep and miry, and in winter almost impassable. (Ly 
sons's Magna Britannia.) 

Climate, Soil, Agriculture. — The climate of Berkshire is 
one of tho most healthy in England. The chalky hills in 
the western part of the county are remarkable for the in- 
vigorating and bracing qualities of the air. The vales being 
milder may perhaps suit delicate constitutions better, and 
having pure streams running through them, which mako 
the air circulate and purify it, they are considered as healthy 
as the hills. Fevers and epidemic diseases are very raro. 

The soil, as may be expected in a country of such extent 
and so irregular a shape, is extremely varied. The prin- 
cipal hills arc composed of chalk; the valloys of different 
sorts of loam, in which clay predominates, with gravel and 
sand upon it rising into small elevations. Along the rivers 
there are alluvial deposits. The whole county seems to lie 
over chalk or lime-stone. Windsor Castle, at one extremity, 
stands on a solitary mass of chalk surrounded by stiff clay. 
This elay, in some places, has a depth of 300 feet over the 
chalk, as was found in boring for water near Winkfield 
plain. The chalk rises to the surface near Maidonhcad 
and Marlow. The chalk, which dips so deep under Windsor 
Forest, appears again in Hampshire. The clay of the forest 
is a compact blue elay, of the samo nature as that which is 
usually called the l^ondon clay, and in which nearly the 
wholo bed of the Thames lies, from near Reading to the 
sea. T 

Over this clay lies tho'poor sand and loam impregnated 
with iron, known by the name of Bagshot heath land, which 
extends into Hampshire and Surrey; and also the richer 
alluvial soils in the valleys, and along the banks of tho 
Thames and the Kcnnct Under the valo of White Horse, 
where the richest soils occur, the chalk runs into a harder 
lime-stone of a blue colour, and a free-stone or oolite, which 
composes tho Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire. (Sco 
Mavor's Survey of Berkshire, Appendix vi.) 

In the vale of White Horse are some of the most 
fertile lands in England. The western part of the vale 
is chiefly covered with rich pastures, the soil being a good 
loam on a sound and dry subsoil. Along tho bottom of 
the White Horse hills lies the rich corn land, for which the 
vale is renowned, intermixed with gravel and sandy loams 
of an inferior quality, and some very stiff clays. This land 
is chiefly arable, and is called white land, from the admix- 
ture of finely divided calcareous earth in its composition. 
It has the appearance of an alluvial deposit, enriched by tho 
finer parts of the chalk washed down from the neighbouring 
hills. Along the Thames is a belt of rich meadows, ex- 
tending in somo places only to a very short distance from 
the river, and no where above two miles. These meadows 
have not been improved by irrigation £0 much as they 



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/ 



might be, and are chiefly fertilized by" the winter and spring 
Howls. The next district in importance, in an agricultural 
point of view, is the vale of Kennct, extending along the 
/iver of that name, and on tbe south of the hills above men- 
tioned, from Hunger ford to Reading, a distance of about 
twenty-five miles. The soil of this vale is not so generally 
fertile as tbat of White Horse,* which is called * The Vale/ 
by way of pre-eminence ; but its soil is well adapted to the 
growth of corn ; and the inferiority in natural fertility is 
compensated by superior care in the cultivation. The mar- 
kets of Newbury and Reading not only supply the less 
fertile districts and the dairy counties with corn, but like- 
wise give employment to numerous mills, whence the grain, 
in the shape of flour,, is sent in considerable quantities to 
the London market. 

«' The soil in this vale is chiefly gravelly, covered with a 
Jayer of more or less depth of loam, some of which is of a 
reddish colour, and may vie in fertility with the white land 
in the vale of Whito Horse. On the south of the Kennet 
'are some compact clays, in which oaks thrive, and where 
good crops of wheat and beans are raised with careful 
culture. South of Newbury, towards the boundary of the 
county, the soil becomes less productive; till it assumes the 
character of the brown heath, which indicates the barren 
ferruginous sand of Bagshot. Along the river Kennet, from 
Hungerford to Reading, there is a valuable tract of water- 
meadows, which in some places are capable of considerable 
improvement by a better distribution and regulation of the 
waters of the river. These meadows produce much herbage, 
which "is sometimes made into hay, and at other times depas- 
tured with sheep and cattle, but the aftermath is not found 
so good for sbeep, being apt to rot them. They are let "for 
spring feed at thirty or forty shillings per acre, the letter 
having the privilege of folding the sheep at night, which is 
an advantage equal to 10s. more. This is from Lady-day 
to old Mayj-day ; after wbich they will still produce a ton 
and a half, or two tons of hay per acre when mown, or the 
grass may be cut -green for cart-horses, which is thought 
more profitable to a certain extent. 

Under the meadows, along part of the Kennet near New- 
bury, there is a species of peat, which is extensively reduced 
to ashes by burning, and applied as a top-dressing to clover 
and artificial grasses. It lies in some places only eighteen 
inches below the surface, and in others four or five feet. 
The stratum varies in thickness from one to eight or nine 
feet. The bottom on which it rests is a gravelly loam with 
an uneven surface. The true peat is of a compact nature, 
and is composed almost entirely of vegetable matter. In 
it are found the remains of trees partly decomposed, and 
surrounded by a tongh mass of decomposed aquatic plants. 
This peut is dug out, with a long and narrow spade made 
for the purpose, in oblong pieces, which are laid to dry, 
and then placed in the form of a dome, and set on fire from 
below. As the peat begins to burn, more is added, so as 
to keep up a smothered fire; and in proportion as tbe heap 
increases, and the fire becomes more powerful, moister 
pieces are put on to prevent its breaking out. Thus a large 
mass of slowly burning peat is formed, which bums for a 
month or six weeks before the whole is properly converted 
into ashes, TlnVheap is often three or four yards high, 
and fifteen or/Cwenty yards in eireumference. As soon as 
the ashes „are eooled, the whole is riddled to separate the 
unburnVelods; and the ashes are used immediately, or 
storetT under cover till they are wanted. The quantity 
usually put on an acre of young clover is fifteen or twenty 
bushels : the price at Newbury is fourpence a bushel. 

. These ashes have been analyzed by Sir H. Davy, and 
found to contain, 

Oxide of iron . » • • • 48 

Gypstim 32 

Muriate and sulphate of potash • 20 

100 
The principal cause of their good effects on green crops 
and clover-leys is, most probably, the quantity of gypsum 
whieh they eontain. (See Gypsum.) Between the vale of 
White Horse and that of tbe Kennet extends a distriet 
of inferior land, partly consisting of ehalky hills eovered 
with shccp-walks, and of dales of moderate fertility. The 
soil is principally calcareous, with variations of elay and 
gravel. 

€ The chalky hills on the 'west side' of the Thames are 
separated from the hills in the south-east angle pf Oxford- 



shire, by a narrow opening near Gonng, through Which the 
river flows : if this opening, at any time, did not exist, the 
country above must have had considerable lakes in it, 
formed by the pent-up waters of tbe Thames and tributary 
streams. This may account for the rich alluvial soils found 
in the vale of White Horse. On the hills whieh border the 
Thames, tbere are extensive views over the rich vale of 
White Horse, and into Oxfordshire ; and, in general, the 
aspect of the country from any considerable hill is that of 
great richness and variety. No county in England, except 
Middlesex and the part of Surrey nearest to London, con- 
tains so many villas and gentlemen's residences. 

Tbe eastern part of the country, or the Windsor Forest 
district, though ,less fertile, is not less inviting as to situ- 
ation. The hills from Egham to Bray are covered with 
very fine old and young plantations, and form the pic- 
turesque scenery of Windsor Great Park. This forms a 
contrast with the open beath extending to Bagshot, which 
was divided and inclosed in the year 1813, when the forestal 
rights were abolished by act of parliament. These rights, 
if claimed to their full extent, would have been extremely 
burdensome, and not readily submitted to in these times. 
While they existed, they had a visible influence on the 
agriculture of the distriet, and greatly retarded its progress, 
in spite of the example of George III. 

The parishes contained within the Forest of Windsor were 
Old Windsor, New Windsor, Winkfield, Sunninghill, Bin- 
field, Easthampstead, Sandhurst, Finchampstead, Bark- 
bam, Wokingham, Arborfield, and Swallowfield ; and parts 
of Clewer, Bray, and Hurst The open uninelosed forest 
in all these parishes amounted to about *J4,000 acres, very 
little of which would repay the expense of cultivation; and 
much of it remains now in its original state, although 
divided and inclosed. The allotments given to the crown, 
amounting to above one-fourth of the whole, bave been 
mostly planted with trees, where they were not already in 
woods. 

The soil in the forest district is extremely various : along 
the Thames, in the parishes of Old and New Windsor, 
Clewer, and Bray, there are excellent meadows, and some 
very good arable land, consisting of loam and gravel. To 
the south, along the hills, which extend at the distance of 
two or three miles from the river, the soil is a very tena- 
cious clay, better adapted for grass than for corn. The 
cultivation of it as arable land is laborious and expensive, 
from the necessity of bringing chalk from a great distanco 
to correct its cold nature, and neutralize the large portion 
of iron and saline substances which it contains. The waters 
found in the land springs, and within a certain depth in 
this soil, are more or less impregnated with sulphates and 
muriates of soda and magnesia ; so that in many places 
mineral wells have been discovered, and occasionally much 
frequented by invalids for their purgative qualities. Of 
these there are several in Windsor Great Park, St. Leonard's 
Hill, Winkfield Plain, where a regular pump-room has 
been fitted up, and in Winkfield Park ; this last was for- 
merly in some repute. Beyond these clay hills, as we go 
south from the river, the soil becomes lighter, and gradually 
changes into a poor light loam, then a sand and gravel, 
which diminishes in fertility till it becomes the poor thin 
soil of Bagshot Heath, in which the impregnation of ear- 
bonate of iron is so strong as to deposit the iron in the 
brooks in the form of a rusty powder. 

The old inelosures in the forest were chiefly pastures. 
The arable land was confined to common fields, which 
were of very inferior value, owing to the right of pasture 
over them after a certain time of the year ; and while the 
pastures let for nearly the same rent a century ago as they 
do now, the^ arable eommon land let. for only one-fourth of 
its present value ; but the pastures enabled the occupier to 
keep sheep and cattlo on the extensive commons, on whieh 
was his ehief relianee for profit. Sinco the inclosure of the 
forest, arable land has improved, and pastures have de- 
creased in value. 

The general state of agriculturo in Berkshire is neither 
of the most improved kind, nor yet to be greatly found 
fault with. The number of rich proprietors who hold land 
to some extent in their own hands is considerable. They 
employ intelligent bailiffs, and improved modes of culti- 
vation are readily tried by them. The most perfect ma- 
chines and implements may be found on their farms, and 
everything new finds some person ready to give it a trial ; 
but there are many obstacles to tbeir general adoption. Old- 



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h k « 



methods keep a certain hold of practical men, and it is very 
fortunate that it is so, for no new met awl should be gene- 
rally adopted till long experience has proved its utihtv. 
The two extremes, of an obstinate adherence to n decidedly 
bad system, and nn incautious adoption of new inventions, 
aro equally unreasonable. The system generally adopted 
throughout the county by intelligent formers is only a 
modification of the anticnt triennial rotations. The basis 
is a clean fallow, for which turnips are substituted on the 
light soils: then two or three crops of corn, with an alterna- 
tion of clover, tares, or beans between them, which are con- 
sidered as less exhausting. The nature of the crops and 
the recurrence of the fallows depend on the nature of tho 
land, oii the seasons, and also on the cave with which the 
first fallow has been cleaned, and the crops have been 
weeded or hoed. It is the appearance of weeds that gives 
notice of the necessity of a follow. A good rotation strictly 
adhered to would be better for general adoption ; and a 
more extensive cultivation of artificial grasses would keep 
more live stock, and make more manure. In the rich soils 
of the Vale great crops of corn are frequently obtained with 
little trouble, and this always makes careless farmers. They 
know the advantage of manure, and will spare no expense 
to purchase it, but the real secret of agriculture is to make 
it at home and at the least expense, which can only be dono 
by means of live stock, and raising food for cattle. 

There are in Berkshire a great many small proprietors, 
or yeomen, who cultivate their own farms, consisting of 
forty, fifty, or eighty acres. They live frugally, and the 
times do not much affect them ; but they have no inclina- 
tion to try new schemes; tho old methods satisfy them, and 
if they can live and pay their way they are contented. 

The old implements of husbandry have been much im- 
proved of late years. The heavy Berkshire plough, drawn 
by four or five horses in a line, has given place to the lighter 
Scotch and Norfolk ploughs with two horses abreast, or in 
very wet and stiff soils with three in a line ; more are seldom 
used, except to break up grass land, or when the ploughing 
has been deferred till the ground is very hard. Improved 
agricultural instruments are manufactured at Newbury and 
at Reading. Drilling machines on the most improved prin- 
ciple, and on Cook's plan, arc made at Hook in Hampshire, 
and pretty generally dispersed through Berkshire. The intro- 
duction of these and other improved instruments has been 
much encouraged by the example of King George III. and 
the late Duke of Gloucester, whose farming establishment 
at Kapleys, near Bagshot Park, was on the most improved 
principles. Drilling the seed is becoming more general 
than it used to be ; and several professional drillmen find 
it a profitable employment of a small capital to purchase 
the most improved machines, with which they drill the seed 
for the smaller farmers, who cannot afford such expensive 
implements. The farmer finds the horses and a man to 
drive them, and sends the drill to its next destination when 
his corn is drilled. Tho price paid for the use of the drilling 
machine is from 1«. 6i. to 2*. per acre, with food for the 
drillman, who is the proprietor of the drill, or his servant. 
They drill about ten or twelve acres in a day, with two 
horses and two men. This division of labour, which is a 
certain sign of improvement, is only found in the best cul- 
tivated districts, as in Ksscx, Suffolk, and Norfolk, where 
there aro still many small farms. 

Threshing machines were common in many parts of the 
county, both fixed and moveable; but during the disturb- 
ances in 1831 many of them were destroyed, and the corn is 
now eh icily threshed by hand, there being always a super- 
abundance of agricultural labourers. 

In noticing the agriculture of Berkshire we must not pass 
over tho two farms in Windsor Great Park, established by 
King George IH., one on a poor sandy soil, conducted on 
the Norfolk system, and another on. a stiff clay, called the 
Flemish Farm, but by no moans cultivated on the Flemish 
model. Tho greatest variety of improved instruments .was 
introduced, and many experiments were made. Both 
these farms were well worth the attention Of agriculturists; 
but tho circumstance of their being supported by what was 
thought an inexhaustible purse rendered them nearly use- 
less as models for imitation. They continue to be culti- 
vated, but attract little attention. 

• Some extremely fine cattle are bred ami kept in the Home 
Park at Windsor, chielly of the improved short-horned 
breed; and the cows which graze elose to lhc ro>al resi- 
dence aro certainly worthy of the privileged pasture in 



which they range, and tho majestic trees which shelter 
them. 

The farm of his late Koyal Highness the Dnkc of Glou- 
cester, at Uaplcys, near Bag-diet Park, deserves particular 
notice. This farm originally -consisted of about thirty acres 
of poor land, forming, however, a kind of oasis in the midst 
of brown heath which surrounded it on all Sides. When the 
forest was inclosed, tho duke purchased a large tract of 
heath land adjoining to this farm and Bagshot Park. Ho 
gradually extended fits purchases to Swinley Park, of which 
he took a lease of the commissioners of woods and forests, 
and in the course of less than twenty years he converted a 
bare and barren tract of land into a productive farm, inter- 
spersed with thriving plantations. This was effected chiefly 
by employing the superabundant labour of the neighbouring 
parishes. The whole was superintended by an active nativo 
of Scotland, Mr. Burncss, the duke's bailiff, who since tho 
duke's death has been appointed bailiff to some of the Duke 
of Bedford's farms at Wohurru A threshing machine, 
moved by an artificial stream of water, on the most improved 
construction, was erected on the premises, with a mill to 
grind meal, and one to bruise bones for man ure. Mr. Loudon 
has given a description and drawing of this machine in the 
Appendix to his last edition of the Enct/clopcrdia of Agri- 
culture, and asserts it to be tho most complete in the 
kingdom. 

The size of the farms in Berkshire varies considerably 
in the chalky districts they are large—some containing a 
thousand acres; but in the richer soils they are mostly from 
one hundred to four hundred acres: In the forest district 
they arc in general of small extent. Arable land lets from 
10>., and even less, to 21. per acre; the average may be 
about 25 s. ; upland meadows from 1 /. to 2/., and along the 
rivers 2/. to 3/. ; irrigated meadows 4/. to 5/. 

Gardens.— Near Heading there are considerable garden 
grounds, the soil being deep and good, and the produce 
coming earlier to maturity than in any other part of the 
county. The onions, and especially tho asparagus of Read 
ing, are remarkably fine, and in great demand in the season. 
Orchards are not very numerous, and fewer than they were 
at one time, when cider was a more common beverage of the 
fanner. The apples which grow in the Vale, where there 
are some good orchards, are mostly sent to London. About 
Wantage are some cherry orchards, the produce of which is 
great in good years, but it is a very precarious crop. 

Woods and Coppice. — Woods and coppice are scattered 
over the county, and add to the diversity, which is a beauti 
fnl feature in its landscapes as viewed from eminences. 
Considerable quantities of timber arc annually felled, and 
during the war the finest trees were readily purchased for 
the dock-yards. The high prices then given have consider 
ubly diminished the number of old oaks, but very fine trees 
may still be found in some of the gentlemen's parks, and 
occasionally in the hedge-rows, which are still tolerably 
furnished with timber, of which elm forms a considerable 
portion. The Forest of Windsor, with the exception of tho 
neighbourhood of the parks, had but few trees on the wastes, 
and these more pietnresqne in appearance from their ago 
than valuable as timber. Some of the oldest oaks in Cran 
bourn Wood, in the parishes of AVink field and Clcwer, are 
mere hollow trunks, with a few picturesque branches. 

The coppices in general are valuable ; and where water 
carriage is near, which is the case in almost every part 
of the county, the produce is sent to London in the shape 
of hoops, broomsticks, and other rough manufactures. They 
aro usually cut every ten years, and when well managed 
produce from 10/. to 15/. per acre, at every cutting. 

Osiers. — Along the Thames, and in the low islands which 
are frequently covered with* water, there arc numerous osier 
beds, which are 'cut every year to make baskets, and are con- 
sidered as a very valuable property. 

Cattle. — There is no peculiar breed of cattle indigenous in 
Berkshire, and those generally met with are imported from 
Devonshire, H ere ford m lire, and Yorkshire. The Glamorgan- 
shire cows are in considerable repute in some districts, but the 
breeds are much mixed and rrohsed, and not always with 
the greatest attention or judgment. Aldcrney cows, which 
are annually imported, are very common for the supply of 
butter and cream in gentlemen's families. Some very good 
cows have been produced by crosses of Alderncys with 
larger breeds. Oxen are not generally used in agriculture, 
although a few teams are kept on some large farms, and 
the work of the king's Norfolk farm in Windsor Park was 



BER 



287 



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fit one time entirely done by oxen. They are still em- 
ployed in carting, rolling, and drawing timher in the park, 
where the sod being soft for their feet, they can work with- 
out being shod. Tbey are worked four at a time, and only 
five days in tbe week, and in tbis manner stand their work 
Well. 

A considerable number of horses are bred in Berkshire, 
chiefly .of the cart kind ; and many colts are brought young 
from Northamptonshire, and kept for two or three years 
with gentle work. • They are then sent to London as dray 
horses,, and in general ohtain very good prices. In this 
manner horses used in' husbandry, instead of losing in value, 
are often a source of greater profit than oxen worked two or 
tbree years, and then fatted ofT. 

No great quantity of fat cattle is sent from Berkshire to 
London. In the eastern part of the county a good many 
calves are suckled^and are found on the whole* more profit- 
able than butter or cheese, and attended with much less 
trouble ; hut the chief advantage of calves is the addition 
'which they make to the dung of the yard, when tbey have a 
liberal allowance of straw often renewed. This also con- 
stitutes the chief profit of keeping pigs. 

Pigs. — The breed of pigs in Berkshire is one of the best in 
England. They are not of a very large size, although many 
fattened at two years old weigb twenty score when killed, 
and some even more. Tbe most common weight is from 
twelve to fifteen score : the bone is small, and they fatten at 
an early age and on little food — two important qualities. 
The true Berkshire breed is black with white spots, but 
some are quite white : their snouts arc short, jowls thick, 
and their ears stand up. A mixed breed, produced by cross- 
ing the Berkshire with the Chinese and Neapolitan breeds, 
possesses improved qualities, although ratber susceptible of 
eold from being nearly without hair ; but they are superior 
to most breeds for getting rapidly fat, and keeping in ex- 
cellent condition on pasture, with very little additional food. 
G. H. Crutchley, Esq; of Sunninglull Park, has a choice 
breed of this kind ; and most of the cottagers* pigs in the 
Forest district are of a superior description. Bacon is tbe 
principal animal food of the labourers, and they are good 
judges of its qualities. 

Sheep. — Tbe Berkshire sheep called the not was a large 
polled sheep, with coarse wool, useful for the fold on cold clay 
soils, but coarse in the carcaso. It is now almost superseded 
by an improved breed produced by crosses from the old sheep 
and the Leiccsters, and by the South Down, which are now 
the favourite breeds. Some of the Cotswpld sheep, crossed 
with the Leicester, produce a large sheep, which gets very 
fat, and carries a heavy fleece of long wool : some of these 
were lately purchased to send to Belgium to improve the sheep 
in that country. Merinos were introduced by George JIL, 
who had a flock from Spain, and were at first in great request 
on account of the fineness of their wool ; but they have not 
proved a profitable stock, owing perhaps to want of proper 
management, and chiefly because they did not produce so 
good carcassesfor the butcher, which is now the chief profit 
of tbe sheep. In Saxony tho wool is the principal object; 
and so much attention has been paid to the Spanish. flocks 
transplanted into that country, that their wool exceeds the 
original Spanish wool in fineness. Before the inclosure of 
Windsor Forest there was a breed of small ragged-looking 
sheep, with a light fleece of tolerably good short wool, 
called the heath sbcep, which, when fatted at three or four 
years old, produced the fine-llavoured Bagshot mutton much 
prized by gourmands. These sheep were bred and kept in 
the wastes of tbo forest, and sent annually in large flocks 
into Buckinghamshire to be folded on the fallows. Not 
being well attended to, many of them died, and sometimes, 
in a wet spring, whole flocks were swept off by the rot; they 
cost the proprietor little, and produced in general but small 
profit: they may still he seen, although in diminished num- 
bers, on the heaths of Jgurrey and Hampshire which are 
still unincloscd. 

We cannot close this brief account of the Berksnire agri- 
culture without noticing the farm at Shalburn, called Pros- 
perous Farni* which was formerly that of the celebrated 
Jethro Tull. The soil is a stiff chalky clay, such as must 
be greatly benefited by being pulverized and stirred ; and 
from thia^ circumstance may be deduced Tull'a system of 
horee- hoeing, which at one time was thought so great a dis- 
covery in agriculture as to be named, by way of pre-emi- 
nence, the 'new husbandry.* But the erroneous theory which 
be adopted with respect to tbo food of plants, and his conse- 



quent neglect of manure and change of crops, led him and 
his disciples into great mistakes, and ultimately caused his 
ruin. (See Tull, On Horse-hoeing Husbandry.) It is 
curious that although drilling, which was first introduced 
by Tull, is practised pretty generally in the neighbourhood, 
it is not so now on Prosperous Farm. 

There are numerous fairs and markets in the county of 
Berks, some of which are very antient, and others of later 
institution. The fairs at Reading are noted, especially that 
for horses on the 25th of July, and for cheese on the 21st of 
September. Ilsley sheep fairs are some of the largest after 
tbe great fairs on the Wiltshire Downs : one is held *bn the 
26th March, hut the largest, called Lamb Fair, is on the 
2§th of August. On the market days, which are on Wed- 
nesdays, a sheep fair is held every fortnight, from Easter till 
shearing time, where large quantities of sheep are penned. 
There are fairs also at Abingdon, Newbury, and all the pro- 
vincial towns and villages, as the following list will show : — 

Abingdon, first Monday in Lent, May 6, June 20, Au. 
gust 5, September 19, Monday before Old Michaelmas, 
December 1 1 ; Arborfield, October 5 ; Aldermaston. May 6. 
July 7, October 11 ; Bracknell, April 25, August 22, Octo- 
ber 1 ; East Ilsley, March 26, Wednesday in Easter week, 
and every other Wednesday till Whit-Wednesday, August 
26, first Wednesday after September 29, Wednesday after 
October 17, November 12 ; Farringdon, February 15,*Wbit- 
Tuesday, October 29 ; Hungerford, last Wednesday in 
April, August 10 ; Lamhourn, May 12, October 2, Decem- 
ber 4; Mortimer, April 27, Nov. 6; Maidenhead, Whit- 
Wednesday, September 29, November tfb ; Newbury, Holy 
Thursday, July 5, September 4, October 14, November 8 ; 
Oakingham, April 23, June 11, October 10, November 2; 
Reading, February 2, May J, July 25, September 21; 
Thatcham, second Tuesday after Easter Week, first Tuesday 
after September 29; Wallingford,' June 24, September 29, 
December 17 ; Wantage, first Saturday in March and May, 
July 18, October 10 and 17; Windsor, Easter Tuesday, 
July 5, October 24. 

Divisions, Towns, tyc. — When the Domesday survey was 
made, Berkshire, was divided into twenty-two hundreds. 
Wallingford and Windsor were assessed separately. The 
hundreds have since been reduced to twenty, of which eleven 
retain their antient names under a somewhat modernized 
form. Wc give the antient hundreds, placing in a line with 
them the modern hundreds with which tbey for the most 
part coincide, and also the f>art of tbe county in which they 
are situated. N. north ; S. south, &c. ; C. central. 

An lien t. Modem. 

Bcncs, or Beners . . . Barnesh, or Beynburst, E. 

Blitherie (Blewhury) . . Moreton, N.E. 

Borchedeberie, orBorcbclde-1 Faircross, C. and S., and 
herie (Bueklebury) . * . J Reading, N.E. 

Bray Bray, E. 

rCharlton, S., Sonning, or 
I Sunning, E., Wargrave, E. 

Kentbury-Eagle, C. and S.W. 

1 Moreton, N.E., and Cook- 
I ham, S.E. 
Ganfield, N.W. 



Cerledono 



Cheneteberie,| united 
Eglei, J 

Eletesford, Helitesford, or 

Heslitefortf . . 
Gamesfcl 

Hflleslau Shrivcnham, N.W. 

Hornimere Hormer, N. 



Lamborne, or Lainbourn 
Mcrceham (Marcham) 

Nachededorno . 

Radinges, or Redinges 



Lamhourn, W. 
Ock,N. and N.E. 

r>mpton, C, and Faircross 
C. and S. 
Reading and Theale, N.E. 
Riplesmere . . \ , . Riplesmere and Wargrave, E. 



Roeberg 

Seriveham. or Shrivenham 

Sudtone (Sutton) . 

Tacceham (Thatcham) . 

Wanating, or Wanting 



Pah-cross, C. and S. 
Shrivcnbam, N.W. 
Ock, or Oke, N. and N.E. 
{Faircross, ' C. and S., and 
j. Reading, N.E. 
* Wantage, C 
W ;<., (Faringdon, N.W,, and Sbri- 

VVUoi \ venham, E. 

Camden gives the number of parishes in the county at 
140; Lysons pives them at 14$. . By a comparison of tho 
list contained in the population returns with the best maps, 
the number may be thus stated :— Parishes wholly in Berks, 
142; parishes partly in other counties, but which have either 
the- church or tbe principal group of houses in Berkshire, 
and may be therefore reckoned in that county, 9 ; parishes 



B E 11 



238 



BER 



partly included in Berks, but chicllv in other counties, 5 : 
total, 156. The parishes which, though ptinly in other 
counties, may be most properly reckoned in Berkshire, arc 
Sunning, I^anyfonl, and Slnlton (partly in Oxfordshire), and 
Colcshill,IIunjrcrford,IIur5t(parochialchaiK i lr>').Shalbonrn, 
Shinflcld, and Wokingham (partly in Wilts). Tho parishes 
which ratber belong to other counties arc Great Barrington 
(chicllv in Gloucestershire), St. Aldatc's (chicllv in tho city 
of Oxford), Strath ficldsay (chiefly in Hants), aucllnglcsham 
and Swallowficld (chiclly in Wilts). 

There aro twelve market- towns : Abingdon, Faringdon, 
Hungerford. East Ilsley, Lambourn, Maidenhead, New- 
bury, Reading, Wallingford, Wantage, Windsor, and 
Wokingham. .Of these. Reading and Abingdon aro tbo 
assize-towns, and the latter is tbc chief place of county 
election. 

Reading is on the Kennet, chiefly on the left bank, 
about a mile or a mile and a half before it flows into tbc 
Thames. It is a parliamentary borough, sending two 
members, and had a population in 1831 of 15,595. 
, Abingdon, on the Gloucester road, fifty-six miles from 
London, is on tho right bank of tbo Thames, just at the 
tnoutb of the Ock, and at the entrance into the Thames of 
the Wilts and Berks canal. Its population in 1831 was 5259 
It returns one member to parliament. 

Windsor, properly New Windsor, twenty- two miles from 
London by Colnbrook, on the right bank of the Thames, 
contains a nohle castle, a residence of tbc kings of England. 
It is a parliamentary borough, returning two members, and 
had in 1831 a population of 5650, including the inhabitants 
of the castle and the lower ward, or 7103 including tbc 
parish of Old Windsor.* 

Wallingford, also a parliamentary borough, returning one 
member, forty-six miles from London, had in 1 S3 1 a popula- 
tion of 2563 ;t but the limits assigned to the borough by 
tbc Boundary Act include a population of probably more 
than double that number. [Sec Abingdon, Reading, 
Wallingford, Windsor.] 

Next to the above places, the most important is Newhury, 
on tbe Batb road, seventeen miles from Reading, and fifty- 
six miles from London. It is on the river Kennet, at the 
point where the navigation of that river unites with the 
Kennet and Avon canal, and had in 1831 a population of 
5959, or including Sandleford priory, which is in the parish, 
6977. 

Great Faringdon, in the north-west part of the county, 
sixty-eight miles from London by Wallingford and Wan- 
tage, or between seventy and seventy-one by Abingdon, 
had in 1831 a population of 3U33 for the whole parish. 
Wantage, sixty miles from London by Wallingford, con- 
tained in the whole parish, in 1831, 3282 inhabitants. [See 
Faringdon, Newbury, Wantagk.] 

The remaining five towns,' Ifungcrford, East Ilsley, 
Lambourn, Maidenhead, and Wokingham being too small 
to rcquiro separate articles, may be mentioned more at 
length here. 

. Hungerford is in tbe S.W. part of the county, on the 
Bath road, eight or nine miles from Newbury, above twenty- 
five from Reading, and sixty-four or sixty-five from London. 
It is upon the river Kennet (which, however, is not navi- 
gable), and upon the Kennet and Avon Canal. Tbis town 
boro in antient times the name of Jngle/ord Charmam (or 
Charnam) Street, which Mr. Gough (in his Additions to 
Camden) thinks may be a corruption of tbc Ford of the 
Angles on Herman Street, tho antient Roman road. But 
the Messrs. Lysons douht whether the name Inglcford ap- 

flicd to more than the site of the manor of Hungcrford- 
ngleford, which is in the parish, arid observe that the name 
Hungerford, as now spelt, occurs in a record as antient as 
a.d. 1201. The name Charnam Street is still preserved 
by one of tho avenues to the town, and by one of the 
tithing* into which the parish is divided. Tho town con- 
sists chiclly of one long street, in the centre of which are 
the market-house and shamhlcs, with a room over them in 
which tbo town husincss is transacted. The church, which 
is in the western quarter of the town, was erected in 1814, 
in tbe place of an antient structure, which appeared to have 
been built at different dates. In tbo former church were 
several memorials of the antient family of the Hungcrfords. 



• OM Wtntttor oeflhrr w»i nor li tnctndcd In lhe parliamentary boroaRh. 

t Moin th* ' Abtlract of t)t« Aniwrr* and Return*' under the Population 
Art «f 1831. In lbs 'Accounti and Tapcri* for thit teuton of 1'iulUmenl 
U'aiL t**f*ri for 1831, *oL at lit) tl U gi%ea »1 £<G7 



Tho living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the dean and 
chapter of Windsor, and in the peculiar jurisdiction of tbe 
dean of Salisbury; tho net income or tho vicarage is 
stated at A'lOL in the ICccUsiastical Revenues' Rejx>rt t 
1835. Near the church is the free grammar-school. 
The Kennet is here divided into two streams, one of which 
passes through the town, the other close by it on the north 
side. The latter is crossed by a bridgo at tbc entrance of 
the town from Newbury. There appears to bo no manufac- 
ture in Hungerford of any importanco. The market, which 
is on Wednesday, has been held from timo immemorial, 
and is mentioned as an established market a.d. 1297. 
There are three fairs. The population of the whole parish, 
which contains 4450 acres, and extends into Wiltshire, was, 
in 1831, 2715; but a considerable portion of tbis must be 
rural population. The town is governed by a constablo 
chosen annually by the inhabitants: tbo other municipal 
officers aro bailiff, steward, town -clerk, twelve feoffees and 
burgesses, &c. Hungerford was tho birth-place of Dr. 
Samuel Chandler, an eminent dissenting minister of tho 
last century. There was formerly an hospital of St John 
tbe Baptist in this town, but its site is not known. 

East Ilsley (antient ly Huldcslcy or Hildcslcy) lies be- 
tween Newbury and Abingdon, nine or ten miles from the 
former, and eleven from the latter. It is fifty-four miles 
from London through Reading. It is situated amidst the 
downs formed by that range of chalk hills which has been 
described above as crossing the county : on these downs a 
great number of sbeep are fed. Although East Ilsley is 
a very small place, of not more than 738 inhabitants (in 
1831), its sheep-market, which commences on the Wed- 
nesday in Easter week, and is beld every alternate Wed- 
nesday till Whitsuntide, is supposed to be one of the largest 
in England next to that of the metropolis. The sheep 
are purchased by the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire 
farmers, and fattened for the London market. There 
is a market on Wednesday throughout the year, but the 
great sheep-market is for a limited season, as mentioned 
above: there are also two fairs. The living is a rectory 
in the deanery of Newbury, of the net annual value, 
according to the Ecclesiastical Revenues* Report (1835), 
of 645/. 

Lambourn, or Chipping Lambourn, is situated upon the 
little river of that name, which falls into the Kennet at 
Newbury. Lambourn is near the edge of the downs men- 
tioned in the account of East Ilsley, eleven miles from that 
town, and sixty-five from London. In the markct-ploco is 
a tall plain pillar, with an ornamented capital, on an ascent 
of steps. Tbc church is a handsome Gothic structure in 
the form of a cross, having two chantry chapels on tho south 
side : and near the churchyard is an hospital for ten poor 
men, founded by some of the family of Isbury or Estbury. 
The living is a vicarage in tbe gift of the dean and chapter 
of St. Paul's, London, of the average net income of 104/ 
The market is of very antient date, but has much declined 
of late years : it is held on Fridays. There are three fairs. 
The parish is. very extensive, containing nearly 15,000 
acres: it is divided into one township (that of Chipping 
Lambourn) and three ti things. The population of tho 
township of Chipping Lambourn in 1831 was 1166: that of 
the wbolc parish 2386. At Upper Lambourn, an adjacent 
hamlet, was formerly a free chapel, now destroyed. 

Maidenhead is a small but neat town, a little way from 
the Thames on the Bath road, twenty-six miles from Lon- 
don. The town was formerly called South Ealington, and 
the name Maidenhead was said to have been given to it 
from the veneration paid to tho head.of one of the eleven 
thousand British virgins who, according to an antient hut 
fabulous legend, were martyred4>y Attila king of the Huns: 
but as in the most antient records it is written Maidcnhitho 
or Maydenchy the *, it is more likely that the name was first 
given to the spot where Maidenhead bridge now crosses the 
Thames, where was formerly a great wharfage of timber 
and firewood. There, has been a bridge at this spot from 
an early date, certainly from the thirteenth century, and 
the e reel ion of it divcricd the course of tho great western 
road, which appears before that time to havo crossed the 
river about two miles higher at Babham Ferry, near Cook- 
ham. From this change of the road the town of Maiden 
head took its rise, and it soon outstripped Bray, which may 

• 1 tithe b a word of Saxon orlftn (bach, a ditch or lrencV), and li iatd lc 
jlrnlfy* ■ra.lljwt orqwy; thai we hare Umb-hithe or LambeHuQueca- 
Lithe, II) the on tin Kent coatl, &e, * 



BER 



2S9 



BER 



be considered its mother-town, and in which parish it 
partly stands. 

Maidenhead consists of one long paved street. It has a 
thapel, erected of late years on the site of a former one 
taken down as being too small. The bridge consists of 
seven semicircular arebes of stone, and three smaller arches 
of brick at each end. There is an almshouse between ihc 
bridge and the town for eight poor men and their wives. 
The chief trade of the place is in meal, malt, and timber; 
and it is a great thoroughfare* in consequence of which 
there are several funs. The market is on Wednesday, and 
is a considerable mart for corn. There are three fairs. 
Maidenhead has a corporation, consisting of a mayor, high 
steward, steward or recorder, and eleven burgesses, two of 
whom are annually chosen bridge-masters. .The mayor, 
high steward, steward, and tbe mayor of the preceding year 
are justices of the peace ; and the mayor presides in a court 
for the recovery of small debts, which is held every three 
Weeks. The corporation have the power of making bye- 
laws, and there is a jail for debtors arid felons. The cor- 
poration revenues consist chieily of the tolls of the markets 
and the bridge. The town is in the parishes of Cookbam 
and Bray ; the chapel is in the former. The minister is 
appointed by the mayor and bridge-masters, and is said to 
be exempt from episcopal jurisdiction. The population, 
owing to tho town not forming a distinct parish, cannot be 
given. It is probably About 1500, There are a National 
school and a Sunday school, and three dissenting places of 
worship. 

Wokingham, or Oakingham, is within the precincts of 
Windsor Forest, and on one of the roads from London to 
Reading, tbirty-one miles and a half from London, and seven 
from Reading. That part of tho parish in which tlvo town 
stands is in Berkshire, the other part of the parish, together 
with the church, is in an insulated portionof Wiltshire. * The 
town consists of several streets, which meet in a spacious 
area, containing the ' market-house, an antient building 
framed with timber, open at the bottom, and having abo\e a 
room for the transaction of public business. The church is 
large and handsome ; the houses in the town arc ch icily of 
brick. In Camden's time -the woollen manufacture was 
Carried on here, but now the malting^ and meal trades, 
throwing silk, and making shoes and gauze, furnish the 
chief occupations of the inhabitants. The market is held 
on Tuesday, and is well supplied with poultry, which the 
higglers purchase for the London market. There are- three 
antient fairs, now inconsiderable; two additional ones were 
attempted to be established al^out 1 780, but did not succeed; 
one of them, at Lady Day, has been given up, the other, 
held near Michaelmas, is still kept up. The population in 
1831 was 1628 for the town division of the parish, or 3139 
for the whole parish, which contains 8460 acres. The living 
is" a perpetual curacy, u peculiar in the jurisdiction of the 
dean. of Salisbury, who is impropriator of the great rfnd 
small tithes, and patron of the benefice, the income of which 
is stated at 126/. in the Ecclesiastical Revenues* Report, 
•1835. There are in the parish eight alms'- houses, with a 
small endowment; an hospital at Luckley Green for a 
chaplain and sixteen poor men; and an endowed school 
for bay* and girls;, also a Sunday school, and two dis- 
senting places of worship. The town is governed by a cor- 
poration, consisting of an alderman and eleven capital bur- 
gesses. Dr. Thomas Goodwin, Bishop of Bath and Wells in 
the time of Elizabeth, was born here in 1517, and died 
here in 1590. 

Besides the twelve existing market towns already noticed, 
there are several places in Berkshire which formerly had 
markets, A list of them is subjoined, with the, population 
of their several parishes in 1831, and such other particulars 
as seem to require notice : — 

Bjlking, a hamlet of Uffington, three or four miles south- 
east of Faringdon ; population, 185. 

Bisilden, on the Thames, about midway between Reading 
and Wallingford ; population, 780. 

Catmcre, about Mbur miles west of East Ilsley; popula- 
tion, 83. 

Cookham, on the Thames, a little to the north of Maiden- 
head, part of which is iu the parish ; has btill two fairs. ; 
population, 3337. 

East Hendied, about four miles east of Wantage. This 
place was formerly one of the seats of the cloth manufacture. 
The stewardship of one of the manors in this parish is a no- 
minal oflico in the gift of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 



and is one of the places given for the purpose of vacating a 
seat in the Hou^e of Commons. There is at East Hcndred 
an antient. chapel, supposed to have been .erected by the 
monks of Sheen, to whom the manor just referred to he- 
longed ; this chapel now forms two tenements ; popula- 
tion, 8G5. n , | . \ 
> Hin ton, about six miles north-east of Faringdon, a little 
to the north of the road from that town to Abingdon ; it, is 
near the Thames ; population, 318. . - K 
„. Kentbury, or Kintbury, antiently C bene teberie and Ken- 
netbury, about three miles south-east of Hungerford, on the 
banks of the Kennet ; it giv«s name, to. the hundred of 
Kentbury-Eagle; population, 1781- ,- ' n* n 

Shrivenham, five miles south-west of Faringdon, gives 
name to the hundred; population, 2113. 

Speen, about one mile north-west of Newbury. Speen- 
hamland, a tithing of this parish, forms a sort of suburb of 
Newbury. It was a Roman station, Spinas, and one of the 
principal scenes of action in the second battle of Newbury, 
fought in October, 1644, between, the troops of Charles I. 
and those of the parliament; population, 3044. 

Stanford-in- the- Vale, in tho Vale of White Horse, about 
midway between Wantage and Faringdon, has a hand- 
some Gothic church; population, 101S. ; , 

Thatcham, on the road from London to Bath, three miles 
east of Newbury. Its market was first held on Sunday, but 
changed by Henry III. to Thursday. There is, a wcil-en- 
dowed free-school here. The parish, which is the largest in 
the county except Lambourn, contains 12,960 acres; popu- 
lation, 3912. j % r-/j / . 

Wargrave, a little to the right of the road from Maiden- 
head to Readiug, about midway between them. There- is 
an endowment for educating poor children. Wargrave gives 
name to a hundred ; population, 1423.* 

WesfWoodhay, on the borders of Hampshire, about 
seven miles south-west of Newbury, and. about six south- 
east of Hungerford ; population, 127. 

Yattendon, about eight- miles north-east of Newbury ; 
population, 241. > ' * 

."Two other localities of this county deserve notice. Bray, 
which gives name to a hundred, and in the parish of which 
the town of Maidenhead partly stands, is celebrated for the 
versatility of principle manifested by one of its incumbents, 
whence * the Vicar of. Bray' has becomo a* proverbial ex- 
pression for a man who can shift his principles with the 
times. The well-known song of * the Vicar of Bray ' repre- 
sents this personage as living in the time of Charles II, 
and his successors, down to George I. ; but Fuller, in his 
4 Worthies of England," gives the following account :— * The 
vivacious vicar heteof living under King Henry VIII., King 
Edward VI., Queen Mar)', and Queen Elizabeth, was first 
a Papist, then a Protestant, then a Papist, then a Protestant 
again. lie had seen some martyrs'burnt (two miles'oll') at 
Windsor, and found this fire too hot for his tender temper. 
This vicar being taxed by one for being a turn-coat, and an 
unconstant changeling, "Not so," said he, " for I always 
kept my principle, which is, to livo and die tho viear of 
Bray." Such many, now-a-dayes, who, though they cannot 
turn the wind, will turn their mills, and set them so, that 
wheresoever it bloweth, their grist shall certainly be grinded.* 
(Vol. i. p. 79, Nichols's edit. 1811.) 

Cumuer, or Cumnor, is about three miles nearly west of 
Oxford. The manor belonged to the abbots of Abingdon, 
who had a house here for retirement in case of the plague, 
sickness, &c, prevailing at Abingdon. After the Reforma- 
tion this house was granted to the last abbot for life, and on 
his death came into possession of Anthony Forster, whose 
epitaph in Cumnor church "speaks highly of him as being 
amiable and accomplished. But in Ashmole's • Antiqui- 
ties of Berkshire* (vol.* i. p. 149, seq.), he is represented as 
■one of the parties to the murder of the unhappy Countess of 
Leicester, who was secretly despatched while staying at 
Cumnor by the order of her husband*, who was then aspiring 
to the hand of Queen Elizabeth. Sir Walter Scott's novel 
of 'Kenilworth* has given currency to the dreadful history, 
■which is circumstantially related by Ashmole. Part of tho 
mansion is fitted up as a farm -house, and the shell of tho 
remainder is nearly entire, It adjoins the churchyard, and 
the traditionary name of the Dudley chamber points out the 
room in which it is supposed the murder was committed. 
(Lysons's Magna Britannia; Beauties of England and 
Wales, &c.) 

Divisions for Ecclesiastical and Legal Purposes.— Tho 



No. 241. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.- 2 P 



n e r 



200 



BER 



number of parishes in Berkshire has been given above. The | 
number of vicarages is considerable ; in Lysons's Magna 
Britannia, where the parishes are given at US, tho number 
of vicarages is piven at 67. The county is wholly in the 
diocese of Salisbury, and in tho ecclesiastical province of 
Canterbury, and forms an archdeaconry by itself; tho arch- 
deacon takes his title from the eounty. It is divided into 
four rural deaneries— Abingdon, Newbury, Reading, and 
Wallinftford. 

Berkshire is in the Oxford circuit : Reading and Abing- 
don are the assize towns. The l^cnt, or Spring assizes are 
held at Reading, the Summer assizes at Abingdon. Tho 
quarter sessions for the county are hehl as follows: Epi- 
phany at Reading, Easter at Newbury, Hilary at Abingdon, 
and Michaelmas either at Abingdon or Reading, as the ma- 
gistrates shall determine. 

Nine members are returned to parliament from Berkshire 
—three for tbo eounty itself, two each for Reading and 
New Windsor, and one each for Abingdon and Wallingford. 
The only change in the number of members made by the 
Reform Bill, was to reduce the members for Wallingford 
from two to one, for Abingdon previously returned only one. 
The county members are nominated at Abingdon, and the 
poll for the eountv is taken at Reading, Abingdon, New- 
bury, Wantage, Wokingham, Maidenhead, Great Faring- 
don, and East llsley. Abingdon was tho place where the 
poll was taken in ease of a contest before the Reform 
Bill. 

Civil History and Antiquities. — The Atrebates or Atre- 
batii are considered to have been the tribe inhabiting this 
district; their name points them out as a colony of the 
Atrebates (people ofArtois) in Gaul, who were, as Crosar 
informs us, Belgse, and of Germanic origin. (De Bell. Gall. 
ii. 4.) Mr. Whitaker, and some other modern antiquaries, 
consider that the Bibroei inhabited the hundred of Bray, 
and the Segontiaci a small part of the county bordering on 
Hampshire. The Bibroei and Segontiaci, and perhaps the 
Atrebates (for some consider these to be the peoplo men- 
tioned by Ciesar under the name of Ancalites), submitted 
to Crosar when he crossed the Thames in pursuit of Cassi- 
velaunus, and advanced into the heart of the country. In 
the division made hy the Romans of that part of the island 
which they reduced to subjection, Berkshire appears to have 
been included in Britannia prima. 

Of this remote period Berkshire retains some memorials 
in the traces of ancient roads and other antiquities. The 
roads or parts of roads run in different directions. The most 
marked is a part of that which led from Glevum (Gloucester) 
to Londinium (London). It enters Berkshire from Wilt- 
shire, not far from Lambourn, and runs S.E. to Spinrc 
(Speen), where it appears to have met another Roman road 
from Aquco Solis (Bath) to Londinium (London). From 
Spinas its couiseto Londinium does not appear to havo been 
ascertained, though some traces of it appeared a few years 
since on Bagshot Heath, where it was vulgarly called*' the 
Devil's Highway.* Tho traees of other Roman roads are 
not of any great extent or importance. The Ikeiiing Street 
Cof British origin) passed through Berkshire, but its course 
is disputed. Somo consider ' tho Rid go Way,' which runs 
along the edgo of the ehalk range over East aiid West llsley 
Downs, Cuckhamsley Hills. &e., to he the true Ikening 
Street; while others contend for a lino of road under the 
aame range through or uear Blewbury, Wantage, Spars- 
holt, Sec. To the west of Wantage, wlicro this last lino is 
most clearly to be traced, it is called Ickleton Way. ( Lysons's 
Magna Britannia; Wise's Account of some Antiquities in 
Berkshire) 

The only Roman station in the county, the site of which 
has been satisfactorily settled, is Spinro. The name and 
the di&tances agree in identifying it with Speen, a village 
near Newbury. Yet it is remarkable that uo Roman re- 
mains appear to have been discovered here— none ut least 
Miflicient to show the existence of such a station. Bibracte, 
mentioned in tho twelfth Her of Richard of Cirencester, is 
fixed by Whitaker at Bray; though tho distance between 
londinium and Bibracte differs so much from that between 
Ixmdon and Bray as to occasion great difficult;-. Pontes, 
another Roman station, has been fixed by II orate v (Bri- 
tannia llomanu) near Old Windsor, but others prefer Stuines 
in Middlesex. Callcva or Caleva was thought hy Camden 
to havo been Wallingford ; but though the remains of 
Roman antiquity found there point out Wallingford as the 
•ito of ru important Roman a tat ion, yet the situation as- 



signed to Calleva in tho Itinerary of Antoninus cannot be 
mado to agreo with Wallingford, tho Roman name of which 
is therefore unknown to us. Calleva has also been fixed by 
conjecture at Coley Manor, near Reading, but Silchestcr in 
Hampshire, just on the border of this county, is moro gene- 
rally preferred. 

The vallum, which appears to have surrounded the town 
of Wallingford, was unquestionably a Roman work; at the 
south-west angle it is very entire for tho space of about 270 
paces on tho south side and 370 on the west. This \alluni 
is single, and appears to have had a wet ditch, which ren 
dered it very secure. 

Thero are remains of eamps in several parts of the 
county, supposed to have been occupied by tho Romans, 
though somo of them are probably of British origin. U fling- 
tan Castle, an oval earth work on tho summit of Whito 
Horse Hill, 700 feet in diameter from east to west, and 600 
feet from north to south, is one of these. It is surrounded 
by a double vallum, or embankment* tho inner one high, 
and commanding an extensive view in every direction, the 
outer one slighter. Leteome or Sagbury Castle, on J,ct- 
eome Downs, north-east of Lambourn, is almost circular, 
has a double vallum, and encloses an area of nearly twenty- 
six acres, but whether this is independent of the space oc- 
cupied by the entrenchments and ditches does not appear. 
Another camp or earth-work, ealled Hard well Cainp, is 
about half a mile north-west ofUffington Castle; it is an 
entrenchment of square form, where not broken by the 
steep edge of tho hill, surrounded by a double vallum, and 
in size about 140 paces by 180. Near Little Coxwell, in the 
neighbourhood of Farm gd on, are the remains of a square 
camp; and at the other extremity of the eounty there is a 
strong entrenchment, of irregular form, on Bagshot Heath, 
near Easthampstead, 560 paces in length, and 280 in breadth 
near the middle : it is supposed to be a Roman work, and 
is commonly ealled ' Crcsar's Camp/ Remains of works 
British or Roman are also found near the road from Abing- 
don to Faringdon, five or six miles from the latter (Cher- 
bury Camp), and on Sinodun Hill, near Witteuham, on the 
Thames. There are circular eamps near Ashdown l'ark, a 
little way from Lambourn (Ashbury Camp or Alfred's 
Castle), and on Badbury Hill, not far from Faringdon ; but 
of the probable origin of the former we have no information 
— perhaps it was Danish, as also the latter is supposed 
to be. 

Many barrows are found, especially ono on the chalk 
hills IN. of Lambourn, eovercd irregularly with large 
stones; three of the stones have a fourth laid on thein in 
the manner of the British cromlechs. Mr. Wise inclines 
to think this is a Danish monument, while Messrs. Lysons 
would assign to it a British origin. By the country people 




[WayUnd Smilh'i Cavc.j 

it is called ' Wayland Smith ;' and they have a traditipn 
of an invisible smith residing here, who would shoe a tra- 



BER 



291 



BER 



vellers horse if it was left here for a short time with a 
piece of money hy way of payment. Whether what is 
called tho" Dragon Hill, just under the White Horse, 
is a natural or an artificial mound, is a matter of doubt. A 
number of barrows clustered together on Lambourn Downs 
go by the name of * the -Seven Barrows,' but they are more 
numerous than the name implies. A curious stone, called 
'the blowing stone/ is situate at Kingston Lisle, five miles 
due north of Lambourn. At the bach of this stone grows an 
old elm tree : the stone itself is a species of red sandstone. 
It is about three feet high, three feet six inches broad, and 
two feet thick, but it is rough and of rather irregular surface. 
It has several holes in it of various 'sizes. There are seven 
holes in the front, three at the top, a large irregular broken 
hollow at the north end (for it stands north and south), 
and one if not more holes at the back. If a person blows 
in at any one of three of the holes, an extremely loud 
noise is produced, something between a note upon a French 
horn and the bellowing of a ealf, and this can be heard in 
a favourable state of weather at Faringdon Clump, a dis- 
tance of about six miles ; and a person standing at about a 
yard distant from either end of the stone while it is blown 
into will distinctly feel the ground shake. The holes in the 
stone are of various sizes, but those which if blown into 
produce the sound easily admit a person's finger. The 
hole most commonly used to produce the sound is at the top 
of the stone ; and if a small stick, eighteen inches long, be 
pushed in at this hole it will come out at a hole at the 
back of the stone, about a foot below the top, and almost 
immediately below the hole blown into. It is evident that 
this is the place at which the air finds its exit, as after the 
stone has been blewn into at the top for a considerable time 
this hole becomes wet. There seems, however, no doubt 
that there are chambers in the stone, as the irregular broken 
hollow at the north end of it has evidently formed a part of 
another place, at which a similar sound might onee have 
been produced. In the neighbourhood there exists a tradi- 
tion that this stone was used for the purpose of giving an 
alarm on the approach of an enemy. 

We believe that thero is no account of this very singular 
stone either in Lysonss Magna Britannia, or any other 
publication. It is marked in the Ordnance Map. 

When the Saxons became possessed of South Britain, 
Berkshire was included in the kingdom of the West Saxons. 
It was partly wrested from them by the powerful and ambi- 
tious Offa, king of the Mercians. At what time it returned 
under the sway of the West Saxon kings we are not aware ; 
probably it was when Egbert elevated Wessex to a perma- 
nent superiority over the other parts of tho Saxon Octarchy. 
It formed part of Wessex under the reign of Ethclwulph 
(son of Egbert), whose youngest son, the great Alfred, was 
born at Wantage in this county. In the reign of Ethelred I., 
the brother and immediate predecessor of Alfred, the Danes 
invaded Berkshire, and possessed themselves of Reading. 
Here they were attacked by the West Saxons ; in the first 
engagement the Danes were defeated, but in the second 
they repulsed their assailants. Four days afterwards at 
vEscesdun, i,e. Ash-tree-hill, a more important battle was 
fought, in which both Ethelred and Alfred were present, 
and in which the Danes were defeated with great slaughter. 
The site of this ,/Eseesdun has been much disputed. _ Wise, 
in his Letter to Dr. Mead concerning some Antiquities in 
Berks hi re, contends for the ridge of theehalk hills extending 
from Wantage into Wiltshire, and thinks that tho White 
Hor>e, cut on tho hill, is a memorial of the victory. Aston, 
a village near Wallingford, and Ashampstead, a village 
about equally distant from Wallingford, Newbury, and 
Heading, have each their partizans. Mr. Turner (History 
of the Anglo-Saxon s) inclines to tho opinion that Mcran- 
tune (whero shortly afterwards the Saxons sustained a 
severe defeat, in which Ethelred was mortally wounded) 
was Moreton, near Waliingford. 

As the White Horse has been connected by Mr. Wise 
with the above-mentioned battle of VEsccsdun, and as it is a 
work cither of Saxon original, or of still higher antiquity, it 
stonm not out of place to give a brief account of it here. 
Tho White Horse is the figure of a horse cut in the turf on 
the north-west face of the range of chalk downs which cross 
this county at a part where the declivity is,at once lofty and 
steep. Mr. Wise is in raptures with the skill displayed in 
tho work, and in the admirable choice of a situation where 
it is littlo exposed to injury or decay. More sober judges, 
however, describo it as a rude figure, about 374 feet in 



length. When the afternoon sun shines upon it, it may be 
seen at a considerable distance — ten, twelve, or even fifteen 
miles ; and from its immense size forms a remarkable object. 
It has given name to the hill on which it is carved and to 
the vale above which that hill rises. The inhabitants of the 
neighbourhood have an antient custom of assembling ( to 
scour the horse, 1 i. e. to clear away the turf where it has 
encroached upon it. On such occasions a rural festival is 
held, and they are regaled by the lord of the manor ; but it 
does not appear that they have observed this custom since 
17S0. Nearly above the White Horse, on the summit of the 
hill, is* the antient camp or earthwork called Uffington 
Castle'; and in its vicinity are the antiquities — Hardwell 
Camp, Alfred's Castle, Dragon Hill, the Seven Barrows, 
and Wayland Smith, already described. Mr. Wise thought 
that Waylarrd Sihith was the monument of a Danish King 
slain in the Battle of iEscesduir. 

Messrs. Lysons havo given somo weighty reasons, urged 
by Dr. Beke, professor of modern history in the university 
of Oxford, for identifying the Ethandane of the Saxon 
Chronicle, where King Alfred gained the victory that re- 
stored hirn to his throne, with Eddington, near Hungerford 
in this county; this is contrary to the general opinion whicli 
has supposed Efhandane to be Eddington, near T/estbury 
in Wilts. 

In the war with the Danes during the reign of Ethelred 
II., Berkshire was laid waste with tire and sword. The 
barbarous invaders burnt Reading, Wallingfortl, and other 
places. This was in 1006. At the time of the Norman 
invasion, William the Conqueror received at Wallingford 
the submission of the archbishop Stigafid and of the prin- 
cipal barons, before he marched to London ; and shortly 
afterwards a strong castle was built at Wallingford by 
Robert D'Oyley, one of the followers of the conqueror. 

In the civil war consequent upon the usurpation of Ste- 
phen, Berkshire was again the seat of war. Brian Fitz- 
court, who had eome by marriage into possession of Wal- 
lingford Castle, early took the side of the Empress Maud ; 
and his eastle afforded her a secure retreat when she lied 
from Oxford. Faringdon Castle, which was erected by 
Robert earl of Gloucester, natural brother of the Empress, 
was taken by Stephen, and so completely demolished, that, 
not a vestige now remains. When John rebelled against 
his brother, Richard I., he seized Wallingford and Windsor 
Castles, but they were taken from him again by the barons 
ii> the king's interest, and placed in the hands of the queen 
dowager. The strength of these two fortresses rendered 
them important as military stations, in the troubles which 
took place during the latter part of the reign of John, and 
during tho reign of Henry III. In 1263 Windsor Castle 
was taken by Simon de Montfort. During this early part 
of our history, the palace at Old Windsor, or the castle at. 
New Windsor, was tho frequent residence of the king.' 

Of the castles of this period thero are few remains except 
at Windsor. Tho antient eastle there, still the abodo of 
royalty, will be described under the article Windsor. Of 
Wallingford Castle, the ditches and earthworks, which are 
of great extent, and a fragment of a wall, are the only re- 
mains. Donning ton Castle, near Newbury, is said to hnvo 
been founded in or near the time of Richard II. It has 
been asserted, that Chaucer the poet was possessor and in- 
habitant of this place, but the assertion is not borne out by 
evidence. Camden, who calls its Dennington or Dunning- 
ton, describes it as a small but elegant castle, on the top of 
a woody hill, commanding a pleasant prospect, and lighted 
by windows on every side. It suffered so much, howover, 
during the civil war, that only a gateway with two towers 
is remaining now. Tho very sites of the castles at Read- 
ing, Newbury, Faringdon, and Brightwell near Walling- 
ford, are unknown. Aid worth Castle, about five miles 
south-east of East Ilsley, has scarcely a vestige left: some 
foundations of walls built with flints havo been lately 
dug up. 

There is an old manor-houso at Appleton, not far from 
Oxford, supposed to be of the time of Henry II. ; and there 
are other antient manor or other dwelling-houses at 
Withams and Cumnor, near Oxford; Little or East Shcf- 
ford, between Nowbury and Lambourn ; Sutton Courtney, 
near Abingdon ; and Ockholt manor-house, near Maiden- 
head. Ockholt manor-house is an antient seat of the 
Norreys family, now a farm-house. It appears to havo 
been built befoie the Reformation. In the hall is a large 
bay window filled with eoats of" arms, which appear coeval 

2P2 



b i*: it 



202 



B li II 



with tlio biiUJittf : nmon2 them arc those of the abbey of 
Abingdon and of tbe Norroys family, with their motto, 
• Feythfully serve,' frequently relocated. (See Lysons s 
Magna Drit.mmia.) 




[Ockhotl Manor-house.] 

During the provalcncc of the Roman Catholic faith, many 
religious houses were built and endowed in Berkshire. Tan- 
ner's Notitia Monastica contains a list of thirty-five reli- 
gious establishments of all kinds ; three of which were 
numbered at the Reformation among the * greater monas- 
teries,' and possessed a clear revenue of 200/. per annum. 
The most important by far of these establishments were the 
Benedictine abbeys at Abingdon and Reading. Abingdon 
Abbey appears to have been originally founded upon a bill 
called Abcndunc, about two miles from the present town, 
nearer Oxford, by Cissa, a West Saxon, governor of great 
part of Berks and Wilts, under Kcntwin, king of the West 
Saxons. Five years after its foundation this monastery 
was removed to a place then called Scvckisham or Scove- 
chesham, or Scusham, and since then Abbendon or Abing- 
don, and enriched by the munificence of Ccadwalla and 
Ina, kings of Wcsscx, and other benefactors; The abbey 
was destroyed by tho Danes, and the monks deprived of 
their chief possessions by Alfred the Great; but the posses- 
sions were restored, and the rebuilding of the abbey com- 
menced at least, by Edred, grandson and one of the 
successors of Alfred. Numcroos benefactions increased 
the wealth of the establishment, and the abbot was mitred. 
The yearly income at the time of the suppression was 
2042/. 2*. $d. gross or t*7G/. tOs. utf. clear. Reading 
Abbey was also for Benedictines, and the abbot was mitred. 
This abbey was founded by King Henry L. ad. 112t, and 
richly endowed. At tho su|>prcsM»n it bad 2ttfi/. 3t. 9d. 
gross or 193S/. 14*. 3a. clear \carly income. There arc 
Mime remains of both these gTe.it establishments. Those at 
Reading consist of the gateway And of some other ruins, 
which are littlo more than rude neaps of stone, all architec- 
tural decoration having been defaced. The Abbey Mills 
arc still remaining. At Abinndon some anticnt rooms are 
occupied as a brewery; and the gateway of the abbey is 
still used at a prison. 

At Busilesham, or Bysham Montague, now Bisham, on 
the banks of tho Thames, nearly opposite Murlow in 
Buckinghamshire, was a priory for canons of the order of 
St. Austin, founded 1 338. by William Montacutc, carl of 
Salisbury. Their yearly revenue at the suppression was 
327/. At.Gd. gross, or 2S5J. 1 1*. clear. Upon the surrender 
of this monastery to Henry V II I., it was re founded for the 
Benedictines, its revenue more than dooblcd, and the abbot 
mitred ; but this new establishment was also suppressed 
four or five years aflcr. There arc no remains of the con- 
vcntoal buildings except an anticnt doorway, now the en- 
trance of a somewhat later edifice, the scat of a hranch of 
tbe VansitUrt family. 

Of the minor establishments tbcro arc some remains. 
Of the church of the Grey Friars (Franciscans) at Heading, 
there aro considerable remains now used as a Bridewell ; 
there are also some ruins of the Bcnedietino monaster)* at 
Hurley, between Maidenhead and II enlcy-upon -Thames, and 

• tl nay be mrnltonr<t hcri» that Speed' • ratiulioti U lhal of Ihe groti in- 
rvme; I>u-»iiU«'i tulotlkm 1* lhe etear yearly Income. 



of the buildings for the priests and clerks of a former col- 
legiate church at , \Y ailing ford, though the church itself has 
been entirely destroyed. The parish church at Shottcs- 
broke, near Maidenhead, once belonged to the college of 
St. John the Baptist there. St. George's Chapel, at Wind- 
sor, will be mentioned in the article Wixnsoit. 

Of tho churches of earlier date, Avington deserves men- 
tion, from its rcmurkablo specimens of Norman (or as it is 
sometimes termed Saxon) architecture. The arch which 
divides the chancel from the nave is a portion of two are-lit jl 
and each portion being more than a quadrant, the arch ba^ 
a depending point in the middle. Portions of the Norman\* 
style may be observed in St. Nicholas Church at Abingdon, 
and in other places, Wilford Church, between Newbury 
and Lambourn, has a Norman round tower, surmounted 
by a portion in the early English style, and a spire in tho 
decorated Knglish. As some part of the body of the church 
is in the perpendicular style, this church contains examples 
of all the different styles of what is usually called Gothic 
architecture. Great Shefford Church, not far from Wcl- 
ford, has a round tower, surmounted by an octangular storv. 
Shottcsbrokc Church is a beautiful miniature cross church, 
with a tower and spire at the intersection. Utfington 
church, also in the shape of a cross, is large and handsome. 
St. Lawrence's Church at Reading lias a fine tower of 
chccqucred flint-work in the perpendicular style. 

In the civil war between Charles I. and the Parliament, 
Berkshire became the scene of several remarkable contests. 
Windsor was garrisoned by tho Parliament, and continued 
in their possession throughout the war. It was once attacked 
by Prince Rupert, but he was unsuccessful AValliiuford 
was garrisoned for the king, and continued in the hands of 
the loyalists as long as they were capable of making any 
stand, 'in 1642, the first yea'r of the war, the King's army 
gained possession of Reading, the Parliamentary garrison 
retiring upon their approach, and the county, wiih the ex- 
ception of the parts round Windsor, came into the power of 
the Royalists; but in April, IC43, the Parliamentary forces, 
under the Earl of Essex and Major-Gcncral Skippon, re- 
took Reading by capitulation. In the latter part of the same 
year was fought the first battle of Newbury, between the 
Parliamentarians under the Earl of Essex, and the Royalists 
commanded hy the king in person. The victory was doubt- 
ful, but the action has been rendered memorable by the fall 
of tho accomplished Lord Falkland. The town of Reading 
fell into the hands of the Royalists soon after, and was garri* 
soncd by them, but evacuated the following year. In 1G44, 
Donnington Castle, which was held for the king by a garri- 
son under Captain John Bo\s, was besieged by a strong de- 
tachment of the opposite party: but though the place was 
reduced to a heap of rums, the gallant defenders held 
out, and the Parliamentarians raised the siege upon the 
king's approach. Shortly after (viz. 27th October, 1644) 
a second battle was fought at Newbury, with the same in- 
decisive result which attended the former one. The king 
commanded bis own troops, and the Karls of Essex and 
Manchester, and Sir William Waller, those of the parlia- 
ment No person of note fell in the battle. The army of 
the Karl of E*scx wintered this year in the county, at Abing- 
don, Reading, &c. The rest of the war was not marked by 
any great event. In 164* Sir Stephen Hawkins made an 
unsuccessful attempt on the Parliamentary garrison at 
Abingdon; and Cromwell failed in an attack upon Fa- 
ringdon, but fought a successful skirmish at Radcot Bridge 
in that neighbourhood, and took COO prisoners. In 1646 
Prince Rupert attacked Abingdon again, but without success. 

A slight skirmish occurred at Reading in 1688, and 
a trilling affair at Twyford, between Reading and Maiden- 
head. These were the only actions which occurred during 
tho Revolution by which that year was distinguished. 

Population. —"Berkshire is essentially an agricultural 
count v, and ranks in this respect fourteenth among tho 
counties of England. At the census of 1 831 it was found 
that among 37.084 males, twenty years of age and upwards, 
residing within the county, no more than 521 were employed 
in manufactures, or in making manufacturing machinery. 
Out of this number, nearly 300 are employed in making 
mats and sacking at Abingdon, and sail-cloth there and 
elsewhere; aboik 100 are engaged in silk-manufactures at 
Reading and Newbury, and 25 in copper-mills at Bisham. 
Tho proportions in which the inhabitants of the county were 
divided into the lcadirg classes of employment at the enu- 
merations of IS 11, 1821, and 1831, were as follows • — 



BER 



293 



BER 



ISll. 1821. 1S31. 

Agriculture (families in 100) 53*5 53'3 45*2 

Trade, manufactures, &c. . 30*3 317 31S 

Other classes 16*2 15 23 

100 100 100 



The following summary of the population, as it existed 
in May 1831, is given in Hickman's Tables, and exhibits 
the number and occupations of the people in each hundred 
&c„ of the county : — 





HOUSES. 


OCCUPATIONS. 


PERSONS. 


f 


HUNDREDS k 


5j 
c. 3 


M 

.2 


a 


3 

rt 


>* 

J 11 




? S c° 

l*if • 




B 


s 

P4 


Males 
twenty 
years of 




.3 

a 


£ 






"fi §"«* 


1 o|f 


HI" 


0$ 


1 


o 


n S e. 










16 


(3 S) « 


3 a*c s 


?lj 






1 




Bcynhurst, Hun 


dred 638 


6S7 


3 


349 


118 


229 


1,679 


1,745 


,3,424 


865 


Bray , . 


. . 703 


762 


2 


28 


350 


210 


202 


1,719 


1,761 


.3,4S0 


893 


Charlton 


. - 573 


G23 


2 


8 


411 


110 


102 


1,631 


1,177 


3,108 


828 


Com p ton 


. . 48G 


537 


1 


C 


374 


94 


69 


1,340 


1,256 


.2,596 


641 


Cookham 


. . 1,098 


1,270 


15 


4] 


404 


404 


462 


2,998 


3,004 


6,002 


1,533 


Faircross 


. . 2.391 


2,507 


15 


56 


1,506 


552 


449 


6,039 


5,9 IS 


11,957 


3,001 


Faringdon , 


. . 742 


872 


7 


18 


491 


242 


139 


2,135 


2,072 


4,207 


1,023 


Gan field . . 


653 


705 


o 


14 


513 


96 


96 


1,758 


1,653 


3,411 


891 


Hormer . 


1 ' 631 


712 


o 


12 


582 


68 


62 


1,765 


1,558 


3,323 


876 


Kintbury Eagle 


. 1,805 


1,964 


7 


55 


1,267 


431 


266 


4,281 


4,475 


8,756 


2,236 


Lam bourn . 


641 


658 


2 


15 


4S7 


121 


50 


1,621 


1,464 


3,0S5 


807 


Moreton 


. 1,180 


1,312 


5 


19 


970 


234 


108 


3,059 


2,871/ 


5,930 


1,511 


Ock . . . , 


. 1,321 


1,455 


6 




978 


254 


223 


3,298 


3,301 


6,599 


1740 


Reading 


1,875 


1,966 


15 


25 


1,220 


451 


295 


4,868 


4,596 


9,4C4 


2,400 


Kipplesmere 


975 


1,289 


22 


59 


335 


870 


84 


2,832 


2,835 


5,667 


1,560 


Shrivenham 


898 


1,119 


7 


9 


818 


1S» 


145 


2,699 


2,597 


5,296 


1,319 


Sonning 


. 1,087 


1,187 


11 


35 


474 


463 


230 


3,070 


2,765 


5,835 


1,527 


Thcale . . . 


1,105 


1,222 


3 


29 


830 


230 


162 


3,034 


2,806 


5,840 


1,493 


Wantage 


1,570 


1,680 


9 


42 


795 


675 


210 


3,804 


3,757 


7,56? 


1,937 


Wargrave 


60S 


683 


6 


34 


417 


135 


131 


1,711 


1,658 


3,369 


866 


Abingdon (Borou 


gh) 1.139 


1,191 


8 


45 


116 


694 


331 


2,559 


2,700 


5,259 


1,331 


Newbury (Town) 


. 1,256 


1,269 


2 


72 


30 


623 


616 


2,S5G 


3,103 


5,959 


1,505 


Reading (Boroug 


h) . 3,081 


3,502 


46 


226 


139 


1,796 


1,567 


7,206 


8,389 


15,595 


3,781 


Wallingford (do.) 


476 


512 


2 


20 


' 89 


304 


149 


1,186 


1,377 


2,563 


615 


AVindsor (do.) . 


. 1.100 [ 


1,367 


33 


36 
975 


111 


553 


703 


3,405 


3,698 


7,103 


1,905 


Totals 


. 23,032 


31,081 


234 


14,047 


9,884 


7,150 


72,553 j 


72,836 


145,389 


37,084 





AGRICULTURE. 


to 

• c 


<s 


| . 




1* - 


MALE 












S '5 


^ 2 


*-'_,? 


© 


SKRVANTS 






m if J 

8f3 

O j.3 


to 

■> c . 

•Sit 


r 5 C 


E' S 1 & 

7 til 

£.3*5 
~ 1 


5 » B 

.SJ3 tj *; 
SV B £ 

'TO*? 

E * * 


« o 5 

» * a 

U o 


* " -a 

« C 3 

fe-g.s 

a *~ to 


£*^ 
*^ c 

«s « — 
E « ?• 

o w 






HUNDREDS, & 


« 

is 


>• • 

— o 

23 


C 

(A 

1 


Beynhurst, Hun 


dred 43 


6 


387 


24 


132 


28 


52 


144 


49 


161 


Bray . . 


39 


26 


387 


— 


253 


44 


85 


34 


25 


10 


126 


Charlton 


8* 


22 


420 


— 


563 


29 


17 


30 


61 


37 


111 


Compton 


39 


5 


432 


— 


69 


20 


29 


21 


26 


52 


83 


Cookham 


44 


20 


538 


— 


453 


63 


213 


87 


115 


61 


353 


Faircross 


145 


49 


1,575 


20 


673 


80 


139 


188 


132 


155 


481 


Faringdon 


60 


2S 


522 


— 


270 


27 


62 


36 


18 


13 


103 


Ganficld . ( 


> . 82 


11 


4 99 


— 


151 


21 


41 


• 32 


57 


19 


117 


Hormer 


. . 64 


11 


651 


— 


84 


11 


17 


21 


17 


3 


97 


Kintburv Eagle 


171 


39 


1,201 


— 


523 


77 


52 


113 


60 


10 


280 


Lam bourn . 


37 


10 


428 


— 


152 


12 


14 


137 


17 


10 


82 


Moreton 


102 


12 


987 


— 


2S0 


38 


24 


49 


19 


12 


167 


Ock . . 


135 


37 


1,047 


— 


290 


44 


64 


72 


51 


32 


* 217 


Reading . . 


117 


32 


1,272 


7 


518 


57 


186 


139 


72 


43 


250 


Ripplesinerc 


53 


11 


401 


— 


477 


29 


436 


102 


46 


7 


97 


Shrivenham 


112 


23 


764 


— 


228 


24 


50 


69 


49 


34 


190 


Sonning 


85 


31 


487 


1 


509 


38 


125 


146 


102 


75 


220 


Thcalc . 


91 


17 


846 


— 


264 


56 


63 


81 


72 


41 


207 


Wantage 


115 


25 


901 


68 


548 


61 


63 


103 


53 


21 


248 


Wargrave 


43 


26 


441 


— 


18S 


64 


19 


40 


45 


10 


144 


Abingdon (Borot 


gh) 4 


— 


134 


227 


585 


65 


243 


58 


15 


6 


179 


Newbury (Town] 


9 


3 


37 


22 


783 


66 


443 


112 


30 


6 


227 


Reading (Boroug 


h). ' 10 


8 


201 


148 


2,189 


234 


686 


151 


148 


61 


1,029 


Wallingford (do.] 


\ . 7 


— 


84 9 


4 


298 


54 


111 


25 


29 


IS 


137 


Windsor (do.) 


13 


3 


157 


— 


6 75 


205 
1,417 


471 


228 


153 


48 
810 


G06 


Total 


i . 1,711 


458 


14,802 


521 


10,758 


3,703 


2,221 


1455 


6,022 



BER 



294 



13 E II 



The absolute imputation of Berkshire, at each of the four 
enumerations made in this century, was : — 

Main Frmtlrs, Total. lacr. per cent 

1801 62,5-21 56,391 109,2t5 

IS 1 1 57,360 60.917 118,277 8*29 

1821 65,546 66,431 131,977 11*53 

1831 72,553 72,836 145.389 10*08 

Showing an increase between the first and last enumeration? 
of 36,174 persons, or 33 per cent. This is considerably 
below tho rate of increase in the wholo of England, which 
amounted, in the samo period, to 57 per cent. 

The nges of the population in tho county, so far as the 
same could be ascertained in 1821, were as follows: — 

Males. Kemalc*. Total. 

Under 5 years . 8,903 8,472 17,330 

5 to 10 . . . 8,566 8,014 16,580 

10 „ 10 . . . 7,318 6,307 14,t25 

15 „ 20 . . . 6,056 5,836 11,892 

20 „ 30 . . . 8,837 9,800 13,637 

30 „ 40 . . . 6,795 7,3t6 14,111 

40 „ 50 . . . 5,740 5,983 11,723 

50 „ 60 . . . 4,336 4,352 8,733 

60 „ 70 . . . 3,030 3,131 6,162 

70 „ 80 . . . 1,719 l,7t2 3,431 

80 „ 90 . . . 468 552 1,020 

90 „ 100 .. . 30 41 7t 

100 years and upwards 1 2 3 



01,854 62,019 123,873 

County Expenses* Crime, «$■<?. — The sums expended for 
the relief of the poor al tho four decennary years of enume- 
ration within the present century, were — 
In ISOt, 81,994/. being an average of 15$. for each inhab. 
„ t811, 1 60,873/. „ 27*. 2d. '„ 

„ 1821, 104,333/. „ tSs. Od. „ 

„ 1831, 115,070/. „ \Ss. lOrf. „ 

The sum expended for this purpose, in the year ending 
25th March, 1334, was 100,183/., which, on the supposition 
that tlio population has gone on increasing since 1831 at 
the same rate as it did in the ten preceding years, is an 
average of 13*. Ad. for each inhabitant. These averages are 
all very far beyond thoso for tho whole of England and 
Wales, and which were — 

In 1801, 9*. 1 d. for each inhabitant. 
„ 18tl, 13*. UL 
„ 1821, 10*. Id. 
„ 1831, 9*. 9d. „ 

„ 1834, 8*. 8d. 
Tho sum raised within the county for poors* rate, county 
rate, and other local purposes, in the year ending 25th 
March, 1833, was 136,400/., and was levied upon the various 
descriptions of property as follows : — 

On land .... £t01,749 13 

„ Dwelling-houses . . . 29,861 4 

„ Mills, factories, Sec. . . . 3,293 1 1 
„ Manorial profits, navigation, &c. . t,490 12 

£I3im00 

Of which was expended — 

For the relief of the poor . . £111,597 3 

In * u it* of law, removal of paupers, &c. 3,121 19 

Tor other purposes . . . 18,459 16 



£133,178 18 
The mode in which the return has been made up for the 
\car ending 25th March, 1834, docs not enable us to distin- 
guish the descriptions of property which were assessed for 
local purposes. The total amount levied in that year was" 
12 7.229/. t U., and the expendituro was as follows : — 
For the relief of the poor . . £100,133 3 

In suits of law, removal of paupers, &c. 3,458 5 
For other purposes . . . 20,775 19 



£124,417 7 
A saving has, therefore, been effected of more than ten 
l*r cent, in the expense of relieving the poor, occasioned 
partly by the diminished cost of provisions, nnd partly by 
more careful management, but the remaining sources of 
expendituro have been so increased that the general saving 
has amounted to only *»J per cent. 
The number of turnpike trusts in Berkshire in 1829 was 



twenty ; the number of miles of road under their charge 
319 ; and ihe annual income of the same derived from tolls 
and parish compositions, 15.339/. The annual outlay for 
repair and management of the roads was 15,092/. 

The county expenditure for various purposes, exclusive of 
the relief of the poor, was as follows in t833, the latest time 
to which any statement has been given : — 

Bridges and roads leading to them £986 9 1 

Gaols 2090 12 11 

Expenses of criminal trials at quart, scss. 63t t 1 
., ,, circuits 657 t7 5 

„ coroners . . . 128 12 10 

„ shire halls . . . 13 16 

„ lunatic asylums . . 34 14 6 

„ printing, bailiff, marshal, Sec. 359 16 11 

„ conveying prisoners to gaol 1 78 16 tl 

„ clerk of assize . . 414 2 

„ conveying vagrants . 997 3 2 

The sum levied for county rate in 1833 was 11,2^7/. 18*. 
The accounts are examined on tho first day of quarter ses- 
sions in the grand jury room, adjoining to the court, and 
from this examination no person is excluded. 

The numbers of persons charged with the commission of 
criminal offences in Berkshire in the three septennial periods 
ending villi 1820, 1827, and tS34, were 912, lit 3, and 1505 
respectively, being an average of t30 annually in the first 
period, of 159 in the second period, and of 2 15 in tbo last 
septennial period. 

The number of persons tried at quarter-sessions in 1831, 
1832, and 1333, was 49, 63, and 95 respectively, of who 
were — 

193t. 1S32. 1S33. 

Felonies . 46 60 85 

Misdemeanors 3 8 10 



Of these were— 

. Convicted 
Acquitted 



49 



68 

49 
19 



05 

76 
19 



49 68 95 

In addition to those tried there w*cro committed and after- 
wards discharged by proclamation, 8 in* 1831, 11 in 1632, 
and 18 in 1833. 

The total number of persons charged with crimes at the 
assizes and sessions in 1334 was 250. Of these 14 were 
offences against the person, 20 offences against property 
committed with violence, 196 offences against property com- 
mitted without violence; of which t58 were cases of'simplo 
larceny : 2 were malicious offences against property ; 6 were 
for uttering counterfeit coin and forgery of bank notes. Of 
the remaining t2 charges, 7 were for offences against the 
game laws, 1 for breaking prison, and 4 for simple breaches 
of the peace. Of thoso brought to trial 163 were convicted ; 
the remaining 87 wore either acquitted or discharged with- 
out trial. Only one execution occurred, that of a youth 
between 16 and 21 years of age for murder. Sentence of 
death was passed upon 8 others, all for offences committed 
with violence, but these sentences were commuted, 7 of the 
criminals being transported for life, and the eighth having 
been subjected to a few months' imprisonment. Of the 
remaining convicts 12 were transported for life, 8 for 14 
years, 28 for 7 \cars, 1 04 were imprisoned for various terms, 
four- fifths being for periods under six months, 1 received a 
public whipping, and 1 was fined and discharged. 

Of ihe 250 persons chnrged with offences, 226 were males 
and 24 were females. Their ages were as follows: — 

Mulct. Females. 

Aged 12 years and under . . 2 

Between 12 and 1 6 years of ago . . t9 3 

„ 16 and 21 „ „ .76 3 

„ 21 and oO , 91 12 

30 and 40 „ „ . 24 4 

„ 40 and 50 „ „ . , 7 

„ 50 and 60 „ „ . 5 

Above 60 „ .... 1 o 

Age not ascertained . . 1 u 

226 24 

The proportion of offenders to the population in 1834 was 
1 in 580. The centesimal proportions in which tho various 
crimes were committed were as follows : — 



B E R 



295 



B E R 



Offences against the person .... 
Offences against property, committed with violence 8 
Offences against property, committed without violence 78 ' 40 
Malicious offences against property . . 0'80 

Forgery and offences against the currency . . 2 '40 
Other offences, not included in the foregoing classes 4*80 



100 
There are ten savings-banks within the county, at Abing- 
don, Faringdon, Hungerford, Maidenhead, Newbury, 
Reading, Twyford, Wantage, Windsor, and Wokingham. 
The number of depositors and amount of deposits on the 
20th November, 1832, 1833, and 1834 were respectively as 
follows : — 

1832. 1833. 1834. 

dumber of depositors 7,128 7,586 7,937 

Amount of deposits £238,659 250,181 260,425 
The accounts of these savings-banks, with reference to 

the number and magnitude of the deposits on the 20th 

November, 1834, stood as follows: — 



) 





Depositors. 


Deposits. 


Not exceeding £20 


4,152 


£29,869 


50 


2,149 


65,437 


]00 


1,007 


09,408 


150 


382 


45,861 


200 


170 


29,621 


Above 200 


77 


20,229 



Total 



7,937 £260,425 



Education.— The following abstract of the various esta- 
blishments for education in Berkshire is taken from the 
returns made to the House of Commons in the session of 
1835, in consequence of an address moved by the Earl of 
Kerry in May, 1833, and which returns have been put in 
order by Mr. Hickman : — 

School*. Scholar*. Total. 

Infant Schools 23 

Number of infants at such schools, ages 

from 2 to 7 years — Males 

Females .... 
Sex not specified . 

Daily Schools 511 

Number of Children from 4 to 14 years 
old— Males 

Females 

Sex not specified 

Schools . . . , 534 
Total of Children under daily instruction . . 

Sunday Schools 225 

Number of Children from 4 to 15 years 

old— Males 

Females 

Sex not specified 

14,113 

If we take as the groundwork of the calculation the sum- 
mary of ages obtained at the census of 1821, which summary 
was made to include not more than 94 per cent, of the then 
population of the county, we shall find that, making allow- 
ance for the increase that has since occurred, the inhabitants 
between the ages of 2 and 15, at present living in Berkshire, 
must amount to rather more than 50,000; and consequently 
that very few more than 3 in 5 of those children are receiving 
instruction in schools of all descriptions, even supposing, 
what is not the fact, that none of the scholars attending at 
Sunday schools receive daily instruction ; but as many attend 
both the Sunday and day schools, it follows that they are 
enumerated twice in the abstract, and accordingly make the 
sum total greater than it really is. 

Maintenance of Schools. 



238 




211 




244 







693 


C737 




5S62 




3282 







15,881 


• * 


16,574 


5800 




.'5873 




2440 





DowrijHioa of 

bcnooU. 


By endowment. 


By •ubtcrjptlon. 


By payments 
from whoUn. 


Sobtrrtp. and pay- 
ment from trholan. 


ScfcU. 


Scho- 
lar*. 


ScMi. 


Ur»!* 


ScfaU. 


Scho- 
lar*. 


Schla, 


Scholar*. 


Inf.iut Kclilt. 
Daily SchW. 
Sunday Sctu. 


76 
9 


9143 
430 


1 

urn 


$7 
12039 


20 

317 
1 


474 

7150 
50 


2 
63 
27 


193 

27 G3 
1C04 


Total 


m 


2563 


25 i 


15837 


33d 


7C74 


83 


4561 


















J 



the 



5*60 | Seventy-three Boarding Schools are included amon 
oil daily schools. 

The schools established since the year 1818 arc as 
follows: — 

Infant and other daily schools 157 containing G694 scholars. 
Sunday-schools 13G „ 9252 



Schools established 
by DUftoleri in- 
cluded In the above. 



f Infant School* . . 
4 Daily Schools . . 
, ( Suo«Uy School* 



Scliit Scliolan 

. o! | - 

.5 I 120 

.48 33tI4 



293 15946 

Lending libraries of books are attached to 21 schools in 
Berkshire. 

BERLICHINGEN, GOETZ VON, a German knight, 
or petty feudal lord of Suabia, notorious in the history of 
the'middle ages for his bravery and his lawless turbulence. 
He lived under the reign of the emperor Maximilian I., the 
predecessor of Charles V. GoeU was called iron-handed, 
because having lost his right hand in battle, he had a steel 
one made with springs, by means of which, it is said, he 
could still handle his lance. He was often at war with his 
neighbours, and at times he took the part of the peasantry 
against the nobles. In 1513 he declared war against the 
free imperial town of Nurnberg. With 1 70 men he way- 
laid the merchants returning from Leipzig, plundered them 
of all they had, and consigned many to his dungeons, in 
order to exact a ransom for them. Upon this the emperor 
put him under the ban of the empire, and sentenced him' 
to pay 14,000 florins. The money was collected after some 
difficulty, and the offender was restored to his civil rights. 
(Dunham's History of the Germanic Empire in Lardner's 
Cabinet Cyclopedia.) Having again offended the emperor, 
be was at last besieged in a castle by'the imperial troops, 
where he defended himself desperately, but was wounded, 
and died. Goethe has taken him for the subject of one 
of his dramas, Goetz von Berlichingen y which was and still 
is very popular in Germany, as being a picture of the man- 
ners and social state of the latter part of the middle ages, 
before the imperial authority was thoroughly enforced 
through the country by means of standing armies, well 
disciplined, and provided with artillery. (See Goethe's 
drama already mentioned, which has been translated by Sir 
W. Scott, and Madame de Stael's Allemagne.) 

BERLIN, a minor circle in the administrative circle of 
Potsdam, which, with that of Frankfort, forms the province 
of Brandenburg in the kingdom of Prussia. The circle of 
Berlin, containing simply the city of Berlin and its imme- 
diate environs, is the smallest subdivision of that description 
in the Prussian dominions, but the most populous. Its area 
does riot exceed twenty-six square miles: but it comprises two 
towns, and twenty-two villages and hamlets; and the number 
of its inhabitants in 182C was 21G,237,and in 1831,229,843, 
besides the military, who were about 16,000. 

The eity of Berlin, which derives its name from ■ Berle,' 
a word implying 'uncultivated land' in the language of 
the Sclavonian Vends, who were the earliest settlers in this 
quarter, is situated in a sandy plain on both banks of the 
Spree, which is 200 feet broad in this part of its course. 
The Spree winds through Berlin from south-east to north- 
west, and divides it into two nearly equal portions. 

Berlin is the capital of the province of Brandenburg, the 
metropolis of the Prussian monarchy, the largest and the 
finest town in Germany, Vienna only excepted, and the ninth 
in Europe in point of population. It occupies a surface of 
upwards of 6700 acres, at an elevation of about 125 feet 
above the level of the sea, and is above ten miles in circuit. 
It is the seat of government, and of the supreme courts .of 
judicature. The various quarters of the town, which are 
united under one system of municipal administration, and 
have, since the year 1724, borne the name of royal resi- 
dences fkonigliche Rcsidenz-Siadte'), are six in number. 
Tbe quarters are, Berlin, the old town, between the right 
bank of the Spree and the King's Fosse, which place it on a 
complete island ; Cologne, Old and New, on the left bank of 
the Spree, on an island formed by a canal which issues from 
and Mows again into the Spree ; the Friedricbswerdcr, which 
lies to the south-east of New Cologne ; Dorothcen-stadt, cr 
the New Town, likewise on the left bank of the Spree, be- 
tween this river and the celebrated Brandenburg Gate, on 
that part of the Spree which separates the plcasure-»garden 
(' Lust-garten') from the square next the arsenal; and 
Frederick's Town (' Fricdrichs-stadO, the most south- 
western and the handsomest part of Berlin. Connected 
with these six quarters there are four Vorstadte, or suburbs;, 
within the walls, and one beyond them : those within tho 
walls are tho suburbs of Spandau, the King s, Stralau, and 



n e R 



29G 



B E R 



LouUa, the last being formerly railed theColognian, or 
Kiipcnickian suburb; the fifth is New Yoigtlar.tl, or the 
Oranionburg suburb, beyond th© Spandau suburb in the 
north-west. 

These several quarters of Berlin, with the exception of 
Voigtland, arc closely connected with each other, and 
surrounded by ft wall sixteen feet high, in which there 
aro fourteen land-gales and two water-gates, besides four 
minor outlets. They aro divided into twenty-nine police 
quarters, and contain eleven palaces, or residences for mem- 
bers of tho royal family, and 87 M private dwelling-houses* 
(6700 within the walls), in which tberc ere 53,363 distinct 
family occupations ; the rent of which amounts to 3, 'J 85,2 70 
dollars, or about 547,98©/. Tho portion insured against fire in 
1S33 was valued at 79,194,050 dollars, or about 10,889,264/. 

The number of bridges in Berlin is 42 : the principal arc 
the Schloss-briickc, or Bridge of the Palace; the Marshal 
Bridge; and Frederick's Bridge, which is of iron, 245 feet 
long, between 32 and 33 feet broad, and consists of eight 
arches of 27 feet diameter, and 5} feet in height. Tho num- 
ber of squares, open spaces, and markets is 32; of streets. 
153; of lanes, 14 ; and of passages, 14. The places of wor- 
ship for the Lutherans, Reformed Lutherans, and Roman 
Catholics, arc 27 churches; and for the 4000 Jews, one syna- 
gogue. There are 17 public hospitals, and 8 military in- 
firmaries; 17 barracks, and 4 riding or drilling houses for 
the soldiery ; 8 royal magazines, independently of 4 powder- 
magazines out of tbc town; and 24 cemeteries, of which 16 
lie within the walls, and S beyond them. The total number 
of public buildings is 178. 

Tho Spree receives, at what is called the * Ship-builders' 
D^vm,' tho Pankc, which (lows through part of the suburb of 
Spandau; and without the walls is the Sheep or Militia 
Fosse, which runs out of the Spree near the Sdesian Gate, 
winds along the skirts of Louisa and Frederick's 'Towns, 
skirts the Thier-gartcn, which is a sort of open park, and 
rejoins the Spree in tho vicinity of tho village of Lictzow. 
Three canals, also, namely, the former ditch of the ram- 
parts, with the King's and Sluices* Fosses, arc of much 
utility to the inhabitants. 

Of the 14 land-gates of Berlin, there is none to be 
compared with the Brandenburg JGatc, on the west side 
of the town, next the Square of Paris, in the Dorothccn- 
ttadt. It is a copy of the Propylcca of the Acropolis 
at Athens, but on a much larger scale : it was con- 
structed in 1780, and exhibits a double colonnade of 12 
columns of the Doric order, each 44 feet in height, and 5 
feet 8 inches in diameter, which occupy the centre, with 5 
entrances between them, that in the centre having an iron 
gate 18 feet high; the structures on each side of it have 
their roofs supported by 18 smaller columns, 24 feet in 
height. The pediment, which rests upon the 12 larger and 
central columns, is surmounted by a Victory standing upon a 
car drawn by four horses, 12 feet high. This was carried oft* 
by the French in ISO 7, and brought back from France seven 
years afterwards. The entire breadth of the Brandenburg 
Gate is 199 feet (195 Berlin feet), and its elevation, includ- 
ing the pediment, rather more than 65. The bassi-rilievi 
on the pediment represent Margrave Albert Achilles cap- 
turing a standard with his own hands from the Nuremberg 
troops; and the sculptures in the metopes represent tho 
combat between the Centaurs and Lapithco. 

Immediately outside of this gato lies the Thier-gartcn, 
which is laid out in walks, avenues, und labyrinths. It con- 
tains a number of country-residences and gardens, sta- 
tionary zcltc, or tents for refreshments, a faic flower-garden, 
the master of tho hunt's establishment and public gardens, 
the great area for military exercise, and the handsome 
palace of Bellovuo with spacious grounds, where Prince 
Augustus ressides. 

Our description of what is most remarkable in Berlin will 
be best understood if wo tako the chief objects in the re- 
spective quarters of the town in regular succession. We 
shall !>egin, therefore, with Berlin, the oldest quarter: 
here wo find the post-house, town-hall, and scat of the 
cWie judicature; the general military- school; the royal 
gymnasium, called tho Joachims-thal, with four courts; 
tho church of St. Nicholas, supported by 1C Gothic co- 
lumns, which is 174 feet in length, 74 in width, and 40 in 
height: it has a steeple, and is the most anticnt church in 

* Our number* areUken from Dr.IlSrtehelmftno'i »Utemenl(1830,w1ilcli 
I ■ born* <wl by othr r \Wt\\n writ*». Tli« * 11 <• port of the SUtt.fCicat Hit roam,' 
In Berlin, on tb» oilier h*od, t(»leftht cumWr lo luuo been tt.971 even *o 
lur Wck ai Ilwjtu tS«. 



Berlin, having been consecrated in the year 12*23; the 
Landschafts haus, or provincial house of assembly for tho 
representatives of the mark of Brandenburg; St." Mary's 
Church, in length 211 feet, breadth 99, and height 56, with 
a handsome pulpit of alabaster, tome fino paintings by 
Uode, tho tomb of Kanitz the poei, and a steeple 292 feet 
high, accounted tho loftiest in the city ; Frederick's Bridge, 
which we have already described ; the Lagcr-haus (store- 
house), in which arc several royal manufactories, besides the 
ateHert of Rauch tho sculptor, and two other artists, Tick 
and Wach ; the King's Geworbhaus (handicraft establish- 
ment), comprising a mechanics* institute, workshops in 
which metals are melted, and screws, wheels, &c, are 
manufactured by steam; apartments containing casts, draw- 
ings, and engravings, for gratuitous instruction in tho art 
of design and modelling; and a laboratory, librarv, and col- 
lection of models, attached to tho Society for IVoinoting 
Mechanical Industry, which has upwards of 800 members; 
the Hoyal Gymnasium of the Grey Friars (Zum Graucn 
Klostcr), attended by more than 400 youths; the Garrison 
Church, the largest in Berlin, containing a superficies of 
nearly 16,000 feet, independently of the space occupied by 
the columns: it possesses a remarkably fine organ, and 
several allegorical paintings of Prussian commanders; the 
parochial church, built in the shape of a cross, 51 feet bread, 
and 102 long; Frederick's Hospital, or Orphan Asylum, 
which maintains moro than 350 orphans, provides hoard for 
650 other children, and has a royal inoculating instit'.itiuii 
attached to it; and, lastly, the Stadtvogtei. or prefecture of 
the town, which contains the police ofllces, and the prisons fur 
all offenders within the jurisdiction of the civic auh'oritics. 

Crossing over to the opposite, or left bank of the Spree, 
we enter Old Cologtie, the most central quarter of Berlin, 
from the Long Bridge, a structure of stone, with five arches, 
165 feet in length, and with an iron balustrade. Upon this 
bridge stands the massive equestrian bronze statue of the 
great Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, on a pe- 
destal, having at each of its four corners tho colossal ciligy 
of a slave. This monument, moulded by Schlutcr and cast 
by Jacobi, was erected in tho year 1703. The bridge leads 
immediately into the Schloss Platz, or square of the palace, 
an area 1450 feet in length and 450 in width, the north-west 
sido cf which is occupied by the royal palace, an oblong- 
rectar.gular building composed of four courts, and containing 
five hundred habitable apartments. It is the present resi- 
dence of the hcir-apparcnt and 'Prince William, bis uncle. 
It is 474 feet in length, 284 in breadth, "104 in height, and 
1 516 in circuit. It contains the great library, belonging to 
the heir-apparent ; the royal treasury and archives-depot; 
the picture gallcrv, with nearly 300 specimens of the Italian, 
Flemish, and old German schools; the white hall, with marble 
statues of four emperors, and sixteen electors of Branden- 
burg; the museums of natural history and mechanical arts, 
as well as of the line arts; and the three great reservoirs 
over the principal entrance/which is an imitation of the 
triumphal arch of Set-ems' in Rome: these reservoirs arc 
kept constantly filled with 7000 tons of water. 

The gardens at the back of this magnificent edifice aic 
surrounded by an alive of poplars and chestnuts, but de- 
rive their chief attraction from the noble Museum which 
stands at their northern extremity, and contains the choicest 
specimens of the arts that were scattered through the royal 
collections in Berlin and Potsdam, as well as a multitude of 
acquisitions made of late years. This splendid structure 
will immortalize the name of Schinckcl, the architect. Owing 
to the swampy nature of the soil, it is built on upwards of 
1000 pinc-pilcs from 43 to 50 feet in height. Its form is a 
rectangular oblong, 231 feet in length, and 182 feet in depth. 
It is 62 feet in elevation from the ground to tho uppermost 
edge of the entablature which runs round it, has a basement 
story and two floors above it, and the principal front, which 
faces the gardens, is broken by a llightof 21 steps, leading to 
a vestibule 16 feet deep, which is formed by 18 Ionic ccluuine. 
The various collections which it contains arc, the picture 
gallery, consisting of a fine hall 203 feet long, and nearly 
31 feet wide; two smaller halls, each 125 feet lona and 2b 
feet wide, and several apartments adjoining; the whole, 
including the partitions between the windows, present a 
surfaceof wall of between 38,000 and 39,000 square feet. It 
contains also collections of anticnt sculptures, vases, anticnt 
and modern coins, an tie nt bronzes, and pottery. Tin build- 
ing was begun in 1 823, aud was opened on the 3rd of August, 
1829, In front of this edifice is a colossal vase, chiselled 



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29: 



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[Berlin Royal Museum.} 



out of native granite, 75 tons in weight, resting on a 
handsome pedestal. The quarter of Old Cologne also con- 
tains the cathedral, 337 feet in length and 136 in breadth, 
with the places of sepulture of several members of the royal 
family; the. Royal Exchange; the Bridge of the Palace, 
built on two arches; the King's Stables; the Armoury ; 
the Townhall for the quarter, in which the deputies of the 
town assemble; the Royal Cologne Gymnasium, with 360 
pupils, &c. That part of this subdivision which is called 
New Cologne contains the Royal Salt Magazine (Salzhof), 
in which arc storehouses for salt and mill-stones. 

The north-western part of the Cologne quarter is sepa- 
rated by a canal from the Fried richswerdcr. quarter. This 
district contains the Principal Mint (Haupt-Miinzc); the 
Prince's House, in which the Royal Frederick Gymnasium 
is at present established; the Address Haus, where money 
is advanced on pledges ; the Royal Bank ; the Hunts- 
men's House (Jagerhaus), in which are the offices and 
apartments for the Consistory ; the Palace Court, with 
a prison for offenders of higher rank; the College, or 
French Gymnasium, combined with a theological school ; 
the Tax Oflice for the metropolis ; the Palace of the Princes, 
which is inhabited by Prince Charles, the king's third soa, 
and the princess of Lieguitz, the morganatic consort of his 
Prussian majesty, whose apartments are connected by an 
arched passage with the apartments in the royal palace, 
where the king now resides ; the Werder Church, a hand- 
some edifice, built in the old German style after the de- 
signs of Schinkcl ; a splendid Arsenal, forming a square, 
each side of which is 2S6 feet in length, and containing, 
among other things, models of eighteen fortresses in France 
in alto-rilievo ; the Royal Foundry ; and the Royal Guard- 
house in the King's Square, a quadrangular structure 
designed by Sehinkel, in the style of an antient castrura, 
close to which are colossal statues of Scharnhorst and 
Biilow, two celebrated commanders in the campaigns be- 
tween 1812 and 1815. A handsome monument of bronze 
erected to Prinee Blueher, consisting of a statue, which, 
with it* plinth, is 1 1 feet, and an appropriately-decorated 
pedestal, which is thirteen feet high, the work of Rauch, 
stands between the Roynl Palace and the Opera House. 
On the front side of the pedestal is an alto-relievo of Victory 
bearing a tablet between her hands, with the following 



inscription: — 'Frederick William III. to Field-Marshal 
Prinee Bliicher of Wahlstatt, in the year 1826/ 

The Dorotheenstadt, or new town quarter, lies to the 
north of the preceding, between the Friedrichswerder quar- 
ter and the northern bend of the Spree. Its most striking 
feature is the celebrated street called Unter-den-Lindcn, 
which contains two double lines of linden or lime-trees : it 
is 2744 feet in length, 174 feet in breadth, and affords the 
most attractive promenade in Berlin. This quarter likewise 
contains the northern part of Frederick's Street, which runs 
in a straight line of 4250 paees (upwards of two miles), from 
the Place of the B*lle Allianee at the most southern, to the 
Oranienburg Gate, which lies nearly at the most northern 
end of the capital. The principal objeets in the Dorotheen- 
stadt are the University Buildings, with columns and pi- 
lasters of the Corinthian order, which contain lecture-rooms, 
and museums of anatomy, zoology, mineralogy, &c, and a 
garden ; the Opera House, with a handsome range of fluted 
Corinthian columns, 266 feet in length, and 106 in width, 
three rows of boxes, and accommodation for 3000 spectators; 
the Catholie Church of St. Hedwig, an imitation of the 
Pantheon in Rome ; the Royal Library, facing the Opera 
House, the principal apartment in which is 263 feet long, 
and 59 feet broad, with more than 400,000 volumes, besides 
manuscripts; the Vocal Aeademy; the Royal Academy, 
containing halls and rooms occupied by the Academies of 
the Arts and Seienees, and a clock, illuminated at night, 
aeeording to whose time every publie clock in Berlin is regu- 
lated ; the Observatory, a lofty quadrangular tower, raised 
on a platform 86 feet above the pavement; the School for 
the Artillery and Engineers ; the Paris Square, on the west 
side of whieh the Brandenburg Gate opens, and the east 
side of which opens on the Untcr-den-Lindcn. The Weidcn- 
daramer Bridge, which is wholly of cast-iron, and with a 
flat road-way, rests on two arehed openings at each end, 
with a passage for boats in the eentrc, abont 27 feet wide. 
This bridge leads to the Voigtland suburb northwards 
across the Spree : it is 180 feet in length, about 35 in width 
between the balustrades, and weighs 400 tons. 

To the south of the Dorotheenstadt lies the Frederick's 
Town quarter, the largest in Berlin: the western part 
of it is traversed in its whole length by the handsome 
street ealled William's Street, which is nearly 9200 feet 



No. 242. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 2 Q 



BER 



298 



b k n 



long, and terminates in the Plaeo of the Belle Alliance, the 
northern sido of which opens into Frederick'* Street, and 
tho north-eastern into another handsome street called Linden 
Street, from the row of limes which runs on each sido of it 
Tho octagonal Plaeoof Leipzig, the west side of which opens 
to tho Potsdam Oato ana tho cast to tho fino Street of 
Leipzig loading eastwards through tho whole of Frederick's 
Town, contributes also to tho embellishment of this quarter. 
Tho other principal objects are tho Dunhofl" Square, with its 
obelisk or milliarium, from which all the post-otfice distances 
are measured; the Royal China Manufactory; the Gvm- 
nasiura of Frederick William, with a ' real-schule,' or school 
for practical acquirements ; the Collegicn-haus, which is the 
scat of the law commission, the supreme judicial court, the 
scnato and deputies of tho chamber of justice {Kammer- 
gericht), &c. ; the Ansbach Palace, at present appropriated 
to the Louisa Foundation, a seminary for tho education of 
female children ; tho Palace of tho" Minister of War, to 
which a fine garden Is attached: the Palaces of Princes 
Frederick and Augustus, and Prince Radzivil, and of the 
Minister of JUstire; the Manufactory of Gold and Silver 
Works; tho Palace of the anticnt Knights of St. John, in 
which U the equestrian" hall ornamented with the portraits 
of many of the grand-masters and commanders of the order ; 
William's Square, abdUt 570 feet lornr, and 270 broad, 
planted round with limes, &nd embellished with statues of 
Schwcrln, Ziethcn, and thrco other eelebrated commanders 
in the thirty years' war; the Gendarmes Square, on which 
stand the New and tho trench Churches with their hand- 
some towers, ono of which Is 230 feet high ; the Theatre, 
and the handsome Concert-room attached to it, altogether 
250 foet long, and 218 wide; the Sce-handlung (Maritime 
Trade) Company's House; and tho house of the Soeioty of 
Naturalists. Outsido of the Hallo Gate, which leads into 
the Place of the Belle Alliance, \i the Kreutzberg, on 
which stands the military monument erected in 1820: this 
consists of a turreted Gothio superstructure of iron, with 
twelve chapels or recesses beneath it, which are dedicated 
to the memory of the twelve principal buttles fought in the 
campaigns of 1813, 1814, and 1815, and over which the fol- 
lowing inscription has been placed : — * The sovereign to his 
people, who, at his summons, magnanimously poured forth 
their blood and treasure for their country. In memory of 
the fallen— in gratitude to the living— as an excitement to 
every future generation/ It is supported on a substructure of 
stone, raised on a terrace 80 feet in diameter, and commands 
a view of the country for more than 30 miles round. On 
the Kreutzberg, also, are the beautiful grounds called Tivoli. 

Immediately adjoining the north-eastern part of the 
quarter of Berlin lies the suburb called the Kiinigsstadt, or 
Konig's Vorstadt (the lattor word implying a suburb). In 
its wholo length north-eastwards, from Alexander Square to 
the King's gate, which is one of tho outlets through the 
city walls, it is traversed by the Konig's Strasse or King's 
Street, 3GG0 feet long, and of recent construction; the 
square just mentioned opens into it. This suburb con- 
tains tho Kiinigsstadt theatre, 153 feet long and about 78 
wido, built in 1b24, and calculated for 1600 spectators ; tho 
House of Industry, at the south end of Alexander Square, 
whero the indigent who are disposed to work aro lodged 
and boarded ; the Hoyal Institute for the Blind ; the Asylum 
for 400 poor children, set on foot by the late Professor 
Wadzcck in 1810, and bearing his name; tho Alexandrina 
Asylum for 24 girW; tho Biischingscho Garden, in which 
Bii selling, the geographer, is interred, with his first wifo and 
five children ; the Kckartstcin manufactory of earthenware, 
ami tho Doring works, in which sulphuric, muriatic, and 
other acids are manufactured; tho Lazareth and Hospital; 
an Asylum for widows, &c. 

To tho south-cast of the Berlin quarter is the Stralau 
suburb, through which runs tho Great Frankfort Street, 
5508 feet long, between rows of limes to tho Frankfort 
Gate, tho most eastern passage through the walls. There 
aro a number of large manufactories in this part of Berlin, 
among which we may notice soveral sugar refineries, a 
paner-mill, in which 100 reams aro mado by inacliinory every 
day, and Baron von Kottwitz's House of Voluntary In- 
dustry; besides a variety of private gardens, &c. 

On tho opposite bank of the Spreo lies the Luiscnstadt 
suburb, which is principally filled with gardens and fields. 
The eastern side of this suburb is traversed by the Kiipeniek 
Street, 8982 feet in length, which terminates at tho Sile- 
sian Gate. It likewise contains the Dresden Street, 5580 



feet long, which leads to tho Ottbus Gate, tho Military 
Equipment Magazines {Armatur Magazin), Public Granary, 
Waggontrain Establishment, tho Dunncnberg Cotton Fac- 
tory, the Church of Louisa, fite. 

At tho north-western extremity of the Prussian capital 
is the Spandau suburb, which is bounded on the south by 
the left bank of the Spree, and on the south-east by the 
Berlin quarter. Its eastern and western districts aro re- 
spectively intersected by two long streets, tho Liiiicn and 
Oranienburger ; the first-mentioned of theso districts is 
connected with the Cologne Quarter by the Monbijou bridge 
(also called Frederick's Bridge or the bridge of Herculew), 
on which stand four large statues and two fino groups iu 
stono representing Hercules encountering the Centaur, 
and the same god on the point of tearing the Nemean lion 
in pieces. This suburb contains the royal palace of Mon- 
bijou, the resideneo of Princo Charles of Mecklenburg 
Strclitz, the king's brother-in-law, with handsome gardens, 
pavilions, hothouses, &e. ; tho Veterinary School, an admi- 
rably arranged establishment, with leeturc-room, amphi- 
theatre, garden, laboratory, and infirmary, Sec. ; tlio great 
Hospital of La Ch:iritc", which makes up 800 beds, and is 
connected with the Clinical Institution, and has 45 windows 
in front, a wing at each end, and three stories; the Church 
of St- Sophia, tho tower and steeple of which are 230 feet 
in height; the New Mint; and the Asylum for the Deaf 
and Dumb, On the right hand of tho street leading from 
the Oranienburg Gate, and ontsido of tho walls, is the eele- 
brated Iron Foundry, in which beautiful trinkets and other 
small articles are manufactured. Further to the left stands 
the Royal Hospital for Invalids, consisting of a main build- 
ing and two wings, and a separate church for Protestants 
and Roman Catholics, which maintains nearly 1000 soldiers, 
females, and children : over the front is inscribed 'Lit'Soct 
invicto militi.' At some distance beyond this establishment 
are the Louisa Baths, embellished with gardens and walks. 

In addition to the foregoing subdivisions of Berlin, a plan 
has been laid down for erecting a new quarter of tho town 
on the extensive plot of ground called the 'Kopenicker 
Feld,' which lies immediately within the southern walls, and 
between the right bank of the Spree and Frederick's Town. 
This plot occupies an area of about 1000 acres, and when 
fully covered will contain thirty-one streets, eighteen squares, 
two churches, and a canal from the right bank of the Spree to 
tho Sheep's Fosse. A commencement has already been 
made towards carrying this extensive plan Into eflTcct. The 
town is extensively lighted with gas, supplied by the works 
orcc.ted by the Imperial Continental Gas Company in Lon- 
don, under the superintendence of Mr, Perks. 

Berlin is tho seat of civil and military government for tho 
whole kingdom, and, as will bo inferred from our description 
of its several districts, abounds in literary and scientific esta- 
blishments, which, where thero is need, are liberally sup- 
ported by tho government. Tho university, founded in 
1810, and designated the University of Frederick William, 
after the present sovereign, contains above 120 professors 
and teachers, and is attended by upwards of 1 700 students. 
Berlin has also four royal gymnasia or high schools, several 
public seminaries for scholars, civic and rural schools, the 
' Louisa Foundation for educating fenialo teachers, nearly 
2G0 privato schools, academies of the arts, sciences, and 
mechanical pursuits, schools of design, an academy of aichi- 
tecture, district schools for mechanics, two superior civic 
schools, twenty-nine public libraries, valuable collections of 
machines and models, societies of natural history, geo- 
graphy, statistics, horticulture, medicine and surgery, 
pharmacy, philomath ies, experimental philosophy and me- 
dicine, and tho amelioration of prison discipline. There 
is a parent Biblo Society, with more than tbrty auxiliary 
establishments, and a central association for tho circuln- 
tion of religious books In the Prussian territories ; a • So- 
ciety of Friends of the Arts/ another for the education of 
deserted children, the number of whom received into (he 
Houso of Industry has amounted to 295 in thrco years; 
and other societies for cultivating tho German language, 
promoting Christianity among tho Jews, and for converting 
tho heathens in the East Indies and Africa; Humane 
Society, &c. To these wo add tho Frederick's Institute 
for educating sixty soldiers' children, soveral schools of 
industry for children, a number of Sunday schools ; a 
bank for savings, which has thriven rapidly, and in 183*2 
had 23,000 depositors, with deposits to the amount of 
805,801 dollars, or 110,750/.; and various associations for 



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the relief of the poor. There is a large number of hospitals 
and other benevoleat asylums, sueh as the Royal Insti- 
tution for providing for widows, the great Hospital for 
Invalids, tbe Hospital of St. Dorothy, the new Royal Hos- 
pital, tbat of the Holy Ghost and St. George, Frederick's 
Hospital, the * Charite* * Hospital (with an income of 9500/. 
a year), twenty other establishments of a similar kind,* asy- 
lums for widows aad destitute persons, and four orphan 
institutions, besides private charities of all descriptions. 

Berlin, in the year 1620, had only 10,000 inhabitants, and 
in 1683 not more than 18,000 ; and even one hundred years 
ago the population was not one-fourth of its present num- 
ber. In 1721 the inhabitants amounted to 53,355, and in 
1775 they had increased to 135,580. During the present 
eentury the increase has been mueh more rapid ; from 
157,696, in 1811, they rose to 178,811 in 1817; in 1828 to 
236,850, and in 1831 to 246,475, including about 16,000 
military and civilians attached to the military department. 
At the elose of last year (1834), their numbers were esti- 
mated at about 252,000, among whom were 4700 Roman 
Catholies, and 4500 Jews. At this date tbe number of pri- 
vate houses was said to be about 7 COO. Tbe births in 1834 
amounted to 4907 males and 4651 females, in all 95$8, and 
the deaths were 9278 ; henee the increase of population 
by birth seems to have been but 230 souls. In 1833, 
tbe exeess of births over deaths was 1401. The births 
of illegitimate children amounted to 1491, namely, 736 
males and 755 females, being nearly one-sixth of the 
entire number of births ; and of these, 771, more than one- 
half, died soon after they were born. The births of 1S34 
exceeded those of 1832 by 1051. The patients admitted 
into the hospital La Cbarite\ the largest in the Prussian do- 
minions, amounted, in 1833, to 6697, including 728 who 
wero in it on the 31st December, 1832. The number of 
offenders eommitted to the town prison (Stadtvogtet Ge~ 
fiingniss) in 1833 was 9900; namely, 7470 males, and 
2430 females, or about 1 in every 26 inhabitants. 

The members of the Lutheran persuasion possess fourteen 
ehurehes, those of the reformed Lutheran seven, of the 
reformed Freneh four, and of the Roman Catholie two. The 
building of additional plaees of worship is rapidly advanc- 
ing ; one of them indeed has already been opened. The 
Lutheran and reformed elergy are under the eontrol of 
four superintendents, of whom three are Lutheraa, in- 
eluding a bishop, and one reformed Lutheran. 

Berlin is one of the first manufacturing towns in the 
Prussian dominions. Its chief productions are tbe cele- 
brated Berlin china, silks, silks and cottons mixed, wool- 
lens, cottons, stockings, and ribbons; and next in order 
are guapowder, cast-iron ware, silk hats, paper, oils, refined 
sugars, and tobaceo and snuff. la 1831 the number of me- 
chanics and manufacturing artists was 7782, besides 11,207 
assistants and apprentices. Berlin at that time had thirty 
printing houses and 110 presses, 5729 looms in activity, 
2762 traders and dealers, 177 waggoners and 994 horses in 
their employ, 102 hotels and taverns, and 913 masters of 
eating and drinking houses. Tbe amount of the tax on 
tradesmen, mechanics, &c, of all classes (called the Ge~ 
trerbesteuer), was 135,607 dollars, or about 18,650/. Berlin 
i3 a plaee of extensive commercial dealings ; at the head of* 
its public mercantile establishments aro the Royal Bank, 
the Royal Company for Maritime Commerce (See-handlung- 
geselhchaft), the Cash Association (Cassenverein), whieh 
was founded in 1823, and issues notes of 1000, 500, &c, 
dollars, an insurance company against hail-storms, and two 
fire insurance companies. There is a wool market, the 
yearly sales in which amount to nearly 280,000/. sterling. 

The magistracy consists of twenty^five individuals, who 
administer the local affairs of Berlin with the assistance of 
the assembly of deputies. Among the various items of 
which the town revenues consist, the tax on houses and 
rents amounts to about 53,000/. The expenditure for tbe 
year 1832 was 1,092,000 dollars, about 150,150/., of which 
S3 8,2 8 3 dollars, about 32,765/., were applied to paying the 
interest and redeeming the principal of the town debt, 
which amounts to about 550,000/., and 297,000 dollars; 
about 40,840/. were expended on the poor, partly in re- 
lieving 3057 orphans and children, in the maintenaace of 
about 790 offenders in the house of correction, and the sup- 
port of 278 aged persons in the new hospital: gratuitous 
instruction was likewiso provided for 8932 children; 1740 
patients were sent to the La Charite.hospital at the cost of 
the town, and 23,77\j &xk persons were attended in their 



dwellings, while 4559 poor reeeived regular allowances 
and about as many easual relief. At the close of the year 
there were about 600 prisoners in the town prison. 

Besides three theatres, eoncert-rooms, publie gardens, &c, 
there are several spots in the vieinity of Berlin to which the 
inhabitants resort for amusement. The principal place of 
this kind is Cbarlottenburg, a town about two miles and a 
half distant, where there is a royal palaee with extensive 
pleasure grounds ; but the great attraction of the place is the 
fine mausoleum of Queen Louisa, the late beautiful and un- 
fortunate wife of the present sovereign, to whieh numbers 
make their pilgrimage on the 19th of July, tbe anniversary 
of her decease. About an hour's walk beyond Charlottenburg 
lies the town and fortress of Spandau, at the confluence of 
the Spree aad Havel ; and about ten miles from Berlin, in 
the same du-eetion, is the islet of Pichelswerder, in the Havel, 
which is laid out in walks. A forest in its neighbourhood is 
ornamented with the Grnnewald, a royal hunting seat. Be- 
yond the Halle Gate are the villages of Tempelhof, where 
there are two fine gardens, and Gross-Beeren, with a monu- 
ment in commemoration of the eelehrated battle fought there 
between the Prussians and Freneh on the 23rd of August, 
1813. A variety of similar points of attraction exist in the 
other outskirts of tbe city ; for, although it stands in the 
midst of a sandy plain, there are few spots where the sterility 
of the soil is not concealed hy a high state of cultivation. 

The origin of Berlin is uncertain ; but it seems probable 
that the two villages of Berlin and Cologne {Koln) became 
towns in the times of Margrave Albre/ibt II., between the 
years 1206 and 1220. His sueeessors surrounded these 
towns with walls, and they seem to have attained a some- 
what prosperous state about the period of the extinction of 
the Anhalt line in 1319. But the disasters which befel 
them during the sueeeeding hundred years again reduced 
them to iasignificanec. They revived, however, upon the 
accession of the house of Hohenzollern to the Brandenburg 
dominions in 1417. The Burg, built by the eleetor Fre- 
deric II. about 1448, was the site of the present royal 
palaee; and Berlin beeame the residence of its princes 
uader John, who died in 1490. It rose rapidly into im- 
portance during the long and brilliant earecr of Frederick 
William, the great eleetor, between the years 1640 and 1688. 
This prinee enriehed it with several seientifie establish- 
ments and collections, and his successor, Frederick III., 
who afterwards assumed the kingly title, trod in his 
steps ; he was the founder of Frederick's Town, the hand- 
somest quarter of Berlin, and in 1709 conferred the de- 
signation of Royal Residence Towns on its respective 
districts. Even Frederick William I., in spite of his parsi- 
monious habits, did mueh to embellish it, and also levelled 
many of the walls and ramparts whieh obstructed his im- 
provements. Far more, however, was done by Frederick II., 
his son, from whom Berlin derived nearly the whole of its 
present form. Both his successors, particularly the present 
king, have largely contributed to render this city what all 
must acknowledge it to be, — one of the finest in Europe, 
as well for tbe symmetry of its plan as tbe beauty of its con- 
struction. 

BERME, in fortification, is a kind of terrace formed at 
the foot of a parapet on the exterior side : it is generally in 
a horizontal position, about the level of the natural ground, 
and it separates the esearp, or that side of the diteh which 
forms the face of tbe rampart* from the outward slope of 
tho parapet 

The bcrme prevents the earth constituting the parapet, 
when that work is damaged by rain or otherwise, from 
falling into the diteh ; its breadth is usually from two to 
three feet, aad the diteh being at that distanee from the 
foot of the parapet, the pressure of the latter against the 
escarp wall is in some measure diminished, a cireumstanee 
of considerable importance when tbe soil has not much 
tenacity. If the berme on the exterior of a bastion or rave- 
lin is from ten to fifteen feet broad, it takes tho name of 
chemin des rondes, and serves as a path for the offieers 
superintending the troops who are on duty in the opposite 
covered-way. It may also bo useful as a station for tbe 
defenders, when tbey would oppose any attempt at an open 
assault by preventing tbo enemy from planting his sealing- 
ladders against the face of the esearp ; communications 
being made to it from the iaterior of tbe work by passages 
through the parapet. It should be protected on the exterior 
by a hedge or a low wall, and the latter might be pierced with 
hop-holes for the defence of tbe ditches aad covered-way. 

2Q2 



b e rt 



300 



B E R 



Vauban, in his treatise on the defence of places, ascribes 
groat importance to the diemimUt rondes ; ho observes, 
that tho ruins of the parapet, produced by firing at it from 
a distant*?, being retained on this part of the work, increase 
the height of tho escarp, and thus compel the enemy, if he 
would form a practicable breach, to establish his batteries 
on the crest of tho glacis, in order that he may be enabled 
to fire at or near the foot of the wall. A broad bcrrne is, 
however, liable to some defects, for its protecting wall is 
easily destroyed by the enemy's batteries, and it causes the 
rampart to bo wider than is in some cases convenient 
Moreover, if tho enemy should succeed in gaining it by 
an escalade, he might form there in good order, and mount 
the parapet in force. It must inevitably happen, also, that 
the missiles which the defenders might attempt to throw 
from the parapet upon the assailants while in the ditch would 
be intercepted by the bcrrne. Vauban himself states that, 
at the siege of Gravelines, the besiegers were enabled to 
blowup the rampart by a mine; tho chemin des rondes 
and part of its wall, which had been accidentally left stand- 
ing, preventing the loaded shells, masses of stone, &c., 
which were thrown by the defenders over the parapet from 
falling near the miner while employed in piercing the 
escarp. It is evident, however, that this rampart must have 
been entirely unllanked by the collateral works of the place. 

The position of tho chemin des rondes is indicated by the 
unshaded space on the exterior of the parapet along the 
faces and (lanks of the work V, which is given in the article 
Bastiov. 

BKUMU'DAS, THE, or SOMMERS' ISLANDS, are 
situated in the North Atlantic, 580 miles E. by S. ) S. from 
Capo Hatteras in North America, the nearest point of 
land, and 645 miles N.E. of Atwood's Keys, the nearest of 
the West India Islands. The name Bermudas is derived 
from the supposed discoverer, Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard, 
who is said to have touched there in 1522; or, as it is in 
May's account, from a Spanish ship called Bermudas being 
cast away there. The first printed account of them in Eng- 
lish seems to be by Henry May, who being on board a 
French ship, commanded by M. de la Barbotier, was wrecked 
on them in 1593. (Sec May's account in Hakluyl ; and in 
the General! J li slope of Virginia, <$*c, by Captain John 
Smith, London, 1629.) The second and less common appel- 
lation is from Sir George Summers, or Sommers, who was 
driven upon them in 1 609, on his voyage to Virginia. Sir 
George and his party made their way from the Bermudas 
to Virginia in two small cedar-built vessels, constructed by 
his men, of which that in which Sir George embarked did 
not contain an ounce of iron, except one bolt in the keel. 
At tho time of his arrival in Virginia, the colony was much 
distressed by famine, and the account given by Sir George 
Sommers of the abundance of large black hogs (supposed 
to have belonged to the Spanish ship above meiitioned) and 
other articles of provision at the Bermudas, induced Lord 
Delaware, the governor of Virginia, to send him back for a 
supply. Sir George died on his arrival at the islands, and the 
crew, in spite of his last orders, proceeded with the vessel to 
England, instead of returning to Virginia. Two sailors 
had been left behind at the time of the wreck,' and one re- 
mained from this expedition. A quarrel arose among the 
three for the sovereignty of the islands, which had nearly 
terminated fatally. Rambling along the shore, they found 
a piece of ambergris, weighing about 80 lbs., and as this 
treasure was valueless in their present situation, they formed 
the scheme of sailing in an open boat, either to Virginia or 
Newfoundland, to dispose of it. 

In tho meantime, the Virginia Company, who claimed 
the islands as the first discoverers, sold their right to 
a company of 120 persons, who, obtaining from King 
Jamc*, in 1612. achartcr for their settlement, sent out sixty 
fcctllcr*, with Mr. More as governor. More found the 
sailors healthy and in good condition. The new colony was 
formed on St. George's Island, which was laid out and for- 
tified; and in the course of the same year a second party 
arrived with supplies of all kinds, when the town of St. 
George was commenced. 

Captain Daniel Tucker succeeded (1616) Mr. More as 
regular governor, during whoso time, some rats, which had 
come on shore from the ships which had brought out tho 
settlers, increased to such a degree, as to destroy almo.st 
cvory thing on the islands, even making their nests in trees ; 
but after five year* this dreadful annoyance suddenlv ceased. 
In 1619 Tucker was replaced by Captain Nathaniel Butler, 



at which time tho islands were celebrated for their beauty, 
richness, and salubrity; many of tho nobility purchased 
plantations, and their cultivation was highly encouraged ; 
tho number of whito inhabitants at this time amounted to 
1000. Tho islands had hitherto been governed by the go- 
vernor and council alone ; but on the 1st August, 1620, was 
established, pursuant to the company's instructions from 
England, the General Assembly at the town of St, George. 
Prosperity continued to increase for many >cars, and was 
greatly favoured by the civil wars, which caused many per- 
sons of character and opulcnco to tako refuge here, and 
among them the poet AValler, who celebrated the beauties of 
these islands in an elegant poem, * The Battel of tho Summer 
Islands.' Such indeed was the intlux, that the number of 
white inhabitants at this time has been estimated at 10,000. 

From this time little occurs in their history worthy of 
notice. The islands have always remained in the posses- 
sion of the British, though, towards the close of the first 
American war, General AVashington contemplated tbeir 
capture, as a station for vessels of war, to the annoyance or 
destruction of our West India trade. For this purpose no- 
thing could be moro eligible, as they lie directly in the 
homeward-bound track. 

The climate of the Bermudas is that of a perpetual spring, 
mild, genial, and salubrious, though during southerly 
winds, which arc the most prevalent, the atmosphere be- 
comes charged with a humidity unfavourable to constitu- 
tions predisposed to rheumatism, gout, or pulmonary affec- 
tions. r fhc fields and trees are always green: but the pre- 
dominance of the cedar, while it refreshes the air with its 
fragrance, imparts its dark hue to the landscape ; snow 
seldom falls, and rains arc not frequent, though heavy 
while they last. The islands are, however, very subject to 
tempests, thunderstorms, and hurricanes, especially during 
the autumn, a circumstance that may be attributed to their 
situation on the verge of the trade-wind, where variable and 
disagreeable weather always occurs. 

There is not an insular group on the whole globe so pro- 
tected by nature from the effects of a boisterous ocean, cs 
the Bermudas; they arc surrounded by dangerous rocky 
reefs, extending in some parts ten miles from the islands, 
which render (hem very difficult of access. The few chan- 
nels through the reef are thickly studded with coral rocks. 
but the water is so beautifully clear, that they arc visible to 
the eye; and tho negro pilots looking down from the bow 
of the vessel conduct her through the labyrinth with a skill 
and confidence only to be acquired by long habit. 

The islands lie in a N.E. and S.W. direction, including a 
space about twenty miles in length, and more than six in the 
greatest breadth ; they are all low, the highest point called 
Tibb's Hill, at the southern extreme ofthc large island, being 
only 1 80 feet above the level of the sea. There are no springs 
or fresh water streams in the islands, and but few wells, the 
water from which is brackish ; each house has its own tank, 
to which the roof serves as a conductor for the rain, and on 
the island of St. George's arc large tanks for the supply of 
shipping. 

The following remarks on the geological constitution of 
this group are by Captain Vetch (London Geological Trans- 
actions, vol. i. new series, p. 172-173), and were accom- 
panied with somo specimens sent to the Geological Society 
* The specimens,' observes Captain Vetch, ' six in number, 
were sent me as affording all the varieties of rock to be 
found in theso islands; and as it will appear that they nrc 
all composed of corals and shells of different magnitudes, 
more or less consolidated by a calcareous cement, it seems 
probable the Bermudas owe their existence to the accumu- 
lation of such materials on a coral reef. From the extreme 
narrowness of the channels that separate these islands, they 
may be regarded as forming but one; and in that case the 
length will be about thirteen miles, while the greatest 
breadth hardly exceeds ono mile, and no spot is distant so 
much as five furlongs from the sea. This lengthened nar- 
row shape, with some other peculiarities of form, gives the 
whole so much the character of a coral reef as almost to 
confirm that conjecture. When it is moreover considered 
that the Bermudas rise from a shoal twenty- three miles 
long and thirteen broad, all round which is tho deep water 
of the ocean, while Carolina, the nearest land, is 700 miles 
distant, it seems difficult to ascribe the existence of such a 
platfi>rm, thus rising in the middle of the sea, to any other 
origin. 
* The specimens above enumerated afford a perfect grada- 



BER 



301 



BER 



tion from a rough and obviously fragmented rock to a lime- 
stone almost compact; and may thus be useful in pointing 
out the origin of some calcareous beds, in which a similarity 
of structure exists, but where the mode of formation cannot 
be traced to operations so recent and so apparent as in the 
Bermudas. The large-grained rock being found along the 
coast, and the finer-grained inland, affords a beautiful con- 
firmation of the assumed origin of the islands, since the ac- 
cumulation of such materials by surge and winds would 
evidently effect that disposition ; and as I understand the 
hills nowhere exceed 200 feet in height, and are nowhere so 
much as five furlongs from the sea, the agents seem quite 
adequate to this effect.* 

Including the small ones, the number of islands is very 
great, but the large ones may be reduced to five, viz. : — 
St. George's, St. David's, Long Island (or Bermuda), 
Somerset, and Ireland. There are two towns, each of 
which has its mayor and civic officers; St. George's, on' 
the island of that name to the N.E., and Hamilton, on the 
large island (or Continent as it is generally called), about 
the centre of the group. They are both well built of white 
stone; St. Georges, which is the larger, contains about 500 
houses, a church, the town-house, in which both branches 
of the legislature hold their sittings, a library, and other 
public buildings. The whole group is divided into nine 
parishes, each of which sends four members to the house 
of assembly. The scattered houses and hamlets are so nu- 
merous, that the whole island has the appearance of one 
continued village. 

The surrounding seas are stored with various .kinds of 
fish and turtle, and the Bermudians are among ihe most 
dexterous of fishermen, more particularly with the harpoon. 
The whale-fishery is carried on at a trilling expense, and 
employs about twelve whale-boats and their crews three 
months in the year. One good fish covers the cost of the 
whole season, and sometimes twenty or more are taken, 
yielding one thousand gallons of oil. The tiesh is sold in 
the market, and eaten by the natives. The season com- 
mences in March and ends in June; the whales approach 
the islands close, on the southern side, and men are sta- 
tioned on the cliffs to give notice of their appearanco. The 
Pshery thus carried on is capable of very considerable ex- 
tension, at small risk, by the employment of additional 
capital. The oysters found on the rocks sometimes contain 
good pearls. 

The soil, which appears to have once been fertile, and 
capable of producing every article of West India produce, 
is now generally exhausted. There is scarcely any vege- 
table that will not grow at Bermuda : potatoes, onions, cab- 
bages, carrots, turnips, barley, oats, peas, beans, pumpkins, 
melons, &c, are cultivated. The citron, sweet orange, 
lemon, and lime, arc of good quality; and the arrow-root is 
said to be superior to that of any other place. The palm- 
tree also grows, and the leaves are exported for ladies' fans. 
Coffee, cotton, indigo, and tobacco, are no longer cultivated, 
with the exception of a little indigo; and of the 12,000 
acres which Bermuda is said to contain, only 456 are under 
cultivation. There are 3070 acres of pasture. Live stock 
and Hour are imported from British America. There were 
imported in 1832,881 head of cattle, 1506 sheep and swine, 
36,803 bushels of maize and oats, and 15,481 barrels of 
wheat-Hour and Indian corn-meal. Fresh butter and milk 
are produced in sufficient quantities for the supply required, 
but no more cattle are reared than will keep up the stock; 
ducks are very abundant, and turtle during the summer; 
and the breed of black swine, though somewhat diminished, 
is still numerous. The number of stock on the islands in 
1832 was 214 horses, 1731 horned cattle, 200 sheep, and 
279 goats. 

The principal employment is building vessels, which are 
generally small, swift, and very durable, being constructed 
of cedar. Ten vessels of the aggregate burden of 804 tons 
were built in 1832. Platting of straw, and of the mid-rib 
of the palmetto leaf, is also carried on ; and a beautiful 
species of white freestone, easily cut, is exported to the West 
Indies for ornamental architecture. Vessels annually visit 
the Bahamas for salt.- 

^ The natives are handsome, good-natured, lively, and hos- 
pitable ; the women are particularly amiable. Indolence is 
the great fault of the men, and provents the colony rising 
to the prosperous condition which it might attain, 

•Nothing,' say? Mr. More, 'can be more romantic than 
the little bay of St. George's; the number of little islets, 



the singular clearness of the water, and the animated play 
of the graceful little boats gliding for ever between the 
islands, and seeming to sail from one cedar- grove to an- 
other, form altogether the sweetest miniature of nature that 
can be imagined. In the short but beautiful twilight of 
their spring evenings, the white cottages scattered over the 
islands, and but partially seen through the trees that sur- 
round them, assume often the appearance of little Grecian 
temples, and embellish the poor fisherman's hut with co- 
lumns which the pencil of Claude might imitate.' 

There was formerly a small dockyard at St. George's, but 
it has been removed to Ireland Island, on which large sums 
have of late years been expended,' in order to render it a 
strong post for a naval and military depot. The whole face 
of the island has been changed, hills removed and plains 
made, and all the ingenuity of art and the labour of a large 
convict establishment have been employed in strengthening 
this important station. This island has been selected for 
its convenient size and detached position, which cannot be 
approached except by an intricate channel along the whole 
coast from St. George's. It is however to be regretted, that 
the rocky bar which limits the passage into the latter har- 
bour should not be deepened, to admit ships of the largest 
class, where cruizers not under repair might be in constant 
readiness. 

The free population of the islands, at the census taken in 
1 832, was as follows : — 





Area 

ia 
Acres. 


Whitei.. 


Free 
Blacks 
awl Col/ 


J 'I H 


Persoos em- 
ployed in 


Parishes. 


c 


*3 

E 

V 

S3 


s 

"3 


$ 




1 cJ 


3 = 




St. Georjje . , 
Hamilton . . 
Smith .... 


1 .530 
1,651 
1,281 


246 
130 
67 
121 
314 
186 
21- 
127 
201 


349 
194 
125 
237 

285 

310 

270 

- 343 


92 
44 

22 
26 
95 
49 
30 
56 
44 

458 


146 
43 
23 
48 

158 
54 
37 
43 
53 

610 


10 

5 

> 2 

12 
15 


133 
47 
18 
. 43 
82 
114 
199 
142 
1.175 


125 

120 

7 

24 

17 

ifi 

47 


43 
10 
4 


Devonshire , . 
Pembroke . . 
Paget .... 


1,23) 
1,281 

1,281 


36 
48 
81 


Warwick . , . 

Southampton 

Sandy .... 

In all nearly 20 

square milei. 

Total . . 


1,281 
1,281 
1,507 


81 
51 
123 


12,424 


1,607 


2.574 


44 


1,953 


477 



The number of slaves in the same year, according to the 
official registry, was— males, 1967; females, 2182; total, 
4149. 

About 1000 convict labourers sent from this country arc 
employed in constructing a breakwater, and in perfecting 
the fortifications at Ireland Island. These works have been 
in progress since 1824, and it is expected will be completed 
in about four years from this time, when the convicts will 
be withdrawn, it not being intended to make Bermuda a 
penal settlement. 

There are twenty-three public or free schools in the 
islands. One of these, in Devonshire parish, is a classical 
academy, at which twenty-five scholars are instructed at an 
expense of 600/. per annum, paid out of a trust fund in the 
colony. There are nine day schools; four of them contain 
99 white children; in the other five 158 coloured children 
are taught ; the remaining thirteen are Sunday schools, five 
for white and eight for coloured children, the number of 
scholars being 229 and 303 respectively. These schools are 
supported principally by different societies in England, and 
by funds under the control of the bishop of Nova Scotia, in 
whose diocese the Bermudas are situated. Only two day 
schools are supported by local subscriptions. There are, 
besides the above, twenty-five private schools, the number 
of scholars in which is unknown. 

The islands contain nine churches, one of which is in 
each of the parishes as named above. There are also five 
chapels for Dissenters. 

The following table exhibits the number of shipping that 
visited the islands, for the purpose of trade, in H32 : — 





Inwards. 


Outwards. 


Places. 


Sliips. 


Tons. 


Men. 


Shins. 


Tons. 


Men. 


Great Britain 

HiUUh Colonies .... 

United States 

Foreign States 


8 

76 
65 

6 


2.C52 

6,502 
6,993 

70S 




102 
43 
13 


9,413 
5,5f>l 

1,522 




Total 


155 


16,25? 


1,049 


163^ 


16,441 


1,080 



BER 



302 



B R It 



The imports, in addition to thoso already mentioned, con- 
ststed principally of British manufactures, lumber, and 
ships* stores. The oxports, with the exception of a small 
quantity of arrow-root and hides, were chiefly composed of 
colonial produce previously brought from tho West India 
Ishnds. The total value of imports was 102,742/., and of 
exports 13,784/. sterling money. 

The government of Bermuda is modelled after that of 
Great Britain, the concurrence of the governor, council, and 
legislative assembly, being necessary to give to any public 
measure the force of a law. Tho governor, who is also 
commander-in-chief of tho forces, has tho power of sum- 
moning and dissolving the Legislative Assembly, and its 
enactments are of no force unless he confirms thera.^ The 
Council is composed of eight members and a president: 
they are nominated by tho governor, but the appointment 
must be conQrmed by the crown. The House of Assembly 
consists of thirty-six members, who are returned by the nino 
tril>es or parishes into which the island is divided. All laws 
must originate in this house. Whilo the session lasts, each 
member that attends receives two dollarsa day. The quali- 
fication for a member of this assembly is the possession of 
landed property worth 200/. currency per annum, and an 
elector must possess landed property worth 40/. currency 
(30/, sterling) per annum. Tne courts of law are also mo- 
delled after those of England; the offices connected with 
the administration of justice arc held exclusively by natives, 
who have generally been called to the English bar, although 
this is not indispensably necessary. 

All accounts are kept in tho colony in a currency, the par 
of which is an advance of fifty per cent, on sterling money, 
100/. sterling being of equal value with 160/. currency. 
The gold coins in circulation are Spanish doubloons, and its 
fractional parts. The silver coin is now principally that 
struck in England, but Spanish dollars pass at the rate of 
4?. -id. sterling each. The weights and measures used are 
according to the old English standards. 




Wreck Hill (the western point of the group) is in 32° 
15' 2o" N. lat, and G4 Q 50' W. long. It is high water at 
the dock-yard, full and change, at 8 hours. Rise in the 
springs 5 feet, neap 2 or 3 feet, (Account of the Bermudas 
in Captain John Smith's General History of Virginia, 
New England, and the Summer hies. Loud. 1629 ; Bryan 
Edwards; Colombian Navigator, &c.) [See Bkrkelky, 
Bishop, for an account of his intended college in the Ber- 
mudas.] 

BERN, CANTON OF, the largest and most populous 
cruiton of Switzerland, extends about 85 miles from N. toS., 
from the frontiers of tho French department, of tho Haut 
Rhin, to tho high chain of Alps which divides tho southern 
vullcvs of tho Bernese Obcrland from tho canton of Valais. 
Its shape is very irregular, like that of most Swiss cantons, 
and its breadth therefore varies considerably, being greatest 
in the southern part of the cantou, between the frontiers of 
Uri and Unterwaldcn to the cast, and those of Vaud and 
Krevbnrg to the west, whero it i* about 60 miles; more 
northward*, between Luzcrn and Freyburg, it Is not quite 
30 mile* in soino places ; it then widens again north of the 
cny of Bern, extending about 60 miles from tho frontiers of 



Luzern to the river Doubs, which forms its western boundary 
on the side of France; but here part of tho canton of Soleuro 
projects into the Bernese territory, and intervenes in the lino 
of its breadth. Its area, according to Franscini's Statistic 
(1827), is 9474 square kilometres, cr about 3G62 English 
square miles (about twice the sizo of Lancashire), and its 
population 380,000 according to the census of 1831. (Sec 
Report on the Poor Latcs,) The southern part of the can- 
ton is very mountainous, consisting of high valleys between 
the oflscls of the chain of Alps which divides it from tho 
Valais and from Uri and Unterwaldcn. Farther north, and 
round the city of Bern, the ground, although hilly, is not 
rugged, and consists of pleasant fertile valleys, and some 
level tracts. The most northern part, beyond Bicnne, which 
formerly constituted the territory of tho bishop of Basel, is 
almost entirely covered by the various ridges and offsets of 
tho Jura Mountains up to tho frontiers of Franco. 

Some of the higher summits of the Jura, in the Erguel- 
thal, are nearly 6000 feet above the level of tho sea. The 
loftiest mountains of the canton of Bern, and the only moun- 
tains of primitive formation, aro in its southern part, and 
belong to the great Alpine chain already mentioned. The 
Schreckhorn rises nearly 13,000 feet abovo the level of tho 
sea, and tho Wettcrhorn, in the same neighbourhood, about 
12,000. Tho Jungfrau, 13,716 feet, and the Finsteraarhorn, 
14,109 feet, aro in the same chain, but they are partly in 
tho canton of Bern and partly in that of Valais. Exteasivo 
glaciers cover the sides of these mountains, and aro known 
by the name of tho Glaciers of Grindelwald and Lanter- 
brunnen, from the names of two valleys which are much 
frequented by tourists in summer. 

The principal river of the canton of Bern is the Aar, 
which has its sources in the glaciers of tho Finsteraarhorn, 
waters tho valley of the Ober Hasly, crosses tho Lake of 
Bricnz, and afterwards that of Thun, passes under the 
walls of Bern, forming the peninsula on which that city 
is built, and then winding first westwards and then north- 
wards, enters the canton of Soleure. * The other rivers of 
the canton of Bern are ailluenU of the Aar. The principal 
are the Emraen, which waters the fine and rich valley called 
tbe Einmenthal, passes by BurgdorfT, and enters the Aar 
below Soleure ; the Simmen, from which the district called 
Simmcnthal takes its name, empties itself into the Lake of 
Thun ; the Thicle, which is tho outlet of the Lakes of Neu- 
cha'tel and of Bienne, issues out of the latter at Nidau.and 
falls into the Aar after a short course. The Saane, whose 
course runs chiefly through the canton of Freyburg, has its 
sourre in the Gstcig, in the canton of Bern, and after cross- 
ing Freyburg, enters again the canton of Bern at Laupen, 
and falls into the Aar above Aarberg. In the north-western 
part of the canton, or former bishopric of Basel, the only 
river deserving the name is the Birs, which has its source 
in tho Miinsterthal, and running northward enters the can- 
ton of Basel, where it joins the Rhine. 

The climate of the canton of Bern, and the produce of the 
soil, vary greatly according to the naturo of the ground and 
tho position of the valleys. The Obcrland, or southern part, 
is very cold in winter : cattle forms the chief property of 
the inhabitants, who are mostly poor. The Simmcnthal is 
the best valley in this district The central part, near Bern, 
tbe country between tho Aar and the Em men, and cast of 
the latter river towards Luzcrn, constitute the finest and 
most fertile part of the canton, and produce corn, fruits, 
and rich pastures. The farms are extensive, the farmers 
wealthy, and their houses, built mostly of wood, are roomy 
and comfort able. It is the richest agricultural district in 
Switzerland. Any traveller passing along tbe high roads 
from Aarau or Soleure to Bern, from Luzcrn to Bern by the 
Sumiswald, and from Bern towards Moral or Thun, may 
perceive, from tbo appearance of the houses and the fields, 
the people and their cattle, that industry and comfort are 
generally diffused. 

1 Tho farm-houses in tho Einmenthal have more even 
than the usual amplitude of roof, and appear to contain 
within their wooden boundaries, and the supplementary 
space over which the immense thatch spreads itself, every 
kind of country comfort, and all the rustic and appropriate 
litter of tbo Berneso cottages : milk-pails freshly scoured, 
nnd ranged in the *un ; wood piled up, or herbs spread out 
to dry; hero an array of bee-hives, there an accumulation of 
rakes, barrows, and all the implements of husbandry ; and 
everywhere a profusion of marguerites and holl> hocks, giving 
U> tile little gardens a gay bloom. There is in tins country 



BER 



303 



BER 



a prodigality of homed cattle, and, what a passer-by can 
better appreciate, pleasant villages. Cream, honey, and 
butter, are the overflowings of the land/ {Slight Remini- 
scences of the Rhine, Switzerland) &c, by a Lady, London, 
1834.) 

* Whichever side one looks to (says another traveller on 
the road from Thun to Bern), the appearance of ease and 
comfort meets the eye— a result of the fertility of the soil, 
an intelligent husbandry, and of the habit of order which 
characterizes tbc Bernese peasant. A multitude of dwell- 
ings, scattered over tbe smiling hills, are seen through the 
foliage of the trees, and on each side of the road, behind 
thick hedges carefully trimmed, rises a row of cherry-trees, 
high and with wide-spreading branches. Here property is 
sacredly respected, as almost every family is possessed of 
something. The farm-houses have a substantial appearance 
which is pleasing to the eye: many of tbem which are below 
the level of the road have a sort of draw-bridge, by means of 
which carts are enabled to drive to the hay-loft or granary, 
and deposit there the hay or sheaves of corn from the fields. 
Fountains are seen spouting on every side, and even in the 
arrangement of the manure-heaps a tidiness and cleanliness 
are observed, which are features of the national character. . , . 
Many of the wealthy Bernese peasants ('hof-bauern') hold 
from 200 to 300 jucharts of land (tbe juchart is 4 0,000 square 
French feet), besides possessing considerable capital in 
money, which enables them to practise farming and the 
rearing of cattle on a large scale. Almost all of them have 
received elementary education, and they constitute the nota- 
bles of their respective villages and districts. They enjoy 
considerable local influence, and are in a manner the lords 
of the country : they shoot on their lands, fish in their own 
streams and ponds, and are able to give employment to their 
poor neighbours. The lowest rank of the country people, 
called Hausler, or Tiiuncr, are cottagers and journeymen, 
who have a small house or hut, with a patch of ground or 
garden, and a few fruit-trees. They arc rude and unin- 
formed, improvident, and generally in debt: they marry 
very young, and rear up swarms of children who go about 
begging or pilfering. This class is of course dissatisfied, 
and is generally at variance with the wealthier inhabitants. 
Since tho Revolution of 1830 their numbers have given 
them considerable influence at the elections, especially as 
the great landholders have withdrawn themselves from 
politics. Between the Tauner and the Hofbauern there is 
an intermediate class of peasants or small proprietors, pos- 
sessing from ten to forty jucharts, and this class is said to 
be the most moral of the three. 

* As one approaches the capital of the canton, the number 
of country houses built of stone, and belonging to the wealthy 
citizens, increases. They are neat and rural, without any 
refinement of architecture, but substantial and spacious, en- 
joying a fine prospect, in the midst of fine trees and grass- 
plots, a profusion of flowers, and an abundance of fountains/ 
(Walsh's Voyage en Suisse et en Lombardie, 1834.) 

The roads through the canton of Bern are wide, well con- 
structed, and kept in excellent repair. Tho mails and the 
diligences, or stage-coaches, are also very well organized. 
The inns on tho road are good. It has been observed that 
the roads and the public buildings aro the only magnificent 
works in the canton of Bern. 

The canton is divided into districts or prefectships, for- 
merlycallcd bailiwicks, of which there are twenty-two in the 
old territory of Bern: "namely, Bern, Seftigcn, Nidau, Aar- 
berg, Fraubrunnen. Burgdorf, Wangen, Aarwangen, Trach- 
selwald, Signau, Konolfingen, Thun, Interlaken, Laupen, 
Erlaeh, Buren, Obersimmenthal, Nicdcrsimmenthal, Saa- 
nen, Frutigen, Oberhasli, and Schwarzenburg ; and six 
in the territories acquired in 1815: namely, Bienne, Neu- 
veville, Porentrui, Delcmont, Val Moutier, and the Erguel. 
The towns of tho canton, besides Bern, are — Bienne, Burg- 
dorf, Thun, Porentrui, and Delemont. 

The canton of Bern produces corn, though not sufficient 
for the consumption of the population, but fruit in abundance, 
especially apples, pear*, plums, nuts, and cherries. From 
the cherries the spirit called kirschwasser is made, which, as 
well as tho extract from absinth or wormwood, are articles 
of common use, as in tho rest of Switzerland. Beer and cider 
are made in the country. The vine thrives in a fow dis- 
tricts, chiefly in that of Nidau near the lake of Bienne, where 
wine is made. Hemp and flax are also among tho products 
of the soil ; hut cattle and the produce of the dairy consti- 
tute the chief wealth of the country ; cheese is made in 



abundance for exportation, especially in the valleys of Em* 
menthal, Simmenthal, and Gessenai or Saanen. The use 
of coffee and sugar is universal even in the most se- 
cluded valleys. Irrigation and the making of artificial 
meadows are much followed in the valleys, and the moun- 
tains afford summer pasture in abundance. There are 
dairies in common, where the milk of several herds is 
put together and made into butter and cheese. In 1819 
there were about 158,000 heads of horned cattle in the can- 
ton of Bern : some of the races are among the largest and 
finest in all Switzerland. The number of horses in tbe 
same year was 25,000. That of pigs was reckoned at about 
55,000. (Franscini, Statistical 

The land in the canton of Bern, as in most other parts of 
Switzerland, is divided equally among all the children. 
When the farmers are in good circumstances, the law of inhe- 
ritance does not produce a too great subdivision of land, as 
one of the sons generally purchases or rents his brothers' 
shares, or the brothel's continue to live together and cultivate 
the farm in common. In the Emmenthal the land descends 
to the youngest son, who pays his brothers and sisters their 
portion by mortgaging the estate. But in the poorer dis- 
tricts, such as the Oberland, the increase of the population, 
the minute subdivision of property, and the consequent 
practice of raising money by mortgages, have reduced the 
population to beggary. M. Kasthofer asserts, that it would 
be difficult to find in all Oberland twelve peasants who pos- 
sess twenty arpents of land in cultivation, or such an extent 
of meadow as would winter twenty cows. The number of 
cows has consequently diminished, and that of goats has 
increased. A custom which has tended to encourage early 
marriages exists in many communes, that of giving to a 
young man, on his marrying, a portion of the common land, 
besides other privileges, which he could not possess as a 
bachelor, Poor laws were established in the canton of 
Bern in the seventeenth century, at a time when numerous 
hordes of beggars were strolling through the land, and had 
become a great nuisance. The communes were ordered to 
tax themselves in order to provide for their respective poor. 
This compulsory system of relief, which closely resembles 
that of the English poor laws, has tended to perpetuate and 
increaso pauperism in the country. The cantonal govern- 
ment has endeavoured to check the evil by various ordi- 
nances, one of which forbids any person who receives assist- 
ance from marryingwithoutthe permission of the municipal 
council of the commune ; the commune may also oblige any 
person whom it has once assisted to reimburse the amount 
of the relief whenever he becomes able to do so. Persons 
assisted are subject to a strict superintendence of their con- 
duct, &c. Pauperism, however, has been fast increasing ; 
in the year 182S there were nearly 20,000 persons receiving 
assistance in the old canton of Bern, about l-16th of the 
population (the districts in the Jura not included). See an 
interesting report from Bern, communicated by Mr. Morier 
in the Appendix (F) to the Report of the Poor Laws Com- 
mission, February, 1834. The government of Bern is now 
occupied with a plan of reform for the poor laws. 

The canton of Bern is not, properly speaking, a manufac- 
turing country. Linen is made in many places, sufficient 
for the internal consumption : there are tanneries at Bern, 
as well as a few manufactories of silks, coarse woollens, and 
paper. Mathematical instruments, watches, and jewellery, 
muskets, and other arms, are made at Bern, Porentrui, &c. 
The Bernese gunpowder is excellent, and far superior in 
quality to the French : the manufacturing of it is free, and 
not subject to monopoly as in France. At Correndclin, 
Untervilier, and other places in the valleys of the Jura, there 
are iron -works and foundries, the iron-ore being found in 
abundance in the mountains. The manufacture of agricul- 
tural implements has been carried to great perfection at Mr. 
Fellenberg's establishment at Hofwyl. Timber for building 
and fuel are supplied by the mountain forests, and from 
other woods in several parts of the lowlands. 

The lakes of Bienne and Thun and the river Aar abound 
with various sorts of fish, especially of the trout and salmon 
kind. Hares, chamois, marmots, and partridges are the prin- 
cipal game. Bears and wolves are found in the higher Alps, 
but in small numbers. Among the birds of prey, the Lam- 
mer-geyer, the great vulture of the Alps, is the largest, 
though not very common : some arc of very great size, and 
will carry off a lamb to the mountains, from which circum- 
stance their name is derived. 
The government of Bern was, until the end of tho last 



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centi.ry. in the hand* of a council, called the Council of Two , 
Hundred, which consisted in fact of 299 members, chosen 
exclusively from among the burghers of Bern. All the 
rest of the canton was subject, to thoin. A senate, elected 
by the great council from among its own members, held the 
executive power. A schulthciss or avoycr was the chief 
magistrate of the republic. The commonwealth being in its 
origin limited to the town, which was a free imperial city, 
having received a charter or bull from the Emperor Frederic 
II., dated May, 1218, all the citizens who were possessed of 
a house tn it had a vote in tho general assembly, which 
elected the magistrates and the council of government. As 
the town became enlarged, the burghers were classed into 
four tribes or guilds, each headed by a banneret or standard- 
bearer, who exercised great influence at the elections. By 
degrees the members of the sovereign council remained for 
life, and the vacancies were filled up hy the council itself 
mostly from a small number of intluential families. Many 
of the neighbouring feudal nobles became burghers of Bern, 
whilst others fought against the ruling commonwealth, and 
were successively defeated, and obliged to give up or sell 
part or the whole of their territories to the citv, which thus 
became possessed of extensive domains. This was the ori- 
gin of the state of Bern. The wars which it sustained 
against several emperors who had become jealous of its 
growth served to strengthen its power. Rudolf of Habs- 
burg attacked Bern in vain in 12SS. His son Albert marched 
agninst Bern in 129S, and was defeated at Donncrbuhlen 
hy the Bernese, led by Ulrich von Erlach. In 1339 the 
Emperor Louis of Bavaria declared war against Bern. The 
nobility of western Helvetia, who were vassals of the em- 
pire, and the town of Frcyburg. which was liege to Austria, 
united their forces to the number of 15,000 foot and 3000 
horse. The Bernese, commanded by Rudolf von Erlach, 
son of Ulrich, and reinforced by 1000 men from the three 
forest cantons, met tho enemy at Lanpcn on the 21st of 
June, and with only 5000 men completely defeated the 
proud chivalry opposed to them. This victory consolidated 
the power of Bern, which became henceforth the principal 
state of all western Helvetia. In 1352 Bern was admitted 
into the Swiss Confederation, of which it formed the eighth 
canton. [See Switzerland.] 

In 1415 Bern conquered the greater pari of Aargau from 
the house of Austria, and added it to its dominions. In 
1476 it sustained the attack of Charles the Bold, Duke of 
Burgundy, whom the Bernese, assisted by their Swiss con- 
federates, defeated at Granson and Morat. In 15*28 Bern 
adopted the Reformation, but the change was effected 
without violence, and the revenues of the suppressed mo- 
nasteries were applied to the support of the reformed clergy, 
to the foundation of schools* and other charitable purposes. 
In 1536 the Bernese took the Pays de Vaud from the Duke 
of Savoy, in consequence of his having attacked Geneva, 
the ally of Bern. By a subsequent treaty the Pays dc Vaud 
was formally ceded by the duke. This was the last con- 
quest of Bern. For nearly three centuries after, the terri- 
tory of Bern continued to extend over the finest part of 
Switzerland, from the banks of the Lake of Geneva to those 
of the Rhine, besides several bailiwicks which it possessed 
in common with other cantons in Thurgau and other parts. 

The government of Born gave no share in the legislative 
or executive to the population of the territory, but it left to 
the country towns the municipal franchises which they en- 
joyed at the time of the conquest, the election of their local 
magistrates, and the administration of the communal pro- 
perty. The can ion was divided into landvogtcicn or baili- 
wicks, and the baillis were taken from among the councillors 
of Bern. They were the administrators of the public reve- 
nue, and of the domains of the state, and likewise the 
judges of the district. Unfavourable reports have been 
mado of the administration of those officers, but these re- 
ports seem to havo been at least greatlv exaggerated. (See 
Stanyan and Coxc on this subject.) One essential distinc- 
tion which has been lost sight of by party writers is that 
between tho baillis of the canton itself, who were under the 
immediate inspection of the government, to which there 
was appeal from their decisions, and those sent hy turns to 
the subject bailiwicks held hy several cantons together, in 
the Italian valleys, where it is known that they were under 
little or no control, and where they often acted the part of 
avaricious dc*potx. 

The members of the sovereign council of Bern were elected 
for life, and every ten years there was an election to supply 



the vacancies that had occurred during that period. The 
councillors themselves were tho electors; and as old families 
became extinct, and as it was a rule that tlicre should not 
be less than eighty families having members in the great 
council, vacancies were supplied from new families of bur- 
ghers. Still the number of families in whose hands the 
government was vested was comparatively small, and several 
unsuccessful attempts were made in the course of the eight- 
eenth century to alter this state of things, and to reinstate 
the assemblies of the body of the burghers. The disconteni, 
however, was far from general, and it did not extend to the 
country population. The administration was conducted in 
an orderly, unostentatious, and economical manner, the 
taxes were few and light. * It would be difficult," ha\$ the 
historian Miillcr, *to find in the history of the world a com- 
monwealth which for so long a period has been so wisely 
administered as that of Bern. In other aristocracies the 
subjects were kept in darkness, poverty, and barbarism, 
factions were encouraged amongst them, while justice winked 
at crime or took bribes, and this was the case in the depen- 
dencies of Venice. But the people of Bern stood with regard 
to their patricians rather in the relation of clients towards 
their patrons, than in that of subjects towards their sove- 
reigns/ Zschokkc, a later Swiss historian, speaking of Kern 
and other aristocracies of Switzciland, say?, ' They acted like 
scrupulous guardians. The magistrates, even the highest 
among them, received small salaries; fortunes were made 
only in foreign service, or in the common bailiwicks of the 
subject districts. Although the laws were defective and 
trials secret, the love of justice prevailed in the country; 
power wisely respected the rights of the humblest freeman. 
In the principal towns, especially the Protestant ones, wealth 
fostered science and the fine arts. Bern opened fine roads, 
raised public buildings, fostered agriculture in its fine terri- 
tory, relieved those districts that were visited by storms or 
inundations, founded establishments for the sick and the 
helpless, and yet contrived to accumulate considerable sums 

in its treasury But the old patriotism of the Swiss 

slumbered: it was replaced hy selfishness, and the mind 
remained stationary; the various cantons were estranged 
from each other ; instruction spread in the towns, but coarse- 
ness and ignorance prevailed in tbc country.' The conse- 
quence of all this was, that when the storm came from 
abroad it found the Swiss unprepared to face it. The French 
republic, in its career of aggression, did not respect the 
neutrality of Switzerland. The Directory found a pretext 
for aggression upon Bern in the complaints of some re- 
fugees of the Pays de Vaud, who claimed political rights for 
their country. A French army entered the Pays de Vaud 
in 1798, and declared that country independent of Bern. 
They next demanded that the government of Bern itself 
should be made democratic The great council of Bern had 
already proposed reforms, and had called together deputies 
from the country to assist in carrying them into effect. 
But the French General Brune imperiously demanded the 
immediate resignation of all the actual members of the 
government. The Bernese militia, to the number of 22,000, 
had been called together for the defence of the country, and 
placed under the command of General d'Erlaeh. brune 
required it to be disbanded. Orders and counter-orders were 
sent in quick succession from Bern to D'Erlach's camp. 
The councils of Bern were irresolute, while the militia were 
eager to fight. Insidious reports were spread among the 
Bernese camp that the officers were betraying them to the 
French; several battalions mutinied, and murdered their 
colonels, but after committing the crime they returned to 
their post, determined to fight the invaders. At last, on 
the 5th of March, the French attacked the Bernese division 
of Graffenried, which repulsed them at Ncuenek with 
great loss. Another French division at the same time 
attacked D'Erlaeh at Frauenbrunnen, and by its superiority 
in cavalry and artillery, drove him back after a desperate 
resistance. Bern was now left uncovered and open to the 
enemy, and it capitulated. D'Erlaeh took the road to tho 
Oberland, whero he intended to rally his troops and make 
a stand, hut he was murdered on the way, at Miinsingcn, 
by his own soldiers, who fancied he had betrayed them. 
Many other officers of the first families of Bern fell cither 
in the fight or in the mutiny, whote names stand recorded 
on six black marble slabs in the cathedral of Bern ; and 
a number of women were killed fighting with scyihes by 
the side of their husbands and brothers at Grauholz, near 
Bern, where the Bernese made a last stand after D'Erlach's 



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305 



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defeat. The French seized upon the treasury at Bern, 
where they found above thirty millions of francs in gold and 
silver, and they emptied the arsenal, which was well stocked 
with arms and ammunition of every sort. These, as well as 
the money, were the principal inducements to the aggres- 
sion. 

After several years of civil and foreign war, attended by 
dreadful calamities, the act of mediation by Buonaparte in 
1803 organized Switzerland into nineteen cantons, of which 
Bern was one, Aargau and Vaud being definitively sepa- 
rated from it. In 1815 a new federal pact was framed, 
and was guaranteed by the allied powers. The territories 
of the former bishop of Basel which had been annexed to 
France were given to the canton of Bern, which thus be- 
came again the largest and hy far the most populous canton 
of all Switzerland. The constitution of the canton at the 
same time was again made more aristocratical; 200 of the 
members of the sovereign council were chosen from among" 
the burghers of Bern hy a commission of the council itself, 
the remaining ninety-nine being chosen from the rest of 
the canton by the electoral colleges of the various districts. 
The old patrician families resumed their influence over the 
elections, and the office of councillor was again for life. In 
December 1830, when other cantons of Switzerland changed 
their constitutions, the country districts of Bern demanded 
a more equal share of the representation and a popular sys- 
tem of election. The sovereign council yielded to the de- 
mand, and appointed a committee to frame a new constitu- 
tion, which was completed in the summer of 1831, while the 
old authorities still remained in ofliee, and the administration 
proceeded with the usual regularity. The election of the 
members in town and country was given to the respective 
constituencies, the number of members returned by each 
district being in proportion to its population; the superiority 
of the burghers of Bern over the country was effaced, all 
privileges of persons and families were abolished, the cen- 
sorship .was suppressed, a municipal organization was given 
to the communes, the debates of the sovereign council were 
made public, and other regulations of a popular nature were 
enacted. Bern has thus become a democratic republic. 
The new constitution has now (1835) been in force for 
more than three years ; notwithstanding some heart-burn- 
ings and party ebullitions, things appear to be settling into 
a regular system, and no act of open violence or blood- 
shed has accompanied the change. The greatest difficul- 
ties are those existing hetween Bern and the other con- 
federates concerning federal regulations, for in the diet 
Bern takes the lead of the movement party in Switzerland, 
and finds itself in opposition to the majority of the cantons, 
which although equally democratic in their internal consti- 
tutions, are opposed to fundamental changes in the federal 
pact, and are jealous of the power of Bern, which having 
almost one-fourth of the population of Switzerland, would, 
if the members to the diet were to be returned in any thing 
like numerical proportion, exercise an irresistible influence 
over the deliberations of that body, while the votes of the 
smaller cantons would he completely swamped by those of 
a few large ones. For a detailed account of these dissen- 
sions, see an article on Swiss polities in Cochrane's Foreign 
Quarterly Review, March, 1 835. 

The population of the canton of Bern is chiefly Protestant, 
of the Helvetic confession of faith, which was drawn up by 
Zwingli and Bullingor, the two Swiss reformers of the six- 
teenth century. The number of Catholics is reckoned at 
42,000 ; tbey are chiefly in the territory of the former bishop 
of Basel. 

The department of public instruction has been improved 
since the beginning of the present century, and there 
are now elementary schools all over the canton, but the 
remuneration of the masters is very scanty, being only 
from 00 to 100 Swiss livres (3/. to 6/. per sterling) a year. 
The secondary instruction is given in gymnasia, of which 
that of Bern is the principal, and is supplied with very good 
professors. In 1826 a school for artizans was established 
at Bern hy several benevolent citizens, in which artizans 
are taught gratis. In general, however, instruction is not 
so generally diffused at Bern as in Zurich. [For the 
establishment of M. de Fellenberg, see Hofwyl.] For 
scientific instruction Bern has a university, with ahout 
twenty professors of theology, jurisprudence, medicine, ma- 
thematics, philosophy, mineralogy, natural history, and the 
art of drawing, a public library with 30,000 volumes, a ho- 
tanieal garden, museum, &c. A federal military school 



for the artillery and engineers is established at Thun. 
There is besides a cantonal military school, for the instruc- 
tion of the officers of the militia. The number of men from 
twenty to fifty years of age liable to be called under arms 
in case of invasion is about 50,000 in the whole canton. 
Bern is hound to furnish a contingent of 5824 men to the 
federal army whenever required by the diet, and to have 
an equal number ready as a reserve in case of need. 

The language of the people of the canton of Bern is the 
Swiss-German, but various dialects prevail in the different 
districts or valleys. The dialect of the Obcr Hasli is pecu- 
liar, and is said to contain many Swedish words or roots. 
Almost all the educated people of the towns, and especially 
of Bern, understand and speak French. In some of the 
valleys of the former bishoprick of Basle French is spoken 
hy the people in general. 

The character of the Bernese peasantry is steady, serious, 
and slow, but they are subject to fits of violent passion when 
excited. The educated people of the fowns are refined and 
polite, and hospitable to strangers. A mixture of the Ger- 
man and French characters is observable in the in. Much 
licentiousness used to prevail in the town of Bern among 
the young men, but things appear to have improved in this 
respect of late years. (See Bonstetten, Lettres, 1831.) The 
general tone of manners and habits throughout the canton, 
however, is orderly, domestic, and religious. The Bernese 
peasantry in general are healthy and robust ; the women in 
some of the valleys are remarkably handsome. Their pecu- 
liar costume and head-dress may be se"en in the collection 
of prints of Swiss costumes. 

BERN, the capital of the canton of Bern and one of tho 
three Vororls of Switzerland, was founded in 1191 by Ber- 
thold V. Duke of. Ziihringen, for the purpose of keeping in 
check his refractory nobility. In 1218 Bern was made an 
imperial city by the emperor Frederick II. *A great fire 
destroyed the whole town in 1405, after which it was rebuilt 
on its present regular plan. 

Bern is situated in 46° 56' 54" N. lat., and about 7° 25' 
E. long., on a somewhat long and elevated peninsula, 
formed by the river Aar, which runs on three sides of it. 
the fourth is open to the west, and fortified. There is a 
stone bridge over the Aar, about 260 feet long. The town, 
which contains 1128 houses and 13,900 inhabitants, may 
justly be reckoned among the most elegant cities in Europe. 
Its style of building is very regular, without appearing mo- 
notonous ; the streets arc broad, and run parallel from cast 
to west ; they have, for the most part, arcades on both 
sides with good shops, and communicate by cross streets. 
There is a great number of fountains in the city, many of 
them ornamented with statues, some of which refer to his- 
torical events. 

Of all the buildings the Miinster, or cathedral, is the 
most remarkable. It is built in the Gothic style, and is 
160 feet long and 80 broad; the steeple is left unfinished. 
The chief entrance is adorned with curious sculpture. In 
the windows there are also fine glass-paintings. The church 
of the Holy Spirit is distinguished for its simple modern 
architecture. Among other large and elegant buildings are 
the Burgerspital and Inselspital (citizen and island hospital), 
which latter alone forms a whole street. The town-hall is 
an old and heavy building, which presents nothing remark- 
ahle. The corn-magazine, a large and splendid building, 
rests on thirty-four pillars. The New Schallerhaus, a 
prison and house of correction, built' of freestone, is the 
largest edifice of the kind in Switzerland. The armoury, 
the orphan-house, the hotel de musique or theatre, the casino, 
the library, and the museum, are also fine buildings. The 
barricres of Aarberg and Murten are very handsome : near 
the former is the barengraben (bear-ditch), in which, for 
several centuries, a family of bears ha3 been kept at the 
expense of the state*. 

Of the walks near the town the Platcforme and the Enge 
are the best. The former, along a terrace 108 feet abovo 
the Aar, with noblo chestnut-trees, is one of the finest walks 
in Switzerland. The latter, which in its arrangement pre- 
sents a rural appearance, is made for ever memorable by 
Studer's View of the Alps, taken from it, the finest pano 
rama which has appeared in Switzerland, and in which no 
error has yet been discovered. The very extensive burying- 
yard, Monbijou, in summer resembles a rich garden. 

Bern is not properly a manufacturing placo: as a trading 
town it is not inconsiderable. The chief trade is with the 

• Tliorc is • bear in the arroj of licm. 



No. 243. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 2 R 



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produce of tho country. There arc yearly exhibitions for 
encouraging industry and agriculture. A great deal isdono 
in the 'banking business. There is a powder manufactory, 
breweries, tanneries, a manufacture of straw-hats, &c. 

Tho town has a good publio library, of 30,000 volumes, 
and a richly-endowed museum of natural history. Thero 
are also many private collections of minerals, plants, coins, 
&e„ and two botanical gardens. 

The establishments for education are good, and much is 
done at present for the instruction of all classes. Tho 
academy was changed in 1834 into a university, and the 
gymnasium is now being re-organized, as well as all tbo 
schools in tho canton. Almost all tho inhabitants are of 
the reformed religion. Bern is the birth-place of the cele- 
brated Ilaller. {Communication from Switzerland.) 

BERNARD, Duke of Weimar. [See Thirty Years* 
War.] 

BERNARD, EDWARD, was born May 2, 1638, at 
Pauleys Perry, near Toweestcr in Northamptonshire, of 
which place his father was rector. He was educated first at 
Northampton, afterwards at Merchant Tailors* School, Lon- 
don, under Dugard. In June, 1655, he was elected scholar 
of St. John's College, Oxford. Here he turned his attention 
to the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic languages, in 
addition to the pursuits of tho place ; ana also to mathema- 
tics, which be studied under Wall is. In 1653, ho was made 
fellow of bis collego, B.A. in 1659, M.A. in 1662, B.D. in 
1667, and D.D. in 1684. In 1668 he went to Leydcn to 
consult manuscripts, and brought home tho three books of 
Apollonius, which [sec Apollonius] Golius had brought 
from the east. About 1669, Christopher Wren being ap- 
poinied architect to the king, obtained leave to have a deputy 
for the duties of the Savilian professorship of astronomy, and 
he appointed Bernard. The lattor obtained at the same time 
a living and a chaplaincy, but these he resigned in 1673, 
when Wren finally resigned his professorship. The Sa- 
vilian professors aro not allowed to hold any church prefer- 
ment, and Bernard at this time desired to succeed Wren. 
This be did, against the advice of friends, who were un- 
willing that he should quit the road of preferment. The 
design which was then formed, and afterwards executed, of 
reprinting all tbo old mathematicians at Oxford, seems to 
have been his great inducement He was not much at- 
tached to astronomy itself, though versed in tho antiquarian 
learning connected with it. In 1676 ho went to F ranee, 
as tutor to the dukes of Grafton and Northumberland, tho 
sons of Charles II. by the duchess of Cleveland. He staid 
only a year, not being satisfied (Dr. Smith hints) with the 
treatment be received. In 1 683 he went to Holland, to be pre- 
sent at tho sale of the library of Heinsius ; and being now 
disgusted with his situation at Oxford, would have remained 
at Leyden, if he could bavo obtained the professorship of 
Oriental languages. Ho would havo resigned in favour 
either of Flamstced or Hal ley , for bo said he found astro- 
nomy made life neither better nor happier. Ho was, bow- 
ever, unable to obtain any means of extricating himself till 
the year 1691, whon Mewes, bishop of Winchester, gavo bim 
the rectory of Brightwoll in Berkshire. Ho was succeeded 
in tho professorship by David Grogory, and subsequently 
by Hal ley. Under the so two the reprints of tho old ma- 
thematicians wero mado which distinguished tho Oxford 
press of that period; and tho labours of Dr. Bernard, who 
passed his life in searching for and collating manuscripts, 
wero of tho greatest preliminary service. In 1693 ho mar- 
ried; in 1696 ho wont again to Holland, to be present at 
tbo sale of the library of Golius. He died at Oxford soon 
after his return, January, 1697, having lived a most indus- 
trious and useful life. lie left behind him a large number 
of papers, some of them unfinished. Of his printed works 
we shall presently speak. The lifo of Bernard was pub- 
lished in 1704, by Dr. T. Smith, his intimate friend. It is 
written in Latin, but from tho immense length of the sen- 
tences, is almost unintelligible. The principal contents are 
faithfully transcribed in the Biogrophio Britannico, with 
information from other sources. In oither of these works 
the catalogue of unfinished papers will bo found, as well as 
of printed works. The latter aro as follow : 

1. "Of the Antient Weights and Measures/ published 
at the end of Pococke's Commentary on I lose a, Oxford, 
1685; reprinted with largo additions, Oxford, 1688, in 
Latin, under the titlo of 'Do Mensuris et Ponderibus An- 
tiquis lihri trcs.' It contains a good index, and an ap 
peuded letter by Hyde, on tho Chinese weights and mca 



sures. This is a work of learning, and one of tho best 
which remain on tho subject. It must bo observed, that 
Arbuthnot, in his work on ancient woights and measures, 
never cites it, and does not seem to bo aware of its exist- 
ence: which considering the nature of tho subject, very 
much adds to the utility of both works for tho purposes of 
comparison, unless tho second work bo taken from tho first, 
of which, on comparison, we do not see any very obvious 
signs. 

2. ' Private Devotions, with a brief explication of the Ten 
Commandments,' Oxford, 1689. 

3. ' Orbis cruditi litcratura a eharactere Samaritico do- 
dueta,' a table printed from a copper-plate, (in what year 
is not statod,) giving at a view tho letters of most antient 
nations, collected from actual monuments ; together wilh 
the contractions of the Greeks, and those of physicians, ma- 
thematicians, and chemists. 

IV. "Canon precipuarum e stellis fixis (numero xxiii.) 
secundum observata majorum/ in the Philosophical Trans- 
actions for April, 1684. 

V. In tho Phil. Trons. for September, 1684, is a Latin 
letter to Flamstced, endeavouring to prove the permanence 
of the value of the obliquity of the ecliptic, from antient ob- 
servations. 

VI. Etymolugicon Britannicum, at tho end of Hickes's 
Grommatica Anglosoxonica et Moesogothica. It contains 
the Russian, Slavonic, Persian, and Armenian derivations 
of English and British words. 

VII. Chronologic Samaritona Synopsis, a letter to J. 
Ludolf; who published it in the Acta ErudUorum for April, 
1691. 

VIII. Notes in Frogmen turn Seguierionum Stephani 
Byzantivi. A part of this only, that relating to Dodonc, 
was published by Gronovius at tho end of his Exercitationcs 
de Dodonc, Leyden, 1681. It is praised by Fabricius. 

IX. Adnototiones in Epistohm Sa?icti ftarnaba> t Oxford, 
1685. In Bishop Fell's edition. 

X. Adnotationes in Scriptorcs Apostolicos, in the Am- 
sterdam edition of Cotclerius' Apostolical Fathers. 

XL Scholio et Annototiones in Gracas inscriptiones Pal- 
myre7\orum y Utrecht, 1698. 

XII. Collection of letters of Robert Huntington, &c, pub- 
lished with Dr. Smith's lifo of Bernard, (See the life of 
Huntington in the sainb work,) 

XIII. Veterum Mathemolicorwn Gr&corum, Latinorum, 
el Aro bum, synopsis. A catalogue, being a sort of pro- 
spectus of the scheme of publication hereinbefore alluded to. 
In the same work as the last. 

XV. Testimonia oliquot, #c. de lxxii Interpretibwt 
corumque Versione. At the end of Aldrich's edition of 
Aristeas, Oxford, 1692, 

Tho work of Aristarehus, as published by Wallis, was 
collated by Bernard, and the result of his collation of tbo 
text of Euclid may be said to bo published in Gregory's ce- 
lobrated edition. (See its Preface.) 

BERNARD, ST., abbot of Claiivaux, one of tbo most 
distinguished saints in the Roman calendar, was born 
at Fontaine, in Burgundy, in the year 1091. His father 
was Tecelinus, a nobleman and a soldier: his mother's 
name was Aleth. Both his parents were persons of great 
piety, according to tho notions of that ago. Bernard was 
tho third of seven children. From his infancy ho was de- 
voted to religion and study, and after having been educated 
at tho university of Paris, at that time one of the most cele- 
brated seats of learning in Europe, at tho age of twenty-two 
he entered tbe Cistercian monastery of Ctteaux, near Dijon 
in Burgundy. His influence on the minds of others, even 
ut that early age, is shown by his inducing upwards of 
thirty of his companions, including his Ave brothers, to ac- 
company him in his retreat The Cistercian order was at 
that tirno the strictest in France, and Bernard so recom- 
mended himself by tho most rigorous practice of its austeri- 
ties, that in the year 1115 he was selected as head of the 
colony which founded tbo abbey of Clairvaux in Cham- 
pagne. For some time he practised such severities ns to 
injure his health, but he afterwards acknowledged his error, 
and relaxed bis discipline, both with respect to himself and 
others. 

His reputation soon rose so high, that in 1128 he was 

employed by the grand master of the Templars to draw up 

tho statutes of that order. Such was his influence, that in 

defiance of all justice, he prevailed on tho king, clergy* and 

I nobility of Franco nsseinbled at Etanipes, near Paris, to 



BER 



307 



BER 



acknowledge Innocent II. as legitimate pope, in opposition 
to his competitor Anaclete (VArt de verifier les dates, Con- 
cilium Stampense and Innocent //.), and afterwards suc- 
ceeded in obtaining the same acknowledgment from Henry 
I. of England. Some time after he was sent to make some 
arrangements with the clergy of Milan, who conceived such 
an admiration for him, that at the close of the negotiation, 
they offered bim the archbisboprick of that city, which he 
refused. In the course of his life he also refused the arch-, 
bishopricks of Genoa and Rheims, as well as many other 
ecclesiastical dignities. Having condemned as heretical 
some propositions in the works of tbe celebrated Abelard, 
he was challenged by him to a public controversy. At first 
he wished to decline the challenge, but at last accepted it, 
at the pressing instances of his friends. In tbe year 1140 
they met at the council of Sens in Champagne, but before 
the discussion was completed, Abelard appealed to the pope ; 
the council agreed with Bernard in condemning the propo- 
sitions, and by order of the pope, Abelard was coufined in 
the monastery of Cluni, in Burgundy. 

At the council of V£zelai, on the confines of Burgundy 
and Nivernois, in the year 1146, Bernard persuaded the 
king and nobility of France to enter on a crusade. On this 
occasion he went so far as to claim inspiration, and to pro- 
phecy the success of the undertaking. This is the most 
reprehensible part of his career, and the quibble by which 
he attempted to cover the failure of his prophecy is truly 
contemptible. (Bayle, Diet. Hist.) In the same year a 
council was held at Chartres, where the crusaders offered 
St Bernard the command of the army, which he refused. 
In 1147, at the council of Paris, he attacked the doctrine of 
Gilbert de la Porrce, bishop of Poitiers, on the Trinity ; and 
in the following year, at the council of Rheims, procured 
its condemnation. During the eourse of his life he success- 
fully combated several other heresies. The last act of his 
career was his mediation between the people of Mentz and 
some neighbouring princes. On his return to his convent 
he fell ill and died, a.d. 1153. He was canonized in the 
year 11 74, by Pope Alexander III., and the Roman ehureh 
eelebrates his festival on the 20th of August. 

There is perhaps no instance on reeord of such extensive 
influence, obtained by the mere force of personal character, 
without any adventitious advantages ; and upon the whole, 
St. Bernard's influence docs not appear to have been unde- 
served, though it was occasionally misused. In our esti- 
mate of his character, and particularly of his eonduct with 
respect to the crusades, we must make great allowances for 
the spirit and feelings of the age. It is much to his credit, 
that, attached as ho was to the papal supremacy, he laid 
open witb an unsparing hand the vices and corruptions of 
the Roman court ; and on all occasions he seems to have 
acted in a spirit of fervent zeal, and, for that age, of Chris- 
tian eharity. His works, which have procured for him from 
Roman Catholic writers tbe honourable appellation of the 
last of the fathors, bave been repeatedly published. The 
best edition is that by Mabillon, 2 vols, folio, Paris, 1719, 
which, besides his undoubted works, contains several pro- 
ductions attributed to him on less authority, and some lives 
of him by monkish writers, to which those who wish for an 
aceount of his miracles and austerities are referred. (See 
Milner's History of the Church, vol. iii. p. 330 ; Wadding- 
ton's History of the Church, p. 325 ; MosheinVs Ecclesias- 
tical History ; Neand6r's St. Bernard and his Times, Ber- 
lin. 1813.) 

BERNARD, SAINT, one of the ehicf mountain-passes 
in the Pennine chain of- Alps between the Swiss Valais 
and Piedmont. This road leads from Martigny and the 
villages of Liddes and St. Pierre in the Valais to St. Remy, 
and Aosta in Piedmont. This pass, which is rather more 
tteep and difficult on tbe Swiss than on the Italian side 
(as was found by tbe Freneb army which erosscd the 
mountain in May, 1800), is only practicable the whole 
way for mules and pedestrians ; though, at times, the 
light charS'il'bancs of the country go with difficulty as far 
as the Hospice. The most elevated part of the passage 
of the St. Bernard is a long and narrow valley, the bot- 
tom of which is occupied by a lake. The height of this 
valley above the level of the sea is stated by M. Saussure, 
on the authority of M. Pictet, at 1246 toises, or about 
7963 English feet ; -and by Mr. Brockedon at 8200 English 
feet. At tho eastern extremity of the lake, which is frozen 
over during eight or nine months of the year, stands the 
celebrated Hospice, or house of reception, or monastery of 



St. Bernard ; and at the other end of the lake there is a 
small level space, called the Plain of Jupiter, or Jove, 
where in ancient times there stood a temple of that god, and 
probably a bouse of refuge, built by the Romans. From 
the temple tbe mountain derived its name, it being antiently 
called Mont Jovis, which Latin denomination was cor- 
rupted into Mont-Joux ; and it bore the latter name until 
(as it is generally stated) the celebrity of the hospice of St. 
Bernard gave it anew and a Christian designation. This 
last opinion has, however, been controverted ; and it ap- 
pears not improbable that the mountain owed its name of 
Bernard not to a saint, but to a soldier. M. Saussure says 
it was so styled more than a century before St. Bernard ; and 
he thinks the name may have arisen from Bernard, or 
Bern hard, the uncle of Charlemagne, who took that pas- 
sage for his army across the Alps in his famous expedition 
against Astolphus, tbe last Lombard sovereign but one of 
Upper Italy. 

According to general report, the hospice, or monastery, 
was built by St. Bernard about a.d. 962 ; but, again, it 
seems evident that there was a monastery, with an abbot, 
styled of Mont-Joux, long before that period, at or near the 
site of the present edifice. As it is not probable that this 
pass into the fertile plains of Piedmont was ever wholly 
abandoned, and as it must always have exposed travellers 
to danger and great fatigue, it is reasonable to suppose that 
some house of refuge was kept up from the time of the 
Romans, or even before. M. Saussure and other tra- 
vellers saw a numher of ancient ex-vot* tablets and images 
which had been found in the pass, where they had been 
offered to the pagan temple by tbe way-farers of old, in gra- 
titude for their safe journey. 

The monastery of St. Bernard has been twice consumed 
by fire. Its sainted founder is said to have lived forty years 
on the desolate spot. The monks are of the order of St. 
Augustin. Considerable landed property was once attached 
to this humane and useful establishment, but it now mainly 
depends on annual allowances made by the Swiss and 
Piedmontese governments, and on voluntary donations of 
private individuals and rich travellers. It extends relief 
and eleemosynary hospitality (when needed) to all classes 
and conditions of men; and, without heeding the general 
nature of monastic institutions or the distinctions of creeds, 
the Protestant Swiss contribute as readily to it as the Ca- 
tholic Italians. The exertions of these monks to rescue lost 
travellers from the snow and the avalanehe, and the stories 
of their dogs, are well known. 

The monastery of the Great St. Bernard is the most ele- 
vated fixed habitation in Europe, and close upon the limits 
of perpetual snow. Tremendous rocks and peaks rise above 
it, to the height, according to Saussure, of 663 toises, or 4 240 
English feet, in tbeir highest part. About half of the moun- 
tain-mass may be said to belong to Italy, and half to Switzer- 
land ; and not far from the lake there is a barrier, marking 
the frontier or line of demarcation between Piedmont and 
the Valais. A torrent which descends towards Aosta and 
Italy is called Le Butier, and another torrent which rushes 
in the opposite direction towards St. Pierre and the Valais 
is named La Drance du St. Bernard. 

Besides the St. Bernard, there is the Little St. Bernard, 
which lies between Tarentaise and Piedmont, and forms 
part of the chain of the Graian Alps. This passage is de- 
scribed in the article Alps. 

See Saussure, Voyage dans les Alpes ; Brockedon's 
Passes of the Alps. 

BERNARDINES, a branch of the Benedictine Ordei 
of Religious, more frequently ealled Cistercians. Their 
name of Bernardines was derived from St. Bernard, abbot 
of Clairvaux, or Clareval, in the diocese of Langres, about 
a.d. 1115, who was a great promoter of their order. They 
were ealled Cistercians from Cistertium or Ctsteaux, in the 
bisboprie of CMlons in Burgundy, where the order was 
begun in the year 1098 by Robert abbot of Molesme in 
that province, but brought into repute by Stephen Harding, 
an Englishman, third abbot of Ctsteaux, who is therefore 
reckoned the principal founder. Tbey were also ealled 
White Monks from the colour of their habit. Fuller, in 
his Worthies, book iii. p. 164, probably errs, when he makes 
the Bernardines to be a stricter order of Cistercians. 

The monasteries of the Bernard in e or Cistercian Order, 
which became very numerous in a short time, were gene- 
rally founded in solitarv and uncultivated places, and were all 
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was a rule with the Cis- 
l '2R2 



IJ E 



308 



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tertians riot to allow another house, eveuof their own order, 
to be built within a rertain distance. Stevens, in his con- 
tinuation of Dugdalo's Monasticon, vol. ii. p. 31, says, if wo 
may believe «the historians of this order, they liad in all mx 
thousand houses. The Histoire des Ordres Motmstiques 
says that within fifty years of its institution thero were ftvo 
hundred abbeys of this order. St. Bernard alono is said to 
have founded sixty houses. 

Tho Bcrnardines or Cistercians were transplanted into 
England from the abbey of Aumone in Normandy, in 1128, 
by Walter Giflard. bishop of Winchester, who placed them 
in his newly-founded abbey of Waverley in Surrey, This 
monastery was the first house of tho Cistercian Order esta- 
blished ih England, although precedence was for a while 
claimed by tho abbey of Furness in Lancashire. The 'An- 
nals of WaverleyV printed l>v Gale, givo a minute account 
of the dispute. (See also banning and Bray's History of 
Surrey ; vol. iii. p. 144.) The abbot of Waverley had pre- 
cedence as well in the chapters of the Cistercian abbots 
through England, as a superiority over the whole order in 
this country. 

In the 26th Henry VIII. the number of Bernardino or 
Cistercian abbeys in England, of which thirty-six were 
among the greater monasteries, amounted to seventy-five, 
besides twenty- six Cistercian nunneries. Of tho latter, one 
only was endowed with more than 200/. per annum. The 
total revenue of tho Cistercian houses in England amounted 
to IS.69I/. 12*.6</. 

Stevens, in his work already quoted, vol. ii. p. 23, has 
translated a Ions history ' Of the Original and Progress of 
the Order of Cistercians' from the French Histoire des 
Ordres Monaitiques, &c, torn. v. pp. 341, 373. Dugdalo 
and Stevens, between them, have printed the rules and 
regulations of this order, with the various bulls of confirma- 
tion and privilege granted to it by different popes. Stevens 
has likewise given a list of the learned men of the Order of 
the Bcrnardines or Cistercians in England, thirty-six in 
number. St. Bernard's Collego in Oxford (sinco re-foundcd 
as St. John's College) was founded by Archbishop Chichele 
in 1437 for scholars of the Cistercian Order who might wish 
to study in Oxford, but had no place belonging to their 
order in which they could associate together, and bo relieved 
from the inconveniences of separation in halls and inns, 
where they could not keep up their peculiar customs and 
statutes. The figure of St Bernard still stands in a niche 
in the upper part of St. John's College tower. 

St. Alberic, who became abbot of Cisteaux in 1099, drew 
up the first statutes of this order. The Harleian Manu- 
script 3708 (British Museum), a volume of the fourteenth 
century, contains another body of statutes for the order, 
compiled in the years 1239 and 1300. 

The habit of this order was a white cassock with a nar- 
row scapulary, and over that a black gown when the monk 
went abroad, but a white one when he went to church. The 
lay brethren were clad in dark colour. Stevens represents 
the habit to have been a little different. In his Contin. of 
(he Monasticon t vol. ii., ho gives a plate of a Cistercian 
monk with his cowl, p. 29; another of a monk without his 
cowl, p. 30; and a third of a Cistercian nun, p. 31. 

The abb'jt of Cisteaux in Burgundy continued to be the 
superior general and father of the whole Bernardino or Cis- 
tercian Order till the French Revolution. lie was first 
counsellor, as soon as he was elected abbot, in the parliament 
of Dijon. 

(Compare Tann. Notit. Monast. edit. 17S7, pref. pp. ix. 
\. ; Dugdale's Monasticou, new edit. vol. v. pp. 2 19, 23G ; 
Hist, des Ordres Nonas tiques ; and Stevens, ut supra.) 

BERNAY.atown in France, in the department of Eure, 
about ninety-two or ninety-three miles W. by N. of Paris, 
through Mantes and Evreux. It is on the left or N.W. 
bank of the little river Charcntoune, which a few miles 
below the town (lows into tho Rille, a feeder of tho Seine. 
It is in 4V° 6' N. lat, and 0° 34' P^. long, from Greenwich, 

Bernay possessed, before the Revolution, several religious 
houses, the principal of which was a Benedictine abbey of 
the congregation of St. Maur, founded a.d. IG13,bv Judith, 
wifo of Richard II., Duke of Normandy. The church of 
tins abbey, though not parochial, was "the chief place of 
worship in the place, and in it the clergy assembled both 
from tho town and suburbs, in order to form general pro- 
cessions, Thero were two parish churches, one in tho city 
and one in tho suburbs; and two hospitals, one of them 
founded by St. LouU. In the early part and middle of the 



last century the trade of Bernay consisted in c6rn and 
woollen and linen cloth. It had then four fairs, the prin- 
cipal of which was held either on or just before l'alin 
Sunday (authorities vary as to tho exact time), and a 
weekly market, frcuuented by the inhabitants not only of 
the neighbourhood, but of more distant parts. Expilly, in 
1762, gives the population at about 8000. In tho Diction* 
naire Universel dela France, 1804, it is stated at 6t73; 
perhaps tho destruction of the religious houses and the 
decay of trade had caused the diminution. According to 
the census of 183*2 the population of the town was 4460, nnd 
of the whole communo GG05. 

At present there arc considerable manufactures of woollen 
cloth, flannel, linens, cotton yam, dimities, wax, leather, 
glass, and paper. Thero is an annual fair, one of the mo>t 
considerable in France, especially for the sale of horses. It 
is said that above 40,000 persons are drawn together to this 
fair. Besides their own manufactures the inhabitants trade 
in the produce of tho surrounding country— cattle, grain, 
eider, and perry. Thero arc a theatre, a high school, au 
hospital, and an" agricultural society. Bernay has a tribunal 
de commerce for the settlement of mercantile disputes, and 
it is the scat of a subprefecturc. 

The arrondissement of Bernay contained, in 1 832, n po- 
pulation of 82,828. 

BERNBURG. or AN11ALT-BERNBURG, a duchy in 
the north of Germany, forming part of the triple duchy of 
Anhalt, consists of disjointed territories lying between the 
Hnrz Mountains and the rivers Saale and Elbe, and ex- 
tends from 51° 40' to 51°5'J'N. lat. and from 10° 69' to 
1 2° 3$' E. long. The area of this duchy is about 33G square 
miles. It is encompassed hy the Prussian dominions on 
every side, except on the west, where an isolated district 
of it is bounded by the domains of Blankcnburg belonging 
to Brunswick. It is divided into two parts, the lower duchy 
comprising the territories on the Saale, Wipner, Bude, and 
Fuhne, together with the bailiwick of Gross-Miihlingcn, on 
the left bank of the Saale, and that of Koswig, on the right 
bank of the Elbe ; and the upper duchy, which comprehends 
the territory next tho Lower Harz. The greatest length of 
Bemburg is from the south-western to the north-eastern 
extremity of the principality of Anhalt, n distance of about 
sixty-four miles. The surface of the latter sub-division, 
though very mountainous and full of woods and forests, is 
intersected by a number of delightful and productive valleys, 
and enlivened with rivers and mountain streams ; few scenes 
are more picturesque, indeed, than the country round Bal- 
lenstedt, Harzgcrode, and the Alexis baths in the valley of 
Selke. The Harz, which subsides in the plains of the 
upper-duchy, is the only range of mountains in Anhalt- 
Bernburg, and is not only interesting in a miueralogicnl' 
point of view, but of much importance to tho duchy from its 
mines. The lower duch # \\ one portion of which lies on the 
Saale and tho other on the right bank of the Elbe, is an 
almost uninterrupted flat, and possesses a productive soil. 
It is watered by the Fnhne and Wippcr, two minor rivers 
(lowing into tho Saale, which likewise receives the Bode and 
its tributary the Selke, the two streams that rnu through 
the upper duchy. All the rivers which" water Anhalt -Bern - 
burg belong, therefore, to tho basin of the Elbe. Among 
the small lakes, or rather sheets of water, in this duchy, 
tho mast considerable are, the Blasscr-Sec, the Rose, and 
the Strenge. The only mineral spring of note is the Alexis 
Bad, about a mile to the north-east of llarzg erode, in the 
upper duchy, whose sulphurous waters nnd pleasing en- 
virons attract numerous visitors. Tho climato varies ac- 
cording to the elevation of the surface, but is in general 
healthy. In the more elevated districts about Giintersbcrg, 
where tho soil is exposed to the northerly winds, the fruit in 
some years docs not ripen, and the harvest is a fortnight later 
than in tho lower districts. On the whole, however, there 
is proof of tho salubrity of the climate in the excess of the 
births over the deaths for the period between tho years 1817 
and 1830, in which the former were 18,720, and the latter 
were not more than 12,415. There is considerable diversity 
in the products of the two sub-divisions of Anhalt-Bcrnburg. 
The lower duchy yields ever)* kind of grain in abundance, 
peas and beans, vegetables, 11 ax, and a small quantity of 
tobacco; the growth of wino about Bemburg is on thein- 
crcase, and fruit is plentiful in all parts. Of horned cattle 
there is a suflieiency; »hcep are numerous, and the breed 
has been greatly improved of late years; the want of pastnro 
impedes the rearing of horses, the stronger species of which 



B £ R 



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are mostly imported from foreign parts ; swine are universally 
reared. Except in the district of Kos wig, the lower duchy 
is dependent upon its neighbours for timber and fuel ; its 
mineral products are eoal, lime, gypsum, red earth, clay, and 
sandstone ; game and fish abound, and among the latter the 
salmon of the Saale is in repute. The produotions of the 
upper duchy are of a' very dissimilar character: here, the soil 
being mountainous and stony, the growth of grain is inade- 
quate to the consumption ; little wheat or barley is raised, but 
the cultivation of rye, oats, potatoes, peas, and turnips for 
eattle is extensive ; flax is also grown about Hoym. -Jlorned 
eat tie are abundant, but the breeding of horses is incon- 
siderable ; there is plenty of red and black game, as well as 
of fish. The most valuablo produets of this part of Auhalt- 
Bernburg are, however, timber and minerals, among which 
we may mention iron (1000 tons), silver ore (1400 marks), 
lead (150 tons), copper, vitriol (600 ewt.)» sulphur, coals, 
sandstone, and marble. 

The dnchy is by no means a manufacturing country. Its 
chief products are iron and steel ware, yarns, linens, wool- 
lens, and flannels, articles of wood, porcelain, and earthen- 
ware ; it exports butter, some grain, wool, timber, iron, and 
ironware. The breweries and distilleries only produce suffi- 
cient for the internal demand ; and the same may be said 
of the supply of lime, millstones, and tiles. There are four 
smelting furnaces, two sulphur-houses, a vitriol manufac- 
tory, and gunpowder works in the valley of the Selke ; a 
large paper-mill at Bemburg, a saw-mill at Gernrode, a 
manufactory of arms at the same place ; and eoke is made 
in various parts of the upper duchy. Some writers mention 
other manufactures as existing in Anhalt-Bernburg, but 
they are no longer in operation, or never existed at all. In 
fact, the inhabiiants find full employment in agriculture, 
mining, and with their woods and forests, which extend over 
a surface of about sixty-three square miles, or nearly one- 
fifth of the entire surface of the duehy. 

Little is known of the financial state of the duchy. 
Lindner says, in his excellent work on the three duchies 
(Dessau, Bernburg, and Kothen), that the revenues may be 
estimated at 450,000 gulden, about 41,250/., and the amount 
of publie debt at 600,000 gulden, about 55,000/. 

Anhalt-Bernburg eontains seven towns, one market-vil- 
lage, and sixty other villages. Jn 1830 the number of 
houses was 6547, and of inhabitants 43,325 ; of the latier 
19,91 7 in the lower, and 23,408 in the upper duchy. Lindner 
states the previous increase to have been from 34,11)3 in 
J805 to 37,047 in 1817, and 39,618 in 1827. Upon these 
data we may assume the present population to be about 
4-5,000 souls. 

The form of government is that of an unlimited monarchy. 
Religion and education are under the controul of the con- 
sistory of Bernburg, which is composed of three elerical mem- 
bers and a government assessoflwpd is independent of the 
prince in all ecclesiastical matters? A union has been brought 
about between the members of the Lutheran and Reformed 
persuasions. The state of publie education is very satisfac- 
tory ; 8000 children, nearly one-fifth of the whole population, 
attend the national schools, over which local supervision is 
everywhere exercised. Each bailiwick, town and village 
supports its own poor, under its own board, with partial 
assistance from the government, and under the super- 
intendence of the consistory. The medieal poliec of the 
duchy, and every sanitory regulation, are intrusted to the 
medieal board at-Ballenstedt. 

The military eonsist of a eorps of sharpshooters, 370 
strong, and the company of grenadiers of the ducal guard at 
Bemburg. The landsturm, or national guards, of 1814 
mustered 7328 foot and 140 horse: and the contingent 
which Anhalt-Bernburg is bound to supply for the army of 
the German confederation is 370 infantry. 

(Lindner, History and Description of the Country of 
Anhalt; Cromc's Anhalt-Bernburg ; Hassel's States of 
Germany ; Stein, von Schlieben, &c.) 

The seven towns in the duchy of Bernburg are Ballen- 
stedt, Bernburg, Kos wig, Harzgerode, Hoym, Gernrode, 
and Giinthersberge :*— 

Ballenstedt is situated on the summit and side of a hill 
at the foot of the Lower Harz, in 51° 43' N. lat., 1 1° 18' E. 
long. ; and is composed of the Old Town, eneireled by a wall 
with two entrances, the New Town, which is open, and the 
avenue and new street, by which the dueal palace on an 
adjacent hill is united with the town. The Old as well as 
a portion of the New Town is confined and ill-constructed ; 



but the avenue and new street, which are adorned with 
two rows of chestnut trees, between which there is a foot- 
way with roads outside of them, form a handsome street 
rather more than a mile in length. The Old Town con- 
tains a church, synagogue, hospital, and the public offices. 
The New Town is embellished with the palace, the main 
body of which is of antient construction. This residence is 
beautifully situated, and the view from its elevated terrace 
is delightful ; its appendages are a church, theatre, and 
riding-house, besides pleasure-grOunds, a small picture- 
gallery, a library of 8000 volumes, ehiefly modern, a cabinet 
of Anhalt eoins, and a collection of minerals, which is very 
complete so far as regards the products of that part of the 
Harz Mountains which lie within the territory of Anhalt. 
There are extensive out-offices and yards, called the Vorweik, 
also attached to the castle ; among them are a spacious 
sheep-walk, a brewery, where the celebrated ' Ballenstedter 
Lagerbier' is made, and a vinegar manufactory. Ballcnstcdt 
is the residence of the ducal court and the seat of justice, as 
well as of the medical board and board of works for the 
duchy. The town is mainly supported by agricultural pur- 
suits, and possesses considerable manufactures of flannel, 
linens, and pottery-ware. The Gcitel, an inconsiderable 
stream, runs through it, and drives some flour and oil mills ; 
it has four fairs in the course of the year, but they are not of 
much moment. The population amounted to 1301 souls in 
1708,2500 in 1800, and 3740 in 1830, when it contained 
several Jewish families. It is the chief place of the baili- 
wick of the same name, the inhabitants of which are esti- 
mated at 6100. 

In the upper duchy likewise are Hoym, on the Selke, an 
open town, about live miles north-east of Ballenstedt, with a 
church, town-hall, three large mills, and about 2300 inha- 
bitants ; Gernrode, an open, ill-constructed town, built on a 
declivity at the foot of the Harz, about three miles to tho 
west of Ballenstedt, with two ehurches, some old monastic 
buildings, mills, &c, and a population of about 2050 souls ; 
Gunthersberge, about ten miles south-west of Ballenstedt, 
an old open town, lying in a small valley encircled by 
forests, and containing a ehureh, an antient burgh in ruins, 
and between 700 and 800 inhabitants ; and, lastly, Harz- 
gerode, situated in a deep hollow, about five miles to the 
south-west of Ballenstedt, in 51° 38' N. lat. It is of as 
early a date as the year 961, is encompassed by a wall, and 
contains a deeayed ducal residence, a eh inch, town- hall, 
sehool, and about 2400 inhabitants. It is the seat of the 
ducal boards of mines, and woods and forests. 

Bernburg, the ehief town of the districts which eompose 
the lower duehy, and lie along the banks of the Elbe 
and Saale, is a large town, divided into two nearly equal 
portions by the Saale, in 51° 47' N. lat., 11° 45' E. long., 
and at a distance of about fifteen miles from the inilux 
of that river into the Elbe. It eonsists of three quar- 
ters, the Old and New Towns on the left bank, and the 
Bergstadt, or Mount-town, on the right bank of the Saale ; 
the last is open, and the two first are surrounded by a 
wall with four gates. They are connected by a stone 
bridge, 173 feet long and 23 feet broad, at the com- 
mencement of which, from the Old Town on the north- 
west side, is a fine gate. From this bridge to the New 
Town gate runs a handsome street, about 1200 paees in 
length, part of its line being formed by the market-place ; 
on the whole, the town is well-built, clean, and well-paved. 
The Mount-town lies partly on tAie rapid deelivity, and 
partly at the top of the high ground which skirts the Saale. 
It has rapidly increased on aceountot'the superior eligibility 
of its site ; and contains the castle, situated on a steep hill, 
in which the heir-apparent usually resides, with an orangery, 
play-house, riding-house, &e., the town-hall, houso of in- 
dustry, mint, and an earthenware manufactory. There are 
threo churches, several old ehapels, a synagogue, asylums 
for orphans and widows, six schools, and many benevolent 
institutions in Bernburg. Its population was 4018 in the 
year 1797, and at present amounts to upwards of 6000. 

Kosioig, likewise in the lower duchy, is a very antient 
open town, on the right bank of the Elbe, about seven miles 
west of Wittenberg in Prussian Saxony, and near tho ex- 
treme eastern border of the duchy. It has a ehureh and 
chapel, a synagogue, a ducal residence, a brewery, and some 
small manufactures, with a population of about 2800 souls. 

BERNERS, JULYANS, or JULIANA, otherwise 
BARNERS or BARNES, one of the earliest female 
writers in England, is supposed to have been born towards 



13 E K 



310 



BER 



the latter end of the fourteenth century at Roding Berners, 
in tho hundred of Dnnmow, and county of Essex. The 
received report is, that she was daughter of Sir James 
Berners, of Roding Berners, knight* whoso son Richard 
(created Lord Berners in tho reign of Henry IV.) was tho 
father of the translator of Froissart ; and that Bho was once 
prioress of Sopewell Nunnery in Hertfordshire. It seems 
that she was alive in 1460. Holingshcd places her at tho 
eloso of the reign of Edward IV., ealling her * Julian Bomcs, 
a gentlewoman endued with excellent giftes bothe of body 
and rainde, [who] wrote certaine treatises of hawking and 
hunting, delighting greatly hirsclf in those exercises and 
pastimes. She wrote also a booke of the lawes of armes and 
knowledge apperteyning to heraldcs.* This seems the 
amount of all tho information concerning tlm lady whieh 
can now be traced, and even those scanty particulars have 
in some instances been doubted. The further particulars 
which aro given in many notices of hor appear to have crept 
in gradually from the desire of successive writers to give 
something of novolty to their accounts. 

The following is tho collected title of the treatises attri- 
buted to Juliana Berners, as printed together by Wynkyn 
de Worde in 1486. * The Treatysos perteynyng to Hawk- 
ynge, Huntynge, and Fysshynge with an Angle; and also 
a right noblo Trcatyse of the Lygnage of Cot Armours, 
endynge with a Treatise which specyfycth of Blasyngo of 
Armys.' Mr. Hazlcwood, whose investigations seem to 
have thrown all tho light on the subject of the book and its 
author of which it is susceptible, narrows tho claims of 
Juliana to a small portion of the treatise on hawking, tho 
wholo of the treatise upon hunting, a short list of the beasts 
of the chacc, and another short list of persons, beasts, fowls, 
&c. The great interest attached to tho subjects of this work 
occasioned the treatises to bo among the very first that 
were put to press on the introduction of printing into this 
country, when they wero printed at the Abbey of St. Albans, 
on which the nunnery of Sopewell was dependent. The 
first edition is said to have been printed in 1481, and it 
is certain that one was printed in 1486. It soems that 
the person who then prepared them for the press had it in 
view to furnish a manual of what was considered the useful 
knowledge of the day, and therefore incorporated in one 
volume treatises by different hands. The colophon to the 
treatise on fishing (which is tho best of the four), states 
that it was introduced in order that it might bo better known 
than it would bo if * enprynted allone by itself and put in 
a lytyll plaunflet* The colophon to the treatise on heraldry 
also describes it as translated and compiled at St. Albans. 
Among its objects, it professes to teach* how gentvlmen 
shall be knowon from ungentylmen.' The * Treatise on 
Hunting/ which is the undoubted work of Juliana Berners, 
describes the manner in which various animals are to bo 
hunted, and explains the terms employed in venery. Tho 
information is hitehed into rhymo, but, as Mr. Ellis remarks, 
'has no resemblance to poetry.* All the other treatises 
are in plain prose. A fac -simile reprint of the whole of 
Wynkyn de Worde's edition, was made in 1810, under the 
direction of Mr. Hazlewood, whose prefixed dissertations 
seem to havo exhausted every source of information con- 
cerning the 'Book of St. Albans.* Only 150 copies of this 
fuc- simile edition wore printed. Speaking of this work, 
Warton remarks : * From an abbess disposed to turn author 
we might reasonably havo expeeted a manual of meditations 
for the closet, or select rules for making salves or distilling 
strong waters. But tho diversions of the field were not 
thought inconsistent with the character of a religious lady of 
this eminent rank, who resembled an abbot in respect of ex- 
ercising an extensive manorial jurisdiction, and who hawked 
and hunted in common with other ladies of distinction.' 

We are quite satisfied with this account ; but Hazlewood, 
who eannot reconcile it with tho rigid rules of tho Sopewell 
nunnery, and with tho varied and extensivo knowledge of 
the world which the work displays, offers some conjectures 
as to tho history of this roinarkable lady, with the viow of 
uniting ' all the supposed characteristics of our authoress, 
without violating probability or distorting consistency.' As, 
lwwever, this is all matter of conjecture, wo must refer the 
reader to his prefixed * Biographical and Bibliographical 
Notices/ from which, and the annexed reprint, tho present 
article has chiefly been drawn. 

(Seo also Dibdin's continuation of Ames's Typographical 
Antiquities; Warton's UUtoiy of English Poetry ; Ellis's 
Spcctmem of (he Early English Poets, <Jc.) 



BERNERS, JOHN BOURCHIER, LORD, was bom 
about the year 1474. Ho was the eldest son of Sir Hum- 
phrey Bourchier, who was the son of Sir John Bourchicr, 
tho fourth son of the Earl of Ewo by his wife Anne, 
daughter of Thomas Duko of Gloucester, tho youngest son 
of Edward III. This Sir John was created Lord Borncrs 
in honour of the family of his wife Margery, who was tho 
daughter and heir of Richard Lord Berners, tho father, as 
it is supposed, of Juliana Berners, the authoress of part of 
the famous book on field-sports. Admitting the presumptive 
evidence in favour of Juliana's connexion with this family, 
it is pleasant to find two persons in it* of different sexes, 
so honourably distinguished,— one as perhaps the earliest 
female writer of this country, and the other as one of the first 
noblemen who condescended to think literature worthy of 
their attention. In this respect he was only preceded in 
point of time by three noblemen, none of whom equalled 
him in reputation ; for Cobhain wrote only just enough to 
make him an author, and Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, and 
Earl Rivers, aro more distinguished as patrons of literature 
than as authors. Fuller, who also mentions Berners as tho 
fourth literary nobleman, prefers him to all of them ex- 
cept Tiptoft; but it is difficult to see tho grounds of this 
exception, as the translations of Tiptoft aro not near bo 
important as those of Lord Berners. In this estimate lard 
Vaux is not considered as a predecessor but as a contem- 
porary of Lord Berners, and is therefore not included. 

Tho Bourehier family adhered to the house of York 
during tho war of tho Roses ; and Sir Humphrey Bourchior 
was killed at the battle of Barnct in 1471 in support of its 
cause, being, according to Hall, tlio only person of rank on 
Edward's side who was slain in tho action. His son, the 
subject of tho present notice, succeeded his grandfather 
when he was only seven years of ago ; and when he was 
only eleven tho Order of the Bath was given him by Ed- 
ward IV., on occasion of the betrothment of the young 
Duke of York to the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. Lord 
Berners was sent to Oxford at an early age, as was then tho 
custom, and Wood believes, but is not certain, that he was 
educated atBalliol College ; and adds, 'after he had left the 
university he travelled into divers countries, and returned a 
master of several (not seven, as somo accounts misquoto 
Wood) languages, and a complete gentleman.' His youth 
and absence prevented him from taking any part in public 
affairs until Henry VII. had established himself on the 
throno. It seems, howovcr, that the usurpation of Richard 
III. made the Bourchier family favourable to Henry. They 
supported him, and ho was ultimately crowned by Cardinal 
Bourchier, the grand-uncle of Lord Berners. 

Lord Berners was first called to parliament in the eleventh 
of Henry VII. by the stylo of John Bourgchicr, Lord of 
Berners ; and it seems that he had previously attended the 
king at the siego of Boulogne in the year 1492. He first 
acquired personal distinction and the favourablo regard of 
tho king by the activo part he took in putting down a some- 
what alarming insurrection which in 1497 broke out in 
Cornwall, headed by Michael Joseph, a blacksmith, and a 
lawyer named Flammock, and afterwards supported by 
Lord Audlcy. He appears to have becomo a favourite of 
Henry VIII. very soon after his accession, and he had tho 
rare fortune of retaining his favour to the last. He was 
captain of the pioneers at the siege of Tcroucnne in 1513, 
during which bis attention to tho duties of his office appears 
to have been very serviceable to the army. About two 
years after he was appointed Chancellor of tho Exchequer 
for life ; and about tho same time was ono of tho splendid 
train of nobles, knights, and ladies appointed to escort to 
Abbevillo the Lady Mary, tho king's sister, who by tho 
peace of 1514 was to bo married to Louis XII. of France, 
In the year 1518 Lord Berners was associated with John 
Kite, Archbishop of Armagh, in an embassy to Spain, 
ostensibly for the purposo of congratulating the young king 
Charles on his accession, but in rcalitv in tho hope of de- 
taching him from the interests of the French king Francis, 
and of bringing him over to the views of Wblscy, the pone, 
and the emperor. No result of importance followed this 
mission, which departed from Spain in January, 1519, Lord 
Berners being at that timo in very bad health. After this 
his ago and growing infirmities occasioned him to live much 
in retirement in his government at Calais, to which iin- 

{wrtant office he appears to have been appointed soon after 
lis return from Spain. Ho remained in this situation until 
his death, on tho 19th of March, 1532, devoting his leisure 



B E R 



311 



B E R 






to those literary undertakings for which alone he is now 
remembered. 

His great work, the translation of Froissart's Chronicles, 
was undertaken by the king's command, and the first 
volume was printed by Pynson in the year 1523, and the 
second volume in 1525. For common use this translation 
has now been superseded by the modern one of Mr. Johnes ; 
but we nevertheless rejoice that Lord Berners's translation 
was reprinted in 1812, under the direction of Mr. Utterson, 
who very properly considered that it was still of great value 
for the appropriate colours with which it pourtrays the man- 
ners and customs of our ancestors. * Considering,' says this 
editor, * the unusual task imposed upon him, that of trans- 
lating so voluminous a work into the English language, 
which was very seldom used as a vehicle for aught but col- 
loquial purposes, we cannot but feel admiration at the man- 
ner in which the task was completed This having 

been the first historical work of magnitude in the English 
language, the title of a valuable if not the earliest English 
elassic writer, may be conceded to his lordship, although his 
production was not original. 1 The other works of Lord 
Berners are thus characterized by Horaco Walpole : — 

• Others of his works were a whimsical medley of trans- 
lations from French, Italian, and Spanish novels, which 
seem to have been the mode then, as they were afterwards 
in the reign of Charles II., 

* When eViy flotr'ry courtiir wrote romince.' 

The following is a list of the works thus noticed : — 

' The Hystorye of the moost noble and valyaunt knyght, 
Arthur of Lytell Brytaync ;' * The antient, honourable, fa- 
mous, and delightful Historie of Huon of Bourdcux, enter- 
laced with the Love of many Ladies ;' * The Golden Boke of 
Marcus Aurelius ;' all translations from the French. * The 
Castle of Love/ from the Spanish. He also composed a 
work, 'Of the Duties of the Inhabitants of Calais;' and a 
comedy called, * Ite in vincam meam," which was usually 
acted in the great church of Calais after vespers. Neither 
of the two last-named works were printed, and it is not 
known whether the comedy was in Latin or English. 

(Preface to Uttcrson's edition of Lord Berners' transla- 
tion ; Wood's Athena? Oxonienses, by Bliss ; Walpole 's 
Royal and Noble Authors, &c.) 

BERNI, FRANCESCO, was born about 1490 at Lam- 
porecchio, a village of the Val di Nievole in Tuscany, of a 
noble but poor family. He studied for the ehurch, and be- 
came a priest. Having gone to Rome to try his fortune, 
he entered the service of Cardinal Divizio da Bibbiena, his 
countryman and relative, who was in great favour with 
Leo X. After the cardinal's death, he passed into the 
Bervice of the cardinal's nephew, Angelo Dtvizio, a prelate 
of the court of Rome. We are not told in what capacity he 
served either the uncle or the nephew, but Berni complains 
that neither of them did any thing to better his fortune, 
and ho says he was driven by want to seek a more liberal 
master. His next employment was as secretary to Ghiberti, 
who was datario to Pope Clement VII., and also bishop of 
Verona; but, according to his own confession, he found 
himself little qualified for his office. In fact, Berni was 
idle, dissipated, and continually in love with some woman or 
other. lie contrived, however, to remain with Ghiberti for 
seven ycar3, during which ho accompanied his master, or 
was sent by bim on business, to several parts of Italy. He 
was present at the plunder of Rome by the Spaniards and 
Germans in 1527, of Which he speaks in his 'Orlando In- 
namorato.* (See canto xiv. st. 23-27 of Molini's edition, 
Florenco, 1827.) About the year 1530, or 1531, he left 
Ghiberti and went to Florence, where he was made a canon 
of the cathedral, a preferment whieh enabled him to live in 
a sort of affluenee for the rest of his days, His facetious- 
ness and social conviviality reeommended him to the Duke 
Alessandro, as well as to his cousin, Cardinal Ippolito de' 
Medici, the son of Giuliano, and nephew of Leo a. The 
two cousins were secret enemies, and Cardinal Ippolito, 
through jealousy or ambition, favoured the projects of the 
Florentine malcontents, who wished to shake oft' the tyran- 
nical yoke of Duke Alessandro. Ippolito, however, died 
suddenly in 1535, of poison administered to him by one of 
his domestics, at the instigation, as was generally believed, 
of the duke. A story became current soon after, that Berni, 
who was intimate with both, had been solicited by Ales- 
sandro to poison Ippolito, and at the same time by Ippolito 
to poison Alessandro, and that, in consequence of his re- 
fusal, ho was himself poisoned by one of the two rivals. 



But Berni survived Ippolito one year, when neither the 
cardinal could any longer poison him, nor the duke stood 
any more in need of Bcrni's instrumentality. Besides the 
well-known jocular, good-humoured, and careless disposition 
of Berni renders it unlikely that he could be thought a fit 
instrument for such a crime. Accordingly, Mazzuchelli and 
other critics have utterly discarded the story as having no 
foundation in truth. 

The epoch of Berni's death has been long a matter of dis- 
pute : some place it in 1543, but Molini, in the introduction 
to his edition of the ' Orlando ' above-mentioned, fixes it on 
the 26th of May, 1536, on the authority of Salvino Salvinfs 
chronological register of the canons of the cathedral. The 
latter years of Berni's life were spent at Florence or in its 
neighbourhood, in a dissipated sort of existence. That was 
an age of general profligacy, and Berni shared in the com- 
mon licentiousness, though he must not be compared in 
this respect with Aretino and others of his notorious con- 
temporaries. The very fact of his remaining for seven years 
with Ghiberti, a prelate generally respected for his conduct, 
shows that Berni could not be such an abandoned character 
as he has been supposod by some. Berni's poetry though 
often licentious, according to the universal taste of the 

I times, exhibits many traits of moral feeling which seem in- 
compatible with total depravity. 

Berni is the principal writer of Italian jocose poetry, 
which has ever since retained the name oipoesia Bernesca. 
Burchiello, Tucci, Bellincioni, and others, had introduced 
this style of poetry before him, but Berni gave it a variety 
of forms, and carried it to a perfection which has seldom 
been equalled by any one since. Berni had an inex- 
haustible fund of humour, and a most quick perception of 
the absurd and ridiculous. His lively imagination placed in 

juxtaposition the most incongruous images and ideas, and 
thus derived fresh food for pleasantry from its own inven- 
tion. Berni's reading of the Latin and Italian writers was 
extensive, and he often alludes to them for the purpose of 
contrasting some of their lofty images with others which are 
trivial. In one of his * Capitoli/ whicli he addresses to 
Ghiberti's French cook, after giving an account of Aris- 
totle's works, he exclaims at the end, in a tone of apparently 
sincere regret, ' what a pity it is that Aristotle did not write 
also a work on cookery I * In another place, complaining of 
a mulo which a friend had lent him for an excursion, and 
which was continually stumbling On the road, ho says that 
it had tbo power of conjuring up stones from the very 
bottom of one of the circles of Dante's * Hell, 1 as if for the 
express purpose of knocking its feet against them. In a 
chapter which he wrote in praise of the plague, he discovers 
a number of advantages resulting to mankind from that 
scourge. At other times he is satirical on the real vices 
and follies of courts and princes. His description of the 
irresolute, timorous, time-gaining policy of the court of 
Rome under Clement VII., is characteristic: — 

' Uii Papato composto di rispeUi, 
Dl consideraztonl, e di dUcorsi, 
Dl pni, di poi, di ma, di t\, di forsi, 
Di pur, di assai parole seuza effeiti.* 

His satire is generally of the milder sort, but at times it 
rises to a most bitter strain of invective. Such, for instance, 
is his * Capitolo ' against Pope Adrian VI., whose very vir- 
tues made him unpopular with the Romans. Berni's 
humour may be said to be untranslateablc, for it depends 
on the genius of the Italian language, the constitution of 
the Italian mind, and the habits and associations of the 
Italian people. Berni's expressions arc carefully and happily 
selected for effect, and although he speaks of the haste in 
which he wrote, it is proved by the MSS. of his burlesque 
poems that he corrected 'and recorrected every line. (See 
Mazzuehelli, Scrittori if Italia, art. 'Berni.*) His lan- 
guage is ehoice Tuscan. The worst feature in Berni's hu- 
mourous poems is his frequent licentious allusions and 
equivocations, which, although clothed in decent language, 
are well understood by Italian readers. Berni's poems 
were not collected till after his death, with the exception of 
one Or two published in his lifetime. The first edition of 
part of his poems was made at Ferrara in 1537. Grazzini 
published one volume of Berni's Poesie Burlesche, together 
with those of Mauro, Varchi, Delia Casa, &c, in 1548. A 
second volume appeared in 1555 ; a third volume was pub- 
lished at Naples with the date of Florence, in 1723. There 
is also an edition of the Poesie Burlesche in two vols. 8vo. 
London, 1721-24, with notes by Salvini. 

Berni is also known for his 'Rifacimento/ or recasting of 



BER 



312 



BER 



Bojardo* s y>ocm ' Orlando Innamorato.* [Sec Bojardo.] 
Berni altered the diction of the poem into purer Italian, but 
he left the narrative exactly as it was from beginning to 
end. He also added some introductory stanza-*, moral or 
satirical, to most of the cantos, in imitation of Ariosto's 
practice, and alM> a few episodical sketches in the body of 
the poem, the principal of winch is that in canto 67, where 
he describes himself and his habits of life. It cannot be 
maintained that Berni has turned Bojardo's serious poem 
into burlesque: he merely steps in as a third person, after 
the fashion of the old story-tellers, between tho original poet 
and the audience, moralizing upon what he relates, or re- 
verting, from the errors and follies of his heroes, to the vires 
and follies of men in the every-day world. The sincerity and 
simplicity of his practical moralizing strain contrasts with 
tho prodigious and absurd magnificence of the romantie 
narrative, which Berni, however, relates with all the appear- 
ance of credulity. Some of Berni's openings to the various 
cantos are remarkably fine, and perhaps superior to those 
in Ariosto's poem, AVith regard to his alterations of Bo- 
jardo's text, it is generally allowed that he has improved it 
in many parts, though not in every instance. (See Panizzi's 
remarks on Berni's Rifacimento, in vol. ii. of his edition 
of Bojardo and Ariosto, London, 1831.) It appears also 
that several parts of the * Rifacimento,* such as we have it, 
and which arc very inferior to the rest, were either not written 
by Berni, or have not received from the author the last cor- 
rection and polish. There are discrepancies between the 
various editions, and no autograph of Bernf s ' Orlando ' is 
known to exist, or has ever been mentioned by any of its 
various editors. The poem was not published till after 
Berni's death. The first eighty-two stanzas of the first 
canto as given in the Ginnti edition, Venice, 1545, are quite 
different from those in the first edition of the poem in 1541. 
The text of 1545 is now adopted as most resembling Berni's 
style, and has been followed by Molini in his edition of the 
* innamorato,' Florence, 1827, which is considered as the 
most accurate. There are still doubts about the genuine- 
ness of the remaining stanzas of the first canto, from lxxxh'i. 
to the end, of some of the second canto, and of the whole of 
the two last cantos, lxviii. and lxix., of the poem. The 
earlier editions of Berni's * Rifacimento,* 1541-45, are en- 
titled, ' Orlando Innamorato coraposto gia dal Signor Mattco 
Maria Bojardo, Conte di Seandiano, e rifatto tutto di nuovo 
da M. Francesco Berni.* In course of time, however, the 
name of Bojardo was almost forgotten, and the * Orlando 
Innamorato ' went by the name of Berni, as if he had been 
the real author of the poem. Berni has not added any in- 
decent interpolations to Bojavdo's poems, as some have 
superficially supposed ; he has, on the contrary, left out, 
in one instance, some licentious though fine stanzas of 
the original. (Sec Panizzi's * Remarks' above quoted.) 
Stewart Rose has given an analysis of the ■ Innamorato' in 
English prose, intermixed with verse, London, 1823. 

Berni wrote some Latin poems, which were published at 
Florence in 1562 in tho Collection, * Cannina quinque 
Etruseorum Poetarum.' They have been praised by Tira- 
boschi as happy imitations of tho style of Catullus. 

He wrote also * La Catrina' and * II Mogliazzo,* which 
arc dramatic scenes in ' lingua rustiea,* or idiom of the Flo- 
rentine peasantry, Florence, 1537-15G7. 

Berni's letters are scattered through several collections, 
in Atanagi's Lettere Facete di Dxversi, in Manuzio's 
Lettere Volgari, and in the Nuova Scel/a di Lettere hy Pino. 
Berni is an author who ought to be attentively studied 
by Italian scholars. His mastery over his language, and 
the ease and purity of his diction, have been seldom equalled. 
His humour, though often broad, is not low; it is sharp and 
clever. His skill is not easily appreciated, because it is 
clothed with the appearance of extreme simplicity. 

There was another Francesco Berni, of FeTrara, who lived 
in tho seventeenth century, and wrote several poetical 
works. 

(See Mazzuehelli, Scrittori d Italia ; Stewart Rose's Life 
of Berni, prefixed to his Analysis of the Innamorato; Pa- 
nizzi's Life of Bojardo,) 

BKUNICLE GOOSE, or CLAKIS. (Zoology.) The 
vernacular name for the bervicla of Ray, Anser bernicta of 
Fleming: the bemicle, bernach goose, and barnacle goose 
of authors. This bird affords an instance of the credulity 
with which those who, in their generation, wero held wise 
and learned, accepted the most absurd traditions, and 
handed thoin down to posterity with the additional weight of 



their authority. A eirrh biped, a marine testaceous animal, 
the Petttelaswis anatifera of Leaeh, Attatifa ?<?vi$ of 
Bruguicres, the duck barnacle of collectors, was long as- 
serted to he the parent of the bernicle goose. This common 
shell is fixed to a long, (leshy pedunele, and is frequently 
found attached to floating timber. Tho tentaeula, which 
proceed from the anterior opening of the valves, have an 
appearance that recalls to tho mind of a casual inaccurate 
observer the recollection of a featheri and 'hence, in all 
probability, the fable took its origin. 'Some,' writes Nut- 
tall, 'even described these supposed embryos as fruits, in 
whoso structure already appeared the lineaments of a fowl, 
and which, being forthwith dropped into the sea, turned 
directly into birds. Munster, Saxo Grammaticus, and 
Sealiger even, asserted this absurdity. Kulgosus allirmed 
that the trees which boro these wonderful fruits resembled 
willows, producing at the ends of their branches small 
swelled balls containing the embryo of a duck, suspended 
by the hill, which when ripe fell off into the sea and took 
wing. Bishop Leslie, Torque mada, Odericus. the Bishop 
Olaus Magnus, and a learned cardinal, all attested to the 
truth of thoir monstrous generation. Hence the bird has 
been called the tree goose, and one of the Orkneys, the 
scene of tho prodigy, has received the appellation of 
Pomona. 1 

Not to weary the reader with names, and some of great 
reputation might be added, we will proceed to traco the 
fable as told by Gerard, merely adding, by the way, that one 
of the other worthies is recorded to have opened a hundred 
of the goose- bearing shells, and to have found in all of 
them the rudiments of the bird completely formed. Gerard, 
then, as if determined that no sceptic should have the 
slightest ground whereon to rest a doubt, thus gives his 
evidence in his Herbal : — 

1 But what our ejes have scene and hands have touched 
we shall declare. There is a small island in Lancashire, 
called the Pile of Foulders, wherein are found the broken 
pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have been 
cast thither by shipwraekc, and also the trunks and bodies 
with the branches of old and rotten trees, east up there 
likewise; whereon is found a eertaine spume, or froth, that 
in time breedeth unto eertaine shels, in shape like those of 
the muskle, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour; 
wherein is contained a thing in form like a lace of silke 
finely woven, as it were, togetlier, of a whitish colour ; one 
end whereof is fastened unto the inside of the shell, even as 
the fish of oistcrs and muskles are : the other end is made 
fast unto the belly of a rude masse or lumpe, which in time 
eomraeth to the shape and form of a bird : when it is per- 
fectly formed the shell gapeth open, and the first thing that 
appearcth is the foresaid laec or string ; next come the le«rs 
of the bird hanging out. and as it groweth greater it openetli 
the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth and 
hangcth only by the bill : in short space after it eommeth 
to full maturitie, and fallctb into the sea, where it gathereth 
feathers, and groweth to a fowlc bigger than a mallard and 
lesser than a goose, having blaekc legs and bill or hcake, 
and feathers blaekc and white, spotted in such manner as is 
our mag- pie, called in some plaeos a pic-annet, which the 
people of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree 
goose; which place aforesaid, and all those parts adjoining, 
do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought 
for three pence. For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it 
nlease them to repairc unto me, and I shall satisfic thein 
by the testimonie of good witnesses.' This edifying de- 
position is illustrated by a cut of the goose and of its parent 
shell. 

Now, after this, can we wonder at the melancholy cata- 
logue of human beings who have expiated the supposed 
crime of witchcraft at the stake on the testimony of their 
deluded and deluding prosecutors? Here is a man of learn- 
ing, and of considerable accuracy in many points, the author 
of a valuable work containing much information, who gravely 
and deliberately, on the authority of two of the most acute 
of his senses, asserts a downright falsehood and courts in- 
vestigation. He may, moreover, be acquitted of any inten- 
tion to deceive; but his mind was filled with previous 
assertions and preconceived opinions, and his excited imagi- 
nation, like that of the majority of the witnesses against 
the unfortunate witches, gavo a colour and a form to all ho 
saw and felt. 

Gerard published this celebrated romance in 1636. If 
we now turn to Ray's * Willughby,' published in 1678, we 



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313 



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shall see what a progress had been made towards truth, 
even in that short space of time. * What is reported con- 
cerning the rise and original of these birds, to wit, that they 
are bred of rotten wood ; for instance, of the masts, ribs, and 
planks of broken ships, half putrified and corrupted, or of 
certain palms of trees falling into the sea; or lastly, of a 
kind of sea-shells, the figures whereof Lobel, Gerard, and 
others have set forth, may be seen in Aldrovaiid, Sennertus 
in his Hypomnemata, Michael Meyerus, who hath written 
an entire book concerning the tree-fowl, and many others. 
But that all these stories are false and fabulous I ara confi- 
dently persuaded. Neither do these want sufficient argu- 
ments to induce the lovers of truth to be of our opinion, and 
to convince the gainsayers. For in the whole genus of birds 
(excepting the phcenix, whose reputed original is without 
doubt fabulous) there is not any one example of equivocal 
or spontaneous generation. Among other animals indeed, 
the lesser and more imperfect, as for example many insects 
and frogs, are commonly thought either to be of sponta- 
neous original, or to come of different seeds and principles. 
But the greater animals and perfect in their kind, such as 
is among birds the goose, no philosopher would ever admit 
to be in this manner produced. Secondly, those shells in 
which they affirm these birds to be bred, and to come forth 
by a strange metamorphosis, do most certainly contain an 
animal of their own kind, and not transmutable into any 
other thing, concerning which the reader may please to 
consult that curious naturalist Fabius Columna. These 
shells we ourselves have seen, once at Venice, growing in 
great abundance to the keel of an old ship; a second time 
in the Mediterranean Sea, growing to the back of a tortoise 
we took between Sicily and Malta. Columna makes the 
shell-fish to be a kind of Balanus marinus. Thirdly, that 
these geese do lay eggs after the manner of other birds, sit 
on them and hatch their young, the Hollanders in their 
northern voyages affirm themselves to have found by expe- 
rience.' 

Here we see the clouds that had obscured the subject 
nearly cleared away, though there is still a little lingering 
error in the tacit admission of the spontaneous generation 
of the frogs and insects. 

It is no small praise to Belon and some others, that, even 
in their early time, they treated this fable of the duck- 
bearing tree with contempt. There has been much confu- 
sion in the nomenclaturo of this bird. Linnaeus considered 
it as the male of Anser erythropits ovhite-fronted wild 
goose), and treated Anser brenta (the brent-goose), and 
A. berwcla as synonyms. Succeeding writers continued 
the mistake, till Temminck and Beclistein, instead of re- 
storing tho name given to it by the older ornithologists, 
culled it Anser leucopsis, but did not refer the specific 
name Erythropus to the Anas albifrons of Gmelin and 
Latham. 

Dr. Fleming, in his ' History of British Animals,* set this 
right, and has properly described the bernicle- goose as 
Anser bernicla, and the white-fronted wild-goose as Anser 
erythropus. 

The summer haunts of the bernicle reach high into 
northern latitudes. Iceland, Spitsbergen, Greenland, Lap- 
land, the north of Russia and of Asia, and Hudson's Bay, 
are recorded as its breeding places. Dr. Richardson notes 
it as accidental on the Saskatchewan (53° 54' N. lat.) as a 
passenger in spring and autumn, and gives the southern 
states of the North American Union as its winter quarters. 
It visits Britain in the autumn, appearing in great num- 
bers on the north-western coasts, and in the north of 
Ireland. On the eastern and southern shores of Britain 
it is comparatively rare, and the Brent-goose occupies its 
place. 

The weight of a bernicle is about five pounds, the length 
rather more than two feet, and the breadth about four and 
a half with the wings spread. The bill, about an inch 
and a half long, is black, with a reddish streak on each 
pi tie, and between it and tho eyes is a small black streak. 
I rides brown ; head (to the crown), checks, and throat white ; 
the rest of the head, neck, and shoulders black. Upper 
part of the plumage marbled with blue, grey, black, and 
white ; belly and tail coverts white ; tail black ; Hanks 
ashy grey ; legs and feet dusky. 

The eye-streak is much broader in the young of the year 
than in the adult ; the under parts are not of so pure a 
white, and the upper plumage is darker. 

The flesh is excellent. 




[Ucruicle gooae.l / 

Bernicla Sandvicensis, Vig., the Sandwich Island goose, 
hatched young in the year 1834 at Knowsley in Lancashire. 
One of the goslings still lives and thrives (the others were 
killed by accident), and Lord Stanley (now Earl of Derby) 
has little doubt that these Sandwichlsland geese may, with 
eare and attention, be easily established, and form a va- 
luable addition to the stock of British domesticated fowls. 
(See Proceedings of the Zoological Society.) 

BERNI'NI, GIOVANNI LORENZO, born at Naples 
in 1598, was the son of Pietro Bernini, a Florentine painter 
and sculptor. While young Bernini was still a child, his 
father removed with his family to Rome, being commissioned 
by Pope Paul V. to work at the Borghese Chapel in Santa 
Maria Maggiore. Young Bernini showed a remarkable dis- 
position for sculpture; and at ten years of age having made 
a head in marble, which was generally admired, the pope 
sent for him, and recommended him to the care of Cardinal 
Maffeo Barberini. At seventeen years of age Bernini 
made the fine group of Apollo and Daphne, which was 
afterwards placed in the Villa Borghese. He studied 
architecture at the same time, as well as sculpture. Gre- 
gory XV., who succeeded Paul V., employed him in 
several works, bestowed on him pensions, and made him 
a knight. After Gregory's death, when Cardinal Bar 
berini was elected pope under the name of Urban VI II., 
Bernini became his favourite architect and sculptor, and 
then oxecuted the great works which have established his 
fame; we can only mention the principal:— 1. The Confes- 
sion of St. Peter's," i. e> the bronze^ columns and canopy under 
the dome, at which he worked for nine years, and for which 
he received 10,000 scudi, besides a pension and two livings 
for his brothers ; 2. The palace Bar berini and the fountain 
in the square before it; 3. The front of the College de 
Propaganda Fide;. 4. Several other fountains in Rome; 
5. Various works and ornaments in the interior of St. Pe- 
ter's ; among others the niches and staircases in the piers 
which support the cupola, and for which he was charged by 
superficial critics with having occasioned the cracks that 
showed themselves in the dome about that time. But the 
piers had been made hollow from the beginning ; and it 
was afterwards proved by the examinations of Poleni 
and other architects that the cracks in the dome were, 
occasioned by other causes. (See Milizia's lives of Ber- 
nini, Carlo Fontana, and Vanvitelli.) Among his other 
works Bernini made a head of Charles I. of England, for 
which he was handsomely , remunerated. Cardinal Ma- 
zarin invited him to France, and offered him a rich pen- 
sion ; but Pope Urban would not hear of his leaving Rome, 
nor was Bernini himself inclined to go. When forty years 
of age Bernini married Caterina Fezi, the daughter of a 
respectable citizen of Rome. His life from that time be- 
came extremely regular; he lived frugally, worked hard 



No. 244. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOP/EDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 2 S 



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314 



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and assiduously, being sometimes for seven lvours together 
at his chisel. He did not interrupt his work for any strangers 
who came to visit his study, whether princes or cardinals ; 
they stepped softly in, and sat down to look at him in silence. 
Under tno pontificate of Innocent X., who succeeded Urban 
VI II., Bernini made the great fountain in the Piazza Na- 
vona, and he also began the palaco of Monto Citorio. By 
Alexander VII. he was commissioned to execute tho great 
work of tho piazza hefore St. Peter's ; ho in ado tho splendid 
colonnade and also tho great staircase leading from the 
portico of tho church to tho Vatican palace. He next made 
tho Catted ra, or groat chair of St* VoteVs, of gilt bronze. 
The palace Bracciano at Satttl Apostoll U olso olio of his 
works, though not among tho best. Tin! elegant church of 
Sant* Andrea a Monte Cavallo is likowiso by him, 

Louis XIV. wrote to Bernini in 1665, urgently in- 
viting him to como to Paris, in ordor to superintend aome'of 
his buildings, and especially that of the Louvre, The French 
ambassador at the court of Rome, Duko of Crequi, applied 
to Pope Alexander in his master's name to tho same effect. 
Bernini hesitated a while, but at last set off. His journey 
was a triumphal procession : he made his public entrance 
into Florence, and was rceeived hy tho Grand Duke with 
tho greatest honours. Ho met with a similar reception at 
Turin, at Lyons, and everv whore on the road. The Nunzio 
went out of 'Paris to meet him. He was received at the court 
of Louis as a man whose presence honoured Franco. When 
Bernini however saw the front of the Louvre, which looks 
toward the church of St. Germain, and whieh was then being 
executed after tho design of Claudo Pcrrault, he candidly 
said, that a country which had architects of that stamp stood 
in no need of him, and accordingly he did nothing at Paris 
in tho way of architecture. He remained for about eight 
months in that capital, and was employed in several works of 
sculpture, among others a bust of Louis XIV., for which he 
was most splendidly remunerated. On his return to Rome, 
in token of gratitude, he mado an equestrian statue of 
Louis XIV., which was afterwards placed at Versailles. 
Clement IX., who succeeded Alexander VII., employed 
Bernini in several works, among others, the balustrades on 
the hridge of Sant* Angelo, tho Villa Rosplgliosl near 
Pistoja, and the altar of the Rospigliosi Chapel at Pistoja. 
AVhen eighty years of age, Bernini executed a Christ in 
marble, and presented it to Queen Christina of Sweden, 
who had been his constant patroness, but she declined to 
accept it, saying that she was not rich enough to pay for 
it a3 it deserved. Bernini however hequcathed the statue 
to her hy his will. He died at Rome in 1680, eighty-two 
years of age, honoured and regretted by all, and was huried 
in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. He left a property 
of about 400,000 seudi, nearly 100,000/. sterling. He was 
one of the most successful and best remunerated artists that 
has ever lived. 

Bernini was hasty and naturally passionate, but warm- 
hearted, charitable, and an enemy to envy and slander. 
Ho was of a lively disposition, and fond of theatrical per- 
formances, In which he sometimes acted a part. Ho was 
a painter as well as sculptor, and left about 160 paint- 
ings, most of which were purchased for the galleries of Bar- 
bcrini and Ghigi Of his works of sculpture and archi- 
tecture, which aro very numerous, Milizia gives a list in bis 
life of Bernini. (Milizia, Vite degli Architetti.) The mau- 
soleums of Alexander VIL, of Urban VIII., and of the 
Countess Matilda, in St. Peter's Church, arc by him. Soft- 
ness and finish of execution arc the characteristics of Ber- 
nini's sculpture : ho did not succeed so well in beauty of de- 
sign and form. In his likenesses he is said to have been 
very successful. With regard to architecture his works arc 
elegant and pleasing in their general effect, though often 
faulty in some of their parts. He multiplied ornaments ; he 
did not always maintain the character of tho respecti vo styles ; 
ho intermixed curved with straight lines; in short, instead 
cf simplicity, he often followed his own elegant caprice. 
(Milizia, Vita del Bernini.) Somo of his diseiplcs and 
imitators carried his faults farther than their master. Ber- 
nini however never fell into tho extravagant vagaries of his 
contemporary Borromini. Mattia do* Rossi was Bernini's fa- 
vourite pupil. Carlo Fontana was also one of his diseiplcs. 

BERNOULLI, tho name of a family which is known 
in tho history of mathematics by the services of eight of its 
members. These aro not all of equal, or nearly equal cele- 
hrily ; but it is necessary to notice each, not only to enable 
the reader to avoid tho confusion which so largo a number of 



similar names has introduced into historical writings, but 
also because a moderate degree of reputation becomes re- 
markable, when it forms part of so conspicuous a mass. 
The Cassinis (of whom four aro well known in astronomy) 
present a similar phenomenon in the history of knowledge. 
Tho family of the Bernoultis is said to have originally 
belonged to Antwerp, and to have emigrated to Frankfort to 
avoid the religious persecution under the Duke of Alva : it 
finally settled at Basle. Nicolas Bernoulli, tho immediate 
auccstor of the subjects of tin 1 } notice, held a high siation in 
that republic, and was succeeded in it by a son, now un- 
known. Ho had eleven children, of whom two are the 
most distinguished of the eight Bernoulli*, and another, 
whose name we cannot mid, was the father of a third. But 
the whole counexion will be better understood by the follow- 
ing genealogical diagram, which includes the common an- 
cestor and the eight descendants in question. The years of 
birth and death arc added : — 



3kitt§ I. 

1634- 1705. 



JdltK I. 
1667-17W. 



1 

Son (ilanift uoktiown) 



NlnrttA« It. 
1695-1726. 



1700.1731, 



Jottff It. 
1710-17W 
I 



Nicolas 1 

1087- 1759. 



JotiKltl 
174 M 307. 



JaumII. 

l7«M7es9. 



However distinguished these men may be, the events of 
their lives arc of comparatively little interest, except as con- 
nected with the history of the sciences which they culti- 
vated; and of their works it would be impossible to treat to 
an extent corresponding to their reputation or utility, with- 
out writing the history of mathematics for a ecnlury. We 
shall, therefore, here confine ourselves— 1. To the principal 
events of their lives. 2. To the mention of such of their 
researches as arc most connected with their personal cha- 
racters. 3. To a very short account of lhc position whieh 
their labours occupy in the chain of investigation. 

James Bernoulli I., was born at Basle, December 
27th, 1654. His father intended th$.t he should be a divine, 
and had him taught the classics and scholastic philosopkv, 
but no mathematics. Accident threw geometrical books in 
his way, and he studied them with ardour, in spite of tho 
opposition of his father. Ho took for his devico Phaeton 
driving the chariot of the Sun, with the motto, Invito 
patre sidera verso. At the age of twenty-two he travelled 
to Geneva, and from thenee to Franec. It is recorded of 
him that at the former place he taught a blind girl to 
write, and that at Bordeaux he prepared gnomon ical tables. 
At his return, in 1680, ho began to study the philosophy of 
Descartes. 

The comet of 1680 drew from him his Conamm Novi 
Systematis, <J*c., an attempt to explain the phenomena of 
those bodies. He imagined that they were satellites of a 
planet too distant to be visible, and thenco conjectured that 
their returns might be calculated. With regard to tho 
question of their predictive faculties, he supposes that the 
head of the comet, being durable, denotes nothing, but that 
the tail, being accidental, may be a symbol of the anger of 
heaven. M. Fontcnelle, as became the writer of an tloge, 
calls this a minagement pour lo})inion populaire; but we 
cannot follow hiin in viewing it as such. 

In 1632 ho published his trcatisoD<? Gravitate JEthern^ 
now of litilc note. His lasting fame dales from the year 
1684, in which Leibnitz puhlislicd his first essays on the 
Differential Calculus in the Leipzig Acts. From this time 
ho and his brother John applied themselves to the new 
science with a success and to an extent which mado Leib- 
nitz declare that it was as much theirs as his. 

In 1687 he was elected professor of mathematics at the 
University of Basle. His celebrity attracted many foreigners 
to that place, and his researches on the theory of scries wero 
investigations undertaken as official exereiscs. 

The integral calculus was first inquired into hy James 
Bernoulli, in two essays published in 1691. His future 
labours were, in a great measure, developments of the inex- 
haustible method of investigation just named. Of that part 
which eoncenis his brother as well as himself we shall pre- 
sently speak. Ho died at Basle of a slow fever, August 16, 
1 705, in his fifty-first yoar. After tho cxainplo of Archi- 
medest ho ordered that ono of his discoveries snould bo on* 



BER 



315 



BER 



grayed on his tomb. It was a drawing of the curve called 
by mathematicians the logarithmic spiral, witb the inscrip- 
tion Eadem mutata resurgo : a double allusion, first, to his 
hope of a resurrection, next, to the remarkable properties of 
the curve, well known to mathematicians, which consist in 
this, that many operations which, in most instances, convert 
one ourve into another, in the logarithmie spiral only repro- 
duce the original. 

- M. Fontenelle, his contemporary, says, ' M. Bernoulli 
was of a bilious and melancholy temperament, a character 
which, more than any other, gives the zeal and perseverance 

necessary for great things In all his researches his 

march was slow and sure; neither his genius nor his habit 
of success inspired him with confidence; he published 
nothing without handling it over and over again ; and he 
never ceased to fear the public which held him in so much 
veneration.' It is worth while to observe that the above 
was written in the >^ar of his death, and before the oppor- 
tunity of reviewing nis brother's career could furnish tempta- 
tion to exaggerate points of contrast; and before we quit 
this subject, we may observe that the career of James Ber- 
noulli is, on one point, a contradiction to a favourite theory, 
a consequence of the generalising spirit in which biogra- 
phies are frequently written. The qualities of the man 
in question, be he who he may, are made the necessary 
accompaniments of all who distinguish themselves in a 
similar way. Thus, because several great mathematicians 
have originated their best discoveries very young, it is laid 
down as a sort of law of nature that they should always do 
60 : but James Bernoulli did nothing which would have 
mado him famous, even among contemporaries, till after ho 
was thirty years old, and then not from a principle of his 
own, but from a hint thrown cut by Leibnitz, and which 
r see Barrow] wo might almost imagine his own genius 
would have seized. Yet ho is one of the most original ma- 
thematicians that ever lived. 

He was married, and left a son and daughter. His ' Ars 
Conjectandi/ one of the earliest works on the theory of pro- 
babilities, and his treatise on series, were published posthu- 
mously in 1713, under the care of Nicolas Bernoulli the 
elder. Part of it was republished by Baron Mascres in 
1795, in a volume of tracts. His complete works were pub- 
lished at Geneva, 1744, in two vols. 4to. There is a letter 
of his in the Journal de Physique, September, 1792, which 
wrll be presently alluded to. He edited the Geometry of 
Descartes, in 1695. 

(See eloge by Fontenelle, in the collection ; the memoir 
by Lacroix in the Biographic Universelle ; Montucla, Hist 
des Math., throughout ; and the Preface to Lacroix, Calc. 
Biff, et Int.) 

John Bernoulli I., brother of tho preceding, was born 
July 27th, 1667 (old style). He was the ninth child of his 
father, who intended him for commercial pursuits, and sent 
him to the University at Basle in 1682, where, like his 
hrotber, he found his own vocation. He was made master 
of arts in 1685, on which occasion ho read a thesis in Greek 
verse, in refutation, we suppose, of the divine right, &c, the 
subject being, that the prtnee is made for his subjects. 

He then studied medicine, and in 1690 published a dis- 
sertation on effervescence and fermentation ; but he soon 
hogan to apply himself to mathematics. In 1690 he tra- 
velled to Geneva and into France, where he formed many 
acquaintances, with such men as Malebranche, the Cassinis, 
De 1'HSpital, Sec. He returned to Basle in 1692, and from 
that time dates his correspondence with Leibnitz. It is 
well known how strenuously he defended the cause of the 
latter in the dispute about the invention of fluxions, which 
will appear in its proper place, and the vigorous war of pro- 
blems which he maintained with the English school- In 
1693 (our authority the eloge of tho Berlin Academy, in 
Formcy's collection of 1757, says 1691, but this must be a 
misprint) he was elected professor of mathematics at Wolf- 
enbuttel ; but on his marriage with a lady of Basle, named 
Dorothea Falckner, March 6th, 1 694, he returned to his own 
country, was received doctor of medicine, and kept a puhlic 
act on the Motion of the Muscles. 

In 1695 he accepted a professorship at Groningen, at 
which place ho remained till he succeeded his brother James 
at Basle in 1705, where he died January 1st, 1748. AVe 
' shall have to speak of five of his descendants. He published 
no separate works, but his memoirs are to bo found in all 
the seicntifie transactions of his day. They were collected 
in four quarto volumes hy Cramer, and published at Lau- 



sanne and Geneva' in 1?42. His correspondence with Leib- 
nitz was published in two vols. 4to. at the same places, in 
1745. 

The author of tho iloge already cited says, that the qua- 
lities of his heart were not less estimable than those of his 
head, and that he was 'juste, droit, sincere, et pieux.' To 
the last quality he has an undoubted right ; but his whole 
history is an unfortunate example of impetuosity of temper 
and narrowness of mind, which betrayed him into a want 
of fairness, almost amounting to baseness. The assertion 
of the eulogist is, as the reader will see, a tolerable specimen 
of the extent to which such productions may bo trustefl as 
to points of personal disposition and manners. The cele- 
brated dispute with James Bernoulli is of a character 
unique in history, and forms an episode so characteristic of 
the state of science at the period, as well as of the disposi- 
tions of the two celebrated brothars, that it is worth while to 
dwell a little upon it. 

Before the mathematical sciences were possessed of ge- 
neral methods of investigation, problems of which hundreds 
are now soluble by one process were so many separate ques- 
tions with separate difficulties. It had been the practice 
of centuries for mathematicians who had found a particular 
solution of any case, to propose the question as a challenge 
to others. In the years preceding 1696 John Bernoulli 
had showered new problems upon the world, which though 
addressed to all, were generally considered as particularly 
aimed at his elder brother, of whose established reputation 
he seems to have been jealous. In 1696 John Bernoulli 
proposed the well-known prohlem of ih&hrachistochron* or 
* to find the curve on which a material point will fall from one 
given point to another in the least possible time/ This was 
answered by Leibnitz, Newton, James Bernoulli, and De 
l'Hflpital ; but the third hit upon a method of solving more 
general questions of the same kind ; and feeling perhaps 
that it was time to assert the superiority which his age and 
reputation might be supposed to give him, returned a 
counter-challenge with his solution. It was a problem of a 
much more general and abstruse character, one limited caso 
of whieh is the following: 'Of all the curve lines which can 
bo described on a giv^n rectilinear base, and of a given 
length, to find that wluch contains the greatest area.' He 
added another, which amounted to asking for the curve of 
quickest descent, not from a point to a point, but from a 
point to a given straight line: and ended by stating that a 
person of his acquaintance (probably himself) would give 
his brother due praise, and fifty florins besides, if ho would 
solve these problems within three months, and publish his 
solutions within a year. John Bernoulli, in an answer 
published immediately afterwards (for private correspond- 
ence between the brothers had ceased), praises the solutions 
which Newton, Leibnitz, and De l'H6pital had given of 
his problem, and admits the correctness of that of his bro- 
ther, hut reproaches him with the time he had employed 
upon it. He goes on to say, that as to his brother's new 
problems, they were in reality contained in his own ; that 
difficult as they might appear, he had immediately over- 
come them ; that instead of three months, it only took him 
three minutes to penetrate the whole mystery. He sent 
the results of his solutions accordingly, and required fulfil- 
ment of the promise ; adding, that as it had cost him too 
little trouble to gain the money, he should give it to the poor. 
He had in fact solved the second prohlem, which as he truly 
stated, is not of difficult deduction from his own ; but he 
deceived himself as to the first. James Bernoulli quietly 
answered, in the Journal des Savans for February, 1698, 
that his brothers solution was wrong ; that if no one puh 
lished any further solution, he would engage, 1. To find 
out what his brother's method had been; 2. Whatever il 
was, to show that it was wrong ; 3. To give a true solution 
of the prohlem. And he added, that whatever sum any ono 
would undertake to give him for succeeding in each of the 
three undertakings, he would forfeit as much if he failed in 
the first, twice as much if he failed in the second, and three 
times as much if he failed in the third. The positivo tone 
of this announcement alarmed John Bernoulli, who well 
knew that his brother was not a man to be mueh mistaken 
when he spoke so strongly ; and he accordingly looked 
again at his solution, corrected it as he thought, admitted 
that he had heen too precipitate, and again demanded the 
reward. He proposed also another problem, fdr the solu- 
tion of -whieh he offered 200 florins, if done within the year. 
James Bernoulli replied, ' I recommend my brother to look 

2S 2 



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again at his last solution, and to say whether he still thinks 
it right; and 1 declare that when I shall have published 
mine, pretexts of precipitation will not be listened to.' 
John Bernoulli answered, that he would not revise his solu- 
tion, and that his time was better employed in making new 
discoveries. James Bernoulli replied, tnat if in three mi* 
tiutes ho had solved the wholo mystery, surely six minutes 
lnoro would not much diminish the number of his new dis- 
covcriet. After some further communications, in the course 
of wbtch John Bernoulli sent the demonstration of his solu- 
tion to Leibnitz (who declined giving any positive opinion), 
and declared that ho would say no more on the subject, 
James Bernoulli published his own solutions, with those of 
other problems, without demonstrations, in the Leipzig Acts 
for June, 1700. llo also printed at Basle a letter to his 
brother, in which he invites him to publish his method, and 
sends his own solution, without demonstration. John Ber- 
noulli, though now in possession of tho truo result, could 
not seo where he was wrong; perhaps tcouldnot % for a ma- 
terial part of this letter was suppressed at his desire in the 
posthumous edition of his brothers works. (It was re- 
printed wholo in 1792, as already mentioned.) John Ber- 
noulli replied, by sending his own demonstration under 
cover to the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, to be opened 
so soon as his brother should send his. On this, James 
Bernoulli (March, 1701) published his own solution at 
Basle, and also in the Leipzig Acts with the demonstration, 
De L'HOpitaland Leibnitz immediately admitted its correct- 
ness, and made John Bernoulli acquainted with their 
opinion. But no more was heard from the latter ; he con- 
tinued obstinately silent as long as his brother was alive, 
nor was it till 1706, after the death of James Bernoulli, that 
ho published an incorrect solution in the memoirs of the 
academy. Tho inference is obvious, tha^t he suspected the 
incorrectness of his own method, and was afraid to expose 
it to the searching eye of his brother; but that when the 
latter was dead, he did not fear that any other person in 
Europe would be able to expose him. As late as 1718, he 
published a correct solution, and admitted that ho had been 
mistaken; but he had not the fairness to add, that his 
new solution was only that of his brother in another shape. 
After the preceding account, which is now undisputed, 
the reader will not be surprised to be told, that after the 
deaths of Leibnitz and De L'H&pital, their bosom friend 
John Bernoulli endeavoured to rob them both. He elaimed 
to be a contemporaneous inventor of a method of the former 
(that which was called the differentiate de curva in cur* 
raw/), of which he had said in admiration, when it was first 
produced, that * the god of geometry had admitted Leibnitz 
farther into his sanctuary than himself.' And here too, if 
either of the brothers ean be said to havo invented that me- 
thod as well as Leibnitz, it was James Bernoulli, lie also 
advanced an absurd pretension to be the author of all that 
was new in the Analyse, &c. of De L'Hdpital, a elaim which 
merits no refutation. He was icalous of his own son; Da- 
niel Bernoulli, who divided with him the prize of the aca- 
demy of sciences in 1 734, and was displeased that he turned 
Newtonian. The following aneedoto is related by Con- 
dorcct, we know not on what authority, but we believe it: 
*Ono day he proposed to his son Daniel, then a youth, a 
little problem to try his strength ; the boy took it with him, 
solved it, and came back ex peeling some praise from his 
fathor. You ought to have done it on the spot— was all tho 
observation made, and with a tone and gesture which his 
son remembered to the latest day of his life.' Tho only in- 
stance which has ever fallen within our reading, in which 
John Bernoulli showed himself free from petty feeling, 
was in his treatment of Euler, when the latter was his pupil 
at Basle. Observing his talent for mathematics he encou- 
raged it, and gavo him private lessons, in addition to those 
of the nublie eourse. 

In thus displnying a character which appears to have no 
one amiable point about it, we depart from tho common 
practice, which is never to admit, if by any softening it can 
bo helped, that great intellect is not accompanied by great- 
ness ot mind in other respects. But it Is not good to sub- 
stitute falsehood (and coloured truth is falsehood) for truth, 
and it is not good for the living to know that literary or 
acientific reputation covers moral obliquity as soon as tho 
grave has covered tho body. D'Alembert, who, in tho form 
of an iloge, has written an excellent account of tb*j mathe- 
matical character of John Bernoulli, has Jextorously evaded 
tho difficulty. 'Bernoulli was only known to ine by his 



works ; I owe to them almost entirely the little progress I 
have made in geometry. Not having had any kind of ac- 
quaintance with him, I am ignorant of the uninteresting 
details of his private life.' Speaking of the celebrated dis- 
puto abovo related, he says, *This altorcation produced 
several pieces in which bitterness seems to have taken the 
place of emulation ; but as one of the two must have been 
in the wrong, one of the two must havo been in a passion.' 
lie only forgets to state, what he himself knew as well as 
any body, that the 'one of the two' was the subject of tho 
iloge. and his protSgS for the time being. 

1 n concluding what we mean to say on tho two brother*, 
who stood at the head of their family, wo may observe 
that it is clear that both one and the other had pushed 
their researches in the infinitesimal analysis far beyond 
the view of any other men of their time. Newton had 
abandoned the sciences, and l^eibnitz, the other inventor, 
though he eould decide between the right and the wrong, 
would not commit himself by an opinion on the solution of 
John Bernoulli only, but contented himself with stating 
that it seemed to him to be correct, but that he could not 
give it sufficient attention to speak positively. Of the two 
brothers, the elder was certainly the deeper and the more 
correct ; the younger the quicker and the more elegant. 
The works of John Bernoulli, who lived much longer than 
his brother, contain an immense mass of discovery; hut 
there is no particular on which we could dwell for the l»ene(it 
of the general reader: the mathematician should consult 
the cloge of D'Alembert already alluded to. 

Nicolas Bernoulli 11. (to distinguish him from his 
cousin of the same name), the eldest son of John Ber- 
noulli, was born January 27, 1695, at Groningen. 'lie 
came to Basle with his father in 1 705, and studied at the 
university, where he formed an intimate friendship with 
the afterwards celebrated Euler. In 1723 he was invited 
to Petersburg by the Empress Catherine, with his brother 
Daniel. But he had hardly time to do more than show 
that he had the talents of his family, when he died, July 
26, 1726, at Petersburg. For his iloge sec Comm. Acad. 
Petrop. v. ii., and for some memoirs of his, sec vol. i. There 
arc some of his memoirs in his father s works. (See the 
Biogvaphie Universale.) 

Daniel Bernoulli, the second son of John, was born 
at Groningen, February 9, 1700. His father at first in- 
tended that he should apply himself to trade, but his ob- 
jections to that course of life prevailed, and he was allowed 
to study medicine. He had received some instruction in 
mathematics from his father; we have already seen how. 
After passing some years in Italy, professedly employed 
upon medicine, but really upon mathematics, he returned 
to Basle. lie eould not at this tune have been actually 
known as a mathematician by any decided effort of his own; 
but it was sufficient that he was a Bernoulli/ for we aro 
told that before he was twenty-four years old he had refused 
the presidency of the Aeademy of Sciences at Genoa. Tho 
following year ho and his brother Nicolas were invited to St. 
Petersburg, as already mentioned, lie appears not to havo 
been well satisfied with the half savage court of Russia, 
and had mado up his mind to quit it ; but the empress, 
who wished him to remain, increased his salary, and gavo 
him full liberty to retire on the half of it whenever he 
pleased. Thus obliged in honour to remain, he continued 
at St. Petersburg till 1733, when the state of his health 
rompcllcd him to return to his country. Hero he obtained, 
first a chair of medicine, and afterwards of natural philo- 
sophy, to which was subsequently added one of metaphysics. 
lie had published, in 1724, his first work, entitled Exer- 
citationes Mathematical in the title-page of which he 
styled himself * son of John Bernoulli,' which titlo ho 
nlways afterwards continued. His succeeding essays on 
mechanics were the first in which motion is decomposed 
into that of translation and rotation. He afterwards en- 
tered into the theory of compound oscillations, and is the 
first who applied mathematics to a species of consideration 
which have sinco become of the greatest utility and singu- 
larly extensive application. His Hydrodynamique, pub- 
lished in 173S, is the first work in which the motions of 
fluids arc reduced to a question of mathematics. It is in 
one point like the subsequent work of Lagrange (the Me~ 
canique Anahdique) : in that work the wholo question is 
reduced to the results of one principle, which, in the work 
of Daniel Bernoulli, is colled the conservation of vis viva. 
In the theory of probabilities ho introduced what is known 



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*t>y the name of the moral probability, which estimates a 
loss or gain, not absolutely, but by its proportion to the 
fortune of the person who stands the risk. His paper on 
inoculation, published in 1760, was one of the first in which 
a science whose practical utility is great, though difficult for 
the world at large to see, is applied to a question of sta- 
tistics. On this subject he added to the methods which 
had begun to appear for the evasion of the difficulties arising 
from the necessary introduction of very large numbers into 
questions of combinations. 

Daniel Bernoulli gained or divided the prize of the Aca- 
demy of Sciences ten times; onco (in 1734) in company 
with his father, on the question of the physical cause of the 
smallness of the planetary inclinations, by which, as before 
remarked, he excited jealousy in a quarter from whence 
admiration should have been most certain. His memoir 
has been considered the better of the two ; and Condorcet 
observes, that he knew this, and showed that he knew it, 
which was not quite decorous. In 1740 he shared with 
Euler and Maclaurin the prize for a dissertation on the 
tides ; and their three memoirs, which arc all celebrated, 
contain all that was done on the theory of that subject be- 
tween the writings of Newton and Laplace. 
\ In 1748 he succeeded his father as member of the Aca- 
demy of Sciences, in which he was succeeded by his brother 
John ; so that for more than ninety years the foreign list of 
that body always contained a Bernoulli. 

Daniel Bernoulli was found dead in his bed by his ser- 
vant, March 1 7, 1 782, having in his latter years been subject 
to asthma. He was never married, the only engagement 
of that sort which he over contemplated having been broken 
off by him on the discovery that ins intended wife was ava- 
ricious. In religion he was said by the clergy of his town 
to bo a freethinker, a rumour which he never took any 
steps either to prove or disprove. But his conduct and 
talents had gained him so much respect among his fellow- 
ciiizcns, that to take off the hat to Daniel Bernoulli was 
one of the first lessons inculcated upon the children of Basle. 
The following anecdotes were related by himself, and be 
asserted that his self-love was more flattered by the inci- 
dents they contain than by all his prizes. When lie was a 
young man on his travels, he talked with a stranger whose 
curiosity was excited by his conversation, and who asked 
his name. 'I am Daniel Bernoulli,' answered he. The 
stranger, thinking from his youthful looks that he could not 
be so celebrated a man, and wishing to answer the supposed 
hoax by one still better, replied, * And I am Isaac Newton/ 
The other is as follows : — Koenig, then well known as a 
mathematician, was dining with him, and talking with some 
pride of a very difficult question, which it had taken him a 
long time to solve; Bernoulli went on attending to his 
guests, and before they rose from tablo furnished Koenig 
with a solution of his question, (See the ilogeoi Daniel 
Bernoulli by Condorcet) 

John Bernoulli II., third son of John Bernoulli I., born 
at Basle, May 18, 1710, died there July 17, 1790. He 
studied law and mathematics, and was successively professor 
of eloquence and of mathematics. Three of his memoirs 
gained the prize of the Academy of Sciences. 

John Bernoulli III., his son, born at Basle, November 
4, 1744, died at Berlin, July 13, 1307. At nineteen years 
of age he became a member of tho academy of Berlin." 
He devoted himself particularly to astronomy, and his 
numerous observations are in the Berlin Memoirs and 
ttphemerides. He gave an edition of the algebra of Eulcr : 
Ins Lett res sur differents sujets, tyc, 1111 — 1779, contain 
much information on the state of observatories. There is 
a list of his works in the Biographie Universelle. 

James Bernoulli II., second son of John Bernoulli 
II., born at Basle, October 1 7, 1 759, was the deputy of his 
uncle Daniel in his professorship, when the latter became 
infirm, but did not succeed him, owing to candidates being 
then chosen by lot. He was afterwards professor of mathe- 
matics at Petersburg, and married a grand- daughter of 
Euler. His memoirs in the Petersburg transactions had 
begun to show that he had the talent of his predecessors, but 
he died of apoplexy while bathing in the Neva, July 3, 1789. 
His eloge is in tho Nov. Act. PetropoL vol. vii. {Biog. Univ.) 
Nicolas Bernoulli I., nephew of the two first Ber- 
noullis, was born at Basle, October 10, 1687, died there 
November 29, 1 7C9. He was professor of mathematics and 
of logic at Padua, afterwards of law at Basle. There are 
some of his writings among those of John Bernoulli. 



In concluding this article we shall remark that the two 
elder Bcrnoullis lived during the time while the mathe- 
matics were in a state of growth towards the power which 
was required for physical analysis. No two men contributed 
more to this work ; and it is the integral calculus, as received 
from their hands, which became the instrument of their 
successors. They are of the age of Newton and Leibnitz : 
Daniel Bernoulli, on the other hand, is the contemporary 
of Clairaut, Euler, and D'Alembert; and in the hands of 
these four, the new calculus was applied to investigation of 
material phenomena. The circumstances of the times re- 
quired such men, and there is no question that they must 
have appeared ; but that they should all three have come 
from one family was not to be looked for, and furnishes an 
instance of consanguinity of talent of one kind, which must 
excite the curiosity even of those who care little for the sub- 
jects on which it was employed. 

BKRNSTORF, JOHANN HARTWIG ERNST, 
COUNT VON, a younger son cf Joachim Engelke, Baron 
Von Bernstorf, chamberlain to the elector of Hanover, was 
born at Hanover, May 13, 1712. His education was con- 
ducted by the learned Keyssler, and in his company he tra- 
velled through the principal states of Europe. Having 
visited Denmark, he obtained from Christian VI., in 1732, 
the appointment of minister at the court of Augustus IT., 
elector of Saxony and king of Poland. In 1737 he became 
envoy from Denmark to the Germanic diet at Ratisbon, and 
from 1 744 to 1750 resided in France as Danish ambassador. 
In 1751 Frederic V. appointed him minister for foreign 
affairs, which office he filled till the ascendancy of Struensee 
in 1770, when he was dismissed, and retired to Hamburg, 
where he died, February 18, 1772. He was created a count 
in 1767 by Christian VII., whom he accompanied on his 
travels in. 1768. 

The principal event of his ministry was the accommoda- 
tion of the differences between Denmark and Russia on the 
subject of Holstein-Gottorp. In 1762 war was threatened 
by Peter III. of Russia, but his death having averted the 
present danger, a treaty was negotiated by Bernstorf, which 
was finally concluded in 1773, by which Russia resigned all 
pretensions to Holstein, and received in exchange Oldenburg. 
It was by Bernstorf s advice that Frederic V. purchased the 
property of the Danish West India Company, and opened 
the trade in 1 754. The claims of Denmark on the city of 
Hamburg were finally adjusted during his administration. 
In 1768 Denmark formally resigned her claim of suzc- 
rainete over Hamburg, Hamburg remitting in return a 
part of the debt due to her from Denmark. The main ob- 
ject of his policy was the preservation of peace, in conjunc- 
tion with which he directed all his efforts to the promotion 
of commerce and manufactures, and the encouragement of 
literature. He bears the character of an able and upright 
minister, and his exertions for the abolition of feudal slavery 
reflect tho highest honour both on his wisdom and huma- 
nity. (A fuller account of his life and administration may 
be found in the third volumo of Materialien zur Statisiihe 
der Diinischen Staaten.) 

BERNSTORF, ANDREW PETER, COUNT VON, 
nephew of the preceding, was born at Gartow, in'Liine- 
hurg, August 28, 1735. He became minister for foreign 
affairs in Denmark, in 1773, which office he held during the 
greater part of the remainder of his life. He died July 21, 
1797. {Sammlung von Bildnissen verdienstvoller Z)a- 
nen.) 

BE'ROE, in zoology, a genus of marine animals esta- 
blished by Miiller, and placed by Lamarck under the second 
division of the first section of his first order of Radiaria, or 
radiated animals. Cuvier arranges the genus under his Aca- 
lepha?, which form his third class of zoophytes. It belongs to 
the Ciliograda of De Blainville, and to the Ctenophorte of 
Eschscholtz. In Lepon's arrangement the Beroidso form the 
first family of the first division of Acalephans. The species, 
which are gelatinous, transparent, and either oval or globular, 
float in the ocean, where they are widely diffused. Lamarck 
says that they are very phosphoric, and that they shine at 
night like lamps suspended in the sea, their brilliancy be- 
coming vivid in proportion to the rapidity of their motions. 
Their breathing is carried on by means of cilia, which ex- 
tend longitudinally and at equal distances along the surface 
from the mouth to the inferior opening. Fabricius observed 
minute crustaceans in the digestive organs, and that when 
one of these animals was broken to pieces those pieces still 
continued to live and swim about by the action of the cilia, 



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which was still continued. Tho beroe* have a rotatory 
motion, and Bosc observed that they also had another, pro- 
duced by an alternate contraction and dilatation. 

MM. Audouin and Milne Edwards have given an inte- 
resting description of the organization of tho globular beroe 
(Beroe Pileus, Lam. ; Plevrobrachia of Fleming ; Eucharis 
of Poron and of Blainvillo), and Dr. Grant, in tho Trans- 
actions of the Zoological Soct>/y, has given an ahlo account 
of its nervous system, and of tho structure of its cilia. 
Cuvier mentions "it as being common in tho north — where 
it is said to bo one of the aliments of tho wbalo {Baltma) 
— and in the ehannel on the French eoast. Dr. Grant 

und this speeies on tho eoast off Stafla, and also on tho 
coast of Sheppey, in tho harbour of Shecmcss, in whieh 
latter locality, says Dr. Grant, * tho boatmon, who seemed 
to be familiar with it under the name of tho spawn of 
the sea-egg {echinus), which it somewhat resembles in 
its globular and ribbed form, assured me that often in 
hot and calm weather they swarm with tho littlo medusa) 
In such numbers as to cover the surface of the water in all 
this part of the estuary of tho Thamos. Tho animal has a 
regular oval form, with its longest diameter from the mouth 
to the anus, about six lines, and its breadth about four lines. 
Tho general texture of the body is quito transparent and 
colourless.' 

BERO'SUS (Hnp«*™<*c> that is, son of Ossus), priest of 
tho temple of Bel us at Babylon in tho timo of Ptolemy 
Philadolphus, is believed to havo been born in the latter 
part of tho reign of Alexander the Great Ho wrote a 
* History of tho Chaldroans and the Actions of their Kings/ 
whieh has been long lost, though fragments of it aro pre- 
served in tho works of several antient authors, particularly 
in those of Joseph us and Eusobius. Fabrieius, in his 
Bibliotheca Gr&ca, edit. Hamb. 172S, vol. xiv. pp. 175- 
211, collected them under the title of Fragmenta Berosi 
ex Scriptis ejus genuinis. Thoy wero also edited by 
Riohter. Leipzig, 1825, 8vo. 

For this service Fabrieius deserves the thanks of the 
learned world, as one Annius, or Nanni, a monk of Viterbo 
in Italy, who was bom in 1437, and continued to livo to the 
end of that eentury, counterfeited several books under old 
names, of whieh number were Manetho, Berosus, and Me- 
gasthenes, whom he ealled Metasthenes, a mistake into 
which he was led by Ru Anus's Latin version of Joseph us, 
and which gavo tho first occasion for tho discovery of his 
cheat. These books he published with a comment upon 
them, and for some time they passed for the genuino works 
of the authors wbosc names they bore, but wero presently 
exploded as fictions. An account of the editions of tho 
fulso Berosus will lie found in Meusels Bibliotheca His- 
torica, 8vo. Lips. 1 782, vol. i. part i. p. 15 ; with an enume- 
ration of the earlier authors by whom the forgery was dis- 
covered. 

Pliny says that the genuine works of Berosus contained 
astronomical observations for 480 years {Hist. Nat. If. vii. 
e. 56) : the computation of which is generally supposed to 
havo begun from the sera of Nabonassar, which would bring 
them to the time of Berosus, about 270 years before the 
Christian a?ra. * 

After tho Macedonians had made themselves masters of 
Babylon, Berosus is said to have learned from them the 
Greek language, and passing thence into Greece, first 
settled at Cos, tho birth-place of Hippoerates (Vitruvius, 
li. ix. e. 7.), where he established a eoliego or school for tho 
study of astronomy and astrology. Afterwards ho went 
from Cos to Athons, where he grew so famous for his pro 
dictions, that the Athenians were indueed to placo a statue 
of him In their gymnasium which had a gilded tonguo. 
(Plin. Hist. Nat. li. vii. e. 37.) 

(Seo Moreri, Dictionnaire Historique, edit. Amst. 1740, 
torn. ii. p. 238; Biographie Universelle, torn, iv. 8vo. Par. 
1 8 11 , p. 335 ; Prideaux's Connexion of the Hist, of the Old 
and New Test. tjvo. Lond. 1725, vol. ii. pp. 803, iii. 97.) 

Whether Berosus tho astronomer bo the samo person 
vith tho historian has been a matter of discussion, arising 
probably out of tho extravagant antiquity which some havo 
given to tho latter, making him as old as Moses. All tbe 
astronomers who preceded historical record havo been made 
mythological personages; Justin Martyr even asserts Be- 
rosus to be the father of the Curaoean Sibyl. Vitruvius, 
who says, as abovo stated, tbat he opened a school 
of astrology at Cot, also explains at some length tho 
opinions of Berosus on the moon's light, which aro not 



worth citing; but Cleomedes (cited by Dolambro, A$t. 
Anc. i. 228) describes him as maintaining that the moon's 
rotation on her axis is of tho same length as her sytt- 
odical revolution, from fall moon to full moon ; a eurious 
opinion, and near the truth, as her rotation is in fact equal 
to her sidereal revolution, from a star to tho star again. 
Vitruvius also attributes to Berosus tho invention of tho 
♦ hemieyermm excavatum ex quadrato, ad enclimaque suc- 
eisura.' This Delambre imagines to bo (for the phrase does 
not admit of decisive interpretation) tho samo as the <?Ka$rt, 
or hemispherical dial : that is, a concave hemisphere, with 
an onaquo point or globule at the eentre, by tho shadow of 
whicn the place of the sun might be laid down in the hemi- 
sphere ; but it must be observed that in the next words of 
Vitruvius, the ok6#h, as distinguished from tho hemieyelium, 
is attributed to Aristarchus. Dclamhro, going upon this 
hypothesis, asserts tbe description of Vitruvius to be incor- 
rect, unless 'quadratum' mean a parallelopipcd. But it 
seems to us that tho seetion of tho hemispherical dial (a he- 
misphere hollowed in a cube and elevated for the latitude of 
the plaeo, as wo say of a globe) made by the piano of the 
meridian, is in so many words the instrument descril>ed by 
Vitruvius; and we submit, therefore, whether the 'hemi- 
eyelium 'be not a meridian instrument, or meridian dial 
only, for taking the sun s altitude at noon. 

The story of Pliny relative to tho Chaldican observations 
of 480 years is more modest than that of Simplicius. [See 
Astronomy, vol. ii. p. 531.] AVo refer to that article for 
the notion whieh we entertain of Chaldaian astronomy ; it 
would not be worth while to discuss the probability of Pliny's 
testimony, unless some information could be gained as to 
what sort of observations they were. 

(For authorities connected with the astronomy of Berosus, 
see AVeidler, Hist. Astron.; and Blount, Censura, #c.) 

BERO'SUS, in entomology, a genus of coleopterous in- 
sects of tho family Hydrophilidro (Leach). These beetles 
inhabit ponds, in which they may often be seen swimming 
in an inverted position. There are, however, other pecu- 
liarities in their mode of progression in the water which, 
being common to the trihe, will he notieed under the bend 
Hydrophiud^:. They most prohably feed upon vegc- 
tablo substances. The common colouring of the species is 
dusky yellow varied with markings of a blaek or dark me- 
tallic bronze hue ; their form is nearly oval, and tho prin- 
cipal generic characters are, eyes prominent, clypcus entire, 
antennm nino (?) jointed, thorax narrower than tho elytra. 

BERRE, a small town in France, in the department of 
Bouches-du-RhOne, standing upon a salt lake (etang) to 
which it gives name, and which constitutes its chief el aim 
to a separate notice. 

The lako is near the sea, with which it communicates by 
tho continuous channels of Marti gues and la Tour-de-Bouc. 
The lake is sometimes regarded as consisting of four parts 
— the etang de Berre (in the more limited application of tho 
name) in the centre — tho itan<* de St. Chamas on the north- 
west—the itang de Marthe on tbe south — and the etang de 
Vaine on the east. Tbcse four parts constitute, however, 
but one lake, to which the general narao of Berre is given. 
Sometimes it is called the ttang de Martigues. It is about 
twelve or thirteen miles long from N.AV. to S.E., and about 
ten in breadth at tbe widest part, according to the map of 
France by Bru6 (Paris, 1818), or rather larger according 
to tho map published by tho Society for the Diffusion of 
Useful Knowledge. Its circuit, which is very irregular, is 
differently stated ; Mai to B run's estimate of fifteen French 
leagues (fortv-ono or forty-two miles) is probably not far 
from tho truth. 

An examination of tho borders of this lako shows that 
it was formerly far moro extensive. Tho writer in tho 
Encyclopidie Mi thodi que thinks it is scarcely a twentieth 
part of what it once was. Its surfaeo is tranquil, and it is 
navigable in its whole extent, and communicates, as already 
notieed, with the sea. It receives two small rivers, the 
Toutoubre and tho Arc, of which the former has a course 
of about thirty milos, and tho latter of between forty and 
fifty. Tho banks of tho lake are, at least on the sido of the 
town of Berre, very charming, and studded with villages; 
there aro on them tho two towns of Berre and St. Chamas. 
On tho south-east side, the lako is bounded by a causeway 
of about three miles in length and 130 feet in breadth, 
which separates it from tho etang de Beaumont or Marignan, 
This causeway is said to havo been thrown up by Caius 
Marius in a singlo night, and in tho presenco of the enemy 



B E R 



319 



B E R 



it still bears the name of Lou Caiou or Cai. If any faith is 
lo be placed in this tradition, we must suppose the ctang de 
Beaumont to have been included in the ctang de Berre. 

The waters of the etang de Berre deposit a greater quan- 
tity of salt tban those of any other of the pools which line 
this part of the French coast, and it is of excellent quality. 
A great number of eels are taken every year ; according to 
the Encyclopedie Methodique 400 quintaux, or ewts., are au- 
nually salted, besides those that are eaten fresh ; about forty 
quintaux of boulargue, a preparation nearly similar to 
caviare, are also made. 

The country around the lake produces an abundance of 
olives ; but the air is considered unhealthy ; no doubt from 
the exhalation from such a surface of water. 
# The little town of Berre is upon an inlet on the north-east 
side of the lake. It was formerly one of the strongest for- 
tresses in Provence. It was taken in 1 59 1 , after a long siege, 
by Cbarles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy ; and though all the 
rest of Provence submitted to Henry IV. of France, that 
monarch was unable to expel the duke from this stronghold. 
It was evacuated by virtue of the treaty of Vervins in 1598. 
The fortifications have now gone to decay* The church was 
once celebrated for its relies, though even the Catholic writers 
who mention them east strong suspicion on their genuine- 
ness. The population of Berre, according to the Diction- 
naire Universel de la France, Paris, 1804, our latest au- 
' thority, was 1660. This town is about ten miles S.\V\ of 
Aix, 43° 29' N. lat. 5° 1 1' E. long. 

There is a small river, Berre, in the department of Aude ; 
it falls into the 6tang de Sigean. In the department of 
DrOme there is another small stream of the same name, a 
feeder of the Rhone. (Make Brun ; Expilly ; Encyclo- 
pedia Methodique.) 

BERRETFNI. [See Cortona, P. da.] 

BERRI or BERRY, a province of France, nearly cor- 
responding to the present departments of Cher and Indre. 
While the old territorial divisions of France existed, Berri 
wus bounded on the N. by the districts of Gfttinais, Orl&mais 
Proper, and Blaisois, which were parts of the province of 
Orleanais; on the E. and S.E. by Nivcrnais and Bour- 
botiais; on the S. and S.W. by La Marche ; and on the 
W. by Touraine. The shape of the province of Berri was 
Very irregular ; its greatest length, measured N.E. and S.W., 
from the neighbourhood of Cosne on the Loire to near Le 
Blanc, a town on the C reuse, was about 105 miles; the 
greatest breadth about 90. These dimensions, which are 
measured on the map published by the Society for the 
Diffusioji of Useful Knowledge* exceed very much those 
which are given by Expilly in his Dictionnaire des Gaules y 
and are rather more than thoso given in the Dictionnaire 
Universel de la France. Berry lies between 46° 10' and 
47° 40' N. lat, and between 1° and 3° E. long, nearly. It 
was usually considered as divided into LeIIaut Berri (Upper 
Berri), between the Cher and the Loire, and Le Bas Berri 
f Lower Berri). S.W. of the Cher. Bourges, the capital, 
was in Upper Berri. about 125 miles (measured in a straight 
Jinc) due south of Paris, or 131 by the road through Kon- 
taineblcan, Montargis, and Gien. 

The surface of the ground is little varied ; there are no 
mountains, and few hills, except towards the banks of the 
Loire (which bounded the province on the N.E.), E. of 
Bourges. The chief rivers are the Loire ; the Cher, a feeder 
af the Loire, with its tributaries, the Grande Saudrc or 
Sauldre, the Petite Saudre, the Evre, and the Arnon ; 
ihe Indre, another tributary of the Loire ; and the Creuse, 
which Hows into the Vienne, a third tributary of the Loire, 
within the basin of which river Berri may consequently be 
meludcd. The banks of the rivers Loire, Cher, and Auron, 
are of great fertility, but of the rest of the province a con- 
siderable part is occupied by heaths, unwholesome marsbes, 
orsandvtraets.which however are not entirely unproductive, 
but yield tolerable grain crops. Tho quantity of wood is 
considerable,' above half as much again in proportion as 
the rest of France. The minerals are iron, ochre, and 
good building-stone. 

Berri had only one diocese under the old regime, viz., the 
Archbishopric of Bourges ; but tho clergy were very nu- 
merous, and the number of eollegiato churches, abbeys, and 
other religious houses considerable. Of course the Revo- 
lution has caused great changes in this respect. The dio- 
cese appears, however, to retain its former extent (compre- 
hending the departments of Indre and Cher), and tho dio- 
cesan his arehiepiscopal rank. His suffragans are the 



Bishops of Clermont, Limoges, Le Puy, Tulle, and St, 
Flour. 

Tbe chief towns in Upper Berri, with their population in 
1832, are as follows: — Bourges, the capital, on the rivers 
Auron and Evre, pop. 17,026 for the town, or 19,730 for the 
whole commune ; Vierzon, on the Cher, pop. 4706 ; Dun- 
Le-Roi, on the Auron, pop. 3428 for the town, or 3874 for 
the whole commune ; Sancerre, near the Loire, pop. 2270 
for the town, or 3032 for the whole commune; Mehun, on 
the Evre, pop. 2277 for the town, or 3310 for the whole com- 
mune ; Aubigni, on the Nere, a feeder of the Grande Saudre, 
pop. 2169; and ChSteauneuf, on the Cher, pop. 1737 for 
the town, or 2019 for the whole commune. [See Bourges, 
Chkr, Department of, and Sancerre.] In Lower Berri 
are Ch&teauroux, on the Indre, pop. 10,851 for the town, or 
11,587 for the whole commune ; Issoudun, on the Theols, a 
branch of the Arnon, pop. 9544 for the town, or 1 1,664 for 
the whole commune; Le Blanc, on the Creuse, pop. 3617 
for the town, or 4804 for the whole commune ; La CbStre, 
on the Indre, pop. 3913 for the town, or 4343 for the whole 
commune ; Valencay, on the Nahon, a small stream, a 
feeder of the Feuzon, which flows into the Cher, pop. 3095 ; - 
Buzancais, on the Indre, pop. 2729 for the town, or 4416 for 
the whole commune ; Levroux, on the Moulins, a branch of 
the Nahon just mentioned, pop. 2343 for the town, or 3058 
for the whole commune ; St. Aignan, on tbe Cher, pop* 
2228 for the town, or 2772 for the whole commune ; Selles, 
on the Cher, pop. 1915 for the town, or 4121 for the whole 
commune; Vatan, between Cbateauroux and Vierzon, pop. 
1889 for the town, or 2764 for the whole- commune ; Deols 
or Bourg de Dc*ols or Bourg Dieu, close to Ch&teauronx, 
pop. 1792 for the town, or 2113 for the whole commune ; 
and Lignieres, on the Arnon, pop. 1704 for tbe town, or 1987 
for the whole commune. [See Chateauroux, Indre, 
Department of, Issoudun", LACHATRE.and Le Blanc] 
The present population of the district cannot be given 
exactly, as the census ha3 for many years been taken by 
departments. Probably 500,000 is not far from the truth* 

In a very remote period this province was inhabited by a 
people, the Bituriges, or as they are sometimes called, to 
distinguish them from another people of the same name, 
the Bituriges Cubi. These once held, if we may credit the 
testimony of Livy, the supreme dominion of tbe Celtic tribes 
in Gaul ; and Ambigatus, their king (a contemporary of 
Tarquinius Priscus, king of Romo), sent out, under his 
nephews Bellovesus and Sigovcsus, two numerous bodies of 
Gauls .to attack, the one Italy and the other Germany. In 
the time of Crosar, tbe Bituriges had lost their antient pre- 
eminence, and were under the protection of the Aedui. Their 
chief town was Avaricum, which Caesar describes as nearly 
the finest city in Gaul, and very strong by situation. In 
the war which Csesar, near the close of his command in 
Gaul, carried on against Vercingetorix the Arvernian, this 
country became the scene of contest, and Avaricum was 
taken, after an obstinate defence, by the Romans. Accord- 
ing to the division of Gaul mado by the Romans, Berri 
was included in Aquitania Prima. After the downfall of 
tbo Roman dominion, this country came successively into 
the hands of the Visigoths and Franks; and in the middle 
ages was under its own hereditary counts, who took their 
title from their capital, Bourges, a name derived from Bi- 
turiges. which designation had superseded that of Avari* 
eum. In the early part of .the tenth century the counts 
were, according to some writers, succeeded by the viscounts 
of Bourges, the last of whom, Eudes Arpin, sold the pro- 
vinco to Philippe L, king of France. From this time, 
though often bestowed as an appanage upon various 
branches of the royal family, it never continued long alie- 
nated from the crown. In later times it has frequently 
given title to some of the French princes. The last who 
held it was the younger son of Charles X., ex-king of 
France. He was assassinated on the 13th February, 1820, 
by an individual named Louvel. The assassin, a po- 
litical fanatic, had harboured for several years the design 
of assassinating either the duke or some other branch of 
tbe Bourbon family. He was tried on the 5th and 6th, and 
guillotined on the 7th of June of the same year. (Piganiol 
de la Force, Nouvelle Description de la France ; Expilly, 
Dictionnaire des Gaules> <J*c. ,* Dictionnaire Uniiwsel de la 
France; Malte-Brun; Letters from France, by John.JVl. 
Cobbelt ; Encyclopedic Methodique.) 

BERRY, in the acceptation of botanists, is a term con- 
fined to such soft and eucoulent fruits as havo their seedb 



BER 



320 



BEIt 



lying loosely among pulp. The gooseberry and tho currant 
are therefore genuino berries ; but plums, rose-heps, haws, 
&c, in which tho seeds do not lie among pulp, aro excluded 
from the definition, although they aro all comprehended 
under the same name in common language. 

KERRY POMEROY, a parish in tho county of Devon, 
near the river Dart, in the hundred of 11 ay tor, and about 
two miles E.N.E. from tho borough of Totness. This parish 
includes the villages of Longeombe, Weston, Bourton, Af- 
ton, and Weckaborough. Bridgetown, adjoining Totness, 
is also in this parish. Berry, or more properly Bury, sig- 
nifies a walled town ; and the" addition of Pomeroy is from 
the family which for many centuries held possession of the 
manor, lliis family was descended from Ralph de Pomerai, 
ono of tho followers of William the Conqueror, who gave 
him not only tho manor of Berry, but mauy other lordships 
and estates in this county, some of which are specified by 
Camden. This person built a castle here, and made it the 
seat of a barony or honour. The family of the Pomeroy s 
continued to reside here, and to hold the chief rank in this 
part of the country, until tho reign of Edward VI., when the 
manor of Berry came, it is not agreed whether by forfeiture, 
cession, or sale, but Camden says by sale, from the hands of 
Sir Thomas Pomeroy to the Protector Somerset, with whose 
descendants it has ever since remained. In the parish 
church there aro some handsome monuments of the Soy- 
mour family. The Duke of Somerset is impropriator of the 
great tithes, which belonged formerly to the priory of Merton 
in Surrey, and patron of the vicarage, which is returned of 
tho annual value of 360/. by the Commission of Inquiry 
into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales, 
published in 1835. Prince, the author of the Worthies of 
Devon, was vicar of Berry Pomeroy. The population of 
the parish was 1185 in the year 1831. The magnificent 
ruins of the castle erected by the Poracroys aro seated upon 
a rock which rises almost perpendicularly from a narrow 
valley through which winds a small stream of water. Being 
overhung by the branches of trees and shrubs, and incrustcd 
with moss and mantled by ivy, the ruins form, in combina- 
tion with the other features of the scene, one of the most 
striking and picturesque objects in tho county. Tho great 
gate, with tho walls of the south front, the north wing of 
tho court or quadrangle, some apartments on the west side, 
and a few turrets, are all that now remain of this castle, 
which was dismantled during the civil wars in the timo of 
Charles I. 

(Gough's Camden's Britannia; Prince's Worthies of 
Devon; Grose's Antiquities; Polwhelo's History of De- 
von ; Maton's Observations on the Western Counties, &c.) 

BERTHELLA (Zoology), a genus established by Blain- 
villo for a marine mollusk, from our coasts, which he 
acknowledges that he owes to the friendship of our eountry- 
man, Dr. Leach, and which Donovan had recorded as a 
species of Bulla (B. plumula). Blainville places it in the 
first family {Subaplysiacea) of his Monopleurobranehiata, 
and thus defines it. Body oval, sutlieiently protuberant 
(bombe) above, and recurved below, when in a stato of 
repose, so as completely to hide the head and the foot 
which last is large and oval, but much less than the mantle. 
Thero is a kind of veil at the anterior border of the head, 
prolonged on each side into a sort of appendage cleft late- 
rally. The two tentaculiform occipital auriculcs are cleft 
and striated within at their termination, and approach 
each other very nearly at their base, which is thinned out 
as it were. The eyes are sessile, placed upon the posterior 
root of tho tentacula. There is but one peetiniform Iran- 
chia t which is lateral, attached anteriorly, and, in great 
measure, free behind. The organs of generation terminate 
in one large tubercle, situated before the root of the bran- 
chia; tho shell is internal, very delicate, and oval, with a 
summit hardly to bo distinguished. The only recorded 
•pecies is Bertkclla porosa. 




[HerU*Ua porouj 
c, gUU Tin* j bt vUw of back, to ihcw Internal tfccU. 



BERTHIER, ALEXANDER, nrincc of Ncufchatel and 
Wagram, was born at Versailles, Nov. 20, 1753. Having 
obtained a commission in a regiment of dragoons, he served 
in the American revolutionary war, in which he acquired 
considerable reputation. During the French Revolution ho 
became commandant of thcnational guard of Versailles, and 
in this situation he exerted himself to cheek ihe excesses of 
the populace. During the reign of terror he served under 
I,a Fayetto and Luckncr, and afterwards under Buonaparte, 
in his first Italian campaign. From this time ho accom- 
panied Napoleon in all his campaigns as chief of the staff; 
for which situation he was eminently fitted, though as a 
general his talents were not above mediocrity. In 1E03 
he married a Bavarian princess. In 1805 lie was created 
a marshal of the empire, grand huntsman of the empire, 
and chief of the first cohort of the legion of honour. In 
1806 ho became Prince of Ncufchatel, and in 1809 Prinro 
of Wagram. In 1810 he officiated as Napoleon's proxy in 
the marriacrc with Maria Louisa. On the restoration of 
Louis Will, he accepted the situation of captain of one of 
the companies of the gardes-du-corps. On the return of 
Napoleon he retired to Bamberg, where, on the 20ih of 
March, 1815, lie died by falling from a window, from which 
he was surveying the entrance of the Russian troops into 
the town. His death is enveloped in mystery, as it has 
been asserted by some that he was thrown from the window 
by force, though it does not appear that there is any sulli- 
eicnt authority for that supposition. (AMgemeine Ency- 
chpiidie von J. S. Ersch und J. G. Grubcr ; Biographic 
Nouvclle des Contemporains.) 

BERTHOLLET, CLAUDE LOUIS, a distinguished 
chemical philosopher, was born at Talloire, near Anneey in 
Savoy, on the 9th of December, 1748. He commenced his 
studies at Chamb6ry, and completed them at the Collego 
des Provinces at Turin, an establishment in which many 
eminent persons have been educated. Having obtained a 
medical degree, he soon afterwards went to Paris, where he 
continued chietly to reside during the remainder of a long 
life devoted to the acquisition of knowledge. 

Not having any acquaintance in Paris, he introduced 
himself to M. Tronchin, a medical practitioner of eminence, 
and a native of Geneva. Through the friendship which 
arose from this introduction he was appointed physician to 
the Duke of Orleans ; in this situation lie studied chemistry 
with great assiduity and success, and soon made himself ad- 
vantageously known by his ' Essays' on tho subject. 

In 1781 he was elected a member of the Academy of 
Sciences; and a few years afterwards the Duke of Orleans 
procured for him the situation of government commissary 
and superintendent of dyeing processes, which had been 
occupied by Macquer. To this appointment chemistry was 
indebted for his work on dyeing, which contains a better ac- 
count both of the theory and practice of the art than any 
which had before made its appearance. 

At a meeting of tho Academy of Sciences in 1785, Ber- 
thollet announced his belief in the antiphlogistic doctrines 
recently propounded by Lavoisier, and he was the first 
French enemist of any celebrity who did so. On one subject 
he, indeed, differed from this illustrious chemist, for he did 
not admit oxygen to be the acidifying principle, and cited 
sulphuretted hydrogen as a compound possessing the pro- 
perties of an acid ; it is scarcely necessary to state that the 
justness of Bcrthol let's views is now universally admitted, 
confirmed as they have been by the discovery of other acids 
into the composition of which oxygen does not enter. In 
this year he completed the discovery of the composition 
of ammonia, by following out the previous experiments of 
Priestley; and he also published his first essay on dc- 
phlogistieatcd marine acid, now called chlorine, and pro- 
posed the use of it in the process of bleaching ; an applica- 
tion which has been most extensively and beneficially 
adopted. 

When the French Revolution broke out, and that country 
became involved in war, many of the requisites for carrying 
it on which had previously been imported could no longer 
be obtained through this channel. This wns especially tho 
case with saltpetre for the manufaeturo of gunpowder." In 
this emergency Bcrthollot visited almost every part of the 
country, for the purpose of pointing out the means of ex- 
tracting and purifying this salt* ho was also employed with 
some other men of science in teaching tho processes of 
smelting iron and converting it into steel. In the year 
1 792, being appointed one of tho commissioners of the Mint, 



b e n 



321 



B E tl 



he introduced considerable improvements into the processes 
employed in it. In 1 794 he was made a member of the 
commission of agriculture and arts, and professor of che- 
mistry at the Polytechnic and Normal Schools. 

"When the Institute was organized in 1 795, he became an 
active member of it, and in the following year he was ap- 
pointed hy the Directory to proceed, in company with Monge, 
to Italy, in order to select works of science and art to be 
sent to the French capital. On this occasion he became 
acquainted with Bonaparte, which led to his joining the 
expedition to Egypt, and the subsequent formation of the 
Institute of Cairo, the memoirs of which hody were printed 
in one volume at Paris in the year 1800. 
• It has heen already stated that Berthollet was an early 
convert to the doctrines of Lavoisier, and he afterwards, in 
conjunction with him, Guyton de Morveau, and Fourcroy, 
planned and proposed a new and philosophical ehemical 
nomenclature. This, even with all the errors and omissions 
necessarily attendant upon so new an attempt, has heen of 
infinite service to chemical science, and reflects great and 
lasting honour upon its authors. He was the author of 
more than eighty memoirs, some of the earlier of which 
were inserted in the memoirs of the Academy; his later 
memoirs are generally printed in the Annates de Chimie y 
Journal de Physique, and the Mimoires de Physique et 
de Chimie de la Societi dArcueil, so called from the place 
in which Berthollet lived, at whose house the sittings were 
held. 

Some of the first memoirs which he puhlished were on 
sulphurous acid, on the volatile alkali, and the decompo- 
sition of nitre ; in these he adopted, and for some time 
strenuously defended, the phlogistic theory. In a paper on 
soaps, he showed that they are ehemical compounds, in 
which the oil, by combining with the alkali, acts the part of 
an acid. In 1785, following and extending the experiments 
of Priestley, he proved that ammonia is a compound of 
three volumes of hydrogen gas, and one volume of azotic 
gas. About the same time he read a paper on the dephlo- 
gisticated marine acid, as it was called by Scheele its dis- 
coverer, on which occasion he renounced the doctrine of 
phlogiston ; in his experiments on this supposed acid he 
found that water impregnated with it, when exposed to 
light, lost its green tint, gave out oxygen gas, and became 
common marine acid. This experiment seemed satisfactorily 
to prove, that dephlogisticated marine acid was composed 
of oxygen and muriatic, then called marine acid; Berthollet 
accordingly gave it the name of oxygenized muriatic acid, 
shortened by Kirwan into oxymuriatic acid. In this expe- 
riment, however, the agency of water was not taken into the 
account, and the incorrectness of Berthollet's opinion has 
been fully demonstrated by the experiments of Davy, Gay- 
Lussac, and Thenard ; the name, of chlorine is now given 
to this body, which, not having been yet decomposed, is re- 
garded as an clement. It has already been mentioned that 
to Berthollet we are indebted for the introduction' of chlo- 
rine as a bleaching agent. In his essay on sulphuretted 
hydrogen, in 1778, he showed that this gas, though con- 
taining no oxygen, possessed acid properties ; and in 1787, 
in an essay on prussic acid, he further proved the samo 
fact, determining, hy an analysis attended with great diffi- 
culties, that this acid contained no oxygen, and consequently 
exhibited an additional proof that oxygen was not, as La- 
voisier had supposed, the acidifying principle. . 

Berthollet was also the discoverer of the ammoniuret of 
silver, generally called fulminating silver ; and he also first 
obtained hydrate of potash in a state of purity, by dissolving 
it in alcohol. His experiments on the sulphurets and hydro- 
sulphurets contributed to elucidate an obscure part of che- 
mistry, but they were not complete, because tho nature 
of tho fixed alkalies, then unknown, is involved in the 
question. 

In 1803 Berthollet published his work entitled Essai de 
Statique Chimique. In this he attempts to confute the 
opinion of Bergman, who considered chemical affinity as 
a certain determinate attraction which the atoms of diffe- 
rent bodies exert towards each other, this attraction vary- 
ing in intensity between every two bodies, though con- 
stant between each pair. If affinity he an attraction, Ber- 
thollet considered it as evident that it never could occasion 
decomposition ; he indeed admitted that decompositions did 
happen, but he accounted for them from other causes, and 
not from the superior affinity of ono body over another : and 
he accounted for all decompositions which take place, when 



a third body is added to two others in combination, either by 
insolubility or hy elasticity ; thus, when sulphuric acid ex- 
pels carbonic acid from combination with ammonia, it is not 
because the sulphuric acid and ammonia have greater affi- 
nity for each other than the ammonia and carbonic acid, but 
hecause the carbonic acid, on account of its elasticity, flies 
off. Although Berthollet's experiments, in some degree, 
modify the conclusions of Bergman, they by no means dis- 
prove them ; and his opinions, though supported with great 
ingenuity, hoth of reasoning and experiment, have not 
made many converts. 

Sir H. Davy, in his Elements of Chemical Philosophy, 
p. 117, has given an excellent synopsis of the peculiar views 
of Berthollet, and has clearly shown that his reasonings are 
unsupported, except by facts which are better explained on 
different principles. * M. Berthollet/ he observes, * to whom 
the first distinct views of the relations of the force of attraction 
to quantity are owing, has endeavoured to prove that these re- 
lations are universal, and that elective affinities cannot strictly 
be said to exist. He considers the powers of bodies to combine, 
as depending in all cases upon their relative attractions, and 
upon their acting masses, whatever these may be ; and he 
conceives that in all cases of decomposition in which two 
bodies act upon a third, that third is divided between them 
in proportion to their relative affinities and their quantities 
of matter. Were this proposition strictly correct, it is evi- 
dent that there could be scarcely any definite proportions : a 
s.alt crystallizing in a strong alkaline solution would be 
strongly alkaline ; in a weak one, less Alkaline ; and in an 
acid solution, it would he acid ; which does not seem to be 
the case. In combinations in which gaseous bodies are 
concerned, the particles of which have perfect freedom of 
motion, the proportions are unchangeable ; and in all solid 
compounds, which have been accurately examined, and in 
which there is no chance of mechanical mixture, the same 
law seems to hold good. It is certainly possihle to dissolve 
different bodies in fluid menstrua, in very various propor- 
tions, but the result may be a mixture of different solutions, 
rather than a combination. M. Berthollet brings forward 
glasses and alloys of metals as compounds, containing indefi- 
nite proportions ; but it is not easy to prove that in these 
all the elements are chemically combined ; and the points 
of fusion of alkali, glass, and certain metallic oxides, are so 
near each other, that transparent mixtures of them may be 
formed. It cannot but be supposed that the attractive power 
of matter is general, but in the formation of aggregates cer- 
tain arrangements seem to he always uniform. ., 

*M. Berthollet conceives that he has proved that a large 
quantity of a body having a weak affinity may separate a 
part of a second body from a small quantity of a tbird, for 
which it has a strong affinity; but, even granting this, it 
does not destroy the idea of definite proportions. Thus, in 
the fact noticed by Bergman, the decomposition of sulphate 
of potassa hy nitric acid, ono proportion of potassa may be 
separated from the acid, and the other proportion may 
combine with two proportions of acid ; phenomena analogous 
to those of common double affinity. , 

* M. Berthollet states that a large quantity of potassa will 
separate a small quantity of sulphuric acid from sulphate of 
haryta ; hut he ma^e his experiments in eontact with tho 
atmosphere, in which carbonic acid . constantly lloats ; and • 
carbonate of potassa and sulphate of baryta mutually de- 
compose each other. Even allowing the correctness of his 
views, still he has not given a complete statement of facts. 
If potassa separates sulphuric acid from baryta, either there 
must exist an insoluhle sulphate of baryta containing more 
baryta than the eommon sulphate, and tfhich of eoursemay 
contain two proportions of baryta ; or baryta, sulphuric acid, 
and potassa must all be dissolved in the same fluid, which 
seems highly improbable. M. Berthollet regards baryta as 
separable from sulphuric acid by potassa ; but he has not 
endeavoured to show in what form it appears after the 
process. 

* M. Berthollet states that soda is capable of separating a 
certain quantity of potassa from sulphuric acid, but in his 
experiment water was present, as the soda must have heen a 
hydrate ; and he likewise used alcohol, and the phenomenon 
may be a phenomenon of doublo attraction. Potassa 
has a much stronger attraction for water than soda, 
and the soda may quit its water, and the potassa its sul- 
phuric acid, and tho effect may be assisted by the stronger 
attraction of hydrate of potassa for alcohol. When an 
alkali precipitates an earth from its solution in an acid, the 



No. 245. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



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c*rth, according to M. Berthollet's ideas, ought to fall down 
in combination with a portion of acid. But if a solution of 
potassa be poured into a sulphuric solution of magnesia, the 
precipitate produced, after being well wnshed, affords no 
indication of the presence of acid J and M. Waff lias shown, 
by some very decisive experiments, that magnesia lias no 
action upon neutral combinations of the alkalies and sul- 
phuric acid; and likewiso that the tartareous acid Is 
entirely separated from lime, and the oxalic acid from 
oxido of load by quantities of sulphuric acid merely sufli- 
cieut to saturata the two bases; and these are distinct and 
simple instances of elective- attraction. Again, when ono 
metal precipitates another from an acid solution, the body 
that falls down is usually free" both from acid and oxygen ; 
thus zinc precipitates lead and tin, and iron, copper ;* and 
the wholo of the oxygen and the acid is transferred from 
one metal to the other. 

* M. Berthollet, in crystallizing sulphate of potassa from 
aeid solutions, states that he obtained Salts, of Which" the 
First portion contained 55*83 of acid inlOO parts/and another 
portion only 49*5 ; but it is far from iraproboblo that these 
salts were both mixtures of the acidulous sulphate and the 
neutral sulphato of potash ; and the idea is strengthened 
by tho circumstance that ho obtained neutral sulphate from 
tha samo solution, towards the end of the process; but 
even allowing tho substances to have been principally 
simpla binary combinations,* and not mixtures, Mill' tho 
potassa and the acid may be regarded in th'eih as inde- 
finite proportions. The number representing potassa being 
considered as 90, and that representing sulphuric acid 
as 75. tha first may be conceived to contain four of alkali 
and seven of acid, and the second, threa of alkali and four 
of acid. 

* In cases in which solutions of salts are formed in acid or 
alkaline menstrua, which are supposed incapable of decom- 
posing them, the results must bo considered as depending 
upon a new combination ; and in the evaporation of the 
water or of the menstruum, and the crystallization of the 
remaining constituents, tlio proportions that liave acted 
will determine the nature of the solids which are formed. 
There appears no difficulty in reconciling the doctrine of 
deGnite proportions with the Influence of quantity ; none of 
tha experiments of M. Berthollet can be considered as 
strictly contradictory to tha doctrine, and some of the most 
important results of this sagacious chemist afford it con- 
firmation. 

*M. Berthollet supposes that the attraction of bodies for 
each other are inversely as the quantities that saturate. 
Thus, magnesia and ammonia take up more sulphuric acid 
than equal quantities of potassa, and therefore he concludes 
that magnesia and ammonia have a stronger attraction for 
acids than potassa ; yet potassa instantly separates magnesia 
and ammonia from acids, and though' the facility with 
which ammonia is expelled from a compound may be hypo- 
thetically accounted for, by assuming that the ease with 
which it takes tho gaseous state ' assists' its escape; yet 
magnesia is in an opposite caso, and to account for chemical 
changes by supposing the effects of forms'of matter which 
aro about to appear, or powers not in actual oxistence, Mich 
as elasticity or cohesion, is merely the solution of one diffi- 
culty by the creation of another, and ammonia when solid 
or fluid should require a new forec to render it elastic; and 
the cohesion in a compound can only bere^arded as the 
exertion of the chemical attractions of its elements. The 
action betwen tho constituents of a compound niust be 
mutual; sulphuric acid, there is every reason to believe, 
lias as much attraction for baryta as baryta for sulphurio 
aeid; and baryta is tho alkaline substance of which the 
largest quantity is required to saturate sulphurio acid; 
therefore, onM. Berthollet's view, it has the weakest affinity 
for that acid; but less sulphuric acid saturates this sub- 
stance than any other earthy or alkaline body ; therefore, 
according to M. Berthollet, sulphuric acid has a stronger 
affinity for baryta than for any other substance, which is 
contradictory/ 

In a^ controversy which Berthollet had with Proust, he 
maintained an opinion which now seems too extraordinary 
ever to have been broached, that bodies are capable of 
combining in all proportions. The discussion was carried 
on with great vigour but equal courtesy on both sides, and 
though the ingenuity with which Berthollet sustained his 
views was greater than most persons could have brought to 
their support it is now universally admitted that his ideas 



were totally inaccurate, while those of Proust have acquired 
fresh "proof from the doctrine of deflnito proportions. 

Several anecdotes, which prove the moral and personal 
courage of Berthollet, are on record, of which wo shall select 
one only. During the Ueign of Terror, a short time beforo 
the 9th Thermidor, when it was the system to raise up pre- 
tended plots to give pretexts for putting to deatli those who 
were obnoxious to Kobcspierro and his friends, a lusty 
notice was given, at a sitting of the Committee of Public 
Safety, that a conspiracy had just been discovered todestroy 
the soldiers, by poisoning the brandy which was jf<"nng to be 
served out to them previous to an engagement. It was *aid 
that the sick in the hospitals who had tasted this brandy 
all perished in consequence of it. Immediate orders were 
issued to arrest those previously marked for execution. A 
quantity of the brandy was sent to Berthollet to bo examined. 
He was informed, at the same time, that Uol>espierre wanted 
a conspiracy to be established, and all knew that oppoMtion 
to his will* was certain destruction. Having finished his 
analysis, Berthollet drew up his results* in a report, which 
he accompanied with a written explanation of hisvftiws; 
and he there stated, in the plainest language, that nothing 
poisonous" was mixed with the brandy, but that it had been 
diluted with water holding small particles of slate in sus- 
pension,' an imrredient which filtration would remove. This 
report deranged the plans of the Committee of Public Safety. 
They sent for the author to convince him of the inaccuracy 
6f his analysis,' and to persuade liiin to alter its results. 
Finding that he remained unshaken in his opinion, Robes- 
pierre exclaimed, J WW, Sir! darest thou affirm that the. 
muddy brandy is free from poison ?' "Berthollet immediately 
filtered a glass of it in his presence, arid drank it off. * Thou 
art daring, Sir, to drink that liquor/ exclaimed the ferocious 
president of the committee. " I dared much more/ replied 
Berthollet, 'when 1 signed my name to that Report.* Thcro 
can bo no doubt that he would have paid the penalty of this 
undaunted honesty with his life, but that fortunately tho 
Committee of Public Safety could not at that time dispense 
with his services. 

Upon his return from Egypt, Berthollet was nominated a 
senator by tha first consul ; and afterwards received the dis 
tinction of grand officer of the Legion of Honour, grand 
cross of the order of Re-union, and, under the emperor ho 
was created Count, after the restoration of the Bourbon ho 
was created a peer of France. The advancement to these 
offices produced no change in the manners of Berthollet. 
Of this he gave a striking proof, by adopting, as his armo- 
rial bearing (at the time that others eagerly blazoned some 
exploit), the plain unadorned figure of his faithful and 
affectionate dog. He was no courtier before he received 
these honours, and he remained equally simple and un- 
assuming, and not less devoted to science, after they were 
conferred. 

The latter years of his life wcro embittered by tho mis- 
conduct and suicide of his son, M. Amedee Berthollet, who 
had distinguished himself by his chemical researches. In 
1622 he was attacked by a slight fever, which left behind it 
a number of boils: these were soon followed by a gangra- 
nous ulcer of uncommon size. Under tins he suffered for 
several months with surprising fortitude. Ho himself, as 
a physician, knew the 'extent of his danger, felt the inevi- 
table progress of tho malady, and calmly regarded the slow 
approach of death/ At length, after a tedious period of 
suffering, in which his equanimity had never once been 
shaken, he died on the 6th of November, when he had 
nearly completed the 74th year of his age. 

B^RTIIOLLE'TIA, a remarkable plant belonging to 
the natural order Lecyihidcce. It is of large dimensions, 
and forms vast forests on tho banks of the Oronoko. Its 
stem averages a hundred feet in height, and two feet in 
diameter, not branching till near tho top, whence its boughs 
hang down in a graceful manner. Its leaves are undivided, 
arranged alternately upon the branches, about two feet 
long, and fiva or six inches wido, of a brilliant green. Its 
flowers aro yellowish white, with a calyx having a decidu- 
ous border, divided into two pieces, a corolla of six unequal 
petals joined together at the base, and a very great number 
of white stamens joined into a thick Meshy ring. The fruit 
is figured and described by Humboldt as a 'spherical case, 
as big as a man's head, with four cells, in each of which arc 
six or eight nuts; its shell is rugged and furrowed, and 
eovered with a rind of a green colour. The nuts arcs irre- 
gularly triangular bodies, having a hard shell, which is 



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*ery mueh wrinkled, and which is fixed to a central plaeenta 
by their lower end ; their seed, as is well known, is a firm 
oily almond, of a pure white colour. ,< 

' Tbe Portuguese. of. Para/ says Humboldt, ' have for a 
long time driven a great trade with the nuts of this tree, 
whicb the natives call iuvia % and the Spaniards almendron ; 
tbey send cargoes to French Guiana, whence., they, are 
shipped for England and Lisbon. , Tbe kernels yield a large 
quantity of oil, well suited for lamps.* # The same traveller 
describes himself .and his companion, ^Bonpland, as having 

I found these nuts a great luxury when they were following 
the course, of tbe Oronqko; , For three months. tbey had 
lived upon bad chocolate, rice boiled in water, always without 
butter, and generally without salt, ,when they met with a 
store of Bertholletia nuts.. It was in the course of, June, and 
the Indians had just gathered in their harvest of tbem. 
The kernels were found delicious when fresh ; but,unfortu- 
nately^ they are apt ,to become rancid, on aeeount of the 

' great quantity of oil wbieti they contain. 




{Fruit and Seed* of Bertholletia excelia.] * 

BERTRAND, SAINT, a small town in &anee, for- 
merly eapital.off.the distriet of f Commirrges in Gascogne. 
[SceCoMMiNGES, and Garonnk (Haute), Department 

OF * - • '• - Qm ., ,, 

BERVIE, or INVERBERVIE, a small parish and 
royal burgh in Kincardineshire, Scotland, 82$ miles from 
Edinburgh, ,on tho coast, road from Dundee to Aberdeen. 
Tbe north, side of the parish, -is boundedVby the Bervie, a 
small stream, which joins the sea a little below the town, and 
forms a small harbour for fishing-boats. The parish, which 
contains 2389 English aeres, slopes from.west to cast, and 
is only about two miles long and one and a half broad. The 
boundaries of tbe burgh are fixed by tbe aet to amend the 
representation of Scotland (% and 3 s Will. IV. e. 65). Ber- 
vie is tbe only royal burgh in this county ; itsch'arter was 
granted in 1342 by King David II., and renewed in 1595 
by James VI. Tbe burgh is irregularly built, and is governed 
by a provost, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and nine coun- 
cillors, self-elected; since, by .being included iri^ehedule F 
of the Seotch Royal Burgh Reform Act, Bervie eleetion is 
conducted as if ,tbat act had not passed. , 

Before the passing of the Scoteh Reform. Aet, Bervie 
joined with Aberdeen, Montrose, Brechin, and Arbroath in 
sending a member to parliament, but now Forfar is added 
to this set of burghs instead of Aberdeen., The parish 
ehureh was built in 1781. Thero is a good bridge over the 
Bervie. The inhabitants are supplied with water, by means 
of pipes. The annual value of real property, as assessed 
in April, 1815, was, in the burgh, 143/., and in the parish, 
2324/. , (Enumeration Abstract.) 

Fishing and smuggling were tbe chief occupations of tbe 
inhabitants up to 1750, when a sail-cloth manufacture was 
begun and successfully carried on for a timo : the bleaching 
of eloth, and the manufacture of coloured thread for the 
London market, followed; and thero is now a salmon- 



fishery on the, beaeh. There is a weekly market, and two 
annual fairs are held in May and September. 

The village, of ( Gourdon, in the south-east eorner of the 
parish, has a harbour, and a few small craft. 

The, clergyman's stipend., is four ehalders of victual*, 
400 merks in money; and fifty, pounds' Scots for the 
communion-table. Tbe manse is in .the t6wn, and the 
glebe contains about four acres and a half. The salary of 
the parish schoolmaster, is 100 merks,, and his whole income 
about 18/. or 20/. a year, ^ T Tbe poor-rates arise from the 
interest of some money lent out; and from the weekly col- 
lections at the parish church door. ■ 

Tbe population of the whole parish in 1831 was 1137; 
the burgh contained 757 inhabitants; the village of Goiir- 
don 238, and 142 are eouhtry inhabitants.' The number of 
males was 530 ; females,' 607 ; males of twenty years of agev 
386 ^occupiers employing labourers, 21 ; oecupiers not em- 
ploying .labourers, i 1 ; labourers, 72 ; persons employed in 
manufacture or in making manufacturing machinery; 70; 
retailers and handicraftsmen, 133 ; capitalists, bankers, pro- 
fessional and other educated men, 16 ; labourers employed 
in labour not, agricultural, 47; male servants none; and 
female servants, 62. 

(Communications from Dundee and Aberdeen; Sinclair's 
Account of Scotland, vols. 13,' 17, 4, compared with' Cham- 
bers's Gazetteer; Carlisle, Top. Diet.; Gardens Map of 
Kincardineshire; Enumeration Abstract of Population 
Returns; Scotch Reform Bill; Scotch Royal Burgh Re- 
form Act.) 

BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, a seaport and garrison 
town on the great north road from London to Edinburgh, 
situated on the northern bank of the river Tweed,' about 
half a mile from its mouth, and distant 300 miles N. by 
W. JW. nearly in a straight line from St. Paul's church, 
London, and 47 miles E. byS.'^S. from Edinburgh ; 'in 
55° 46' 21" N. lat.; and 1° 59,' 41" W. long.' * The usual do- 
seriptionof the plaee is 'the borough of Berwick -upon-^ 
Tweed,* but in some antient deeds it is ealled # ' South Ber- 
wick,' doubtless to distinguish it from 'North Berwick/ on 
the Frith of Forth. .Tbe town and its liberties, which ex- 
tend about three miles and a half along the sea-coast, and 
about the same dfstanpe towards the west, form an irregular 
figure, comprising ah area of nearly eight square miles. 
They form one parish, bounded, by the German Ocean on 
the east, the shire, of Berwick in Scotland oh the west and 
north, and a detached portion of the county palatine of Dur- 
ham, e ailed Jslandshire, extending to the mid-stream of the 
river Tweed, on the south: the othor half of the river be- 
longs to. the town. . Berwick is not within any county, 
neither is it a town and county of itself, though it virtually 
forms a county ; and if is somewhat diflieult to determine to 
which part of Great Britain it belongs. Sinee tbe reign of 
Philip and Mary (if not from an earlier date) it haB sent two 
members to the English House of Commons. Before tho 
Reform Aet the representatives were elected by the bur- 
gesses alone, whether resident or not. By that statute tho 
populous township of Tweedraouth, in the parochial chapelry 
of tbe same name in Islandshire, and tho village of Spittal, 
at the mouth of tbe river, also in the parochial ehapelry of 
Tweedmouth, are added to the parliamentary borough. 

Of the origin of Berwick nothing whatever is known* 
and for its early history there exist but few materials, and 
these are principally found in the Scottish Chartularies. ,It 
first appears authentically in the early part of the twelfth* 
century, during the reign of King Alexander I., when* it 
was part of his realm of Scotland, and the capital of the 
district called Lothian. About this time, but more parti- 
cularly in the. reigns of his successors, David I. and Mal- 
colm IV., it became . populous rind wealthy, contained a 
magnificent castle, was the chief sea-port of Scotland, and 
abounded with churches, hospitals; and monastic buildings, 
and its importance as a place of trade is fully attested by * 
its having been created one of the four royal burghs 
(boroughs) of Scotland. Torfeeus has preserved an interest- 
ing story of Cnute, a merchant of Berwick, who,. earlyin 
the reign of King Malcolm IV., had acquired from his 
riches tbe name of ' the Opulent.* * * * . : 

Under the treaty entered into with England for the ran- 
som of William tbe Lion, who was* taken prisoner near 
Alnwick in 1 1 74, the castle of Berwick, with other fortresses 
in. Scotland, was surrendered to the English king, but 

• X duldit if 16 lwlli, or alwut 80 biuhela; victual fr<Jf« meam corn. 

2T2 



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it was restored by Richard Cccur de Lion in 1189. In 
1216 Kinj; J °hn ^ an ** m y t0 lno north to chastise his 
disaffected barons and also the king of Scotland, who, it 
would seem, had espoused their causo. On this occasion 
tho town and castle of Berwick, wero taken by storm, and 
tho most horrible cruel tics inflicted on tho inhabitants by 
the English soldiors. After perpetrating similar outrages 
at Dunbar and Haddington, they* returned to Berwick, and 
committed it to tho flames, tho English king commencing 
by setting firo to the houso in which he had been lodged. 
During the reign of Alexander III., Berwick seems to havo 
attained its highest pitch of improvement and prosperity as 
a commercial and trading port. A company of Flemings 
had settled there, who, as well as tho nativo merchants, 
carried on an extensive trado in wool, hides, salmon, and 
other commodities ; and sucb was their success, that a con- 
temporary chronicler, who had been an eye-witness toils 
grandeur, denominated it a second Alexandria. During 
the competition between Baliol and Bruce for tho Scottish 
throne, the English parliament sat at Berwick, and Ed- 
ward I. finally gave judgment in favour of Baliol in the hull 
of the castle. 

In 1296 Edward commenced his unjustifiable and sysfc- 
matic attack upon the liberties of the Scottish nation by be- 
sieging the town of Berwick both by sea and land. It was 
bravely but unsuccessfully defended by a powerful garrison. 
Edward took both town and castlo, put the garrison to the 
sword, and butchered the inhabitants without distinction of 
sex or age. Notwithstanding the capture of the town, the 
Flemish company nobly continued the fight for the pre- 
servation of tbeir principal establishment, called the Red 
Hall, until tbo building was set on fire, when they all 
perished in the ilarues. Up to this dale the burgh of Ber- 
wick, though now within the diocese of Durham, was within 
tbo archdeaconry of Lothian, in the dioceso of St. Andrew's, 
and was under the rulo of a mayor and four bailiffs, and 
subject to the jurisdiction of the justiciary of Lothian. 
There were, besides, a governor of the town and another of 
the castle, and a sheriff, whose authority extended also over 
the county of Berwick. 

Edward I. gave the town a charter for its internal govern- 
ment, containing the privileges and immunities usually in- 
serted in similar grants to English boroughs, but without 
altering materially, if at all, its anticnt constitution ; and 
he confirmed to it the enjoyment of the Scottish laws as 
they existed in the time of Alexander III. 

In Septomber, 1297, tho Scots, under Wallace, gained a 
signal victory over their invaders at Stirling bridge. The 
English army retreated to Berwick, but soon deserted it, 
though the garrison retained possession of tbe castle. In 
tho following spring, on the approach of a powerful army 
from England, the Scots evacuated the town, after which 
Berwick remained in tbe possession of tho English for 
twenty years, and during that period large sums of money 
were expended in fortifying both it and the castle, and a 
numerous garrison was employed in its defence. 

In 1318 it fell into the hands of the Scots, through the 
treachery of Peter de Spalding, an English soldier, who en- 
abled a body of troops, cautiously assembled, to scale tho 
walls secretly by night, and to become masters of the town. 
Tbo English fled to the castle for safety, but the Scottish 
army, which soon afterwards arrived, compelled them to 
capitulate. The acquisition was of immense importance to 
Bruce, then king of Scotland: it was the key to the sister 
kingdom. While in possession of the English it had contri- 
buted largely by its customs and other duties to the public trea- 
sury, for it was one of the richest commercial towns then in 
England. Bruce confirmed by charter its antient privileges; 
tho walls and other fortifications were strengthened and ex- 
tended ; the valuable services of John Crabbe, a foreign 
mercenary, who was famous for his skill as an engineer, were 
secured for its defence, and the efforts of the English army, 
who attempted to retako it in tho following year, were un- 
availing. It thus remained in the possession of the Scots until 
the fatal battle of II al id on Hill, an eminence within the liber- 
tics of the lwrough, almost closo to the Scottish border, and 
distant about two miles north by west from tho town. After 
this battle, which was fought in July, 1333, Berwick again 
fell under tbo dominion of the English, and so continued 
until tbe month of November, 1355, when it was surprised 
in tho night by the Scots, under the command of the carls 
of Angus and March, assisted by French auxiliaries. The 



inhabitants fled to tho castle, leaving tho town to pillage; 
and Fordun, tho Scottish historian, refers with more than 
ordinary exultation to ' the gold and silver and infinite 
riches* which becamo the prey of his countrymen. In the 
following January Edward III. invested the town with a 
powerful army, and tho Scots, being unablo to retain it, 
agreed to articles of capitulation, and wcro suffered to de- 
part with all their effects, almost every individual soldicr r 
according to the samo authority, being made wealthy with 
the booty he had obtained. 

In 1378 the castle of Berwick was taken by a small band 
of Scottish adventurers, who slew the constable, Sir Robert 
de Boynton, and kept possession of it upwards of a week : 
it was then retaken by the Earl of Northumberland, at the 
head of 10,000 men, and bere his eldest son, the celebrated 
Hotspur, afterwards governor of the place, commenced his 
military career. 

In 1384, during a truce, tho Scots repossessed themselves 
by night of the castle, which had been committed by the 
English king to the custody of the Earl of Northumberland, 
and burnt the town ; but the offer of a sum of money soon 
induced the enemy to abandon their conquest. After the 
accession of Henry IV. the carl, believing that Richard II. 
was still alive, adhered to his fortunes, and in 1405 sur- 
rendered Berwick to the Scots, who pillaged and once mcic 
burnt it The English king, with an army of 37,000 
fighting men (according to Walsingham), besieged tho 
castle, the carl and his adherents having previously de- 
serted the town and fled to Scotland. The garrison hesi- 
tated to surrender on being summoned, but a single shot 
from a laree piece of ordnance threw down one of tho 
towers, which so terrified the defenders that they in- 
stantly gavo up the castle, and all of them were cither 
beheaded or committed to prison. In 1416 the Scots 
attempted the recovery of Berwick, but without success. 
Henry VI., after his dofeat by Edward IV. at Towton in 
1 461, tied to Scotland, and, with the consent of his council, 
surrendered Berwick to the Scots, wbo continued masters of 
it and the castle for twenty-one years. In July, 148*2, the 
town again surrendered to the English, but the castle bold 
out until the 24th of August following, when, through the 
intrigues of the Duke of Albany, the brother of James II I., 
both town and castle were finally surrendered to Edward 
IV., and were never afterwards recovered by the sister 
kingdom. 

After tbo conquest of Berwick in 1296, and of the other 
southern parts of Scotland, Edward I., whose cxamplo was 
followed by his successors, continued to that kingdom its an- 
tient laws and officers of state, though the latter were gene- 
rally selected from his own subjects. In process of time, as 
their Scottish acquisitions fell one by one from the hands of 
the English, the great officers of state, who at first wcro 
designated as of the kingdom of Scotland at large, becamo 
known as superintending only those portions of the realm 
which were still under subjection to England, and when 
Berwick only remained of theso conquests, the ofllccrs were 
described of that borough alone. Accordingly, wo find the 
chancellor and chamberlain, or treasurer, first called * of the 
kingdom of Scotland;' next of 'Berwickshire, Jedburgh, 
Selkirk/ &c. ; and, lastly, their only title was 'chancellor and 
chamberlain of Berwick.' Theso two oflices were retained 
from tho reign of Edward I. to tho accession of James VI. of 
Scotland to tho English throne. To the chancellor, who had 
his chancery, master of the rolls, clerks, &c. t and a Dooms- 
day Book at Berwick, was committed tho duty of preparing 
and sealing all grants and other official documents ema- 
nating from tho crown: the chamberlain had tho ma- 
nagement of the royal revenue, besides a judicial power in 
bis itinera, or circuits, as the justiciary of Lothian also 
had. There were also an cscheator, an exchequer, an ex- 
change, and a mint at Berwick the last in existence during 
the reign of William the Lion), and'tbo usual officers 
found in other porU of England and Scotland, such as cus- 
tomers, collectors of customs, controllers, troners of wool, 
clerks of the ccckct, and tho like. . Tho military officers 
ftho governors of the town and castlo, tho marshal, &c.) 
were like wi so continued ; and, in a word, the whole civil, 
judicial, and military establishment of the borough ro- 
scmbled that of a kingdom. The first Edward, as already 
stated, confirmed tho anticnt liberties and customs of tho 
borough, and in this he was followed by most of his suc- 
cessors, ending with Queen Elizabeth, who granted con- 



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325 



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firmatory charters; avid various acts of parliament are 
scattered over the English statute book, the most important 
of which is one in the reign of Edward IV. (a.d. 1482, 
in the twenty-second year of his reign), having the same 
end in view. The mayor and four bailiffs were the only 
officers of the corporation named in the charters, but tbe 
general words are ample enough to comprehend and le- 
galise the other corporate officers, of whom there were many. 
Accordingly, the alderman, dean, and feeryngmen, or 
affeeringraen, who constituted a court similar to that of a 
common couneil, are mentioned in the * Statuta Gildae ' of 
Berwick, the first of which were enacted about the middle 
of the 13th century, and also in the guild hooks of the reign 
of Henry VIII. In the guilds or meetings of -the corporate 
body all measures for the internal regulation of the borough 
were decided upon, and many of their ordinances, affecting 
the inhabitants who were not hurgesses, down to a much 
later date than the period which has passed under review, 
savoured of the spirit of the age, heing alike impolitic and 
unjust. 

From the reign of Edward I. to that of Elizabeth the 
principal export trade continued to be wool, wool fells, hides, 
and salmon, and though perhaps Berwick was never after- 
wards so wealthy as in the days of the third Alexander, yet 
her merchants were long distinguished for their riches and 
the extent of their traffic, and long enjoyed a species of 
monopoly in their exports to Calais and other foreign ports, 
end to the city of Bruges, &c. The importance of the place, 
however, may be estimated from the single fact that the 
burgesses had a lease of the town from Edward I. in the 
year 1307, for which they paid the annual rent of 500 marcs 
at the exchequer of Berwick. Of tbe antient revenues of 
the corporate body little is known. So early as the reign of 
Alexander III. they had a prison called the Berfreyt, and at 
a subsequent date they were owners of a few acres of ground 
in the Snook, near the sea-coast. In the time of Queen 
Elizahcth they derived a small yearly income from tolls 
on merchandise at the quay, and prohably from other 
sources ; and they enjoyed witb the garrison and other in- 
habitants the right of depasturing cattle on part of the crown 
lands. 

But it is to the liberality of James VI. of Scotland tha 
they aro indebted for nearly the whole of their present 
wealth. In the second year of his reign over England 
James granted them hy charter, confirmed by act of parlia- 
ment, the seignory of the town and all the lands within the 
horough, except certain estates which he had previously 
given to Sir George Hume, and the hurgage tenements 
within the walls which helonged to private individuals. 
This territory measures ahout 3077 acres, heing two- thirds 
of the whole land within the bounds, and at present yields 
an annual revenue, including their other sources of in- 
come, of about .10,000/. It is by this charter that the town 
and liberties are now governed. To attempt even an 
ahridgment of it would far exceed our limits: the local 
officers are substantially the same as in the former charters, 
with the addition of a recorder, a coroner, and four serjeants- 
at-mace for executing the process of the eourts; all the 
corporation officers are elected hy the burgesses in guild, 
not by the crown. It empowers the justices of the peace, 
consisting of the mayor for the time being, with those who 
have previously served that office, and the recorder, to try 
all offences committed within the borough and liberties, and 
to pass and carry into execution sentence of death and other 
punishments, as fully as can be done hy judges of assize in 
England, who have no jurisdiction here. It also gives ample 
power to the mayor, recorder, and bailiffs to hold a civil 
court of record, for the recovery of lands, tenements, debts, 
trespasses, &e., where the causes of action arise within the 
jurisdiction. In all the eourts, eivil and eriminal, the pro- 
ceedings are the same as in the English eourts, the laws of 
Scotland having now no force here. The charter also grants 
two weekly markets, on Wednesday and Saturday, the 
former of whieh is now almost entirely discontinued, and an 
annual fair from the feast of the Invention of the Holy 
Cross (3rd May) to the feast of the nativity of St. John the 
Baptist (24th June), but in modern times no aetual fair is 
held except on the Friday in Trinity week. Eeelesiastieally 
considered, Berwick is now in the deanery of Bamborough 
and diocese of Durham, and is held to be within the custom 
of York as to tho distribution of intestates* effects. • The 
ehurch, which is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is in the 
patronage of the dean and chapter of Durham, who leaso the 



tithes to the corporation. The living is a vicarage of the 
annual value of 289/. according to the Ecclesiastical Report 
of 1835. There is also a week-day lectureship, founded in 
1625, by Mr. Fishborne, in the gift of the Mercers' Com- 
pany in London, but no other church or chapel connected 
with the ehurch of England. There are ten other places 
of public worship, viz. a Catholie chapel, two meeting- 
houses connected with the Kirk of Scotland, two with the 
Associate Synod of Scotland, two with the Relief, one Bap- 
tist chapel, and two belonging to the Methodists. 

Berwick still remains a walled town, but the fortifications 
do not inclose so large a space as they did in antient times. 
Tbe modern ramparts, which are, generally speaking, in 
good repair, do not include the suburbs of Castle-gate and 
the Greens, hut the ruins of the old wall which surrounded 
them, and extended further towards the east also, yet re- 
main ; and one of its towers, called the Bell Tower, is still 
almost entire. It seems doubtful whether Berwick was 
surrounded with a stone wall prior to its conquest by the 
first Edward. The more correct opinion prohably is that it 
was then merely defended hy a ditch and wooden palisades. 
Tbe present walls were built in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
heth. Excluding the suburbs, the circumference is a mile 
and three quarters, but including them, it extends upwards 
of two miles and a half. The old works consisted probably 
of a ditch, a rampart, and circular or square towers, or both, 
at intervals. The existing defences consist of a rampart of 
earth substantially reveted, faced with stone. Towards tbe 
river the line of works is nearly straight, but to the north 
and east five hastions break the line of -the curtains. There 
are no outworks, with the exception of the old castle, now 
completely in ruins, overlooking the Tweed, and an earthen 
battery guarding the landing-place below the Magdalen 
Fields. Around four sides of the irregular pentagon of 
the walls" is a ditch mostly dry, but there is no glacis, nor 
is there any covert- way at the counterscarp. .Tbe first bas- 
tion to the north is called Megs Mount, and, like three of 
the others, it has a cavalier of earth, wbich enables the 
guns to eommand the irregularities of the ground up the 
Tweed, on the Scotch side of the river. It is a demi-hastion, 
having a double flank on the right, which defends the 
* Scotch Gate,* situated between it and Cumberland Bastion, 
with douhle flanks. Brass Mount Bastion is the next, under 
the cavalier of which is a powder-magazine. This, with 
Windmill Mount, has double flanks. Between Windmill 
Mount and King's Bastion (a demi-hastion without a cavalier, 
on which is the flag-staff), is a powder-magazine, with a 
bomb-proof roof. A four and a six gun battery near tho 
governor's house defend the entrance to the harbour. Fi- 
nally, the saluting battery of twenty-two guns commands 
the English side of the Tweed. There are five gates, the 
English Gate at the end of the hridge (now removed), the 
Scotch Gate on the north, the Cowport, leading to the Mag- 
dalen Fields, the Shore Gate, leading to the quay, and the 
Pier Gate. 

The remains of the castle do not enable us to give any 
particular description of it. In the reign of Elizabeth it 
was in complete repair, but in that of Charles X. it was in 
ruins ; an eye-witness at the latter period descrihes it as * in 
manner circular, but dilapidated,* as having had ' mounts, 
rampiers and flankers, well replenished with great ord- 
nance, and fair houses therein, the walls and gates made 
heautiful with pictures of stone (statues), the work curious 
and delicate/ 

The town is in general well built, and the principal 
streets wide and airy. The entrance from the south, which 
was lately narrow and incommodious, is now being improved. 
The parish ehurch is a eommodious and elegant building, 
calculated to accommodate from 1000 to 1500 people. It 
was built hetween the years 1648 and 1652, and, like some 
others erected in the days of the Puritans, has no spire or 
tow T er. The town or guild-hall, which belongs to the bur- 
gesses, and in whieh are held their publie meetings and 
the courts of justice, is a handsome structure, with a stately 
spire ] 50 feet high, in whieh is a peal of eight hells. It was 
ereeted hetween 1750 and 1760. The latitude and longitude 
given at the commencement of this artiele mark the exact 
position of this spire, according to the Trigonometrical 
Survey. Ahove the puhlie rooms is the only prison of tho 
place. Below is the market-place for the sale of hutcher's 
meat, poultry, eggs, hutter, &c. There is no house of correc- 
tion. The barraeks, whieh were built in 1719, form a neat 
quadrangle, and afford good accommodation for 600 or 700 in- 



B 



ER 



32G B E R 



mm % 
fantry. The governor's house is now appended to Ihem 
for o Ulcers' barracks. The bridge over the Tweed, con- 
sisting of fifteen arches, is 924 feet lone from the bridge 
gate to the landing abutment on tbo Twcedraouth side, 
but it is only scvonteen feet vide. It was built in the 
reigns of James I. and Charles I., and is tbc property of too 
Crown. An annual allowance is paid bjr the treasury to 
the corporation, for keeping it in repair. The Tweed is a 
navigable river as high as. the bridge, and the tide Hows 
about seven miles farther, but the entrance of the river, is 
narrowed by sand-banks. To remedy this inconvenience, 
there is a stone pier, built on the projecting rocks at the 
north entrance of the Tweed, under an act of parliament 
passed 18th June, 1808 : it is nearly half a mile in length, 
and terminated by a light-house.. Tbe ordinary spring- 
tides rise fifteen feet. The quays and warehouses aro, suf- 
ficiently extensive and commodious, and there. is a patent 
slip for the repair of vcssols. Thero are no docks, the want 
of which is. much felt. A life-boat has been lately procured 
for the port. With the, single exception of an iron-foundry, 
there is not a manufacturing establishment that deserves the 
name wijbin many inlles of .Berwick. A railway was pro- 
posed between Kelso and this town, for which an aet of 
parliament was obtained, and ample Subscription lists filled, 
and yet it was abandoned. Still, few towns possess more 
local advantages for manufactures. In the midst of a wool 
country, from which a large quantity is annually drawn to 
the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire, possessing many 
excellent falls of water, with inexhaustible, mines of coal in 
the* immediate neighbourhood, a port from which produce 
ofa!l kinds might be shipped and received with the greatest 
facility, there is not one manufactory established within 
forty miles of Berwick, by which any of these advantages 
are enjoyed by the capitalist^ or by the people whom he 
might employ. 

An iron foundry, established Something loss than forty 
years ago, employs upwards %f sixty hands. It supplies not 
only the district round about with steam-engine and thrash- 
ing mill eastings, and others in general use, but sends con- 
siderable quantities of hollow ware . and a variety of other 
castings to London, ,dnd to the British Colonies in North 
America. Its manufacture includes almost every articlo of 
cast-iron. Tbc gas-light apparatus for this town, Perth, 
and several other places, was made hero, and last year the 
proprietors erected the works at Galashiels and at Jedburgh, 
which are just completed. 

Until within the last twenty years, a highly lucrative 
trade was carried on in the export of pork and eggs to Lon- 
don, the annual value of the latter article alono being at 
least 30,000/., and of pork about 10.000/. Since the peace 
this trade has totally ceased, and the metropolis is now sup- 

Slicd by Ireland and the Continent. Berwick is now a 
onding port The existng trade of the town is principally 
confined to the exporting of salmon and corn, and of coals 
to London, and various ports in Scotland, and to foreign 
countries; and latterly considerable quantities of ale from 
Ed nam brewery, and of whisky from the distilleries of 
Gunsgrcen and Kelso, have been shipped to London. Tberc 
are regular traders between Berwick, London, Kingston- 
upon-IIull, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Lcith. Formerly, 
two vessels were engaged in the whale-fishery. Now, only one 
is employed, the other having been lost at sea a few years 
ago. In late years thcro has l>een a considerable emigra- 
tion to America. . The following tables show the total ton- 
nage of the port, and the number of ships for the last nine 
vears, and the quantities of corn, &e. exported during the 
last fourteen years. 

i. TONNAGE. 



Year 


Inward* 


Imvnrdi 


Oulwarda 


Oulwafclf 


Shipa. 




eowtitig. 


foreign. 


coasting. 


foreign. 


1826 


27,190 


4,895 


39,545 




505 . 


1827 


22.550 


4,482 


39,357 




480 


1829 


23.868 


3,104 


42.455 




471 


1829 


2|,837 


4.534 


37.474 


217 


543 


1830 


21.348 


4,497 


45,703 


700 


487 


1831 


26,862 


4,823 


60,329 


1,506 


553 


1832 


27,250 


6.729 


52.005 


2,719 


544 


1833 


19,675 


M6? 


33,323 


5,410 


529 


1834 


20,167 


8,601 


34,671 


6,044 


597 



3* £X POUTS.— Grain anipped, the year commencing lit September. 



Year. 


Wheat 


Uarley. 


Oat*. 


Rye. 


Beam. 


Teat. 


Bagi. 




qra. 


<tr*i 


qra. 


qra. 


qrt. 


qra. 


1820 


27,729 


6,867 


28,662 


58 


999 


25 


36,019 


1821 


59,274 


11,497 


48,630 


160 


1,553 


90 


39,009 


1822 


64,866 


4,215 


34,624 


270 


1,803 


475 


31,564 


1823 


34,417 


7,320 


42,456 


402 


814 


5 


31.180 


1824 


58,729 


31,082 


45,887 


391 


1,645 


48* 


39,062 


1825 


32,976 


33,040 


27,644 


1,118 


1,182 


203 


30.676 


1826 


34,219 


22,890 


9,268 


434 


533 


327 


28.256 


1827 


25,777 


27,900 


15,113 


556 


1,461 


423 


28,110 


1828 


19,175 


42,647 


45,012 


1,099 


934 


438 


29,021 


1829 


22,271 


23,859 


28,280 


625 


1,383 


551 


27,708 


1830 


16,396 


32,699 


32,947 


329 


2,199 


234 


25,160 


183! 


23,248 23,962 


14,713 


417 


1.670 


4 


29,170 


1832 


20,486! 32,101 


22,978 


587 


2,862 


404 


29,544 


1833 


19.730J 32,461 


33,571 


596 


4,311 


115 


24,634 



The item «baga; 
groala, and manufactured barley. Tito imports from foreign countries conafit 
principally of timber, and a little iron, hemp, and flax, and bonea for manure. 



each eofilainlngSO ikrae, oonabU of flour, Oatmeal, and 
Tito ' 



Tbe salmon fisheries in the Tweed have for many een- 
turies been . very productive. Both in England and Scot- 
land, fishings in the sea and in navigable streams originally 
belonged to the crown; and accordingly we find, in early 
times, that those on the south side of the river were pos- 
sessed by the bishop of Durham, who had all the jura regalia 
within his palatinate, while those on tbo north were tbo 
property of the kings of Scotland. _ The earliest document 
we find relating to the bishop's fishings is a grant in Aijglo- 
Saxon from Ranulph Flambard (who held the see from 
a.d. 1099 until 1128) to St. Cuthbcrt and his monks, of the 
fishery of Haliwarcstelle, at the mouth of tbc river, near 
Spittah It is still called Hallowstell. In the Scottish 
chartularies numerous grants occur from the crown to 
monasteries and friaries of tho royal fishings on the Berwick 
sido of the river, many of which are still called by tbeir an- 
tient names, and the high rents which were obtained by the 
religious houses from the occupiers evince the importance 
and value of tho traffic. . Until about tho vear 1 790 . the 
salmon sent from Berwick were either salted and dried, or 
boiled and pickled with salt and vinegar, except salmon- 
trouts, which were occasionally kept alive in wells or tanks 
in the ship's hold. The exports were principally to London, 
but considerable quantities of salted salmon wero also sent to 
the Mediterranean. At present the whole, except what are 
required, for home consumption, arc sent fresh to London 
packed in ice. These fisheries have fallen fully four-fifths 
in value within the last twenty years. Before that period 
the annual rental reached 20,000/. ; now it docs not exceed 
4000/., and at that reduced rate the tenants arc losers. Tho, 
greatest quantity shipped in one year during the last forty' 
years was 13,189 boxes, each weighing on an average nine 
stones ; the smallest number was 3323 boxes. For many 
years past the number has been from 3000 to 4000 boxes 
only. It is perhaps difficult to account for so immense a 
falling off in the produce ; one of tho causes, if not tho 
principal one, is said to be the great destruction of fish 
during the breeding season, and of the young fry in the 
higher parts of the river and its tributary streams. A 
police is employed for the protection of the river, under the 
authority of tho Tweed Fishery Act, passed 29th May. 1830, 
and a tax of 2*. per pound uixm the rental of the fisheries 
is levied for its mainteiiaucc. This fund, however, is now 
so small, from, the depreciation in the value of the waters, 
that the force kept up is insufficient to prevent poaching 
and theft. * V 

Berwick is very amply supplied with water of good and 
wholesome quality, at a very trifling expense. The cor- 
poration are owners of the water-works and pipes. The 
public, reservoirs aro open to all without cost, and any in- 
habitant is allowed to have an unlimited supply conveyed 
by a branch pipe into his own dwelling-house, at the annual 
charge of 5s. Fuel is also abundant and cheap, thero being 
several collieries on the south sido of the river within from 
two to four miles of the town. The price of coals per ton, 
including carriage to tho door, is usually 7*. 6</., but the 
present price (1833) is 5*., which does not remunerate the 
coal-owner. The town is also excellently lighted with coal- 
gas. The coals for the retorts are brought from Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne, those in .the neighbourhood . not being pure 
enough for the manufactory, Tho extra price of carnage, 



B E R 



327 



BER 



however, is compensated by the coke produced, for which 
there is a plentiful demand, so that the gas-light company 
are enabled to charge moderate prices, and to secure an 
ample remuneration for their capital. 

The population of the parish of Berwick, which has not 
increased much within the last thirty years, was, according 
to the census of 1811, 7746; of 1821, 8723; and of 1831, 
8920. The following is the return made under the last 
Census Act: — 

Inhabited houses . . . 1190 

Families . . . . .2118 

Houses building . . , '7 

„ uninhabited ... 69 

Families employed in agriculture ♦ 111 

„ trade . . 885 

„ no trade . . 1122 

Males . 39371 - ' n9fi 

Females . 4983 / ' ■ . 8JJU 

Males 20 years of age . . " 1897 

Occupiers of land employing labourers . 1 6 

„ not employing labourers 53 

Labourers employed in agriculture . 86 

Employed in manufacture . J 44 

„ ' retail trade, or handicraft . 952 
Capitalists, bankers, &'c. * • . - iv '. 176 

Labourers, not agricultural . . 311 

Retired tradesmen, and persons disabled 244 

Male servants T l * < . . . 15 

„" under 20 years of age . 5 

Female servants' . . . 412 

The total number of burgesses is about 1000, of whom 
about 4(fo are resident; 427 of these were registered prior to 
the last general election,' and ^57 other electors were also 
registered. The population of the townships of Tweedmouth 
and Spittal is, according to the last census, 4000; of the 
whole parochial chapelry of Tweedmouth, 4971. The popu- 
lation of the whole parliamentary borough was therefore 
12,920 in 1831. 

Education, — For the education of children of burgesses 
there are six schoolmasters, paid out of the corporate purse. 
The average number of pupils is about 300. The branches 
of education taught are, reading, English grammar, writing, 
and arithmetic. The salaries of the teachers amount alto- 
gether to 380/. per annum. The burgesses have also the 
patronage of a free grammar-school, in which' Latin and 
Greek are taught, and here, as well as in the schools more 
peculiarly their own, their families aro educated free from 
any expense to themselves, except a small sum for firing. 
The grammar-school is endowed. The number of pupils 
varies from twenty to thirty, of whom about ten arc bur- 
gesses' sons. The annual income arising from lands and 
tithes is about 158/., and the schoolmaster's salary, with 
repairs, taxes, &cr, is about 100/. per annum. The surplus 
is appropriated towards the liquidation of a debt incurred in 
rebuilding the school and repairing the master's dwelling- 
house. There is also a charity-school, which was founded 
in 1725, for educating and clothing poor children above 



eight years of age, who must be inhabitants of Berwick, 
and attend the Church of England. The ' scholars are 
taught reading, writing, and accounts, and are allowed to 
remain five years in the school. The National system has 
recently been adopted in this school. Formerly a portion 
of girls were instructed, but 'now boys only are admitted. 
The number is usually forty. The master's salary, which is 
50/., and the expense of clothing, books, stationery, repairs, 
and other incidents,'amounts to 160/. a year. There is also 
a Lancasterian school, supported by voluntary contributions, 
in which 120 poor girls and boys are taught reading, writiug, 
and arithmetic at the annual expense of about 36/. . There 
is also a school of industry, for educating poor girls, and 
qualifying them for service. Both are supported by volun- 
tary contributions. The children are instructed in read- 
ing, writing, sewing, and household work. The number is 
generally 115, and the annual cost 75/., towards which each 
child contributes one penny per week. Besides these, and 
a school in the parish workhouse hereafter noticed, there 
are various private schools, in which about 600 pupils are 
educated, and several Sunday schools. An infant school 
was lately established, and exertions are now being made for 
continuing and enlarging it. There is no mechanics' insti- 
tute in Berwick. One was attempted a few years ago, but it 
failed. There is, however, an institution of a novel descrip- 
tion, which promises to be of much utility. This is the 
Berwickshire Naturalists* Club, a society which was com- 
menced three years' ago. Its object is to examine with care 
and accuracy the natural productions of the district, em- 
bracing Berwickshire and the northern/division of Durham. 
Any person of respectable character is admitted to this 
society, on condition of making a small annual contribution 
to defray the expense of printing an account of its pro- 
ceedings. Its members now amount to upwards of thirty, 
and its utility begins to be recognised. 

1 . Sunday Schools. 





Number taught. 


TotaL 


Number who attended 
' no other School. 


Total* 


Year. 




Who had fi- 
nished other 
branches of 
education. 


Who never 

attended 
any other 
School. 


attending 




Boys. 


Girli. 


no other 
School. 


1822 

1835 


t 491 
415 


580 
497 


1071 
912 


99 


•29 
30 


128 



2. Other Schools. 



Year. 



1922 
1835 



Number of Children educated. 



Gratuitously. 



Boys. 



300 
385 



Girls. 



345 
315 



In other Schools. 



Boyi. 



500 
344 



Girls. 



523 
253 



Educated 
solely in 
Sunday 
Schools. 



29 
30 



Total. 



1702 
1327 



3. Population. 



Year. 


Under 5 years 
• ofaga. 


From 5 to 
- 10/ 


From 10 to 
15. - 


Total from & 
to 15. 


Total of 
the ages 
usually 
receiving 
instruction. 


Total 
actually 
educated. 


Above 15 years 
of age. 


Of all ages. • 


Total 
Popula- 




Males. 


Females. 


. Males. 


Females. 


Males. 


Females. 


Males. 


Fernales. 


Males. 


Females. 


Males. 


Females. 


tion. 


1822 


605 


572 


535 


502 

1 


' 4 ?? 


489 


1027 


•$)91 


2018 
2050 


I7p2 

1327 


2332 


3196 


3964 
3937 


4759 
4983 


8723 


1835 


1200 


2C 


150 


5706 


8920 



The perioti of education is here assumed to be between 5 and 15 years of age. 



There is a public subscription library in tbo town, with an 
annual income of about 150/. It was established in 1812, 
and now possesses upwards of -40 00 volumes, The annual 
subscription is one guinea, besides a guinea at entrance. 
A dispensary, now combining the advantages of an in- 
firmary, was instituted in 1813. The' number of patients 
who receive the benefit of this charity is between 150 and 
200 each year. 

The expenses of the town maybe divided into two classes, 
parochial and corporato. 

1 . Parochial Expenses. — It may be noticed to the credit 
of tho place, that long before Sturges Bourne's Act was 
passed all matters relating to the poor were transacted by a 



select body called * trustees,* who were elected annually by 
the rate-payers, and the present select vestry is only a legal- 
ized continuation of the same body under a different name. 
In no place, perhaps, are the poor-laws more judiciously, 
economically, and humanely administered." In 1820 the 
poor-rates, on the houses, lands, and fisheries within the 
parish, amounted to 5388/. Since then a considerable re- 
duction has been effected, and for tho year ending March, 
1834, the sum raised was only 3984/. Prior to the year 
1828 the expense of supporting prisoners and other charges 
usually payable out of county-rates, were paid by thfc corpo- 
ration. Since then they have been defrayed by the pa- 
rishioners at largd and a rate in the nature of a county-rate 



B E ft 



323 



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has been levied for the purpose. The first year it amounted 
to 500/.; 1830, to 800/.; 1831, to2M>/.; 1832, to 450/.; 1833, 
to 200/. ; and in 1834 to 1300/. In the last-mentioned year 
tho expense of rebuilding a wooden bridge over the river 
Whiteadder, called Gainslaw Bridge, is included. There are 
tm an average 80 paupers constantly in the workhouse, and 
100 poor ehildrcn are educated there. The expense of the 
whole of this establishment docs not much exceed 500/. a 
year. The total annual value of all the houses, lands, and 
fisheries within the parish is a little above 31,000/. 

2. The Expenses of the Borough. — We have already seen 
that tho total annual value of the corporation property is 
10,000/. a year: besides this the corporation is in possession 
*x)f various eharity properties. Of this sum about 6000/. is 
-annually divided among the resident burgesses, and bur- 
gesses' widows, whether poor or rich, and of whatever rank 
•of life, according to their seniority, a few of the very youngest 
fceing exeluded — which sum, as will afterwards be seen, is 
considerably more than tho surplus revenue; 3000/. aro 
■paid in salaries to officers, schoolmasters, &c, and for the 
maintenance of the prison, repair of the publie streets and 
■water- works, and the like ; interest at 4£ per cent, is paid 
on the permanent debt due by the corporation, and there is 
•also a further item of expenditure called the ' contingent 
•accounts,* for repairs of farm buildings, law expenses, &c, 
which averages upwards of 1500/. Tho debt, which is 
borrowed on bond at interest, and on life annuities, calcu- 
lating the. latter at ten years purchase, is 55,411/.: the 
annual amount paid in annuities is 973/. 17*. Grf. The 
whole of this debt, except 9530/., has been incurred within 
the present century. It is still gradually and regularly in- 
creasing. In the year ending 1 832, upwards of 2650/. were 
added to it, and it is apparent that if the same system bo 
persevered in, the property of the corporation will, at no 
distant date, be entirely consumed, (tor further account 
of the history of this debt, see Municipal Corporations* Re- 
ports, part iiL) 

The liberties of Berwick are divided into two unequal 
lialves by Halidon HU1, which rises to the height of about 
440 fcet, and runs in a westerly direction. The slope to 
the east is rapid, and between its base and the sea there is a 
stripe of rich level land, which increases in breadth towards 
the town, forming what are called the Magdalen Fields. 
The slope to the south is more gradual, and the ground 
which lies between its undefined outline and the boundary is 
•very irregular, Veing a succession of hill and plain: in one of 
its ravines tho Whiteadder Hows, and terminates its eourso 
in the Tweed. At this place tho northern banks of tho 
Tweed are flat and almost level with the water, but towards 
tfhe town they rise abruptly to a very considerable elevation, 
forming the Castle Hills, on the Hat top of which a great 
part of the town is built. 

In this small tract of ground there is no natural wood, 
mid the only plantations are on the shelving banks of tho 
Tweed, about a mile above the town, and in a deep ravine 
on the north-eastern side at Marshall Meadows, but both of 
these are of small extent, and the wood of inferior size. 
The land, with tho exception of the very ridge of Halidon 
II iTI, is in general rich, well fitted for the growth of all 
kinds of fjrain, and is in a state of the highest cultivation. 
Sueh a district has apparently little to interest the natu- 
ralist, but the botanist may still find the Sisymbrium Irio 
on tho spot where it was gathered nearly 200 years ago by 
the great Ray, and the Picris echioides deserves his notice, 

gr it here reaches its most northern limits in our island, 
f animals there arc nono peculiar to the district. The 
snow-bunting, called the 'cock-of-the-north,' visits Berwick 
annually in small flocks, however mild the winter may be; 
and some birds, esteemed for their rarity, havo been observed 
a« stragglers, viz., the sea-eagle, tho pied fly-catcher, the 
Bohemian wax-wing, bittern, rose-coloured pastor, tho grey 
jihalorope, aud the black- throated diver. 

That small portion of the Tweed which bounds the 
liberties affords tho principal supply of salmon, for which 
the river has been so long famous. Gilse, or grilse (salmon 
of the first year), salmon-trout, bull-trout, whitings, and 
siker-whitc or black-tails, aro also abundant; but, with 
the exception of the first, are comparatively little esteemed, 
and of inconsiderable value. Sturgeon occasionally enter 
the river, apparently to deposit their spawn; and we may 
remark that voung cod and whitings are taken abundantly 
with a bait in the river below the bridge, beyond which, 
bowever, we arc not aware they ever penetrate, The fry of 



the cod-fish proceed considerably further up, and seem fear* 
less of meeting with fresh water. 

The sea-eoast is rocky and bold, though less so than that 
of Berwickshire. Tho rocks belong to tho coal formation. 
Those at the mouth of tho river, and for nearly a mile north- 
wards, aro encrinal limestone, composed almost entirely of 
encrinitcs, or St, Cuthbert's beads, terebratulro, and various 
species of productus. This limestone was once worked and 
burned, but the produce must have been of inferior quality, 
and tho works have been discontinued for several years. 
The rocks as we proceed northwards gradually pass into a 
red softish sandstone, in which the wave* have excavated 
numerous recesses or coves ; and the high and perpendi- 
cular walls of these basin-like excavations sometimes jut 
out and are broken into picturesque pinnaeles, studded with 
tufts of sea-llowers, and stained with lichens of every hue. 
Beneath this sandstone, towards Marshall Meadows, there 
are again strata of limestone, composed of encrinites in 
such enormous masses that no one ean look on them with- 
out surprise and wonder. 

The bay abounds in fish of the finest quality. Cod, had- 
dock, whiting, ling, holibut, skate, and two or three species 
of Hat-fish or flounders are those commonly brought to 
market, where they are sold at the most moderate rate, a 
large and fine cod costing not more than 1*., and haddocks 
may generally be bought at id. or 2rf. each. Turbot and 
soles are rare, the demand for them being insufficient to 
encourage fishermen to fish for them. Crabs and lobsters 
also abound, and the greater number of the latter are sent 
to the London market. There are no shell-fish, properly so 
called. 

These are the most useful kinds, but the naturalist may 
be curious to know the rarities, of which a short list may bo 
given : — 

Myxine glutinosa ; Galeus vulgaris ; Lamna moncnsis ; 
Raia radiata ; Synguathuscequoreus; Scomberesox Saurus; 
Liparis Moutagui ; Raniceps trifurcatus ; Pleuroneetes 
punctatus ; Blennius tentacularis ; Labrus maculatus ; 
Brama marina ; Trachinus major; Zeus Faber. 

The character of the inhabitants is marked by a want of 
enterprise. Without being rich they are contented and 
happy, nordoes poverty appear among them in the frightful 
form which it assumes in larger towns. They are benevo- 
lent, little excitable, are not given to intemperance, and 
in this character we may find one causo of their reraarkablo 
exemption from crime. 

(See Hutchinson's and Wallis's History of Northumber- 
land; Ridpath's Border History; Raine's History of 
North Durham and Berwick-upon-Tiveed ; Fuller's and 
Johnstons History of Berwick; Dr. Johnston's Flora of 
Berwick ; Statuta Gildcv, inaccurately published by Skene ; 
Nicholson's Leges Marchiarum ; Rymer's Fvedera ; Rotuli 
Scotice; and the other publications of the Record Commis- 
sioners; Chamberlain's Accounts, in tho Register Office, 
Edinburgh ; Wardrobe Accounts, in the British Museum ; 
Burrow's Reports, vol. ii. p. 834, et seq. ; Chalmers's Cale- 
donia ; Berwick Harbour Surveyed, by Commander E.J. 
Johnson and Lieutenant M. A. Slater, 1831.) [Co?nmuni* 
cation from Berwick."] 

BERWICK, JAMES FITZJAMES, DUKE OF, a 
natural son of James, duke of York, afterwards James II. of 
England, by Arabella Churchill, sister of the great duko of 
Marlborough, was born at Moulins in the Bourbonuois, 
August 21, 1670. Ho was educated in France, and in 

1 686 served in the Austrian army at the siege of Buda. In 

1687 he was created duko of Berwick, and received the 
order of the garter. Having returned to England after the 
eampaign of 1687, he received several important military 
appointments. 

Ou the breaking out of the Revolution of 1 688, the duke 
of Berwick exerted himself to eheck its progress, and after- 
wards accompanied the king on his retirement to France. 
In 16S9 ho served in the expedition to Ireland, undertaken 
for tho restoration of James II., whence he returned te 
France in 1691. Having entered tho French service, he 
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1693. 
In 1696 he was sent to England to negotiate with tho 
Jacobite party in England, but speedily returned without 
success. In 1 703 lie was naturalized as a subject of France 
with tho consent of tho court of St. Germain's ; and in tho 
beginning of the following year was appoiuted to the com- 
mand of the French forces in Spain. After having essen- 
tially served the cause of Philip V. by his military skill, ho 



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329 



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was recalled through court intrigue at the end of the cam- 
paign of 1704. In the beginning of 1706 he was made a 
marshal of France, and was again sent to command in Spain, 
where in 1 707 he won the decisive battle of Almanza, against 
the Earl of Galway and the Marquis de las Minas, imme- 
diately after which Philip V. created him a grandee of the 
first class, by the title of Duke of Liria and Xerica. Having 
served on the Rhine and in Flanders in 1708, he was sent 
in 1709 to command in Provence and Dauphiny ; his suc- 
cessful defence of this frontier against the superior force of 
the Duke of Savoy, is the chief foundation of his military 
fame, and has been considered a masterpiece of strategy. 
During the remainder of his life he was constantly employed 
in important eommands, with the exception of the period 
from 1 724 to 1 733, during which he lived in retirement. 
He was killed by a cannon ball at the siege of Philipsburg, 
June 12, 1734. 

The Duke of Berwick was twice married ; first in 1695, 
to a daughter of the Earl of Clanrickarde, who died in 1698. 
By her he had one son, who succeeded to his titles and 
estates in Spain. Secondly, to a niece of Lord Bulkeley, in 
1697. In 1709 he was created a duke and peer of France, 
with remainder to his children by her. The present duke 
of Fitzjames descends from this marriage. In military re- 
putation, particularly for the conduct of defensive war, the 
Duke of Berwick stands high among the generals of his 
period. Both his public and private character are repre- 
sented by Montesquieu as deserving of the highest pane- 
gyric. His memoirs down to the year 1716, written by 
himself, with a continuation to his death by the editor, and 
a sketch of his character by Montesquieu, were published 
at Paris in 1778. 

BERWICK, NORTH, a town and parish in the county 
of Haddington, Scotland, situated on the coast at the mouth 
of the Frith of Forth. The town is twenty-two miles north- 
east of Edinburgh, eleven north-west of Dunbar, and ten 
north from Haddington. 

The parish stretches about three miles along the sea- 
coast, and is in breadth inland about two miles and a half. 
It may eontain an area of somewhat more than 4000 acres. 
The whole parish is arable, except the hill called North 
Berwick Law, and about eighty-nine acres of links or 
downs near the sea. On the shore, a little to the eastward 
of the harbour, on a sandy hill, stands a picturesque little 
ruin: antiquarians have not ascertained whether it was the 
chapel of a nunnery, an hospital, or a hermitage. 

About two miles to the east of North Berwick stands the 
castle of Tantallon, on a high rocky cliff overlooking the 
sea, which surrounds it on three sides. In shape it is half 
an irregular hexagon. It is encompassed towards the land 
side by a double ditch ; the inner ditch appears to have 
been very deep. The entrance was by a draw-bridge ; but 
it is not known when it was built. Inside the castle is a 
labyrinth of broken staircases and vaulted chambers and 
passages. Much of the building remains, though in a ruin- 
ous state. Formerly it was one of the strongholds of the 
Douglas family, and Lindsay of Pitscottie relates a siege of 
it by James V . 

The town government of North Berwick, which was made 
a royal burgh by James VI., is in the hands of two baillies, 
a treasurer, and nine councillors. The burgh joins Lauder, 
Dunbar, Jedburgh, and Haddington, in sending a member 
to parliament. The parliamentary boundaries are fixed by 
the Scotch Reform Act. The burgh consists of a long 
street running east and west, at the east end of which is the 
town-house, and a street which leads to the harbour. The 
pier is tolerably good, but the harbour is difficult of access. 
The inhabitants have a common for cows near the town. 
The burgh has little or no trade. There is a good reading- 
room and inn ; and the parish ehurch and manse are within 
the boundaries of the town. The number of houses of the 
annual value of 10/. and upwards in the burgh was, in 1831, 
in all 71. The assessed taxes were 97/. 6*. 3rf. The gross 
population was, in 1831, in the burgh and parish, 1824 ; the 
number of houses inhabited was 284 ; the number of fa- 
milies, 415; the number of houses uninhabited,' 15; the 
number of families chiefly employed in agriculture, 175; in 
trade, manufactures, and handicraft, 105; all other families 
not comprised in the two preceding classes, 135 ; the number 
of males was 853, of females 971. In this parish there are 
14 men employed in fishing, and 12 in quarries; and the 
number of capitalists, bankers, professional and other edu- 
cated men is 19, 



The stipend of North Berwick is worth, on an average, 
116/. sterling; and the glebe, which consists of six acres, is, 
from the richness of the, soil, of considerable value. The 
poor are supported partly by the liberality of the patron of 
the parish, partly by the kirk-session, and partly by a fund 
of somewhat more than twenty guineas per annum left for 
their use. The whole sum expended on the poor amounts 
to about 90/. sterling. 

{Communications from Scotland; the Scotch Boundary 
Reports; the Enumeration Abstract of Population Re- 
turns; Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. v.; 
Scotch Reform Act; Grose's Antiquities, vol. i.) 

BERWICKSHIRE, situated on the south-eastern ex- 
tremity of Scotland, is bounded on the east by the German 
Ocean ; on the north by Haddingtonshire ; on the west by 
Roxburghshire and part of Edinburghshire; by the river 
Tweed and part of Roxburghshire on the south, and on the 
south-east by the township of Berwick. Its most northern 
point lies in 55° 58' 30" N. lat.. and its southern extremity, 
upon the Tweed, is in 55° 36' 30". Dunse, its largest town, 
situated nearly in the centre of the county, is 2° 20' west of 
Greenwich. The greatest length of the county is thirty- 
one miles two furlongs ; the greatest breadth nineteen miles 
and a half; and its area is estimated at 285,440 English 
statute acres, in Mr. John Blackadder's Map of Berwickshire, 
from actual survey, published in 1797 in Edinburgh, and 
at 285,600 English statute acres by Mr. William Couling, 
civil engineer and surveyor, in his general statement of 
the territorial surface of Great Britain', &c, given to the 
Emigration Committee in May, 1827. Mr. Couling esti- 
mates the cultivated lands in Berwickshire— the arable 
lands, gardens, meadows, and pastures at 160,000 acres; 
the uncultivated or waste lands capable of cultivation, at 
100,000 ; and the unprofitable lands or surface occupied by 
roads, lakes, rivers, canals, rivulets, brooks, farm -yards, 
quarries, ponds, ditches, hedges, fences, cliffs, craggy de- 
clivities, stony places, barren spots, woods and plantations, 
&c, at 25,600 English statute acres. If we take this esti- 
mate, the area of the county in square miles is 446$. Tho 
sea-coast of Berwickshire is about seventeen miles and 
a half in length, from the boundaries of the township of 
Berwick to its junction with East Lothian. Greenlaw, the 
county town, is situated thirty-seven miles to the south-east 
of Edinburgh. The gross population of this county in 1831 
was 34,048. 

The surface of Berwickshire is upon the whole more level 
than is common in Scotland; it is hilly to the north a«d 
west, and slopes towards the south and east. The principal 
part of the eounty seen from an eminence looking towards 
the Tweed, appears a level surface of fields, gardens, and 
trees, with towns, villages, and castles interspersed ; it con- 
tains however several considerable elevations, and valleys 
watered by rivers and streamlets. Hume castle, about three 
miles south of Greenlaw, is built on an elevation of trap- 
rock, 898 feet above the level of the sea. This building, 
which forms a conspicuous and picturesque object to the 
whole of the inland district of Berwickshire, now consists of 
only a few battlements made out of the ruins of the former 
castle by the late Earl of Marchmont, so as to look like a 
castle at a distance. The old castle, after being taken by 
the English in September, 1548, and retaken by the 
Scots in 1549, was at last taken by some of Cromwell's 
troops in 1650, and damaged so much that it became a 
ruin. Almost every parish contains the ruins of some 
fortified place; a memorial of the unsettled state of the 
borders before the Union. 

The following table shows the elevation of the principal 
hills of the Lammcrmoor above the level of the sea, and the, 
parishes in which they are situated : — 

Hills. Heights. Parishes. 

Lammerlaw . 1500 feet • Lauder 

Sayerslaw . 1 500 do. . Longformacus 

Dorringtonlaw . 1145 do. • Do. 

Boonhill . . 1090 do. . Legcrwood 

Soutra . . 1000 do. . Channelkirk 

Cockburnlaw . 912 do. . Duuse 

Dunslaw . . 630 do. . Do, 

The eoast consists of bold rocky precipices of considerable 
height, and is almost inaeeessible except at Eyemouth and 
Coldingham bays, and at two or three other places whero 
sandy or gravel beaches at the foot of the rocks are accessible 
to fishing-boats. From the boundaries of the township of 



No. 246. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.— 2 U 



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330 



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Berwick en the south the coast trends N.N.W. for eight 
miles and a hair to St Ebb's or St. Abb's Head, where it 
take* a W.N.W. direction for nino miles, until it is met by 
the boundaries of East Lothian. All the streams of Ber- 
wickshire, except the Eye and its tributaries, which fall into 
the sea at Eyemouth, and a few brooks which run into tho 
sea at other places, (low into tho Tweed. The Leader, or 
Lauder, runs through tho valo of Lauderdale, and after a 
course of about seventeen miles joins tho Tweed, where 
that river begins to form the south boundary of Ber- 
wickshire. Tho Wnteadder rises in East Lothian, unites 
with tho Dye in a vale among the Lammermoor bills, re- 
ceives the Blaekadder, near Allanhank in tho vale of tho 
Merse, and falls into tho Tweed within Berwick bounds, 
about three miles from tho sea. The "Blaekadder and its 
feeders rise on tho southern slopes' of tho Lammermoor 
bills. The Eye rises in Haddingtonshire. Coldingham 
Loch is the only lake of any extent in Berwickshire. 
It covers about thirty acres, is at a considerable elevation to 
bo so near the sea, and abounds with perch : it forms a lively 
feature in tho bleak and sterile tract in which it lies. 
There are several rivulets and small lochs or lakes, but they 
are very inconsiderable ; all tho streams abound in trout and 
eels, and some contain pike and perch : a few salmon and sea- 
trout ascend tho Whiteadder, and the Tweed abounds in 
excellent salmon and grilses. Dunse Spa had onco somo 
little repute as a mineral spring. 

The chief post-road from Edinburgh to London passes 
through Ayton to Berwick. The other post-road leads from 
Edinburgh by Greenlaw. The cross turnpike-roads, like tlio 
post- roads, are managed by parliamentary commissioners, 
who are empowered to' take, in all, 228 miles of road 
under their charge. The parochial roads are superintended 
by local commissioners, and supported by a money tax in- 
stead of statute labour. Mr. Blaekadder, in his excellent 
map, estimates tho whole extent of roads, whether parochial, 
post, or turnpike-roads, at 647 miles 3 furlongs; but it 
is no doubt greater than this now. 

The elimato is comparatively dry, and upon the wholo fa- 
vourable to agriculture. With respect to tho parish of Eccles, 
on the north bank of the Tweed, nearly six miles from Kelso, 
it is stated as follows in tho Now Statistical Account of Scot- 
land, p. 51, No. IV. 'The heat of springs in the parish is 
48\ wbich may ho considered the mean annual temperature 
of t he atmosphere.' The state of tho weather from an avcrago 
of five years is as follows : — 120 rainy days, 12 snowy days, 
39 frosty days, and 2S4 fair days, making the proportion of 
rainy to fairdays as 1 to 2 nearly. 'Tho mean height of the 
barometer for two years was 29.39 inches, which gives 
3044 feet for Eccles ahjvo tho level of the sea.' The preva- 
lent winds in spring are from ihc eastern points, and in 
autumn fumi the west ; tho winters are seldom very severe 
or long, though cold frosty weather is apt to continue far into 
■ummer and blast tho prospect of orchard fruit 

Tho geological features of Berwickshire are instructive 
and interesting. Thin seams of coal aro found in the low 
lands ; a little limestone in various places, and clay-marl 
on tho banks of the Whiteadder and Blaekadder. Gypsuira 
is got in small quantities on tho banks of tho Whiteadder. 
Shell- marl, which is found in several places, is worked in 
the parish of Merlon. Sand.stono pervades the greater part 
of the eonnty. Slate of indifferent quality bas been worked 
near Lauder. Coarse pudding-stone occurs, and tho outer 
pier of Eyemouth harbour is built of it, and has long 
withstood, without apparent waste, the storms of the German 
ocean. At Ordwcll and other places attempts have been 
made to work some copper ore which has been found, but 
without success. Professor Play fair, in his Illustrations* of 
the Huttonian Theory," mentions several interesting facts' 
in the geological features of Berwickshire. For some miles 
beyond Berwick upon Tweod tho secondary strata of various 
kinds prevail until tho sea-coast intersects a primary ridge, 
the Lam mennoor, II tils, which run from west to east; the 
sect i Dii which the sea -coast makes of, the eastern extremity 
of tiiis rwlgo is highly instructive, from tho great; disturbance 
of tho primary strata, and the variejy 9f thoir inflexions. 
The junction of thesQ strata with tho secondary on the south 
side, is near the little seaport of Eyemouth ; but the imme- 
diate contact is not visible. 

On the north sido of tho ridgo tho junction is at a point 
called Siccar, not far from Dunglass. By being well laid 
open and dissected by tho working of the sea, the rock 
Jjcre displays the relation between the two orders, gf strata 



to great advantage. Dr. Hutton himself has described this 
junction. {Theory of the Earth, vol. i. p. 464.) 

The appearances of the primary strata on the coast of 
BerwicksWro also exemplify the waving and in Hex ion of 
tho strata on a largo scale and wiih great variety. A 
section of one of them is given by Dr. Hutton in his theory 
of the Earth, vol. i., from n drawing made by Sir James 
Hall. The nature of the curve into which tho srhistus is 
bent is tho better understood frcm this, that, beside* trans- 
vorso sections from north to south, tho deep indent un*s 
which the sea has made and the projecting points of rock 
exhibit many longitudinal sections in a direction from cawt 
to west Near tho village of Priestlaw, in Lammermoor, in 
Berwickshire, on the littlo river of Fassnet, occur* an in- 
stance of real granite, dispdsed in regular beds, but without 
any character of gneiss. Playfdir's Huttonian Theory, 
sections 190,201,294. 

Agriculture.-~The climate of Berwickshire, from its £eo- 
grapnical position and its proximity to the North Sea, is 
colder and moro subject to sudden variations of tempe- 
rature than the moro inland and southern parts of the 
island. The harvest is in general three weeks later than 
in the counties south of the Ilumber ; hut the weather, 
on tho whole, is drier than in the western counties of 
Scotland or the north-west of England,— a very great ad- 
vantage in an agricultural point of viow. This is ascribed to 
the influence of two ranges of high land, tho Cheviot hills 
on the south, and tbe Lammermoor hills on the north, 
which are connected by a range of lower hills on tho 
west; these boundaries embrace a considerable extent of 
country, and include the basin of tbe Tweed bctweon them 
and the sea. This basin contains numerous smaller ele- 
vations and dales comprehending the Merse or lowlands of 
Berwickshire, the detached northern part of tho county 
palatine of Durham, and parts of tho counties of Roxburgh 
and Selkirk. This tract of land shelves gradually from 
both sides towards tho Tweed, which receives all its 
streams. It exhibits tho most improved practical system 
of husbandry, by means of which the disadvantages of a 
northern elimato havo been overcome, and a soil hut mode- 
rately fertile on tho whole has been made to produce in 
perfection all the crops which were formerly confined to 
the more southern parts of tho island. AVhat we shall 
here briefly detail of tho agriculture of Berwickshire must 
he considered as applicable to the whole district above-inen- 
tioned, and also to tho valleys lying between the Tweed and 
the Tay in Scotland, and a great part of tho eounties of 
Northumberland and Durham south of tho Cheviot hills in 
England. Wo shall therefore have frequent occasion to 
refer to this article when treating of the agriculture of the 
surrounding counties. 

Berwickshire may be divided into two distinct portions, 
the hills and the lowlands. Some of the eminences whtrh 
belong to tho Lammermoor hills rise to more than 1600 
feet above the level of tho sea. They are consequently 
bleak, cold, and unproductive, except on their lower slopes, 
where tolerahlo pastures are found, in which a hardy 
race of sheep and cattle are reared. In the midst of tho 
hills there are several small valleys which are capable of 
cultivation, and the industry and perseverance of the in- 
habitants have converted many apparently barren moors 
and bogs into tolerably productive arable land. The parts 
called tho lowlands of Lauderdale and Coekburn's Path 
contain about 10,000 acres of land fit for cultivation. Tho 
remainder, to tho amount of 175,000 acres, cousi&ts of 
high bills covered only with heath and furze, and of shecp- 
walks of a moderato quality. Tho Merse contains about 
100,000 acres of land diversified by smaller hills and dales, 
which form a pleasant undulation of the surface, with a 
soil which is extremely various. The different kinds of 
soil, from the most compact clays and loams to tho loosest 
sand and gravel, often occur in a very small compass, not 
unfrequently in tho same field, if it be of any eonsidciablo 
extent. Most of the farms have land attached to tliem of 
every variety and quality, hut on the whole the good soils 
prevail. Thero is a peculiarity in this county worth 
noticing, in tho total absence of chalk, orof any perceptible 
quantity of calcareous earth in tho soil. Thoro aro a few 
veins of limestone in the western part Of the eOunty, hut in 
consequence of tho want of coal mines, except in the south- 
eastern extremity of the county, none of it is burnt into 
lime ; so that this substance, so useful as a manure and a 
moans of improving the Mil, i* brought from, a, considerably 



B E K 



331 



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distance. Along the course of the Tweed, the Whiteadder 
and Blackadder rivers, there are long tracts of a very fine 
deep and free loam lying on a substratum of gravel or clay ; 
and throughout the valleys the good loamy soils prevail. 
Those which are of a heavier kind are well adapted to the 
growth of wheat and beans, and the lighter to*that of 
turnips and barley or spring wheat. The following division 
of the soil of Berwickshire is given in the agricultural 
report of the county, drawn up far the board of agriculture 
in 1798 by Mr. John Home. And we have no reason to 
doubt its being tolerably correct : — 

Acrev 
Deep loam on the principal rivers . • 25,410 
Clay lands in the how (hollow) of the Merse 40,380 
Turnip soil in the remainder of the Merse, in 
Lauderdale, -AVestruther, Merton, Ne- 
thorn, Longformacus, and other arable 
parts . . .... t 119,780 

Meadows, moss, and moor of Lammermoor 
and Lauderdale, including some arable 
patches , 99,870 



285,440 
"What is here termed meadows means coarse marshy pas- 
tures, which are sometimes mown when fodder is scarce. 
They differ widely from what are called meadows in Eng- 
land, which in Scotland go under the general name of old 
grass land, to distinguish them from the arable lands laid 
down to grass for a few years, according to the convertible 
system of husbandry. The old grass lands are seldom 
mown, but generally depastured. 

This last division is now considerably diminished by the 
improvements made by draining and cultivation, and we 
shall not be far from tho truth if we take off a fifth part, 
and add it to. the preceding division; or, taking round 
numbers, we may reckon that there are at least 200,000 
acres of productivo land more or less improved and culti- 
vated, and about 80,000 , in a state of nature, including 
woods. This, considering the extent of high ground, gives 
a very favourable idea of the spirit and industry of the 
proprietors and farmers. The best soils are of a reddish 
colour, indicating the presence of oxide of iron in that state 
of oxidation in which it is most favourable to vegetation, 
and to which it is reduced when clay is burnt which con- 
tains it. In every part of the county moors occur of 
greater or less extent, some of which are very poor. The 
thin black soil of the moors is of a loose porous nature, 
covering a subsoil of an impervious till or barren clay. 
Being soon saturated with moisture, which cannot pene- 
trate the subsoil, it becomes of the consistence of mud. 
When the water is at last dried by evaporation, it leaves a 
loose mass without coherence, which is soon converted into 
dust. Such a soil can never be improved with any prospect 
of advantage. But where the subsoil is of a more porous 
nature, and drains can be made to carry off the superfluous 
moisture, the soil may be made productive, when rendered 
active by the application of lime and consolidated by culti- 
vation. 

. There are not many very large estates in Berwickshire, 
although many of its proprietors have extensive estates in 
adjoining counties, or elsewhere ; but some estates of no 
great extent are very valuable, from the richness of the 
soil and the improved state of cultivation. Many proprietors 
reside on their estates, and are their own agents, which is 
a great advantage to their tenants, who being in constant 
intercourse with their landlords are stimulated to greater 
exertions, and feel more confident of being treated with 
fairness and liberality. The lands in the hands of the 
proprietors are generally cultivated in the most approved 
manner, which keeps up a spirit of emulation and improve- 
ment among the tenants. Several considerable landed pro- 
perties have been acquired by the profits of agriculture, or 
have been originally derived from that source. The pro- 
prietors of these estates continue to feel an interest in the 
pursuit to which they owe their fortune, and are generally 
foremost in all agricultural improvements. , 

The farms in Berwickshire are generally of considerable 
size, from 500 to 1000 acres, or more, and tenanted by men 
of good capital, who pay their rents punctually, and cultivate 
the land in a regular and scientific manner. Leases, gene- 
rally for nineteen years, are almost universal; and this may 
be considered as one of the chief causes of the high stato of 
cultivation in which the land is kept, and the expensive im- 



provements which have been made by the tenants. All the 
land is inclosed, or may be so, at the cost of making the 
fences : there are no common lands, or rights of common. 
Antiently a great part of the arable land in Scotland was 
divided into various narrow strips, spread over a considerable 
extent of ground, and separated by grass baulks, as was the 
case in the old common fields in England. Land lyin^ in 
this manner was called run-rig and run-dale, and a most 
inconvenient arrangement it was, which made any consider- 
able improvement impracticable. The origin of this divi- 
sion may be traced to the feudal times, when the lord of the 
soil parcelled out the land amongst his retainers. The most 
fertile spots were naturally coveted, and were divided so as 
to prevent any jealousy ; each had a portion of what was 
considered the best, and also of what was inferior. These 
allotments being accumulated, or subdivided by purchase 
and by inheritance, produced that inconvenient distribu- 
tion of run-rig and run-dale, consisting of long strips of a, 
few furrows wide up hill and down hill, parallel to each 
other, every strip having a different owner. When agricul- 
ture began to be more than the mere means of obtaining: 
food, and the expenses of cultivation began to be xeekoned, 
the necessity of collecting the dispersed portions of land be- 
came apparent. The first step to improvement was to lav 
them into common fields, and to adopt a regular mode of 
cultivation. The next advance towards a better system,. 
was a general division and inclosure of properties. For this 
purpose two acts of the Scottish parliament were passed in 
1*685 (ch. 23 and 38), which empowered proprietors to ex- 
change their various detached lands and collect them into* 
large fields for the purpose of inclosure. This was done by 
a very simple legal process, attended with little difficulty or 
expense. All common rights were commuted at the same 
time, and every one had his land, as much as possible, col- 
lected together, and freed from all interference. Under the 
sanction of this law all the lands in Berwickshire, with very- 
few exceptions, were soon divided, and a great part inclosed. 
They have now been so for more than a century past, so that 
the remembrance of the old divisions is nearly lost. There 
are still some common-field -lands, which belong to royal 
corporations, and cannot be divided; the general act of in* 
closure excepted them by a special clause. Such is the land 
that belongs to the royal borough of Lauder, which is di- 
vided into 1 05 portions, the proprietors of which, by inherit- 
ance or purchase, were, before the passing of the Reform 
Bill, the only freemen and voters in the borough: so that 
the whole corporation might possibly be vested in a single, 
individual who should become possessed of all the portions 
Each of these portions is about two statute acres, and to the 
whole is attached a common pasture, or outfield of 1400 
acres, of which, by common consent, a portion is regularly 
broken up for tillage, and divided by lot among the free- 
men ; the remainder is common pasture, subject to a cer- 
tain stint. A common herd is kept, who takes care of all 
the cattle, drives them out in the morning, and brings them* 
home at night. 

A considerable inconvenience, and another rerano.ut of 
feudalism, remained much longer, and is- scarcely yet en- 
tirely removed. This is the right of thirlage, as it" is called, 
or the obligation which a tenant is under to grind at the* 
lord's mill all the corn used in his family, and, in some cases, 
all the corn grown on the farm ; this was originally in- 
tended merely to keep up the rent paid by the miller. Old 
prejudices long retarded the removal of this very impolitic 
restraint; and the more liberal modern landlords found 
that they gained more in the improved rent of their farms, 
by the removal of the restraint, than they ever could have 
done by any increased rent of the mill. The millers, without 
any monopoly, find that they have fully as much work as 
before, and the rents of the mills have kept pace with the 
increased rents of the land. * 

The farm-houses and buildings in this county, which were* 
formerly clumsy and incommodious, or mere cottages and 
hovels, are now mostly of a Very superior order, better 
adapted to the improved condition of the tenants, and the* 
more advanced state of agriculture. The houses of the most 
substantial farmers are not inferior to tho dwellings or 
manses of the ministers, and in many instances far superior;. 
Perhaps the desire of giving accommodation to a superior class 
of tenants has led to an unnecessary extravagance Jh erect- 
ing some of the more modern structures. In the necessary 
farm buildings, especially those by which a greater quantity 
of livestock may be conveniently kept, it is scarcely possible 

2U3 



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332 



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to bo too liberal. Tho farm buildings erected within tho 
last twenty years ore, in general, well planned and com- 
modious, and have no deuht contributed to introduco sub- 
stantial tenants, andean improved system of husbandry. 

Labourers. — The system adopted in Berwickshire, and 
generally in tho north of England and in Scotland with 
respect to labourers, is well worth the attention of their 
southern neighbours. The unmarried men are mostly 
lodged and boarded in tho farm-house, tho married men 
have collages on the farm : the rent of the cottage is a part 
of their wages. Tho cottages are built at a small expense, 
generally in rows, and without upper floors. The expense of 
erecting one of tho simplest construction is not above 20/. ; 
and the fitting it with fixture cupboards and beds, wliich 
ore generally boarded and closed in with doors, somewhat 
like the berths in a ship, will cost from 10/. to 15/. more. A 
table, a few chairs, a chaff bed, and a very few kitchen 
utensils, will set up a young labourer and his wife in his 
new home. They are, however, more provident in general 
than the laheurers in tho south, tho poor-rates being but a 
slender refuge against misery ; and when a young man takes 
his wife into tbe cottage provided for lrim, they have pro- 
hahly some little money between them, beyond what is 
merely necessary to begin to keep house wiln, which they 
have saved out of their wages. A very interesting account 
of the mode in which the labourer is paid in tho south of 
Scotland appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 
published in December, 1834, from which, as the latest au- 
thority, we abstract what follows : — 

* The terms of engagement of a married ploughman, or 
hind* as he is called in this district, are as follows: he has a 
cottage and garden rent free ; the run of a cow in summer ; 
straw and three cart-loads of turnips in winter to keep her; 
or, instead of the turnips, sixty stones of hay, as may suit 
his master best; the produce of 1000 yards of potatoes, 
measured along the drill, for which he must find seed, his 
master finding the dung and labour ; sixty bushels of oats ; 
six bushels of peas; eighteen bushels of barley of the best 
quality, after the seed has been taken out This is given 
aboot Christmas. Formerly as much land was given as a 
peck of lint-seed could he sown on, hut this is now generally 
commuted for 500 yards of potatoes in addition to the 1000 
mentioned before. This is owing to the cheapness of the 
linen manufacture, which discourages the women from spin- 
ning (lax and having it woven. In one point of view this is 
a loss, spinning heing a good employment of spare time. 
Formerly poultry and sheep were kept for tho lahourcr, but 
they arc now generally commuted for money; 15*. being 
given yearly instead of the poultry, and 3/. for the sheep. 
Coals are driven for the ploughman, if required, which is 
generally a back carriage when the corn is taken to market 
The whole of these allowances maybe reckoned to the farmer 
as equivalent to a payment of 26/. a year, or 10$. weekly; 
hut to the ploughman they are worth much more than that 
sum in money. Tho cow not only supplies the family with 
wholesome food, hut brings money by the sale of hutter and 
cheese. The wife, or the daughter if grown up, is bound to 
work for the farmer whenever she is required at 3d. or 1 Qd. 
a day, especially in harvest. At this time she must work as 
long as it is light as well as her husband, hut then they are 
both fed at tho farm. The manure of the cow belongs to 
the farmer. The garden is manured from the pig-sty, a pig 
being generally fed for the consumption of the family. The 
shepherd has, besides this, the keep of eight ewes winter 
and summer, which make his wages equal to 35/. a year, 
This increase is on account of the greater responsibility of 
his situation. Tho farm-steward has a similar addition in 
money or grain. Unmarried ploughmen living with their 
parents receive similar allowances, except the keep of the 
cow, for which they havo an equivalent in money. When 
they arc fed in the house with the domestic servants, they 
receive about 5/. half-yearly as wages. Females living in 
the house receive 5/. or 6/. for tho summer half-year, and 
2/. or 3/. for the winter. They milk the cows, attend to the 
dairy, and, when not so employed, work in the fields. Stable- 
boys havo their food, and 5/. or 6/. per annum. All tho 
farm -servants are hired hy tho year, tho domestic servants 
half-yearly. Thcro aro various hiring-markets in March, 
which aro well attended. Reapers, both men and women, 
get 12f. to 14*. per week and their victuals, consisting of 
oatmeal porridge and milk for breakfast and supper, and a 
pound and a half of wh eaten bread and a quart of beer for 
dinner; they have half a pint of beer besides in the after- 



noon/ (See Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, p. 380, 
December, 1834.) 

There is a practice in Berwickshire, advantageous to all 
parties, of letting small portions of grass-land to cottagers, 
mechanics, and small tradesmen in villages, which enables 
thorn to keep a cow without being incumbered with land. 
They pay a high rent for tho grass, but this is the whole 
outlay. Several proprietors of cows frequently join to hird 
tho feed of a field. The "high rent remunerates the farmer, 
and tho milk and hutter of the cow arc cheaply obtained 
by the owner. This is a kind of division of labour which 
also takes place on a larger scale in the letting of turnips to 
breeders and jobbers of sheep, instead of the grower pur- 
chasing a flock, which he may he obliged to sell at a loss 
when tho turnips fail. At all events the hreeder and jobber 
aro more likely to make a profit by the sheep, which is their 
trade, than the farmer, whose attention is taken up with the 
various operations on his farm. 

Tko system of cultivation generally adopted on the arahlo 
land, is that which consists in having a great part of the 
land in artificial grass and green crops for a certain time, 
generally from two to four years, ana then breaking it up 
for corn ; hy which means a much larger quantity of land 
may be cultivated with a given number of men and horses ; 
the grass being chiefly fed off with the farmer s own stock, 
or let off to others who have more cattle or sheep than their 
land will maintain. 

The rent of land, taking its quality into consideration, is 
higher than in any part of England, even if the poor-rates 
and tithes be added to the English rent This is owing partly 
to the greater skill and capital of the farmers, and partly to 
tho steadiness and industry of the labourers, which lessens 
the expense of cultivation. From 4/. to 5/. per Scotch acre, 
equal to J | English, is not uncommon even now, Corn- 
rents were common at one time, and begin to be introduced 
again, hut most of the leases granted within the last thirty 
years are at a fixed money rent. Personal services, and boon 
rents, that is, certain specific payments in kind to the landlord, 
such as poultry, butter, or cheese, are now unknown. Tho 
landlords find it more convenient to have horses and servants 
of their own, than to trust to the compulsory services of tho 
tenants, which aro never well performed, and are a great 
hindcrance to the regular work of a farm. All tithes, with 
very trifling exceptions, were commuted ahove two centu- 
ries ago. There is something in the shape of a poor-rate, 
half of which is paid by the tenant, and half by the land- 
lord, as well as the salary to tho schoolmaster; but the 
amount is trifling. In 1808, according to the agricultural 
survey, the whole charge on the tenant amounted to no 
more than 2d. in the pound. The poor-rate has however 
increased very considerably since, hut not so as to be com- 
pared to that which presses so hard upon the farmer in 
somo parts of England. 

When a tenant takes possession of his farm, the huildings 
are delivered to him in good repair, and he must maintain 
them so at his own expense, during the term of his lease. 
The covenants of a lease aro generally very simple, and 
liberal as to the mode of cropping. The tenant is bound to 
eonsumo all the straw on the premises, and leave what re- 
mains in the last year for his successor. In consequenco 
of somo spiteful tenants consuming the straw hy burning 
it, in order to injure their successors, a clause prohibiting 
this waste has hecn sometimes inserted in a lease ; but it is 
unnecessary, since an action for damages might be sus- 
tained at law, and such conduct would most likely he se- 
verely punished in the damages awarded. The in -coming 
tenant has usually tho right to sow clover and grass-seeds, 
with a part of tho last tenant's crop of corn ; and he enters 
on tho land intended for turnips or fallow half a year or 
more before tho expiration of the lease. In fact, this part 
of tho land should be given up immediately after the har 
vest of the last year but one, or it should be ploughed 
before winter for the next tenant, at a stipulated price. Tho 
out-going tenant has the use of the ham and rick-yard, for 
securing and threshing out his corn ; and he is bound to 
thresh it regularly, so as to supply the cattle of the new 
tenant with straw, or he may bo compelled to do so, hy 
application to the sheriff or his substitute. 

A general clause of good husbandry is always inserted 
in all leases, and in case of wilful mismanagement, a jury 
would give adequate damages. It is sometimes stipulated 
that no two white straw crops shall be taken in succession, 
and that tho turnips shall ho drilled in rows. When the 



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tenant is debarred the right of assignment, the lease be- 
comes by the Scotch law an hereditament, and as such 
goes to the next male heir. Formerly, rents were paid 
at a long period after entry, owing to the small capital of 
tbe farmers ; but now they are generally made due and 
paid every six months, or expected at latest within the first 
nine months, and from that time at the expiration of every 
six months. 

Husbandry* — The usual system of husbandry followed 
in Berwickshire, as we observed before, is that which is 
called the convertible system, which we shall now briefly 
describe. It consists in laying a portion of the arable land 
to grass every year, and breaking up an equal quantity, 
which has been in grass from two to four years or more. 
This must not be confounded with that imperfect and slo- 
venly practice of letting land, exhausted by repeated crop- 
ping, remain at rest as it is called, by abstaining from any 
cultivation, after having sown some grass and bay-seed* 
with tbc last crop, until it gradually recovers some degree 
of fertility by being in rough pasture for some years. 
The Berwickshire system consists in laying down the land 
to grass in a clean state, and in good heart, by sowing 
clover and grass-seeds with the crop of corn which imme- 
diately follows a fallow. The profit of tbe land when in 
grass is not much inferior to tbat which is obtained when 
it bears corn, and sometimes is greater, the expense being 
much less. Old grass-lands are not often broken up, un- 
less it be to improve the herbage, which in some soils be- 
comes coarse, or mixed with useless weeds. The principal 
object of the farmer in the convertible husbandry is to lay 
his arable land well down to grass, so that wben he ploughs 
it again, it is improved by having been pastured, and is in 
a sufficiently clean state to bear several good crops, without 
the intervention of a fallow. Three years in succession is 
the usual time that the land is in grass. It is seldom mown 
for hay more than once in that time, but fed off during the 
other two years. If the grass appears to fall off in quan- 
tity, or to deteriorate in quality sooner, it is immediately 
ploughed up and sown with oats, of which the crop is ge- 
nerally abundant after grass newly broken up. Sometimes 
the land is immediately prepared for wheat, by repeated 
ploughings, which break the sods and allow the soil to con- 
solidate by the rains. This prevents its being kept too 
loose and spongy by the undecayed roots of the grass, whicb 
would be very injurious to the wheat in a dry summer. In 
Norfolk, wheat, is often dibbled on the sod of the grass 
merely turned over by one ploughing ; or the land-presser 
follows the plough, and gives the necessary solidity to the 
bottom of the furrow for the roots of the wheat to strike in. 
"Where cither of these methods can be used to advantage, a 
considerable labour and expense are saved; and the land- 
presser, which, as far as we know, is-not much used in Ber- 
wickshire, might be introduced with advantage on the light 
soils. The next year after the oats or wheat, turnips are 
sown in drills after repeated ploughings and abundant ma- 
nuring. These are fed off in the course of the autumn and 
winter, and barley or spring wheat are sown in spring, 
together with white and red clover, trefoil, and grass-seeds ; 
when the land is again converted to pasture, and continues 
so for two or three years as before. The deviations from 
the forgoing rotation are, that on the malt fertile lands, 
where wheat is usually sown instead of oats in the first 
year after grass, wheat comes again after the turnips, which 
are fed off early in autumn, so as to have two crops of 
wheat, with one of turnips between them. Tbe grass-seeds 
are sown in spring among the second crop of wheat. In 
very poor soils, oats supply the place of wheat. Beans arc 
not very generally cultivated ; but on very stiff soils, which 
will not bear turnips, they come in well after wheat, and 
may be followed by oats, and tben a fallow for wheat and 
grass- seeds. The grass is apt to fail the second year on 
such very cold lands, if they are not well pulverized and com- 
' pletely drained ; and this has introduced a variation in the 
cultivation of such lands, the grass being broken up after 
the first vear. This is owing in a great measure to a want' 
of attention to the state of the land when the grass is sown ; 
with good management stiff lands will produce good herb- 
age for two or three years. 

In the best turnip soils, the following rotation is not un- 
common : — 1. Wheat on the clover ley. 2. Turnips fed off. 
3. Wheat. 4. Beans. 5. Wheat. 6. Turnips. 7. Wheat 
with grass- seeds. 
This frequent recurrenco of wheat, and the intermediate 



beans and turnips; can only' be obtained on the hest descrip- 
tion of alluvial loams; and then the land must be highly 
manured for the turnips in the second and sixth year, and 
for the beans after the wheat. This may be effected where 
manure can be purchased, but scarcely, in any sufficient 
quantity, where it is all made on the farm. The ground, 
however rich, must in the end be exhausted. By substi- 
tuting barley in the third and seventh year, the last-men- 
tioned rotation is like some rotations adopted in Essex and 
Suffolk, except the addition of the three years of grass, and 
may be more generally recommended for imitation. Another 
rotation is the following : — 1. oats ; 2. peas or beans ; 3. bar- 
ley, oats, or wheat ; 4. turnips, with dung and lime ; 5. wheat, 
oats, or barley, with grass-seeds, to be fed off three or four 
years. As the grass is the foundation of all these rota- 
tions, and its duration cannot always be foreseen, it is evi- 
dent that great variations must occur; and it requires no- 
little skill and ingenuity to suit the various crops to the state 
of the land and the seasons, and to keep horses and men 
regularly employed without hurry or confusion. Potatoes, 
tares, and other green crops for cattle, are raised on part of 
the fallows. The turnips are universally cultivated on the 
Northumberland plan, that is, in rows at two feet six inches 
distance ; the manure placed directly under the row is 
by laying it in furrows, and covered with the plough by- 
splitting the ridges. A roller prepares the ground for the 
drill, which deposits the seed directly over the line of tbe 
dung. [See Turnips and Drill.] A part of the turnips 
are drawn and given to the cattle in Xhe yards in winter, 
and, with the addition of straw only, keep them in good con^ 
dition. The remainder is fed off with sheep on the ground* 
or let to breeders and jobbers for that purpose. It has long 
been the practice in Berwickshire and surrounding counties 
to depend on letting a great part of the turnips which are 
grown on a farm to men who rely on these lettings for 
tbeir cattle and flocks in winter. In consequence of this 
practice, turnips have been raised without any regard to the 
stock on the farm, and the grower seldom fails to find cus- 
tomers at very fair prices. The comparative low price of 
corn for the last few years has induced farmers to extend 
the cultivation of turnips and of barley, by draining cold 
wet clays, which otherwise would have been unfit for these- 
crops, of late more profitablo than wheat. The use of 
bruised bones for manure, lately introduced, has also ex- 
tended the cultivation of turnips on the sharp light lands ^ 
and as a natural consequence, more sheep have been fat- 
tened, and the market has been overstocked, so that the 
speculators in fat sheep bave lost considerably. Still the 
system has proved of advantage to the farmers, and enabled 
them to meet their engagements with their landlords, whick 
were entered into when wheat bore doublo the price it has 
lately done; and rents have not fallen so much as might 
have been expected. (Communication from Berwickshire, 
May, 1835.) 

The grasses usually sown are in the following propor- 
tions : — 6 lbs. of red clover, 4 lbs. of white clover, 4 lbs. of 
trefoil, and 3 pecks of perennial rye grass per acre. Hay is- 
comparatively of inferior value to what it is in other coun- 
ties nearer large towns, and no more is made than is abso- 
lutely required for working horses; the cows and oxen 1 
are entirely "fed on turnips and straw. The grass, as well: 
as the turnips, is often let to graziers, who from their ex- 
perience in buying and selling stock, make a better profit 
than the farmer could, and are enabled to give a fair price- 
for the feed. Tbis is another example of the division of 
lahour in agriculture, by which all parties are gainers. 

There are no large dairies in Berwickshire. Butter is 
made for the use of the farmer's family only, except near 
towns, where a portion is sold in a fresh state. The markets; 
are mostly supplied by the labourers who sell their butter,, 
the produce of the cow kept for them by their masters, as. 
part of their wages. 

The common implements of husbandry are few, but of 
the best construction. Small's swing-plough, a light and: 
improved instrument, h in general use, and no plough cam 
be better adapted to every variety of soil. It is entirely- 
made of iron, and is an improvement on the Rotherann 
plough, originally introduced from Flanders. It is almost; 
invariably drawn hy two horses abreast, except in somas 
very wet clays, where the horses would tread the land too* 
much, if they did not walk in the furrow. In a few cases 
where very heavy soils are broken up, three horses are usedi 
either in a line, or more commonly two abreast andiona 



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334 



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before. The light swing-plough is the chief instrument of 
tillage: it work* between the rows of turnips or beans with 
one horse, acting as a horse-hoe, and throwing the earth 
alternately from the plant*, and towards them. Simple 
horse- hoes are also in general use, us well as narrow grub- 
bers to go between the rows and loosen the soil, and doublo 
mould -board ploughs for earth ing-up potatoes : common har- 
rows and rollers complete the assortment of instruments in 
general use. The old and expensivo operation of weeding 
the crowing crop* by hand, which is still practised in more 
southern counties, is here almost entirely avoided by the care 
taken to clean the land for turnips, or when it is fallowed. 
The only weeds which require attention are docks and 
thistles, which will occasionally spring up in spite of every 
precaution. 

On tho whole, we may pronounce the husbandry of the 
eounties in the north of England, and tho south of Scot- 
land, to be the most economical and profitable of any prac- 
tised in the British empire, and calculated to produce the 
greatest rent to tho landlord, with a fair profit to the farmer, 
and a comfortable existence to the labourer. 

Cattle.— There is nothing to be particularly remarked in 
the cattle of Berwickshire. On the hills there is a coarse 
breed of black cattle, which fatten well in the richer pas- 
tures of the valleys, and produce well-flavoured meat. Tho 
short* horned oxen from Yorkshire and Durham are in re- 
pute with the larger farmers for stall feeding. The Holder- 
ness and Ayrshire cows are preferred for tho dairy and for 
their calves. Oxen are scarcely ever used in tho plough or 
for draught, experience having established tho superiority 
of horses, in spite of all the assertions and calculations 
of'thcoretical writers. Horses are moro active and obedient 
in all kinds of work, and tho decreaso in the value of the 
animal, whon old, is more than compensated by his superior 
usefulness whilo in his prime, and by the variety of uses to 
which he may be put. The farm horses are generally of a 
middle size, muscular, and active, with clean legs without 
much hair on them, nearer allied in shape to tho coach- 
horso than to tho heavy English cart-horse. They are 
mostly bred in the eounties of Ayr and Lanark, in tho 
west. Those which are bred in Berwickshire are chiefly out 
of picked marcs, and got hy stallions imported from the south 
or west. But the breeding of horses is not a regular branch 
of tho rural ceonomy of this county, as it is in Yorkshire or 
Lincolnshire. A pair of good horses is considered suflieient 
for the tillage of forty or fifty acres of arahlo land of a mo- 
derate degree of tenacity ; and as one-half of the land is 
always in grass, a pair of horses to every 80 or 100 acres 
of a farm of turnip-land is a fair proportion; provided the 
distance from markets and from lime be not considerable, 
as this makes a material diiFcrenco in the earting required 
to be done. 

The teams work ten hours a day in summer, at two 
yokings of five hours each, and six hours in winter, at one 
yoking. They plough an acre and a quarter of land on an 
average in a day in summer, and three-quarters of an 
acre in winter, which is moro than is usuallv done in the 
south, if wo except the light lands in Norfolk, where 
they frequently plough an acre and a half or more in a 
day. The horses arc fed in summer on green food, cut 
fresh for them, and in winter on stmw and oats. When 
hay is scarce, it is reserved for tho time when they wdrk 
hardest in spring. Each horse has usually two or three 
feeds of oats per day for nine months in the year; the 
other three months they have green clover, which is suffi- 
cient without corn. 

Sheep. — There are several sorts of sheep in Berwickshire. 
On the hills the blaek-faced Tweedale sheep are most com- 
mon, being strong and hardy, and able to endure the se- 
verity of the climate. They are horned, and their wool is 
coarse. In the Merse, and along tho slopes of the hills, the 
improved breeds have been introduced from the south ; 
ehiafly tho Iyucestcrs, as they thrive admirably on the old 
pastures and artificial grasses, which tho convertible system 
of husbandry produces in great abundance. They are well 
adapted to small in closures, as they seldom roam about like 
the wilder breeds, provided they have suflieient food around 
them. The Cheviot breed of sheep, whieh is common in 
Roxburghshire, is also to be met with on the lower range of 
hills in Berwickshire. A very good breed has been pro- 
dured by crossing tho Cheviot with the Leicester. The 
Southdown breed of sheep hat been tried by a few indivi- 
duals and found to answer well ; but it is not to general as 



the Leicester and the crossed breeds above-mentioned. 
Good sound grass will maintain five Leicester sheep on an 
acre during the six summer months, and half an acre of 
turnips will keep them tho remainder of the, year; thus the 
valuo of grass and turnips may be calculated from the im- 
provement of the sheep, and vice versa. Where so large a 
portion of the arablo land is regularly laid down to grass, 
and this is chiefly fed off with sheep or cattle, it is of ^rcat 
importanco to the farmer, that he should bo able to select 
those animals that are best adapted to tho soil and climate, 
and that will improve most rapidly on the food which is given 
them. Hence great attention is paid to the improvement 
of the various breeds of sheep ; and rams have been selected 
and brought from Leicestershire and Northumberland at a 
great expense. A peculiar branch of rural economy has 
arisen from this, that of rearing rams for the sole purpose 
of letting them for the season. The best ewes are selected 
to breed from, and the ram lamhs are kept on the most nu- 
tritious and invigorating food, in order to bring them to a 
{Treat size, and make them excessively fat at two years old. 
They are then let to the breeders at very high prices. Whe- 
ther this over-feeding is judicious or not is very doubtful ; 
but it is natural to suppose, that an animal which can be 
made so fat at an early age possesses a constitution well 
adapted to convert food into flesh and fat, rather than into 
bone and sinew, and, consequently, is more profitable to the 
grazier; and that this quality will be more or less imparted 
to his progeny. But the nature and quantity of the food re- 
quired to fatten him should also be taken into considera- 
tion, for it is not always the fattest animal that gives the 
greatest profit, but the animal that gets to a certain de- 
gree of fatness on the smallest quantity or the cheapest 
kinds of food. Those extremely fat animals that are ex- 
hibited at shows are seldom very profitable on the whole 
when slaughtered; and a breed which fattens moderately, 
hut quickly, may be much more profitable than one which 
will grow to a very great size, and become extremely fat, 
but slowly. This is one reason why the small highland 
cattle are in general so much more profitable to the grazier, 
in moderate pastures, than the heavy Durham or Hereford 
breeds. Leicester sheep, which are very profitable on rich 
grass land, would scarcely live on the downs. 

Ptgs. — There was formerly a great prejudice in Scotland 
against the use of pork for food, and consequently that 
useful animal the pig was not much prized. The more 
frequent intercourse with England introduced the rearing 
and fatting of pigs as an artiele of commerce, and a great 
quantity of pickled pork and some bacon was exported from 
all the principal ports. The old prejudice is now almost 
entirely overcome, and pork adds much to the comforts of 
the farmer and the labourer. The breed of pigs has been 
much improved by careful selection and the importation of 
the best breeds. The Chinese pigs have contributed to 
this improvement by their great fruitfulness. No particular 
breed can be named as prevailing in Berwickshire, but 
somo very trood pigs are met with here and there ; and, from 
their prolific nature, a very little attention will soon discover 
the most profitable kinds, and make the coarser be re- 
jected. Bacon is not so generally used as in the south of 
England; pickled pork is preferred. The Scotch labourer 
does not waste the liquor in whieh the pork has been boiled, 
hy throwing it into the hog- wash, but makes a mess with 
cabbages, pease, and oatmeal, in which the pig broth is an 
essential ingredient. 

fairs. — Ihe principal fairs in Berwickshire are at Dunsc, 
Berwick, Lauder, Coldstream, Greenlaw, and Oldham stock, 
and tho great fairs in Northumberland and those in East 
and West Lothian amply supply the farmer with means of 
purchasing or selling stock. 'The first fair at Dunsc is 
field on the first Thursday in June, whero there is gene- 
rally a good show of fat cattle and milch cows. Tho former 
are chiefly bought by dealers from the south, who drive 
them to Morpeth, Darlington, Skipton, Wakefield, Sec. 
This fair is considered as the best fair in the south of 
Scotland for fat cattle. A considerable quantity of two* 
year-old beasts, in good condition, are bought to go to 
Lincolnshire and other English counties, where they are 
kept for twelve or eighteen months and then sent to Smith- 
field, whero they pass for Lincolns, although bred in Sent- 
land. The heifers, in the same manner, find their way 
southward, and when they have calved pass for Vurk 
or Durham cows. Tho breeders of short horns in Ber- 
wickshire may challenge any other county for producing 



B E R 



335 



BER 



steers that will fatten well at two years old. Another fair is 
held at Dunse on the 26th of August, or the Tuesday after 
in case it should fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, 
hut it is much inferior to the first. The third fair is "held 
on the 17th of Novemher, or the Tuesday after in the same 
way, but is not of much importance. There are four sheep 
markets in the year at Dunse, which have not been esta- 
blished many years, but which improve yearly ; they are 
held on tbe fourth Wednesday in March, tbird Wednesday 
in May, second Wednesday in July, and fourth Wednesday 
in September. The July market is also a great wool 
market, wbere a great deal of business is done, wool being 
a very considerable part of the farmers' produce. 

The Berwick fairs are held three times in the year, on the 
second Friday after Whit- Sunday, or. tbe Wednesday before 
tbe 28th of August, and on the first Wednesday of November. 
These fairs are next in importance to those of Dunse. 
" The fairs or markets at Lauder were formerly well fre- 
quented, but since the establishment of several others have 
much declined ; they are held the sixth Tuesday after the 
first Tuesday in Marcb, the third Friday in June, the 
fourth Tuesday in July, and the fourth Friday in October. 
There are also sheep and cattle shows at Lauder established 
a few years ago fcy the Lauderdale Agricultural Society, at 
which some remarkably fine animals are annually exhibited : 
the oxen chiefly short borns, and the sheep Leicesters, 
Cheviot, and black-faced. The fairs" at Coldstream are 
monthly, established about twelve years ago, and are now 
held on the last Thursday of, every month/ 

Greenlaw is the county town of Berwick, hut its fairs, held 
on the 2 2d of May and on the last Thursday in October^ 
are not very considerable. An attempt was made in 
May, 1834, to establish another fair for hiring servants and 
for the sale of stock, w^iich may 11 rob ably succeed when its 
character shall have been established^. The fairs at Old- 
hamstock in the Larnmcrmoor hills are not of much note, 
except for the immediate neighbourhood. The first is held 
on the first Tuesday in July, the second on the first 
Tuesday in November. There are various other fairs, hut 
more for the amusement of the inhabitants than for the 
purpose of business. 

Divisions, Towns, tyc. — Berwickshire contains thirty-one 
parishes and parts of two others; Home annexed to Stitchel 
in Roxburghshire, and part of the parish of Oldhamstocks 
in East Lothian. 

The parishes of Berwickshire arc distributed into three 
presbyteries, Dunse, Chirnside, and Lauder; the last con- 
tains two parishes not within the eounty, and two parishes 
within the county are in other "presbyteries. The wholo of 
the parishes of Berwickshire belong to the synod of Merse 
and Tiviotdale except Cockhurnspath, which is in the synod 
of Lothian and Tweedale. 

The county is divided for the monthly sessions of the 
justice-of-the-peace court and the militia ballots into small 
districts consisting of three or four parishes. 

The towns are few and small. Berwick, from which it 
has its name, is no part of the eounty; it is, however, the 
principal place for exports. Dunse is the largest in size 
and population. "Greenlaw is the county town ; Eyemouth 
is the only shipping port; the other towns of any note are 
Lauder and Coldstream. . , 

The salmon fishery on the Tweed is most valuable within 
the township of Berwick. There are paper-mills at Broom- 
house, Ayton, and Allanbank, which gives employment to 
from 120 to 150 people. * ' 

Po})ulation.~ The population of the county, as enumerated 
in the years 1801, 1811, 1821, and 1831, is as follows: 1801, 
pop. 30,6'il ; 1811, pop. 30,779 ;"1821, pop. 33,385 ; 1831, 
pop. 34,048. In 1821, the number of houses inhabited was 
5803, and in 1831 it was 6159; the number of families in 
1821 was 7165, and in 1831 it was 7385 ; the number of 
houses building in 1821 was 42, and in 1831 it was 13; the 
number of Houses uninhabited in 1821 was 276, and in 1831 
it was 207 ; the number of families employed in agriculture 
in 1821 was 3334, and in 1831 it was 2921 ; the number of 
families employed in trade, manufactures, and handicraft in 
1821 was 1923, and in 1831 it was 1915; the number of all 
other families not comprised in the two preceding classes in 
1821 was 1908, and in 1831 it was 2549. In 1821 the num- 
ber of males was 15,976, and the number of females was 
17.409, and in 1831 itT. T as males. 16,239 ; females, 17,809. 
Of late years |he migration from Berwickshire has been con- 
§J4crab!e f 



Table 



of the Number of Commitments, $c. t for Crime, in 
the County of Berwick, during the year 1834. 





.2 ju 


-a 








!" 


Crimes. 


.3HS 
35*3 


"1j 

2 — 


§ 


1 

« 

a 


Persons tried. 


Sentences of 

thuse 

convicted. 




i- ~ M 


o 


S 


i 








„® . p. 




if 


s 










p. 


K 


» 








Males. 


Males 


Males 


Males. 


No. 


Before what 








t , 








•> court. 




Robbery and 

• assault 
















3 


1 


3 


. 


3 


Justiciary. 


I death, 2trans- 
















portation for 


Theft . . 


. 


5 


3 


. 


3 


% jury, with- 


life. 
Imprisonment ] 


Theft by 
house- 












out jiny, and 
byjustu-esor 
other court. 


for three 
months or less. 


breaking . 


• 


2 


1 


1 


2 


Justiciary, 


Transportation 


Assault . . 


• 


15 


14 


1 


14 


6 by jury, 3 


for 14 years. 

Imprisonment 
for Ihree 














without jury, 5 


Breaking 












by justices or 
other court. 


months or less. 


* Windows . 
Rioting ". . 


; 


1 
1 


1 
1 


* 


1 

1 


Without jury. 
Ditto. 


Ditto. 
Ditto. 


Vagrancy & 
















leaking 










* 






Windows , 


. 


S 


2 


• 


2 


Ditto. 


Ditto. 


Vagrancy , 
Contraven- 


• 


2 


S 


• 


2 


Justices 


Ditto. 


* in^Act9 
















G. IV.s.69 
Trespassing 


• 


2 


2 


• 


1 


Without jury: 


Ditto. 


in" search 












/ 




of game J 


. 


1 


1 


, 


1 


Ditto. 


Ditto. 


Contempt of 1 








1 




Court . .1 


1 


1 


* 


1 1 Ditto. 


Ditto. 



Civil History. — At the time of the Roman invasion Ber- 
wickshire appears to have been occupied by the'Otadini. 
(See Ptolemy II. 3.) It was afterwards invaded and peopled 
by bands of Saxons about the middlo of the fifth century. 
This district was part of the kingdom of Northumberland 
until the year 1020, when it was ceded to Malcolm II, by 
the earl of Northumberland. About the eleventh century 
several Anglo-Saxon and Norman families settled in Ber- 
wickshire. Berwick then began to rise into importance, 
and became for centuries aftera point of contention between 
the Scotch and the English. T^ee Berwick.] Greenlaw 
was made the county town by James VI. in Nov. 1600. 

Antiquities. — The antiquities of Berwickshire, as might 
be expected from its position as a border county, the scene of 
much predatory warfare, are interesting. There arc tumuli, 
cairns, military stations, and ruined eastles in almost every 
parish ; and also the remains of some religious houses. The 
nunnery of Coldingham is said to have heen the oldest nun- 
nery in Scotland; it is mentioned as early as 661, when Abbe 
or Ebba, sister toOswy,king of Northumberland, was abbess. 
It was several times burnt and Tehuilt. The English seized 
it in 1544, and fortified the church and steeple, and the 
earl of Arran, governor of Scotland, attacked it in vain. 
Upon the forfeiture of the earl of Both well's estates |he 
lordship of Coldingham was given to Lord Hume, in whose 
family it remains. Of this priory the only remains are the 
single aisle of the church. The windows at the cast end 
are circular. Inside the 'south wall are two stories of 
pointed arches ; several ruined arches are at the east and 
west' end. Dryburgh Abbey was founded in 1150 by 
Hugh de Moryille, lord of, Lauderdale. There are re- 
mains of the convent, tbe refectory, several vaults and 
other offices, part of the cloister walls, and a fine radiated 
window of stone work. The area of the abbey is used as 
burying aisles, and contains the remains of the late Eurl 
of Buchan and of Sir Walter Scott. The Peath's Bridge 
(or Pees>, near the coast, a few miles distant from St. Abb's 
Head, crosses a wooded chasm moro than 1G9 feet deep, 
at the bottom of which there is a rivulet ; the banks are re- 
markably steep and precipitous, and hence the place became 
one of the strong passes of Scotland. The present bridge 
was finished in >1 786; and consists of four unequal arches, 
witb cast-iron rails. It is only sixteen feet broad, and has 
from its vast height tho appearance of an ancient aqueduct. 
It is best seen at some distance down the bank. About 
two miles north-west of the Peath Bridge stands Cockburn's 
Path Tower, overlooking a deep woody glen, through which 
runs a small stream. It consists of a small, strong, square 

tower of rough stone, with ft circular staircase in fts w\\\ty 



B E It 



336 



BER 



vest aagle ; adjoining its most southern staircase is a gate 
with a circular arch, on entering which on tho right arc the 
ruins of a number of vaulted buildings. The placo is men- 
tioned in Scottish history several times. Fast Castle, a 
picturesquo ruin, is also at a short distance south of Peath's 
Bridge, on a precipico overhanging the sea. It was a fortress 
of the Earls of Humo, and subsequently was the dwelling 
of Logan of Rcstalrig, who was concerned in the Gowrie 
conspiracy, Tho barony of Coldbrand's (otherwise Cock- 
burn's) Path was attached to the Scotch earldom of March. 
Tho parish of Earlston, originally Ercildoun, in this county, 
was the hirthplaco of Sir Thomas tho Kymer, celebrated 
hy Sir Walter Scott in his ' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Her- 
der/ and part of his tower or castle still remains, besides a 
stone said to havo covered his grave. Thirlstane Castle, in 
the parish of Lauder, was huilt by the celebrated Scottish 
Chancellor Maitland. Eccles was the native parish of 
Jlenry Home Lord Karnes. In it there is a eross, sup- 
posed to havo been erected after the second Crusade, and 
some remains of a nunnery. 

{A Map of Berwickshire from Actual Survey, by John 
IBIackadder, Edinburgh, 1797; Third Report of the Emi- 
gration Committee ; A General View of the County of Ber- 
wick, hy Robert Kerr, Edinhurgh, 1813; Grose's Anti- 
quities of Scotland, fol. edition; First Report of the 
Salmon Fisheries* Committee; Second Ditto ; Third Ditto; 
Tables of the Revenue Population, tyc. of the United 
Kingdom ; Enumeration Abstract of Population Re- 
turns; Chambers's Gazeteer ; Sinclair's Statistical Ac- 
count; The New Statistical Account of Scotland; 
Gongh's Camden, vol. iii. ; Chalmers's Caledonia, vol. ii. 
pp. 198 — 395; Morton's Monastic Annals of Teviotdale ; 
Play fair's Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory; Car- 
lisle's Top. Diet, of Scotland, and Communications from 
Berwickshire.) 

BERYL, a mineral species among the varieties of which 
nre found two of tho most beautiful and costly gems with 
which we arc acquainted, namely, the emerald and the 
precious beryl. Beforo entering into the particulars of theso 
varieties, which from their ocauty and price have the 
greatest claim on our attention, we will state the general 
and scientific properties by which the whole species may be 
recognised and distinguished from other minerals. 

They belong to the rhomhohcdral system of crystallization, 
usually occurring in regular hexagonal prisms which occur 
variously modified, sometimes by the truncation of tho 
lateral edges of tho prism, at other times by the simplo 
truncation of the terminal edges ; hut the prism is sometimes 
terminated in a much more complicated manner, of which a 
remarkable instance has presented itself in a crystal in the 
possession of Professor Naumann, of Freiberg, who has 
observed in them the faces of no less than six other forms of 
the rhomhohcdral system. For a full description of them wo 
must refer our reader to the Lehrbuch der Mineralogie of 
that minoralogist, where, under the head of Smaragd, will be 
found all the varieties of form which have been observed in 
this mineral. It seems better in this instance to give rather 
a popular than a strict description, when the latter would 
forco us into the use of symbols probably unintelligible to 
tho majority of our readers ; and the more particularly in 
this case, as we believe attention to tho following points will 
be more generally useful in the determination of this crystal; 
namely, that its general aspect is always that of a hexagonal 
prism, and that when tho terminal edges are modified, thero 
will generally be found a plane inclined to tho lateral planes 
of the prism under an angle of 119° 58'. 

The crystals admit of eleavagc in the four directions 
parallel to the faces of the regular prism, that parallel to 
the terminal plane being perfect, the others imperfect and 
more difficult to bo obtained. The fracture is conchoidal 
and uneven ; the lustre is vitreous, and it possesses various 
degrees of transparency. According to Molis, the hardness 
varies from 7'5 to 8, the specific gravity from 2*678 to 2*732. 
The following are its chemical characters before the blow- 
pipe, as stated by Bcrzclius. 

Alone it is not easily acted upon, but when thin frag- 
ments are for a long timo submitted to a powerful flame, 
the edges become rounded and a eolourlcss vesicular scoria 
is produced. The transparent varieties become milky. 

With horax it forms a clear and generally colourless 
glass, which effect is also produced by soda. With the 
phosphor salt it is with difficulty dissolved without the for- 
mation of a silicious skeleton. 



Of this mineral wo possess several analyses, of which tho 
following are three: the first being an emerald from Peru, 
hv Klaproth ; the second a beryl from Siberia, by the sanio 
chemist ; and the third a beryl from Broddbo, near Fahlun, 
in Sweden* — 







Ber>L 


Ucryl. 




I'mtralil. 


Wbcr.*. 


ilrodrtlj©. 


Silica 


68*50 


66*45 


68*35 


Alumina . 


15-75 


16*75 


17*60 


Glucina 


12*50 


15*50 


13'13 


Oxide of iron . 


1*00 


0*60 


0*72 


Oxido of columhium 


0*00 


o-oo 


0*27 


Oxide of chromium 


0*30 


o-uo 


0*00 


Lime 


0*25 


0*00 


o-oo 



From his analyses Berzelius has adopted tho formula 
G Si 4 + 2 Al Si* to represent the atomic constitution of 
this mineral; Naumann and Beudant, however, consider it 
to be as follows : — 

G Si 1 + 2 Al Si 3 . 

Tliis species contains several varieties, of which the two 
known among lapidaries under the name of emerald and 
aquamarine, or precious beryl, are the most worthy of at- 
tention. These varieties, though distinguished by some 
mineralogists as forming distinct species, differ, however, 
only in colour, the term emerald being applied to those 
possessing the peculiar rich, deep green, so well known as 
the emerald-green, while all the other varieties arc com- 
prehended under the name of beryl ; those which arc clear, 
transparent, and possess a good colour, present various 
shades of sky-blue or mountain -green, being the aqua- 
marino or precious beryl. The colour of the einerala is 
attrihuted to the small quantity of green oxide of chromium 
which has been found in the specimens from Peru ; while 
the varieties in the tints of heryl may be considered to be 
produced by admixtures of the oxides of iron, the yellow 
being the colour of tho peroxides of iron, and the mountain - 
green and the various shades of blue being the effect of 
varying quantities of the protoxide, to the presence of which 
tho common bottle-glass owes its tint. 

The following localities produce the finest emeralds : the 
mines in the Tunca Valley, situated in the mountains be- 
tween New Granada and Fopayan, and not far from the 
town of Santa F6 de Bogota, where, according to Humboldt, 
they arc found in veins traversing clay-slate, hornblende 
slate, and granite; the Hcuhach valley, in tho district of 
Pinzgau. Salzburg, where they occur imbedded in mica- 
slate, and are inferior in colour to those from Peru : varieties 
have also hcen lately found in some old mines in Mount 
Zaharah, in Upper Egypt, from which spot the antients aro 
supposed to have derived their emeralds. 

The varieties known by tho name of heryl are found prin- 
cipally in Sihcria aud Brazil : in the former country it occurs 
in the granite district of Nertsehinsk, and also in the Uralian 
and Altai mountains, sometimes in very largo crystals, prisms 
having been found upwards of a foot in length. In the 
granitic mountains ofOdon Tchelon, in Da-uria, three very 
interesting mines occur at different elevations in the moun- 
tain; in the lowest are found, irregularly disseminated 
through a mass of semi-decomposed granite mixed with 
ferruginous clay and nodules of Wolfram, prismatic crystals 
of heryl of a greenish-yellow colour, rarely exceeding ono 
inch in length. Somo hundred feet higher occurs the 
second mino in a vein of micaceous clay, from which the 
most valuahlo crystals arc obtained ; their colour is of 
a pale but pure green, and their size frequently consider- 
able. The third mine is situated in a vein of white indu- 
rated clay on tho summit of a mountain ; in this mine tho 
varieties arc usually of a palo greenish-bli:e, but sometimes 
they aro found of a pure but pale sky-blue. Thev are here 
rcmarkahly transparent. Imbedded crystals and massive 
varieties aro also found at Limoges, in France ; near 
Zwiesel, on the Rabenstein, in Bavaria ; at Fimbo and 
Broddbo, near Fahlun, in Sweden ; and likewise in somo of 
the tin mines in Saxony and Bohemia. 

An enormous specimen is also described in Silliman's 
Journal, as having been found at Ac worth, in New Hamp- 
shire, United States. Its dimensions aro stated to be four 
feet in length and five inches and a half across the literal 
planes, and the weight to be 238 lbs. 

Specimens of beryl have also been found in several of the 
primary districts of Ireland ; those from tho granite of tho 



B ES 



337 



BES 



Morne Mountains, in the county of Down, * are the finest. 
In this locality they are associated with topaz, black quartz, 
felspar, and mica. In Scotland it is found in the granite at 
Rubeslau quarry, near Aberdeen, and also in broken pieces 
in the sand of the rivers of that county. 
i The value of the emerald depends not only on its size, 
eolour, and brillianey, but also on its being free from flaws, 
by whieh this gem is frequently greatly deteriorated in the 
eye of the jeweller. The following is the rate at which 
varieties of a fine colour and free from fissures may be pro- 
cured, as stated by Beudant : — 

A stone of 5 grs. from 100 to 120 francs. 
8 „ 240 
15 „ 1500 
24 . „ 2400 

BE'RYX, in zoology, a genus of fishes of the order 
Acanthopterygiu and belonging to a little group of the 
family Perco'ides, in which the species possess more than 
.seven branchial rays, whereas all the other genera ineluded 
in the first division of this order (in which division the cheeks 
are not defended by indurated plates) possess seven or less. 

Cuvier, in his Regne Animal, mentions three other genera 
belonging to this group, viz. : Holocentrum, Myripristis, 
and Trachichthys. These will be noticed hereafter. 

The remaining principal generic characters of Beryx are 
as follows : — Ventral fins, with one spine and ten soft rays ; 
the back furnished with but one slightly-extended fin, and 
some indistinct small spines on its anterior edge. 

BESANQON, a city in France, near the south-eastern 
frontier, chiefly on the left or south-east bank of the river 
Doubs, a feeder of the Saone; distant about 205 miles 
S.E. of Paris in a straight line ; or 237 miles by the road 
through Troyes, Dijon, and Dole ; and as mueh through 
Troyes, Cliaumont, Langres, and Vesoul. -47° 14' N. lat., 
and 6° 3' E. long, from Greenwich. 

The origin of this town is unknown: local traditions and 
legends dated it as far back as 434 years before the founda- 
tion of Rome ; which, according to the received chronology, 
would be about 1186 years B.C. All that we certainly 
know is, that in Ccosar's eampaign against tho German 
Ariovistus.in tho first year of his command in Gaul, b.c. 
58, Vesontio (for so the Roman general writes the name) 
was the greatest town of the Sequani, and a place so strong 
by situation as to offer to either party tho greatest facilities 
f jr protracting the war. Cccsar by a rapid march seized tho 
town, and placed a garrison in it. .While staying here a 
panic seized the Roman troops, which it required all the skill 
and eloquence of their general to dispel. (Cods, de Bell. Gall. 
lib. i. e. 38-41.) Caesar has accurately described the situa- 
tion of the place ; , it was nearly surrounded by the river 
Dubis (the Doubs), which here formed a bend, as though 
its channel had been described by a pair of compasses ; and 
tho interval left by the river was occupied by an emi- 
nence, which bein«j fortified with a wall served as a kind of 
citadel. (Cses. ibid.) The interval left by the river is 
given in our present copies of Ca?sar at 600 feet. It is 
however much greater, and the passage has obviously been 
corrupted. (See D'Anville, Notice de VAncienne Gaule.) 
The Vesontio of Cccsar is 'the upper town of the modern 
Besancon.* 

When under the dominion of the Romans, Vesontio he- 
came the eapital of the province called Maxima Sequano- 
rum, one of the divisions included in Belgic Gaul, though 
the Sequani and Helvetii, of whose territories the pro- 
vince consisted, were of the Celtic race. The town flou- 
rished while the vigour of tho Roman empire continued ; 
but when the inroads of the barbarians commenced it had 
its share of the general calamities. It was destroyed by the 
Alemanni in the time of Julian the Apostate, rebuilt, and 
again destroyed by Attila and the Huns. There are se- 
veral remains which attest its antient greatness. ' It is 
rarely the ease/ says Expilly, 'that 'he earth is dug to a 
certain depth in the neighbourhood of this town, without 
discovering the wrecks of mosaic pavements, of columns 
and pillars, either of marble or other stone of the hand- 
somest kind/ The mutilated remains of statues of marble 
and bronzo, medals, and other antiquities, are also, accord- 
ing to the same authority, found continually. There are 
the relics of an amphitheatre and an aqueduct, of temples, 
portieoes, palaces, and baths, and of a triumphal arch, 
ereeted in honour either of Aurelian, or of Crispus, son of 
the Emperor Constantine the Great. The latter, which 
formed one of the gates of the city, is probably tho most 



perfect monument of antiquity remaining in^ the place : it 
is of a low style of architecture. The bas-reliefs, with 
which it was once adorned, have mouldered away in tho 
course of ages, and the greater part are now obliterated ; 
and of its four columns only two remain. (Malte Bran ; 
Balbi; Expilly; Dictionnaire Geographique, par 'M. Ro- 
bert.) Many names still retained by the streets or other 
localities in or near the town are obviously of Latin origin. 
This is the ease with the name of the town itself, fronTtke 
antient forms of whieh, Vesontio, Visuntium, Vesantio, and 
Bisontii, is derived the modern Besancon. 

After its destruction by Attila, Besancon was rebuilt by 
the Burgundians ; and since that time does not appear to 
have sustained any great change beyond that which the 
lapse of ages and the advancement of civilization havo 
gradually brought about.* Its political condition is not 
very easy to trace.- The territory in whieh it stands, and 
of which it was the eapital, was successively included in 
the dominions of the Burgundian and Frankish kings, 
and formed part of the second kingdom of Burgundy, the 
kings of which acquired the imperial crown of Germany. 
This territory was during these changes formed into what 
was called 'the County of Burgundy ;* but it has been more 
generally known by the somewhat later designation of La 
Franche Comte, Its counts owed feudal subjection to the 
kings of Burgundy; and upon the accession of these kings 
to the imperial throne, the counts became subjects of the 
Germanic, empire ; and it was during this period, viz.' in 
the twelfth century, that Besancon obtained the rank and 
privileges of a free and imperial city, ''These privileges it 
possessed when it was ceded to Spain by the imperial 
branch of the house of Austria (into whose hands the 
Franche Comte had come) by the treaty of Miinster in 1648 ; 
but upon the eonquest of the Franche Comte* by Louis XIV, 
and its final eession to France by the peace of Nimeguen 
in 1678, the municipal government of JSesancon was entirely 
changed. The town sustained many attacks in the middle 
ages, and the' townsmen repeatedly showed their valour 
in tho repulse of their various enemies. In the interval 
between the ninth and thirteenth centuries this town was 
sometimes called Chrysopolis, the golden city. The origin 
of this designation is unknown. 

Besancon is divided into two unequal parts, called the 
upper and the lower town. The upper town, formerly dis- 
tinguished as La Ville, is built on a peninsula formed by 
the river, whieh here describes nearly a circle in its winding 
course.t * The small part of the circuit of the upper town 
which is not washed by the stream is oceupied by a steep 
roek on whieh stands the citadel. The lower town, formerly 
called Battaus, is on the other side of the river, at the 
part most remote from the eitadel, and is connected with 
the upper town by a stone bridge, the foundations of 
which are Roman. The whole is strongly .fortified, and 
Besancon ranks as a fortress of the first class, and one of 
the keys of France on the SJ3. frontier. The citadel, 
which may be considered as cut in the roek rather than 
built, is one of the strongest in Europe. It is separated 
from the country by a deep diteh cut in the rock. A sin- 
gular ridge of rock, forty to fifty feet high, extends from 
the citadel to the Doubs ; through this natural rampart a 
passage has been cut, which is called La Porte Taillee. It 
is very antient. 

Although Besancon preserves an air of antiquity, it is 
one of the best built cities in France. Three streets nearly 
parallel to each other run from one end to the other of the 
upper town. The houses are commonly of freestone and 
of good appearance, and several fountains contribute to the 
ornament of the plaee. One of these fountains represents 
the apotheosis of the Emperor Charles V. There are many 
fine public buildings. The cathedral, dedicated to St. - 
John, is a very antient edifice, not far from the foot of the 
hill on whieh the eitadel is built. It is said to have been 
first dedicated to St. Stephen ; afterwards it bore the namo 
of St. Stephen and St. John conjointly, and finally dropped 
that of St. Stephen upon the erection of another church 
dedicated to that saint. This last-mentioned church of St. 
Stephen disputed the elaim of the cathedral of St. John to 
the metropolitan dignity until the controversy was decided 
by theehurchof St. Stephen being pulled down in 1668, by 
order of the king of Spain, to make room for the erection of 

* Maite-Brun says it was laid waste by the Hungarians in the 10th cen- 
tury; ho ascribes # iu devastation in the fifth century to the Uurgumhans, 
not to the Huns. 

f See Coflar's description noticed above. 



No, 247. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-2 X 



BES 



338 



BES 



the citadel. The cathedral of St. John gloried formerly in 
the possession of a sacred relic— tho winding'Sheet of Christ 
{le saint suairc), which was exhibited with great solemnity 
on certain groat festivals of the church, and uttrncted an 
incrediblo multitude of persons. It rotains now a fine palm- 
ing of tho resurrection, by Vanloo ; a St, Sebastian, by Fra 
Bartholomew, tho master of Raphael ; and on tho sides of 
the high altar are two angels in marble, the work of Breton, 
a sculptor of Besancon. Tho churches of St. Piorro (St. 
Peter) and de la Madcleino (tho Magdalen) deserve notice, 
tho first for its fine portal, tho second for tho beauty of its 
structure. 

Before the suppression of the religious houses at the Revo- 
lution, Besancon possessed several. Thorc were fourabboys, 
one of the order of St. Augustin, two of Benedictines (ono of 
which was bold in commendam), and one of Cistercian 
nuns. There were eleven convents ; six of men, viz. two of 
Carmelites, and one each of Cordeliers, Capuchins, Obscr- 
vantincs, and Minims; and fivo of women, viz. of Ursuline 
nuns, of nuns of tho Annunciation, of the Visitation, of St 
Clare, and of an order called ' Ticrcclins/ who were not 
hound by any vow or restricted to tho walls of their convent. 
There were, besides, an association of persons for pious 
purposes called * the Brotherhood of St. George/ a com- 
mandery of tho order of Malta, a house of the Jesuits, and 
one of the priests of tho oratory, a seminary for the educa- 
tion of tho priesthood, and a college under the direction of 
tho Jesuits. Besides tho chapter of the cathedral there was 
one attached to the church do la Madeleine which was col- 
legiate. There were at the same period eight parish 
churches (besides the cathedral and the church de la Made- 
leine), and several benovolent institutions; three hospitals, 
two of which wore for tho bringing up of poor children and 
foundlings, and a penitentiary house for women. Of these 
charities modern authorities do not speak, or at least not 
with sufficient clearness to enable us to identify them as 
now in existence. 

Of buildings not devoted to ecclesiastical purposos there 
are Le Palais de Justice^ an edifice of the 16th century; 
the general hospital, the military hospital, the theatre, 
and the barracks. The remains of Roman antiquity have 
been noticed already. (Martiniere; Expilly; Malte-Brun; 
Balbi.) There are some public promenades ; the namo of 
the finest, Le Chamars* points out the Campus Martius 
of the Romans. It is well laid out and planted, and extends 
along the banks of tho Doubs. 

Besancon is a place of considerable importanco for its 
manufactures and trade. Thread, cotton, and silk stock- 
ings ; carpets, which are sent to different parts of France, 
especially to Paris, or exported to Switzerland; linen 
yarn, coarse woollen and linen fabrics for the use of tho 
working class and the peasantry ; fire-arms and leather are 
made here. Tho town is also tho centre of the watch and 
clock manufacture introduced into Franco about the close 
of the last century. Tho different pieces or works aro 
manufactured by the workmen and their families in their 
own habitations : it is the business of another mechanic, the 
' finisher,* to unite them into a clock or watch. Watches 
of all kinds, repeaters, and chronometers, are mado here. 
Watch-cases are east and turned or otherwise finished in 
different places in the department. Tho Canal de Mon- 
sieur* which joins the Rhine with the RhOno by means of 
the navigation of tho Doubs and tho Sa&nc, contributes to 
the trade of Besancon, which consists in iron goods of 
various kinds, deals, cheese, grain, wine, and cattle, besides 
the manufactures already mentioned. 

Tho population of tho town is considerable, and a refer- 
ence to different authorities enables us to trace its gradual 
increase. Piganiol de la Force, in his Nottvelle Description 
da la France (Paris, 1722), gives it at 11,520; Expilly, in 
his Dirtinnnaire des Gaules ct de la France (Paris, 1762), 
at about 20,000 ; the Dictionnaire Universel de la France 
(Paris, 1804), 27,469 ; Malte-Brun, taking the number from 
the census before the last, 28,795. The last two numbers 
arc tho population of the commune, and exceed probably by 
about 0000 tho population of tho town itself at their re- 
spective periods. By tho last census (of 1st January, 1832) 
the population of the town was 24,042, and of the whole 
com mu no 29,167. To these we may add 7000 or 8000 
strangers, students of tho Academic, or soldiers of tho gar- 
rison. 

The literary institutions and places of education in Bo- 
sancon aro numerous and important. The public library 



contains eighty thousand volumes, besides some valuable 
MSS. Le Mus6o Paris, the gift of an architect of tho 
name of Paris, a native of Besancon, comprehends anti- 
quities, paintings, and drawings ; and the Museum of Na- 
tural History contains a rich and oxtcnaive collection. The 
Acad 6 mi o Univorsitairo has replaced the university which 
existed previous to the Revolution. The university was esta- 
blished in or about 1422 and 1423, at Dolo, by Philippe le Bon 
(Philip the Good), Duke of Burgundy, and was transferred 
to Besancon in 1691. Some give to this institution a much 
higher antiquity, asserting that it was founded at Gray in 
1292, by the Emperor Otho, and that the Duko Philinpo 
le Bon only re-established it and transferred it to Dole. Tho 
present Academic appears to consist of ono faculty only, that 
of literature {faculU de lettres). There aro a college royal, 
or high school ; a seminary for the priesthood; a secondary 
school of medicine, surgery, and pharmacy; a school of 
drawing and sculpture ; a deaf and dumb school for both 
sexes; and a school of artillery, formerly at Auxonnc. 
There are also a royal academy of sciences, belles lettres, 
and arts; a society of mcdichio; and a society of agriculture 
and the arts. Before the Revolution there was a military 
literary society, intended chielly to engage the officers of the 
garrison to pursue tho study of those branches of science 
suited to their profession. (Malte-Brun; Balbi; Dupin, 
Forces Productives de la France.) 

Besancon is the scat of an archbishoprick. The diocese 
is said to have been established in the third century ; and 
the possessor of tho see, after his claim to pre-eminence had 
been much contested, possessed without dispute the rank of * 
metropolitan in the eighth century. His diocese did not con- 
tain tho wholo of Franche Comte: and his suffragans wero 
only three in number, viz., the bishops of Bolley, in France, 
and Bale and Lausanne in Switzerland. At present the 
diocese of Besancon comprehends tho two departments of 
Doubs and Haute SaSne, with a population of above 
600,000 ; and tho suffragans of the archbishop are tho 
bishops of Strasbourg, Metz, Verdun, Bellcy, St. Die 1 , and 
Nancy. 

Besancon was the capital of Franche Comte, under the 
old territorial division of France, and is now the capital of 
the department of Doubs [seo Doubs], which has a popula- 
tion of 265,535. It has a Cour Royalc, tho jurisdiction of 
which extends over the departments of Doubs, Haute SaSne, 
and Jura ; and a Tribunal de Commerce for the settlement 
of commercial disputes. It is the chief placo of the sixth of 
the military divisions into which France has been partitioned: 
this sixth division includes the departments of Ain, Doubs, 
Jura, and Haute Sarnie. 

The arrondissement of Besancon contains 560 square 
miles, or 358,400 acres; and had in 1832 a population of 
96,032. It is subdivided into eight cantons and two hun- 
dred and one communes. 

Among the eminent natives of Besancon were, Jean 
Jacques Chifllet, a , writer on history, antiquities, politics, 
and medicine, author of a * History of Besancon f Antoino 
Perrenot, Cardinal de Granvellc, according to Piganiol and 
Expilly (but in the BiograpMe Universale he is said to 
have been born at Ornans), an eminent statesman, in tho 
service of the Emperor Charles V., and his son Philip II. 
of Spain ; Jean Bantistc Antoine Suard, an eminent lite- 
rary character, and translator of Robertson's * History of 
Charles V.* and * History of America;* and the Mardchal 
Monccy, Due do Cornegliano, ono of tho soldiers of the Re- 
volution and the empire of Napoleon. 

BESANT. [Sec Bezant.] 4 

BESITTOON, properly BISUTUN. The plain of Kcr- 
manshah, in that part of modern Persia which corresponds 
to tho anticnt Media, is bounded on tho north by a long 
range of barren mountains, which terminates most abruptly 
to the east in a naturally scarped precipice, presenting a 
nearly perpendicular surface about 1500 feet in height. 
A portion of tho lower part of this surface, about 70 or 80 
feet from the base of tho rock, and perhaps 100 feet abovo 
the general level of tho plain, has been cut smooth by art, 
so as to form an immenso tablet, extending about 150 feet 
in length, by 100 in height, and about two feet below 
tho level of tho outer surface of the rock in which it is 
formed. Below this tablet projects a rocky terrace, which 
slopes gradually to the level of tho plain. The base of 
this terrace is faced with large hewn stones; and other 
blocks of stone, wholly or partially hewn, aro strewed 
about in all directions, so as to render it probable that 



B E S 



33S 



B E S 



it was originally intended to face the terraeo up to the 
superior level, and perhaps to erect thereon some great 
structure. The whole, indeed, with the absence of in- 
scriptions and sculptures on the tablet, suggests the idea 
of a discontinued work. Local tradition states that the 
famous artist Ferhad, to whom all the antient works 
in this part of the country are attributed, was to have 
built a palace on the terrace for the fair Shirtn, hy order 
of the king Khosru Parvlz, but that the work was in- 
terrupted by the untimely death of the artist. Sir Robert 
Ker Porter, however, is rather of opinion that it must 
have been originally designed as the platform for a temple. 
The absenee of anything of a columnar form among the 
materials for this structure, in a country where archi- 
tectural fragments of this description abound on every 
antient site, is thought by the same author to have occa- 
sioned the name of Btsutun to be given to the plaee. The 
word signifies * without pillars ;' for sutun means a pillar 
in Persian, and b% is the negative prefix. Kinneir con- 
siders the term to have originated in the impending and 
unsupported appcaranee of the cliff above the tablet. There 
are also numerous fragments of columns at the distance of 
a few miles on the road, so that Captain Keppel, instead of 
considering the word to mean ' no pillars,* conjectures that 
it may be a corruption of Btst-sutun, or • twenty pillars,' 
in the same manner as the ruins of Persepolis are called by 
the Persians Chehel-sutun, ' or ' forty pillars. 1 This con- 
jecture is at least ingenious; hut although the writer of the 
present article has also seen the hases and shafts of columns 
on which this etymology is founded, his personal observa- 
tions did not lead him to consider that they had any con- 
nexion with the works at the spot which is properly deno- 
minated Btsutun. 

At the distance of about fifty yards from this platform, 
immediately above the source of a elear stream which issues 
from the mountain, there is a broad protruding mass of rock, 
on which there are remains of an immense piece of sculptured 
work, but so much defaced that it is scarcely possible to 
make out one continued outline, although by close attention 
parts of the rudely-chiselled forms of several eolossal figures 
maybe traeed. The exceedingly mutilated state of these 
sculptures has been somowhat singularly produced. In the 
first place, it appears that a largo tablet had been raised in 
the central portion of the work for the insertion of a Greek 
inscription, and this again has given place to a recent in- 
scription in the Persian character, relating to the grant of 
lands for the support of a earavansera, which is immediately 
opposite to it in the plain. This inscription, being long and 
very closely written, has nearly obliterated that which pre- 
ceded. Parts of two lines were, however, deciphered and 
copied hy Sir R. JC Porter, though with difficulty, as this 
tablet is much higher up on the face of the mountain than 
the former, and in a situation much more difficult of access. 

Kinneir is inelined to concur with the authorities which 
attribute these works to Semiramis, and it is best to state 
the grounds of this conjeeture her£, because it ean scarcely 
extend to the sculptures whieh remain to be noticed. In- 
deed, the differences of opinion as to the date of these works 
arose partly from its having been forgotten that it was not 
necessary to supposo them all of the same sera. Diodorus 
(II. 13), following Ctesias (whose residence at the Persian 
court and his access to Persian documents entitle his state- 
ments on sueh subjeets to somo respect), says that Semi- 
ramis, on her mareh from Babylonia to Ecbatana, encamped 
near a mountain called Bagistanon, in Media, where she 
made a garden of twelve stadia in eircuit, in a plain country 
watered by a fountain. The mountain was dedicated to 
Jupitor, and, towards the garden, had steep roeks seventeen 
stadia in height. She smoothed the lowest part of the rock, 
and caused her image to be sculptured on it, with a hundred 
of her guards standing around her. Near this she also 
caused an inscription to be made, in Syriae letters, recording 
that Semiramis had ascended from the plain to the top of 
the mountain, by heaping up the packs and fardels of the 
beasts of burden that were with her. That this is to be 
referred to Btsutun is argued from the consideration, that 
it is really situated on tho road to Eebatana, which is cer- 
tainly Hamadan ; that one side of tho mountain fronts a 
plain country watered by a small river, whieh winds round 
the foot of the hill ; and that the rocks are really sculptured 
in the manner described. The Assyrian queen and her 
guards cannot indeed be discovered in the remaining sculp- 
tures; but their figures may have existed in tho large pieee, 



the sculptures of which have been obliterated to make room 
for inscriptions. To these arguments some add the not im- 
probable conjecture that the present name Btsutun may 
he a corruption of the antient Bagistana, making allowance 
for the exaggeration which converts 1500 feet into 1 7 stadia. 
The identity of the sites is, to our minds, established ; and 
while, we feel willing to throw aside so much of the account 
we have quoted as refers to Semiramis and her exploits, we 
are rather surprised that no writer to whom we have referred 
on the subject seems to have perceived that the real value 
of the statement from Ctesias consists in its proving that 
the sculptures not only existed in his time, but were even 
then considered antient enough to be referred to the time 
of Semiramis. 

Somewhat farther to the eastward, and at a greater 
height on the smoothed surface of the rock, another sculp- 
ture appears. It is in comparatively good preservation, and 
from the superiority of its workmanship, and the general 
resemblance to the sculptures at Persepolis, may be pre- 
sumed nearly coeval with those celebrated specimens of 
antient art. It exhibits a line of twelve erect figures, of 
about half the size of life. One of them is a king or ge- 
neral, distinguished hy his more majestic stature, with two 
armed attendants behind him. He holds a lance in his left 
hand, and rests it, together with his left foot, upon the body 
of a prostrate man who lies upon his hack, and with out- 
stretched hands seems imploring for mercy. Standing 
thus, and holding up his right hand, with the two fore- 
fingers extended, and tho other two pressed down on the 
palm, he seems addressing his commands or admonitions 
to nine captives who stand before him, all of whom have 
their hands tied behind their backs, and eight of whom are 
united by a rope passed around their necks. The attitude 
of the supposed monarch is full of majesty and grace ; and 
in Sir R. K. Porter's opinion, the varied expression in the 
different faees may he regarded as almost equal to any 
thing of the kind done by the chisel. There are two old 
men among the captives ; the rest are middle-aged. The 
exposed limbs of two of them, the outline of the dressed 
figures, and the easy and natural motion with which they 
advance, show no common measure of anatomical know- 
ledge in the artist, who might, not improbably, be a Greek 
in the service of a Persian king. In the centre of the 
whole, above the heads of these persons, appears the aerial 
personage who often appears in Persian sculptures, and 
which is supposed to be the Ferwer, a spiritual prototype 
of the king, which, according to the Zendavesta, always 
hovers near him. 

Over the head of eaeh individual in this bas-relief there 
is a compartment, with an inscription in the arrow-headed 
writing, most probably descriptive of the character and 
situation of each person; and immediately under the sculp- 
ture there are two lines extending the whole length of the 
group. Under these also there are eight deep and closely 
written columns in the same character. We eannot learn 
that these inscriptions have ever been copied ; nor would it 
be of much use if they were. We are not wholly hopeless, 
however, that some process may yet be discovered through 
which we may be enabled to obtain the historical informa- 
tion, which here and elsewhere is locked up in arrow-headed 
inscriptions. (Sir Robert Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, 
Persia, $c, f vol. ii., which contains engravings of most of 
the objects mentioned in this article ; Kinneir's Geogra- 
phical Memoir of the Persian Empire; Erdmann, De Ex- 
pedition Eussorum Berdaam versus, Casan. 1832, t. iii. 
pp. 86-96 ; Keppel's Personal Narrative, &c.) 

BESSARA'BIA, the most south-western province of the 
Russian empire, consists of those portions of Turkey lying 
hetween the Dniester and the Pruth which were wrested 
from the Turks by tho treaty of Bucharest in 1812; 
they previously formed the north-eastern part of Mol- 
davia and the Budjak, or Bessarabia Proper, and now con- 
stitute, under the Russians, one of the provinces in- 
eluded in what is designated ' The Southern Region.' An 
addition of much importance in a political point of view has 
sinco been made to it under the treaty of Adrianople, in 
1829 : we here allude to the large islands which are formed 
by the three mouths of the Danube, denominated the Kili, 
Suline, and St. George's Channels. The Pruth, therefore, 
and the easternmost line of the Danube, from the point 
where the Pruth falls into it, to the Black Sea, form the 
present boundary between Russia and Turkey in Europe. 

Bessarabia Proper, also ealled the ' Steppe of the Budjak/ 

2X« 



UES 



340 



BES 



is separated from the Russian part of Moldavia by tho Via 
Trajana, tho most eastern of the Roman roads in this 
quarter of Europe, which commences at Keszmsko on the 
Danube, near tho mouth of tho Sercto, is intersected by the 
Pruth above Falga.and terminates on tho right bank of the 
Dniester, between Bender and LeonticfF, a village not far 
from Kopanka. 

Both these subdivisions of Bessarabia' composed the 
eastern districts of tho Roman province of Dacia ; and at 
tho point where the Via Trajana crosses tho Pruth lay 
tho small town of Trajano, or Castra Trajana, probably 
the Pretoria Augusta of Ptolemy, in the neighbourhood of 
what is now called tho Red Tower, a dclilo in tho most 
southern arm of the Carpathians. 

The Russian province of Bessarabia contains an area of 
about 18,900 square miles; it extends between 44* 45' 
and 43° 40' N. lat., and 26° 35' and 30° 60' E. long., 
being nearly equal in surface to tho States of the Roman 
Church * while it is more than four times as large as York- 
shire, it is bounded on tho north-cast and east by the 
Russian provinces of Podolia and Chcrson, from which it is 
separated by the Dniester ; on the south-east by that part 
of the coasts of the Black Sea which lies between the mouths 
of the Danube and Dniester ; on the south by the Danube, 
which separates it from the province of Dob rudsha in Turkish 
Bulgaria; on the west by tho line of the Pruth, by which 
it is separated from Turkish Moldavia ; and on tho north- 
west by that part of the kingdom of Austrian Galicia which 
is called the Buckowine. 

If Bessarabia were properly cultivated, there arc few coun- 
tries which would surpass it in productiveness. Tho larger 
portion of it, which lies to tho north, and onco composed 
part of Moldavia, is traversed by the low and here subsiding 
range of tho Transsylvanian branch of the Carpathian 
mountains; its surface presents a delightful succession 
of hills and dales, tho loftier hills being richly wooded, 
and the less elevated covered with vineyards, while tho 
low lands are characterised by an extremely fertilo sandy 
loam, which is coated with a deep layer of vcgctatfle 
mould, in many parts improved by the admixture of salt- 
petre. The Budjak, on the other hand, which lies to tho 
south of this district, though it is comparatively high and 
incloses several lakes in the vicinity of the Black Sea and 
Danube, consists of Hat monotonous • steppes, unrelieved 
by wood or forest, and is liable to frequent inundations in 
its southern districts. Its soil is a mixture of sand aud 
clay, peculiarly fitted for agricultural purposes ; these dis- 
tricts, however, for want of roads and other facilities of 
transport, have been hitherto restricted to grazing and tbo 
cultivation of fruit. The reed-grounds, which line every 
hike, and cover the extensive morasses in this part of 
Bessarabia, supply, in conjunction with dried animal manure 
and the ' bunan,' or jungle-grass, which springs up in tho 
uncultivated lands, a substituto for fuel. 

The principal river in Bessarabia is the Danube, which 
borders it on the south, from the mouth of the Pruth to the 
Black Sea, and includes the three channels already men- 
tioned, which form the large islands of Zatoka, Tshcral, 
and Lcti, and several minor ones. Tho next in importance 
arc — its tributary the Pruth, which bounds the province on 
the west, enters it below Tshcrnovitz from tho Buckowine, 
quits it between Reny and Galatz, where it falls into tho 
Danube, is uavigablo throughout its course in this quarter, 
nnd is increased by the intlux of tho Del awe z, Rakowez, 
Tshugcr, Baglui, and other streams ; the Jalpuch, tho 
largest river which rises in Bessarabia, flows into the lake 
of the eamc naino in tho south-west, and afterwards 
empties itself into the Danubo; the Kogaluik, and Sarata, 
two rivers in the Budjak, both of which flow into the 
Black Sea; aud, lastly, the Dniester, a muddy, yellow- 
tinted, and exceedingly rapid stream, which skirts the 
northern confines of Bessarabia, entering from the Bucko- 
wine near Khotin, and afterwards forms its eastern boun- 
dary on the sido of Podolia and Chcrson, until it discharges 
itself into the Black Sea. In this line its breadth vanes 
from oighty to ono hundred fathoms: its chief tributaries 
on the Bcpsarobian side are, tho Rcut, which has its influx 
opposite to Dybossari; and tho Botna. 

The northern part of tho provineo contains no inland 
waters of any magnitude ; the southern, in the neighbour- 
hood of the Danube and Black Sea, abounds with them. 
Among the last wo may mention tho great 'liman * (a 
llussian word piguifying au expanse of water mixed with 



mud, rushes, Sec.) of the Dniester, which lies at its mouth, 
and is eighteen miles in length and five in breadth ; lake 
Sasvk, which has two small outlets through tho high ram- 
part of sand that divides it from the Black Sea, and through 
which the Kogalnk and Sarata flow; lakes Kod^hcgul, 
Katlahuga, Tashpanar, and Saftian, which arc connected by 
canals, and fall into the Danube near Ismail; lake Jalpuch, 
ono of the largest of these waters, and abounding with fish ; 
and lake Kagul, at the mouth of tho Pruth, opposite to 
which the Danube is studded with a multitude of little 
islands. In the lakes next the Danubo the water is sweet, 
but in those next the Black Sea it is salt. Bessarabia has 
a number of mineral springs, which have not hitherto been 
turned to account, or even examined with anyeare. # 

The climate is in general mild, salubrious, and agreeable *, 
the grape, the finer kinds of fruit, and melons grow in the 
open air. The steppes of the Budjak, however, having no 
shelter from trees or woods, are sometimes so hot in summer 
that the grass withers; yet tho vicinity of the Carpathians, 
and tho more remote range of the' Balkan fortunately pre- 
vent this extreme heat from being of long duration in ordi- 
nary seasons. The winter is piercingly cold in these dis- 
tricts, which arc unprotected by the high lands or mountaius. 

Since Bessarabia has been incorporated with the Russian 
dominions, the cultivation of the soil has been rapidly im- 

firoving, and numerous colonics have been settled in the 
icart of tho country : they are principally located on tho 
banks of tho Kogalnik, and consist of about 3000 Poles, 
2400 Prussians, 2650 Wurtcmbergers, and 200 Frenchmen, 
Bavarians, Bohemians, &c. Tho villages in which they re- 
side have been named after tho victories gained by tho 
allied forces in tho campaigns between 1812 and 1815 ;*sueh 
as Culm, Krasnoi, La Fere-Champenoiso, Brienne, Leipzig, 
Beresina, Borodino, J*aris, Arcis, ice. One village is called 
Helvetia, its inhabitants being Swiss, who aro employed in 
cultivating the vine. In 1828 there were nineteen German 
settlements in tho whole province, and sixty-six Bulgarian ; 
the first contained 8681 inhabitants, and the last (chiefly in 
tho district of Ismail) 30,000 and upwards. Notwithstand- 
ing these immigrations very extensive districts of productive 
land remain either uncultivated, or arc only used as pasture 
for cattle and sheep. The descriptions of grain raised in 
Bessarabia are wheat, barley, millet, and particularly kuk- 
uruz, or maize, the meal of which is substituted for wheaten 
flour. Tho corn lands, from the facilities for export afforded 
by the ports of Rdny and Ismail, aro situated chiefly in that 
direction ; hut, in general, the want of markets for grain 
discourages cultivation, nor arc there more than two re- 
gular farms in all the country. The growth of the vine 
has considerably spread sinco tho year 1822, when heavy 
duties were imposed upon all apples, nuts, and w ines brought 
from Turkey. The vineyards aro principally situated in the 
district of Akcrman, in which Helvetia lies: the quantity 
of wine produced in Bessarabia in the year 1526 was 44,800 
vedras (about 145,860 gallons), independently of the produce 
of the crown plantations, which amounted to 32,000 bottles. 
The quality has been much improved of late by # the intro- 
duction of French, Rhenish, and Hungarian stocks. The 
Palinkowoye "Wino, a red wine which is allowed to lie on 
wormwood for a time, is prepared in large quantities, and 
esteemed an excellent medicament. Flax, hemp, tobacco, 
and poppies aro also grown, and a multitude of gardens and 
orcharus furnish an abundant supply of apricots, cherries, 
apples, pears, plums (which aro dried and exported from tho 
districts of Orkhci and Khotin), and walnuts. Rock and 
water melons aro extremely fine, in tho district of Bender 
particularly ; cucumbers of enormous size arc grown, as well 
as gourds, onions, garlic, and Spanish pepper. . t * 

The northern parts of Bessarabia, which are full of forests, 
especially those about tho banks of the Pruth, produce 
the oak, beech, linden, maple, poplar, and other species of 
trees; and tho districts of Orkhci and Yassy yield excellent 
oak for shipbuilding. It is of extraordinary dimensions, and 
chiefly felled in tho forests belonging to monastic establish- 
ments. Tho mulberry also thrives in this soil. The great 
resource of the provineo is, however, tho rearing of horned 
cattle, horses, and sheep; for the steppes of the Budjak 
abound in excellent grass, and the northern districts in rich 
meadows and pastures. In spite of tho losses which tho 
owners sustain from exposing their flocks and herds to tho 
violent snow-drifts of winter among the steppes, they arc yet 
enabled to export several thousand heads of cattle and 
sheep, as well as horses, and to supply themselves with wool 



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in large quantities. Private individuals maintain studs of 
great extent, and the districts of Yassyand Khotin are eele-' 
brated for the number of horses they rear, no less than the 
excellence of the breeds. The buffalo is not uncommon in 
Bessarabia. Cattle and sheep from parts beyond the border, 
are brought to'be fattened on its rich soil, at the expense 
of their owners. All kinds of game are found to the north 
of the Budjak; the steppes in the south are frequented by 
numerous flocks of waterfowl, by storks, bustards, herons, 
&e. The fisheries, particularly on the Danube, afford pro- 
fitable employment to the inhabitants; and Vilkoff, at the 
mouth of that river, carries on an extensive trade in salted 
and dried fish, caviar, and herrings ; the herrings are pre- 
pared with Moldavian rock-salt, accounted nearly equal in 
quality to the Dutch. Much honey and wax are also pro- 
duced. 

The principal mineral product of this province is salt, 
which is obtained in considerable quantities from the lakes 
in the Budjak. The neighbourhood of Akerman, for in- 
stance, produced upwards of 112,000 tons (7,000,000 poods) 
in 1826, and the directors of the salt-works in that quarter 
estimate that the yearly produce might be raised to seven 
times that quantity. Much saltpetre is found in the envi- 
rons of Saroka on the Dniester, where it is procured with 
little labour and at a trifling expense, and coals have recently 
bcon discovered in the north of the province, whose mineral 
resources remain to be much more diligently explored. It 
produces likewise bay-salt, Glauber-salts, alabaster, marble, 
lime, and stone of various kinds. Much charcoal is also 
made, and part of it is exported to Odessa. 

Under the Russians, Bessarabia has been divided into 
six districts, — in the north, Khotin, the capital of which is 
the town* and fortress of the same name, lying on the 
Dniester/with 8000 inhabitants ; to the south of this is the 
district of Yassy, chief town Beltzy, 3200 inhabitants; 
next lies Orkhei or Kisheneff, the capital of which, Kish- 
eneff, on the little river Byk, with 18,500 souls, is also the 
capital of the whole province : the district of Bender, chief 
town of that name on the Dniester, with a population 
of 13,000 ; that of Akerman or Akkyerman, the ehief town 
of which now bears the same name, and was called Alba 
Julia in the time of the Romans, a strong fortress with a 
considerable town and 12,600 inhabitants, on the liman of 
the Dniester ; and lastly the district of Ismail, whose ca- 
pital of the same name lies on the Kile channel, and was 
the scene of SuwarofFs bloody assault in 1 789 ; it contains 
a population of 9000 souls, and has a fine harbour. 

With respect to the population of Bessarabia, we find very 
different statements: Professor Berghaus, on apparently 
good authority, estimates it at 600,000, whereas Weyde- 
meyer, in his tables of the Russian empire, on the authority 
of Count WoronzofFs census in 1827, reports it to be up- 
wards of 800,000 ; Cannabich, on the other hand, affirms 
that in 1828, the number of inhabitants paying taxes was 
409,120, and that in 1831 they had increased to 469,783. 
The last amount agrees with that given by Professor Hor- 
sehelmann in his new edition of Stein's Manual. It seems 
probable, that as the last-mentioned writers do not give 
the number of individuals exempt from taxation, Berghaus's 
estimate of 600,000 is not overrated. It is known that the 
population includes 8000 gypsies, and is composed of a 
motley race of Moldavians, Russians, Greeks, Jews, Ar- 
menians, and colonists, the last of whom are said to com- 
prise 40,000 souls. The Saporoga Cossacks, who migrated 
hither from the Turkish side of the Danube in 1828, have 
also founded several colonies. The peasantry arc exempted 
from all military levies, and there are no serfs or bondsmen 
in the whole province, with the exception of the gypsies, 
and in a few eases of household servants. 

Bessarabia contains eight towns, sixteen villages with 
markets, and 1 030 without them. These towns and villages 
contain 134 churches of stone, and 719 of wood, sixteen 
chapels, twenty- two monasteries and convents, one eccle- 
siastical scminasy, nine district schools, and two asylums 
'for the siek. The villages (Bordie) have in general a mise- 
rable appearance, the greater part of them consisting of 
huts concealed underground; they are seldom without a 
place of worship. The majority of the Bessarabians arc 
Moldowans or Moldavians, numbers of whom have emi- 
grated to the Budjak, where they have settled^ on the 
crown lands. Their language is the Moldavian, a singular 
medley of a Sclavonian dialect with Latin and Italian ; it 
is full of diphthongs, and has hence acouircd a certain degree 



of richness and euphony. They profess the orthodox or 
Russo-Greek faith, and are a tall, handsome, slim raec of 
men ; the women on the whole have much beauty, surpass 
the men in industry, make their, own and their husbands* 
and children's clothing, and are diligent * at the distaff; 
they also manage all household concerns, for the Moldavian 
is so indolent that he prefers the roaming, sluggish life of a 
herdsman to any agricultural employment. He is sunk in 
ignorance, and at present has no means of improvement, 
as there is no village school in the whole country. The 
Russian part of the population is a far more active and 
industrious class of men ; numbers of them have settled in 
the Budjak Steppes, where they employ themselves in fish- 
ing, rearing bees, and making cordage, sail-cloth, &e. The 
Greeks are principally established in the towns as mer- 
chants and dealers. The Riasso-Greek is the predominant 
religion of the province ; its ecclesiastical affairs are super- 
intended by a bishop, who resides at Kisheneff. The 
farmer or peasant pays the landowner a portion of his pro- 
duce, and twelve days' labour in the course of the year. 

There is scarcely a single manufactory in all Bessarabia, 
unless such establishments as sixty-four tanneries, fifty-one 
candle manufactories, twenty-three houses for boiling soap, 
as many brandy distilleries, and three linen and woollen 
manufactories of no great extent, deserve to come under the 
designation. The situation of the country, with referenco 
to the Turkish, Russian, and Austrian markets, and the 
facilities of communication which the Danube, Pruth, and 
Dniester afford, give it no ineonsiderabje advantages for the 
exportation of its produce; this consists of wines, principally 
sent to Russia, dried plums, ox-hides, sheep-skins, wool, 
wax and tallow, maize, fish, and salt. In the year 1828, 
their value amounted to 9560/. (208,596 roubles), forwarded 
by sea, and 232,077/. (5,063,480 roubles) by land, in all 
241,637/. ; on the other hand, the importations in the same 
year amounted to 43,007/., viz. 10,124/. (220,896 roubles) 
by sea, and 32,878/. (717,332 roubles) by land. (Berghaus's 
Annals; Cannabich's European Russia ; Hassel; Vsfivo- 
loysky, &e.) 

BESSA'RION, JOHN, was born at Trebizond, on the 
south-east coast of the Euxine, a. d. 1389, or, according to 
Bandini, who has written his life (4to. Rome, 1777), a.d. 
1395. The former time rests on an inscription written by 
himself and designed for his monument, which bears the 
date ' Anno salutis 1466, aetatis 77/ but the latter words are 
omitted in some copies. Having removed to Constantinople 
he devoted himself to study under George Chrysoeocces 
and other eminent teachers, and while yet quite young 
entered the strict monastic order of St. Basil. He passed 
twenty-one years in a monastery in the Peloponnesus, whero 
he studied under the philosopher George Gemistus Pletho, 
from whom he acquired that admiration for Plato which he 
retained to the end of his life. In 1438 was held the 
council of Ferrara, for the purpose of effecting a union of 
the Greek and Latin churches, and so great was the repu- 
tation of Bessarion for learning and talent, that he was se- 
lected by the emperor John Palraologus to accompany him 
as one of the conductors of the conference on the part of tho 
Greeks, and before he set out was raised to the dignity 
of archbishop of Niccea. Both at Ferrara and after the 
council had, on account of the plague, been removed to 
Florence, Bessarion earnestly exerted himself in promoting 
the union, which was agreed to in the year 1439. After 
the close of the council he returned to Constantinople, but 
finding himself an object of popular enmity on account of 
his conduct at Ferrara and Florence, and having in the end 
of the same year been raised to the eardinalate by Eugenius 
IV., he settled in Italy. Here he devoted himself to study, 
the patronage of learned men, and the collecting of books 
and manuscripts, which he afterwards, in the year 1468, 
presented to the Venetian senate, and which formed the 
basis of the celebrated library of St. Mark. Ameng his 
contemporaries and associates were Valla, Theodore Gaza, 
Philclphus, Argyropulus, Calderino, and George of Trebi- 
zond. He was raised by Nicholas V. to the archbishopric 
of Siponto. In 1449 that pontiff created him cardinal bishop 
of Sabina, and in the same year translated him to the sco 
of Tusculum or Frascati. In 1463 Pius II. conferred on 
him the empty title of Patriarch of Constantinople. 

In 1455, on the" death of Nicholas V., it is thought that 
he would have been raised to the pontificate but for tho 
intrigues of Cardinal Alain, who represented that it would 
be a deep disgrace to the Latin churcli if tlje holy sec should 



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342 



BET 



be filled by a Greek. On the death of Paul II. in 1471 it 
is said that he would have been elected pope if ho would 
havo consented to purchaso tho support or Cardinal Oraini 
by an unjust promise. No credit is duo to tho storv that 
his rejection was owing to tho refusal of Nicholas 1'crot, 
his conclavist, to admit certain cardinals into his cell. In 
the reign of Nicholas V. Bessarion held for flvo years the 
oflico of legato at Bologna, tho duties of which he discharged 
with much applause. Ho was also employed on several 
embassies, tho last of which, undertaken for the purpose of 
reconciling Louis XL of Franco and the Duko of Burgundy, 
is said to havo occasioned his death through vexation at tho 
insulting behaviour of the king of France. On his way 
back to Rome he died at Ravenna a.d. 1472. His works 
on various subjects are numerous, some of which havo been 
published, and othors exist only in manuscript. (See a 
catalogue in Niccron's * Me'moircs pour servir a VHistoirc 
des Hommes Illustres dans la Itcpublicjuo des Lettres.) The 
most celebrated are his Latin translation of tho ' Memora- 
bilia of Xcnophon ;' that of the ' Metaphysics of Aristotle ;' 
and his treatise * Contra Calumniatorcm Platonis/ which isa 
controversial tract written against Georgo of Trcbizond, who 
had endeavoured to ox alt Aristotle by decrying Plato. 
This tract has been three times published in 1469, and by 
Aldus in 1503 and 1510. Bessarion's character stands 
high both for talents and conduct, but his best claim to our 
esteem rests on his diligence in preserving tho remains of 
Greek literature. As a collector of manuscripts he was 
indefatigable, and equally so in procuring their multiplica- 
tion by transcription. A eataloguo of those which ho pos- 
sessed, as well as of his printed books, may bo found in 
Tomasini's BibUotheca Venetcp, &a, Utini, 1650. 

The authorities for tho events of his lifo are quoted by 
Bandini,andby Hody, * Do Grtccislllustribus,' &c. to whom 
tho reader is referred for further information. See also the 
article in tho Biog. Univ. • 

BESSIN, a district in tho former province of Normandio 
in France, of which Baycux was the capital. [See Bayeitx.] 
BE'TA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order 
Chenopode&, among which it is known by its having largo 
succulent roots, and a green calyx united halfway to a hard 
rugged nut. The species are found in Europe, tho north 
of Africa, and the western parts of Asia ; four are cultivated 
as esculents, the others are mere weeds ; we shall only oc- 
cupy ourselves with the former. 

] . Beta vulgaris (common beet) is said to be found in 
a wild stato along the whole of the sea- coast of the Medi- 
terranean, and in Egypt; it is howover chiefly known as a 
plant cultivated in gardens, for its carrot-like sweet and 
teudcr roots. Several sorts are mentioned by writers on 
gardening, varying in the size, form, colour, and sweetness 
of their roots : of these however two are much more worth 
cultivating than the others, namely, the small red and long 
yellow varieties ; they are tho most delicate, the sweetest, 
and havo tho richest colour when served at table. Tho 
French call them tho red and yellow beets of Castelnan- 
dary, from a place where the races are preserved pure with 
extraordinary care. Beet-roots can only be obtained in 
perfection in a rich light sandy soil, through which they can 
readily penetrate ; in stony or stiff situations the roots bo- 
como forked, and are deprived of their succulence. The 
seeds are sown in drills or in beds, at tbo end of March or 
beginning of April, and are to bo well covered with soil; 
tho plants are to be thinned to tho distanco of a foot apart ; 
in September tho roots may be taken up, and should be 

1 jacked in sand in somo dry place out of tho reach of frost, 
ii this country beet is chictly omployod as an ingredient 
iu salads, after having been boiled till it is tender ; but in 
other countries it is usually eaten sliced in vinegar and oil, 
or mixed with slices of cold boiled onions. 

2 Beta altissima (mangel wurzel) is a much larger and 
coarser plant tban tho common beet, from which it is prin- 
cipally known by its roots being marked Internally with 
zones of red and pink or white. Its nativo country is un- 
known ; by somo it is reckoned a mere variety of tho com- 
mon beet, but this is scarcely probable, considering that it 
is permanently reproduced from seed ; others stato that it 
is a hybrid between tho common and chard beet, our third 
sort, of which however there is neither proof nor probability. 
Mangel wurzel is an object of extensive cultivation for 
feeding cattle ; its leaves afford a very nutritious (bod for 
all kinds of live stock, and the roots, from their extreme 
swectuesf, arc by many farmers considered tho most 



valuablo of all tho agricultural plants upon which cattlo 
are fed in winter. They however require to be preserved 
from frost, and aro better adapted to warm climates and 
a light rich soil than to colder latitudes. In cultivat- 
ing the mangel wurzel, it will be found advantageous to 
soak tho seeds in water, till they are just beginning to ger- 
minate, and then to sow them, taking care that they are 
speedily covered in with soil; for, from tho bony nature of 
the seeds, it will often happen that they will lie somo weeks 
in the soil before they begin to grow, by which valuable 
timo is lost, or that they will fail altogether ; especially if 
the weather should bo dry, as it often is at tbe timo of sow- 
ing, which is the middloofMay. Independently of their 
use for cattle, mangel wurzel roots have been extensively 
employed in tho manufacture of sugar. They arc still exten- 
sively employed in Franco in tho manufacture of sugar ; 
and an attempt has lately been mado in Kent to uso them 
for distillation. For these purposes the common red and 
white mangel wurzel will perhaps bo found bost suited in 
this country, in conseouenco of its hardiness, and the great 
weight per acre whicn it will afford ; but the French have 
preferred a perfectly white kind, which is said to exceed the 
former in nutritive properties, in tho proportion of two to 
ono ; they also grow a sort with whito roots and a purple 
crown, and another whito within, and yellow on tho outside. 
Tho yellow ficld-bect, which has been a good deal culti- 
vated in this country, is apparently a variety of Beta vul- 
garis, and is too unproductive in most situations to bear 
comparison with the others. 

3. Beta qjcla (chard-beet) is inferior to tho two last in 
tho size of its roots, but is remarkable for tho thickness of 
tho ribs of its leaves, which are white, yellow, green, orango 
coloured, or deep crimson, in different varieties. It is culti- 
vated like the common beet, but tho leaves only are used 
in soups, or their ribs aro cut out and stowed liko sea-kail. 
They have however an earthy taste, which it is not in the 
power of cookery wholly to remove, on which account they 
aro little estocmed. The French call this species Poirie a 
cardes ; it is said to have been introduced to France from 
Portugal ; but its native station is unknown. 

4. Beta maritima (sca-bect), unliko tho three last, is a 
prostrate plant, with numerous entangled branches, and a 
tough woody root. It is found abundantly on many parts 
of tho southern coast of England, and is a common Eu- 
ropean shoro-plant, preferring a chalky soil. Its leaves aro 
small, ovate, deep green, crenclled, rather sharp-pointed, 
flat, succulent, and placed on long stalks. Its ilowcrs are 
green and arranged iu spikes, each being subtended by a 
small leafy bract It is a perennial, and ono of tho most 
valuable plants known for spinach ; its leaves when dressed 
are extremely delicate and well-flavoured, and easily re- 
duced into that pulpy substance which constitutes the great 
merit of good spinach. It thrives in a garden without any 
sort of care, and is rather a handsome plant when growing 
among rubbish, for its leaves are a particularly rich green, 
and not liablo to bo scorched by tho sun, or to be injured 
much bv insects. It is increased by seeds, which it yields 
in abundance. 

In these plants, as in all others with succulent roots, 
the saccharine quality of the latter is most concentrated in 
winter. As soon as the leaves begin to grow in spring, the 
sugar gradually and very rapidly diminishes. 

BETCHOUANA, or BETJUANA, is the general name 
of a nation, or race of people, consisting of many tribes, 
who inhabit tho interior of Southern Africa, north of the 
Garicp, or Great Orange river, and between 23 g and 29° E. 
long. *A wide desert separates them to the westward from 
the Namaqua Hottentots, and from tho Dammara Caffres, 
who livo farther N.W, near the Atlantic. To the eastward 
a rango of mountain?, which runs parallel to the const of 
the Indian Ocean, and at tho distance of sixty or eighty 
miles from it separates the Bctchouanas from tbc maritime 
Caffres of Dalagoa Bay, and from tho dominions of King 
Tchaka, tho chief of the Vat wahs, or Zoolas. To tho south, 
they extend to between the 27th and 28th parallel, where 
they border on the Koranna Hottentots, who inhabit tho 
northern bank of the Garicp, the Griqnas, or Bastard Hot- 
tentots of Klaarwatcr, and tno Bushesmcn who roam along 
tho upper or eastern course of tho Garicp. Tho limits of 
tho Bctchouana to tho N. and N.E. are not known. Most 
of tho rivers of the Bctchouana country, as yet known, 
such as the Moloppo, tho Knruman, &c, appear to be afllu- 
cuts of the Garicp river; but those of tho Moorootzcc flow 



BET 



343 



BET 



towards the N.E., and they are supposed to be affluents of 
King George's river that runs into Dalagoa .Bay. The 
eountry itself is a vast table-land stretching across the 
middle of the continent, and the ridge of mountains above 
mentioned divides the waters that run westward into the 
Gariep from those whieh flow by the Mapoota and English 
rivers into Dalagoa Bay. (See a letter from Captain Owen, 
R.N., who surveyed the coast of Dalagoa Bay, quoted by 
G. Thompson in his Travels and Adventures in Southern 
Africa, Lond. 1827.) The Betehouana are Caffres, and 
they resemble the southern Caffres, or the Amakosa and 
Amatymba trihes, who horder on the colony of the Cape. 
They are eopper coloured, and some are of a bronze hue, 
but in general they are not so swarthy as the southern 
Caffres ; they are well made, have not unpleasant features, 
and are equally distinct in their appearance and habits from 
the Hottentots as .from. the negro tribes. Like the other 
Caffres, they practise circumcision, are polygamists, and 
have no form of worship. The Betehouana or Sichuana 
language, as it is called hy some, seems to be spoken hy all 
their tribes, and although different from the Amakosa or 
southern Caffre dialect, it appears to have 'considerable 
affinity to it. (Sec G. Thompson.) The Damraara, who are 
also a trihe of Caftres, are said to speak the Betehouana 
language. Liehtenstein (1805), Burchell (1812), the Rev. 
John Campbell (1813), and G. Thompson (1823), have 
given vocabularies of the Betehouana language. Its sounds 
arc said to he full toned and soft, and without that unplea- 
sant elattering of the Hottentot tongue. 

The Betehouana tribe best known to us is that of the 
Maehappee, or, according to Thompson, Maehlapee, whose 
ehief town, Lattakoo, or Xetakoon, has been visited by the 
travellers ahove mentioned since the heginning of the pre- 
sent eentury. The eountry of the Maehlapee lies north of 
that of the Griquas, whero is the well-known missionary 
settlement of Klaarwater, north of the Great Orange river. 
About seventy miles from Klaarwater, northward, is a range 
of hills ealled Kamhanni. Having passed these, one enters 
the eountry of the Betehouana. The old town of Lattakoo, 
whieh was visited by Liehtenstein, Burchell, and Campbell, 
lay in a plain about fifty miles to the north-east of these hills, 
and in 24° 40 E. long., and 27° 10' S. lat. But afterwards 
the people removed to a new site, five miles to the 
N.E. of old Lattakoo, on the further or north hank of the 
Lattakoo river. This is the Lattakoo visited hy Thomp- 
son in 1823. Lattakoo is said to contain 1500 houses, and 
between 7000 and 8000 inhabitants. The houses are built 
in clusters, irregularly grouped, each cluster heing under 
the authority of an elder or chief, subordinate to the king. 
The houses are circular and divided into several apart- 
ments ; the partition walls are made of sticks, neatly plas- 
tered over with a composition of sandy clay and the fresh 
manure of cattle-pounds, and grass cut into small pieces, 
which appear to make a very tenacious kind of cement 
The roof is eonieal, and runs up to a point ; it is made of 
straw or reeds, and it projeets over on every side, the eaves 
being supported at the height of four or five feet from the 
ground by posts made of the rough stems of trees, leaving 
between them and the outer wall of the house a sort of vo- 
randa. In the larger houses the roof covers a space of 
ground of ahout twenty-six feet in diameter. The house is 
situated in the middle of a much larger area or court, en- 
closed all round by a strong circular fence, from five to seven 
feet high, and two and a half feet thiek at the hottom, gra- 
dually diminishing in thickness to about ono foot at the 
top. This fence, which is made of straight twigs and 
small branehes carefully interwoven, forms a elosc and firm 
defence. One doorway only, wide enough for a single 
person, leads into the court, and is closed at night by a rude 
wicker-door. A smaller house for servants and a horse- 
room are often found within the enclosure, detaehed from 
the family house. Mueh neatness and ingenuity are dis- 
played in the building of these dwellings, whieh are kept 
remarkably elean, as well as the streets or spaces between 
the various houses. The task of building, enclosing, roof- 
ing, &c, devolves ehiefly upon the women. The houses of 
the poor are made in the same form, only smaller ; some- 
times they consist of only a eonieal roof resting on the floor, 
witnout any opening for windows. All Betehouana towns 
arc built after the same manner. Matcehe, the king of the 
Maehlapee, some time previous to Thompson's visit, in 
1823, had removed with one division of his tribe to the town 
of Kuruman about thirty-fivo miles S.W. of Lattakoo, leaving 



in the latter ]place a subordinate ehief. Kuruman is stated 
hy Thompson to eontain from 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants, 
and is built in the same manner as Lattakoo. A mis- 
sionary station was established at Kuruman when Thomp- 
son visited it, and the missionaries were kindly treated by 
Mateehe. The river Kuruman runs through the country 
in a S.W. direction, and joins the Gariep ; hut during the 
greater part of the year it is almost dry, and its water loses 
itself in the sands, like most of the streams in the Bet- 
ehouana eountry. In June, 1823, Lattakoo was invaded hy 
the Mantatees, a roving tribe, or rather collection of fugitives 
eoming from the eastward, who having been driven two 
years before hy Tehaka from their own eountry near the 
hanks of the Mapoota river, erossed the ridge of mountains 
where the Gariep has its sources, and threw themselves 
upon the Betehouana country. They took first a northern 
direction, and attacked the Moorootzee, a numerous Bet- 
ehouana tribe, ahout 200 miles N.E. of Lattakoo, and sacked 
and hurnt their eapital Kurreehane, in 25° 20' S. lat, and 
27° E. long. Kurreehane is said to have been a much 
larger and more populous town than Lattakoo. The Man- 
tatees after this attaeked the Vankeetz, ealled also Nuaketsee 
hy Burchell and others, a powerful and warlike trihe, W. of 
the Moorootzee, and whose eapital Melita is placed about 
25° 10' S. lat., and 26° E. long. But Makahba, the king 
of the Vankeetz, fell by surprise upon the Mantatees and 
drove them away from his territory. They then turned 
to the S.W.» fell upon another Betehouana tribe called Ba 
rolongs,who live near the banks of the ^Tashow river. (Sec 
the map which accompanies Thompson's Travels ; and the 
map of South Africa in John ArrowsmitVs new Atlas, 
London, 1835, whieh is the most distinct, and appears the 
most accurate of any yet made of this eountry.) 

After devastating the eountry of the'Barolongs, tho Man- 
tatees fell upon their next neighhours the Maehlapee, who 
lied in terror from Lattakoo. Thompson was at Kuruman 
at the time; he rode to Lattakoo and saw the host of tho 
Mantatees advance. After plundering Lattakoo, the in- 
vaders were attaeked by a small party of Griquas mounted 
and armed with muskets, who, having come to the assist- 
ance of their neighbours the Maehlapee, fell upon the Man- 
tatees, killed a great numher of their best warriors, and so 
terrified them by their fire-arms, that they retreated east- 
ward again, after setting fire to Lattakoo. (See an in- 
teresting account of this singular campaign in Thompson's 
book.) In eonsequeneo of these events, the Betehouana 
and Mateebe, and his tribe in particular, seem to have been 
impressed with a higher sense of European superiority. To- 
wards the end of 1823, Mateebe sent his son Pcclu, and 
one of his subordinate chiefs, Teysho, who seems to have 
heen an intelligent old man, to Cape Town, in company 
with Mr. Moffat, ono of the missionaries from Kuruman. 
The two Betehouana appear to have been mueh struck by 
what they saw during their visit. 

The Betehouana wear a covering round the middle, and ' 
occasionally cloaks made of skins neatly sewn together. 
They wear eaps of the same materials. The women wear 
several aprons one above the other, bracelets of copper and 
heads. The Betehouana work eopper and iron ; they make 
spades, awls, bodkins, knives, spears, &e. The most skilful 
smiths are said to be at Melita in the Vankeetz tribe : the 
Lattakoo people are Very inferior to them in handicraft. 
The Moorootzee are also very skilful in several kinds of 
handicraft. It would appear that arts, industry, and soeial 
order, are found to increase progressively as we advance 
north-eastward beyond the Maehlapee country. (See W. D. 
Cooley's Memoir in the Journal o/ the Geographical So* 
ciety f vol. iii.) They get the iron and copper from some 
distant trihes to the northward. They sow millet and 
beans, and other vegetables. They also dry and preserve 
several kinds of fruit ; hut their eattle constitutes their chief 
property. 

The Betehouana seem to have remained for a long time 
past stationary in their half-civilized condition. " They have 
an idea of a Supremo Being, but seem to have no distinct 
notion of his attributes ; and they confound the principle 
of good with the evil principle. They helicve in sorcery 
and wear amulets. With regard to their moral character, 
Liehtenstein gave rather a favourablo view of it: the 
judgment? of Burchell, Campbell {First Journey, 1813), 
and Thompson, are more severe. These last, however, re- 
fer ehiefly to the Maehlapee or Letakoon people, who aro 
now known not to bo the most favourable specimen of tho 



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Betchouana. The Vankectz alio appear to bear tho cha- 
racter of being treacherous ; but Campbell, in his Second 
Journey, 1 820, visited Kurrechane, tbe capital of the Moor- 
ootzoc, whom he describes more favourably. With regard 
to industry, the Moorootzeo seem for superior to tho more 
southern and western tribes. They cultivate tobaceo and 
the sugar-cane ; they paint their houses; they smelt and 
alloy tho copper, and make wire and chains of it; they 
make wooden bowls, spoons, &e. ; and they build walls of 
masonry. The Machlapce are orderly and decent in their 
outward behaviour, but they are addicted to lying and 
thieving, and their word cannot be depended upon. .Mur- 
der, although not a very common occurrence, does not ap- 
pear to bo looked upon as criminal. Their want of humanity 
was exhibited after the defeat of the Mantatees, when they 
butehcred the women and children that tho invaders had 
left behind. Before the aetion they showed a want of 
courage, and had it not been for the assistance of tho 
Griquas, tbo Mantatees would havo found no difficulty in 
overrunning the whole country. Tho Maehlapec, upon 
the whole, seem to be inferior in bravery, honesty, and 
humanity to tho southern Caffrcs, though superior to them 
in ingenuity and industry. Their wotrfen appear to be mo- 
dest, mild, and domestie ; but they are treated harshly, and 
arc looked upon as inferior beings : most of the hard labour 
at home and in the fields falls upon them. The men go 
often out upon great hunting parties, and sometimes also in 
marauding parties against their neighbours. There is, 
however, no slave trado among the Betchouana. but tho 
prisoners they make aro kept as domestic servants. Both 
men and women rub tbeir bodies with grease mixed up 
with a red mineral powder, which gives their skin a shining 
and glittering appcaranec. 

Each tribe of tbe Betehouana is under the rulo of an 
hereditary king or chief, but his authority over the subordi- 
nate ehiefs seems to be rather loose. In cases of emer- 
gency, sueh as the Mania tee invasion, they convene an 
assembly of all tho warriors, when speeches are delivered 
in succession by the ehiefs: specimens of tbeir oratory, 
wbieh is chiefly remarkable for its bombast, aro to bo 
found in Thompson's aeeount. These assemblies are called 
Pcetsho. 

The greater part of tho Betchouana country, most of 
whose tribes are known to us only by name, lies cast and 
north-east of tbe Machlapce or Lattakoo territory, and be- 
tween that and tho sea-coast. The best point from whieh 
to explore this unknown traet seems to be tnc coast of Dala- 
goa Bay, from which tho Moorootzec country lies about 
250 miles distant west by north, not one-fourth of the djs- 
tanee by land from Cape Town. Tho Vankectz are next to 
tho Moorootzec to the westward. The intermediate space 
between tbe Moorootzec and the mountains near tbe coast 
is occupied by the Morremootzans, whose country eonsists 
chiefly of plains. It is watered by the river Waritzi, whieh 
flows northward, and is supposed to fall into tbe Moriqua, 
tbe river of the Moorootzee. An expedition for the object 
of exploring the country west of Dalagoa Bay has been sent 
out lately from the Cape, but wo have as yet (1835) no ac- 
counts of its success. (See Report of the Council of the 
Geographical Society for 1834.) 

Beyond tho Moorootzeo to the north-east are tho Mak- 
wecn, a numerous and powerful nation, whoso namo is 
known to all the southern tribes, even to the Amakosa on 
the frontiers of the Cape colony. It is from the Makwccn 
that the other tribes obtain by exchange inueh of the copper 
and iron which tbey afterwards manufacture, as well as the 
beads which serve them as money, and which last the Mak- 
wccn obtain from tho Mahalcsely and the Matecbclay, two 
other numerous tribes, who extend north-cast towards 
Inhamban, and who trade with the Portuguese of the coast 
of Sofala* These two last tribes are described by tho 
Moorootzeo as being of a brown complexion, having long 
hair, wearing clothes, and riding on elephants. They also 
trado northward with Zumbo on the Zarabese river. (See 
Coolcy's Memoir.) 

BETEL, tbe leaf of an intoxicating kind of pepper. [See 
Piper.] l 

BETH. [ScoBkit.], 

BETIIAMA (u^aj'/a), according to Simon (Onomas- 
tieum, Novi Testamcnti, 42), TVty JT^. * the house or tho 
phco of lowliness/ so eallcd from its low situation, whieh 
various travellers havo observed. Lightfoot, Roland, and 



others, derivo it from \jYl JVn, • tho houso or place of dates/ 

*/rom the Talraudie rUTH*. 'unripe date/ (Othon. Lex. 
Rabb. 98.) Many names of places in the Holy Land are 
compounded with the word TV2* * house/ as in German, 
Miihlhausen, Nordhauscn, Sehaffhausen ; and in English 
names, sueh as Limehousc. Compare the German ' heim' 
in Hochheim, Manhcim, Hildeshcim, corresponding to tho 
English ' ham' in Clapham, Egham, Tottenham : the termi- 
nation heim is equivalent to home. 

Bcthania was fifteen stadia south-east of Jerusalem, at 
the foot of Mount Olivet On the site of Bcthania there is 
now a village inhabited by Arabs, where the house of Simon 
tho leper and tho grave of Lazarus aro shown. (Matt. xxi. 
1 7, xxvL 6 ; Mark xi. 1,11,12; Luke xix. 29, xxiv. 50 ; 
Johnxi.; Poeocke, Travels; Rieht. Wallfahrt. 35; Korle, 
Reise t 129; Troilo, Reise t 373.) 

The oldest MSS. read in John L 28, Bcthania, instead of 
Bctbabara. This Bcthania was another place on the cast 
side of the Jordan, Possin (Spicil. Evang. 32) has ob- 
served that the names Bctbabara and Bcthania have a similar 
signification. Tho name Bcthbara, ITU TV2 (Judges 
viu 24), seems to be contracted or shortened from ITDi? 
JV2» domus transit us ', * the bouse of passing over/ to this 
the meaning of the namo Bcthania' or Bethany is nearly 
allied, HON /V2» ' the house of tbe ship/ i.e. the house of 
the ferry-boat. (Pococko; Paulus, Comment, iv. 129; Pau- 
lus, Sammlung, i. 287; Boltcn, Comment, to John i. 28; 
KiihnbM. Comment, iu. 151 ;Liieke, Comment, to John i. 23 ; 
Neues Kritisches Joum. hi. 3b3; Crome, Beit rage, i. 82, 
&e. ; Winer, Realworterbuch.) 

BETHESDA, Brj^cca (Euscbius writes Bftf^a) N1DH 
IY2 house of charity, was tho name of a tank or pool, 
surrounded with five halls or porches near the sbcep-gate 
at Jerusalem. Tradition now points out this tank or pool 
near the gate of St. Stephen, at the cast side of tbe moun- 
tain on whieh the temple stood, where there is an empty 
tank 120 feet long, and 40 feet broad, walled round with 
stones, but without water. Some have endeavoured to ac- 
count for the healing power of the water contained in this 
tank by its mineral properties; others (as Theophylactus in 
his Commentary, and Riehter, de Balnco Animafi in Dis- 
sertationibus Med. Gott. 1775, 4to. p. 107, &c.) by the 
quantity of blood whieh ran into it from the sacrifices, 
llichter says that the healing effeet of this water, especially 
in nervous disorders, could only last while it was quito fresh. 
This he mentions in reference to John v. 3, 4 : 'In theso 
porches lay a great number of impotent folk, of blind, halt, 
withered, waiting for tho moving of the water. For an 
angel went down at a eertain season into the pool and 
troubled the water : whosoever then first after the troubling 
of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease 
he had.* Sonio have ascribed the red colour of this water 
to tho oehrc which it contained, others to the fresh blood of 
the animals offered in sacrifices. Euscbius describes tho 
water in the pool of Bethcsda as remarkably red (Trapal&Kwc 
Trt$<nvtyfMlvov.) (Seo Hottingcr, de Piscina Bethesdtv, Tigur, 
1705. 4.; E. A. Schulzc, In den BcrHnischen vermischien 
Abhandlungen und Urthci/en. II. Medicinisch-hermeneu- 
tisch'Untersuchungen, p. 14G, &c; Winer's JVortcrbuch; 
Gcsenii Lexicon.) 

BETHLEPEM-JUDAH, Ephrath, or Ephratah, so 
called to distinguish it from Bethlehem of Zebulon (Jos. xix. 
15), stands on a rising ground about six miles south-east of 
Jerusalem. It never was a town of large size. The namo 
On? JT3» Bcth-lehcm, house of bread, indicates probably 

the fertility of the soil. The Scptuagint write B^Xtf/i, and 
Joseph us B7/SX*/m and B^Xff pa. The earlier name of Beth- 
lehem was nrflSN, Epbrathah (Gen. xxxv. 1G, 19; xlviii, 

t t j r 

7.) : it was fortified by Rchoboam, who built cities for de- 
fence in Judah, even Bethlehem, &e. (2 Chron. xi. 5, 6.) 
Bethlehem was the birth-place of David, and also of Jesus 
Christ The Emperor Hadrian is said to havo instituted 
rites here toAdoni*. The pious Empress Helena built a 
handsomo church in the form of a cross, over tho grotto in 
whieh our Saviour is said to have been born, whieh remains 
to this day. This ehurch was mueh embellished by Con- 
stantino, and tho interior adorned with mosaie work. The 
body of tho church is supported by forty white marble 
Corinthian columns in four rows : connected with the build- 
ing arc Latin, Greek, and Armenian convents. Tho right 
of guarding the sacred eradlo (pointed out as a white marble 



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345 



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trough placed in'a grotto cut out of the rock) has, it ap- 
pears, often changed hands from the Greeks to the Latins, 
and is a source of much jealousy between the monks of 
the two creeds, though both parties willingly join in its de- 
fence when threatened by the Mohammedans. At the time 
of Ali Bey's visit there were only about twenty monks in 
the Latin convent. The whole building is enclosed hy 
walls of great strength with only one door, and has the 
appearance of a fortress. 

The population of Bethlehem is given by Ali Bey at 500 
families ; Volney, about 1785, estimated 600 men capable of 
bearing arms; and Parsons reckons 1500 Catholics, 1000 
Greeks, and a few Armenians and Turks. The village is 
beautifully situated ; the country around is richly covered 
with olives, vines, and fig-trees, and a small rivulet runs 
through the valley. Browne mentions the remains of a 
stone channel, which formerly conveyed the water from 
Solomon's pools to Jerusalem. 

There are shown the house of Simeon, the tomb of Ra- 
chel, the wells for which David longed, the place of the 
Nativity, the fountains of Solomon, the cave in which David 
cut off Saul's skirt, the wilderness of St. John, and the 
house where Joseph was warned to tlee into Egypt from 
the wrath of Herod, who committed the atrocious massacre 
of all the young children of Bethlehem in his anxiety to de- 
stroy one who he feared would supplant him in his throne. 
The village of the shepherds consists of a number of caves 
still used as a retreat for cattle and shepherds at night. 
The village retains the name of Beit-el-lahm. Pococke 
mentions a singular method of baking with hot-stones 
peculiar to this place. (Mariti's Hasselquist; Pococke's, 
Ali Bey's, Browne's, Volney's, Travels in Syria; Justin. 
Tryph. c. 78; Hieron. Ep. 24, ad Marcell.; Euseb. Bern. 
Ev. vii. 4 ; Vit. Const, iii. 41 ; Origen, Op. i. 567 ; Epiph. 
Haer. 51, &c. ; Phocas, c. 27; Protevangel. Jac. c. 18, in 
Fabricii Codex Apocryph. i. 105; Ernesti Opuscula Theo- 
logica, 595, seq. ; Spanhem, De Prcesepi Domini Nostri, 
Berol. 1G95, 12mo.; Wernsdorf, De Bethlehemo apud 
Hieronyrnum, Viteb. 1769, 4to. ; Vcrpoorten, Fasc. Dis- 
sertationum, Coburg, 1739, 8vo.; Abulfeda, Syr. 88; 
Uelandu Pal. 643, &c.) . 

BETH LEU KM. There are several small towns and 
villages of this name in the United States. Among the 
most important is the Moravian settlement in the county of 
Northampton, State of Pennsylvania. It is pleasantly situ- 
ated on the river Lehigh, a branch of the Delaware, fifty 
miles N. by W. from Philadelphia. The buildings, which, 
like all others within the valley, are of limestone, have the 
uniform appearance, and arc laid out with the regularity, 
by which the settlements of the brethren are everywhere 
distinguished. The inhabitants are all Moravians, and have 
here a bishop ; and as they are mostly of German extrac- 
tion, the German language is more in use than the English. 
English, however, is taught in the schools, and the reli- 
gious services are performed in both languages. Besides 
the church, there are three large public buildings in the 
place ; namely, the house for single brethren, that for single 
sisters, and that for such widows as are unprovided with a 
house of their own. Connected with the houses of the single 
brethren and sisters respectively, are academies for boys 
and girls under the immediate care of competent teachers, 
and under the general superintendence of the minister of 
the place, and the elders and wardens of the fraternity. In 
the boys" school instruction is given in the Latin, English, 
and German languages, and in arithmetic, music, draw- 
ing, &c. ; the girls are taught the usual branches of know- 
ledge, with the English and German languages, history, 
geography, music, and every thing that is usually taugbt 
in a female boarding-school, with tbe exception of dancing. 
These schools, particularly that for girls, have acquired a 
very high repute ; and as they do not offer their advantages 
exclusively to Moravians, persons of different religious per- 
suasions resident in Philadelphia, New York, and other 
towns in the neighbouring states, often send their children 
to Bethlehem for education. (Morse's American Geogra- 
phy ; Lieut. Francis Hall's Travels in Canada and the 
United States, &c.) 

BETH PHAGE, NJQ JT3, (pronounced Bethfaggc), 

house of figs, is a village two miles from Jerusalem, on 
the Mount of Olives, whence Christ obtained the ass on 
which he rode into Jerusalem ; a custom which was and 
perhaps is kept up at present by the Latin monks of Jeru- 



salem who attend to the city their superior, clothed 'in his 
official habits and mounted on an ass, strewing palm- leaves 
and their garments before him. (Pococke, &c.) 

According to Rauwolf (p. 439) there were in his time 
(a.d. 1574) fig-trees at Bethphage. According to Origenos 
ad Malthamm, Bethphage was a place of the priests, or a 
sort of ecclesiastical community. (See Huct in Origenis 
Opera, iii. p. 743.) - 

BETHUNE, a town in France in the department of Pas 
de Calais. It is on the little river Lawc or Lave (otherwise 
Brette or Bietre), a feeder of the Lys ; 116 miles N. by E. 
of Paris in a straight line; or 125 miles by the road through 
Pcronne and Arras; in 50° 31' N. lat. and 2° 38' E. long 
from Greenwich. 

This town is not of very remote antiquity, having been 
scarcely known before the beginning of the eleventh cen- 
tury. . At that period it was a lordship, the lords of which 
bore also the title of Avoues de Saint- Wast d' Arras; aiid 
it continued in the same family till the middle *of tbe 
thirteenth century, when it came by marriage into the 
hands first of the counts of Flanders, and afterwards of the 
duke of Burgundy, Philippe le Hardi (Philip the Brave) son 
of Jean (John) II. king of France. This duke exchanged it 
for'another possession with the count ofNamur, but Philippe 
le Bon (Philip the Good) duke of Burgundy, grandson of 
Philippe le Hardi, acquired it again by purchase. The 
lordship was united to the county of Artois by Charles son 
of Philippe le Bon, and with that county fell by conquest 
into the hands of Louis XL of France, and afterwards by 
treaty came to the House of Austria, the' Spanish branch of 
which inherited it. In 1645, in the reign of Louis XIV., 
Bethune was taken by the French, under Gaston duke 
of Orleans, the king's uncle, and with the rest of Ar- 
tois was ceded to them by the treaty of the Pyrenees in 
1659. 'In 1710 it was taken by the allies under the duke 
of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, but restored to 
France at the peace of Utrecht. Previous to its last cap- 
ture the fortifications of Bethune had been augmented 
and strengthened by Vauban. (Expilly, Dictionnaire des 
Gaules.) . 

The town is of a form nearly triangular, the castle, a very 
irregular structure, occupying one of the angles. We have 
no account of the present state or appearance of the town; 
Expilly, in the middle of the last century, describes it as ill 
built and ill paved ; b'ut the place or public square is large, 
regular, and handsome. Before the Revolution there were 
several religious houses, a collegiate church, and two parish 
churches. The religious houses were of Capuchins an3 
Recollcts ; an establishment of the Jesuits, who had a 
college under their direction ; and four nunneries, viz. two 
of Franciscans, one of Annunciate nuns, and one of* Les 
Filles de la Paix.' There were also an hospital, and an 
endowed school for poor girls. 

The trade of Bethune is benefited by the navigation of 
the river Lawe, which navigation commences here and con- 
tinues till the junction of the Lawe with the Lys. There 
arc tan-yards, breweries, flour and oil mills ; earthenware 
is also made, and the cheese of the district is in high 
repute. Linen cloth is also a very considerable article of 
trade. The population in 1832 amounted to 6889. It 
has rather diminished within the last thirty years. 

Bethune is the capital of an arrondissement which con- 
tains 346 square miles or 221,440 acres, and is divided into 
8 cantons and 144 communes: population of the arrondisse- 
ment in 1S32, 131,849. 

BETHY'LUS (Zoology), a genus formed by Cuvier, and 
placed by him under his second order of birds (Les Passe- 
reaux), in the first tribe (Dentifostres), and in the first 
family (Laniadce). He says that there is but one species 
known (Lanius Leverianus of Shaw, Lanius picatus of 
Latham), and that the great shrike (Lanius corvinus of 
Shaw) approaches it, though X. corvinus has the bill more 
compressed. 

Vieillot has changed the generic name to Cissopis, and 
Illiger makes it a Tangara. 

The genus is thus characterized by Vieillot; bill short, 
robust, swollen, a little compressed towards the end ; upper 
mandible notched and curved at the point ; gape ciliated ; 
the third and fourth quills longest; outer toes united at 
their base. 

Le Vaillant has figured this bird (pi. 60) under the name 
of Pie Pie-greiche. White and black are the only colours 
of its plumage, distributed like those of the magpie, which 



No. 248. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.— 2 Y 



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34G 



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it is said to resemble in miniature in Guiana and Brazil, 
where it is a native. 

BETHY'LUS, in entomology, a genus of hymenoptcrous 
insects of the family Proctotrupida? : iu principal distinctive 
characters are, antennco genieulated, thirteen-jointcd in both 
sexes ; the bead is depressod end tho prothorax very elon- 
gate and almost triangular. The wings havo only one 
largo marginal cell, not closed ; abdomen conical, legs short, 
femora thick. 

Tlieso little four-winged flies, which are remarkable for 
their large depressed heads, are not very unliko ants in 
tbeir appearance, and aro found in flowers and sometimes 
on the leaves of shrubs, to which they resort in search of 
small caterpillars, which they store up in cells to nourish 
their future progeny. The principal haunts of these in- 
sects are dry, sandy situations. 

Mr. Haliday has given an interesting account of a spe- 
cies of this genus in tho seventh number of the Entomo- 
logical Magazine, 

BETL1S. [Seo Bkdlis.] 

BETO'NICA, or BETONY, a suppressed genus of her- 
baceous plant3, belonging to tho natural order Labiates, 
[See Stachys.] * 

BETROTHMENT. We sometimes hear of parties being 
betrothed to oaeh other, which means that each has pledged 
his or her troth or truth to the other, to enter at some con- 
venient time, fixed or undetermined, into the stato of matri- 
mony. It now has seldom any other meaning than that 
the parties havo engaged themselves privately, sometimes, 
though it is presumed very rarely, in the presence of one or 
more friends who might, if necessity of doing so aroso, bear 
testimony to such an engagement having been entered into. 
Even tho rustio ceremonies which heretofore were in use to 
give some kind of formality to such contracts seem almost 
to have fallen into entire disuse. Iu antient times, however, 
there were engagements of this kind of a very formal nature, 
and they were not thought unworthy tho notice of the great 
legislators of antiquity. In the laws of Moses there are 
certain provisions respecting the state of tho virgin who is 
betrothed. In the Roman law, the ' sponsalia,' or betroth- 
ment, is defined to be a ' promise of a future marriage.* It 
could take place after tbe parlies were seven years of age. 
There was no fixed time after bctrothment at which mar- 
riage necessarily followed, but it might for various reasons 
be deferred for several years. The sponsalia might be made 
without tbe two parties being present at tho ceremony. 
(Seo Digest, xxiii. tit. i.) 

The canonists speak of betrothing and of marrying, de- 
scribing the former as being sponsalia, or espousals, with the 
verba de futuro, tho latter with the verba de pr&senti. In 
England, thoro is no doubt that formal engagements of this 
kind were usual down to the time of tho Reformation. One 
class of tbe documents which havo descended in families 
who havo been careful in the preservation of their antient 
evidences, are marriage-contracts, which are generally be- 
tween parents, and set out with stating that a marriage shall 
bo solemnized between certain parties when they attain to a 
certain age, or at sorao distant period, as after six months or 
a year; and amongst the terms of the contract it is not un- 
usual to find stipulations respecting the apparel of tho future 
bride, and the cost of tho entertainment which is to be 
provided on the occasion. When theso contracts were 
entered into by the parents, there is reason to believe 
that the younger parties solemnly plighted their troth to 
each other. 

Tho late Mr. Francis Douce, who was very learned in all 
matters relating to the popular customs of our own and other 
nations, describes tho ceremony of bctrothment (///w$/ra- 
//on* of Shaksjyeare and of Antient Manners, vol. i. p. 108) 
as having consisted in 'the interchangement of rings — the 
kiss— the joining of hands; to which is to be added the 
testimony of witnesses/ In France, where tbe ceremony is 
known by the namo of Jianfailles, the presence of the cure, 
or of a priest commissioned by him, was essential to tho 
completeness of the contract In England, such contracts 
were brought under the cognizance of the ecclesiastical law. 
Complaints aro made by a writer about the time of the Re- 
formation, eitod in Ellis's edition of Brand's Popular Anti- 
quities, that certain superstitions ceremonies had become 
connected with these engagements ; but Mr. Douce was un- 
able to find in any of tho antient rituals of the church any 
prescribed form in which this kind of espousals were to be 
colebrated. Tbe church, however, undertook to punish the 



violation of tho contract. Whoever, after betrothment, re- 
fused to proceed to matrimony, in facie ecclesia, was liahlo 
to excommunication till relieved by publio penance. This 
was taken away by act 26 Geo. II. c. 33, ana tho aggrieved 

fiarty was left to seek his remedy by an action at common 
aw for breach of promise of marriage. Tho ehureb also 
declared that no kind of matrimonial engagement could bo 
entered into by infants under seven years of age ; and that 
from seven to twelve, and in the ease of males to fourteen, 
tbey migbt betroth themselves, but not be contracted in 
matrimony. Further, if any belrotbment at all took place, 
it was to be done openly, and this tbe priests were instructed 
to urge upon tho people as of importance. 

Bishop Sparrow {Rationale on the Common Prayer, p.203) 
regards tho marriage servieo of tho Church of fingland as 
containing in it both the verba de future and tho verba de 
pr<vsenti,ox as being in fact both a betrothment and a mar- 
riage. The first be finds in the questions, * Wilt thou take/ 
&e., and tbe answers, ' I will,' — attributing to the wordtrrV/, 
perhaps erroneously, the sense of intention rather than of 
resolution. The words of contract which follow are the 
verba de prtesenti, 

Tho northern nations, including the English and the 
Scotch, called this ceremony by the expressive term, hand* 
fasting, or hand-fastning. In Germany tho parties aro 
called respectively * bride' and ' bridegroom,' * braut' and 
'briiutigam/ from tho timo of the betrothment (vcrlobung) 
until the marriage, when these designations cease. 

BETTERTON, THOMAS. This celebrated actor was 
born in August, 1635, in Totbill-street, Westminster, his. 
father being at that time undcr-cook to King Charles I. 
Evincing early a bve of literature, it was originally the in- 
tention of his parents to cducato him for one of tho liberal 
professions, but the breaking out of the civil wars frustrating 
this design, the boy was at his own request apprenticed to a 
bookseller named Rhodes, at the sign of the Bible, Charing 
Cross. In 1659 Rhodes, wbo had been wardrobe-keeper at 
tho theatre in Blackfriars before tho troubles, obtained a 
license for a company of players to act at tho Cock-pit in 
Drury-lane, and here young Bettcrton commenced his 
career as an actor at tbe age of twenty-four, performing 
with the greatest success in several of Beaumont and 
Fletcher's plays, tben most in fashion. 

In 1662 he was engaged hy Sir William Davenant, and 
appeared on tho opening of the theatre in Lincoln's Inn 
Fields in Sir William's new play tho ' Siege of Rhodes. 
His performance of Hamlet about this time is said by Downs 
to have raised his reputation to tbe highest pitch. lie may 
be said to havo received traditionally, through Sir William 
Davenant, tho instructions of Shakspearc himself for the 
representation of this character. Cibbcr, Addison, and the 
author of 'A Lick at tho Laurcat,' all concur in their admi- 
ration of him in this part. Tho last particularizes the scene 
with the ghost, in which he says Bcttcrton's countenance, 
naturally ruddy and sanguine, would turn, with the violent 
emotions of amazement and horror, *as pale as his neck- 
cloth.' Ho became so much in favour with Charles II. 
that Gibber asserts he went over to Paris at his Majesty's 
especial command to study tho French stage, and introduco 
from it whatever he thought would improve our own, and 
that it is to him wo aro indebted for moving scenery, al- 
though some writers ascribe its introduction to Sir William 
Davenant. 

In 1670 ho married an actress of the name of Saundcrsou, 
a most amiablo woman, who ranked as high among the 
female, as her husband among tho male performers. Ilcr 
Lady Macbeth was considered one of tho most admirable 
representations on the stage. So great was the estimation 
in which they were both held, that in 1675, on the perform- 
ance of Crowno's pastoral, called 'Calisto, or the Chaste 
Nymph,* hy tho Princesses Mary and Anne, the Duke of 
Monmouth and other persons of distinction, Mr. and Mrs. 
Bettcrton were employed to instruct the royal and noble 
amateurs during tho rehearsals. 

In 1692 Bettcrton had tho misfortune to lose all his little 
savings (which, though his salary is said never to have ex- 
ceeded 4/. per week, had amounted to 2000/.) in a com- 
mercial speculation. Tlio influence of the Earl of Dorset 
obtained for him shortly afterwards the royal license for a 
new theatre, which he was speedily enabled, by the voluntary 
subscriptions of many persons of quality, to erect within 
the walls of the Tennis Court, Lincoln's Inn Fields. He 
opened it, April 30th, 1695, with Congrevo's comedy of 'Love 



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for Love,* which was very successful, but after a few years, 
the profits arising from the theatre proving very insignifi- 
cant, and Mr. Betterton growing very infirm and suffering 
continually from the gout, he retired at once from manage- 
ment and the stage. The narrowness of his circumstances 
being known to the public, it was determined to give him a 
benefit, and on Thursday the 6th of April, 1709 (see The 
Tatler, No. I.), the comedy of * Love for Love * was performed 
for that purpose, Betterton himself, though nearly seventy- 
four, sustaining the youthful part of Valentine. The cele- 
brated performers Mr. Dogget, Mrs. Barry and Mrs. Brace- 
girdle, who had quitted the stage some time previously, 
acted for him on this occasion. Congreve wrote a prologue, 
and Rowe an epilogue (printed in his works), which latter 
was spoken by Mrs. Barry, who, with Mrs. Bracegirdle, sup- 
ported 'Old Thomas/ as Betterton is called in it, while ap- 
plauses were -showered upon him by an audience almost as 
numerous behind, as it was before the curtain. The profits 
of the ni^ht are said to have amounted to 500/. In Sep- 
tember, Betterton appeared again in Hamlet, a particular 
notice of which performance is given in the 'Tatler,' No. 71; 
and Mr. Owen' M'Swinny, then manager of the Opera 
House in the Haymarket, prevailed on him to perform oc- 
casionally during the following winter. On Thursday, the 
13th of April, 1710, be took another henefit, an invitation 
to which was kindly published in the * Tatler* of Tuesday 
the 11 th, No. 157. On this occasion he enacted his cele- 
brated part of Melantius in the * Maid's Tragedy/ The event, 
however, proved fatal, for having been suddenly attacked 
hy the gout, in order to prevent disappointment he made 
use of some outward applications, which reduced the swelling 
and enabled him to walk on the stage with one foot in a 
slipper ; but the violence of the remedy drove the distemper 
into his head, which a few days afterwards terminated his 
existence in the seventy-fifth year of his age. He was huried 
on Tuesday, May 2nd, 1710, in the cloisters of Westminster, 
with much ceremony, according to the ' Tatler * for Thurs- 
day, May 4th, No. 167. * Such an actor as Mr. Betterton/ 
says the essayist, 'ought to be recorded with the same re- 
spect as Roscius among the Romans/ Cibber says, * He 
was an actor as Shakspcare was an author, both without 
competitors, formed for the mutual assistance and illustra- 
tion of each other's genius.* As a man he is said to have 
been modest, polite, generous, benevolent, of a cheerful 
temper, with a pious reliance upon the dispensations of Pro- 
vidence. Dryden mentions his judgment honourably in his 
preface to * Don Sebastian/ and Rowe acknowledges his 
obligations to him in his 'Life of Shakspeare/ Betterton 
having mado a journey into Warwickshire expressly to ob- 
tain information. Pope admired him exceedingly, and 
painted his portrait in oil, which is said to be still preserved 
at the Earl of Mansfield's, Caen Wood. The following mi- 
nute and curious description of his person towards the close 
of his life, is given by Anthony Aston, in a pamphlet, en- 
titled * A brief Supplement to Col ley Cibher, Esq., his 
Lives of the late famous Actors and Actresses/ 8vo. : — 

* Mr. Betterton, although a superlative good actor, laboured 
under an ill figure, being clumsily made, having a great 
head, a short thick neek, stooped in the shoulders, and had 
fat short arms, whieh he rarely lifted higher than his sto- 
maeh. His left hand frequently lodged in his breast, be- 
tween his coat and waistcoat, while with his right he pre- 
pared his speech ; his actions were few but just ; he had 
little eyes and a broad face, a little pock-fretten, a eorpulent 
body, and thick legs with large feet; he was hetter to meet 
than to follow, for his aspeet was serious, venerahle, and 
majestic, in his latter time a little paralytic; his voice was 
low and grumbling, yet he could tune it by an artful climax, 
whieh enforced universal attention, even from the fops and 
orange- girls ; he was incapable of dancing, even in a coun- 
try-danee, as was Mrs. Barry, but their good qualities were 
more than equal to their deficiencies/ 

Mr. Betterton wrote and altered several dramatic pieces 
(see Bio^raph. Dram.), but none of them have kept posses- 
sion of the stage. Queen Anne settled a pension upon his 
widow, who survived him only a year and a half: grief for 
the loss of her husband deprived her of reason. 

(Collcy Cibber's Lives and Apology ; Companion to the 
Play-house; Biograph. Dram. ; Sir Riehard Steele and 
Addison in The Tatler; Gait's Lives of the Actors* $c.) 

BETTINELLI, SAVERIO, was born at Mantua in 
17J8, and studied at Bologna, where he entered tho order 
of the Jesuits in 1736. He was afterwards sent to Brescia, 



and there became acquainted with Mazzuchelli, Dnranti, 
Cardinal Quirini, and other learned men, whose conversation 
encouraged him in his literary pursuits. In 1744 he re- 
turned to Bologna, where he frequented the society of 
Manfredi, Zanotti, Ghedini, and other distinguished men of 
that city. In 1748 he was sent to Venice, where he became 
likewise intimate with the literary men of that place, who 
used to assemble frequently in his cell. Bettinelli wrote 
a little poem in remembrance of them, which he styled 
* Parnaso Veneto/ In 1751 he was sent to Parma, as di- 
rector of the studies in the college of the nobility in that 
city. He there conceived the idea of his principal work, on 
the revival of literature in Italy in the eleventh century, 
which, however, he did not complete for many years after. 
In 1755 he travelled through part of Germany to Strasburg 
and Nancy, as tutor to the two sons of Prince Hohenlohe. 
Towards the end of 1757 he accompanied the princess of 
Parma to Paris ; he afterwards visited Normandy, and then 
went to the court of King Stanislaus at Nancy, who was a 
patron of literary men, and who charged Bettinelli with a 
commission for Voltaire, relative to half a million of francs 
which Voltaire intended to employ in Lorraine. Voltaire 
was then living at the Delices, a country-seat near Geneva, 
from whence he soon after removed to Ferney. He received 
Bettinelli with great kindness, and afterwards occasionally 
corresponded with him. One of Voltaire's letters to Betti- 
nelli, dated March, 1 760, which is characteristic of the writer, 
was published for the first time in Ugoni's biography of 
Bettinelli, In this letter Voltaire flatters Bettinelli, pro- 
fesses his respect for the Jesuits, speaks highly of England, 
abuses in coarse terms the clergy of Geneva, praises the 
king of Prussia, pities the fallen state of France, and all 
this in his usual jocular, satirical, rambling style, sneering 
at, and displaying his wit upon, every subject, however 
serious. 

Bettinelli returned to Parma in 1759. In the same year 
he went to Verona, where he remained till 1767, spending a 
great part of his time in a pleasant country-house belonging 
to the Jesuits near Verona. He there wrote his • Risorgi- 
mento d'ltalia negli Studj, nelle Arti e nei Costumi dopo il 
Mille/ which he published in 1773, just after the sup- 
pression of the order of Jesuits. On his return to his na* 
tive Mantua, he published, in 1780, an edition of his va- 
rious works in eight vols. 8vo. In 1796 the French inva- 
sion drove Bettinelli away from Mantua, and he took 
refuge at Verona, where he became acquainted with Ippolito 
Pindcmonte. Bettinelli returned to Mantua after that pfaco 
had surrendered to the French, and resumed his literary 
occupations, notwithstanding his advanced age of fourscore. 
Bonaparte made Bettinelli a knight of the Iron Crown, and 
a member of the National Institute. Bettinelli died at Man- 
tua in September, 1 808, being past ninety years of age. His 
life is chiefly remarkable on account of his having been 
intimate with several successive generations of learned men, 
and his forming a connecting lmk between the Italian lite- 
rature of the eighteenth century and that of the nineteenth. 

Bettinelli' s * Risorgimcnto ' is the only work by which 
his literary reputation is now sustained. The subject is 
very interesting, and he was the first to treat it in a me- 
thodical and attractive manner. His plan is well distributed, 
and the spirit of his remarks is generally liberal. He be- 
gins by giving a sketch of the low state to which science 
and literature had fallen during the ninth and tenth cen- 
turies, which form the darkest period in the history of Italy. 
He then traces the dawn of their revival during the eleventh 
and twelfth eenturies, and he passes in review the men who 
cultivated various branehes of learning, especially theology 
and jurisprudence, most of whom are now forgotten. In 
the thirteenth eentury the earliest writers in the Italian lan- 
guage make their appearance, and early in the following 
eentury we find that language emerging at once into all tho 
vigour and refinement of full maturity. Bettinelli investi- 
gates with much erudition this singularly rapid progress of 
the language of Italy. He then follows the brilliant course 
of Italian literature and science through the fourteenth cen- 
tury, thus leading the reader through the first period of 
modern learning and earrying him towards the age of the 
Medici, which constitutes a second and distinct epoch. In 
the second part of his work he treats of the line arts, of the 
progress of industry, of eommerce, of wealth, and of manners 
and habits during the same period. Bettinelli made a good 
use of the immense stores relating to the orudition of the 
middle ages, whieh Muratori has laboriously collected in his 
b 2Y2 



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works. The * Risorgimcnto " was reprinted at Milan in 
four vols. 12mo. 1819-20. Among Bettinelli's other works 
we may mention * L'Entusiasmo/ which is a treatise on the 
nature and character of enthusiasm, especially with respect 
to tho fine arts; 'Lettcro Yirgiliane,* in which tho author 
shows a great deficiency of taste and critical judgment, ac- 
companied by much tiippancy and dogmatism, especially 
v. here ho speaks of Dante in contemptuous terms. Gasparo 
Gorri replied to Bettinclli in his ' Difesa di Dante.* Betti- 
nclli, however, persisted in his judgment, which he repeated 
when eighty-two years of ago in his ' Dissert aziono Acade- 
mica sopra Dante/ in which, among other things, ho elevates 
Bembo and Delia Casa above Dante in poetical merit In 
consequence of this strange perversity of taste bordering on 
barbarism, tho wits of Verona nicknamed the Rev. Father 
Bettinelli, ' Father Totila/ One of Bettinelli's latest works 
is, * Delle Lettere e dcllc Arti Mantovane/ a book which con- 
tains much local and municipal erudition concerning Mantua. 
Jle wrote also a vast quantity of verses of little or no merit 
lie left two poems in MS., one, ' L'Europa punita o il Sccolo 
XVII I./ in twelve cantos, and tho 'Bonaparte in Italia/ in 
four cantos. In the latter he extols Bonaparte, whom he 
had reviled in the former. In this he followed the example 
of other literary men of his age, but he has been luckier 
than they, inasmuch as both his poems have remained in- 
edited. They exist in MS. in tho library of Mantua. (Ugoni, 
Delia Letteratura Italiana.) 

BETULA, or the birch, a genus of hardy trees or shrubs, 
sorao of tho former of which aro among tho most useful 
plants of northern latitudes. It gives its name to tho 
natural order Bctulinece, of which it is the principal genus; 
and is characterized by its flowers growing in catkins, the 
scales of which arc thin and three lobed, and by the scales 
subtending three flat fruits, each furnished with two styles, 
and expanded into a thin wing on either side ; these fruits 
are what arc vulgarly called birch seeds. The species are, 
with one exception, found beyond the tropic in the northern 
hemisphere ; the species of the southern hemisphere is a 
little evergreen plant called B, antarctica, of which little is 
recorded except that it inhabits Ticrra del Fucgo. 

As birches are of considerable importance in cold climates, 
we shall hrielly notice all the more remarkable species, 
which may be conveniently disposed according to their pre- 
vailing geographical distribution. 

* European Birches. 

1 . Betula Alba, the common birch ; branches erect, when 
young covered with a short eloso down, never smooth, and 
warted : leaves with a somewhat rhomboidal form, ovate, 
generally doubly serrated, with downy footstalks, acute, but 
not tapering to the point : catkins pendulous. A native of 
Europe from the most northern to the most southern coun- 
tries, in the latter, however, not appearing except on moun- 
tains at a considerable elevation ; on ./Etna it does not occur 
below 4762 feet ahovc the sea, according to Philippi. It is 
also found eastward in Asia, as far at least as the Altai 
Mountains. Although this species is not much valued for 
its timber, it is extremely useful for many other purposes. 
Russia skins are said to be tanned with the empyreumatic 
oil of its bark, from which the peculiar odour of such leather 
is derived. Cordage is obtained from it by the Laplanders, 
who also prcnarc a red dye from it ; the young shoots serve 
to nourish their cattle, and vinegar is obtained from the 
fermented sap. Tho inhabitants of Finland uso the leaves 
for tea, and both in Lapland and Greenland strips of the 
young and tender bark arc used as food. From the timber 
aro manufactured hoops, yokes for cattle, bowls, wooden 
spoons, and other articles in which lightness without much 
durability is sufficient ; baskets and hurdles aro often made 
of part of its shoots ; and from its rising sap, extracted by 
means of openings cut into its alburnum in tho spring, and 
fermented, a kind of wine is obtained which is of an agreeable 
quality, but will not keep. During tho siege of Hamburg 
by tho Russians in 1814, almost all the birch trees of the 
neighbourhood were destroyed by the Bashkirs and other 
barbarian soldiers in the Russian sen-ice, by betug tapped 
for their juice. 

The birch naturally grows in poor, sandy soil, on which it 
thrives fully as well as in that of a moro fertile kind. It is 
Raid to attain sometimes tho height of seventy feet, with a 
diameter of two feet ; in England it docs not acquire such 
considerable dimensions ; as it approaches both iu northern 
and southern limit* it gradually decreases in size, conform- 




[Helula alba.) 

1. The inside of a barren scale, with tho anthers attacked. 2. Inside of a 
fertile scale, with lhe ovaries attached. 3. An ovary cut lhrotiRh perpc nrticu- 
larly. 4. Inside of a scale, with three ripe fruit*. 5. A ripe fruit of the 
natural siac. 6. The same ma^ined. 7- A trnnsverae ; aud 8. A perpen- 
dicular section of lhc same. 0. A ripe seed. 10. An embryo. 

ably to the laws which regulate vcgctahlc development. Its 
bark is said to be very durable. 

2. Betula pendula, the weeping birch ; branches droop- 
ing, when young perfectly smooth, and marked with little 
pearly specks ; leaves with a somewhat rhomboidal form, 
ovate, either doubly or singly serrated, acute, but not taper- 
ing to the point, sometimes slightly hair)' ; catkins i>en- 
dulous. Very common in different parts of Europe, along 
with, the last, in the properties of which it appears to 
participate, and with which it is often improperly con- 
founded. It differs from the common birch not only in its 
weeping habit, but also in its young shoots being quite 
smooth, bright chestnut brown when ripe, and then covered 
with little whito warts. The Betula pontica of the nurseries 
is a slight variety, with a few straggling hairs on the leaves 
and leafstalks, and a less drooping habit. 

3. Betula pubescent, the downy birch ; branches erect, 
covered all over with very close down ; leaves heart-shaped, 
ovate, taper-pointed, doubly and sharply serrated, very 
downy. A smaller species than the first, found in the bogs 
of Germany ; a variety of it is called Bvtula urticifolia in 
gardens. 

4. Betula nana, the dwarf birch ; leaves orbicular, crc- 
nated, with strongly marked veins on the under side ; cat- 
kins upright. A small bush, found in Lapland aud the 
mountainous parts of other northern countries ; it even 
stretches across the whole continent of Asia as far as Una- 
lascbka. To the people of tho south this plant has no value, 
but to the Laplanders it affords a large part of their fuel ; 
and its winged fruits are reported to be the favourite food of 
the ptarmigan. The place of this is occupied in America 
by a species called Betula glandalosa. 

* * Asiatic Birches. 

5. Betula Bhojpattra, Indian paper birch ; leaves oblong, 
acute, with nearly simple serratures, somewhat heart- 
shaped at tho base ; their stalks, veins, and twigs hairy ; 
ripe catkins, erect, cylindrical, oblong ; bracts smooth, woody, 
two-parted, blunt, much longer than the fruit, which has 
narrow wings. A tree found on the Alps of Gurwal and 
Kuinaon, where it was discovered by Dr. \V allien, who in- 
forms us that its thin delicate bark furnishes the masses of 



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flexible laminated matter, of which great quantities are 
brought down into the plains of India for lining the tubes of 
hookahs. The Sanscrit name of the substance is 600/7'a, a 
word which Mr. Graves Haughton considers the root of birch, 
and one of many proofs that the Saxon part of the English 
language is descended from the Sanscrit. ("Wall. Plant. As, 
Bar, vol. ii. p. 7.) The bark of this species is of a pale cin- 
namon colour. It is nearly allied to B.papyracea. It would 
be a beautiful tree in this country if it could be introduced, 
as also would all the following Indian species. 

6. Bctula acuminata, tapering-leaved birch ; leaves ovate, 
lanceolate, somewhat simply serrated, taper-pointed, smooth, 
dotted beneath, leafstalks and twigs quite smooth; ripe 
catkins, very long, pendulous, cylindrical, crowded ; their 
rachis and the bracts, which are auricled at the base, downy. 
Found on many of the mountains of Nepaul, and in the great 
valley of that country, following the course of rivers. It 
forms a very large and noble tree, from , fifty to sixty feet 
high, covered with branches from its very base. The wood 
is stated by Dr. AVallich to be greatly esteemed by the 
inhabitants, who employ it for all sorts of purposes where 
strength and durability are required. • 

7. Betula nitida, shining birch; leaves oblong, taper- 
pointedj with fine double scrratures, the twigs and leafstalks 
hairy; ripe catkins, pendulous, cylindrical, crowded; bracts 
three-lobed f hairy, with the lengthened middle lobe longer 
than the fruit. A tree found in Kumaon. 

8. Betula cylindroslachya,* cylindrical spiked birch ; 
leaves oblong, taper-pointed, heart-shaped, with fine double 
scrratures; twigs, leafstalks, and veins downy; ripe catkins 
pendulous, very long, cylindrical ; fruit deeply two-lobcd ; 
bracts linear-lanceolate, blunt, membranous, with two teeth 
at the base, fringed with hairs. A tree found in Kumaon. 

* * * American Birches. 

9. Betula populifolia, the poplar-leaved or white Ame- 
rican birch ; catkins pendulous ; branches perfectly hairless, 
drooping, very much oovered with resinous warts ; leaves 
triangular, taper-pointed, doubly-toothed, on long weak 
stalks. This species is more an object of ornament than of 
utility. It rarely grows more than twenty or twenty-five 
feet high, except in very rich soils, when it is said to become 
somewhat taller. It is a native of the northern parts of 
North America, from the lower parts of New York, New 
Jersey, and Pennsylvania, to Canada. Michaux says that 
its bark cannot be divided into thin plates liko that of the 
paper birch or common European species. It is very like 
the European B. pcndula, from which the characters we 
have assigned it are sufficient to distinguish it. There are 
some varieties of it in the nurseries, varying in the size of 
the leaves, and in the depth of their indentations, but they 
are not of any importance. 

10. Betula nigra, the red birch (B. rubra, Mich. B. 
lanulosa, A. Mich.) ; branches covered closely with a short 
thick down, which they do not lose till the second year*; 
leaves angularly rhomboidal, very deeply doubly serrated, 
acute, with the axils and veins of the underside of the leaf 
downy ; stipules narrow-ovate, membranous, smooth, soon 
dropping off. A native of the borders of rivers, where it 
grows associated with planes, maples, and willows, in the 
southern provinces of the United States, delighting as much 
in heat, according to Michaux, as many other species do in 
cold, and thereforo the best adapted for planting in the 
southern parts of Europe. It is a handsome species, growing 
as much as seventy feet high, and from two to three feet 
thick, and is remarkable for its bark not being white and 
shining, but brown, dotted with white, and slightly wrinkled. 
The limbs of the tree arc large, and the branches terminate 
in long ilcxible pendulous twigs ; cask hoops arc manufac- 
tured from its shoots when about an inch in diameter ; and 
all the brooms used in the streets of Philadelphia, which 
are far better than thcoe of Europe, aro prepared from its 
tovigh and elastic twigs. No species can be better marked 
than this, which appears, however, rarely to have found a 
place in collections. Its leaves arc nearly as large as those 
of tho canoe-birch, and remarkably angular. The stipules 
are unusually large, and more resemble thoso of a plane 
than a hirch. The Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney were the 
first importers of this fine but little known species. In this 
country it is generally called B. angulata. 

11. Betula excelsa, the yellow birch (B. lulea, Mieh.) ; 
catkins erect, short, thick, nearly sessile ; branches exceed- 
ingly downy when young ; leaves rhomboidal, acute without 



any tapering, finely and regularly serrated, or nearly entire; on 
very do-tyny stalks ; stipules large and membranous. Found 
chielly in the coldest parts of North America along with 
the paper birch ; south of the Hudson river it becomes rare. 
Michaux states that it is principally in good alluvial soil ; 
that it thrives in company with black and hemlock spruces 
and ashes ; its greatest height is from sixty to seventy feet, 
with a diameter of something more than two feet. It is 
said to be a handsome tree with a straight trunk, often 
clear of branches as far as thirty or forty feet from the 
ground. It is remarkable for the bright golden yellow of 
its bark, which shines as if it had been varnished. • Its wood 
is something like that of the soft birch, but is not so good 
nor so dark coloured. It may be readily known by its 
leaves being particularly downy when young, and although 
they eventually become smooth, their stalks never lose the 
downy character. It is most like B. nigra, from which its 
thicker and more hairy catkins, and simply serrated leaves 
distinguish it, independently of other characters. 

12. Betula papyracea, the paper or canoe birch ; catkins 
thick, pendulous, on long stalks; branches generally more 
or less downy when young, sometimes hairy ; leaves ovate, 
occasionally heart-shaped, regularly or irregularly serrated, 
smooth or downy. This, the most valuable of all the species 
of birch, is a native of North America, where it grows in 
great quantities, not extending beyond 73° to the north nor 
43° to the south, according to Michaux. The slopes of 
hills and valleys, where the soil is of good quality, are said 
to be its favourite stations : in such places it often acquires 
the height of seventy feet. 

Its wood is sometimes used in North America for cabinet 
makers' work ; but it is not of much value for exposure to 
weather, as it soon decays if subjected alternately to damp and 
dryness. - Its bark is the part which is the most esteemed ; 
this part is said to be so durable that old fallen trees are stated 
to be frequently found with their form so well preserved that 
one would think them perfectly sound, but upon examining 
them it is found that the whole of the wood is rotted away, 
and nothing is left but the sound and solid case of bark. 
This part is used for a number of useful purposes ; log-houses 
are sometimes thatched with it ; little boxes, cases, &c, and 
even hats are manufactured from it ; but its great value is 
for making canoes. For the purpose of obtaining pieces 
sufficiently large for such a purpose, we arc informed by 
Michaux that the largest and smoothest-harked trees are 
selected; in tho spring two circular incisions at the dis- 
tance of several feet are made, and a longitudinal incision 
on each side; then by introducing a wedge of wood between 
the trunk and bark, the latter is easily detached. With 
threads prepared from the fibrous roots of the white spruce 
fir (Abies alba), the pieces of bark are sown together, over a 
light frame-work of wood, and the seams are caulked with 
the resin of the balm of Gilead fir. Canoes of this sort are 
so light as to be easily transported upon the shoulders of 
men.* It is said that one capable of carrying four persons 
and their baggage only weighs from forty to fifty pounds. 
(Michaux.) Several varieties are found in the plantations 
of this country ; they differ principally in the breadth and 
downy character of the leaves, and in the hairiness of tho 
branches. The true B.papyracea has branches and leaves 
with scarcely any hairs ; the variety B. trichoclada has ex- 
tremely hairy branches and heart-shaped leaves ; and that 
called B. platyphylla has very broad leaves. 

1 3. Betula lenia, the soft, black, or cherry birch (B. carpini- 
folia, A.Mich.); catkins short, erect ; branches quite smooth; 
leaves thin, cordate, oblong, tapering to a point, simply or 
doubly serrated, downy when young, smooth afterwards ; 
stipules very large and membranous. None of the American 
birches produce timber so valuable as this ; whenco one of 
its American names is mountain mahogany. ^ Its wood is 
hard, close-grained, and of a reddish brown ; it is imported 
into this country in considerable quantity, under the name 
of American birch, for forming the slides of dining-tables, 
and for similar purposes. It is abundant in the midland 
states, as in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, but 
more to the south it only appears on the summits of the 
Alleghanies. Deep rich soil is what it prefers ; and when 
it attains its greatest dimensions, which are as much as 
seventy feet of height and three of diameter, it is a hand- 
some tree, budding remarkably early in the spring, when 
its leaves are covered with a short thick coat of down; this 
disappears later in the season, and leaves them of a bright 
and lively green. Michaux says that it grows with un- 



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usual rapidity, and mentions an instanco of a plant which 
in nineteen years grew to the height of forty-flvo feet eight 
inches. It is rarely seen in this eountry, although it is 
perhaps one of the best suited to our climate. The thinness 
of its leaves, combined with their oblong figure, distinguishes 
this from alt the other species. 

A!! tho spocics of birch, except tho common and tlve 
weeping, are multiplied by layers in tho usual way. Tho two 
others are propagated by their seeds, which may be procured 
in this country in great abundance It is only necessary to 
sow them thin in beds as soon as gathered, covering them 
with not more than a quarter of an inch of light earth. The 
seedling plants should be bedded out when ono year old, 
and after the second year, if properly managed, they will be 
fit to remove to tho plantation. When old they aro trans- 
planted with considerable difliculty. 

BETULA'CE/E, a natural order of Apetalous Dicoty- 
ledonous plants, named after tho subject of tho preceding 
article. It was formerly comprehended, along with other 
groups, in what were called Amentacece, becauso it bears 
its flowers in amenta, or catkins ; hut it is distinguished from 
an thoso which agree with it in this particular, hy its flat, 
one-seeded, two-celled membranous fruit, and pendulous 
ovules. A just idea of the general nature of the plants of 
this order will be obtained from the study of tho common 
birch ; all tho species are cither trees or shrubs, with the 
fertilo flowers in ono catkin and the barren in another, and 
they have, in general, the main lateral veins of thoir leaves 
running straight from the midrib to tho margin, without 
curving inwards. They are found in the colder parts of the 
world, or in mountainous regions in hot countries. 

BETU'WE, a large and fertile district of Holland, enclosed 
between tho Waal, the Northern Rhine, or Rhino of Ley- 
den, and tho Lek, which joins tho Rhine to tho Waal, and 
thus forms an island, which occupies part of tho country of 
the antient Batavi, or ' Insula Batavorum.* [See Batavi.] 
Tho name of Betuwe is supposed to he derived from that of 
Batavi. The length of the district of Betuwo from the 
separation of the Waa! from the Rhine near Doornhurg, to 
the junction of the Lek with the Waal, here called the 
Maas, below Papendrecht, is nearly sixty miles from E. to AV. 
Its breadth is very irregular, owinjj to the great sinuosities 
of tho Waal and the Northern Rhine, which form its boun- 
daries ; the breadth is greatest at its western extremity, be- 
tween Vianen and Gorkum, where it is about thirteen miles. 
The principal towns of the Betuwe are Gorkum (3000 inha- 
bitants), and Thiel (4000). The river Lingho, which falls 
into tho Waal at Gorkum, crosses the Betuwo through tho 
greater part of its length. The eastern and largest part 
of tho Betuwe belongs to the provinco of Gelderland, whoso 
capital is Arnhcim, and the westorn part to the provinco of 
South Holland, whose capital is S'Gravenhage. Tho 
Betuwo is altogether one of the most fertile and best cul- 
tivated districts in Holland : it produces corn, vegetables, 
and fruit in abundance. A great quantity of butter and 
checso Is also made in this district. 

BEVELAND, a district of tbo provinco of Zecland in tho 
kingdom of Holland, consisting of the islands of Noord 
Beveland and Zuid Beveland, with a smaller island called 
Wolfaartsdijk, situated between tho two. These islands 
lio in the great restuary of tho river Schelde, and between 
two branches of that river, the East Schelde, or more properly 
North Schelde, which divides them from the islands of 
Tholcn and Schouwen, and the Hond, called also West 
Schelde, but which ought to be called rather South Schelde, 
which divides them from the main land. A ehanne! of tho 
sea separates them from the island of Walchcren which lies 
west of Beveland. South Beveland is by far the largest 
and finest of tho threo islands; its length is twenty-fivo 
miles from E. to W., and its greatest breadth is between 
eight and nine miles from N. to S. It produces corn, 
abundance of fruit and vegetables and madder. Fish is 
also caught in great plenty near tho coast. South Beve- 
land has suffered from inundations, especially in tho great 
flood of 1532, by which a considerable portion of the east 
sido of tho island was destroyed. On this part of the 
island stood tho rich town of Romerswaal, which the flood 
of 1532 separated from Beveland ; tho town was gradually 
encroached upon hy tho sea, til! in the beginning of the 
sevontccnth century all tho inhabitants had deserted it. 
Some of the land which was inundated has been since re- 
covered. The great floods of Jan. 14 and 15, 1808, did this 
island immense damage; wholo districts which had beon 



gained hy tho groatest patience and industry wero over- 
whelmed ; the beautiful village of Kruiningcn was nearly 
destroyed ; and hut for the assistance of tho whole country 
of tho Netherlands, the devastation could not havo been 
repaired. Tho capital, Goes, with a town of above 4800 
inhabitants, is situated on tho N. coast of South Beveland; 
thero aro besides many villages scattorcd about tho island. 
Noord Beveland is a much poorer country, being low and 
marshy ; it was formerly a fine island, but was swamped in 
tho dreadful inundation of 1532, when a largo part of tho in- 
habitants perished. It remained covered by the waters for 
many years after, until the ground becoming raised hy the 
alluvial deposits, it was again embanked and inhabited. 
The length of Noord Beveland is about thirteen miles, and 
its greatest breadth about four miles. It has a few villages 
or hamlets, tho principal of which aro Wissenkcrke and 
Kortjyn. Wolfaartsdijk is a small fertile island, which con- 
tains two villages and about 700 inhabitants. (Kampen.) 

BEVERIDGE, WILLIAM, an eminent prelate and 
theological writer, was born at Barrow, in the county of 
Leicester, in the year 1G38. He was admitted of St. John's 
College, Cambridge, in 1G53; and during his residence 
there was remarkable for close attention to his studies, for 
his piety, and the general regularity of his conduct. So 
assiduous was his application, and more especially in tho 
learning of tlto Oriental languages, that he published at 
the early ago of twenty a treatise in Latin, ' De Lin gu arum 
Oriental ium, pnesertim HebraTcce, ChaldaYcoo, Syriacco, 
Arahicro, ct Samaritan©, prcestantia* ct usu, cum Gramma- 
tics SyriacS, tribus libris tradit.V a work held in groat 
esteem. He took his degree of bachelor of arts in 1C5G, 
and that of master of arts in 1GG0, in which latter year he 
was ordained both deacon and priest. Soon after, he was 
presented by Sheldon, bishop of Loudon, to the vicarage of 
Ealing in Middlesex, where he wrote his work on chrono- 
logy, published in 16G9, and intitled * Institutionum Chro- 
nologicarum libri duo, una cum totidem Arithmetices Chro-, 
nologicso libcllis/ This treatiso is considered to be a very 
useful introduction to tho study of chronology. In tho 
former part the nature and terms of chronology are stated 
and explained ; and in the latter is offered a short system 
of characteristic arithmetic, by which chronology may be 
the better and more fully understood. In 1672 he was 
elected by tho lord mayor and aldermen of London to the 
rectory of St. Peter, Cornhill, on which occasion he re- 
signed the vicarage of Ealing; and in the same year he 
published, in two volumes folio, his learned and laborious 
work, * Tw6$tKov, sivo Pandcctco Canonum S.S. Apostolo- 
rum et Conciliorum ab Ecclesia* Graeca* receptorum ; nee 
non Canonicarum S. S. Patrum Epistoiarum, Sec' The 
first volume contains the several canons which are attributed 
to the apostles, those of the councils, of the first of Nice, the 
first of Constantinople, of that of Ephesus, of Chalcedon, of 
the sixth in Trullo, of tho second of Nice, of tho first and 
second of Constantinople holden in the church of the 
apo3tles, of that of Constantinople holdcn in tho church of 
Sancta Sophia, of those of Carthago, Ancyra, Neocaesarea, 
Gangra, Antioch, Laodicea, Sardica, and Carthage; toge- 
ther with the arguments of Joseph the Egyptian, on the 
canons of the four general councils. The contents of the 
second volume comprise the canons of Dionysius Alcxan- 
drinus, of Petrus Alcxandrinus, of Gregory Thaumaturgus, 
of St. Athanasius, St. Basil. St. Gregory Nysscnus, tho 
canonical answers of Timothy, bishop of Alexandria ; tho 
canons of Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria ; the Ca- 
tholic epistles of Cyril, likewiso archbishop of Alexandria; 
verses of St. Gregory the Divine, and Amphilochius ; a cir- 
cular letter of Gennadius, patriarch of Constantinople ; a 
letter of Farasius, patriarch of Constantinople, to Pope 
Adrian ; a synopsis of the canonical letters of Alexius 
Aristenus ; and an alphabetical index, by Matthew Blastaris, 
of all tho canons ; uf the synod which restored tho patriarch 
Photius to the see of Constantinople, and tho acts of tho 
eighth synod of Constantinople. Tho editor eniiched his 
work with copious notes, which show an cxtensivo and inti- 
mate acquaintance with the subject matter. In his notes 
ho had sharply rejected on an opinion urged hy John 
Daille, * De Pseudepigraphis Apostolicis,' that the aposto- 
lical canons were an imposition of tho fifth century. Bc- 
vcridge placed tho date of them at the end of tho second 
and beginning of the third. Upon this, an anonymous 
writor disputed the correctness of his opinion ; and in conse- 
quence of it appeared Bcvcridge's • Codex Canonum Ecclcsisa 



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Primitive vindicatus et illustratus/ in which he fairly dis- 
lodged his opponent, and established his own position, both 
as to the authority of the apostolical canons, and the time 
in which they were made. 

In his new parochial charge his earnestness and dili- 
gence were so constant, and his labours in the service of 
the church so unwearied, yet prudent, that he obtained 
the appellation of * the great restorer and reviver of primi- 
tive piety,* and his parish was referred to as a model of 
Christian regularity and order. It is delightful to contem- 
plate such a character in any instance ; but in this it is the 
more remarkable and the more worthy of admiration, when 
we look to the nature and course of his studies. Profound 
as they were, and occupying a large portion of his time, he 
nevertheless was an active parish priest, unfailing in all the 
calls and obligations of his office. The favourable notice of 
his diocesan, Dr. Henchman, was exemplified in his colla- 
tion by that prelate in 1674, to the prebend of Chiswick, in 
the cathedral of St. Paul's; and in 1681 he received a 
further mark of diocesan approbation and confidence, in his 
collation by Bishop Compton, the successor of Henchman, to 
the archdeaconry of Colchester. 

A fresh scene was now opened to him, in which he 
showed a correspondent ability and usefulness. He per- 
sonally visited each parish within his jurisdiction, a practice 
not then common ; thus setting an example, which, if 
strietly copied, would have greatly added to the efficiency 
and reputation of the church. ' He took a very particular 
and exact account of every church he visited ; the con- 
dition it was in; what utensils it had, or wanted; what 
repairs were necessary, and the like. The samo method he 
used with regard to the clergy's houses ; and all those 
things he set down distinctly in a book, which was in the 
possession of his successor/ In 1684 he became prebendary 
of Canterbury, and, at the Rovolution, was nominated 
chaplain to King William and Queen Mary. On the 
deprivation of Bishop Kenn, who had refused to take the 
new oaths, the bishopric of Bath and Wells was offered to 
him, which, however, he thought proper to decline, and, as 
was alleged, from an unwillingness to step into a see 
which had thus become vacant. The previous incumbent, 
who had been distinguished, in trying circumstances, by 
the strongest fidelity and most undaunted courage, was 
still living in ejection and poverty. The declining of the 
bishopric under the circumstances was honourable to Beve- 
ridgo. His advancement to the episcopal rank was thus 
delayed some few years longer ; and it was not till 1704, in 
July of which year he was consecrated bishop of St 
Asaph, that he received the promotion which he so well 
deserved, on the translation of Dr. Hooper to Bath and 
Wells. As in every station he had hitherto filled the per- 
formance of his duty was his main object, so in this he 
manifested the same activity and the same earnestness ; 
it seemed to be the aim of his endeavours to make others 
what himself had been. * Indeed/ says the biographer, 
'being placed in this eminent station, his care and dili- 
gence increased, in proportion as his power in the church 
was enlarged ; and as he had before discharged the duty of 
a faithful pastor over his single fold, so when his authority 
was extended to larger districts, he still pursued the same 
pious and laborious methods of advancing the honour and 
interest of religion, by watching over both clergy and laity, 
and giving them all necessary direction and assistance for 
the effectual performance of their respective duties.' Im- 
mediately on his promotion he addressed a * Pastoral Letter 
to his Clergy,* pressing upon them the important duty of 
catechizing ; and, the more to enforce his recommendation, 
he at the same time printed his 'Church Catechism Ex- 
plained,' a useful tract, as the many reprints of it tes- 
tify ; and one very proper to come from an individual who 
•had shown himself so competent and exemplary in his various 
offices in the church, and in the imparting of instruction to 
all classes and conditions. This excellent man possessed 
his episcopal see not quite four years, dying on the 5th of 
March, 1708, in the seventy-first year of his age. 'He died 
at Westminster in the cloisters of the abbey, and was buried 
in St. Paul's Cathedral. The larger portion of his property 
he bequeathed to the uses of the two Societies for Promoting 
Christian Knowledge, and for Propagating the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts. To the vicarage of Barrow, and to the 
curacy or chapelry of Mount Sorrel, part of which lies within 
the parish of Barrow in Leicestershire, he bequeathed a rent 
charge for religious and charitable purposes therein. The 



works already described do not comprehend the whole of the 
published writings of the bishop, but they are all which 
were published in his lifetime ; and it is matter of doubt 
whether he had an intention of giving to the world any of 
those which after his death were printed under the direction 
and on the responsibility of his executor ; some of them 
he certainly had no intention of publishing. The prudence 
of so general a publication has been disputed; but we 
venture to think that his executor acted wisely. These 
works were attacked, and with no gentle hand, by those 
who were opposed to him in leading principles. His 
posthumous works are— I. 'Private Thoughts upon Reli- 
gion, digested into Twelve Articles, with Practical Resolu- 
tions formed thereupon/ This manual was drawn up or 
framed soon after his entering into holy orders, and with 
the sole design, as is evident from that fact, of confirming 
himself in principle, and of assisting him in the course to 
which he was committed. His method was suited to his 
purpose, as it obliged him to a review of the evidences of 
his religion, including their practical operation. These 
articles contain the substance of his religious views, and 
they show that he had not without due deliberation 
attached himself to the Christian ministry : they prove 
his careful inquiry, and his conviction of the truth of the 
doctrines of the Gospel, and may be profitably studied, es- 
pecially by candidates for orders and the younger members 
of the ministry. 2. ' Private Thoughts upon a Christian 
Life, or Necessary Directions for its Beginning and Progress 
upon Earth, in order to its Final Perfection in the Beatific 
Vision/ 3. * The Great Necessity and Advantage of Public 
Prayer and Frequent Communion/ This was a subject which 
he was admirably qualified to handle, and on which his con- 
viction was most seriously alive. To it he added * Medi- 
tations, Ejaculations, and Prayers * fitted to the design, 
and breathing a spirit of piety primitive and sincere. 
4. ' A Hundred and Fifty Sermons/ ' Of these/ says 
the excellent Mr. Nelson, • I cannot forbear acknow- 
ledging the favourable dispensation of Providence to the 
age in which we live, in blessing it with so many of 
those pious discourses which this truly primitive prelate de- 
livered from the pulpit ; and I the rather take the liberty to 
call it a favourable dispensation of Providence, because he 
gave no orders himself that they should be printed, but 
humbly neglected them as not being composed for the press. 
But this circumstance is so far from abating the worth of 
the sermons, or diminishing the character of the author, that 
to me it seemeth to raise the excellency of both ; because it 
showeth at once the true nature of a popular discourse, and 
the great talent this prelate had that way. For to improve 
the generality of hearers, they must be taught all the mys- 
teries of Christianity and the holy institutions belonging to 
it ; since it is upon this true foundation that the practice of 
Christian virtues must be built, to make them acceptable in 
the sight of God : and then all this must be delivered to the 
people in so plain and intelligible a style, that they may 
easily comprehend it ; and it must be addressed to them in 
so affecting and moving a manner, that their passions may 
be winged to a vigorous prosecution of what is taught. If I 
mistake not, the sermons of this learned bishop answer this 
character ; and I am confirmed in this opinion by the judg- 
ment of those who are allowed to have the greatest talents 
for the pulpit, as well as for all other parts of learning. He 
had a way of gaining peoples' hearts, and touching their 
consciences, which bore some resemblance to the apostolical 
age ; and when it shall appear that those bright preachers, 
who have been ready to throw contempt upon his lordship's 
performances, can set forth as large a list of persons whom 
they have converted by their preaching, as I could produce 
of those who owed the change of their lives, under God, to 
the Christian instructions of this pious prelate, I shall readily 
own that they are superior to his lordship in the pulpit. 
Though, considering what learned works he published in the 
cause of religion, and what an eminent pattern he was of 
true primitive piety, I am not inclined to think that his lord- 
ship will, upon the whole of his chractcr, be easily equalled 
by any one/ Dr. Henry Felton speaks of the bishop and his 
sermons in similar terms. They are masterly performances, 
and 'may, for acuteness of judgment, ornament of speech, 
and true sublime, compare with any of the choicest writings 
of the antient doctors of the church, who lived nearest to 
the apostles' times/ 5. * Thesaurus Theologicus; or. a 
Complete System of Divinity, summed up in brief notes 
upon select places of the Old and New Testament ; wherein 



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tho sacred text is reduced under proper head*, explained 
and illustrated with the opinions and authorities of tho An- 
ticnt Fathers, Councils, &c/ The editor, in his preface, in- 
forms the reader, that this book is given to the public upon 
the judgment of several eminent divines ; ho says that they 
1 are, truly speaking, no otber than loose papers, and that 
the author, that great and venerable prelate whose name 
they bear, does not seem to have designed them for the 
press ;* but that, ■ upon consulting with several eminent 
divines, and other pious and learned gentlemen, they did, 
after perusal, conceive of them as just and choice fragments, 
containing a summary of the Christian doctrine ; the several 
topics hcing digested in a most excellent method, confirmed 
from several parallel places of Seripturc ; and very often 
illustrated, in the like concise manner, from the testimonies 
of fathers, councils, &e/ C. * A Defence of tho Book of 
Psalms, collected into English Metre by Thomas Stemhold, 
John Hopkins, and others, with critical observations on the 
New Version compared with the Old/ The bishop prefers 
the Old Version to the New, on examination and compari- 
son, as more genuinely expressing the signification of the 
original, and as more suited to the general tasto and capa- 
city. It had been objected to the Old Version, that the 
words were antiquated, out of date, and almost forgotten in 
their meaning ; but ho justly decides that, antiquated as 
they may be called, they arc true English words, faithfully 
adhering to tho meaning of those of which they are the 
translation, full and sufficient in themselves; and in any 
instances where they are such as may seem ill adapted to 
present habit, or to have gone out of use, they are easy of 
explanation, and readily to he brought home to tbo under- 
standing ; and, when understood, show sterling worth and 
utility ; whereas tbc more modern words, which have in the 
New Version usurped their station, are hut a mixture of 
different languages, living and dead, and can never he made 
of satisfactory expression by the great mass of the people ; 
besides which, he objects to the New Version as rather a 
paraphrase than as exact a translation as might have been 
had. 7. 'Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles/ This 
work was attacked with some considerable severity by an 
anonymous writer ; hut it may be enough to remark that, 
the bishop's view being in entiro conformity with every 
principle of the Church of England, as maintained in her 
Liturgy and Homilies, the attack was upon the Church 
herself. The whole works, with the life of Bishop Beveridge, 
and copious indexes, were published in 1824, in nine vo- 
lumes 8vo., by the Rev. Tbomas Hartwell Home. 

BEVERLEY, a market town, ahorough.and a township, 
the capital of the East Riding of the county of York. 
Beverley and its liberties form a separate division of the 
wapentake of Harthill. * It contains the three parishes of 
St. Mary, St Nicholas, and St. Martin, and a small part of 
the parish of St. John, without any house or building upon it. 

By the Boundary Act is added to the antient borough, 
for the purposes of electing members to serve in parliament, 
such part of the parish of St. John as is comprised within 
the liberties of Beverley. That portion of the parish of St. 
John which lies within the liberties of Beverley contains 
and is eo-cxtensivo with six of the eight 'townships into 
which such parish is divided. Thcso six townships consti- 
tute the liberties/ {Corporation Reports.) It is 180 miles 
N. by W. of London ; 9 miles N. by W. of Hull, and 28 
miles E. by S. of York. > It is situated at the base of the 
Wolds and about* mile from the river Hull. It is governed 
by a mayor, a recorder, 12 aldermen, and 13 capital bur- 
gesses ; and it sends two memhers to parliament. The 
population of the borough and liberties of Beverley is 8302. 
It is ono of tho polling-places, under the Reform Act, for 
the East Riding of Yorkshiro, and the court is held hero 
for the election of the Knights of the Shiro. 

The antient history of Beverley is obscure. Tho tract of 
country from thcHumher to the Tyne was occupied by that 
powerful nation of antient Britons, the Brigantes ; and thero 
arc some indications of there having been British settlements 
in the vicinity of Beverley, hut whether during tho Roman 
sway, prior to that period, or immediately after, appears un- 
certain. No remains have heen discovered which arc suffi- 
cient to warrant the idea of this town having been a Roman 
station ; historians whoso writings aro generally received as 
authentic dato tho origin of Beverley at a.d. 700. 

The woods and marshes of Deira lay immediately to the 
north of the Iltunbcr. These marshes aro supposed to have 
been lakes, or meres whenever the river Hull ovcrllowcu 



the country. That there have heen many such meres in 
Iloldcrncss and iho adjacent count ry is evident not only 
from the appearance of the district, but also from the nmne> 
of many places within such district. "Woodmansfa, UoU^u 
Watton {Het-town) 9 Hornsea. &e. There is still a laryo 
mere at Hornsea. The termination tea (or sey % as it is also 
spelt) is nearly synonymous with mere. (Sec Young and 
Bird's Geological Surrey of the Yorkshire Coast.) Be- 
verley also takes its name from one of these lakes — 
Keve'rlac, the lake of beavers, * so named from tho beavers 
with which the neighbouring river Hull abounded/ 

In the early part of the eighth century, John, archbishop 
of York, dedicated a church which he founded at Beverley to 
St. John the Baptist; and ho afterwards converted it into a 
monastery; he passed four years in this retirement, and 
when he died was buried here. Towards the close of that 
century tho chureh and monastery were ravaged by tho 
Danes, who destroyed * all the books and ornaments ;' Mho 
monaster)* of Beverley remained three years desolate ; after- 
wards the presbyters and clerks returned to Beverley, and 
repaired the place/ (See Monasticcn Anglicanum.) In 
the time of Athclstan tho church of Beverley was visited 
hy that monarch on his route northwards to punish the bad 
faith of Constantine, the king of Scotland, Athclstan 
changed it from a monastery into a college. He placed 
himself under the protection of the sainted John of Beverley, 
returned from his expedition victorious, and in gratitude "to 
his patron-saint, he conferred great privileges and rich 
possession son the church of St. John. This was probably 
about the year 937-8. Athclstan granted a charter to the 
people of Beverley, exempting them from certain tolls, 
and conferring upon them important privileges, in allusion 
to which the following distich is to be seen in the minster 
church, between the pictures of Athclstan, the founder, and 
St. John of Beverley, the patron -saint of the church ; 

Als free, make I lhe 

As hcrt may lbynkc, or eyh can ceo. 

The charter of Athelstan was eortGrmed by succeeding 
kings, or similar ones were granted. John especially con- 
ceded to them freedom from * toll, pontage, passage, stallage,' 
&e. in consequence of which the burgesses had to pay him 
fivo hundred marks. Of these rights and privileges the 
people of Beverley became afterwards exceedingly tenacious. 
Mr. Poulson, the modern historian of Beverley, writing of 
the year 1424, says, *It is probable that as trade increased 
they (the burgesses) resorted to all the markets and fairs of 
the neighbouring towns for the disposal of their goods, which 
they had an opportunity of vending, without being suhject 
to the above impositions* (tolls or customs), * and which, at 
the lime referred to, would give tlicm advantages over their 
less privileged competitors.' * It seems to have been the 
constant practice of the burgesses to apply for a ratification 
of their privileges on the accession of every new king; 
and it appears that they were compelled to this mode of 
preserving their rights from the constant demands made 
upon them in other boroughs for the payment of toll. 

It appears that Beverley was a manufacturing town at an 
early period, and it is mentioned as one of the towns 
which might * freely buy and sell dyed cloths/ It is probable 
that the arts of weaving and dyeing were carried on at 
Beverley, woad and wool being two of the articles which 
paid a toll when taken there for sale. In tho reign of 
Henry II. some outward-bound Spanish merchants were 
plundered on the Essex coasts of scarlet and other cloths, 
which wero recognised as heing those of Beverley, Stam- 
ford, and York, 

In tho time of Edward III. Hull was a town of increasing 
importance ; its first and great charter was granted at 
Westminster in 1299. (Sec Frost's Kotic.es of the Town 
and Port of Hull.) This town was an impediment to the 
advancement of Beverley, and as it offered greater facilities 
for domestic and foreign commerce, it obtained the prefer- 
ence due to its superior situation at the junction of the 
river Hull with the number, and the pretensions of Beverley 
as a port became disregarded. 

To raise the declining commerce of Beverley, a chartor 
incorporating the town was procured in the 15th year of 
Elizabeth, and the right to send two burgesses to represent 
the burgesses in parliament was acknowledged. This right 
the men of Beverley had exercised as early as the time of 
Edward I., hut for a long series of years they had ceased to 
avail themselves of such privilege. The last and the go- 
verning charter is that of 1 Jamc3 II, A printing-press was 



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established in Beverley in the year 1509, by Hugo Goes, 
supposed to be the son of a printer of Antwerp, but as he 
soon after removed to London, it has been presumed that he 
received little encouragement to remain at Beverley. 
During the civil wars in the time of Charles I. and Crom- 
well, Beverley was frequently a scene of agitation and 
excitement, being by turns subjected to the exactions of each 
party. It was here that Sir John Hotham was arrested by 
his nephew, on his flight from Hull, * as a traitor to the 
commonwealth.' Sir John had represented Beverley in 
several successive parliaments. Shortly after his arrest, he 
and his son were executed on Tower-Hill. 

The modern town of Beverley is of great length, consider- 
ing its popujation, being considerably more than a mile 
from its commencement, on the road from Hull, to its out- 
skirts on the Driffield road. The principal street is wide 
and airy : .tho market place, which comprises an area of 
nearly four acres, is ornamented with an octangular market 
cross. Its present commerce is chiefly confined to tanned 
leather, oatmeal, malt, corn, and coals. There is an exten- 
sive colour and whiting manufactory, an iron foundry, and 
a ship- building yard. The shambles is a modern building 
of brick, part of which has lately been converted into a 
corn exchange. The employments of its 1 567 families, com- 
prising 6728 persons, in 1821, are thus shown • 

Families occupied in agriculture . «, 176 

Do. in trade and in manufactures . . 731 
Other classes not above comprised . . 660 

1567 
The population of the borough and liberties in 1821 was 
7521. 

Beverley communicates with the river Hull by a canal 
called Beverley-Beck: this canal, which was made navi- 
gable about the year 1344, is about a mile in length, and 
is kept in repair by ecrtain toll3, which two local Acts of 
Parliament (13 Geo. I., 18 Geo. II.) empower the corpora- 
tion to collect 

The finest object in Beverley is the eollegiate church 
of St. John, eommonly called the Minster-church. Like 
many cathedral churches in tho kingdom, this edifice has 
been built at different periods, and exhibits the several 
styles of Gothic architecture which Mr. Rickman has dis- 
tinguished under the names of the early, the decorated, and 
the perpendicular English. The principal window at the 
east end is said to be copied from that of York. Its pointed 
arch is divided by mullions, which are strengthened by 
parallel ones on the inside; these bear a small gallery con- 
nected with tho transoms, which divide the lights into two 
portions. This window is the only one in the Minster which 
can boast of stained glass. The windows of the nave are 
of the decorated style. The arch is divided by mullions 
into four lights, and these mullions branch out into the 
flowing tracery of various figures. The entrance to the 
nave on ttie north side is by a porch of exquisite beauty ; it 
has a panncllcd front, which is perhaps unequalled. The 
west front is also an object of interest to the architect: it 
is described by Mr. Rickman as being by far tho finest of 
its style in England. He says, ' that what the west front 
of York is to the decorated, so is this to the perpendicular 
style, with this addition, that in this front nothing but one 
stylo is seen, — all is harmonious/ For a more particular 
description we refer to Mr. Rickman's work on ' Gothic Ar- 
chitecture,* p. 105. The dimensions of the Minster are: — 

Feet. Inches. 

Length from cast to west . . 334 4 

Breadth of the nave and side aisles . 64 3 
Length of tho great cross aisle . 167 6 

Height of the nave . . 67 

From the vaulted roof of the nave to the 

summit of the centre tower . 40 

Height of the side aisles • 33 

Height of the two west towers . 200 

The celebrated Percy Shrine, which is within the choir, 
is an elegant specimen of the decorated style, and of 
most exquisite workmanship. To which of the ladies of 
the lioiirfe of Percy it was erected is a matter of controversy 
on which much difference of opinion exists. The collegiate 
establishment was dissolved in the 1st year of Edward VI., 
and its revenues were confiscated. Elizabeth, in the twenty- 
first year of her reign, granted certain chauntries and lands 
(part of the former property of the ehurch) to the mayor, 



governors, and burgesses of Beverley, for the repair and 
maintenance of the fabric of the Minster. The income of 
this estate, in the year 1806, was 528/. 12s. 9d.; but at 
present it is near 800/. per annum. 

Sir Michael Warton, by his will, dated 23rd May, 1724, 
bequeathed 4000/. to the same and other purposes. This 
bequest has been invested in land, and in 1806 produced 
an income of 323/. 6$. 9d„ making the whole income of tho 
Minster (in 1806) 851/. \9$.6d. Of this sum 390/. 15*. has 
been appropriated by authority of parliament to the different 
officers of the church, and the remainder, 461/. 4*., consti- 
tutes the fund for repairing the fabric ; but the repairing 
fund, owing to the increased valuo of Elizabeths grant 
since 1806, must now be much greater. The distribution 
of the above-mentioned sum of 390/. 15*. is as follows: — 
Head curate, 100/.; two assistant curates, 209/. 15*.; or- 
ganist, 60/.; receivers, 21/. From other sources the salary 
of the head curate is raised to 175/. 15*. 6d. 9 and that of 
each of the assistant curates to 120/. 

In the year 1708 the Minster was found to be in a very 
dilapidated state, but by the active exertions of Mr. Moy- 
ser, M.P. for the borough, a fund was procured for its re- 
storation ; since this date it has never been suffered to fall 
into decay. (See a short history of Beverley Minster, 2nd 
ed. Beverley, 1835.) 

St. Mary's Church is an exceedingly handsome and 
spacious Gothic building, with an elegant tower at the 
intersection of the two parts of the cross. Its estates pro- 
duce about 800/. per annum. This incqme is *for adorning 
and keeping in repair the fabric, utensils, and habiliments 
of St. Mary's Church; for paying the salaries of the sexton 
and common servants of the church/ &c. There were 
formerly two other churches in Beverley, but they no 
longer exist. In antient times there was a monastery of 
Black Friars, and another of Franciscans or Grey Friars, 
an establishment of Knights Hospitallers, and other 
houses more or less connected with the antient religion of 
the country, for private retirement, and for the relief of tho 
poor and infirm. 

The most antiett dissenting meeting-house in Beverley 
is the Independent Chapel. The present building was 
erected in 1800, but there existed ono prior to it, which was 
built in 1700. The Wesleyan Methodists, the Church 
Methodists, the primitive Methodists, the Baptists, and tho 
Quakers have all places of worship here. The Church 
Methodists took their rise at Beverley ; they separated from 
the Wesleyans chiefly on the ground of the government 
of that body being placed in tho hands of the travelling* 
preachers, who assemble in conference and make laws for 
the government of the whole body. The Church Methodists 
contend that the people ought to possess a fair proportion of 
power, both in the legislative and executive government of 
the Methodist Society. No services at present take place at 
the chapels of the Church Methodists and the Quakers. 
The number of children in the various Sunday Schools is as 
follows ; — Church Sunday Schools (including day scholars} 
481. Wesleyan Methodist Sunday Schools 328. Indepen- 
dent Sunday Schools 250, and Baptists' Sunday Schools 80* 

The Grammar School of Beverley is of great antiquity ; 
as far as its history can be traced it has been a free school 
for the sons of burgesses. The general government of the 
school rests with the corporation, and that body appoints 
the master. The only endowment is a rent-charge of 10/, 
per annum bequeathed by Dr. Metcalf and payable out of 
certain estates in Cambridgeshire. The master receives 
70/. annually from the corporation and a yearly gift of 20£ 
from the two representatives of the borough, which, if not 
paid by them, is made up by the corporation : there is also* 
a good dwelling-house for the master at a merely nominal 
rent (See Journal of Education, No. xviii. p. 376.) 

The master besides receives a quarterly payment from, 
each free scholar : the payment is at present 40s. per 
annum. For this sum freemen may send their sons to 
learn the classics and mathematics, but English grammar,. 
writing and arithmetic, are not taught without an extra 
charge of about 40s. more; and therefore few freemen-, 
avail themselves of. the school. The number of pupils is 
ten freemen's sons, ten not sons of freemen, and twenty-four 
boarders. A library of 700 volumes, including many works 
of value, is attached to this school, which possesses, by the: 
endowments of various benefactors, two fellowships, six: 
scholarships, and three exhibitions to St. John's College,, 
Cambridge. 



No. 249. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol, IV,— 2 Z 



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351 



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Grave*** Srhools.— The Rev. James Graves, formerly 
rurute at the Minster, bequeathed upwards of 2000/. to bo 
invested in tho public funds for the education of the children 
of lhe poor. The schools wcro commenced in the year 1810. 
Tho number of boys taught by this charity is 80 ; the num- 
ber of gjrls is also so ; they ar© instructed on thu system of 
Dr. Bell in both schools. 

Tho National School was commenced in the year 1815: 
it is supported by voluntary contributions, and it is for the 
instruction of boys only. Tho corporation subscribe tl/. 
annually to this school. About 230 children are taught, 
and each child, in this school and in Graves's Schools, pays 
one shilling quarterly, 

Tho Blue Coat School was established by subscription in 
1709. It has received somo "handsome donations, but its 
funds appear to be adequate to tho maintenance, clothing, 
and instruction of only eight nupite, "The other institutions 
of Beverley are a Savings* Bank, a Dispensary, a News- 
Room, and a Mechanics* Institute, Tho latter has 108 
members. 'The borough gaol is only used for tho confine- 
ment of persons committed for trial, those sentenced to 
simplo confinement and debtors; prisoners sentenced to 
hard labour aro confined in the House of Correction for the 
East Riding of the county, which is built within tho liber- 
ties of the town.* {Corporation Reports.) 

In places where tho church has exercised any eonsiderablo 
degree oMntiuenee, wo find many charities for the relief 
of the poor, tho aged, and the infirm. Beverley dispenses 
many such benefactions. Bread is given away in consider- 
able quantities at the Minster, at regular and frequent 
intervals. Thero are also almshouses, and hospitals for 
widows and old men; donations of coal, clothing, and 
money, and numerous other 'gifts' and * charities.* In ad- 
dition to these supplies to the poor, every freeman residing 
within the borough enjoys a right of pasture for a certain 
number of cattle over J217acres of fine land, called the 
common-pastures, under certain regulations, and for small 

Sayments. The freedom of the borough is obtained by birth, 
y servitude, or by purchase; the last at tho will of the 
corporation. 

The worthies of Beverley, especially deserving of notice, 
are, John of Beverley; Alured, Aired, or Alfredus, the his- 
torian (see Alurkd); John Alcock, successively bishop 
of Rochester, Worcester, and Ely ; John Fisher, bishop of 
Rochester ; bishop Green, who was a benefactor to the Blue 
Coat School ; and several others of minor note. Mary God- 
win (Wolstoncroft) was not hern at Beverley, as has some- 
times been related : she came from Epping, near London, 
with her parents, and resided with them at a farm near 
Beverley. 

As the capital of the East Riding of Yorkshire, Beverley 
contains several public buildings which are devoted exclu- 
sively to county purposes. Amongst these arc tho Sessions 
House, the East Riding House of Correction, and the Re- 
gister Office. The Sessions House is situated without tho 
North Bar, on the approach to the town from Mai ton, 
Driffield, Sec. The House of Correction is in tho immediato 
vicinity of the Sessions House, from which it is separated 
by tho house of the governor. The prisoners arc divided 
into fourteen classes, and havo scparato beds, and airing 
yards. In the House of Correction is a treadmill, on which 
seventy-two persons may be employed ; it is applied to the 
grinding of chalk for the manufacture of whiting. There 
is also a school where the prisoners are instructed in read- 
ing, writing, and arithmetic. This gaol and its appurte- 
nances cost about 42,000/. 

Tho Register Office is for the registry of deeds, convey- 
ances, wills, &c. affecting " honors, manors, lauds, tcne- 
monts, or hereditaments'* within tho East Riding. The 
Registrar is chosen by freeholders of tho East Riding pos- 
*e*sing an estate of 1 00/. annual value. 

Wo acknowledgo the assistance we havo derived from 
Scaum's lieverlac in drawing up the present article, to 
which we would refer our readers for further information, 
It is a portion of local history repleto with interesting de- 
tails for the historian and antiquary. {Communication from 
Yorkihire ; from Beverley.) 

BEVERLEY, JOHN DE, a celebrated English ecclosi- 
astie of the seventh and eiffhth centuries. Fuller remarks, in 
recording the history of \orkshiro worthies, that St. John 
• of Beverley may be claimed by this county on a three-fold 
title; becauso he was born at Harpham, in the county; 
was upwards of thirty-three year* archbishop of York ; and 



becauso he died at Beverley, in this county, in a college of 
his own foundation. He was one of tho first scholars of 
his age, having been instructed in tho learned languages by 
Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury, and ho was himself 
tutor of the venorablc Bede. The following works are attri- 
buted to him : — 1, * Pro Luc& Exponendo,* an essay towards 
an exposition of St, Luke, addressed to Bcde ; 2. * Homilico 
in Evangelia ;* 3. ' Epistoloo ad Herebalduin, Andcnum, 
et Bertmum: 4. 'Epistoloo ad Holdam Abbatis^am.* He 
was advanced to the see of Hague told, or Hexham, by 
Alfred, king of Northumberland, and on the death of 
Bosa, Archbishop of York, in i6S7, he was translated to 
tho vacant sec. In 704 ho founded a college at Beverley 
for secular priests. In 717 he retired from his archie- 
piscopal functions to Beverley, where he died May 7th, 
721. Three or four centuries after his decease his body 
was exhumed by order of Alfric, Archbishop of York, and 
placed in a richly- adorned shrine. When William the 
Conqueror ravaged the north with a numerous army, ho 
gave orders that the town of Beverley should l>e spared ; 
and from a similar feeling of veneration for his character, a 
synod, which was held at London in 1416, directed the anni- 
versary of his death to be commemorated among the fes- 
tivals of the church. Fuller says, in his account of John 
of Beverley, which was published in JC60, that his picture 
was to be seen in a window at the library at Salisbury, with 
an inscription 'under it, * whoso character may challenge 
three hundred years of antiquity, affirming him the first 
Master of Arts in Oxford.* It appears probable, from a 
memorandum in Antony a Wood's biary for 1 064, that the 
sbrino in which the remains of John of Beverley had been 
placed by Archbishop Alfiic was injured by a fire which 
took place in the church in 1 1 88. The following is the me- 
morandum alluded to. * Upon the taking up of a thick 
marble stone lying in the middle of the choir of Beverley 
in Yorkshire, near the cntranco into the choir, was found 
under it a vault of squared frce-stonc, five feet in length, 
two feet in breadth at tho head, and one foot and a half at 
the foot. In this vault was discovered a sheet of lead, four 
feet in length, containing the dust of St John of Beverley, 
as also six beads, three of which were cornelian, the other 
crumbled to dust. There were also in it four great brass 
pins and four iron nails. Upon this sheet of lead was fixed 
a plate of lead, on which was this following inscription, a 
copy of which was sent to A. W. : — "Anno ab inearnatione 
Domini 1 188, combusta fuit hsoc ccclesia, in inense Sept. in 
scqucnti nocte po&t Festuin Sancti Matthcei Apostoli ; et 
in anno II 9 7, 6 Id. Martii, facta fuit InquisitioReliquiarum 
Beati Johannis in hoe loco, et inventa sunt hsoc ossa in 
oricntali parte sepulchri, et hie recondita, et pulvis cemento 
mixtus ibidem inventus et reconditus.** A box of lead 
about seven inches in length did lay athwart the plate of 
lead. In this box were divers pieces of bones mixed with 
dust, and yielding a sweet smell.* 

Alphred of Beverley was treasurer of tho convent in the 
twelfth century. Fuller says that he wrote a chronicle from 
Brutus to the time of his own death, which happened in 
1130. 

In the fourteenth century lived John of Beverley, tho 
Carmelite monk. He was a doctor and professor of divinity 
at tho university of Oxford, and wroto 1. ' Questioncs in 
Magistrum Scntcntiarum ;* 2. * Disputationes Ordinarise.* 

BEWCASTLE, a small village, formerly a market town, 
in a largo parish of the same name in the county of Cum- 
berland. The name is written Bcuthcastle in old records, 
and was so called from the eastlo of the family of Bcuth 
which held tho property of the district before the Conquest, 
and for several reigns after that event. Bewcastle now be- 
longs to Sir James Graham, to whose ancestor it was 
granted by Charles I. It is concluded to have been a Ro- 
man station, garrisoned by part of the Legio Secumta Au- 
gusta, as a security to the workmen who were employed 
in erecting tho famous wall, Many vestiges of ant fen t 
buildings still remain, and numerous Roman coins and 
somo inscriptions havo been found here. The castle v as 
battered down by the parliamentary forces in the year J 64 1. 
Its remains, as well as tho parish church, arc enclosed by a 
dyke and foss; and it would appear, like many other 
northern castles, to have been erected on the site of a Ro- 
man station. The church is a small structure, on a rising 
ground at a small distanco from the castle. The living is a 
rectory, worth 81/. per annum. Opposite the church porch, 
at tho distance of a few yards from it, is the famous mono- 



7 



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355 



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lithic obelisk, which has been the subject of much discussion 
among antiquarians. It is fourteen feet two inches in 
height, and its breadth at the bottom is one foot ten inches. 
It was formerly surmounted by a cross, which is supposed 
to have been demolished during some ebullition of popular 
enthusiasm ; but the figure of it has been preserved. The 
different sides are sculptured in a very curious manner. 
The north and south sides are divided into compartments, 
fancifully embellished with various plants and knots ; one 
of the fillets which divide the compartments on' the north 
side, is occupied with an inscription in one line, and more 
than one-fourth of the entire surface on the same side is 
occupied with a chequer, which divides the breadth of the 
surface into eight squares. The east front is one entire 
running branch of foliage, flowers, and fruit, ornamented 
with birds and uncouth animals, in the old Gothie style. 
The west front, which is the most important, is divided into 
eompartments. The lowermost represents a dignified per- 
sonage in a long robe, leaning against a pedestal, on which 
stands a bird, supposed to represent a raven, the royal bird 
of the Danes. This is concluded to be the person for whom 
the monument is erected. The whole story of its erection 
is probably told in the scarcely legible Runic inscription 
which occupies the eompartment above this, and in which 
Roman and Runic characters arc intermingled. No satis- 
factory information can be derived from this inscription in 
its present state. The next eompartment is occupied by 
an ecclesiastic, whose head is surrounded by a nimbus, and 
is conjectured to represent StCuthbert, to whom, according 
to some accounts, the church was originally dedicated ; the 
highest compartment contains a representation of the Virgin 
and infant Jesus. The sculptures on this side seem clearly to 
denote the Christian origin of the obelisk, and Bishop Ni- 
cholson, coupling this with the Runic characters of the in- 
scriptions, inclines to the opinion that it was intended to com- 
memorate the adoption of the Christian faith by the Danes, 
who aro known to have been settled in this part of the 
eountry, and were here the most numerous and least dis- 
turbed. Mr. Smith, however, (Gentleman's Mag., vol. xii.) 
is of opinion that it was designed as the sepulchral monument 
of some Danish king slain in battle ; their change of religion 
he allows might have been consequent upon the death of the 
king, and that the monument was designed to commemorate 
both events. Buchanan relates that in the reign of Donald 
VI., the Danes having wasted Northumberland, were met 
and engaged by the united forces of England and Scotland, 
with such uncertain result, that both sides were equally 
glad of peace, one condition of which was that the Danes 
should embrace the Christian faith. As no one considers 
the obelisk to be more than a thousand years old, and as 
this event happened about 950 years since, Smith not un- 
reasonably conjectures that there was somis connexion be- 
tween the obelisk and the event related by Buchanan. He 
adds, * that the monument is Danish, appears incontestable 
from the characters ; Scottish and Pictish monuments 
having nothing but hieroglyphics, and the Danish both; 
and excepting Bridekirk font, it appears to be the only mo- 
nument of that nation left in Britain/ (Hutchinson's His- 
tory of the County o/ Cumberland; Gentleman's Ma- 
gazine y vol. xiii. ; Gough's Camden; Beauties of England 
and fVales.) 

BEWDLEY, a borough and market-town of the county 
of Worcester, in the lower division of Doddingtree Hun- 
dred, and in the parish of Ribbesford, 1 14 miles N.W. 
from London, and 13 miles N. by W. from Worcester. The 
town was formerly within the jurisdiction of the marches of' 
Wales. It was made part of the county of Worcester, by an 
act of parliament passed 34 and 35 Henry VIII. e. 26. : it 
had previously been put within the parish of Ribbesford, by 
a private aet in the reign of Henry VI., having till then 
been cxtra-paroehial. It stands on a declivity overhanging 
the western bank of the Severn, and from the pleasantness 
of its situation was ealled in Latin Bellus locus, and in 
French Beaulieu, from whence by corruption the present 
name of Bewdley is derived. In Domesday Book, Bewdley, 
there called Ribeford, is reckoned among the townships be- 
longing to Kidderminster, and is said to be in the king s 
demesne. It was waste in the time of Edward the Con- 
fessor. In the reign of Edward I. it was a manor belong- 
ing to the Beauchamps, the first Norman earls of Warwick ; 
it afterwards passed to the Mortimers, earls of March, and 
with the other lands of that earldom was annexed to the 
crown when Edward, earl of Mareh, became king, under 



the title of Edward IV. In the 12th year of this king,* 
Bewdley received its first charter of incorporation. 'After 
this the town seems to have increased in importance, and 
in the reign of Henry VIII. we find it thus noticed by 
Leland : "The towne self is sett on the syde of an hill ; soe 
comely, a man cannot wish to see a towne better. It riseth 
from Severne banke by east, upon the hill by west ; soe that 
a man standing on the hill trans pontem by^east, may dis- 
cerne almost every house in the towne, arid at the risinge 
of the sunne from the east, the whole towne glittereth 
(being all of new building) as it were of gould. By the 
distance of the parish church (at Ribbesford), I gather that 
Beaudley is a very new towne, and that of ould time there 
was but some poore hamlett, ,and that upon the building of 
a bridge there upon Severne, and resort of people unto it, r 
and commodity of the pleasant site, men began to inhabit 
there ; and because that the plott of it seemed fayre to the 
lookers, it hath a French name Beaudley, quasi Bellus Lo~ 
cus.' 

The hill on the slope of which the town is built is called 
Ticken Hill, or more properly Ticcen Hill, or Groat's Hill, 
which name the town itself is said to have borne in the early 
period of its history. In Leland's time there was a fine ma- 
nor-house on the top of the hill, which Henry VII. built as a. 
residence for Prince Arthur, and which is said to have been 
the scene of the festivities attending his marriage with 
Catharine of Aragon, afterwards queen of Henry VIII. 
There appears to have been some previous building on 
the spot. That which Leland saw was/ nearly demolished 
in the civil wars, but was afterwards rebuilt, and forms a 
mansion, the commanding prospects from which are much 
admired. 

Independently of its municipal contentions, there is no> 
fact of any interest in the subsequent history of Bewdley,. 
except that Charles I. removed hither from Worcester, in 
order to keep the Severn between hiin and the enemy. It 
does not appear from the corporation books that the town 
went to any larger expense than half a crown on the occa- 
sion of this visit. 

The manor of Bewdley remained annexed to the crown 
through several reigns. In that of James I. it was held by 
the Prince of Wales. After that it went through severaL 
hands, and since the reign of Charles II. has been held by 
lessees from the crown. 

The borough obtained a charter of incorporation in the 
third year of James I., by which it was to be governed by a: 
bailiff and twelve capital burgesses, who were empowered 
to elect the other corporate officers, as high steward, re- 
corder, and others of inferior rank. The town was also- 
enabled to send one member to parliament, which it has 
ever since continued to do. Several accounts state that. 
Bewdley had four annual fairs and two market days pre- 
viously to this charter. Nash, however, states that Edward 
IV. granted fairs to be held on the feast days of St. George,. 
St. Ann, and St. Andrew, and a market on Saturday. 
These are the same that are granted in the charter of 
James, and whieh are still in use. The history of the 
eharter is eurious. The corporation surrendered it to Charles 
II. and got a new one from James II., by which the borough 
was governed for twenty years. But when Queen Anne 
came to the throne this eharter was declared, on account of 
some informality, to be void, and that of James I. was con- 
firmed. The different eharters being respectively upheld 
by contending parties in the borough, a double return of 
officers was the eonsequence ; nor was the matter termi- 
nated without a long and expensive lawsuit, by which the 
old eharter was confirmed. During the first thirty years of 
the present century the greatest number of electors polled 
at the election of a representative in Parliament did not 
exceed twenty-four, the bailiff and burgesses being the only 
electors ; by the Reform Bill the limits of the borough were 
greatly enlarged for parliamentary purposes so as to include 
484 qualifying tenements, of which the town alone contains 
193. The population of the parliamentary borough is be- 
tween 7000 and 8000 ; that of Bewdley proper was, in 1831, 
3908, of whom 2021 were females. There is, however, on 
the other side of the Severn, eonneeted with Bewdley by a 
bridge, the suburb of Wribbenhall, which, although not in- 
cluded in the municipal limits, appears to form part of the 
town. Its population is no where stated separately from 
that of the parish to which it belongs ; but it contains thirty 
five qualifying houses, and is thus noticed in the Boundary 
Reports-— « This suburb eontains several good houses, also 
v 2 Z 2 



13 E W 



35C 



BEY 



a largo carpet manufactory, and some warehouses by tho 
river side, which afford employment to the inhabitants of 
Bewdley/ 

In its original state, as is tho case with most old towns in 
this part of tho kingdom, the buildings of Bcwdlcv were of 
timber ; but the principal street is now as well built and 
mved as any other in provincial towns of similar rank. 
There are three principal streets ; that is, a street leads in a 
direct line from the bridge and then diverges to tho right 
and left, so that tho three together give a ground form, ap- 
proximating to that of tho letter Y, with its foot extending 
to the river. Tho chapel of ease was, like the rest of the 
town, of timber, when Leland was there ; it was replaced 
in 1749 hy tho present structure, a neat stone building 
erected hy subscription, and capable of containing 1200 
persons. A large proportion of the inhabitants aro Dis- 
senters, for whom there are various places of worship. 
Bewdley heing in the parish of Ribhesford, it has only a 
chapel of case for the accommodation of the inhabitants. 
The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Hereford, 
of which the rector of Ribhesford is patron. The last re- 
turns state the annual income at 100/. per annum. 

The town-hall of Bewdley is a very commodious modern 
building of stone standing on three arches, which are fur- 
nished with handsome iron gates. The front is decorated 
with six square pilasters, which support a pediment. The 
arches uuderncath afford admittance to the market-place, 
which consists of two rows of stalls under arcades, with an 
open area in the centre, having altogether a very neat ap- 
pearance. The stone bridge of three arches over the Se- 
vern, is a very handsome modern structure, guarded with 
balustrades. 

A free grammar sehool was established at Bewdley under 
the charter granted to the town by King James. Some 
endowments had previously been made for the purpose, 
particularly by William Monnox, who gave 6/. per annum 
secured upon lands; and John, George, and Thomas 
Ballard gave the site of the school. The charter declared 
the ohject of the school to be, * for the better education and 
instruction of young children and youthswithin the borough, 
liherties, and precincts, in good arts, learning, virtue, and in- 
struction,' and that it should be called * The Free Grammar 
School of King JameS of England in Bewdley." The 
charge of its revenues was entrusted to the borough corpo- 
ration, under the stipulation that they should apply them 
to no other use than to the benefit of the school ; they were 
also to make written statutes for the government of the 
school, and to appoint tho master and under-master, who 
were to enjoy their offices during the * well liking of the 
said governors.* Numerous small additions have since been 
made to the endowments of the school, the revenues of 
which arise from a rent-charge on land at Shcpperdine in 
Gloucestershire, chief rents, rents of houses in Bewdley, and 
the tolls of the market. The amount is uncertain. The 
master has a salary of 30/. and a houso free of rent, taxes, 
and repairs. There is no under-master. * The school' 
(remarks Carlislo in 1818) * is open as a free grammar 
school to the children of all the inhabitants, hut there are 
none at present upon the foundation. The master has 
ahout 30 boarders.' He adds, that no copy of the statutes 
is now extant. The master has charge of a collection of 
books given by the Rev. Thomas Wigan for the nso of the 
clergy and laity of the neighbourhood. There is also in 
the town a school, supported by the corporation and in* 
habitants, which affords n plain education, with clothing, to 
thirty boys and as many girls. 

The advantageous situation of Bewdley on the Severn 
formerly rendered it an inter mediato station for the com- 
merce hctwecn the ports of the Severn and the inland 
towns, and gavo it a most flourishing carrying trade. 
Goods were then sent on the river from Bristol, Chepstow, 
and Ncwnham to this place, whence they were sent not 
only to the neighbouring towns, hut to Manchester, Sheffield, 
and Kendal, by regularly established waggons, which re- 
turned laden with inland manufactures for exportation. A 
considerable carrying trado still exists ; and the Boundary 
Report observes, 'The town of Bewdley can hardly ho said 
to be in a state of decay, although the changes in the in- 
ternal navigation of the country have deprived it of its former 
commercial importance. Its market, its retail trade with 
the surrounding country, its situation on the Severn, and 
some small manufactures, afford employment to its popu- 
lation, in which may be reckoned a considerable number of 



respectable inhabitants.' (Iceland's Itinerary ; Na?h*s 
Collections for the History of Worcestershire ; beauties of 
England and J Tales, vol. xv. ; Boundary Rejyorts, vol. iiu 
pt, 2. ; Carlisle's Endowed Grammar Schools, #c.) 

BEX, a small but plcasant v town, of the canton of Vand 
in Switzerland, situated near tho right bank of tho Rhono, 
twelve miles above its entrance into the Lcman lake, and 
ahout two miles north of St. Maurice in the Valais. It lies 
in a fine and fertilo valley, at the foot of the high mountains 
called La Dent do Morclcs, and Les Diablcrets, which rise 
to nearly 9000 feet above the sea. Bex is on the hich road 
from Bern and Lausanne to the Valais, which road joins 
at St. Maurice the great road from Geneva to Italy by the 
Siinplon. Bex is much frequented by travellers in the sum 
mer months, and has one of the best inns in Switzerland. 
Tho country about Bex is one of tho most interesting in 
Switzerland for the botanist, the mineralogist, and the geo- 
logist. At a short distance from Bex, and near the villa Re 
of Lavey, a hot mineral spring was discovered in 1832, on the 
banks of the river Rhone, having, it is said, the same proper- 
ties as the celehrated waters of Loesch in the Valais. Tempo- 
rary baths have been erected at the expense of the govern- 
ment of Vaud, which are much frequented by invalids during 
summer. (Walsh, Voyage en Suisse.) Bex derives mueh 
of its importance from tho deposit of salt in its neighbour- 
hood, and is the only place where it is worked in Switzer- 
land. Various salt springs issuing from a neighbouring 
mountain first indicated the existence of the salt, and the 
government of Bern, to which Bex then belonged, under- 
took to work it. Several galleries were excavated in tho 
mountain in order to reach the deposit of salt, but the at- 
tempt was not successful, and the principal way in which salt 
is still extracted is by boiling the water. (See Cox's Letters 
on Switzerland, where he gives an account of the process.) 
One of tho galleries is 4000 feet long, eight feet high, and 
six wide. The water of the springs is carried hy pipes to 
Bevieux, whero are the filters, boilers, and other apparatus 
for extracting the salt. In 1824 a part of tho mountain was 
discovered which is strongly impregnated with salt, in con- 
sequence of which the quantity of salt extracted yearly has 
been increasing, and is now double what it was formerly. 
Still the salt collected at Bex does not supply more than l-25th 
of the population of Switzerland. In 1825 the net revenue re- 
sulting to the state of Vaud from the salt-works amounted 
to 52,000 Swiss francs, equal to 78,000 French francs. 
(Franscini, Statistica delta Svizzera.) The establishment 
of these salt-works is conducted with the greatest order 
and economy. Salt exists also in the canton of Aargau, 
in that of Appenzell, and in the Grisons at Schuol in the 
Lower Engadina, hut it is not worked. 

BEY. [See Beg.] 

BEY'RA.or BEl'RA n province of Portugal, situated 
hetween 39° 28' and 41° 2*/ N. lat., and 6° 52' and 8° 4G' W. 
long. It is bounded on the north by the provinces of Entre- 
Douro-e-Minho and Tras-os-Montcs, from which it is sepa- 
rated by the river Douro ; on the south and south-west by 
Alentejo and Portuguese Estreinadura, the Tagus and the 
Scrra de Louzao forming its natural houndaries ; on the 
cast by Leon and Spanish Estremadura, from which it is 
separated by the rivers Turoncs and Klgas and the Sierra de 
Gata; on tho west it is hounded hy tho ocean. The length 
of its sea-coast is about eighty miles. The province is 
divided into three parts. That portion comprised between 
tho river Douro and the Serra de Estrella is called High 
Bcyra ; from this mountain-rango to the banks of the Tagus, 
Low Beyra ; and the western part of the province, between 
the ocean and the Serra de Alcona, is denominated Beyra 
Mar or Maritime Beira. 

Two chains of mountains running nearly parallel to one 
another eross the province from north-east to south-west. 
Tho principal nnd most eastern is tho Serra de Estrella, 
Mons Hcrminius of the antients, which, according to some 
geographers, is the western branch of the chain denomi- 
nated Carpeto-Vettonic, or Carpetano-Vettonique, extending 
along the right hank of the Tagus from its sourco to its 
entrance into tho sea. The Serra de Estrella, which in 
some parts is 7524 feet above the lovel of the ocean, and 
is covered with snow in some points during tho greatest part 
of tho year, crosses the province from north-east to south- 
west, enters Estremadura, where it takes the names of 
Scrra-de-Louzao and Serra-de-Junto, and terminates on 
the ocean near Torres Vedras. On the highest part of 
this Serra is a plain nino miles long and three wide, eovcred 



BEY 



357 



BEZ 



with snow till the month of June. On this plain there are 
several lakes, of which some of the Portuguese geographers 
relate many wonderful stories. According to their accounts 
these lakes are bottomless, and in some of them masts of 
ships have been found. The lakes, however, are nothing 
more than great reservoirs in which the melted snow is col- 
lected, and from which several streams of the province 
spring. The Serra de Estrella is chieily composed of a 
greyish granite, the surface of which is easily decomposed 
by the action of the air. In the interior of this greyish 
granite are found round blocks of a harder kind and a 
darker colour, of the size of the largest cannon ball. The 
other chain of this province is the Serra de Alcoba, which, 
commencing at the banks of the Douro, runs south-west- 
ward along the rigbt bank of the Mondego and terminates 
on the sea-shore at the mouth of that river, forming Cape 
Mondego : between this range and the Serra de Estrella is 
the beautiful valley to which the Mondego gives its name. 
The highest point of the Serra de Alcoba, called Cabe9a de 
Cao or Dogs-head, is 1758 feet above the level of the sea. 
Cape Mondego bas an elevation of 696 feet. From these 
two principal chains smaller ones branch out in different 
directions, occupying the greatest part of High Beyra. All 
these high lands are almost without trees, and only produce 
pasture for cattle and food for small game. 

The principal rivers of Beyra proceeding from east to west 
are the Elgas, the Aravil, the Ponsul, the Vereza, and the 
Zezere, all which flow southward into the Tagus. The Tu- 
rones (which is joined by the Agueda), the Coa (which is fed 
by the Pinhel and the Lamegal), the Tavora, and the Pavia, 
How northwards into the Douro. The Mondego springs in 
the Lago Escura in the Serra de Estrella, flows to the north- 
west as far as Fornos, where it bends to the south-west, and 
(leaving Coimbra on its left bank falls into the Atlantic at 
Figueira: its whole course maybe about 100 miles. The 
Vouga crosses and fertilizes the north-western districts of 
Viseu and Avciro. [See Aveiuo.] Except the Mondego, 
the Zezere, and the Vouga, the rivers of Beyra are very 
inconsiderable, though none are dry in summer : they all 
abound in delicate fish. 

The general character of this province is very hilly. The 
valleys are fertile, and produce wheat, Indian corn, rye, wine, 
and fruit. The valley which is watered by the Mondego is 
one of the most fertile and picturesque in the province, 
abounding in lemon and orange trees : the hills which 
enclose the valley are crowned with vines, and fig and other 
fruit trees ; indeed, in all Portugal there is scarcely a view so 
splendid as that which the province of Beyra presents when 
it first opens to the traveller cpming from Estremadura, from 
the heights north of Condeixa. The valley of the Mon- 
dego is also seen to great advantage from the observatory 
of Coimbra. The honey of Beyra is celebrated through 
Portugal, and the fish of its coast are also in high re- 
pute. Both in the mountains and valleys small game is 
found in abundance. The western and southern parts of 
the province are very productive, but in the mountainous 
districts the products are scarcely sufficient for the support 
of its inhabitants, many of whom resort to Lisbon, where 
they employ themselves as carriers and in other menial 
occupations. 

The greatest breadth of the province from east to west is 
about 120 miles, and the greatest length from north to south 
about the same. Antillon gives it an area of 753 Spanish 
square leagues of twenty to a linear degree, and a popula- 
tion of 1,121,595 souls. 

For the civil government, the province is divided into 
eleven comarcas, or districts, viz., on the west, Coimbra, the 
capital, which comprises 150 parishes; Avciro, with 99; 
Feira, on the north-west, with 75 ; Lamego, on the north, 
with 152; Viseu with 206; Trancoso, nearly in the centre 
to the east of Viseu, with 199; Pinhel, between Almeida 
and Castcl Rodrigo, with 39; La Guarda, to the south-west 
■ of Pinhel, with 190 ; Linhares, to the west of La Guarda, 
with 41 ; Lagos, on the left bank of the Alva, an affluent 
of the Mondego, with 49 ; and Castello Branco, in the south 
of the province, with 97. The ecclesiastical division of the 
province is into seven bishopricks,— Coimbra, Aveiro, Viseu, 
Lamego, Pinhel, La Guarda, and Castello Branco. The prin- 
cipal military stations are Castel Rodrigo and Almeida, the 
latter being the chief fortification of the province, and about 
twenty-three miles from Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain. 

The inhabitants of Beyra are chiefly employed in agri- 
culture, and on tho coast in fishing and commerce. There 



are, however, some manufactories of cloth, hats, and other 
articles of dress at Coimbra, which town is also the seat of 
the only Portuguese University. 

(See the Map of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful 
Knowledge : Antillon ; Bory de St. Vincent, Resume Geo- 
tp-aphique de la Penimule Iberique, Paris, 1827; Mi- 
nano, &c.) 

BEZA, an eminent theologian of the Calvinistic branch 
of the reformed church. He is commonly known by the 
Latinized name of Beza, but his real name was Theodore 
de Beze. He was a Frenchman, born of noble parents, in 
1519, at Vezelai, a small town of which his father was 
Bailli, in the district of the Nivernais, or, according to 
modern divisions, in the department of Yonne. As soon as 
he was weaned he was sent to Paris, and placed under the 
care of an uncle, Nicolas de Beze, who held the office of 
Conseiller, or judge, to the parliament of Paris. The cause 
of this early separation from his parents does not appear. 
This uncle brought him up tenderly, and before he was ten 
, years old placed him under the care of Melchior Wolmar, a 
learned German, resident at Orleans, who was especially 
skilled in the Greek language. On Wolmar being appointed 
to a professorship in the university of Bourges, Beza accom- 
panied him, and remained, in the whole, for seven years 
under his tuition. During this time he became an excellent 
scholar, and he afterwards acknowledged a deeper obligation 
to his tutor, for having ' imbued him with the knowledge 
of true piety, drawn from the limpid fountain of the word 
of God.' In 1535 Wolmar returned to Germany, and Beza 
repaired to Orleans to study law; but/his attention was 
chiefly directed to the classics and the composition of verses. 
His Latin verses, published in 1548, and dedicated to 
Wolmar, were chiefly written during this period of his life . 
we shall have to speak of them hereafter. 

Beza obtained his degree as licentiate of civil law when 
he had just completed his twentieth year, upon which he 
went to Paris, where he spent nine years. He was young, 
and possessed of a handsome person and of ample means; 
for though not in the priesthood, he enjoyed the pro- 
ceeds of two good benefices, amounting, he says, to 700 
golden crowns a-year. The death of an elder brother added 
considerably to his income, and an uncle, who was abbot of 
Froidmond, expressed an intention of resigning that pre- 
ferment, valued at 15,000 livres yearly, in his favour. 
Under such circumstances, in a city like Paris, he was ex- 
posed to strong temptation ; and his conduct during this 
part of his life has incurred great censure. We shall give 
first his own account of it, in his letter to Wolmar, and then 
a short notice of the statements of his enemies. He ac- 
knowledges in the most open manner that, ' being better 
provided with temporal advantages than with wisdom,' and 
attracted by tbe splendour and pleasures of the world, he 
was driven about without any fixed principle ; and though 
his conscience bade him profess the reformed religion, yet, 
partly from fear of giving offence, partly, as he candidly 
says, ' because, like an unclean dog at a greasy hide, I was 
not yet frighted from that iniquitous profit which I derived 
from church property,' he continued externally to conform 
to the dominant church. That his life was grossly immoral 
he denies ; and as a preservative from immorality, he formed 
a private marriage with, or rather engaged to marry, a 
woman of birth, he says, inferior to his own, but possessed 
of such virtue that he never found reason to repent of the 
connexion. It was covenanted that he should marry her 
publicly as soon as the obstacles to that step should be 
removed, and that in the mean time he should not take 
orders, a thing entirely inconsistent with taking a wife. 
Meanwhile his relations pressed him to adopt some * cer- 
tain method of life, 1 or, in other words, to enter into the 
church : his wife and his conscience bade him avow his 
marriage and his real belief; his inclination bade him con- 
ceal both and stick to the rich benefices which he enjoyed ; 
and in this divided state of mind he remained till a serious 
illness brought him to a more manly and a more holy tem- 
per. Immediately on his recovery he fled to Geneva, at 
the end of October, 1548, and there publicly solemnized his 
marriage and avowed his faith. 

In after times, when Beza becamo a leader among the 
reformers, and a zealous and formidable controversialist, ho 
was charged with having been addicted to the most revolting 
licentiousness during this part of his life ; and it was said 
that he fled to Geneva to escape from a prosecution insti- 
tuted against him in Paris. 1o rake into the dirt of past 



BEZ 



358 



BEZ 



x»gcs is neither pleasant nor profitable; and we shall conflno 
ourselves to expressing our full coneurrcneo with the con- 
clusion of Baylo (art ' Boxe/ note U), that as the charges 
against Beza'rcst solely on assertion, which is met by de- 
nial, as the gravest of them were of such naturo that they 
might readily have been supported by evidence, and as no 
c\idcnco in support of them was ever given, it is fair to 
conclude that they were altogether ealumnious. The churge 
of general licentiousness has beon supported by reference 
to the indecency of some of his early poems published at 
Paris in 1548, in his 'Juvenilia,' which his enemies justly 
alleged to bo inconsistent with the character of a reformer 
and father of tho chureh. This ofTenee, which Bcza never 
sought to extenuato, is a grave one, but it aftbrds no ground 
for casting the imputation of hypocrisy, or any other* on his 
subsequent life. During his residence in Paris, by his own 
aeknowlcdgmont, though he might have a speculative pre- 
ference for the reformed religion, he had no ruling sense of 
religion at all. When he bceame earnest in his religion, he 
repented of his indeceney; and both hy public avowals of 
his contrition, and by endeavouring to suppress the offensive 
verses, he made such amends as he could for his offenee 
against morality. But what can ho said in defonce of those 
vvno indulged in the most violent invective against Bcza for 
having composed such poems, and then republished them 
again and again to hring the author into contempt and 
od ium ? 

After a very short residence at Geneva, and subsequently 
at Tubingen, Bcza was appointed Greek professor of the 
college of Lausanne. During his resideneo here, he took 
every opportunity of going to Geneva to hear Calvin 
preach, at whose suggestion he undertook to complote 
Clement Marot's translation of the Psalms into Frcneh 
verse. Marot had translated fifty, so that one hundred 
Psalms remained : these were first printed in Franee with 
the royal lieense in 1561. Beza, at this tirao, employed 
his pon in support of the right of punishing heresy by the 
civil power: his treatise, De Htcreticis a Civili Magistratu 
puniendis, is in defence of the execution of Scrvetus at 
Geneva in 1553. Beza was not singular in maintaining 
this doctrine: the principal ehurches of Switzerland, and 
even Melancthon, concurred in justifying, hy their autho- 
rity, that act which has been so fruitful of reproaeh against 
the party by whom it was perpetrated. Tho persecuted 
party, he it which it might, was ready enough to com- 
plain, and to persecute when its turn came round. The 
reformers, after rejecting opinions whieh had heen lopg 
received as fundamental truths, were determined not to 
allow others the same liberty which they had taken them- 
selves. His work De Jure Magistratuum, puhlishod at a 
much lator time in his life (about 1 572), presents a curious 
contrast to the work De Hcereticis, &c. In this later work 
he asserted the principles of civil and religious liberty, and 
the rights of conscience : but though he may be considered 
as heforc most men of his age in the boldness of his opinions 
as to tho naturo of eivil authority, his views of the sovereign 
power, as exhibited in this work, are confused and contra- 
dictory. During his residence at Lausanno, Beza pub- 
lished several controversial treatises, whieh his friend, col- 
league, and biographer, Antoine La Fayo, confesses to be 
writton with a freer pen than was consistent with the gravity 
of the subject. Some Lutheran writers attaek, in the most 
violent and insulting language, the grossness displayed in 
these works. That there Was some ground for the charge 
wo may eollcct from La Fayc's declaration, that the author 
expunged the ohnoxious passages in subsequent editions ; 
and perhaps it is no wonder that a lively and humorous 
temper, not trained in the purest of sehools at Paris, should 
havo required a long course of discipline to be brought 
under habitual and complete control. To tins portion of 
Beza's life belongs the translation of the New Testament 
into Latin, completed in 1556, and printed at Paris hy 
R. Stephen* in 1557. The best edition is said to be that 
of Cambridge, 1642. It contains the commentary of Camc- 
ranus, as well as a copious body of notes by tho transitu or 
himself. 

After ten years' residence at Lausanno, Beza removed to 
Geneva in 1559. The admiration which he already felt for 
Calvin was greatly increased by eloserintimaey ; • he seldom 
quitted him, and in his soefety made great progress both in 
mattersofdoctrino and of church discipline.' (La Faye, p. 19.) 
About this timo he entered into holy orders. At Calvin's 
request he was admitted to bo a citizen of Geneva; he was 



appointed to assist that remarkable man in giving lectures 
in theology ; and on tho academy or university of Geneva 
being founded by the legislature, he was appointed reetor, 
upon Calvin's declining that oftlee. It seems to have been 
in the same year that, at tho request of some leading noblci 
among the Freneh Protestants, he undertook a journey to 
Nerac, in hope of winning tho king of Navarre to Protest- 
antism, or at least of inducing hiin to interfere in mitigation 
of tho persecution to which tho French Protestants were 
then exposed. His preaching was successful ; and he re- 
mained at Nerae until tho beginning of 1561, and at the 
king of Navarre's request attended the conference of Poissy, 
opened in August of that year, in the hope of effecting a 
reconciliation between the Catholic and Protestant churches 
af Franee. Bcza was the chief speaker in hehalf of the 
latter, and though certain of his expressions were violently 
excepted to, he seems on the whole to have managed his 
cause with temper and ability ; and to have made a favour- 
able impression on hoth Catherine of Medieis and Cardinal 
Lorrain. (Sco La Fayc, pp. 28-40; and Dc Thou, Thuani 
Historta* lib. 28, pp. 40, 48. vol. ii. Gencv. 1620.) 

Catherine requested him to remain in Franee, on the plea 
that his presence would tend to maintain tranquillity, and 
that his native country had the best titlo to his services. 
He consented ; and after the promulgation of tho cdiet of 
January, 1562, often preaehed puhlicly in the suburbs of 
Paris. Tho short-lived triumph of toleration was ended by 
the massacro of Vassy, and the eivil war which ensued. 
[See L'lIdpiTAL.] During that contest, whieh elosed in 
March, 1563, Beza attached himself to the person of Conde, 
at that princo's earnest request. He was present at the 
battlo of Dreux, where Conde 1 was taken prisoner ; but not 
as a combatant, as he positively asserts in his answer to his 
calumniator, Claude de Xaintcs. We may here notiee the 
accusation hrought against hiin of having been concerned 
in plotting the murder of the Duke of Guise in 1563, founded 
on the confession of the murderer Poltrot : hut Poltrot re- 
tracted this accusation, and, to the hour of his death, 
asserted the innocence of Beza* 

At the end of the war Bcza returned to Geneva. In 1564 
he was appointed teacher of theology, on tho death of Calvin, 
whose labours he had shared, and with whom he had lived 
in striet union and friendship. He then took an assist- 
ant, as Calvin had taken hiin: at a later period Antoine 
La Faye. filled that olliee. From the number of treatises 
whieh Beza wrote during a few years after his return to 
Geneva, we may judge that he returned with avidity from 
the interruption of war to his studies, and to the work or 
controversy; He succeeded not only to tho place, but to the 
inilucncc of Calvin, and from thenceforth was regardod as 
the head and leader of the Gcncvese eliurch. In 1 671 lie 
was requested to attend the general synod of Frcneh Pro- 
testants held at Rochclle ; and he was elceted moderator or 
president of that assembly, by whieh the confession of faith 
of tho Galliean chureh was settled. In 1572 ho was again 
requested to attend a synod held at Nisraes, where he op- 
posed successfully a new form of chureh discipline, whieh 
Jean Morel attempted to introduce. In the course of his 
life, Bcza was engaged in several other conferences, which, 
ns they produced no important results, it is not necessary to 
give any account of. 

After the massacre of St Bartholomow, in 1572, Beza 
showed himself prompt to sueeour the distressed Protestants 
who flocked to Geneva. He supported, according to La 
Faye, fifty elergyincn, who were among them, for three 
years, chiefly by his exertions in raising subscriptions in 
their behalf in England, Germany, and France. 

In 1575 hegan Beza's correspondence with the lord chan- 
cellor of Scotland on the subjeet of church polity. At that 
time the eodo of Scots ecclesiastical law, called the Srrottd 
Book of Discipline* was in course of framing; and the lord 
chancellor, who saw and feared the destruction of the spi- 
ritual estate in parliament by the settlement of Presbj te- 
rianisin, entered on an epistolary corrcspondeneo with Ucza 
on the sulu'eet. Bcza answered the queries submitted to 
him, and tho treat iso which ho composed on tho occasion 
having been printed, and soon after translated, the au- 
thority of his name and the forco of his arguments had 
great influeneo on the public mind. 

His first wife died in 1588. In the course of a few months 
he took a second wife, a young widow, to whose care his de- 
clining years were indebted for mueh comfort. He scarcely 
manifested tho infirmities of age until 15U7, when ho was 



•BEZ 



359 



BE? 



obliged on more than one occasion to quit the pulpit, leaving 
his sermon incomplete. In the autumn of 1 598 he ceased to 
attend the schools. He preached for the last time, January 13, 
1600. The Jesuits in 1597 spread a report of his death, with 
the addition that he had reconciled himself to the Papal 
Church. He retorted in two satiric copies of verses, one di- 
rected against the order in general, the other against the 
ferson with whom the lie was believed to have originated. 
«a Faye records a pleasing instance of attention on the part 
of his brother clergymen of Geneva. Towards the close of 
his life two of them at least waited upon him every day ; 
and at times the whole body paid him that token of respect. 
He declined gradually under the weight of years, but ex- 
cepting the partial loss of memory in respect of recent 
occurrences, he retained his intellect unclouded to the last. 
He died October 13, 1605. An interesting account of his 
last moments is given by La Faye. 

Beza was a man of undoubted learning, talent, and zeal for 
the interests of the church to which he helonged. His emi- 
nence is testified by the virulence with which he has been 
attacked hoth by Roman Catholic and Lutheran divines. Of 
the charges brought against his conduct in youth we have 
already expressed our opinion ; and it does not appear that 
his Jife and conversation, from the time of his avowed con- 
version, were open to any charges, except that of having 
used an unseemly levity in some of his first controversial 
works, which, as we have seen, was coupled by his enemies 
with other accusations, to prove that he was a man of loose 
and profligate character. His writings are now nearly for- 
gotten : in addition to those which we have specified, we 
may add his 'Confession of the Christian Faith,' 1560, 
written, it is said, to justify himself, and in hope of con- 
verting his father ; and his ' Ecclesiastical History of the 
Reformed Churches of France, from 1521 to 1563,* J 580. 
He also wrote a * Life of Calvin.* La Faye has given a list 
of Beza's works, which are fifty-nine in number. ( Antonius 
Fayus, De Vita et ObituBeza?; Bayle.) 

BEZA'S CODEX, a celebrated manuscript, containing 
the Four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles written in Greek, 
with a corresponding Latin text on every opposite page. Of 
the Greek text we shall speak more particularly presently. 
The Latin version is believed to be the Vetus Italica^ the 
old Italic, before it was corrected by St. Jerom. 

This singular manuscript was presented to the University 
of Camhridge by Theodore Beza in the year 1581, whence 
it has its name of Codex Bezce, and is sometimes cited as 
Codex Cantabrigiensis. It is a thick quarto volume, written 
upon vellum, in uncial letters of the square form, that is, 
in large capitals quadrated, as distinguished from the sharper 
uncials. The letters, in some places, particularly in the 
beginning of the first leaf, are scarcely legible. The gospels 
aro placed in the usual order of the Latin manuscripts, — 
Matthew, John, Luke, Mark. This codex has no stops, 
marks of aspiration, or accents. 

There are various chasms in this manuscript, which, both 
in the Greek and Latin texts, have been supplied at later 
periods. The defective passages in the Greek are Matthew 
i. v. 1 to 20 ; vi. v. 20, to ix. i?. 2 : xxvii. t>. 2 to 12 ; John J. 
v. 16 to hi. v. 26 ; Acts, viii. v. 29 to x. 14; xxi. v. 2 to 10, 
and 15 to 19; xxii. v. 10 to 20; lastly, xxii. 29 to the end 
of the MS. In the Latin version the chasms are Matthew 
i. t\ 1 to 12; from r. 8 in chap. vi. to viii. 27 ; from'xxvi. 
65 to xxvii. 2; from John i. 1 Jo iii. 16; Acts viii. 19 to 
x. 4 ; xx. 31 to xxi. 3, and 7 to 11; xxii. 2 to 10; and 
lastly, from Acts xxii. 20 to the end. 

In the year 1787, immediately after the appearance of 
the New Testament of the Alexandrian Manuscript, pub- 
lished by Dr. C. G. Woide, the University of Cambridge 
appointed Dr. Thomas Kipling, late fellow of St. John's 
College, and Deputy Regius Professor of Divinity, to edit 
this their highly-prized manuscript in fac-simile: that is, 
as far as metal types could bo made to represent it, for a 
'real absolute fac-simile can bo obtained only by engraving. 
It appeared in 1793 in two volumes folio, edited with fidelity, 
accompanied by a preface of twenty-eight pages, and fol- 
lowed by twenty-four pages of notes, entitled Codex Theo- 
dori Bezce Cantabrigiensis, Evangelia et Apostolorum 
Acta complectens, quadratis Uteris, Grteco-Latinus : Aca- 
demia auspicante, venerandce has vetustatis reliquias, 
summa qua potuit fide, adumbravit, expressit, edidit f 
Codicis historian* prccjixiU notasque adjectt Thomas Kip- 
ling* S. T.P. Coll. Div. Joan, nuper socius. 

pr. Kipling, in his preface, endeavours 1st, to establish 



the high antiquity of his MS. ; 2dly, he points out its pe- 
culiar character and excellence ; 3dly, he traces its migra- 
tions ; and lastly, he describes its form. 

It is allowed by all palaeographists that Beza's MS. is one 
of the most anticnt of its kind. Those 'who give it the 
least antiquity, assign it to the sixth or seventh century. 
Wetstein and J. D. Michaelis deem it much older ; and 
Dr. Kipling is of opinion that it is more antient than the 
Alexandrian MS., and must have been written in the se- 
cond century. His conjecture is founded on these circum- 
stances, that it wants the doxology at the end of the Lord's 
Prayer, and has the Ammonian sections without the Euse- 
bian canons. That the doxology is an interpolation there 
can he little doubt; but that the want of it in a MS. is a 
proof of the high antiquity of that MS. cannot so readily 
be admitted. If the writer of Beza's MS. were a Latinist, 
he might leave out the doxology in his Greek copy, because 
it was not in his Latin copy ; or his Greek copy might have 
been one of those which wanted the doxology. The argu- 
ment derived from the entire omission of the Eusebian 
canons, and from the Ammonian sections being added by 
a posterior writer, is more specious. Dr. Kipling hence 
infers that the text of the MS. was written antecedently to 
the date of the Ammonian sections, and these before the 
Eusebian canons appeared. Ammonius lived in the third, 
Eusehius in the fourth century : the Ammonian sections in 
Beza's MS. are much posterior to the text, and are without 
the xanons of Eusebius ; therefore he considers it highly 
probable that those sections were added to the MS. before 
the fourth, and that the manuscript itself was written be- 
fore the third century. 

As to the nature and excellence of the Beza manuscript 
great diversity of opinion subsists. Antony Arnauld (Dis- 
sertation Critique touchant les Exemplaires, sur lesquels 
M. §imon pretend que t &c, 8vo. Col. 1 691) insisted that it 
was a forgery of the sixth century, and therefore unworthy 
Of credit ; and his chief argument was, that it has certain 
additions or interpolations which are not found in the copies 
anterior to that period ; such as that in Matthew xx. 28, 
vfuXg Bk ?,7]TtLTE, &c. ; that in Luke vi. 5, ry abry >;/xip^, &c. 
This reasoning would be solid, if the assumption were just ; 
namely, that these and similar interpolations were not found 
in any other MS. before the sixth century. Dr. Kipling 
draws from the same circumstance a very different conclu- 
sion : he thinks that the aforesaid additions are proofs that 
either the Beza MS., or its archetype, must have been writ- 
ten before Jerom corrected the text of the New Testament, 
because they are not in his version. 'Bengcl supposes this 
MS. to be of British origin from its great conformity with the 
Anglo-Saxon version, and to have been reformed, or rather 
corrupted, according to the Italic version. To this argument 
it is answered, that the Beza MS. resembles the Syriac ver- 
sion as much as it does the Italic and Anglo-Saxon. Mi- 
chaelis, in his account * of the manuscripts that have been 
used in editions of the Greek Testament* (Jntrod. to the 
New Test. 8vo. Camhr. 1793, vol. ii. p. I pp. 228, 229) is of 
this opinion, in which he is corroborated lay Professor 
Storr, who, in the eighth section of his Observations super 
Novi Testamenti Versionibus Syrtacis, produces various 
examples in which the Syriac version coincides with the 
Codex Cantahrigiensis, and at last conjectures that the 
latter has, in some cases, been improperly altered from the 
former, through a mistake of the Syriac text. (See Mi- 
chaelis, lit supr. p. 231.) 

In noticing what Dr. Kipling calls the ' migrationcs,* or 
peregrinations of theCodex Bezso, he gives it as his opinion, 
from internal evidence, that it was written in Egypt: others 
have been persuaded that it was written in the West, not by 
a Greek, hut by a Latinist. By what means this manu- 
script passed to France is unknown. Beza, who presented 
it to the University of Cambridge, had himself received it 
about nineteen years before. He .states it to have been 
found in the Monastery of St. Irenseus at Lyons. Beza was 
at that time resident at Geneva. It has been supposed by 
some critics to be the manuscript which was produced in the 
Council of Trent in 1546 by the bishop of Clermont, and 
which Drathmurus mentions four hundred years heforo that 
council ; but this is mere conjecture, and scarcely amounts 
to a probability. (See Dr. Kipling's Pre/ace; Monthly Re- 
view for Nov., 1793 ; Canlabrigiana, in the Monthly Mag. f 
vol. xv. p. 535; and J. D. Michaelis, ut supra.} 

BEZANT, a gold coin struck at Constantinople by the 
emperors of that city, antiently called Byzantium. William 



B E Z 



3G0 



BEZ 



of Malmesbury says expressly, ' Constant inopohs prtmum 
Byzantium dieta. Forraam antiqui vocabnli pneferuut im- 
}>eratorii nummi Bizantini vocati/ (Script, post Beditm, 
edit. Saville, fol. 76 b.) This coin was called Byzant, Be- 
sans, Bczantus, Byzantius, Byzantinus, Byzantcus. and 
Bixantius ; and from tbo ninth to the fourteenth century 
was the chief gold coin in currency through Europe. 

The Moors of Spain stamped also a gold coin called By- 
zantius Massamutinus. There was likewise the Byzantius 
Saracenatus, or Saraccniens, struck by the sultans of lco- 
nium in Lesser Asia; and Byzantii Melcchini, so called 
from being coined at Malines in Flanders. 

These Bezants wcro not always of the same weight, fine- 
ness, or value, since we find them described as anrci By- 
zantii ; aurei Loni Byzantii; and auri optimi Byzantti. 
Dueange quotes this last expression from a charter of the 
year 915. (Apud Ughcllum, torn. i. pp. 853, 960.) 

Byzantii alhi, seu argentei, white or silver Bezants, also 
occur in the Constitutions Odonis legati Apost. in Cypro, 
an. 124S. Dueango quotes a charter of 1399, which speaks 
of whito Bezants of Cyprus. They likewise occur in a 
bull of Pope Gregory IX (Apud Ugbcllum, torn. vii. 
p. 60.) 

Tho Moorish Bezants are sometimes called in old writers 
Marabotini, or Maurabotini. They are mentioned by this 
name in Matthew Paris, a.d. 1176. {Hist. Major, edit. 
1684, p. 110.) See also Ralph do Dieeto under tho year 
1177. (Script, x. Twysd. col. 598.) From Dueangc we 
learn that ' Morabotini boni Alfonsini, auri fmi ct pondcris 
recti/ frequently occur in Aragoncse charters towards the 
closo of tbe thirteenth century. 

Camden, in his Remains concerning Britain (edit. 8vo. 
Lond. 1674, p. 235), noticing the coined and other money in 
use among our Saxon ancestors, says, 'Gold they had also, 
which was not of their own coin, but outlandish,, which they 
called in Latin Bizantini, as coined at Constantinople 
sometimes called Bizantium, and not at Bcsancon in Bur- 
gundy. This coin is not now known, but Dunstan, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury (as it is in the authentical deed), pur- 
chased Hendon in Middlesex of King Edgar to Avest- 
minster for two hundred Bizantines. Of what value they 
were was utterly forgotten in the time of King Edward 111.; 
for, whereas the bisbop of Norwich was condemned to pay a 
Bizantinc of gold to the abbot of St. Edmundsbnry for en- 
croaching upon his liberty (as it was enacted by parliament 
in the time of the Conqueror), no man then living could tell 
bow much that was, so as it was referred to the king to rate 
how mueb ho should pay.' 

In Domesday Book no mention whatever occurs of the 
Bezant ; but it occurs twice as a denomination of money in 
:ffcc Winton Domosday of the year 1148, and several times 
iu the Boldon Book, a survey of tho palatinate of Durham 
mado in 1 183 ; both printed among the Supplementary Re- 
cords to the Great Domesday. Tho monks of Oseney, in con- 
sideration of the manor of Hampton-Gay in Oxfordshire, in 
the 6th of King Stephen, gavo ten marks of silver to Robert 
do Gait, and ono Bczantine to his wife. (Kcnnct's Paro- 
ch ial Antiq u ities of Oxfordsh ire, edit. 1 6 9 5 , p. 9 7 .) Madox , 
in his History of the Exchequer, says, that in Henry ll.'s 
time, Crcssalin, the Jew of Winchester, was amerced one 
hundred marks, and ho paid, instead thereof, ono hundred 
Bezants, which were accepted by the king, mera gratia. 
(Mag. Rot. Henry II. rot. 10, art. * Sudhantescira/) Madox 
also says (History of the Exchequer, p. 711), that in the 
17th year of King John, 10*. of Venetian money, and two 
Bezants, were used at the Exchequer for counters : tho 
Venetian shillings valued at 15s. and the two Bezants at 
3jt. Gd. Thcso of course were silver bezants. From the 
narrativo of AVilliam de Braoso's treasons (recorded in the 
Black and Red Book of the Exchequer) against King 
John, it is clear that silver Bezants were in uso in that 
Teign ; for when Maud, Braose's wife, was to make the 
first payment of a fine of 40,000 marks, which she and 
her Lusband had eonsonted to pay on being restored to 
the king's favour, she told the justiciary, and tho rest who 
wcro sent to distrain upou their goods, that they must ex- 
pect nothing, she having no more money in her purso than 
twenty-fourmarks of silver, twenty-four shillings of Bezants, 
and fifteen ounces of gold. (See Dugdalc's Baron, torn. i. 
pp.416, 417.) John of Glaston in his Chronicle (vol. i. 
p. 224 ) informs us that Michael, abbot of Glastonbury, dying 
A.i>. 1253, left to his successor 'quadraginta Bisancios ct 
Tiginti libras stcrlingorum.* Chaucer names the ' Bcsaunt* 



in the Romauttt of the Rose ( Works, edit. 1 542, fol. exxxiii.), 
nnd Wickliffe, in his translation of the Ncto Testament 
(Luke, ehap. xv. v. 8, 9), uses the term ' Bcsauntis * for the 
ten pieces of money in the parable. 

The probability seems to bo that the Bezant of gold was 
current in England, if not from the ninth certainly, from 
the tenth century till tho timo of Edward 111., when the 
coinago of tho English noble drove it out of use. 

The Constantinopolitan Bezant was the coin which wo 
still see in our cabinets in gold, in tho form of an umbo or 
hollow dish, frequently bearing the portrait of our Saviour. 
The weight of one of thoso of Alexius Comncnus I., who 
reigned from 10S1 to 1 1 18, is seventy grains. The Moorish 
Bezants were Hat. Tho Constantinopolitan Bezant seems 
to bave been generally of about the value of a ducat, or 
nine shillings. Tho name was probably given in the middle 
ages to the gold coins of most countries. Cotgravo sajs 
that Henry 11. of France coined Bezants. 

Tbe white, or silver Bezant, in the 16th year of Stephen, 
according to an instrument quoted in Kennet's Parochial 
Antiquities, edit. 1695, p. 10, was of tho value of 2*. No 
silver bezant is at present known to exist, at least under 
that denomination, in the cabinets of our collectors : but 
Constantinopolitan coins of silver, of tlia same size and 
form with the gold bezitnts, aro found in cabinets, of the 
twelfth and later centuries : tbey usually weigh about forty 
or forty-three grains. 

Banduri ana other writers call both the gold and silver 
coins of Constantinople which wo have described, Nummi 
Scyphati. 

Camden (Remains, p. 236) says, that in tho court of Eng- 
land, the pieco of gold valued at 15/., which the king was 
anticntly accustomed to offer on high festival days, was 
called a Bizantinc : ' which, anticntly, was a piece of gold 
coined by the emperors of Constantinople ; but, afterward, 
there were two/ probably meaning bars, ' purposely inado 
for the king and queen, with the resemblance of the Trinity, 
inscribed/ 1 In honorem sanetro Trinitatis,"and on the other 
side tbe picture of the Virgin Mary, with ** In honorem 
sanetao Marico Virginis ;" and this was used till the thst 
year of King James, who, upon iust reason, caused two to 
be new cast, the ono for himself, having on the one side the 
picture of a king kneeling before an altar, with four crowns 
before him, implying his four kingdoms, and in the circum- 
scription, " Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae tri- 
buit mihi ?** On the other side a lamb lying by a lion, with 
"Cor eontritum et humiliatum non despiciet Deus." And 
in another for the queen, a cro\Vn protected by a cherubim, 
over that an eye, and " Deus*' in a cloud, with ° Tcget 
ala summus ;" on the reverse a queen kneeling beforo an 
altar, with this circumscription, " Piis prceibus fervente fulo 
humiliobsequio.*** 

By the treaty for tho deliverance of the French kincr St. 
Louis, and the other prisoners made at the battle of Man- 
soura and elsewhere, between the commissioners of his ma- 
jesty and the sultan of Babylon, it was agreed that the king 
should pay to the sultan 10,000 gold Bezants, which were 
then worth, according to the recital of the Sieur do Joinvillc, 
500,000 livrcs. The sultan afterwards reduced his demand 
to 800 Saracen gold Bezants. (Sco Johncs's Memoirs of 
John Lord de Jomville, vol. ii. Dissert, xx. p. 167.) 

BEZANT represents in heraldry the round pieces of gold 
already described, by which tho stipends of iho higher sol- 
diers of the army in the holy wars aro supposed to havo 
been paid. They arc, with us, always emblazoned gold, 
but the foreign heralds mako them both gold and silver. 

BEZIEKS. or BESlEttS, a town in France in the de- 
partment of llcrault. It stands on a hill at the toot of 
which Hows the river Orb, which is joined close to the town 
by the great Canal du Midi or du Langncdoc. It is 4S0 
miles S. or S. by E. of Paris through Clermont, Mcmlo, 
Anduzo, and Montpellier; in 43* 21' N. lat. and 3° 13' E. 
long, from Greenwich. 

This town existed at tho timo of the Roman dominion in 
tho south of France, and was ono of the early colonics of 
that people. Tho veterans of tho seventh legion wcro 
settled here ; and hence, in addition to its own name, which 
is variously written Berterrep, Rcterr<v, Biterra?, it acquired 
the designation of Septimanorum. Upon the downfall of 
tho Western Empire in tho fifth century it fell into the 
hands of tho Visigoths, by whom it was much injured. It 
revived, however, and was retained by them till the over- 
throw of tbeir kingdom. When tho Saracens overran tho 



B E Z 



361 



B H A 



south of Franee in the eighth century Beziers was taken by 
them, and from them by Charles Martel, who dismantled 
the fortifications. Again recovering from the disasters of 
war, the town nourished under the Carlovingian kings of 
France, and in the tenth century it had viscounts of its 
own, who, however, admitted the bishops of Beziers to a 
part of the temporal jurisdiction of the city. These viscounts 
were vassals of the counts of Barcelona, who became in 
course of time kings of Aragon. 

In the thirteenth century Beziers attained the height of its 
prosperity, though it had suffered severely in the prece- 
ding century in a quarrel between the townspeople and 
their viscounts. "When the opinions of the Albigcnses 
spread they -were embraced by many of the people of 
Beziers ; and when the crusade against that unhappy sect 
took place, this town was one of those on which the storm 
of fanatic persecution fell. In 1209 it was attacked by the 
Catholic army, and after a valiant resistance was carried by 
assault, and the capture was succeeded by a general mas- 
sacre. It was on this occasion that Arnaud, abbot of 
Citeaux, legate of the pope, being asked by his comrades 
among the besiegers how they should know the Catholics, 
replied — * Kill all— God will know his own.' 

Within a few years of this calamity, the remainder of the 
former inhabitants who had escaped by tlight, or had been 
absent at the time of the assault, recommenced building 
the town; it rose again from its ruins, and was in 1247 
ceded by the last Viscount to St. Louis, King of France. 
But the wars of England and France, in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, brought new disasters : the fortifications were ruined, 
and repaired, and ruined again. In the religious wars of 
the sixteenth century, Beziers was again involved ; and in 
the reign of Louis XIII., having embraced the party of his 
brother Gaston, duke of Orleans, it fell into the hands of the 
king, who ordered the citadel to be demolished. (Malte-Brun ; 
Expilly, Dictionnaire des Gaules.) 

The situation of this town is of almost unequalled beauty. 
From the hill on which it is situated the view extends over 
a valley where the pale leaf of the olive mingles with the 
massive verdure of the mulberry. Orchards, gardens, and 
vineyards, interspersed with country houses, extend along 
the banks of the Orb. On another side, eight or nine 
locks of the Canal du Midi rise successively one above 
the other, and form by the waters which escape from 
them a magnificent series of cascades. The town, which 
is surrounded by an old wall, lianked with towers, is tole- 
rably well built. The former cathedral of St, Nazaire 
(Nazarius), an ill-proportioned building, has an organ sus- 
tained by some singular bearded figures, whose appear- 
ance is somewhat ambiguous, as they have been taken by 
some for satyrs, while others represent them as doctors of 
law. The terrace in front of the cathedral is remarked for 
the beauty of its prospect ; another terrace or * belveder, 1 on 
or near the site of the citadel, has also a fine prospect. There 
are some remains of an amphitheatre ; but this, with the ex- 
ception of one or two inscriptions, is the only relic of Roman 
antiquity which has survived the repeated devastations of 
the town. There is an old figure of stone in one of the 
streets, which it was usual to dress up once a year. It was 
said to represent an ancient captain, Peire Pee rue, who, 
when the town was taken by the English, defended one 
street (the Rue Franeoise) against them. This figure is now 
called Pepesuc. Its origin and meaning are unknown. 

Before the revolution, Beziers had, besides its cathedral, 
a collegiate church, which had been in very antient times 
the cathedral, and was afterwards attached to a Benedictine 
abbey ; five parish churches ; an abbey of tha order of St. 
Augustin ; a college of the Jesuits ; monasteries for Domi- 
nicans, Recollets, Carmelites, Augustinians, Capuchins, 
and Minims ; and nunneries for nuns of the orders of St. 
Clara and of the Holy Ghost, for Visitandines and Ursulines. 
There wore besides two hospitals and a seminary for priests. 

The manufactures of Beziers consist of silk stockings, 
fine cloth, and druggets. There are also tan-yards, a glass- 
house, paper-mills, and distilleries. Tho product of its 
looms, together with the agricultural produce of the sur- 
rounding country, wine, brandy, oil, and silk, furnish the 
chief articles of trade. The population of the town in 1 832 
was 14,763, of the commune 16,769. 

The town has a subordinate court of justice (tribunal de 
premiere instance) and a tribunal de commerce, or court for 
the settlement of commercial disputes ; a college or high 
school, a library, an agricultural society, and a theatre. 



Provisions are abundant and cheap, and the town is coil 
sidcred to offer several temptations to an epicure. There is 
a communication daily by the Canal du Midi with Toulouse. 
(Rcichard's Road-Book.) 

Beziers has produced several men of eminence; among 
them are Jean Barbeyrac, a Protestant, whose family 
quitted France upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes ; 
Paul Pellisson Fontanier, an historical writer of some note, 
who endured a long imprisonment in the Bastile, in the 
time of Louis XIV., for his fidelity to his employer Fouquet, 
superintendent of the finances ; Paul Riquet, the projector 
and engineer of the great Canal du Midi, one of the most 
wonderful works of its time; and Jean Jacques Mairan 
de Dortous, an astronomer of note in the early part of the 
last century. 

This place was formerly the see of a bishop, a suffragan 
of the Archbishop of Narbonne ;' his diocese extended 
over a small part of Languedoc, now included in the diocese 
of Montpellier. The origin of the bishopric is antient : one 
of the possessors of it sat in the first council of Aries in 314, 

Beziers is the capital of an arrondissement, compre^ 
hending 260 square miles, or 166,400 acres, and containing 
12 cantons and 97 communes: the population in 1832 
was 1 23,647. The environs of the town are well cultivated J 
they yield lead, coal, and marble. There are also some' 
mineral waters. (Malte-Brun ; Robert, Dictionnaire Geo- 
graphique ; Dictionnaire' Universel de la France, tyc.) 

BEZOARS. The most probable etymology of the word 
bezoar is from the Persian Pad-zahr, i. e,. * expelling poison, 
the expeller of poison :* the stone bears this and other de- 
signations of similar import in Persian: e.g. Bad-zahr, 
which seems to be a corruption of Pdd-zafir. The word 
pad means ' relieving, curing, removing (disease),' and 
zahr is * poison/ Bezoars are substances found in various 
parts, but chieily in the intestines, of land animals, and 
which were regarded as antidotes to all poisons, as well as 
supposed to possess other extraordinary virtues. Hence any 
substance which possessed, or was thought to possess, im- 
portant qualities, was termed bezoardic, to indicate its value. 
Bezoars are either natural or artificial : but even the na- 
tural ones, being the result of disease, are not invariably 
met with in the animals which produce them. Their rarity, 
as well as the preternatural virtues ascribed to them, contri- 
buted to make them prized ; on which account they have 
sometimes been sold for ten times their weight of gold. 
Those which wero most esteemed came from the east and 
were the earliest used. The most highly-valued of these 
was obtained from the stomach of the Capra Aegagrus, or 
wild goat of Persia. This was called by way of eminence 
Lapis Bezoar Orienialis. The greater number of bezoars 
are procured from ruminating animals, and in many in- 
stances they are nothing more than some portion of their 
food agglutinated into a ball by the secretions of the intes- 
tinal canal. Similar formations are sometimes found in the 
human stomach or intestines, especially in persons who live 
much upon vegetable or farinaceous food. (See Monro On 
the Morbid Anatomy of the Gullet, &c.) The bezoars from 
the west, called also American, are chiefly obtained from 
the Auclienia Lama and Auchenia Vicuna,^ Illig. These 
have been analyzed by Proust, and found chiefly to consist 
of phosphate of lime. (See Ann, de Chimie f vol. i. p. 197.) 
The oriental and some other bezoars were analyzed by 
Foureroy and Vauquclin, (See Ann. du Museum d'Hist. 
Nat. i. 93, iv. 334.) 

Bezoars, though still esteemed in the east, have long 
fallen into merited disuso in Europe. Various artificial 
bezoars were often fraudulently substituted for the genu- 
ine; but these are not to be confounded with certain 
metallic preparations, chiefly of tin, silver, mercury, and 
lead, tbc composition of which was well known, and only* 
designated bezoars from their power in curing diseases ; 
these, if employed in the present day, are designated by* 
other names, and will be noticed under the heads of the 
metals and their preparations. 

The Bezoardicum animate was the name gnen to fher 
heart and liver of vipers, which, with other disgusting arti- 
cles, were once used in medicine, but are now laid aside, 

BHADRINATH, a town in northern Hindustan, situ- 
ated on the west side of the river Alacananda, in 30° 43' N* 
lat., 79° 39' E. long. Bhadrinath derives all its importance 
from its temple, which contains idols that arc the objects of 
great reverence all through India. It is stated that the- 
pilgrims and religious mendicants who annually visit this- 



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[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



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leraplo amount to nearly 50,000. A belief is prevalent 
among Hindus that Bhadrinath is the dwclling-placo of 
many holy persons, who ha\e been living there in retirement 
for many thousand years. To favour this belief a cavern is 
pointed out to pilgrims as being the abode of these sancti- 
fied personages, but as the mouth of this cavern is closed 
by a great mass of snow, it is not possible for any of tho 
visiters to satisfy their curiosity by invading tho sanctuary 
of its inhabitants. Tho principal idol preserved in the teraplo 
is a figure cut out of black marble, which, during the season 
at which pilgrims resort to tho shrine, is clothed in gold and 
silver brocade, and is attended by a numerous retinue of ser- 
vants. But with the departure of the pilgrims tho glory of the 
idol departs also ; the attendants are dismissed, tho clothing 
is removed, and the figure itself is stowed away in a vault. 

The principal part of the houses in the town are occupied 
by brahmins and other attendants on the temple, most of 
whom withdraw from the place during winter, and return 
in time for tho reception of the pilgrims. 

Bhadrinath stands in the centre of a narrow valley about 
four miles in length. The town is 1 0,294 feet above the 
level of tho sea. Tho land to the north rises to a great 
neight, the peak of ono mountain being 23,4 1 1 feet abovo 
the sea. At the end of May, masses of undissolved snow 
seventy feet thick have been observed on these mountains; 
sorao of them are perpetually covered with snow. Near to 
the high peak just mentioned is a spring of hot water, tho 
steam rising from which emits a sulphurous smell. 

(Asiatic Researches ; Hamilton's East India Gazetteer.) 

BHURTPORE, a district in the province of Agra, ex- 
tending from Biana, in 26° 57' N. lat., 77° 8' E. long., to 
Gopaulghur, in 27" 39' N. lat, and 77° 12' E. long., and 
forming tho western boundary of the province of Agra, 

The soil in general is light and sandy, and the country is 
bare of trees. The land is represented by Bishop Hcber as 
being ono of tho best cultivated and watered tracts that ho 
had seen in. India; it is irrigated only from wells. The 
principal productions are corn, cotton, and sugar, the last- 
mentioned of these being more carefully attended to than is 
usual in India. Tho villages arc said by the bishop to havo 
been in good condition and repair, while the whole country 
afforded a pleasing picture of industry. 

The territory of Bhurtpore is governed by an independent 
native rajah, who is one of the principal chieftains of the 
Jauts. His dominions, the area of wbich is little less than 
5000 square miles, contain, besides Bhurtpore, the capital, 
several towns, among which are, Combher, Dccg, AVeyrc, 
Biana, Kurnau, Gopaulghur, Nuggur, Robass, Wheeguish, 
Rood aw ah, Nudbharce, and Phnrscr. Combher, which is 
in 27* 17' N. lat, 77° 14' E. long., is tho placo whero the 
salt is manufactured which is largely eonsumed in Upper 
Hindustan under the name of balumba: this salt is pro- 
cured by evaporation from the water of some brine springs 
found in the neighbourhood. Deeg is situated in 27° 30' 
N. lat., and 77° 12' E. long., fifty-seven miles north-cast of 
Agra. The ruins of many fine palaces give this fortress 
the appearance of having onco been a placo of importance. 
A sevcro action was fought under its walls in 1805 be- 
tween the English forces under Lord Lake and tho army 
of Holkar, in which the latter was defeated with great 
slaughter. During tho rainy season the town would be 
subject to injury from the torrents that pour down from the 
high lands but for extensive embankments, which arc con- 
stantly kept in repair. Weyre, in 27° 2' N. lat., 77° 2' E. 
long., is on the high road from Jcyporo to Agra, and fifty 
miles west of the latter city. The town is surrounded by 
mud walls with circular bastions ; tho interior consists, like 
many other Indian towns, of an incongruous assemblage of 
mud huts and magnificent marble dwellings with gardens 
and founUins ; the inhabitants arc a mixture of Jauts and 
Mohammedans. Biana, which was tho capital of the pro- 
vince of Agra when tho sito of the present capital was oc- 
cupied by a small village, is situated in 26° 57' N. lat, 77° 
8' E. long. Biana is built on the Ban Gunga river, fifty 
miles west-south-west from Agra. This town was first con- 
quered by tho Mohammedans in 1197. It is still a con- 
siderable place, containing several largo stone houses. The 
inhabitants embark with activity in commercial pursuits. 
The tojrn of Kurnau covers an extensivo site, but is for the 
most part in ruins, only the eastern quarter being at all in- 
habited ; it has a largo brick fort in the ccntro, which is 
also in ruins. The other towns thr*. have been named do 
not require further notice, 



A treaty was concluded in 1803 between the English and 
the rajah of Bhurtpore, which provided that his dominions 
should be taken under British protection, while he, on the 
other hand, engaged to assist the English against Scindia 
and the rajah of Bcrar, with whom they were then at war. 
In the following year, when hostilities commenced likewise 
with Jcswunt Rao Holkar, the rajah of Bhurtpore, disre- 
garding the treaty, joined his forces with those of Holkar 
The fortress of Bnurtporo was in consequence invested by 
the army under Lord Lake, to whom it was delivered up in 
April, 1805, when a fino of twenty lacs of rupees was im- 
posed upon the rajah. This chief, Rhuudcr Sing, died in 
October, 1823, childless, and was succeeded by his brother, 
Buldco Sing, who died in February, 1825, leaving a son 
named Bulwunt Sing, then only six years of age. His suc- 
cession was disputed by hi? uncle, Doorjan Lall, who assumed 
the sovereignty. Bulwunt Sing having been previously re- 
eognized by Lord Amherst, then governor-general, a force, 
commanded by Lord Combcrmere, consisting of 25,000 men, 
with a train of artillery, was sent against the usurper, and 
the fortress of Bhurtpore was carried by assault on the l&th 
of January, 1826, with a loss to tho British forces of 3000 
killed and wounded. Tho young rajah, Bulwunt Sing, was 
then duly installed, and tho territory of Bhurtpore was 
charged with the expense of the military operations, amount- 
ing to 24,39,173 rupees. At that time tho fortress was a 
place of great strength, being surrounded by high walls sixty 
feet thick, and having a wide and deep ditch beyond. Tho 
walls, which were Hanked at short intervals by bastions 
amply provided with artillery, are about eight miles round. 
The principal fort stood on high ground, at tho eastern side 
of the town. This fort, with the principal bastions and other 
military defences, have since been blown up and demolished. 

(Mills's History of British India ; Bishop Hcbcr's Jour- 
nal ; Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on 
the Affairs nf the East India Comp., 1 832, political section.) 

BI'AFRA, BIGHT OF, is the innermost part of the 
Gulf of Guinea, on the western const of Africa : it is 
bounded on the S. by Cape Lopez (about 1° 3(K S. lat.) and 
on the N. by Cape Formosa (5° 40' N. lat. and near 6 3 
E. long.) ; Cape Formosa divides it from the Bight of Benin. 
A straight line uniting both promontories and passing near 
Prince's Island (Isola do Principe) would measure about 
580 miles, and would be upwards of 250 miles from tho 
mouth of the Old Calcbar river, which enters the inner- 
most eorncr of tho Bight. The shores of the bay probably 
oxtend to more than 800 miles. 

The curront prevailing in this bay docs not appear to bo 
in any way connected with tho equatorial current of tho 
Atlantic Ocean, which commences near the island of Anno 
Bom [see Atlantic Ocean], but to bo a continuation of 
that current which comes up from the Cape of Good Hope 
along tho western shores of Africa ; for Captain Botclcr 
observed that all tho currents along Prince's Island sot 
strong, and in the dry season commonly between N.N.W. 
and N.N.E. The wind generally blows from the S.W. or S. 
Tho current, however, is changed by the tornadoes when- 
ever they occur at full or change, at which time blow- 
ing from the S.E. or N.E. with great violence, they alter tho 
direction of the current to W.S.W. or W.N.W. 

The northern shores of the bay, nearly to the mouth of 
the Old Calcbar river, aro flat and low, belonging to the 
extensive delta of the Quorra river, or Niger, whose prin- 
cipal branch, the Nun, empties itself into the sea near 
Cape Formosa. The Old Calcbar river is tho first river on 
this side which has no communication with tho Quorra, 
to which it runs parallel, and is separated from it by a 
hilly country, which also extends southward to the Rio 
del Rcy. To the south of the Rio del Rev the country rises 
into mountains, which, opposito the Island Fernando do Po, 
attain a considerable height. These mountains, called Ca- 
meroon Mountains, from the river Cameroon, which bounds 
them on the south, contain a peak, which, according to esti- 
mation, rises to 13,000 feet above tho sea, and secins to bo 
connected with the Rumby Mountains which skirt the delta 
of the Quorra on the cast. 

South of this mountain-region runs the river Cameroon, 
of which very little is known ; and south of the river ex- 
tends a hilly or rather mountainous country, which, how- 
ever, by degrees recedes farther into tho interior and leaves 
a low and often swampy tract along tho shore, especially to 
the south of Cape St. John. South of this eapo the coast 
form* two smaller bay*, divided from one another by a com*- 



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paratively narrow tract of land, which terminates in Cape 
Clara, 0° 18' N. lat. Into the northern of these bays the 
river Danger, or Rio d'Angra, empties itself. This river, 
which is called by tbe natives Moohnda, flows, according to 
the information collected by Bowdich, far from the interior, 
and though it is not so wide as the Gaboon, its southern neigh- 
bour, it is considerably deeper: it is not visited by European 
vessels. The southern bay between Cape Clara and Sandy 
Point may be considered as the sestuary of the Gaboon river. 

The Gaboon or Gabon river is the only place on the coast 
of the bay of Biafra which bas been frequented by Euro- 
pean vessels, and of which we have obtained more parti- 
cular information. Its extensive testuary at its junction 
with the open sea is on an average eighteen miles wide, 
Cape Clara being twenty-five miles distant from Sandy 
Point, and it extends eastward forty-five miles and up- 
wards. About twenty-two or twenty-three miles from the 
open sea are two islands, ealled Parrot or Embenee and 
Konig or Dambee, of which only the latter and larger is 
inhabited. East of these islands the sestuary grows still 
wider, forming two small bays on the south and north, so 
that it here is thirty miles across ; but it soon narrows to 
about twelve miles, wbieh breadth it preserves to its eastern 
extremity, about forty or forty-five miles from the sea. At 
its upper end it receives two large rivers . one runs from 
the east, and falls into tho sostuary with a mouth about 
four miles wide; the other proceeds from the S.S.E., and 
at its embouchure is about two miles wide. The eastern 
river, at a considerable distance from its mouth, is still a mile 
wide. The river, which Hows from the S.E., is Ogovawai, 
and is said to divide in the interior into two branches, of 
which tho southern one runs into the Congo, which is com- 
paratively a small river before this eonfluenee, whieh takes 
place about ten days* pull from the mouth of the Congo river. 

Tbe places most resorted to by European traders are 
George's Town or Nalingo, on a ereek of the sestuary of the 
Gaboon, about forty- five miles from the sea, and Mayumba, 
farther south on the eoast, and nearly at equal distance 
from the Gaboon and Congo rivers. Naango consists of 
One street, wide, regular, and elean. The houses are very 
neatly coustrueted of bamboo, and the manners of the more 
wealthy inhabitants are very pleasing and hospitable, and 
a European may reside among them not only with safety 
but with eomfort. The inhabitants do not amount to more 
than 500 in number. The principal exports are redwood 
and ivory, both of which are in abundance. 

The elim.ate about this part of the Gaboon is very un- 
healthy, the heat being very great and always sensibly 
greater than on the Gold Coast or in the interior; but it is 
especially intenso before the setting in of the sea breeze. 
The insalubrity of the elimate is, however, still more caused 
by evaporation, especially in the wet season, when the va- 
pours rising from the inundated country render the atmo- 
sphere so dense that it becomes very oppressive. 

Wild animals are numerous, especially elephants, which 
are killed by the natives with poisoned arms. They use 
for this purpose two kinds of poison, both of whieh are the 
milky juices of the stalks of plants. These poisons are 
rubbed on the musket-balls, spears, arrows, and knives, 
and the effect on the elephant is described as almost in- 
stantaneous. Other remarkable animals are the ourang- 
outang and other kinds of monkeys, among which one, called 
by the natives indeyana, is said to be five feet higb and four 
feet across the shoulders. Cameleons are frequent. Of 
domestic animals only goats and fowls are reared, and in 
the interior dogs also, where they are used as food. Water- 
birds are not common, except pelicans. In the creeks of 
the sestuary white mullets abound. 

Agriculturo is very little attended to, nature having been 
so hountiful in her gifts that the labour of sowing and reap- 
ing is almost unnecessary. Cotton and tobacco grow spon- 
taneously (Bowdich) ; tho eaoutchouc tree is common, and 
likewise a species of butter tree, and the tree from which the 
kolla-nuts arc gathered. The mangrove trees are found on 
the banks of the creeks and rivers, and they even grow some 
Yards from the bank in the water, where their lower branches 
aro frequently-covered witb oysters. The palm-wine tree 
is plentiful. Like most parts of the countries enclosing tho 
Gulf of Guinea, tbe woods arc so covered beneath with 
shrubs and plants that they seem impenetrable. Immense 
runners, twisting together, drop from the branches like 
large eables, generally covered with, parasites ; sometimes 
they adhere to the parent stem, and become themselves a 



tree ; at others they shoot across to the branches of a neigh- 
bouring tree, and thus seem to form the forest into one mass 
The climbing plants contribute to their entanglement ; in- 
terlacing their tendrils among the trees, they en wreath 
them in the most beautiful ilowers, and dropping in festoons 
form a splendid drapery to the green of the canopy. 

Neither gold nor silver Js found in this part of Africa. 
Iron is everywhere abundant, and is got out and worked by 
the Kaylee, a nation inhabiting the mountainous and woody 
country east of the Gaboon on the banks of the river run- 
ning from the east. This tribe seems also to have made 
some progress in other branches of industry : tbey make 
eloth of bamboo, which resembles very much in appearance 
eoarse hrown Holland. Their mats are very fine, and much 
varied in colours and patterns. 

Tbe negro tribes inhabiting this eountry do not seem to 
belong to one nation : the languages spoken by them vary 
too greatly to admit such a supposition; but the scanty 
vocabularies hitherto obtained are quite insufficient to enable 
us to decide this point. Tbis country contains a great num- 
ber of small states, no great controlling kingdom being 
found here as to the west of the Quorra, like those of Ashan- 
tee, Dahomey, and Benin. The most considerable is that of 
Oroongo, which comprehends the country about Cape 
Lopez. (Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to the 
Ashantee; Lander; Journal of the Geographical Society, 
ii. ; Map of Berghaus.) 

BIALYSTOCK, a province of Western Russia, compre- 
hended in what is termed 'Tbe Midland Region,' and 
situated between 52° 3' and 53° 38' N. lat., and 22° 30' 
and 24° 12' E. long. It is bounded on the north and west 
by Poland, and on the south and east by the Russian 
province of Grodno; its superficial extent is about 3360 
square miles. It constituted part of the former kingdom of 
Poland, and belonged to the voyvodeship of Podlachia until 
it was incorporated with the Russian dominions under the 
third treaty of partition in 1795. Tbe greater part of Bialy- 
stoek, however, was afterwards transferred to the duchy 
of Warsaw by virtue of the treaty of Tilsit in 1807, and 
the remainder having been eeded to Russia was erected 
into a distinct province, which an ukase of 1831 placed 
under the eontrol of the government of Grodno. The gene- 
ral character of its surface is a fiat, studded with sand- 
hills : the soil is in most parts light and sandy, but adapted 
to agricultural purposes, and in the southern districts, where 
there is an intermixture of sand and loam, it is highly pro- 
ductive. Three out of the four eircles of the province, that 
of Beltz forming the exception, eontain extensive woods 
and forests. The principal river of this province is the 
Western Bug, which forms its south-western boundary from 
Niomiroff to the village of Glina, and being navigable con- 
nects it witb Warsaw and Danzig through the intervention 
of the Vistula : its tributaries are the Nurzek, which rises 
in the heart of the province, and for a short distance skirts 
it on the side of Poland; and the Narcva, whose winding 
course traverses Bialystock from north-east to south-west, 
though it is not navigable. The Suprasl, adapted only for 
floating timber, falls into the Nareva in this province, and 
also the Bober, Bobra, or Bieheza : both rivers separate the 
province from Poland for a considerable distance ; the Bober 
is extremely slow, edged with swamps and rushes, inundates 
the adjacent country in spring, and its Maters arc always 
muddy. Between the Nareva and Goniondz, the Bober 
converts an area of full 210 square miles into a eomplete 
morass. The climate is temperate though moist, and not 
unhealthy in those parts where the exhalations from the 
swamps do not infect the atmosphere. The inhabitants are 
principally employed in husbandry, and raise sufficient 
grain, particularly rye and wheat, not only for their own 
consumption but for export. Buckwheat, pease, hemp, and, 
in sandy soils, flax, are grown extensively : neither vege- 
tables nor fruit, except in a wild state, grow anywhere but 
on tbe estates of the nobility, and even then they are of 
the most ordinary descriptions ; hops are raised in the 
environs of Nareff and Klcszcl. The supply of timber, 
though abundant, is diminishing for want or replanting. 
Game and wild animals, particularly wolves, foxes, deer, 
and boars, are plentiful ; the breed of horses is good and of 
a very durable kind ; the sheep are of the black species, 
but much neglected ; and the rearing of horned cattle is so 
ill conducted that milk is scarce, and the inhabitants are 
obliged to import both butter and cheese. Small quantities 
of tallow, black wool, wax, and honey are exported ; the fish- 

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erics tiro almost unproductive ; and tho province yields no 
minerals beyond frce-stonc, clay, limestono, and a little iron, 
which is consumed in the country. Mechanical industry is 
quite in its infancy, and the whoio prbvincc docs not possess 
a single manufactory, or a commercial establishment of any 
extent, though it carries on much trade, in timber particu- 
larly, with Danzig, Konigsbcrg, Eibing, and Mcmel. The 
population, including a host of noblemen (schlachtey or 
schtacht schuizen. i.e. fighting-men), amounted in 1807 to 
153.300 souls, and is at present estimated at about 230,000. 
These noblemen, of whom a vast proportion are so indigent 
as to cultivate their lands with their own hands, or hire 
themselves as labourers to their superiors in ailiucncc, are 
said to exceed 9000 families in number, or nearly 50,000 
individuals. Jews abound in the province, though not 
permitted by law to resido in any town. Bialystock is di- 
vided into the four circles of Bialystock, Bclz, Droguitchin 
or Drohiezyn, and Sokolka. 

Its capital, which gives name to the province, lies on the 
little river Bialy ; though not walled, it has five massive 
towers, two suburbs, a spacious market, an extensive ranee 
of building for the sale of merchandise, containing nearly 
forty stores, a palace and park, once belonging to the counts 
of Potocky, but at present to the town, two churches and as 
many chapels, a convent, a gymnasium and civic school, a 
hospital, lying in institution, &c. It is regularly built, 
several of the streets are bordered with lime-trees, broad, 
at right angles to one another, and paved ; and many of tho 
houses (about 700 in number) are handsome, though in 
general they arc neatly constructed of wood, and do not 
exceed one story in height. On the whole, the town is 
deemed sufficiently fine to have deserved, at least among 
the natives, the appellation of ' the Podlachian Versailles.' 
In 1797 the number of houses was 459, and of inhabitants 
3370 ; nt the present day the population is above G000. 
Bialystock lies in 53° V N. lat. and 23° 18' E. long. 

The province contains altogether twenty-six towns, one 
market village, and 533 villages and hamlets. Among the 
first may be mentioned, besides tho capital, Belsk (sec that 
art.), Goniondz on the Bobcr, a small place in a sandy dis- 
trict, with about 1370 inhabitants; Sofwlha. an ill-built 
town near a small lake, with about 1100; Drohiezyn on 
the Bug, the ancient capital ofPodlachia, containing four 
churches, a college of Piarists, with a public school attached 
to it, two monasteries, a convent, and about 1 000 inhabitants ; 
Ciechanoviek* on the Nurzek, with its Jahionofsky palace, 
two churches, a convent, an hospital, and about 2700 inha- 
bitants; and Siemiatiishe* a well-built town, with a hand- 
some palace, which as well as the town belonged to the 
Jablonofsky family, two churches, a synagogue, and about 
3G00 inhabitants, the greater part of whom are Jews. 

BIAKCHPNI, FRANCESCO, born at Verona. Decem- 
ber 13, 16G2, studied at Padua, where he applied himself 
particularly to mathematics under the learned Professor 
Moiitanari. At the same time he also made great progress 
in classical learning, a taste for which induced him, after he 
left the university, to proceed, in 1G84, to Rome, where Car- 
dinal Pietro Ottoboni. who knew Bianehini's family, received 
him into his house and made him his librarian. In this 
situation Bianchini devoted all his time to study : he in- 
vestigated the monuments, medals, inscriptions, and other 
remains of antiquity with which Home abounds; and he 
then conceived the idea of a universal history, grounded 
not so much upon written authorities, as upon the monu- 
ments of former times which have been found in various 
parts of the world. 

In 1GS0, according toLalandc in his Bibliographic Astro- 
nonttque, lie published at Bologna a Dialogo Fisico-Astro- 
nomico contro il Sisterna Copernicano. 

In 1630, Cardinal Ottoboni having become pope, under 
the name of Alexander VII I n was enabled to provide for 
Bianchini, by making him a eanon of Santa Maria ad Mar- 
tyres, and bestowing on him some pensions besides. Alex- 
ander's pontificate was very short, but it placed Bianchini 
above want. Alexander's nephew, also called Cardinal 
Ottoboni, continued after his uncle's death to patronise 
Bianchini, and retained him in tho ofiice of librarian. 

In 1697 Bunchini published the firsts part of his universal 
history : htoria Universale provata cox Monument i eflgu- 
rata cot Simbo/i deg/i Antichi, 4to. Rome, 1G97. It begins 
with the first records we have of the eastern nations, and 
ends with the destruction of the Assyrian empire under 
Sardanapalus. The author trcals of the Babylonians, the 



Arabs, tho Phoenicians and their colonics, tho Egyptians, 
the Ethiopians, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and of ail the 
other nations who have left monumental remains. It is a 
book full of curious erudition: it is illustrated by plates. 
Bianchini, however, did not continue the work. Clement 
XI. being raised to the papal chair in 1 700, showed a marked 
favour towards Bianchini. He sent him to Naples in 1702» 
to accompany the Cardinal Legate Barberini, who went to 
congratulate Philip V. of Spain when he came to take^ pos- 
session of that kingdom. Clement also made Bianchini a 
prelate of his court, secretary to several congregations, and 
gave him apartments in the Quirinal Palace. He also- 
made him a canon of Santa Maria Maggiorc. Bianchini 
had taken deacon's orders, but through modesty he never 
would be ordained presbyter. 

In 1703 Bianchini wrote two dissertations on the Julian 
Calendar, and on the various attempts made, especially by 
St. Hippoiitus, for reforming it previous to the Gregorian 
reform : De Calendario et Cycfo C&saris, ac de Canone 
Paschali Sancti llippoliti martyris, Dissertatiortes du<c 
ad S. D. N. Clemeniem A7., Pont Max., Roince, 1703. 
Bianchiniwas employed by the pope in drawing a meridian 
line in the church "of La Madonna degli Augeli, like 
that traced by Cassini in the church of S. Pctronio 
at Bologna. In 1 705 he was made a patrician of Rome by 
a decree of the senate, and in 1712 he was sent by Clement 
XI. to France to carry the cardinal's hat to the new-inado 
cardinal, Rohan Soubisc. After going to Paris, he went to 
Holland, and afterwards to England, when he visited Oxford, 
and was received everywhere with marked attention by the 
learned. Having returned to Rome in June, 1713, he re- 
sumed his labours I>oth in astronomy and archaeology. 
He superintended, with great care, a fine edition of the 
lives of the popes by Anastasius, with notes and comments : 
Vita? Romanorum Pontijicum a /?. Petro Apostolo ad 
Nicotaum 7. perducta? % curd Anas tost i S. R. Ecclesia Bib- 
liothecarii, 3 vols, folio, 1718-28. The fourth and last 
volume was published after Bianehini's death by his nephew, 
Giuseppe Bianchini, in 1745. 

In the year 172G, an anticnt building was discovered near 
the Via Appia, about a mile and a half outside of Rome, 
consisting of three sepulchral chambers of the servants and 
freedmen of Augustus and his wife Li via. Only one of 
the three rooms was cleared of the earth and rubbish, which 
Bianchini inspected carefully. Rows of small niches, like 
pigeons' nests, one row above the other, ran along the four 
sides of the room, and every niche contained two or more 
* oliaj cineraria?,* or little urns of terra cotta, in which the 
ashes of the dead were deposited. Above the niches were 
tablets containing the names and the offices of the persons 
whose remains lay in the urns beneath. Bianchini gives 
many of these inscriptions, which throw considerable light 
on the manners and domestic habits of those times: several 
of them refer to female servants of Livia. The total number 
of urns in that one room was above 1000. Another building 
of the same description had been discovered some years be- 
fore in another vineyard by the Via Appia, about half a mile 
nearer Rome. It also consisted of three rooms, which con- 
tained at least 3000 urns, likewiso of servants and libcrti of 
Augustus: Fabbrctti published a description of them. The 
names in the inscriptions denote individuals from every part 
of the Roman empire, some natives of Asia Minor and Syria, 
and others from the banks of the Danube, the Rhine, or the 
Ebro. Some of the inscriptions refer to the time of Clau- 
dius, and even to a later period, but by far the greater num- 
ber belong to the time of Augustus. Other sepulchral de- 
posits have been found of the slaves and freedmen of that 
emperor and his wife Livia, altogether showing the amazing 
number of servants attached to the great Roman families. 
Bianchini published the description of the room which he 
had inspected : Camera ed Insert zi on i Scpolcrali dei Li- 
berii, Servi, ed Ufficiali delta Casa di An gusto scoperte 
nella Via Appia, ed illustrate con le Annotazioni di Mon- 
signore Francesco Bianchini, Veronese, tan no 172G, fol. 
Roma, 1727. After exploring by day the sepulchral cham- 
bers in the Via Appia, Bianchini used to attend to his 
observatory by night. The planet Venus was the principal 
object of his ob sensations. By attentively examining the 
spots on that planet, he was enabled to determine the pe- 
riod of its rotation. Tho result of his observations was 
published under the title of Hesperi et Phosphori nova 
P/itrnomena, sirg Observationes circa Planeiam Veneris, 
a F* Blancltino, S. Z>. N t Papa* Prcelato Domestico, Romeo, 



B I A 



3G5. 



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1728. He dedicated tho work to John V. king of Portugal, 
who sent him in return a magnificent telescope, and a 
handsome present in money. 

JSianchini formed the design of drawing a meridian line 
through Italy, from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, 
passing through Rome, Mount Soractc, Assisi, Gu-bbio, 
&c. With this view he carried on his operations for eight 
years, at his own expense, and was obliged at last to give 
them up for want of means. An account of his labours 
was published after his death by his friend Eustachio Man- 
Vedi of Bologna : Francisci Bianehini, Veronensis, Astro- 
aomica* ac Geographical Observationes selectee, Roma, 
atque aliter per Italiam habitat, ex ejus Autographis ex- 
cerpta*, una cum Geographica Meiidiani Romani Tabula a 
Mari Supero ad Inferum, ex iisdem observationibus collecta 
et concinnata, cura et studio Eustachii Manfredi, Verona, 
1737. Bianehini himself had published that part of his 
observations which refers to the duchy of Urhino, through 
which his meridian was to pass : Notizie e Prove delta Coro- 
grafia del Ducato di Urbino, e delta longitudine e latitudine 
geografica delta citta medesima e delte vicine,' che servono 
a stabilire quelle di tutta Italia. This memoir was inserted 
in the work called Memorie di Urbino, folio, Roma, 1724. 

Under Clement XI. Bianehini began a museum of anti- 
quities connected with ecclesiastical history, which he in- 
tended ^ to illustrate by monuments, as he had already 
done with regard to profane history. The plan was however 
interrupted for want of funds. His nephew, Giuseppe Bian- 
ehini, made use of what had been collected for his Demon- 
stratio Histories Ecclesiastica* comprobatce Monumentis ad 
/idem temporum et gestorum, two vols, folio, Roma, 1751;, 
which treats of the first two centuries of the church. While 
Bianehini was one day, in 1727, exploring the ruins of the 
palace of the Caesars on Mount Palatine, he fell through a 
broken vault to a considerable depth, and hurt himself se- 
verely. Having recovered his health in some measure, 
he resumed his elaborate description of those immense 
ruins, which however was not published till after his death : 
Del Palazzo de" Cesari in Roma, opera postuma, fol. Ve- 
rona, 1738, with some fine engravings. He died at Rome, 
March 2, 1729, and was buried in Santa Maria Maggiore. 
A modest epitaph, which he had himself composed, was 
placed on his tomb, but his brother eanons added another 
to it, in whieh a just tribute is paid to the character of the 
deceased. The eity of Verona raised a handsome monu- 
ment to his memory in the cathedral. 

Bianehini was simple in his habits, strictly moral, pious, 
and kind-hearted. He had no worldly ambition : his only 
passion was that of study. Numerous dissertations by 
him are scattered in the Memoires de I'Academie des Sci- 
ences, in the Acta Eruditorum, and in other collections. 
There are eloges of him in the Nouvelles Litteraires de 
Leipsig, Jan., 1731, and the Hist, de V Academic 1729. 
Mazzuehelli and Mazzoleni have written biographies of 
Bianehini, with a long list of his works. 

His nephew, already mentioned, who was a man of con- 
siderable learning, published some of his uncle's Opuscula 
Varia, in 2 vols. 4to. Rome, 1754, and also his dissertation 
on the musical instruments of the antients : De Tribus 
Generibus Instrumentorum Musica Veterum Organiccv, 
Rome, 1742. This Giuseppe Bianehini is likewise the 
author of several learned works. There is also a Giuseppe 
Maria Bianehini, a native of Prato in Tuscany, who wrote a 
treatise on the Italian satire, a history of the grand dukes 
of Tuscany, and other works of literature. 

BIAPHO'LIUS (zoology), Leaeh's name for a genus of 
bivalve shells, indistinctly known, and whieh Rang considers 
to be identical with the genus HiateUa of Daudin. [See 

HlATELLA.] 

BIAS, one of the seven philosophers ealled ' the Wise Men 
of Greece.' The exact dates of his birth and death are not 
known, but it appears from Herodotus (i. 170), that he was 
living at the time of the first eonquest of Ionia by the Persians 
under Cyrus, B.C. 544-539. He was born atPriene, and his 
father was named Teutamus. Very few particulars of his 
life are reeorded, but among them is one anecdote to the 
following effect:— Having purchased some young Messe- 
nian girls of good family, wno had been made eaptives, he 
brought them up as if they had been his own daughters, 
gave them marriage-portions, and sent them home, without 
ransom, to their parents. Soon after, a tripod being brought 
up in the nets of some fishermen (Diogenes Laertius says of 
Athens, in the Life nf Bias, and of Miletus in that of 



Thales), bearing an inscription, ' To the wise/ these young 
women, or their father, appeared, and relating what Bias 
had done, procured that the tripod should be given to their 
benefactor. Bias sent the tripod to Apollo at Delphi, inti- 
mating that the title of wise belonged to the god alone ; or„ 
according to another account, consecrated it to the Thebart 
Hercules. . But there are several varying versions of thia 
story of the tripod, which is reasonably conjectured to be? 
nothing but a legendary method of accounting for the origin, 
of the title of the ' Seven Wise Men/ 

It is said by Herodotus, that when Ionia was invaded by 
the Persians, Bias advised a general migration to Sardinia. 
The advice was not followed, and Bias ended his life in 
his native city. One of the stories told of him is, that 
when Alyattes, king of Lydia, besieged Priene, Bias fatted 
two mules, and sent them out into the Lydian camp. 
The king, surprised and dispirited by the apparent plenty 
which the good condition of the animals indicated, sent a 
messenger to treat of peace. On this, Bias directed the 
citizens to make heaps of sand, and cover them lightly over 
with grain. He took care that the messenger should see 
these heaps ; and the man, on his return, represented the 
abundance in the city in such a light, that Alyattes im- 
mediately agreed to terms of peace. A similar story is, told 
by Herodotus of Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus (i. 21, 22). 
The same author (i, 27) relates the manner in which either 
Bias or Pittacus deterred Croesus from invading the Grecian 
islands. These stories are worth notice, as indicating what 
is to he understood of the * Seven Wise Men/ They were, 
not philosophers in the sense in which thjg word is commonly* 
used, to designate men who have entered deeply into specu- 
lative science, for Thales, the founder of the Ionic school,, 
was the only one of them who had any claim to that 
title : they seem merely to have been men of high re- 
pute for moral, political, or legislative knowledge, such, 
as it then existed. Thus the few remains of them which, 
are extant are* comprised in the form of short pithy 
maxims, generally in verse, with the sentiment of which 
we are now so familiar, for the most part, as to regard, 
them as self-evident propositions or truisms, and are there- 
fore likely to underrate the merit of those who first enunci- 
ated them. Sueh were those which Hipparchus inscribed 
on the Hermso at Athens, * selecting the wisest things- 
which he knew, both what he had learned and what he had 
himself thought out/ (Plato, Hipparchus, i. ii. 238, ediu 
Bekker.) Of this class of sayings we find the following,, 
among others, ascribed to Bias : — Being asked, what is diffi- 
cult and unpleasant? he replied, ' To bear with nobleness 
the ehanges from better to worse/ * What is sweet to man ?* 
Answer, * Hope/ He said that it was better to arbitrate; 
between your enemies than between your friends, because 
one of the enemies was sure to turn to a friend, and one of 
the friends sure to turn to an enemy. ' Life should be so< 
ordered as if men. were to live a long time and a short one.. r 
' Be slow to set hand to work, but what you begin abide by/ 
' Take wisdom as the provision for travelling from youth to. 
age, for of all possessions that sticks the closest/ Agree- 
ably to this, it is said that on one occasion, when all persons; 
but himself were collecting their valuables for flight, he re- 
plied to those who expressed their wonder at his indifference,. 
' I carry everything of mine about nic.' He is said to have: 
written two thousand verses on the subject, * How Ionia, 
might most prosper/ He was celebrated for skill in plead- 
ing eauses, which, however, he has the credit of having; 
always employed on the right side. His death took place- 
after he had pleaded a eause successfully, in extreme old' 
age. After the exertion, he reclined with his head on the* 
bosom of his grandson, and on the breaking up of the court, 
he was found to be dead. His fellow- citizens gave him a: 
splendid funeral at the puhlie expense, and consecrated a* 
temple to him, which they called ' Teutamium/ Bias is. 
one of tho speakers in the ' Symposium ' of Plutarch- 
(Diog. Laert, in Bias; Brucker, History of Philosophy.) 

There arc three collections of the sayings (yvwfiai) of the 1 
wise men: two, attributed to Demetrius Phalcreus and. 
Sosiades, are preserved in Stobsous; a third is by an un- 
known author. Diogenes Laertius and Plutarch have pre- 
served several apophthegms not found in these collections 
The first two collections are preserved in the editions of 
Stobrous; tho third was printed by the elder Aldus at the 
end of his * Theocritus/ 1495. The eompletest collectioa 
of these yvtipat is by Joh. Conr. Orelli, in the first volume 
of his 'Moralisten/ 



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36G 



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BIBERACH, a bailiwick in tho circle of tbo Danube, 
and in the south-eastern part of the kingdom of YYiirtein- 
berg, occupying an area of about 154 squaro miles, with 
about 25.3(0 inhabitants. The seat of local administration 
is the town of Biberach, which is situated in the beautiful 
valley of the Ricss, and on the little river of that name. 
It is surrounded by walla, with towers and a ditch ; contains 
four ehurches, two public schools, three elementary or na- 
tional schools, a well-endowed hospital (to which twenty- 
seven villages, hamlets, and farms were once attached), two 
suppressed monasteries, and has a corn-market much fre- 
quented. The number of houses is about 850, and of inha- 
bitants about 4G00. Independently of agriculture and graz- 
ing, the inhabitants find profitable employment in weaving 
fustians and linens, tanning, paper-making, brewing, and 
bleaching. All that is known of its earlier annals is. that 
its privileges as a free imperial town were confirmed by 
Rudolph of Habsburg in the year 1272. It was the scene 
of severe conllicts between General Moreau and tho Aus- 
trian forces under General Latour, 2d October, 1796, and 
between tho same general and the Austrian commander 
K ray, on the 9th May and 5th June, 1800: tho whole of 
which three days were gained by tho French. Biberach 
camo under the dominion of Baden in 1802, and was ceded 
by Baden to AVurtemberg in 1806. It lies in 48° 5' N. lat., 
and 9° 47' E. long. The celebrated lyric poet, C. F. Wie- 
land, who died in 1812, was a native of this town. The cold 
baths of Jordan are situated in the middle of a picturesque 
district about two miles from Biberach. 

BIBLE, Bi/JX*a, BSblia, meaning books, is the name which 
was given in the fifth century by Chrysostom to tho collec- 
tion of sixty-six writings, which are recognised by Chris- 
tians as divine. To these sixty-six sometimes are errone- 
ously joined about fourteen apocryphal writings, so that the 
total number amounts to about eighty, of which thirty-nine 
are in the Old, and twenty-seven in trie New Testament. 

Before Chrysostom, the more complete expressions for 
Biblo were fitpXta S«7a, books divine ; or Upa ypa$i) t Srila 
ypaffi, ayla ypaf$, sacred writings, See. 

* Independently of all consideration of its religious advan- 
tages, no book has conduced more than the Bible to the 
high cultivation and moral advancement of the human 
mind. The labour bestowed by so many of the learned 
upon the just interpretation of this inestimable book is of 
itself an attestation of its worth, and countenances the sup- 
position that Divine Providence has appointed it for tho at- 
tainment of great designs. So long as the professors of 
that religion, whoso doctrine and morals are contained in 
the Bible, apply themselves, as they have hitherto done, to 
explain its contents, the learning of Christians will be emi- 
nently conspicuous. Nay, a well grounded system of bi- 
blical interpretation prc-supposcs no slight degree of know- 
ledge, and compels the instructors of tho rising clergy to 
apply themselves closely to literary pursuits, in order to 
acquire a knowlcdgo of the antient oriental languages; of 
the most celebrated works of the Greeks and Romans; of 
antient history; and of many sciences for which the con- 
stant exercise of the power of thinking is required. It 
cannot be denied, that the interpreters of holy scripture, 
both Jews and Christians, have often swerven from the 
truth, and introduced error, superstition, and prejudice, in- 
stead of a sound knowlcdgo of religion and ethics. But it 
was precisely the want of a well regulated and systematic 
scheme of interpretation, which produced such disorders of 
a fanatical Imagination, or, to say the least, such palpable 
aberrations of tho understanding. As, even with the pos- 
session of much knowledge, both philological and philoso- 
phical, numerous and long continued errors have been 
mixed up with tho important work of biblical interpretation, 
it is evident that a system of interpretation, founded on sound 
principles of reason — on philology, grammar, and history, 
is in tho highest decree necessary for future teachers of re- 
ligion/ (Seller's Biblical Hermeneutics.) 

The Bible is divided into the Old and tho New Testa- 
ment. At present we confine our observations to the Old, 
which is written in Hebrew, with the exception of some 
chapters in Daniel and Ezra, and a verso in Jeremiah 
written in Chaldeo. 

The name Old Testament was introduced by tho apostle 
Paul, who wrote concerning tho Jews : * Their minds were 
blinded : for until this day a the samo vail [put over the face 
of Moses] remaineth untaken away in the reading of the 
Ohl Testament: 2 Cor. iii. 14. 



Tho Greek expression vaXaia ?taOi}Ki] (Pafaia Dia/hehe) 
means old covenant or old tesiament, and was tranUated 
in the Latin Vulgate, Vet us Test amentum. This name be- 
came usual among those European nations who recognized 
the supremacy of tho Roman See and tho authoriiy of the 
Vulgate; hut Slavonic nations, for instance the Russians 
and l'oles, divide tho Biblo into the Old and the New Law. 
Tertullianus (adv. Marcionem ir. 1.) and AuguMinus {de 
Civitate Dei, xx. 4. cpisU Pelag. iii.) call the Old Testament 
Vetus Instrumentum. 

The following antient appellations given to the Old Tes- 
tament are more or less expressive of the veneration in 
which it was held: 2^)3 $2r)2 2irOn »j y v a^) 

t ; t t ; t - 

(2 Pet. i. 20), a\ ypa+al (Matth. xxiL 29 ; Acts xviii. 2-1.) 
#"IpH MD3. ypafal aytai (Rom. i. 2); Upd ypafifiara 

(2 Tim. iii. 15.) 
Vftpn nSD. UnSO rapipXla, mto. o >Vc (John 

xii. 34.) 

b vopoc, ot srpo^jjrai Kal o\ if/a\uoi (Llie. XX iv. A4.) 

o vdfiOQ Kal o\ irpofiirat (Acts xxviii. 23, &c), b vopoc., o\ 

irpo+T]Tat Kai rd £XXa /3i0Xia, Tes. Sir. Prol. 

a^w nKrwn isd: npa-wi onto; u^p^n 

• i v; r t ; - t V « w r ; - : • : v t'; • - 

(com p. Neh. viii. 8, where this word occurs, but in a dif- 
ferent sense), KHpOT /V3, TVJfafio. 0<0X/« r,/ C *aX<*iac 

ttaSfjKijc, vetus Testamentum, sive Instrumentum, (compare 
i) iraXaia Ac&ijirq, 2 Cor. iii. 14., /3//3\oc rijc ?ta$*]xrjc, 1 Mac 
i. 57 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 2, according to the Septuagint.) [See 
Apocrypha.] 

The names of the New Testament are, rb tlayyiXwv tal 6 
aTT^ffroXog; or rb tvayytXiKbv Kal rb a7ro<rro\iKbv ; or t*j Kaivt) 
tiaSt'jKt), Novum Testamentum, sive Instrumentum. [See 
Nkw Testament.] 

With the collection of the Old Testament arose its divi- 
sion into 

L mij^. v(5/ioc, lex, law, i. e. the five books of Moses. 

2. D^K^J, *po$t}Tai t prophet ce, prophets. 

These D*N03» or prophets, are subdivided into 0*XU3 

D\3V^N"1, *the former prophets' (containing the hooks of 

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings), and into 0*^33 

D\rt"TTK, * the later prophets/ The later prophets (whicli 

we alone call prophets, Isa. Jcr. Ezech.) are again divided 
into D^pVtt. 'the great;* and tMQj?. 4 the small,* nn 

"ltyy, j3*/3Xoc twv SwtitKa rpo^flrwi', rb Et>)$tKairp6<ptiTov t I. e* 

the twelve minor prophets. 

3. DMVD» ypa$ila t uyt6ypafa, holy writings, containing 

the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamen- 
tations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, two 
books of Chronicles. 

The Jews being foud of making new names of the initials 
of other appellations, call tho throe first books of their 

DOIJlSt * holy writings,' by the name of * the books,* J1EK 

from 2VX Job, fyiti Proverbs, and 0^nt\ Psalms • the 

*' i • • • : 

word n!2N means truth. Tho books j"J0tf are also eahed 

v v; 

poetical books, and differ in their accentuation from the rest 

of the Hebrew Old Testament Solomon's Song, or Song 

of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Lamentations, and Esther, 

form the Tw^O ttton. *. e. the five rolls, so called because 
. . .. T 

they are read on certain festivals in their synagogues from 
manuscript rolls, and are even printed in the shape of rolls. 
Christians reckon tho Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes 
among the poetical books, and 1 hey give to Daniel the fourth 
place among the great prophets, who arc called great be- 
cause their remains arc more voluminous than those of the 
so called minor prophets, although the latter are not inferior 
in matter and style. 

From the initials of rfVlA DW33 and MVG the 

Jews make another name for the whole Bible ^2D T*nach t 
perhaps in allusion to the root ])fi t ho ceased, or was 

finished. 



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367 



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After these observations the following diagram will be 1 sages, since most Christians are accustomed to a different 
understood, and will facuitate the finding of Hebrew pas- | succession of biblical books: 



/ rrftn 

doctrine 
or legis- 
lation 



consum- 
mation 

or 

t ; 

writ 



former 



Dwna 

prophets 



later 



great 



•ftwnnorD^&p, 

T t •• ; . - I. / 

thirteen small 



otnna 

writings 
Hagio- 
grapha 



truth 
five rolls 



mop 
jmrv 

bxp\rv> 

nnnw 
rw 

n^a 
dvu 

nnor 
^*? 

row 

rbnp 

mo; 

rraru 

own nm 



1. Genesis. 

2. Exodus. 

3. Leviticus. 

4. Numbers. 

5. Deuteronomy. 

6. Joshua. 

7. Judges. 

8. Samuel. 

9. Kings. 

10. Isaiah. 

11. Jeremiah. 

12. Ezechiel. 

13. Hosea. 

14. Joel. 

15. Amos. 

16. Obadiah. 

17. Jonah. 

18. Micah. 

19. Nahum. 

20. Habakkuk. 

21. Zephaniah. 

22. Haggai. 

23. Zechariah. 

24. Malachi. 

25. Psalms 

26. Proverbs. 

27. Job. 

28. Song of Songs. 

29. Ruth. 

30. Lamentations. 

31. Ecclesiastcs. 

32. Esther. 

33. Daniel. 

34. Ezra. 

35. Nehemiah. 

36. Chronicles. 



If we count both books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, 
we find that the Old Testament consists of thirty-nine 
books ; but the Talmud counts only twenty-four books, be- 
cause the twelve minor prophets aro considered as one book, 
and the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Ne- 
hemiah constitute, according to the Talmndists, only four 
books. (Baba Bathra, f. 14, c. 2.) After the five books of 
Moses, the rest of the biblical books aro enumerated as 
follows : — 

d^di bmov &mwi jwwp owna b® rrto 

jwpi unwn y& rbnp') ^w»> nvai wbnn rvn 
dw nrni mo; nnvx rvfaxn ijrn 

The arrangement of the Septuagint and Vulgate, which is 
followed in the English Bible, will be explained under Sep- 
tuagint, and Vulgate. Joscphus, who was born a.d. 37, in 
a passage which we shall soon quote from Whiston's trans- 
lation, enumerates twenty-two biblical books (dvo pova Trpoc 
toiq iUofft Bipkia), which he probably numbered as fol- 
lows 



Five books of Moses 



1. Genesis. 

2. Exodus. 

3. Leviticus. 

4. Numbers. 

6. Deuteronomy* 



6. Joshua. 

7. Judges and Ruth. 

8. Two Books of Samuel. 

9. „ „ Kings. 

10. „ „ Chronicles. 

1 J . Ezra and Nehemiah. 
The Prophets m thirteen J 12 Esther# 

h 3. Isaiah. 

14. Jeremiah and Lamentations. 

15. Ezekiel. 

16. Daniel. 

17. Twelve minor prophets. 

18. Job. 

19. Psalms. 

20. Proverbs. 

21. Ecclesiastes. 
122. Song of Songs. 

This rather artificial arrangement arose from a desire of 
having as many and no more biblical books than there are 
letters in the Hebrew alphabet. 

In the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius (iv.26) f Meliton, 
in a letter to Onesimus, states that he travelled to the East 
in order to investigate exactly the nature of the Old Testa- 
ment in those countries in which it was written, and where 
the events related therein happened, and that he found the 
following to be the names of the books contained in the 
Old Testament :-Mwvdwc irkvrc Tlvttnc, *E£o£oc, Aivitikqv, 
'ApeS/iot, Aevrepovopiov' I*?<rovff "Savi), Kptrctc, Po^S, BaffiXawv 
Ttwaptf (•>. t 2 Sam, and 2 Kings;, IlapaXuTropivwv £io> 



The other four contain 
hymns to God, and max-"* 
ims for the conduct of life 



IJ I 13 



3l& 



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^aX/iwy AajStf, XaXa/i£ittc llnp©i/*im, v Kai Sofia, TxKktjtrt- 
«<rr»/c. *A<rua ^V/idr«v, 1*^3* Ilpo^rwv, 'llea/ov, 'ltpufou* r<5i> 
^*Wlica *v /xovo/3i/3\ V , Aawi/X, 'Ii^inr/X, 'l>?/>ac. Here wo 
find Nehcmiah and Esther omitted, but again Iho number 
twentv-two. 

In the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebtus (vi. 25), a pas- 
sage from Origcn is quoted, which states that, according to 
tho tradition of the Hebrews, there arc twenty -two canonical 
books, which is the number of their letters.^ The following 
words of this passage prove much for tho high antiquity of 
tho Greek and Hebrew appellations given to tho biblical 
books ; we transcribo tho list in Greek, which may be read 
by all who will refer to the articlo Alphabet. 

EiVi $1 at lUoat cvo fiifiXot jco&' 'VfipaiovQ aiSf 1/ Trap* i/jrfv 
riw<nc iiriytypfl/ifitFij, irapa & 'E0paio«c <ixA rf/c «PX^C fifiXov 
BpqaiS, birtp ivrtv fa &pxi* ' E ^oc, OvaXiff/iw^, Mp Itrrt 
rubra Mpara* Atviris6v t Ovtjcpd, jcai UaXitriv* 'Apt$/iot 
\A n fi t a f i k w £ 1 i p: Atvrtpov6fuov t "EWt a&dt&apip, 
ovroto\X6yoC Irjaovc vib£*Savij % *I utaovi (3iv NouV Kpcrai, 
Po&$, xa/>' <SvroIc ivivi 2wf crip' Jlavikttutv rpifrii^&vrfpa, 
«-ap* avroTc *v So/*o u i)X 6 StoeXgroc* BacriX«wi> rpcrq, rtr- 
raprtj, fa ivt OifaptXtX Aa/3c# f hxip itrri (iaatktia Aaf$i&* 
UapaXiiTOpivun* Tp&rov Mrtpov, fa fai Ai/3pi) 'Ata/xl/x, 
urep i<m Xiytw ijfKpSjW *E<rfy>ac wp&roQ tal Etvrtpoc fa tvl 
'Elpa.o itrri fioOoc BtfiXo? ^aX/xwy, £ i $ t p O i X X f /x' £0X0- 
/iwyroc Hapoi/iiai M*tf\wS* Ejrjc\jjffmoTj)c, KwfXiS* 'Affpa 
ircr/iarwv, 22 tp a<rtripi/x* *II<rafac, It (rata* ltoe/uac ffvv 
Spr/iwc *"* *>7 ^xitroXiJ, iv ivi Itptpia' Aavu}X, AaviqV 
'ltjtieii)\, IccffKtfX' 'Iw/3, *I«/3. *EcrS/)p, K<r$i/p. Besides 
these, Origcn adds, there cro rd Maxjrn/3aTjtd, which bear 
the inscription, 2ap/3i}$ Zapfiavh IX. This passage 
proves that tho Greeks about 1500 years ago found the 
pronunciation of tfj sh as diilicult as they find it now, and 
that the Hebrew vowels were pronounced as at present. 

Origcn seems to have forgotten the book of the twelve 
minor prophets ; and so it happens that, having promised 
to count twenty-two books, he enumerates only twenty-one. 
In tho Latin version of Euscbius by Kuflinus the book of 
the minor prophets is inserted after tho Canticles ; and in a 
similar manner Hilarius expresses himself in the prologue 
to the Psalms which he translated from Origcn. 

According to a Jewish tradition, Moses was the first who 
wrote. In the subsequent heroio times of the Hebrews wo 
find the noting down of historical facts and the composition 
of poems ; but Hebrew literature received its chief impulse 
at a later epoch from Samuel's So/tools of the Prophets, 
which produced tho best specimens of moral or didactic 
and lyric poetry, and the finest prophetical compositions. 

That several documents and books of anticnt Hebrew li- 
terature havo been lost, is in itself very credible, and it 
appears, from the difference of style, that Genesis is formed 
out of various documents. (Sco Genksis.) The book of 
Jasher is twice quoted (Jos. x. t3. ; 1 Sam. i. 18,)» but the 
compilations in Hebrew and in English extant under this 
title are forgeries. (See Jasher.) The books of Chronicles 
and Kings are extracts from larger records, to which the 
reader is frequently referred by such phrases, ' Now tho 
acts of David tho king, first and last, behold they aro 
written in the book of Samuel tho seer, and in the book of 
Nathan tho prophet, and in the book of Gad tho seer/ 
1 Chron. xxlx. 29. * And the rest of the acts of Solomon, 
and all that he did, and his wisdom, arc they not written in 
the book of the acts of Solomon ?* 1 Kings xi. 41. * Now 
the rest of tho acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not 
written in tho book of Nathan tho prophet, and in the pro- 
phecy of Ahijah the Shilonitc, and in the visions oflddo 
tho seer against Jeroboam tho son of Ncbat?' 2 Chron. ix, 
29. Solomon 'spake three thousand proverbs, and his 
songs were a thousand and five,' most of which are not 
extant now. Even by counting tho subdivisions in tho 
Solomonic writings now extant, tho above numbers cannot 
l>e produced. According to tho rabbinical mode of count- 
ing stated in Hebrew at tho conclusion of biblical books, 
the number of verses in tho book of Proverbs is 915, in tho 
Song of Songs 1 1 7, in Ecclosiastcs 222. 

AVith the restoration of the antient constitution and man- 
ners thero was excited a literary seal for collecting thoso 
remnins of national literature whioh wero neglected during 
the Babylonian captivity. To this zeal for collecting the 
anticnt holy writings tho Old Testament owes its formation. 
But tho zeal for national litoraturc survived the national 
language, and accordingly tho body of tho Apocrypha was 
added, after the Old Testament had been broughtto a con- 



clusion, about Ti.c. 150. Kzra, and tho other members 
of the great synagogue, havo been frequently considered 
as tho founders of the Canon : but tho'Talmudic passages 
upon which this opinion rests are by no means decisive ; 
and wo have therefore more reason to ascribe this merit to 
Nehcmiah, concerning whom wo read in the 2 Maccabees, 
eh. ii. v. 13, *tho saino things also were reported in tho 
writings and 'commentaries of Necmias, and how he founded 
a library, gathered together tho acts of the kings, and tho 
prophets, and of David, and the epistles of tho kings con- 
cerning tho holy gifts. In liko manner Judas also gathered 
together all thoso things that were lost by reason of the war 
wo had; and they remain with us.* 

" The 'most antient record of the Old Testament as a collec- 
tion is in tho prologue of Jesus sou of Sirach, about B.C. 130, 
under the appellation of vu/xof sal irpo^qroi, 'the law and 
the prophets.* * Whereas many and great things have been 
delivered to us by the law and the prophets and by others 
that have followed their steps, for which things Israel ought 
to be commended for learning and wisdom, and whereof the 
readers must not only become skilful themselves, but they 
also that desire to learn be able to profit them which are 
without both by speaking and writing: my grandfather, 
Jesus, when he had given himself much to the law and the 
prophets, and the other books of our fathers, and had gotten 
therein good judgment, was drawn out also himself to write 
something pertaining to learning and wisdom, to the intent 
that thoso who arc desirous to learn aud are addicted to 
theso things, might profit much moro by living according 
to tho law/ AVith this we may compare Luke, ch. xxiv. 
v. 44 ; * All things must be fulfilled which were written in tho 
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms con- 
cerning me/ The Psalms seem here to be the representa- 
tives of the Hagiographa or holy writings, which constituted 
the third part of the Old Testament and followed the law 
and the prophets. 

From the above passages we infer that the Old Testament 
existed as a collection in the two centuries preceding Christ. 

Philo, who ilourishcd about b.c. 41, seems likewise to 
appeal to the Old Testament as to a collection of books. 
(Sco Hornemann, Observationes ad Illustrat. Doctrina 
de Canone Vet, Test, ex Philone, 1775.) 

But the clearest proof for the existence of our present 
canon of the Old Testament is in the first book of Josephus 
against Apion, c. 8. i 

1 We havo not an innumerable multitude of books among 
us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another (as the 
Greeks have), but only twenty-two books, which contain 
tho records of all time, and arc justly believed to be divine: 
and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws 
and tho tradition of the origin of mankind till his death. 
This timo was little short of three thousand years. But 
as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of 
Artaxcrxcs, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the 
prophets who were after Moses wrote down what was done 
in their times in thirteen books ; the remaining four books 
contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of 
human life. 

* It is truo our history hath been written since Artaxcrxes 
very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like 
authority with the former by our forefathers, because thero 
hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that 
timo ; and how firmly we have given credit to these books 
of our own nation is evident by what we do ; for during *o 
many ages as have already passed, no one hath been so bold 
as either to add any thing to them, to take anv thing from 
them, or to make any change in them; but it is become 
natural to all Jews immediately and from their very birth 
to esteem theso books to contain divine doctrines and to 
persist in them, and, if occasion be, willingly to die for 
them, &c/ (Comp. Antiquit. Jud. 1. xi. c. G, s, 13.) 

When tho Hebrew language died away, the canon of the 
Old Testament became closed. 

The Samaritans recognised the authority of the Penta- 
teuch only, and of the book of Joshua. 1 hey slightly in- 
terpolated the Pentateuch, but considerably altered the 
book of Joshua. Their rejection of the other books of the 
Old Testament may ^c compared with the opinion of Philo, 
according to which Moses alone is tho teacher of religious 
mysteries, although ho ascribes inspiration to the other 
books of tho Old Testament as well as to his own writings. 

During the first centuries after Christ the writings of tho 
New Testament were placed on a level with those of tho 



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Old/ Both Testaments were publicly read ; the Old Testa- 
ment was read in the Septuagint translation or the Alex- 
andrine version of the Hebrew into Jewish Greek. Hence 
it has arisen that Christian writers frequently cite as Scrip- 
ture the Apocrypha which were mixed up in the Septua- 
gint with the canonical books ; hut as soon as the atten- 
tion of the learned was directed to the canon, the later 
products of Jewish literature subsequent to the extinction 
of the Hebrew language were again separated from the 
canon. The canonical books were therefore called Libri 
Regulares, or Regular Books, and the Apocryphal books 
Libri Secretly or Secret Books. But the reading of the 
Libri Secreti continued during the third century. In the 
fourth century several lists of Biblical books were promul- 
gated hy the orthodox Greek church in order to prevent the 
use of Apocryphal or uncanonical books (atcavovioTa ptfiXiu), 

These lists generally adhere, in the Old Testament, to 
the Jewish canon, but fluctuate in the New Testament 
concerning the Apocalypse. The name Apocrypha signifies 
in these lists fictitious and heretical writings ; but between 
the canonical and Apocryphal is placed a third class of 
writings, the reading of which is permitted to the church. 
The Latin church adopted, with reference to the Old Testa- 
ment, laxer principles, and admitted several Apocryphal 
writings into the canon; although the learned, like Hiero- 
nymus, adhered to the twenty-two books, according to the 
letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Hilarius also mentions 
that the law of the Old Testament was divided into twenty- 
two books, corresponding in number to the letters of the 
Hebrew alphabet, but adds that, according to the opinion of 
others, Tobit and Judith should be added in order to com- 
plete the number of the Greek alphabet, which contains 
twenty-four letters. The Protestants, returning to the Jew- 
ish canon, separated the Apocryphal additions of the Alex- 
andrine version, which were for the first time decidedly 
made canonical by the council of Trent in opposition to the 
reformers. The council of Trent decrees, in its fourth ses- 
sion, that if anybody will not admit as holy and canonical 
all the entire books and all their parts extant in the Latin 
Vulgate, he shall be anathema. 

A fter these general remarks concerning the formation of 
the canon, we shall briefly survey the history of the text. 

Before the Babylonian exile the Biblical hooks were 
written in tho characters still extant in the legends of the 
Asmoneean coins, of which we have given specimens in the 
article Alexander Jann,eus and in Alphabet. Instead 
of the antique Hebrew character which is nearly allied 
to the Samaritan, there was employed after the Babylonian 
captivity a sort of Aramaic alphabet, which was gradually 
changed by transcribers into the present square cha- 
racter, of which the Spanish, the German, and the inter- 
mediate or Italian are three modifications found in Hebrew 
manuscripts. The characters printed in modern editions 
of the Hebrew Old Testament are formed according to 
the Spanish manuscripts, which are the most beautiful. 
The characters employed in the publications of Sebastianus 
Miinster at Basel about a.d. 1530, are imitations of German 
manuscripts. 

The Italian and French Jews wrote in a middle style, 
between the Spanish and German. The Rashi, Rabbinical, 
and cursivo Hebrew characters represent the gradual 
changes of the square chiiractcrs to a Hebrew running 
hand, which are also occasionally employed in manuscripts 
written for private use, and are therefore less accurately 
revised, and consequently of less authority than those written 
for public use in synagogues. The most antient manu- 
scripts had neither "vowels nor diacritical marks, nor were 
the words always divided. (Sec Hupfeld, Beleuchtung 
dunkler Stellen in der alt-testamentlichen Textgeschichte, 
In den Studien und Kritiken 1830.) 

Verses and punctuation, which are already mentioned in 
the Talmud, are marked in Hebrew by accents, which served 
also as rhythmical marks to be ohserved in the Oriental 
style of reading, which approaches to singing. Hieronymus 
followed probably the Dp^D3» sections, mentioned in the 
Talmud, in dividing the prophetical and poetical books into 
cola et commata t and the historical hooks into cola only. 

In old Hebrew manuscripts, as well as in those of tho 
Septuagint and Italian version, the poetical hooks are written 
in hemistichs or half verses, thus : — 

Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum. 
Linguis suis dolose agehant. 
Vencnum aspidura suh labiis eorum. 



The present division into chapters, which the Jews have 
adopted, is of Christian origin, and does not occur before 
the thirteenth century. The capitula of Hieronymus, tho 
Tituli and Breves in the Latin, the DH1D or V"I"TD, orders* 
and D\3QD (vfyizia) marks, of the Masoreths, were so fluc- 
tuating that, before the introduction of the present chapters 
and verses, the quotations were very vague. The Pentateuch 
alone was in antient times divided into fifty-four * sections/ 
J1V11H9. according to the number of the Sabbaths in the 
Jewish leap year. 

On every Sabbath a certain scderah, or parasha or sec- 
tion, is read, and in the common year, which does not con- 
tain fifty-four Sahbaths, two sections are to be read on some 
Sabbaths, so as to complete the reading of the Pentateuch 
every year. The Parashioth, or * sections/ are subdivided 
into seven smaller divisions, according to the number of 
men who are usually honoured by being called upon on the 
Sabbath to read publicly the law in the synagogue. But 
in these divisions, and in accounting for them, neither the 
Jews nor the learned perfectly agree among themselves. 

The Parashioth, which in regularly written manuscripts 
commenced a line, are called mrP/lD. open, and are marked 
in printed Hebrew Bibles 333 or 3. Those which commence 
in the middle of a line are called J^nft^/lD closed or shut 
up, and are marked DDD or D. But in printed Bibles D 
stands sometimes at the commencement, and 3 in the middlo 
of a line. 

Notwithstanding the great care bestowed by the Jews 
after the Babylonian exile upon the, preservation of the 
Hebrew text, some transpositions have crept in; letters, 
words, and sentences, have been omitted; and some mis- 
takes between *TT 3 J. TV. J 3 &c., as well as errors in the 
division of the words and the filling up of abbreviations, &c, 
have been made ; sometimes letters of a similar sound, 
synonymous words, and those of similar sound and parallel 
passages were exchanged. Some alterations were also intro- 
duced hy the officiousness of critics in removing expressions 
which they either deemed offensive, or hard to be under- 
stood, or not perfectly analogous to parallel passages. A 
comparison of the parallel passages in the Old Testament 
shows that these alterations happened most frequently in 
the most antient times before the ecclesiastical authority 
of the canon was established. Comp. Ps. xiv. with liii. ; 
xl. 14th seq. with lxx. ; xviii. with 2 Sam. xxii.; Ps. cviii. 
with lvii. 8 — 12 ; lx. 7—14 ; Ps. cv. with 1-Chrpn. xvi. 8— 
22; Ps. cxvi.with 1 Chron. xvi. 23 — 33; Is.xxxvii. xxxviiu 
with 2 Kings, xviii. xix. ; Jcr. lii. with 2 Kings xxiv. Com- 
pare also the parallel passages in the books of Samuel," 
Kings, and Chronicles ; Is. xv. xvi. with Jer. xlviii. and 
other passages cited in Eichhorn's Einleitung, i. pp. 139, 6 ; 
Bauer, Critica Sacra, p. 236, seq. ; Gesenius, Geschichte der 
hebraischen Sprache f ip. 38. seq. Although these altera- 
tions do not materially affect the tenor and scope of hiblical 
doctrine, it has been the business of critics to collect and to 
compare the various readings of the Hehrew text, and thup 
to restore its original purity. 

The oldest recension of the Hehrew text, coming from a 
quite different quarter, and being independent of the usually 
received text, is that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which 
seems to be closely related to the copy from which tho 
Septuagint interpreters translated. The various readings 
of the Samaritan Pentateuch were for a considerable timo 
overvalued by some and despised by others, and herein 
both parties' frequently showed more zeal than knowledge. 
But the last examination of the Samaritan text by Gese- 
nius (De Pentateuchi Samaritani online, indole et auto- 
ritate Commentatio PhiloloL crit. scripsit Guil. Gesenius; 
Hal. 1815, 4.) has shown that the assertions of the zealots 
against the Codex Samaritanus, although produced without 
reason, were not substantially wrong. Its character is un- 
critical ; most of its characteristic readings have arisen from 
injudicious grammatical corrections, inserted glosses, ex- 
planatory conjectures, grammatical and historical additions 
and alterations according to parallel passages, Samaritanisms 
in language and doctrine, as for instance the substitution of 
Garizim, D S ^HJ» for 72^ in Deut. xxvii. 4. 

The Jews in Babylon and Palestine appear to have 
been more critical than those in Egypt and the Samaritans, 
hecause Aquila, and the otherGreek translators after Christ, 
and Onkelos and Jonathan agree more with the Masorethical 
text than the Septuagint. About the time of the birth of 
Christ arose schools of learning, especially in law, grammar, 
and criticism. After the destruction of Jerusalem these 



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school* were transplanted to Jabnc. Ziphoria, Lydda, 
Ciesarca Palest in a, formerly called Stra ton's Tower, on the 
coast of the Mediterranean, Tiberias, and at a later period 
to Sora, Purapeditha, and Nahardea on the banks of the 
Euphrates. 

Origen. in composing the Hexapla, perused a Masorctlu- 
cal manuscript in the third century after Christ, and in the 
fourth century Ilicronymus employed Palestine teachers 
and MSS. ^The present received text originates from 
Palestine. Therefore the interpretations and readings of 
Hieronymus arc nearly allied to the present received text. 
Many passages indicate that Hieronymus employed an un- 
pointca text. In hU Epistle, 125, he observes, 'Tho same 
word written with the same letters has divers mcanings,*for 
instance pas tores , herdsmen, and ama tores* lovers, are 
written with tho same letters, Ucs, Ain, Jod, Mem (D^JTO : 
but the word for herdsmen is pronounced roim, that which 
signifies lovers, reimS 

The Talmud contains precepts of biblical calligraphy 
(Tr. Gittin, f. 45. c. 2.) t mentions a comparison of manu- 
scripts (Ilieros. Tr. Taanith, f. 68, c. 1. compare Tr. Sophc- 
rim, vi. 4.), and refers to certain classes of biblical emen- 
dations prior to the Talmud, called by Moriuus * fragmenta' 
or 'vestigia rccensionum ;' by Eichhorn, Rerisiones. These 
classes are 

I. DH3*lD TQJJi ablatio scribarura, concerning the omis- 

Ps. 



sio'n of van *) in Gen. xviii. 5 ; xxiv. 55 ; Num. xii. 14 
Ixvjii. 26, xxxvi. 7. See Nedarim f. 37, c. 2. 

II. DH3to Tpi^t corrcctio scribarura, concerning six- 
teen or eighteen erroneous passages, e* g. Gen. xviii. 22 ; 
1 Sam. iii. 13. 

III. Puncta cxtraordinaria in fifteen words, e.g. Ps. 

xxvii. 13, ^ ft Tr. Sopherim, vi. 3. 

IV. 2\TG fc$Vl Hp, if there was any thing to bo read 

which was not written, 2 Sam. viii.3 ; xvi. 23. Nedarim, 
f. 37. c. 2. 

V. ^p fr$7J 2VG, if there was in reading to be omitted 

what was written in the text, as in 2 Kings v. 18. 

VI. nVOI ^p, various readings, as Job xiii. 5. Hagg.i. 

18. 

After the conclusion of tho Talmud in the sixth century, 
the Jewish scribes continued, especially in Tiberias, to pro- 
pagate their critical traditions, at first orally, afterwards by 
writings; these writings were afterwards placed in the 
margin of tho manuscripts. Subsequently those critical 
remarks were improved and augmented by the so called 
rniDD *bjO * the lords of the Masora,' who also eountcd 
tho number of tho verses, of the words, and of the conso- 
nants in the biblical books. 

There exists also in the rabbinical bibles of Bombcrg and 
Buxtorf, and in the sixth volume of the J^ndon Polyglott, 
a list of various readings by Rabbi Aharon Ben Asher, and 
Rabbi Jacob Ben Naphthali, of the eleventh century. Tho 
readings of I&n Asher are preferred by the western, and 
those of Ben Naphthali by the eastern Jews. From tho cir- 
cumstance that their observations regard exclusively tho 
vowels and accents, wo conclude that the punctuation of 
the text was already accomplished in their days, and that 
they employed punctuated manuscripts. 

After the origin of the Masora, the MSS. wcro probably 
often altered accordingly. But wo have reason to think 
that no material change took place, because even tho com- 
plaint of Mcir Ilallcvi about the corruption of the manu- 
scripts refers especially to abbreviations which do not afTeet 
the sense. The famous MSS. of the rabbins in the middle 
brcs, as that of Ilillcl, Ben Asher, (called the Egyptian or 
Hicrosolymitan,) and that of Ben Naphthali and others, 
adhered toXhc Masora. 

The earliest editions of the Hebrew bible were imitations 
of antient manuscripts, and have therefore critical authority. 
Tho oldest Hebrew prints contain only parts of the Old 
Testament Tho oldest specimen of Hebrew typography 
contains tho Psalms with tho commentary of Knnchi, aj>. 
1477, probably printed at Bologna. A very old specimen of 
Hebrew typography was presented by Dr. Pellet, in 1735, 
to the library of Kton College, containing tho Ccthubim or 
Hagiographa, printed at Naples in 1487, This edition was 



burnt by the Jews, probably ou account of its rcadirrgs 
frequently differing from the Masora, which was considered 
already at that period tho standard of correctness. • The 
copy at Eton is printed on vellum, and is considered tho 
only one that escaped the flames. (See J. B. He Rossi, Do 
Ilcoraica) Typographies Origine et Primitiis, sivc de anti- 
quis ct rarissimis Ilcbraicorum Bibliorum editionibus sieculi 
xv„ Parma), 1776, 4to., reprinted with a preface by Iluf- 
nagcl, Erlangcn, 1781, 8vo. l)e Rossi, De Typographia 
Hobr. Fcrraricnsi Comment. Hist., Parmce, 178&; auct. c. 
prfff. Hufnagcl, Erlang., 1781, 8vo. J. B. dc Rossi, An- 
nates Typographic Ebr. Sabionctcns. Appcndiee aucti ex 
Italicis Latin, fecit J. Fr. Rcos, Erl.. 1783, 8vo. : Dc Rossi, 
Dc ignotis nonnullis antiquiss. Ilebr. Tcxtus Editionihus 
et critico carum Usu. Acccdit dc editionihus Ilebr. Bibl. 
appendix hist crit ad Bibliothccara Le-Longio Maschia- 
nam, Erlang., 1782, 4to. ; De Rossi, Annalcs Hcbr. Typo- 
graphic, sec. xv., Parm., 1795, 4to. ; De Rossi, Annales 
typograph. ab an. 1501 ad 1540, Parraro, 1799, 4to. ; O. G. 
I'ychscn Krit Bcschreib. des Bonon. Pentateuchs vora 
Jahre 1482, in Eichhorn Report, vi. 65. scq.; Kennicott. 
Diss. Gen. No. 255. seq. p. 436, seq. cd. Bruns.) 

I. The first complete edition of tho Hebrew bible was 
printed at Soncino, in the Creraoncsc territory in tho duke- 
dom of Milan, a.d. 1483, small fol. Tho edition of Brescia, 
1491, 4to., which Luther translated, generally fallows tho 
text of this Editio Princcps. (See J. G. Palm de Codicibus 
Vetcris ct N. T. quibus b. Luthcrus in conficienda inter- 
pret. Germ, usus est, Ilamb., 1753. B. W. D. Srhulz 
vollst. Kritik lib. d. gcwohnlichcn Ausgabcn d. Ilebr. Bibel 
nebst ciner Nachricht v. d. Ilebr. Bibel welchc Luther bci 
s. Ucbcrsctzung gebraucht, Berlin, 1766, 8vo.) To this 
first edition of printed bibles belong also, Bibl. Rabbinica, 
Bombemi cd. Felix Pratcnsis, 1517, and the smaller edi- 
tions printed by Bomberg in 1518, and in 1521, 4to. : the 
edition of Robert Stcphanus, 1539-1541, 4to. : and Bibl. 
Hebraica stud. Seb. Miinstcri, Basile©, 1534, 1536, 4to., 
two volumes. 

II. An independent text, which became the basis of 
other editions, is contained in the Biblia Polvglotta Complu- 
tensia, 1514-1517. Alvarez Gomez dc Gestis Francisci 
Ximenii (Compluti. 1569, fol. L. ii. p. 47.) says that there 
were bought for 4000 aurei, seven Hebrew MS. copies from 
various countries, and that these copies were preserved 
at Coinplutum (Alcala). From this second edition pro- 
ceeded Bibl. Polygl. Bcrtrami ex offic. Sanctandr. 15SG, fol. 
(also ex ofiic. Commclin. 1599. 1616.) 

III. Bibl. Rabb. Bomberg. II. Cur. R. Jac. B. Chajim, 
Venct. 1525-26, fol. Although Jacob Ben Chajim in this edi- 
tion followed the Masora more than the MSS., it influenced 
strongly most of the subsequent editions, and tho following 
belong entirely to this third recension. Biblia Rabb. Bom- 
berg. III., Venct. 1547-1549, fol. ; Bibi Rabb. per Jo. do 
Gara, Venct., 1568, fol.; Biblia Rabb. Bragadini, Venct., 
161 7- IS, fol.; Bomberg's quarto editions of 152S, 1533, 
and 1544; the edition by ft. Stcph., Paris, 1544-46, in 
16mo; some alterations were made in the Justinian edi- 
tions, Venct., 1551,410.; 1552,18mo.; 1563,*4to.; 1573,' 
4to. ; B. Hcbr., Gcncv., 1618, in 4to., 8vo. f and ISmo. ; 
B. Ilebr., per J. de Gara, Venct., 156G, 4to. ; 1568, Svo. ; 
1G82, 4to. ; B. Hebr. typ. Bragadin., Vcnet, 1614-15, in 
4to. and 12mo„ 1619, 4to., 1G28, 4to., 1707; Bibl. Hcbr. 
Chr. Plantin. Antv. 1566, in 4to., Svo., and 16mo. ; Biblia 
Hebraica, Ilartmanni Fref. ad Viadr. 1595, in 4to., 8vo., 
and lGmo.; 159S, 4to. ; B. Hebr. Zach. Cratonis Viteb. 
158G, (1587,) 4to. 

IV. Bibl. Polyglott., Antwerp, 15G9-72. fol, represent a 
text composed of the two last recensions. This polyglott con- 
tains in the first four volumes the Old Testament with the 
apocrypha interspersed. From this proceeded the Plantine 
Hebrew and Latin, Ant., 1571, fol.; 1584, foL; L. B. 1673, 
8vo. ; B. Hcbr. Lat. Burg. Aurac. in Hisp., 1581, in fol. ; 
B. Hcbr. Lat. Gcncv.. 1618, fol. ; Bibl. Hcbr. Lat sumt. 
Fr. Knoch Frcf. ad Mocn., 1618, fol.; Bibl. Ilebr. Lat, 
Vicnn., 1743, Svo. ; Bibl. Polyglott. Par., 1645, fol. ; Bibl. 
Polvglotta, Lond. cd. Brian Walton, 1657, fol.; B. S. qua- 
drifinguia, accur. Christ Hcincccio, Lips., 1750, fol., and 
the manual editions by ltcineccius, Lips., 1725, 8vo.; 1739, 
8vo. and 4to. ; 1750, 1793, Svo. 

V. Bibl. Ilebr. cura ct studio Elioo Hutteri, Hamb.l 
15S7, fol. (15S8, 1596, 1603), contains a text compounded 
of the Venice, Paris, and Antwerp editions. Huttcr's tcx* ( 
is repeated in Huttcr's Polyglotta/Niirnberg, 1591, fol. 



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(this Polyglott was not completed), and in Ni&elii B. 
Hebr. 1662, 8vo. 

VI. Buxtorfs octavo edition, Basel, 1611, was the pro- 
totype of B. Hebr. typis Menasseh Ben Israel, sumt. Jan- 
sonii, Amst. 1639, 8vo. (The editions by Menasseh Ben 
Israel in 1630-31 and 1631-35 have another text.) Bibl. 
Rabb. Buxtorf, Bas. 1618-19; Bibl. Rabb. op. Mos. Franc- 
fur t, Amst. 1724, fol. 

VII. B. Hebr. eorrecta et collata cum antiquissimis et 
aecuratissimis exemplaribus manuscriptis et hactenus im- 
pressis (cum prsefat. Johannis Leusden), typis Jos. Athiae, 
Amst.* 1661, #vo. and 1667, 8vo. From this edition ori- 
ginated the following :— B. Hebr. Clodii Francf. ad Moenum, 
1677, 8vo., recogn. a J. H. Majo et ultima rcsv. a J. Leus- 
deno, Francf. a M. 1692, 8vo. ; Biblia ad optimorum tarn 
impressorum Clodii, Jablonskii, Opitii, quam mannscripto- 
rum aliquot eodicum fidem collata; direxit opus J. H. 
Majus, collat. instituit G. Chr. Burclin, Frcf. a M. 171G, 
4to. ; B. Hebr. ex rec. Dan. Era. Jablonskii, Ber. 1699, 8vo. 
maj. This sometimes deviates from Leusden according to 
tbe authority of manuscripts and the cardinal editions, viz. 
Bombergiana, Venet. Rcgia, Basileensis Buxtorfii, Hut- 
teriana, Menassis, ed. 2, Berlin, 1772, 12mo. 'After this 
B. Hebr. J. H. Michaclis, Hal. M. 1720, 8vo. maj. Car- 
dinal editions are those ' qua) reliquarum quasi eardinales 
videbantur,' the authority of which was followed by others. 
After Athias also B. Hebr. stud, et op. Hcnr. Opitii Kil. 
1709, 4to.; and after this Bibl. Hebr. Ziillich, 1741, 4to. 
B. Hebr. Ever. Van der Hooght, Amst. et Ultraject, 1705, 
8vo., is a reprint of Athias's edition of 1667, Van dcr 
Hooght* s reprint is famous for its accuracy. After this 
B. Ilebr. Sal. Ben Jos. Proops or Props, Amst. 1724, 8vo. ; 
B. Hebr. Lat. (e. vers. Seb. Schmidtii) Lips. 1740, 4to. ; 
B. Hebr. Lat Car. Frc. Houbigant, Paris, 1753, four vo- 
lumes fol. ; B. Ilcbr. Jo. Simonis Hal. 1 752, 8vo., 17fi7, 8vo. ; 
Biblia Hebr. Benj. Kennicot. Oxon. 1776-80, fol. (See 
Bruns de Mendis typographicis cditionis Van der Hooght. a 
Kennicoto non sublatis in Eichhorn's Rep. xii. 225, scq.) 
Van der Hooght's Bible has been of lato frequently re- 
printed in London. Editio nova, recognita et emendata a 
Josepho Samuele Frey, Typis Soeietatis ad promovendam 
Christianitatem inter Judojos, Lond. 1812, 8vo. ; B. Hebr. 
ad ed. Hooghthianam adornata, Lond. typis et sumptibus 
'Sam. Bamster, 1823. In stereotype, Recognita ct emendata 
a Judah D'Allemand, Typis A. Macintosh, impensis Jacobi 
Duncan, 1823, 1825, large 8vo. ; duodecimo with Hebrew 
title, 1825; large 8vo. reprinted 1828, 1830, corrected by 
Hunvitz, 1833. The most beautiful type is employed in the 
Biblia Hebraica secundum editiones Jos. Athiae, Jo. Leus- 
den, Jo. Simonis aliorumque imprimis Everardi van der 
Hooght, rccensuit Augustus Hahn, Theol. Doctor et Pro- 
fessor in Acad. Lipsiensi, editio stereotypa sumptibus Ca- 
roli Tauchnitz, 1S31, 8vo. and in duodecimo, 1833. 

The following is a list of tbe critical apparatuses by which 
tho text has been purified :— The great and the small Masora, 
and various readings in the rabbinical Bibles of Bomberg 
and Buxtorf. Selections of various readings in the editions 
of Miinster, Van der Hooght, and in the *ltf nnJQ. with 
the critical commentary of R. Sal Norzi, Mantua, 1742-44, 
four volumes ; C. F. Houbigant Nota) criticso in nniv.V. 
T. libros cum Hebraice turn Grace scriptos cum intcgris 
cjusdem Prolegomenis ad Exemplar Parisiensc denuo re- 
cusal, torn. i. ii. Francf. a M. 1777, 4to. Comp. J. D. Mi- 



ehaelis Vorrede, zum kritischen Collegia fiber die drei wich- 
tigsten Psalmen von Christo; J. Chr. Kallii Prodr. ex- 
amines criscos Houbigantianae in Cod. Hebr. Hafhise, 1763, 
4to. ; Ej. Examen cris. Houbig. in Cod. Hebr. spec. i*. 
Hafn. 1764, 4to.; Seb. Rau Exercitationes phil. ad Houbi- 
gant. Prolegomena, 1785, 4to. ; Kennicott's Dissertations on 
the Hebrew textand his Bible. Com. Bruns de variis lec- 
tionibus Bibl. Kennicot. in Eichhorn's Repertorium xii. 242, 
seq. xili. 31, seq. ; Bruns Apologie fur Kennicot in Eich- 
horn's Rep. vi. 173, seq. ; Roscnmuller's Handbuch, i. 241, 
seq.; BibL Reineccii ed. J. Chr. Doderlein et J. H. Meis- 
ner, Lips. 1793, 8vo.; B. Hebr. dig. ct grav. lectionum 
varietatem adjecit J. Jahh, Vienna?, 1807, 3 volumes, 8vo. 
Biblia Hebraica without points, after the text of Kennicott, 
with the chief various readings selected from his collation 
of Hebrew manuscripts, from that of De Rossi, and from 
the antient versions, accompanied with English notes, cri- 
tical, philological, and explanatory, selected from English 
and foreign eritics by B. Boothroyd, in two volumes, 4to. 
Pontefract, without the date. 

Besides' those in the editions of Kennieott, Jahn, &c, we 
notice the following collections of various readings: — HSD 
mm? JVD rmDD, by Rabbi Meir Hallevi, Berlin, 1761 ; 
mm mtt printed in JYIT Vlttf. Ven. 1618, and inaccu- 
rately, Amst. 1558. Coinmentatio eritica sistens duorum 
eodicum manuscriptorum Biblia Hebr. continentium quis 
Regiomonti Borussorum asservantur cum pra>eipuarum va- 
riantium lectionum sylloge, auctore D. Theod. Christ. Lilicn- 
thal. Regiomonti et Lipsise, 1770, 8vo/ The most important 
work of this kind is by J. B. De Rossi ; V arise Lectiones Vet. 
Test, ex immensa Manuscriptorum editorumquc eodicum 
congcrie hausta) et ad Samaritanum tcxtum, vetustissimas 
versiones, et accuratiores sacra) critic© fontes ac leges ex- 
aminatse, Parma;, 1784-88; iv. volumina 4to. maj.; and 
Scholia crit. in V. T. libros, seu supplementa ad varias sacri 
textus lectiones, Parma), 1798. 

Among the oldest manuscripts, nearly 1500 in number, 
which have been eollatcd, is the Laudianus in the Bodleian 
Library at Oxford, which is considered to be 800 years old : 
this MS. differs in 14,000 readings from Van der Hooght's 
text, which is now in common use. Besides this there aro 
many important MSS. at Oxford and in the British Mu- 
seum in London, one in the library of the Royal Society, 
one in the Lambeth Library, and one MS. of the Pentateuch 
in the library of the London University. In the seventh 
and the following volumes of the Classical Journal is a 
catalogue of MSS. existing in the public libraries of Great 
Britain, and a very complete list of Hebrew MSS. is pre- 
fixed to De Rossi's Varies Lectiones : less complete in 
Kennicott's Dissertatio Prceliminaris. 

These codices are known among critics by names like the 
following: — Carlsruhcnsis,Vienncnsis, Cesena),inthe Mala- 
testa Library at Bologna, Fiorentinus 2, Mediolanensis 9, 
Norimbergensis 4, Parisiensis 27,' Rcgiomontanus 2, Pa 
risiensis 24. 

To illustrate the appearance of these codices may serve a 
fac-siinile of Dcut. iv. 1, 2, from an antient Hebrew MS. 
of the Pentateuch, called by the Rev. II . Home Codex Mala- 
baricus ; it was brought in the year 1806 from the interior 
of Malayala by the late Rev. Claudius Buchanan, D.D., and 
is now preserved in the public library of the University of 
Cambridge. 






It measures forty-eight feet in length. The whole book 
of Leviticus and the greater part of Deuteronomy are 



wanting. The original length was about ninety feet. Its 
breadth is about twenty-two inches, or a Jewish cubit. 



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372 



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It seems to comprise the fragments of three different rolk/l 
See a * Collation of an Indian copy of the Pentateuch/ also 
a collation and description of a manuscript roll of the book 
of Esther from the Hebrew extant in brazen tablets at 
Goa, with an English translation, by Thomas Ycatcs, Cam- 
bridge, 1812, 4 to.* None of the Hebrew manuscripts is 
above SOO years old. The reason why the manuscripts of the 
Old Testament arc never found of so high antiquity as the 
oldest of the New Testament, is that the Jews never suffer 
their holy manuscripts to exist in a dilapidated state. Tho 



manuscripts which begin to bo illegible, or contain readings 
not authorised by the Masora, or arc inaccurate, aro col- 
lected in the 133. «• *• pi we of deposit, or rather hiding- 
place in the synagogue. When this place is filled up, all 
its contents aro removed to bo buried in a place of tho 
burying-ground chosen for that purpose.* Tho following 
line may represent a codex about to he buried for being 
faulty and illegible. 



afoNffVW twk nw nw ipw wfevh 



The unwearied application of tho learned in tho collation 
of Hebrew manuscripts has proved that all of them repre- 
sent nearly tho same text that was in the hands of the old 
translators, which has not suffered any very material altera- 
tion in spite of thousands of small changes. This is also 
proved hy the fact that the peculiarities of style which cha- 
racterise the different biblical writers have not been effaced. 
The old sehool of the Buxtorfs and their followers believed 
in the general correctness of the Masorethical text. The 
correctness of ibis opinion, however, has been established 
not by the opposition of the old sehool to eritieal examina- 
tion, but by the exortions of those critics who for some 
time overrated the authority of tho Samaritan Pentateuch 
and that of the antient translations, and overstated tho 
faulU of the Masorethical text 

Critics now distinguish, 1st, the text before the con- 
clusion of the canon in tho parallel passages of tho Old 
Testament; 2nd, the text before the Masora in the quota- 
tions of the Talmud; 3rd, the Samaritan and Alexandrine; 
4th, the Masorethical. 

Tho first Samaritan MSS. were brought into Europe in 
the year of our Lord 1C20. Aehill. Harlay de Sancy di- 
rected Pietro della Valle in 1616 to purchase them at Da- 
mascus, and presented them to the library of tho Ora- 
torium at Paris. There are extant, besides these, a Codex 
Coltonianus, a Codex S. Genov. at Paris. Compare also 
tho Barberini Triglotta and the Paris and London Poly- 
glotts in Samaritan types, and the Pent Hebrseo-Samarit. 
cd. Benj. Blayney, Oxon. 1790, in the usual square charac- 
ters. [See Samaritans.] 

The earliest translations of the Old Testament wero made 
from a text which belongs to a period from which no manu- 
scripts have been preserved. These translations confirm 
the significations which aro given in our Lexicons to He- 
brew words, and show how the biblical text was understood 
at a period when the original languago was still living, or J 

:]T3ftONDWn3 

. Wd fwx *g tote vm toN D^V) \& BW ^ 

According to Ongen, Lueianus and Hesychlus bestowed 
their critical labours upon the text of the Septuagint; and 
their editions camo into public use, but have entirely dis- 
appeared. It appears from Gcorg. Syncell. ChrOnogr. p. 203, 
*Ei> tvl Avrtypaftp Xiav t/JcptCw/tir^i Ik tTjc Iv Kauraptia r//c 
KaxiratoKtac IXSovr* *fc Ifii fit€\io9t)iCTjc t Ir f ttal lirtyLypairro, 
«c & /**Yac Kai £«toc BaaOUcoc tA «£ wv Ikuvo dirty pa ft), ifrrri- 
CoXwk ctop0w<raro (St€\la. Comp. Carpzou crit. sacra, p. 533, 
that the labours of Basilius the Great on tho Septuagint 
consisted in his care to obtain eorrcet copies. 

Of late, tho English Bible Society has encouraged Bishop 
Hilarion in prosecuting his translation into modern Greek, 
parts of which have been published; e.c. tho Psalms in 
elegant modern Greek. 

In tho days of St. Augustine, several Latin translations 
existed: among these ho preferred the Itala, which was in 
moro general use, and which had originated in the first 
period of Christianity. The fragments of tho Itala still ex- 
tant prove that it was mado from tho Septuagint. Iliero- 
nymus corrected it about the year a.d. 332 ; but the greater | 
part of his labours was lost during his own lifetime, and 
lie could not gratify the desire of Augustino to restore I 



when, at least, many helps to its understanding, which have 
since disappeared, were still accessible. AYo shall' treat in 
separate articles on the following most important antient 
translations : — 

The Septuagint is written in the Hellenistic or Jewish 
Greek language, and was formerly read in many syna- 
gogues. Josephus makes moro use of the Septuagint than 
of the Hebrew text;, but at a later period, when Christians 
employed the Septuagint, the Jews rejected it. The Talmud 
appoints a fast day on the eighth day of Tebeth, because 
'on that day the law was written in Greek through King 
Ptolemy, and darkness came over the earth for three days ; 
and that day was fatal to Israel as the day on which "the 
calf was made/ (Sec Megillath Taanith, fol. 50, e. 2 ed. 
Bas. 1753; Tract. Sopher. c 1.) 

Tho fragments which have been preserved of tho transla- 
tion made by tho Jewish prosolyte, Aquila of Sinope, at the 
commencement of the second century, aro very valuable, 
beeauso they are so literal that they exactly represent tho 
text whieh was before tho eye of the translator. [See 
Aquila,] Theodotion only remodelled the Septuagint. 
His translation of Daniel was used among the Christians 
instead of the Septuagint. Symmaehus wrote better Greek, 
but translated more freely. Each of these three translated 
with more accuracy than the translators of the Septuagint. 

There arc, besides, fragments of three anonymous Greek 
translations, whieh have been called, from the places which 
they occupy in the 'Hexapla* of Origcn, Quinta, Scxta, 
Scptima, 

Parts of tho Old Testament have been translated into a 
Jewish modern Greek, of whieh * Wolfii Bibliothcca Ile- 
braja,' vol. iii, Appendix, and vol. iv. p. 1219-26, contains 
curious specimens printed in Hebrew type. 

AVo exhibit here the first three verses of Genesis, in tho 
rare Vcrsio Judajo-Gneco-Barbara, belonging to the Oppen- 
heimcr lihrary at Oxford: — 

(1.) E/c &PXV t7r\a<rtv 6 Sibc rbv ovpavo Kat rijv Xyt, 

(2.) Kai »yic i^rov a^wtooQ ko\ afctviavpOQ, *al <nc&TOK liri 
irpo<Tu)irtj> aCvffffov, rat avifio^ rov deou arcureraee lirl trpopvinp 
T&v vipwv. 

(3.) Kai tlittv b Ofbc* <*C itvat ^wc, Kai ijrov ^wc» 

the loss, because he had not sufficient scribes at his com 
mand. 

According to Abulfaragius, the Syrians had, along with 
tho Pesehito, another translation of the Septuagint, which 
has been called, according to an erroneous reading of 
Poeocke, the Figurata, 

Of the Syrian translation by Philoxenus, bishop of Hicra- 
polis, we know so little that we cannot say whether it was 
the samo with the Figurata. 

In tho Ambrosian library at Milan there aro the Psalms, 
Job, Proverbs, Ecclcsiastes, Song of Songs, tho AVisdom of 
Solomon, Sirach, tho twelve minor prophets, Jeremiah, 
Barueh, Lamentations, Daniel, Kzckiel, and Isaiah, in an 
Hcxaplar Syriae translation by Paul, bishop of Telia, of the 
year 616. Of tho same translation thero is a copy at Paris 
of the fourth, or, as we call it, tho second hook of Kings. 
Tli is version was translated into Arabie by Hareth Ben 
Senan, a.d. 148G, and is preserved' in the Arabic at Paris 
and at Oxford. 

The Ethiopians have, in tho Gccz, an anonymous transla- 
tion of the whole Biblo, the origin of whieh eannot be earlier 
than the fourth century/ This version was made by Chris* 



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tians from tho Alexandrine Greek* translation, hut it is now 
used by Jews also. Of this there are several complete 
manuscript copies in Europe, a list of which is given by 
Ludolf : parts of it have been printed. Other copies have 
been brought to Europe by Bruce and Riippell. 

There exists also a translation in the dialect of Lower 
Egypt,, the so-called Coptie orMemphitic; and another in 
the dialect of Upper Egypt, the Sahidic, or Thebaic. The 
origin of these translations, parts of which have been printed, 
belongs probably to the end of the third, or the commence- 
ment of the fourth century. Both were made from the 
Septuagint. 

The -Armenian translation by Micsroh was • executed with 
the assistance of Johannes Ekelensis and Jos. Palnensis, 
about a.d. 410. "With this translation, Miesrob gave to the 
Armenians an alphabet. He followed the Septuagint, and 
in Daniel the Greek of Theodotion. Miesrob's translation 
is said to have been interpolated in the sixth century ac- 
cording to the Peschito, and in the thirteenth century ac- 
cording to the Vulgate. 

The Georgian or Grusingian translation was made in the 
sixth century, and follows the Septuagint ■ 

The Sclavonic translation is said to have been made in 
the ninth century, from the text of the Septuagint ; but, 
according to Alter, it originated from the Itala, and was 
altered in the fourteenth century according to Greek MSS. 

It- is unnecessary in an article so limited as the present 
to do more than name the Arabic translations, the Veneta, 
the Targumim, the Samaritan translation, 1 the Peschito, the 
Vulgate, the Gothic, the Anglo-Saxon and 'Persian trans- 
lations, &c. 

The Hebrews had, like other nations, their prose and 
poetical styles. * The poetical style is distinguished by great 
boldness and freshness of expression, and by a rhythmical 
movement or cadence of language. This fhythmus occurs 
jn various degrees. There are parts in the prophets, and in 
the book of Ecclesiastes,' which are scarcely elevated above 
the level of prose. The gradual ascent from prose to rhyth- 
mus, and the descent from rhythmus to prose; constitutes 
one of the beautiful characteristics of Hebrew poetry. The 
rhythmus of syllables is, in Hebrew, so free, that some have 
preferred to call it ' numerus by accentuation/ This numerus 
consists usually in a free mixture of .iambics, trochees, am- 
phibrachs, and anapaists. 

( ' The books and passages of the Old Testament, which are 
composed in a poetical style, have such a diversity of cha- 
racter, from the various times at which they were written, 
that it is necessary to distinguish them into several periods. 
Four of these periodical divisions may be* conveniently 
adopted. , ' 

* The first embraces short historical songs, and oracular 
sentences : simplicity and obscure brevity are the charac- 
teristics of these. The second aera is that of heroic song. 
In the times of the Judges, the' actions of the protectors and 
defenders of Israel were celebrated in this style. Of the same 
description are inspiriting war-songs, and songs of triumph. 
The third period commences with the schools of the pro- 
phets, founded by Samuel, in which the art of poetry was 
enlarged, refined, and ennobled. Historical poems, pas- 
torals, and hymns in praise of God, and war-songs/ were 
produced by these schools. At length, under David and 
Solomon's reign, we approach the golden. age of Hebrew 
poetry, to which succeeded the sublime oracles of the pro- 
phets. .They uttered, in solemn strains, promises 'and 
threatenings, and described better times to eome in imagery 
borrowed from the golden age. The fourth epoch coincides 
With the time about and subsequent to the Babylonian eap- 
tivity. Then the fiery energy of the prophetic poetry was 
lost, and plaintive songs of woe were blended alternately 
with joyful strains, sung in hope of their return to Ziou, 
and with' eheerful festive hymns, in which the expectation 
of a universal kingdom of God on earth was expressed 
in various ways. 

* With respect to the external form, the various species of 
Hebrew poetry may, up6n the whole, be described by the 
names given to their poetic compositions by the Greeks and 
Romans ; but it must not be imagined that their arrange- 
ment and disposition are of the same kind. The following 
jpaay be considered as distinct species of Hebrew poetry : — 

* First, short traditional poems, containing anecdotes of fa- 
milies, for the purpose of handing them down to posterity. 
Second, longer historico-religious poems; as, for example, 
1 Moses (GcnO i. and ii., also Psalms exxxv. cxxxvi f > and 



poems of a mythic form, 1 Moses (Gen.) iii. xi. Third, odes : 
these are subdivided into — 1. Hymns, songs of praise, and 
thanksgiving for divine worship ; 2. Common odes, in which 
other important objects were expressed in sublime imagery, 
and, finally, 3. War-songs, which often ascend to the dignity 
of the ode. Fourth, elegies, lamentations, pastoral lays, and 
songs in praise of love. Fifth, songs, of a middle species, 
which do not attain the character of the ode. Sixth, di- 
dactic poems,* of which there are — 1. Many short ones in 
the Psalms ; and, 2. Some of greater length in Job and 
Ecclesiastes. To these latter belong — 3. Parables, fables, 
and allegories ; and, finally, 4. Single sententious apo- 
phthegms, or proverbs. 

* Descriptions of the separate prophetical books arc given 
in the Introductions (such as those of Eichhorn, Jahn, Bcr- 
thold, and De Wette) to the Old Testament: hut those 
books must be divided into two elasses, in order to facilitate 
their interpretation,* viz., those written before, and those 
written after >the captivity, as the character and contents 
of the latter differ materially from those of the former 
writings. 

' The first period of those writings is that between Moses 
and the captivity. The prophets who lived in this period la- 
boured to oppose idolatry ; and continually exercised this 
grand theme of their discourses and denunciations in new 
forms, and under various images and conceptions. They 
announced on these occasions the approach of divine justico 
in the devastation of the land, and the carrying off of its in- 
habitants, but they at the same time opened a view into a 
distant state of future felicity, the reti/rn of the better part 
of the Israelites to the true God, the return of manv of them- 
selves out of all tribes to Judsea, and their re-uiuon as a 
people. They already saw many heathens, proceeding 
with the Jews towards Jerusalem, for the observance of the 
same worship ; they saw a divine kingdom, whose borders 
were to be continually enlarging. 
' ' The other period is that from the exile to Malachi. Tho 
prophets who lived during this time sustained tho hopes of 
Israel ; but they at the same time directed their exhorta- 
tions to the promotion of the true worship of God, and de- 
nounced punishment against hypocritical offerings, against 
indolence in doing good, against unrighteousness, and many 
other sins, as being the cause of preventing God from ful- 
filling, in their complete extent, his promises to the citizens 
of the newly- restored Jerusalem. Some of. the prophets 
already foresaw a time of severe judicial punishments to be 
indicted by God on the refractory Israelites.' (Setter's Her' 
meneutics.) * • ' » , 

The English Bible. — No complete translation appears to 
have been made in the Saxon times into the language then 
spoken in England. By some writers Bede is said to have 
made 'such a translation, but this -is now generally under- 
stood to be a mistake. That he translated portions of the 
Scriptures is, however, certain. One of- the best authenti- 
cated facts in his life _is, that he was employed in trans- 
lating the Gospel of St. John into Saxon at the time of his 
decease.. The early writers who relate this fact differ re- 
specting the extent to which he had proceeded in trans- 
lating this Gospel. No evidence can be produced that the 
whole 'of the- Scriptures was, by any person, rendered into 
Saxon. But of the more important portions Saxon versions 
still exist in manuscript. We shall notice three of the most 
remarkable copies: — 1. A manuscript of the Psalms in 
Latin, with an interlinear Saxon version. This is now in tho 
Cottonian Library at the British Museum, where it is nume- 
rated Vespasian A. i. 2. A manuscript of the Gospels in 
the same library, numerated Nero D. iv. This contains tho 
Latin text, with an interlinear Saxon version. Both theso 
manuscripts are of singular beauty, and impress the mind 
with a strong feeling of respect for the monks ofLindisfarn, 
in whose house, and probably not later than the eighth cen- 
tury, they were executed. 3. Another manuscript of the 
same class is at Oxford, where it is known by the name of 
the Rushworth Gloss, on account of its having belonged to 
Rush worth the historical writer. This manuscript contains 
the Gospels only. Other manuscripts exist of Saxon versions 
of portions of the Scriptures in many libraries ; and there aro 
notices in writers on Saxon affairs of several persons who, 
beside Bede, were employed in the translation of these im- 
portant writings into the vernacular tongue. At the Re- 
formation, when the work of translating the Scriptures met 
with opposition from the church, it was a point of some im- 
portance to draw the public attention to the fact that versions 



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tnto the vornacular longuo were no novelties in England. It 
was with this view that Parker, arehhishop of Canterbury, 
encouraged Fox, the writer of tho Martyrology, to prepare 
an edition of the Gospels in Saxon, which ha did, and pub- 
lished it in 1571. Another edition, tho result of tho colla- 
tion of a greater number of mauuseripts, was published in 
1 63S. and again in 1665. This was the joint work of Junius 
and Marshall. Thay gavo at the samo timo tho text of Ul- 
philas's version, into tho language called tha Mreso-Gothic, 
a kindrod, perhaps tho parent, languago of tho Saxon. 

Devout persons seem to have employed them selves in 
rendering portions of tho Scriptures into tho languago 
spokon in this country, when what wo call Saxon was be- 
coming what wa how call English. It is thought that tho 
wholo of the Scriptures had been translated in tho thirteenth 
century. It is, however, certain that in tha fourteenth cen- 
tury, not single and separato portions only were translated, 
but tho wholo of the books comprehended in tho Sacred 
Canon, and that they were put together in order as they 
were found in the Latin originals, so as to form a volume 
answering to what we mean when wo speak of the Bibla. 
Thare are two persons, both of the age of King Edward III., 
who are said to have executed this work. The one, John de 
Trevisa, a native of Cornwall, was educated at Oxford. He 
translated the work of Bartholomew, * Dc Proprietatibus 
Rcrum,* and tho * Polyehronicon ' of Higden— the ona the 
most popular l>ook in the philosophy of the age, the other in 
tho history. Caxton, writing not a century after the time, 
says that he also translated tho Holy Scriptures, but this 
is now matter of uncertainty. But there is no doubt that 
Wieklifte did translate the wholo Bible, or gathered together 
translations which made an English Bible. Many copies 
of His volume were made about the time when it was cora- 
pluted, which was about a century before tha introduction of 
printing into England. Wicklifib died in 1384. 

Wiekliffe' s version of the Scriptures is deeply interesting, 
on account of the circumstances under which it was pro- 
duced, and its connexion with a favourite English name. It 
is of soma importance in Biblical literature, as showing what 
Latin version was in his time regarded as of tho highest 
authority in England, and also In what light certain ques- 
tions in theology were viowed by that early Reformer. It 
is also curious as a monument of the state of the language 
in the middle of the fourteenth century. Foreign scholars 
have reproached us for not having published an edition of it. 
Proposals are now before tho country for such a work, but 
they havo been but coldly reoeived. Tho New Testament 
from this version wa3 published by John Lewis, a clergy- 
man of Margate, in 1731, and reprinted under the care of 
Mr. Babcrof the British Museum in 1810. 

From tho time of Wickliffa the authorities in the English 
church did whatever they could to discountcnanco tho cir- 
culation of the Scriptures in the ordinary language of the 
people. It was regarded as a measure which was likely to 
proauee horesies, and as a work which could never be 
executed with a sufficient degreo of exactness. The time 
was, however, approaching when an opposition which was 
irresistible would be made to tho church in this point. 

It is to tho resistance which was made by tho ecclesiasti- 
cal authorities of tha time that wo aro to attribute the re- 
markable fact that, though tho art of printing was in- 
troduced into England in or about 1474, yot no English 
Biblo or Testament was printed till 1526, and then at a 
foreign press. 

To William Tyndal wo owe a translation of a large portion 
of tha Scriptures into the English tongue, next in antiquity 
to WickliflVs. Tyndal was acquainted with Lutber, whoso 
advice and assistance he is raportcd to havo had in his 
translation. IIo lived much abroad, and before 1526 ho had 
completed an English version of tho Naw Testament. Of 1 
this ho printed in that year two distinct editions ; ono in 
quarto at Cologne, another in duodecimo at Antwerp. Perfect 
copies of either of these editions aro not known. Tho few 
Imperfect copies which exist of this, the Editio Princeps of 
the English New Testament, and very fow they arc, are 
treasured as tho choicest book curiosities. Tyndal proceeded 
fn his work of translation, and not less vigorously in super- 
intending successive editions of his New Testament through 
tho press. They were bought up and burnt in England ; 
but this only supplied him with tho means of printing othar 
editions with such corrections and improvements as wero 
suggested to hi in. IIo is said to havo also printed a trans- 
lation of tho Pentateuch, and it is cortain that ho did trans- 



late thoso fivo books of Moses, and also many other books 
of the Old Testament. Ho did not, however, commit to tha 
press any eompleto translation of tho whole Scriptures. 
Tyndal was put to a cruel death at Filford, near Antwerp, 
whero his translation first appeared, in 1536. 

Another person who at that early period engaged in the 
work was Miles Coverdale, a friend of Tyndal. IIo pro- 
duced a complete English Bible, composed of T)ndal a s 
translations, as far as they went, and his own. This was 
tha first edition of the Bible in English. It was followed by 
several other publications of the English Bible in the inter- 
val between 1535 and 1611, when the present authorized 
version was first published. Of these wo shall give a cata- 
logue of tho most remarkable, observing generally, that of 
each of these there were several distinct re-impressions, and 
of some of them many. 

1. Coverdale s Bible. — This was printed at Zurich, it is 
believed, in 1535, and dedicated by Coverdalo to Henry VIII. 
It was favourably received by tho court. In the next year, 
Cromwell, the king's vicar-general and vice-gercnt in eccle- 
siastical matters, enjoined that a copy of this translation 
should be laid in the choir of every parish church in Eng- 
land, for every one to read at his pleasure. 

2. Matthewe's Bible. — This also was printed abroad, but 
at the expense of two English printers, Grafton and Whit- 
church : tha date is 1537. The name of Thomas Matthcwe, 
whose edition it was said to be, is feigned. The real editor 
was John Rogers, the first person burned for heresy in the 
reign of Mary. The text is that of Tyndal and Coverdale 
slightly altered. 

3. The Great Bible, or Cranmer's. — Tho Bibles hitherto 
published had been but tho work of private persons. Cran- 
mer, who was at that time archbishop of Canterbury, had, 
from the time when Coverdalc's Bible appeared, been anxi- 
ous to engage the bishops in the preparation of an English 
Bible, which should go to the people under their express 
authority. He found them not very eager to engage in tha 
design. It is supposed that Coverdale had much to do in 
the preparation of this edition. The text is, in tho main, 
the samo with his. The prefaeo was written by Cranmer. 
It was finished at the press of Grafton and Whitchurch in 
April, 1539. 

4. Taverner's Bible. — This also appeared in 1539. Tho 
editor was Richard Taverner. Tho text is formed on that 
of Matthewe's Bible. 

Thero were eleven impressions of the English Bible in the 
reign of Edward VI., but they aro considered as only re- 
imprcssions of one or other of the editions above mentioned. 

5. The Geneva Bible.— During the reign of Mary, some 
of the divines who had been the most forward in promoting 
tho Reformation took rofugo at Geneva. Among these 
was Coverdale, who seems to have regarded the diffusing of 
the Holy Scriptures in the English tongue as his peculiar 
province in the labour of reformation. * He and some other 
of the Protestant exiles, especially Gilby and Wbitting- 
ham, set themselves to prepare another edition, to be ac- 
companied with notes. They were employed in seeing it 
through the press when the death of Mar'y and the accession 
of Elizabeth opened a way for their return. Somo rcmaiued 
behind to finisn the work, which appeared iu 1560. This long 
continued to be the favourito Biblo of the English Puritans 
and of the Scotch Presbyterians. Not fewer than fifty im- 

Sressions of it aro known, and there were probably more, 
loth in the text and notes there is a great leaning to the 
system of Calvin and Bcza, with whom tne exiles at Geneva 
wero intimately acquainted. , It scarcely deserves to bo 
mentioned that this edition is often called tho * Breeches 
Bible,' on account of a rendering given in Genesis iii. 7. 

6. The Bishops' Bible, or Parker's, so called from Matthew 
Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, first appeared in a largo 
folio in 1568. Parker employed learned men to review tho 
previous translation, and compare them with the originals. 
This odition exhibits, in conscqueuce, some material varia- 
tions. 

7. 77ie Douay Pible, of which tho Now Testament was 
first printed at Rhaims hj 1582, aud the Old Testament at 
Douay in 1/J09-10. This is tho Catholic version. -Cardinal 
Allen is understood to havo had a principal share in this 
work. 

This brings us 'to the period of King James's transla-' 
tion. Early in the reign of King James I. thero was a 
conference of divines of different opinions at Hampton 
Court, for tho settling the pcaco of tho church. In this 



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conference ranch was said concerning the imperfections 
of the existing translations of the Scriptures. The king 
himself, who was often present at these meetings, ex- 
pressed a strong opinion on that point of the debate. * I 
wish,* said he, * some special pains were taken for a uni- 
form translation, which should be done by the best learned 
in both universities, then reviewed by the bishops, presented 
to the privy council, and, lastly, ratified by royal authority, 
to he read in the whole church, and no other/ Out of this 
speech of the king's arose the present English Bible ; for 
the suggestion soon ripened into a resolution. As this is 
the Bible which has now for more than two centuries been 
the only Bible allowed to be read in tbe English ehurch, 
and as it is also tbe Bible universally used in dissenting 
communities, we may be expected to give a more extended 
notice of it than of the former editions. Fifty-four of the 
persons in that age most distinguished for that particular 
species of learning which such a duty required were selected 
for the work, according to the king's suggestion : finally, 
forty-seven of them undertook it. Tbcy divided themselves 
into six independent classes, to each of which a certain 
portion of the work was assigned. Each person in tbe class 
was to produce his own translation of the whole committed 
to tbem : these several translations were to be revised at a 
general meeting of the class. When the class bad agreed 
upon their version, it was to be transmitted to each of the 
other classes, so that no part was to come out without the 
sanction of tbe whole body. 

Two of the classes sat at Westminster, two at Oxford, and 
two at Cambridge. Tho instructions which they received 
from the king were, that they should adhere to the Bishops* 
Bible, which was then ordinarily read in the churches, 
making as few deviations from it as possible. They were, 
however, to use the other versions, and to eonsult the trans- 
lations which bad been made into other modern languages ; 
and they were to keep in the old ecclesiastical words, such as 
church, &c. When a word had divers significations, * that 
should be kept which- had been most commonly used by 
the antient fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the 
place, and the analogy of faith/ No marginal notes were 
to be used, except for tho further explication of some 
Greek or Hebrew word. References to parallel passages 
might be given. They were to call in tbe assistance of 
any learned man who was known to have made this subject 
his study. 

They were employed upon the work for three years, 
namely from 1607 to 1610 ; proceeding with that delibera- 
tion and care which so weighty an undertaking required. 
The names of tbe divines engaged in it, and the portions 
are known which were committed to eaeb class, are preserved. 
If we say that there are few names among them which have 
acquired a lasting celebrity, we are only saying of them what 
is tbe usual fate of divines. Tbe name of Bishop Andrews 
is the first in place and the first in eelehrity. It is believed 
that Bancroft, then Archbishop of Canterbury, though not 
one of tbe professed translators, bad much to do in the super- 
intendence of the work. It eame forth from the press of 
Robert Barker in 1611. 

This is then the great acra in the history of the English 
Bible. From that time to the present there has been no 
serious intention entertained in the chureh of any revision 
of this translation. It is admitted universally that it is 
in the main an admirable translation. But many per- 
sons in the ehurch who have thought that, excellent as it 
confessedly is, it is not the best possible translation ; and 
that it seems as if the time was arrived for revising the 
work of the divines of the days of King James, especially 
since the general principles of translation seem now to be 
better understood than heretofore, and the investigations of * 
men of learning in the manuscripts of both the Old and 
New Testament in the originals have led to the establish- 
ment of a text which is allowed to make a nearer approach 
to the text as left by tbe original writers, than that whieh 
was used by King James's translators. 

It has however been found that every subsequent edition 
of the Bible bas deviated not only in spelling, but slightly 
also in other respects, from tbe original edition of 1611. 
Thus, the Rev. T. Curtis has lately shown that the use of 
the distinctive Italie and capital letters in that edition has 
by no means been scrupulously copied in those that have 
followed it. In this respect it appears, however, that the 
alterations which have been made are really amendments, 
bv which the typography of the modern editions is made 



more conformable to the principle adopted by the trans* 
lators. On the other hand, it has been shown, and espe- 
cially by the Rev. Dr. Lee of Edinburgh, both in a pam- 
phlet published by him in 1826, and in his evidence given 
before a committee of the House of Commons in 1831, that 
the prohibition against the received version of the Bible 
being printed by any persons except the king's printers and 
the two English universities has by no means secured that 
accuracy in the impressions with a view to which it is pro- 
fessed that tbe restriction is maintained. Thus, in an Edin- 
burgh edition of 1816, we have in Luke vi. 29, 'Him that 
taketh away thy cloak, forbid to* (for 'not') 'to take away 
thy coat also;' and 1 Cor. xiv. 40, 'Let all tongues' (for 
* things') * be done decently and in order/ So, in a stereo- 
type edition, published by tbe king's printers in England in 
1819, in 1 Cor. viii. 6, instead of 'To us there is but one 
God/ the reading is ' To us three is but one God.' Many 
of the older editions abound in such errors to a much 
greater extent. Mr. Curtis has also pointed out, even in 
some of the most recent editions, the occasional occurrence 
of such errors as 'heart' for hart/ 'son* for 'sun/ 'forth' 
for * four/ &c. 

But while nothing has been done by authority, many 
persons have produced new and, as they presume, improved 
translations of particular books. Dr. Geddes, a Catholio 
divine, but who had no particular attachment to his church 
to influence him in hi3 version, published a translation of 
the historical books of the Old Testament. Lowth, Bishop 
of London,- and Dodson, a learned layman, both published 
translations of the Prophecy of Isaiah ; "felayney, a transla- 
tion of the minor prophets, and Stock, an Irish bishop, of 
the book of Job. * Other translations of other books of the 
Old Testament have appeared, nor have there been wanting 
those who have attempted the too arduous task of translat- 
ing the whole of these books. Numerous translations have 
been published of the New Testament, of which we may 
particularly single out as the works of men of learning and 
high character that by Gilbert Wakefield and that by New- 
come, the Archbishop of Armagh. 

Still more numerous have been the editions of the English 
Bible in the version of King James, with notes, paraphrases, 
and practical expositions. Our limits will not allow of our 
entering upon an enumeration of these works. We must, 
however, name as works which are highly esteemed, the 
Family Bible, prepared by tbe Rev. Thomas Scott, rector of 
Aston-Sandford, in Buckinghamshire, a clergyman of what 
are called evangelical sentiments ; the Commentary on the 
Bible by Adam Clarke, LL,D., a leading minister among 
the Wesleyan Methodists ; and the Family Bible of the 
Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, of York, a Presbyterian minister 
of Unitarian sentiments, a work at present incomplete, in 
which the learned author has united valuable critical matter 
for the accomplished scholar, with much useful information 
for the unlearned reader. 

BIBLE SOCIETIES. Associations, supported by vo- 
luntary contributions, for the general circulation of copies of 
tbe Sacred Scriptures, may be regarded as belonging pecu- 
liarly to the present eentury. Whatever had previously 
been done, either by societies or individuals, in the way of 
translating or printing the Bible, is insignificant when com- 
pared with what has been done in the last thirty years, 
from 1804 to 1835. Previous to the formation of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, the associations in Great Britain 
which included among their objeets the circulation of the 
Bible were: — 

1. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New 
England, originally incorporated by an ordinance of parlia- 
ment in 1649, and re-incorporated in 1661, after the Re- 
storation. The missionary Eliot, known as the Apostle of 
the American Indians, after labouring to reduce the lan- 
guage of the tribes then surrounding the infant eolony to 
writing, effected a translation of the Bible into it, which was 
printed in 1663 at the expense of the corporation. This 
edition of the Bible, which is dedicated to Charles II., con- 
tains the Psalms of David, attempted to be done into Indian 
metre, which Cotton Mather tells us ware used in the con- 
gregations of the converted natives. 

2. The Soeiety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
established in 1698. It had caused an edition of the New 
Testament to be printed in Arabic, the whole of the Scrip; 
tures in Man*, and four editions of tbe Scrirturcs in the 
Welsh language. 

3, 'The Society for tho Propagation of the Gospel m 



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Foreign Parts, established 170!. This and the preceding 
institutions were under the entire management of members 
of the Kstablishcd Church. 

4. The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian 
Knowledge, incorporated in 1709. It hod distributed the 
Scriptures in the Gaelic language. 

5. The Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge 
among the Poor, established ) 750. The subscribers were 
entitled once in two years to copies of the Scriptures or 
oilier works published by the society, at a reduced charge. 

G. The Bible Society, "established in 1780, for the purpose 
cf circulating the Scriptures amenjj soldiers and sailers ex- 
clusively. In about twenty years it bad distributed about 
30,000 copies. 

7. The Society for the Support and Encouragement of 
Sunday Schools, established in 1785. It provided the Sun- 
day schools with copies of the Bible and Testament, and 
with spelling-books. 

8. Tho French Bible Society, established in London in 
1792, for the purpose of distributing copies of the Scriptures 
in France. This institution had made arrangements with 
a printer for an edition of tho Scriptures in the French lan- 
guage, when its operations were entirely stopped by the 
J t evolution. At the peace of Amiens it was discovered that 
the printer with whom tho contract had been made, and 
who had received a sum of money on the society's account, 
had been ruined in the interval, and was unable to complete 
his engagements. 

* Such wore the means in existence previous to the close 
of the last century for ensuring the general circulation of the 
Scriptures. 

The molt important of the above associations, in fact tho 
only one which could attempt the circulation of the Biblo 
on a large scale, was the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge. Its efforts, however, do not appear to have 
been commehsurato with the increasing demand. The 
following statement attributes to a tardiness in its opera- 
tions the- formation of the British and Foieign Bible 
Society : — 

* In 1787 a clergyman in London, who had been applied 
to for .Bibles by a brother clergyman in Wales, wrote to the 
latter, stating that he had received twenty-five copies from 
the society for distributing Bibles among the soldiers and 
jailors ; and that he was collecting money to send more, 
which he bought of the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge, * who alone in London have got . any Welsh 
Bibles.* A year afterwards tho same individual wrote to 
his correspondent in Wales, stating that • there was a pros- 
}>eet of obtaining, through the assistance of another society, 
and with the help of Mr. T/s purse, no less a number than 
1000 Welsh Bibles; but the society, viz/ the Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge, refuses to part with more 
than 500, and that at a price which altogether makes 5*. Gd. 
each. This has entirely defeated the design, so far as I am 
concerned In it.* • * 

Towards the close of 1791, a clergyman who had been 
visiting Wales alluded, on his return to London, to the 
acarcity of Bibles: — *I heard great complaining amongst 
the poor for want of Bibles, and that there were none to be 
had for money.* A fresh scries of efforts were made in order 
to induce the Society for Promoting Christian Knowlcdgo to 
publish another edition of tho Welsh Bible; and a corre* 
spoiideneo was entered into with the society, which may be 
seen in Deal try's Vindication of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. Tho object of this correspondence was to in- 
duce the society to undertake an edition of 10,000 Bibles 
for circulation amongst the Welsh* and the applicants ex- 
pressed their willingness ' to take and pay for 5000 as soon 
ms thev were printed.' At length, in July, 1 792, terms were 
agreed upon with the society, and the wishes for a supply of 
Bibles seemed on the point of fulfilment. On the 'J 9 th of 
October, however, the individual who had conducted the 
negotiations with tho -society complained of its '.dilatory, 
indecisive, and reluctant* conduct The society could not 
ho made to believe that * a large number of Bibles could 
bo got off;* It seemed averse to incur the expense of a 
supply, although not likely to be more than from 1500/. 
to J00O/. In fine, the society surrounded the subject with 
«o many difficulties that for tho present it was reluctantly 
abandoned. 

At length, in 1796, after an interval of about four years, 
during which it may be presumed the society continued to 
fee urged on the point, an edition of the 'Welsh Bible, Com- 1 



cnon Prayer/and Singing Psalms, to the amount of 10,000, 
with 2000 extra Testaments, was enlered to be printed. In 
1799.copie3wcro ready for delivery, and the society liberally 
offered them on moderate terms. The whole of the edition 
was soon disposed of, as thirty years had elapsed since the 
last edition had appeared. The wants of the Principality 
hiving, however, only been partially satisfied, the demand 
for Bibles en the part of those who had not participated in 
the recent supply became louder than before. Application 
was tnadc in the year 1800 in erder to ascertain if the society 
were disposed to undertake another edition. In )S0J the 
hope of engaging the society to cnlargo the supply was 
abandoned. The plan ef contracting for a supply of Welsh 
Bibles without tho co-operation of the society was then 
agitated for the first time. It was suggested by the Rev. 
Thomas Charles, an ordained minister of the Established 
Church, but who was at tho time officiating in the congre- 
gations of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. On the 7ih 
of December, 1802, the subject of the scarcity of Bibles in 
Wales having been introduced by Mr. Joseph Tarn in a 
circle of friends, Mr. Charles, who happened to be visiting 
l»ndon, and was present, proposed raising by voluntary 
contributions a sum sufficient for printing an edition. He 
insisted upon the urgency of applying to * new and extraor- 
dinary means' for effecting this purpose. In the course ef 
the evening, the Rev. Joseph Hughes, a Baptist minister, 
suggested the outlino of a plan for tho general circulation of 
the Scriptures; and a call was made upon him to prepare 
an address in which tho subject might be presented to pub- 
lic consideration. The matter was soon after laid before the 
late Mr. Wilbcrforce, Mr. Charles Grant, now I^ord Glcnclg, 
and other men of liko views. The Rev. C. F. A. Stcinkopff, 
Lutheran minister at the Savoy church in London, offered 
to make inquiries in the course of a contincutal journey he 
was about to undertake, as to the circulation of the Scrip- 
tures in that quarter. A similar course was contemplated 
with respect to Great Britain "and Ireland. 

The occurrences detailed above took place prior to the 
end of May, 1803. By this time the appeal which Mr, 
Hughes had been called upon to prepare was finished. Its 
title was: *Thd Excellence of tho Holy Scriptures, an 'Ar- 
gument for their more general. Diffusion.* .The rudiments 
of tho Bible Society were developed iu this address, and 
having been extensively circulated, it was deemed in the 
month of January, 1804, that a sufficient period had elapsed 
for the 'discussion of its merits, and that the time had ar- 
rived for putting the plan into activity. Samuel Mills, 
»Esq., who had prepared an outline in the preceding year, 
now completed the details of the plan. The projected so- 
ciety had at first received the name of the • Society for Pro- 
moting a more extensive Circulation of the Scriptures both 
at Home and Abroad;' but it was now changed to that of 
4 the British and Foreign Bible Society.* 

On Wednesday, March 7th, 1804, a public meeting, con- 
vened by a circular address, was held at the I^ondon Ta- 
vern, Bishopsgatc-strcet, to discuss tho means of forming the 
society. The attendance consisted of about 300 individuals of 
various religious denominations. The first and second resolu- 
tions moved, wore as follows:—!. 'That a society shall be 
formed, with this designation, the "British and Foreign Bible 
Society," of which the sole object shall be to encourage a wider 
diffusion of the Holy Scriptures.' 2. ' That this society shall 
add its endeavours to those employed by other societies for 
circulating the Scriptures through the British dominions, 
and shall also, accordingto its ability, extend its intlucnce to 
other countries, whether Christian, Mahometan, or Pagan/ 
Seven other resolutions relating to the organization of the 
society were passed unanimously. A committee was formed, 
700/. were at once subscribed, and the institution was con- 
sidered to be fairly in existence. 

On thc*12th of March, 1804, the committee met to 
complete tho organization of the institution. The thirty- 
six individuals composing the committee comprised men 
of various religious opinions. It must be confessed 
that they were surrounded with considerable difficulties. 
Every step in fact was on delicate ground, and this 
was* more especially manifest when an individual pro- 
posed the appointment of the Rev, Joseph Hughes to tho 
office of secretary. This motion was opposed by the Rev. 
J.Owen, afterwards one of the secretaries and the historian 
of tho Bible Society, who insisted in strong terms on • tho 
impropriety and impolicy of constituting a dissenting mi- 
nister the secretary of an institution which was designed 



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to unite the whole body of Christians, "and for which its 
directors had evinced so laudable an anxiety to obtain 
the patronage and co-operation of the established church/ 
The individual who had moved Mr. Hughes's appoint- 
ment as well as the committee generally, saw the propriety 
of Mr. Owen's objections ; "but it was fortunate that the 
opportunity had arisen which called them forth, as they 
led to an arrangement, the principle of which was at once 
so judicious andliberal, that when acted upon, as it has been 
in all the movements of the society, it has constituted one of 
the chief corner-stones of its stability and success. It was 
accordingly moved that the Rev. Josiah Pratt, B.D., the se- 
cretary to the Church Missionary Society, who had been 
pointed out by Mr. Owen as a fit individual, should be ap- 
pointed secretary, in conjunction with the Rev. Mr. Hughes. 
The creation of another office was then suggested, in order 
that the foreign churches might" be represented 'in the so- 
ciety ; and the Rev. Mr. Steinkopff was appointed foreign 
secretary. Thus, as Mr. Owen remarks, * The progress of 
au hour carried the committee on, from the hasty sugges- 
tions of a short-sighted attachment to the wise determination 
of a liberal policy/ To prevent the operation of temporary 
feeling in the appointment of the governing body; the future 
proportion of churchmen, dissenters, and foreigners on the 
committee was distinctly defined. This body was to consist 
of thirty-six individuals, viz., six foreigners, resident in or 
near the metropolis, fifteen churchmen, and fifteen dis- 
senters ; the whole of the 'thirty-six being laymen. The 
clergymen and ministers generally had a seat and vote 
on the committee on the same terms by which they became 
members of the society." Mr. Pratt having voluntarily re- 
signed his office, Mr. Owen was appointed secretary in his 
place. 

. On ^Wednesday, May 2nd, 1804, a general meeting 
of tho subscribers and friends of the institution took place, 
at which Lord Teignmouth was appointed president of the 
institution. On tho 5th of May, the bishops of London, 
Durham, Exeter, and St. David's, recognised tho society 
by sending in their names as subscribers, and in June they 
accepted the office of vice-presidents. 

Such was the formation of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society; and its subsequent history involves that of all si- 
milar institutions which it has called into existence in every 
part of the world. The first foreign bible society was formed 
at Nuremberg in '1804; but the seat of its operations was 
afterwards transferred to Basic. This was termed the Ger- 
man 'Bible Society. In 1805, a society was established at 
Berlin, which afterwards, in 1814, became merged in the 
national institution of the Prussian Bible Society, which in 
the first twenty years of its existence has distributed 717,977 
copies of the Scriptures. Notwithstanding tho war, which 
for a time would" appear to have presented a formidable 
obstruction to the progress of such associations, the conti- 
nent of Europe may be described as having become, in a 
few years, literally covered with bible societies. In St. Pe- 
tersburg, the Russian Bible Society was established, not 
merely with the sanction, but by the formal authority of the 
Emperor Alexander, during tho year 1813. After the ac- 
cession of the present emperor, Nicholas, the operations of 
this society, and of all its auxiliaries, amounting in number 
to 289, were suspended by an imperial ukase. The motives 
which led to this do not distinctly appear ; though probably 
arising from the dissensions amongst the hierarchy of the 
Greek church, numbers of whom viewed with jealousy the 
efforts which were making to disseminate the scriptures ; 
but permission was afterwards given to establish a Pro- 
testant Bible Society, for the purpose of supplying the Pro- 
testants in Russia with the Scriptures. A society was 
formed in Paris, in 1318. This now exists under the title 
of the French and Foreign Bible Society. 

There are at present societies or agents at Tou»ouse, 
Frankfort, Colmar, Miihlhausen, various places in Switzer- 
land, Wurtcmberg, Saxony, at Warsaw, Cologne, Elberfeldt, 
Neuwied, Geneva, Dorpat, in Sweden, Norway, and Den- 
mark, in Belgium and Holland. In Spain, Portugal, and 
Italy, efforts are making to introduce the , Scriptures. 
Agents arc also in Greece, and at Smyrna, .Bucharest, Con- 
stantinople, Damascus, Astrachan, Selinginsk, and Tunis, 
&c„ exclusive of the extensive connexions of the Society 
throughout the British dependencies in every quarter of the 
world. 

In the United States of America, the first society which 
was formed was that of the Philadelphia Bible Society, in 



1808. This example was imitated in numerous other placed 
of the Union ; and in 1816 the idea of a general national 
institution was carried into execution, by the establishment 
of the American Bible Society. 

It will be unnecessary to trace further the progress of 
the formation of other societies in different parts of the 
globe, the details being in all cases similar. We therefore 
return to the immediate history of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. 

The first application of the society's funds to printing tho 
Scriptures in a foreign language took place in 1804, whert 
2000 copies were proposed for circulation among the Md- 
hawk Indians. At this time the foundation was laid of 
a library, which has become by frequent accessions a va- 
luable and curious collection of biblical literature. The so- 
ciety was very early called upon to exercise its judgment 
and discretion in regulating the movements which It had 
produced. It had adopted from the first, as a fundamental 
principle, the resolution of circulating only the authorized 
English version of the Scriptures without note or comment. 
The individual who proposed the Mohawk version was well 
known to the Indians, and thinking to prepare for the more 
favourable reception of the Scriptures among them, he 
wrote an address everyway calculated to effect this pur- 
pose, which he caused to be pasted inside each copy. The 
society, in strict adherence to its conviction of the duty 
of circulating the Scriptures alone was compelled to sup- 
press the excellent address which had been prepared. The 
zeal with which the Nuremberg society entered upon its 
labours was of the most praiseworthy character ; but it 
unfortunately pledged itself to supply 1000 copies of the 
Catholic Testament, and although in this instance the copies 
required were not simply translations from the Vulgate, but 
a more Protestant edition, yet the London Society again felt 
the necessity of abiding by the rule which permitted them 
to circulate only the authorized version. .The prudence, 
good sense, and moderation of the committee of the Bible 
Society, exercised at this period, when it might have been 
anticipated that it would have been anxious to awaken the 
enthusiasm rather than repress the zeal of its supporters, 
have throughout its whole career formed the most remark- 
able characteristics of its proceedings. 

Yet notwithstanding the general care and prudence of 
the committee, a deviation from the strict letter of the fun- 
damental rule, which permits only the circulation of the 
authorized version, raised a controversy which at one time 
appeared to threaten the stability of the society. About the 
year 1821 it began to be intimated publicly, that the com- 
mittee had been in the practice of permitting the apocry- 
phal books to be intermingled in such copies of the Scrip- 
tures as were furnished to foreign societies. The staunch 
friends of the authorized version exclusively took up the 
matter very warmly, especially in Scotland ; the controversy 
was carried on with much heat and acrimony; and (a na- 
tural consequence in all such controversies) the original ac- 
cusation was not allowed to stand alone. Complaints were 
made of mal-practices in the expenditure of tho society's 
funds ; the correctness of many of the translations of the 
Scriptures made under the direction of the committee was 
impugned ; and other matters were laid to the charge of the 
managers of the society, all of which combined led to a se- 
cession of many auxiliary societies, and weakened for a time 
the authority and influence of the parent society. The 
committee, in 1826, brought forward the following resolu- 
tions : — * 1. That the fundamental law of the society, which* 
limits its operations to the circulation of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, be fully and distinctly recognised as excluding the 
circulation of the Apocrypha. 2. That in conformity to the 
preceding resolution, no pecuniary aid can be granted to 
any society circulating the Apocrypha; nor, except for tho 
purpose of being applied in conformity to the said resolution, 
to any individual whatever. 3. That in 'all cases in which 
grants, whether gratuitous or otherwise, of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, either in whole or in part, shall be made to any so- 
ciety, the books he issued bound, and on the express condi- 
tion that they, shall be distributed without alteration or ad- 
dition/ . Confidence has been gradually restored since these 
resolutions were acted upon ; and the society is now ( 1 835) 
in a higher state of activity and prosperity than it has ever 
enjoyed since its foundation. 

It would have been utterly impossible for the Bible So- 
ciety to extend its operations into every corner of the globe 
unless its- resources had been increased by the various 



No. 252. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.— 3 C 



P. \ B 



m 



p i p 



branches into which it ramified. These branches have com- 
municated life and energy to the parent stem from the most 
rcmota and distant quarters. The growth of societies whose 
operations were auxiliary to thoso or the original institution 
docs not appear to have been very rapid. In March, 1805, tho 
first Bible association was formed at Glasgow; in July, an 
association was formed in London ; and in April, 1806, one 
vas formed at Birmingham. These associations had not a 
Separate and distinct existence, and possessed no indepen- 
dent forms of government: they were simply unions of a 
few individuals whoso contributions wero devoted to tho 
parent society. In proportion as tho system of which they 
formed a part gathered power and influence, they neces- 
sarily assumed a more important character. As auxiliary 
societies, although still in connexion with their prototype, 
their functions and exertions became more individual and 
local in thoir nature.* 

The first auxiliary Bible society was established on the 
2Sth of March, 1809, at Reading. It adopted tho regu- 
lations of tho parent society. On the 3Qth of the* samo 
month, auxiliary societies were established at Nottingham 
and Newcastle upon-Tyne. Tho Edinburgh Society was 
established July 31 ; and similar institutions wero formed 
in East Lothian, Leeds, and Exeter, on the 4 th of October, 
25th of October, and 8th of December, respectively. The 
first auxiliary institution, established in the year 1810, was 
at Manchester. An auxiliary Bible society was formed at 
Kendal on the 5th of January; one at Bristol on the 1st of 
February ; one at Sheffield on the 5th ; one at Leicester on 
tho 19th; and the Hull Auxiliary Society was established 
April 4. Eleven pf these institutions had been established 
previous to the sixth annjvorsary of the parent society. The 
public naturo of the proceedings connected with the esta- 
blishment of these societies occasioned the claims and merits 
of the institution to be much moro generally known and ac- 
knowledged ; and the formal recognition of its valuo and 
importance, made by men "of high character and influence 
residing in those vielnitics'where local societies arose, added 
to the authority and consequence with which the Bible So- 
ciety ltegan to be invested, and, with other circumstances, 
tended greatly to enlarge its resources and increase the 
nr.ignltudo of its operations. The formation of juvenile and 
female Bible societies contributed to multiply tho efforts of 
the Society for the circulation of the Scriptures. By means 
of these subdivisions, which were subordinate to their own 
local institution, a wider sphere of action and personal in- 
fluence was created, the benefit of which extended throughout 
(lie whole "system. The scholars ofHolborn Sunday-school, 
who contributed 1/. 17$, at tho eighth anniversary of the 
parent society in 1812, offered tho first example of the 
voung appearing as contributors to tho society. Tho York 
Juvenile Bible Society, the first institution of the kind, was 
formed during this year, which was further distinguished by 
the establishment of the first Ladies' Auxiliary Society, It 
is right, however, to mention, that at New York, U. S., in 
1 809, there had been formed the Young Men** Bible Society ; 
and at Sheffield, 'in 1805, when the existence of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society was unknown to tho parties, a 
female association existed, whoso object was the circulation 
of the Scriptures. 

The projectors of the Biblo Society not having foreseen 
fho origin and progress of the auxiliary institutions, had 
mado no provisions for their uniform regulation ; but their 
number had become so considerable in 1812 that the sub- 
ject was forced upon them, and in the spring of that year 
an address was prepared, entitled * Hints on tho Constitu- 
tion and Objects.of Auxiliary Societies,* the object of which 
was to effect the consolidation of the auxiliary societies on a 
jjnst and uniform basis. In 1 812 the objects and interests 
of the Bible Society were ably promoted by the circulation 
of tho following tracts :— 1. * On the Advantages of Distri- 
buting the Holy Scriptures among tho Lower Orders of 
Society, chiefly by their own agency,* by Mr. Dealtry. 
1. * An Appeal to Mechanics, Labourers, and others, respect- 
ing Biblo Associations/ by Mr. Montgomery of Sheffield. 
.1. ' On the Influeneo of Bible Societies on the Temporal 
Interest* of tho Poor/ by Mr. (now Dr.) Chalmers. ' 

The following is a statement of tho annual expenditure of 
tho Biblo Society, from the commencement of tho institu- 
tion up to the 31st of March, 1835: — 

- • Auxiliary »orieUei *i* fttlowed lo purrhiwa Bible* and T**tiunPti!» »I 
prim* rottf their metpWri ln*f the *jjnH> privilrgM »l*o, nl th« local <U- 
VotKorici; «p the metnlicrt of the parcel society e^jojr In London, 



During the first year 
„ * second 



third . . 

fourth 

fifth . 

sixth year 

seventh .. 

eighth 

ninth , • 

tenth 

eleventh » 

twelfth , 

thirteenth • 

fourteenth 

fifteenth , 

sixteenth . 

seventeenth , 

eighteenth 

nineteenth 

twentieth 

twenty-first' . 

twenty-second 

twenty-third • 

twenty-fourth 

twenty-fifth . 

twenty-sixth 

twenty-seventh 

twenty-eighth 

twenty-ninth . 

thirtieth . 

thirty-first . 



£. 

$19 
1.C37 
5,053 
12/J06 
14,665 
18,543 
28,302 
32,419 
69,496 
84,652 
81,021 

103,680 
89,230 
71,099 
92,237 

123,547 
79,560 
90,445 
77,076 
89,493 
94,044 
96,014 
69,962 
8G.242 

104,132 
81,610 
83,002 
98,409 
88,676 
70,404 
84,249 



f. 

10 

17 

18 

10 

10 

17 

13 

19 

13 

1 

12 

18 

9 

1 

1 

12 

13 

6 



17 

3 

13 

12 

9 

6 

13 

10 

10 

1 

16 

13 



rf. 

o 

5 
3 
3 
7 
1 
7 
7 
8 
5 
5 
8 
9 
7 
4 
3 
C 
4 
10 
8 
5 
7 
3 
8 
11 
6 
9 
9 
10 
7 
4 



Total . £2*121,640 18 11 

In tho Thirty-first Annual Report (for 1835) it is stated 
that the funds of the society for the previous year amounted 
to 107,926/. \s, 0d. f which is tho largest sum ever received 
in any one year; the prospective engagements of the so- 
ciety were, however, never so heavy, amounting to 69,310/. 
3$. Ad, 

These immense resources were derived, in a great mea- 
sure, from the exertions of the affiliated societies, which 
amounted, in March, 1835, to not fewer than 3258, viz. : in 
Great Britain, 284 auxiliaries, 388 branches, and 1824 asso- 
ciations. Of theso associations, above 1190 are conducted 
by ladies in Ireland, in connexion with the Hibernian Bible 
Society; 71 auxiliaries, 331 branches, and 203 associations. 
In the British colonics and dependencies, 39 auxiliaries, 48 
branches, and 70 associations. 

Among its foreign relations the British and Foreign Biblo 
Society enumerates many auxiliaries and branches. In 
Europe it has established itself at'Malta aB a central point 
of great and increasing importance. In Asia its causo is 
aided and represented by tho Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, 
and Colombo auxiliary societies, with their various branches. 
Similar institutions are established in Australia, at Sydney, 
New South Wales; Ilobart's Town, Lannrcston, and Corn- 
wall, Van Dieman's Land : in Africa, at Sierra Leone, the 
Cape of Good Hope, Salem, and the Mauritius: in the Bri- 
tish Colonies of North America, t. e, f in Nova Scotia, at 
Halifax, at Liverpool in Queen's County, at Pietou, Yar- 
mouth, and Argylc ; in New Brunswiek, at St. John's, St. 
Andrew's in Charlotto County, Fredericton, and Miraraichi; 
and in tho Canadas, at Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, and 
Kingston ; and likewise in the AVest Indies, at Jamaica, 
Antigua, Barbadocs, St. Christopher's, Dominique, Tobago, 
Montserrat, Bahama, Brockville, Nevis, St. Lueia; and in 
the Bermudas, at Berbice, and British Guiana, Grenada. 

The number of auxiliary societies in connexion with the 
American National Biblo Society is 863. The Philadelphia 
Bible Society, tho oldest institution in the United States, 
has also its various branches. 

Sinee the formation of the British and Foreign Biblo 
Society, up to 1835, it has issued 8,539,356 copies of the 
Scriptures, viz.,3,2G6,445 Bibles, and 5,272,901 Testaments. 

The American societies havo issued 1,730,504 Bibles and 
Testaments. 

The total number issued by the respective societies on the 
Continent of Kurope, in Asia, and America is 5,845,646, 
making, with tho number issued by the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, a total of 14,385,002 copies of the Scriptures 
put into circulation sinee the formation of tho society. On the 
Continent of Europe it has printed, or extensively aided in 



BIB 



379 



B IB* 



printing, versions of the Scriptures into the French, Basque, 
Breton, Flemish, Spanish, Jewish-Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, 
Homanese, German, Bohemian, Servian, Wcndish, Hun- 
garian, Polish, Lithuanian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Lap- 
poncse, Icelandic, Samogitian, Esthonian, Lettish, Scla- 
vonian, Wallachian, Albanian, Russian, Turkish, Turco- 
Greek, Tartar-Turkish, Modern Greek, Albanian, Calmuc, 
Buriat Mongolian, Manuchod, Modern Armenian, Carshun, 
Syriac, Georgian, Turco-Armcnian, and Armenian lan- 
guages. In Asia it has promoted the translation and pub- 
lication of the Holy Scriptures in Persian,Arabic, Singalcse, 
Pali, Hindoostanee, Bengalee, Sanscrit, Teloogoo, Tamul, 
Malay, Mahratta, Malayalira, Orissa, Seik, Birman, Car- 
narese, and several other dialects, together with two versions 
of the whole Scriptures in the Chinese, a language under- 
stood by perhaps one-fifth of the population of the globe. 
At Madagascar the New Testament and Psalter has been 
printed in Malagasse. The inhabitants of the Society and 
Georgian Islands have also received versions in the Tahitian 
languages. In Africa the antient church of Abyssinia has 
been supplied with an edition of tho Ethiopic Psalter and 
the Gospels ; and tbe Pentateuch, Psalter, and New Testa- 
ment have been printed in the vulgar dialect of Abyssinia. 
Egypt has been furnished with the Psalter and tbe four 
Gospels in Coptic and Arabic. The inhabitants of a portion 
of Western Africa have received a part of the Scriptures in 
the Bullom dialect; the aborigines of Northern Africa, a 
translation of the Gospels and the hook of Genesis in the 
Berber: some of the tribes of Southern Africa the Gospels 
in the Namacqua dialect, besides versions in the C afire and 
Sichuana. At Labrador the New Testament and Psalms 
have been translated into the Esquimaux language, and 
the New Testament and the book of Genesis into the lan- 
guage of Greenland. 

The principal translations of 'the Scriptures now carrying 
on under the auspices, and with the aid of this society, are — 
in the languages of Europe, the Breton and Catalonian ; of 
Asia, the Persian, the Curdisb, tbe Ararat-Armenian, and 
various dialects of the peninsula of Hindostan ; of the South 
Sea Islands, the Tahitian, Raratogna, Tonga, and the lan- 
guage of New Zealand ; of America, the Chippeway, th« 
Peruvian, the Aimara, the Mexican, the Misteca, the Ta- 
rasco, and Esquimaux ; and of Africa, the Namacqua, the 
CaflVe, and the Sichuana. 

Translations have been commenced in the following lan- 
guages or dialects, but of the completion or publication of 
these there is no immediate prospect : — 

Arawack (South American Indian); Ossitinian, and 
Wotiak, by tbe Russian Bible Society ; Bugis, Macassar, 
Maldivian, and Rakheng, by the late Dr. Leyden, aided by 
the Calcutta Bible Society. 

.By the , Serampore missionaries.— ^Bhojpooree, Budri- 
nathee, Bulochee, Bundelkbundee. Huriyana, Joypore, Mu- 
tt ipoora Koonkee, Tripoora Koonkee, Kousoulee, Kucha- 
ree, Kutch, Mitliilee, Oodoypore, Sindhoo, and Southern 
Sindhoo. 

The Russian Bible Society had undertaken the printing 
of the Scriptures in twenty-seven different languages previ- 
ous to its suspension ; and before that event took place it 
had been the means of diffusing, for the first time, 861,105 
copies of entire Bibles and Testaments, or separate books 
thereof, amongst the natives of that empire. The Protestant 
Bible Society of St. Peteisburg is pursuing its course with 
energy, though on a more contracted scale than its prede- 
cessor did. During the years 1833-34 it distributed 16,908 
copies of the Scriptures. 

. The Calcutta Auxiliary Society, which has branches at 
Malacca, Princo of Wales' Island, Benares, and Cawnpore, 
has put forth the following versions and editions:— Cinga- 
lese New Testament, Armenian Bible, Malay (Roman cha- 
racter) Bible and Genesis, Malay (Arabic character) Bible 
and Genesis, Hindoostanee (Nagrce character) New Testa- 
ment and Gospels, Bengalee Gospels and New Testament, 
Tamul Genesis and New Testament, Hindoostanee Gospels 
and Acts, New Testament, Pentateuch, and Old Testament ; 
Teloogoo Testament, Hindoostanee and English Gospel of 
St. Matthew, Bengalee and English Gospels of St. Matthew 
and St. John, Acts and Epistles in Bengalee. 

The Colombo Auxiliary Society, in tho island of Ceylon, 
has printed the Cingalese Testament, Gospels of St. Matthew 
and St. Mark, Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, and Bible; and 
I ndo- Portuguese Psalms. 

The bible societies are still prosecuting! with unrelated 



activity, their object of circulating copies of the sacred, 
writings among men ' of every nation under heaven/ 

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge distri-, 
butes about 85,000 Bibles, and 75,000 Testaments annu- 
ally ; and it appears that at a special general meeting of 
the society, held February 10, 1834, a separate committee 
was appointed for the purpose of superintending the puhlica- . 
tion, and more effectively promoting the circulation of the 
Scriptures in foreign languages. Besides this, there are: 
other societies through whoso means the Scriptures arc dis- 
tributed, but not to so great an extent as the last-mentioned • 
society, which is by many considered as possessing equal, 
claims^ on public support as the Bible Society, although its 
operations are not exclusively directed to the circulation of. 
the Scriptures ; and it was in consequence of its alleged in- 
difference to this object that tbe British and Foreign Bible. 
Society was called into existence. 

(Owen's History of the Bible Society; Reports of the. 
British and Foreign Bible Society.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Tbe term IsfiXtoypafia was used 
by the Greeks to signify only the writing or transcrip- 
tion of books ; and a bibliographer (BijSXwjpa^oc) with 
them was a writer of books, in the sense of a copyist.- 
The French term Bibliographic was long used to sig- 
nify only an acquaintance with antient writings and with 
the art of deciphering them. It is so explained, for in- 
stance, in the edition of Richelet's Dictionary, published 
in 1732. The term bibliographe (bibliographer) is not in, 
Richelet. It is given, however, in the Encyclopedic (Paris/ 
1751); but both it and bibliographic are still explained* 
only in the sense that has been just noticed. In tbe Dic- 
tionnaire de Trevoux, published in 1 752, we find it stated 
that a bibliographer is a decipherer of antient manuscripts, 
with the addition, that now-a-days the name is given spe- 
cially to those who are skilled in the knowledge of books 
and their editions, and who make catalogues of them. 
Accordingly, in 1763, De Bure published the first vol u mo 
of his well-known work on the knowledge of rare and sin- 
gular books, under the title of Bibliographic Instructive.- 
In his preface he employs the term as if the acceptation 
which it bears in his title-page had become familiar. In 
subsequent editions of the Encyclopedic (for instance in the 
fifth volume of the Lausanne edition, printed in 1778) a 
new article appears on the term bibliographic* which con- 
sists merely of a notice of this book of De Bure's, The 
sense in which the word is used bv De Bure is now, we 
believe, the only sense in which it is used by French writers, 
some of whom, however, havo of late employed the term 
bibliologie as its substitute. We doubt whether the Eng-- 
lish term bibliography, which we bave borrowed from the 
French, has ever had any other than this signification sinco. 
its first appearance in the language ; although in Johnson's > 
Dictionary, published in 1755, a bibliographer is explained 
as meaning both ' A man skilled in literary history, and in 
the knowledge of books,' and ' a transcriber.' * No authority 
is quoted for either use of the word. In the later editions 
of Johnson, the term bibliography is inserted, and stated to 
mean ' The science of a bibliographer ;*and a bibliographer • 
is defined to be merely * A man skilled in the knowledge of 
books/ 

Bibliography may be defined to be the science of books, 
regarded simply as such. Thus limited, it excludes all 
consideration either of the literary merits of a work, or of 
the importance or interest of the subjects which the author 
treats of, or of the truth or value of his statements, opinions,' 
or speculations. It comprehends the facts — of the subject 
and class of the work, of its authorship and subsequent his-* 
tory, of the number of editions it has passed through, of the* 
printer and publisher of each, and of its date in respect both^ 
of time and place, of the form or size (that is, the manner 
in which the sheets are folded, and also the size of the sheet, 
for the old folios are often small, such as some old editions of 
Bale), the quality of the paper, the number of pages, the 
typographical oharacter, the number and description of the 
plates, the comparative 'completeness, correctness, and* 
rarity, and all other external peculiarities or distinctions, of 
each edition* It is common to include many other things' 
as parts of bibliography, suoh as a knowledge of tbe history,' 
and even of tho processes, of the arts of printing and book-' 
binding, as well as of tho written characters of different' 
ages. But to give such an extension to the science is to* 
leave it without any limits whatever. If the knowledge of 
the art of deciphering written characters, for instance, is to 

3 C % 



n i u 



3so 



B I 1 



be held to l>o a part of bibliography, then the bibliographer 
must bo a universal linguist, hi so far at least as respects 
the alphabets of all languages. If bibliography, again, is 
to inrlnde a knowledge of the arts of printing and book- 
binding, why not also of those of the making of paper, 
parchment, papyrus, and all other substanees that have 
ever Wen used for printing or writing upon, and of the 
composition and manufacture of inks and all other pig- 
ments? In this way bibliography would includo no incon- 
siderable portion both of chemistry and botany. On the 
same principle the bibliographer might be required to have 
a knowledge of everything appertaining to the arts of cutting 
letters in wood and stone. 

Although bibliography, in the sense to whieh it is now 
confined, is a very modern term, the science of the know- 
ledge of books in regard to their authors, subjects, editions, 
and history* must have been cultivated from a comparatively 
early period in the history of literature. Indeed an ac- 
quaintance with such matters is to a great degree implied 
in a general knowledge of literature, such as must nave 
been possessed by many persons in every age of civilization 
and learning. But the study must have been more syste- 
matically pursued, even in the antient world, by those 
whose business it was to arrange and take charge of large 
libraries, of which we knbw that many, both public and 
private, existed in Greece, in Egypt, at least under the 
Ptolemies, in Italy, and in other countries. The principal 
booksellers of those days must also have been more or less 
conversant with what we noweall the science of bibliography. 
Wo believe, however, that no professed treatise upon the 
subject, or upon any part of it, nas cither come down to us 
from antiquity, or is anywhere mentioned among the now 
lost productions cither of Greek or Roman learning. 

It is only since the invention' of printing, and the conse- 
quent extraordinary multiplication of books, that bibliography 
has, properly speaking, assumed the form of a science, and 
been developed in its principles and details in systematic 
works. 

In Germany, in Italy, in France, and also in our own 
country, works in all the departments of bibliography have, 
within the last three centuries, been produced in such 
numbers that the mero enumeration of their titles would 
make a bulky volume. AVe ean here notice only a very 
few of the most important, and that chiefly for the purpose 
of illustrating the different branches into which the subjeet 
may ba divided. 

I'he most numerous class of bibliographical works are 
lists or catalogues of books ; but these are of various descrip- 
tions. Even booksellers' catalogues are to be ineluded 
under this head; such catalogues are collected and prized 
by bibliographers, as in many eases affording evidence both 
of the prices of books and of the existence of particular 
editions and copies. Some of them, from tha superior rarity 
of the articles which they include, or from bibliographical 
notices with winch they ara interspersed, have a much 
higher value. The Bibliotheca Anglo- Poetica, for instance, 
published in 1815 by Messrs. Longman and Co., is perhaps 
the fullest list that exists of the earlier and rarer productions 
of English poetry, of many of which it also contains in- 
teresting bibliographical descriptions. Under the same 
head may be mentioned such publications as Reed's ' Biblio- 
theca Nova Legum Angliaj* (1809). and other catalogues of 
law-booksellers, in which legal works are classified accord- 
ing to their subjects. Among the most valuable sale cata- 
logues, however, are some of those of the libraries of indi- 
vidual collectors ; such, for example, as that of the late Mr. 
Roscoe (prepared by himself) and published in 181G, and 
more recently thoso of the libraries of Dr. Parr (1827) and 
of Mr. Heber (1834). Among the older English catalogues 
of the libraries of private individuals, one of tho scarcest is 
that of the large library of Mr. Thomas Rawlinson, which 
was dispersed by auction in 1 722. This cataloguo was nub- 
blished in parts, and is rarely to be found complete. Raw- 
linson is the person satirized under the name of Tom Folio, 
in the 138th number of the • Tatlcr/ Some of the most 
celebrated of the foreign catalogues of this description arc 
those of tho libraries of M. Cisternay du Fay (8vo. 1723), of 
the Comte de Hoyra (8vo. 1728), of the Abb6 Charles 
d'Orleam de Rothclin (8vo. 1746), and of M. Claude Gros 
de Bozo (£vo. 1753), all prepared hy the Parisian bookseller, 
Gabriel Martin. There is another catalogue of the library 
of M. de Bozc, printed under his own care at the royal press 
in small folio in 1745, watch is of extreme rarity, only fifty 



copies, it is said, having been thrown off. De Bure states 
that a single copy has been sold for nearly 240 livres. In 
all these catalogues of Martin's tho lK>oks nre arranged in 
classes according to a scheme of his own contrivance, and 
an alphabetical catalogue of the names of the authors is 
given at the end. Perhaps, however, tha most compre- 
hensive and valuable catalogue thus digested that has ever 
been published is that entitled the* Bibliotheea Bunaviana,* 
7 vols. 4 to. Leipzig, 1748-1736, being a catalogue of the 
library of the Count de Biluan, drawn up by his librarian, 
Jo. \Iich. Franck. The divisions and subdivisions in this 
catalogue are much more numerous than those in Martin's 
system. The work has the highest eharaeter for accuracy, 
so far as it goes ; but unfortunately it has never been com- 
pleted. > f 

Some' Catalogues RatsonnSs (as catalogues in which the 
books are thus disposed into classes according to their sub- 
jects are ealled by tha French) have also been printed of 
public libraries. The greatest work of this description is 
probably that of the French ' Bibliotheque Royal/ begun 
in 1739, and finished in ten volumes folio in 1753. This 
catalogue consists of two parts, one of the printed books, 
and another of the manuscripts. The former was originally 
superintended by the Abbes Sallier and Boudot, the other 
by Anieet Mellot. The most complete catalogue of this 
description in existence is understood to be that of the 
library of the university of Gottingcn, but it has not been 
printed. (Sec an account of this Catalogue in the Quarterly 
Journal qf "Education, No. IV.) The best speeiraen of a 
Catalogue Raxsonni that we know of any of the more 
considerable public eolleetions of this country, is that of 
the library of the writers to the Signet in Edinburgh, pub- 
lished in one volume quarto in 1805. The catalogues of 
the libraries of some mechanics* institutes and other private 
associations have more recently been published upon a simi- 
lar plan. It is to be observed that a Catalogue Raisonni 
implies something more 'than a distribution of the books 
into so many distinct alphabets, severally headed Theology, 
History, Voyages and Travels, Novels and Romances, 
Poetry, Medicine, Law, &c, as we find done even in many 
catalogues of circulating libraries, und booksellers' and auc- 
tioneers* sale catalogues. In a Catalogue Raisonni, pro- 
perly so called, the alphabetical arrangement of titles 'is 
entirely dispensed witb, its place being supplied by an 
index at the end ; and every work is set down in the order 
pointed out by its subjeet, the ground over whieh the 
author's researches or speculations extend being at the 
same time indicated as distinctly and fully as possible, not 
only by the transcription of the title-page, but, when neces- 
sary, by an abstract of the contents. This is especially done 
in the ease of publications that eonsist of collections of 
treatises. 

There are "printed catalogues of most of thepublie col- 
lections of books in this country; but, with the exceptions 
just mentioned, they are all, we believe, merely alphabets 
of titles, and even as such few of them have been very care- 
fully drawn up. ,One of the most inaccurate and deficient 
is that of the printed books in the general library of tho 
British Museum, whieh was published in 1813-1819, in 
seven octavo volumes. That of the Royal Library, lately 
transferred to the same depository (five volumes folio, besides 
n catalogue of maps, prints, &c, in one voinme, 1820-1829), 
has been prepared with much greater care. There nre also 
excellent printed catalogues of the Harlcian, Cottonian, 
Lansdowne, Sloan, and Birch Manuscripts, all preserved in 
this extensive national collection. The only catalogues of 
the Burney, the Cole, the Mitchell, the Egcrton.'and some 
other collections also there, are still unprintcd. Of the 
Bodleian Library no catalogue has been printed since that 
which appeared in two volumes folio in 1738; nor any of 
the library of Sion College since that published in one 
volume folio in 1724; although tho inereaso since theso 
dates of both collections must have been very great. AVe 
are not aware that thcra is a printed catalogue of any ono 
of the Cambridge libraries, except ono of that of St. Cathe- 
rine's Hall, printed in 1771, and another of the Parker 
Manuscripts in the library of Corpus Christi College, printed 
in 1777. In Scotland a catalogue of tho library of the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow was published in one volumo folio in 
1791. It was drawn up under the superintendence of Mr. 
Arthur, Professor of Moral Philosophy, and is .one of the 
most eorreet catalogues ever printed. The exam pi o of the 
University of Glasgow has recently been imitated by the 



BIB 



381; 



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University. of St. Andrews' : 'the* catalogue of the- St. An- 
drews* Library appeared, also in one volume folio, in*182C. 
No catalogue, we believe, has ever been printed of the library 
of the University of Edinburgh, or of either, that of King's 
College, or that of Mariscbal College, Aberdeen. Of the 
library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, 
by far the largest and most valuable collection in Scotland, 
a catalogue, drawn up by the learned Thomas Ruddiman; 
who was librarian.for some years, was published. in 1742, in 
folio ; and to this several supplementary volumes have since, 
been added, vjj . ', ,. . U v% vf .r-; [ ob 

A higher description of catalogues are those not of par T . 
ticular j collections, but of books generally, or A of certain 
elasses of .books, arranged in reference either to .their sub- 
jects, their dates, their authors, or their titles. 

One of the earliest attempts made to present in this way 
what we may eall u complete survey of printed literature 
was. that of Conrad Gesner, in his * Bibliotheca Universalis,* 
published in one volume folio in 1565. r In-this catalogue 
the works are arranged according, to the names of the au- 
thors ; but although designated an universal library, it is 
eonfined to books in the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew lan- 
guages, which, although comprehending by far the greater 
part, did not even then include the whole of literature. 
Gesner, however, remains to the present day without any 
successor in his vast enterprise. No subsequent work has 
appeared professing to survey in the same mauner the, whole 
field of existing literature. The nearest approach that has 
been made to any thing of the kind is in the * Bibliotheca 
Britannka'. of, the late Dr. Robert Watt of. Glasgow, four 
vols. 4tb. Edin. 1824. This is a most elaborate, meritorious, 
and useful work ; but, as its title indicates, it is to be con; 
sidered as aiming at completeness only in regard to English 
works ; those, which it notices in other languages, although 
also * amounting to a very large number, being professedly 
only a selection. Owing also to the residence of the author 
in a remote provincial town, where, ^ho was precluded from 
access to many of the most valuable sources of information, 
his work j is neither so full nor so correct as with better op- 
portunities it might have been made ; and some additional 
inaccuracies have crept into it from his not having lived to 
see it throuch the press. With all these drawbacks, how- 
ever, it is still an extraordinary monument of industry, and 
a help to the student of very great value. It consists of two 
parts, in the first of which the books are arranged according 
to the names of the authors, and in the second according 
to their subjects. 7 ,, , , • : 

\ In a few cases attempts have been" made to. present 
catalogues of all the works written in some, single lan- 
guage, or by the authors of some single country. As ex- 
amples of catalogues of this description may be mentioned 
the 'IllustriunfMajoris Britannia) Scriptorum Summarium' 
of John Bale, first published in 1458 (for an account of 
which see Bale) ; the * De Academiis et Illustribus An- 
gliso, Scriptoribus'.of, John Pits, the first volume of which 
(the' only one ever published) appeared at Paris in 4to, in 
1619; tho 'Bibliotheca. Britannico-Hibemica\ of Bishop 
Tanner,, folio, 1748; the ,' Bibliotheca Belgica' of John 
Francis Foppens, 2 vols. 4to. 1739; and the 'Bibliotheca 
Hispana, Nova et Vetus/ 4 vols, folio, 1672 and. 1696, of 
Nicholas Antonio. Under this head also may be men : 
tioned the several admirable works of John Albert -Fa- 
bricius, entitled the * Bibliotheca Latina,' 2 vols. 4to. ; the 
•Bibliotheca Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis,V 6 vols. 4to.; 
and the ■ Bibliotheca Grseca,' the second edition of whieh, 
byHarles, publishedat Hamburgh in 1790-1809, is in 12 
Volumes, 4 to. To these may be added, as works of the same 
'class, but of very inferior character, Dr. Harwood's ' View 
of the Principal Editions of the Greek and Roman Classics/ 
Svo. 1775, and Dr. Dibdin's 'Introduction to a Knowledge 
of rare and valuable editions' of the" Greek and Roman 
Classics,* which was first published in 1802, and i has been 
since several times reprinted. ~ \ 

A much raoro numerous class of catalogues are those of 
all the books written either in some one language, or in all 
languages, upon a particular department of knowledge. 
Thus we have the ' Bibliotheea Theologica/ the * Bibliotheca 
Juridical the ' Bibliotheea Philosophiea/ and the 'Biblio-, 
theea' Mediea/ of Martin Lipenius, or the whole collected 
In six volumes, folio, under the title of * Bibliotheca Rcalis.* 
To the * Bibliotheea Juridica' valuable supplements were 
added by Scholt in 1775 and by Seekenberg in 1789, which 
have increased the work to four volumes folio. Ono of 



itbe very has J; of; this -class of works, is- the great* French 
work by the -Pore Le Long, entitled * ' Bibliotkeq'uo II i?- 
torique de la France/, an account of works, both printed and 
manuscript on French history, the. last, edition of which,- 
published at Paris in 1768-78, is in fire volumes folio. . The' 
* Bibliotheca. Historica' of - Meusel,' published at Leipzig in 
1782 r 1804, in 22 volumes, 8vo. t is much more extensive in, 
its design, comprehending both historical and geographical 
works relating to all countries and in all languages. Other 
works of this class are the * Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinical 
of Julius Bartoloccius, 4 vols. fol. Rome/ 1675, with tho 
supplement. of. C. J. .Imbonatus, fol. -Rome, 1694; the 
'Scriptorum Eeclesiasticorum Historia Literaria' of Cave, r 
2 vols. fol.. Oxford,., 1740; v Luke. Waddings / Scriptores 
Ordinis Minorum/ fol. Rome, Z650 (a highly -esteemed and 
searce work); Ribadeneira's * Bibliotheea Scriptorum So-" 
eietatis Jesu/ fol. Rome, 1676; Le Long's * Bibliotheca 
Sacra', (an account of. the editions of the Scriptures and of 
the versions of them in various languages), 2 vols. fol. 
Par., 1723 ;, Humphrey. Wanley's Catalogue of Saxon 
Writers and their Works, forming the second volume of 
Hickes's * Thesaurus Linguarum Septentrionalium ;' the edi- 
tion of the work of Van der Linden, ' De Scriptis Medicis/ 
published by G. A. Mereklin in 4to. at Nuremberg in 16Sfi 
under the title of * Lindenius Renoyatus ;' the ' Bibliotbeca : 
Scriptorum Veterum et Recentiorum' of J. J.Manget, 4 vols, 
fol. Geneva, 1731;-the excellent catalogue of the writers 
'.De Morbis Venereis* in the second volume, of Astruc's 
treatise on that subject '[see Astruc]; the • Bibliotheca 
Mathematical of Muxhard, 5 vols. 8vo/Leipz. 1797-1805; 
the,. 'Bibliographic Astronomique' of. La Land, 4to. -Paris, 
1S03 ; the • Bibliotheqne des .Voyages' of Boucher, dela 
Richarderie,,6 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1808; Bridgman's .'Legal 
Bibliography,' 8vo.,1807; the * English Topographer/ 1 by 
Dr. Richard Rawlinson, 8vo. 1720; and the * Bibliographi- 
cal Account of the. Principal Works relating to English To- 
pography/ by Mr. Upcott, 3 vols.. 8vo. 1818, one. of the" 
most accurate of this description of publications. ,*, ,# 

Another subdivision of this class of bibliographical works 
consists of catalogues of- all such hooks as have been pub- 
lished up to a certain date * posterior to the invention of 
printing, or of those that have appeared in some particular 
age, or that have issued from some particular j? ress: Among 
the most remarkable of these are Maittaire's c Ann ales Ty* 
pographicaj ab artis invent ae origine/ 5 vols. 4 to., of which 
the first was published in 1719 at the Hague, and the last 
at London in 1741 (to this should be added ,the supplement 
by Denis, 2 vols. 4to, Vienna, 1789); Panzer's 'Annates 
Typographicae,- ab artis inventa) origine/ 11 vols..4to. .Nu-; 
remberg, 1793-1803, in t which work, founded upon . tho 
preceding, the list of books is brought down . to the year 
1536; Ames's 'Typographical Antiquities, c being an His- 
torical Account of Printing in England from 1471 to 160(1* 
[see Ames]; Maittaire's 'Historia Stcphanorum/ 2 vols, 
8vo. London, 1709; Maittaire's * Historia Typographonun 
Aliquot ♦ Parisiemum/ 2 vols. 8 vo. London/1717 ; and Re^ 
nouard's ' Annales de l'lmprimerie des Aide/ 2 vols. 8vo; 
Paris, 1803. * »«. . j- x 1 [) 

To these works are to be added many, others, which pro- 
ceed upon a principle of selection. Sueh are the following ? 
A.Beyer's ' Memoriae Historico-criticaj Librorum Rariorum/ 
8vo. Dresd. et Leipz. 1734 ; J. Vogt's ' Catalogus Historieo- 
Criticus Librorum Rariorum/ 8vo. IIamb.1753, and again; 
improved, in ,1793; S. Engel's ' Bibliotheca Selectissima, 
seu Catalogus Librorum in omni genere scientiarum raris-*' 
simorum, cum notis bibliographicis, 8vo. Bern. 1743;" D. 
Clement's ' Bibliotheque Curieuse, ou Catalogue Raisonrie* 
des Livres rares et diffieiles a trouver/ 9 vols. 4to. Gottingen, 
1750-60. This extensive work, in which the titles of the 
books are arranged alphabetically, comes down only to the 
letter. H, having been stopped at that point by the death of 
the author. De Bure's* Bibliographic Instructive, ou Traite* 
do la Connoissance des Livres Rares et Singuliers, eon- 
tenant un Catalogue Raisonne" de la plus grande partie 
de ces livres prteieux qui,ont paru successivement dans 
la Republique des Lettres, depuis l'Invcntion de l'lm- 
primerie/ 7 vols. 8vo. Paris, 17C3-68. 5 In 17C9 the author 
published a catalogue of the library of Louis Jean Gaignat', 
in 2 vols, 8vo.; under the title of a supplement to hii 
'.Bibliographic;' and.in 1782 a tenth volume was added 
to the work, being an index to the anonymous books 
mentioned in it, which wero not included in tbe original 
index. . Of the original seven volumes, the first is'oecuy 



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3S2 



B I C 



pted witn tnco.otfy, the second with jurisprudence and the 
sciences and arts, the third and fourth with the belles 
lcttres, the fifth and sixth with history, and the last with a 
jjencral index to tho whole, in which the books are classed 
according to tho names of tho authors. Probably no publi- 
cation has contributed so much to make the study of bib- 
liography popular as this elegant and judicious perform- 
ance. Even at the present day it may be recommended as 
the most attractive manual of hibliographical knowledge 
that has yet been produced. Notwithstanding considerable 
deficiencies, and also some inaccuracies, the student will 
collect from it, more readily than from any other source, a 
knowledge of the titles and best editions of most, not only 
of tho rarest but also of the most important works that had 
issued from the press up to the time of its appearance. It is 
astonishing what an oxtentof ground the author contrives to 
go over in his limited spaee. The articles which ho describes 
amount to above C000 in number; and, in regard to many 
of them, very ample dotails are given. The account of the 
famous American collections of De Bry, for instance, extends 
to 120 pages. Osmont's ' DictionnaireTypographique.IIis- 
torique, et Critique, des Livrcs rarcs, estimes, ct reeherche's 
en tous genres,' 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1768; J. J. Bawcr's 
• Bibliotbeca Libromm Rariorum Universalis,' 7 vols. 8vo„ 
1770-91 ; F. X. Laire s ' Index Librorum ah Inventa Typo- 
grapliia ad annum 1500, eum notis/ 2 vols, 8vo. 1791 ; Dr. 
Adam Clarke's ' Bibliographical* Dictionary of tho most 
curious and useful books, in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, 
and other Eastern languages,' 6 vols. 12mo. 1803, with a 
Supplement, containing an account of English translations 
of tho classics and theological writers, published under the 
title of the * Bibliographical Miscellany/ in 2 vols. 12mo„ in 
1806; S. Santander's • Dietionnaire Bibliographiquoehoisi 
du Quinzicmc Steele,* 3 vols. 8vo. 1805 ; Brunei's ' Manuel 
du Libraire, et de TAmatcur des Livres,' 2nd edit. 4 vols. 
8vo. 1814, a very useful work; Dibdin's ' Library Compa- 
nion,' 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1824; Goodbugh's 'English 
Gentleman's Library Manual,* 8vo. 1827; Lowndes's 'Bi- 
bliographer's Manual of English Literature,* 4 vols. 8vo. 
London, 1834 ; Ventouillae's * French Librarian,* 8vo. 1829 ; 
the ' Bibliotbeca Historiea Selecta* of B. B. G. Struvius, 8vo. 
1 705, and greatly augmented by C. G. Buder, 2 vols. 8vo. 
1740; the catalogue of the principal historical writers ap- 
pended to the Abbe* Lcnglet du Fresnoy's • M6thode pour 
tftudicr l'Histoire,* 6 vols. 4to. Paris, 1729-40, or thatibrm- 
ing the second volumo of the English translation of part of 
the same work, by Dr. Richard Rawlinson, 2 vols. 8vo. Lon- 
don, 1730; Archbishop Nieolson's 'Historical Libraries of 
England, Scotland, and Ireland/ 4to. 1776; the 'Lettrcs 
sur la Profession d'Avocat, et Bibliothequc ehoisl des Livrcs 
do Droit,' of M. Camus; the catalogue of works relating to 
natural philosophy and tho mechanical arts, annexed to the 
late Dr. Young's • Lectures on Natural Philosophy ;* the late 
Dr. Mason Good's * Study of Medicine,' 5 vols. 8vo. 1829 ; 
A. Baillct' s ' Jugemcns des Savans sur les Principaux Ou- 
vrages des Auteurs,' augments par M, de la Monnoye, 
8 vols. 4to. Amsterdam, 1724; Sir Thomas Pope Blount's 
•Censura Cclebriorum Auctorum,' fol. London, 1690; the 
•Censura Litcraria,' of Sir Egcrton Brydgcs, 10 vols. Svo. 
1805-09; Hartshorne's 'Book Rarities in the University of 
Cambridge,' 8vo. London, 1829. Under this head also may 
be noticed the learned and admirable work of D. G. Morhof, 
entitled • Polyhistor Litcrarius, Philosophicus, ct Praeticus,* 
first published in 1688, but the best edition of which is that 
of J, A. Fabrieius, in 2 vols. 4to. 1 747 ; and the very erudite 
and elaborate 'Onomasticon Literarium* of C. G. Sax, or 
Saxius, published at Utrecht, in 7 vols. 8vo. from 1759 to 
1790, with a supplementary volume whieh appeared In 1803. 
There U one class of books, which, from a peculiarity by 
which they arc distinguished, has frequently been treated by 
itself in bibliographical works; we mean tnc class of books 
which have not the names of their authors on tho title* 
page. In 1690, Adrien Baillct published, not a very pro- 
found, but still a curious treatise upon books of this descrip- 
tion, under the title of 'Auteurs Dc*guis<Ss sous des noms 
etrangcrs, craprunUs, supposes, feints a. plaisir, abrc*ges, 
cluflre's, renvers^s, retournfis ou changes d'uno langagc 
en une autre;* which was afterwards incorporated In the 
fifth volume of La Monnoyc's edition of the • Jugcmens des 
Savans,' along with many annotations and corrections. At 
tho end of this dissertation, whieh is divided into four parts, 
is given a list of false names assumed by authors, with their 
interpretation, as far as known, which extends to between 



sixty and seventy columns. A few years before the publi- 
cation of Baillct 'a work, namely, in 1674, Vincent Placcius 
had printed a small tract in 4 to. at Hamburg, entitled • De 
Scriptis et Scriptoribus Anonymis atque Piseudonymis Syn- 
tagma.' In 1708 this work re-appeared under the superin- 
tendence of the indefatigable Jo. Alb. Fabrieius, and of 
Mat. Dreyer, a lawyer of Hamburg, enlarged to 2 vols. fol. 
by tho insertion of much new matter, and also by the addi- 
tion of the following tracts upon the same subject, which 
had been previously printed r — ' De Nominum Mutationc,* 
by F. Geisler, 16C9, and again in 1671; * Conjceturm do 
Seriptis Adespotis, Pseudcpigraphls, et Supposititii*,' by 
John Decker, 1678 and 1686; and • Dissertatio Epistoliea 
ad Placcium, qua Anonymorum et Pscudonymorum far- 
rago exhibitur, by Jo. Mayer, 1689. To the whole *as 
now given the title of • Vineentii Plaecii Theatrum Anony- 
morum et Pseudonymorum.' To this should be added the 
Supplement published in 1 vol. folio, and also in 2 vols. 8vo, 
at Hamburg, in 1740, by Jo. Ch. Myhus, in whieh is com- 
prised a reprint of the preceding Supplement, published at 
Jena in 1711, by Ch. Aug. Neuman, under the title of ' Do 
Libris Anonymis ct Pscudonymis Schcdiasma, eomplectens 
Observations generales, ct Spicilcgiura ad Plaecii Thea- 
trum.' The original work, and the supplement of Mylius, 
together comprehend between nine and ten thousand articles. 

But of all the works in this department of bibliography, 
hy far the most perfect and valuable is the •Dietionnaire 
des Anonymcs et Pscudonymes' of the late M. Barbicr, ad- 
ministrator of tho private libraries, first of the Emperor 
Napoleon, and afterwards of Charles X. of France. Tho 
first two volumes of the first edition of this admirable work 
appeared in 1806, and were followed by two more in 1809. 
The publication of a second and greatly improved and en- 
larged edition was commenced by the author in 1 822, and 
completed hy him in 3 vols, in 1824 /about a year before his 
death. A supplementary volume, whieh be left ready for 
the press, has since been published by his son. The Dic- 
tionary of Barbier is confined to works in the French and 
Latin languages, but of theso it notiecs between twenty- 
three and twenty-four thousand. 

For further information upon the different branches of 
bibliography the reader may refer to the Rev. T. H. Home's 

• Introduction to the Study of Bibliography/ 2 vols. 8vo. 
Lon, 1814 ; C. F, Aehard's ' Cours do Bibliographic' 3 vols. 
8vo. Marseilles, 1807; and the various publications of M. 
G. Peignot: 'Manuel Bibliographique,' 1800; 'Dietion- 
naire de Bibliologie,' 2 vols. 1802; • Repertoire Bildiogra- 
phiquo Universel,' 1812; 'Dietionnaire Critique ct Bib- 
liographique des principaux Livrcs condamncs au feu,* 
2 vols. 8vo. Paris, IS 06 ; * Repertoire des Bibliographies 
Speciales, CuricuSes, ct In struct ives,* 8vo. Paris, 1810, &e. 
ftf. Pcignot's scholarship, however, is not equal to his zeal 
and industry. [Sec the artielcs Library and Printing] 

BICESTER, BISETTER, BIRCESTER, or BUR- 
CHESTER, a neat market-town of Oxfordshire, 54 miles 
N.W. by \V. from London, and 13 miles N.E. by N. frum 
Oxford, on the road from Oxford to Buckingham, upon 
a small rivulet that enters tho Charwell at Islip. Some 
think the name of this town is derived from the Bura, whieh 
rises in the neighbourhood; but others suppose, with Plot, 
that it comes from Bernwood Forest, upon tho edge of 
which it was anticntly seated. Bishop Kcnnet says that it 
was originally a walled town, though no traces of the wall 
now exist, and that it was built somewhere about a.d. C40 
by Birinus, bishop of Cacr Dor, or Dorchester, in Oxford- 
shire. The place was called Cacr Birin from its founder. 

• and this one thing is worth the observing/ remarks Ken- 
net, * that wheresoever the Britains built a walled town, 
they gave it the name, first or last, of the word caer, 
which is derived of tho Hebrew AiV, and significth, In the 
one and tho other language, a wall ; and wheresoever the 
English coming in found the word caer in the name of any 
town, they translated it by the word Chester, or cester, which 
was tho same to them as cacr to the old Britains.' By 
such a process, according to Kenuet, the name Caer Birin 
bceamo Birincestre, and then by cantraction Birecstcr, and 
ultimately Bicester, as at present. These, however, nre not 
the only forms which have been given to tho natno ; and a 
confirmation of its connexion with Birinus is derived fiom 
the fact that his name has undergono changes analogous to 
those in the initial syllables of the town's name, Thcro cer- 
tainly seems to have licen here in tho timo of Birinus a 
frontier garrison of tho West Saxons against the Mercians, 



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383 



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and it is likely that it mighthave assumed his name hecause 
it was built by his advice and assistance out of the ruins of 
Alchester and Chesterton, or heeause a church was built 
and endowed by him. Alchester, probably a contraction of 
Aid (old) chester, was a city of a square form, divided hy 
four streets, and appears to have heen one of the garrisoned 
places constructed by Plautius to secure the newly-aequired 
country after his early triumphs over the Britons. The 
name ' Alchester* is still retained for the site on which it 
stood, and some faint traces of it may be discovered about a 
rnile and a half to the south-west oHJicester; for, although 
the soil has long been under cultivation, Roman coins and 
fragments of huilding have occasionally heen discovered in 
excavating. 

The parish of Bicester is divided into two districts" or 
townships, called King's End and Market End. The old 
town of Birincester, which is helieved to have been destroyed 
hy the Danes, stood on the west part or King's End; 
the other portion was formerly called Bury End, but re- 
ceived its present name from the weekly market which was 
granted in the 1 9th of Henry VI. This replaced or super- 
seded a weekly market and an annual fair, which had been 
granted at a previous period (1 Rich. II.) to the village 
of Bigenhall, which tben occupied the site of the present 
Kings End of the town. In the reign of Henry II. (U82), 
Gilbert Basset, baron of Hedingdon, founded at Bicester a 
religious house for a prior and eleven canons of the order of 
St. Augustine. It was dedicated to St. Eadburg; and was 
valued at the Dissolution at 147/. 2s. 1 0//., according to 
Dugdale. The name of the saint to whom it was dedicated 
is still preserved in St. Edburgs Well in the vicinity, This 
well was reputed holy until the Reformation, after which it 
became choked up through long neglect; hut in the dry 
summer of 1666, the head of the spring was opened and 
cleansed, when a sudden and great supply of water gushed 
forth. There was a neat and much-frequented walk leading 
to it from the priory and town. This was called, in a record 
of Edward I., ' Seynt Edburg, hes grene way,' and Via 
Sanctce Edburge, and is now denominated St. Edburg's 
Balk. There were at least seven English saints of this 
name; this one was St. Edburg of Aylcshury. 

The author of the History of Allchester,near'Burchester, 
which was written in 1622, and forms an appendix to Bishop 
Ken net's book, speaks thus of Bicester as it was then : — 

' It is at this day a very good market for all manner of 
cattle, and well supplied with all kinds of trades. . . . Yet 
in Bister I can observe nothing memorable hut a fair church 
for the setting forth of God's glory, and the ruins of an old 
abbey, now the house of Sir Richard Blunt/ This ' fair 
church' is a neat and commodious building, erected about 
the year 1400 on the site of a former structure. It has a 
lofty square tower, contains several fine monuments and old 
sculptures, and has accommodation for 1200 persons. The 
living is a discharged vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, of 
the annual value of 231/. The town itself is neatly built, 
consisting chiefly of houses of medium size and appearance. 
It contained 2868 inhabitants in 1831, of whom 1477 were 
females. The town is noted for its excellent ale. Females 
find occupation in making bone lace. It also derives con- 
siderable benefit from the proximity of the Oxford canal ; 
but its prosperity now, as formerly, chiefly arises from its 
well-attended markets and cattle-fairs. The market day is 
on Friday; and the fairs are held on Easter-Friday, first 
Friday in June, August 5th, Friday after Old Michaelmas, 
and two following Fridays, and the third Friday in De- 
cember. 

There is a charity-school, in which thirty poor hoys are 
clothed and educated. It is supported by subscriptions, as- 
sisted by the dividends on 1 000/. stock, given in 1 81 1 hy Mr. 
Walker in pursuance of his father's intention ; out of this, 
however, 14/. is annually given to assist Sunday schools. A 
school for girls has just been founded (1835), which is sup- 
ported by subscriptions. The school-room, huilt on pur- 
pose, id capable of containing sixty girls, the number in- 
tended to he educated therein. 

(Bishop Kennet's Parochial Antiquities, attempted in 
the History of Ambrosden, Burcester, and other adjacent 
parts; Plot's Natural History of Oxfordshire; Gough's 
Camden's Britannia; Beauties of England and JVales, 
&c.) A 

BICETRE. an extensive huilding, close to the village of 
Gentilly, in the vicinity of Paris, now answering the purpose 
of a prison, an hospital, and a poor-house. It is on an 



eminence,* about a mile from, the Barriere, dltalie,- on the 
south side of Paris, and a little to the west of the main road 
from Paris to Fontainebleau. 

Tbe site of this edifice was, in the beginning of the. 
thirteenth century (about 1204) the pro^rty of John, 
Bishop of Winchester, in England, who built there a castle 
or residence (chateau), which bore from him the name of 
Winchester, from which by corruption have heen derived 
the designations of Viehestre and Bicestre, or as it is now 
written Bicetre. In 1294, Philippe IV. (Le Bel) King of 
France, confiscated the castle, and it remained for some time 
in the hands of tbe kings, his successors. In the trouhles 
which agitated France during the reign of the imbecile 
Charles VI., the Due de Berri, the king's uncle, was possessor 
of this eastle, and retired here with the Due D'Orleans in 
order to concert measures in opposition to the Due de Bour- 
gogne (Burgundy). Here was negotiated a treaty called 
tbe Treaty of Winchester ; and this being violated, the vio- 
lation was called the Treason of Winchester. In the disturb-* 
ances of this period, the eastle was nearly destroyed, and 
remained, as it appears, some time in a very dilapidated 
state ; the Chapter of the Cathedral of Ndtrc Dame in 
Paris, to whom the Due de Berri had, in 1416, given it 
with all its appendages, not undertaking any repairs. 

In 1632 Louis XIII, to whom the site of the castle had 
eome, erected upon the spot which that building had occu- 
pied a chapel dedicated to St. John, and some buildings for 
the reception of invalid officers and soldiers ; but when his 
successor, Louis XIV., erected the Hotel des Invalides, the 
Bicetre being no longer required as a military invalid esta- 
blishment, was converted into a hranch of the Hopital 
General (otherwise called La Salpetriere). It served for 
the reception of tho poor, of widowers, of boys whether siek 
or well, and of young men who had enfeebled their consti-r 
tution or hecome diseased through debauchery. The treat- 
ment of these last was very barbarous; there were only 
twenty or twenty-five heds for more than two hundred 
patients, and consequently from eight in the evening till 
one in the morning part of them lay stretched out on the 
ground, and tben turning out those who had occupied the 
hed for the early part of the night took their place. Besides 
which, they were, by the order of the managers, cudgelled 
(fustigis) before and after they passed under the treatment 
of the medical attendants. Is it to he wondered at if two- 
thirds of the patients died under this treatment? This dis- 
graceful system of beating continued into the eighteenth 
century. 

The Bice'tre served for a short time for the reception of 
foundlings. These were placed here in 1648,*but from the 
number of deaths which occurred among them they were 
soon removed, as the air was considered unfavourable to 
them. 

Up to the time of the Revolution the hospital was very 
ill-managed, and indeed continued to be so till the year 
1801, when the general board of management for the 
hospitals (/* admiiiistration generate des hospices) was 
founded. At that time patients of all classes were crowded 
without arrangement, or regularity, or distinction of age, 
sex, or disease; though the abuses of former years, espe- 
cially the shameful disproportion of heds to patients, had 
heen somewhat diminished. 

Since tbe year 1803 many improvements have been in- 
troduced into the management of this poor-house and 
hospital. Much has been done for the improvement of the 
hospital itself, by building, repairing, enlarging, and planting 
the grounds of it. Cleanliness, hoth in the wards and the 
persons of the patients and other inmates, has heen more 
attended to ; and improvements, both in the quantity and 
the quality of the food allowed, have pomewhat ameliorated 
the condition of tbe inmates. Those who are able are set to 
work ; there are shoemakers or menders, tailors, button- 
makers, straw- hat-makers, wool-eombers or spinners, &c. 
The sick are classified \ each class of diseases has its ward 
or wards; each patient his bed. In 1812 a new building 
was erected for the insane, who are classified into the in-? 
curable, the quiet, the curahle : each class has a floor or 
other part of the building assigned to it. Insane females 
have another building appropriated to them. There is 
accommodation for about 800 mad patients. Those who are 
furious are not chained. 

The average number of persons admitted to the hospital 
in ten years (1804-1814) was, on the average, 1947 per 
annum; the average number of thoso who left was 1495, 



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End of those who died 420. Several of the inmates among 
tho poor attain eighty years of age : in the ten years just 
mentioned, the lowest number of that age at any ono time 
was IG2, the highest number 193. 
The nart devoted to tho purposo ot a prison consists of six 

Files of building of several stories, with iron grated windows. 
t is undor tho direction of the Prefecture of Polieo, and the 
Prefecture of the department of tho Seine. A company of 
veterans lodged in tho prison serve to maintain order, fbe 
prison was at first intended for 400 prisoners, but during the 
j ear 1817 the avcrago number of its inmates was 800. 

Previous to the year 1819, the management of this prison 
was very bad ; and though several very important reforms 
took plaee at that period, thero are still many things that 
want improvement. The bread of the prisoners is of a bad 
quality; and the * eanteen* or tap-house, kept by the 
gaoler, is the souree of gross corruption and oppression. 

The prisoners, with the exception of those to be tried, those 
condemned to irons, and the sick, are set to work : of tbe pro- 
duce of eaeh prisoner's labour one-third goes to the govern- 
ment, one-third to the prisoner himself, and the other third 
goes to form a fund for him at his disehargo from the Bicetre. 
Two large wards, one for medieal, the other for surgical 
cases, form the infirmary ; there is a third ward for those who 
have eutancous diseases, and who are not counted among 
the siek. There is usually about one in ten of the prisoners 
in the infirmary. 

This union of the prison and of the poor-house and hos- 
pital in the same building is considered a great evil. (Du- 
laure's History of Paris.) 

BICHAT, 'MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER, an emi- 
nent Freneh anatomist and physiologist, was born Nov. 14, 
1771, at Thoirotte in the department of the Ain. Ho was 
the eldest son of Jean Baptisto Biehat, doctor of. medicine, 
of the University of Montpellier, and of Marie Rose Bichat. 
He received the rudiments of his education atNantua ; and 
in 1788 entered the school of St. Yren6e at Lyons, whero 
he showed a peculiar fondness for mathematics. From this 
seminary, while diligently pursuing the study of natural phi- 
losophy, he was driven by the Revolution, and returned to 
the residence of his father, under whom he began the study 
of anatomy ; but his taste for mathematics predominating, 
he again went to Lyons in order to prosecute his favourite 
study, although, probably at tho desire of his father, he at 
the same time attended a course of anatomy, and regularly 
visited the hospital of Lyons. Whatever may have been 
the ardour with whieh he devoted himself to the study of 
philosophy, it is eertain that tbe facility with wbieh he over- 
came the first difficulties of practical anatomy attracted the 
notice of his teaeher3, who, on becoming further acquainted 
with him, were still moro impressed with the indications he 
gave of mental aeuteness. Driven a second time from Lyons 
by the events of the Revolution, he went in 1793 to Paris, 
in order to study surgery under the celebrated Desault, at 
that time the great master of the surgical art. Without a 
singlo introduction, it is said without even a singlo aequaint- 
nuee in this eity,he entered the school of Desault, and dili- 
gently attended the leetures of his master. In this sehool it 
was the practice for some chosen pupils, eaeh in his turn, to 
make an abstract of the lecturo of the day, and on the next 
day, at the elose of the lecture, in the presence of the second 
surgeon of tho hospital, this abstract was publiely read. It 
chanced one day that tho pupil whose turn it was to give 
the abstract of the leeturc of tne preceding day was absent ; 
Bichat stepped forward from the crowd of pupils and offered 
to supply his place. His account was clear, accurate, and 
full ; and was delivered with extraordinary calmness and 
precision. It was observed that ho was very young ; and 
it wa* found that he had not been a pupil moro than a 
month. Desault, on hearing this from his colleague, 
Manoury, sent for Bichat, and from his very first conver- 
sation with the young man, formed such an estimato of 
him that ho insisted on his immediately coming to reside 
with him ; and subsequently adopted him as his son, asso- 
ciated him in his labours, and destined him for his suc- 
cessor. Biehat continuod to livo with his master, in un- 
interrupted friendship, until tho death of Desault, whieh 
took plaee in the short spaco of two years from tho com- 
mencement of their intimacy. After this event tho first 
caro of the pupil, as tho host expression of his gratitude and 
affcetion, was to eollect, arrange, and publish tbe works of 
his master. At tho samo time, he opened a school for 
teaching anatomy, physiology, and surgery ; dissected for 



his own lectures ; carried on an extended and laborious 
scries of experiments on living animals; gavo a course of 
operative surgery, and when in the evening ho returned 
home exhausted with the labours of tho day, instead of be- 
taking himself to repose, he devoted the greater part of tho 
night to the duty of putting in order the papers and works 
of his friend and master. His constitution, whieh was not 
vigorous, received a severe shock from this excessive la- 
bour; he appears to have suffered particularly from the ex- 
ertion of public speaking, and in a short time his pursuits 
were interrupted by an attack of haemoptysis, or spitting of 
blood. 

In tho confinement to his chamber whieh this alarming 
disease imposed, he appears to have matured his views on 
some of the most interesting departments of anatomy and 
physiology"; and to have sketched tho plan of the works in 
which those views were subsequently developed. No sooner 
had his malady disappeared, than he resumed tbe whole of 
his former occupations, whieh he pursued with an intensity 
to the last degree imprudent, and whieh for his own sake, 
and for the sake of science, is deeply to be deplored. 1 1 is 
days he spent in public teaching, and his nights in tho 
composition of his works. No entreaties of his friends, no 
signs of returning disease, which again more than suffi 
ciently indicated the danger of his course, could induce him 
to moderate his labour. On the contrary, although now 
attacked with severe and constantly increasing dyspeptic 
symptoms, with a stomach scarcely able to digest any kind 
of food, he spent, during tho heat of summer, several hours 
daily in a low and damp room, full of putrid exhalations 
arising from the maeeration of animal substanees, the tissues 
entering into the composition of which ho was analyzing 
and studying. * One day when he had been in this placo 
longer than usual, or when, from previous exhaustion, he 
had been more powerfully impressed by its intluence, he 
felt giddy on leaving the room, in consequence probably of 
the miasma to which he had been exposed. In this state, 
on descending the stairs of the Hotel Dieu, his foot slipped 
and he received by the fall a severe blow on the head. He 
was taken up insensible, nnd was carried home with somo 
difficulty ; but the next day, notwithstanding he was suffer- 
ing under violent headache, he thought himself sufficiently 
recovered to pursue his ordinary oeeupations, and nceord 
ingly began his usual round. In a short time, however, he 
fainted from fatigue, and in a day or two symptoms of 
fever came on, which soon assumed a typhoid character, 
and proved fatal on the fourteenth day of the attaek. 
This was in the tbirty-first year of his age; and thus pe- 
rished a youth, for he had searcely arrived at manhood, of 
extraordinary genius and energy — a melaneholy example of 
a lifo whieh promised to be one of uncommon brilliance 
and usefulness, cut short by tfic intensity of its devotion to 
science. 

Biehat gave an impulso to the progress of physiology, 
which is still powerfully felt not only in France, hut in Great 
Britain, and in every other country in whicb the seience is 
known. The idea had been suggested before his time, that tho 
animal body consists of a congeries of organs, and that there 
are primary substances whieh enter in common into the 
composition of the several organs; but he was the first, by 
a systematic analysis, to reduce the complex structures of 
the body to their elementary tissues, and to ascertain the 
properties, physical, chemical, and vital, which belong to 
each simplo tissue. This he has done to an extent, and 
with a degree of completeness truly astonishing in a first 
attempt, in his Anatomie Gcnirale, a work which alono 
would have given him immortality ; whieh, in the produc- 
tion of tbe material that constitutes its subjeet matter, indi- 
cates minute and laborious research, elaborate and extended 
experiment, and great manual and praetieal skill ; and in 
tho general conclusions deduced nnd established, a truly 
philosophical mind ; and whieh, written wholly in nights 
succeeding such days as were spent by him, was composed 
and published in tho spaeo of a year. Searecly had this 
work, which was immediately and universally recognised 
as a production of extraordinary genius, appeared, before it 
was followed by his * Anatomic Descriptive, Besides many 
separate memoirs of various excellence, he likewise pub- 
lished an claborato work, entitled 'Recherehcs physiolo- 
giques sur la Vie et la Mort,* in which he suggestod and 
developed the distinction between the organic and tbe ani- 
mal life, a distinction of searcely less importance to tho 
surgeon and physician, than to the speculative and experi- 



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385 



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mentalizing physiologist. It will be easily conceived that 
a man who thought and acted not so much with the ra- 
pidity as the impetuosity of Biehat must have fallen into 
some errors in a science which was then comparatively in 
its infancy. Of this he was himself not unconscious ; but 
his errors are few ; the truths he struck out and made part 
and parcel of the common mind are many and great. Time 
and experience would have rectified the former and added 
10 the latter ; would have moderated his ardour, restrained 
his imagination, matured his judgment, and made him, 
what so many qualities combined to render him, a truly 
great physiologist. The gratitude which posterity owes him 
ean never be unmixed with regret. The history of his brief 
but intense life is pregnant with the most impressive lessons 
to the future cultivators of his science. (M. F. R. Buisson, 
Precis Historique sur M. F. X. Bichat, Paris, 1802.) 

BICZOW,orBlDSCHO\V,aeire!e in the north-eastern 
part of the kingdom of Bohemia, bounded on the north by 
Prussian-Silesia, on the east by the circle of Konigingratz, 
and on the west by that of Bunzlau, and occupying an area 
of 981 square miles, nearly equal to that of Dorsetshire. 
The nerthern districts of Biczow are occupied by the * Rie- 
sengebirge' (Giant mountains), on which, close upon the 
Silesian borders, lies the * Navoric meadow,' where the Elbe 
takes its rise. This river Hows through the northern part of 
the circle as far only as Arnau, whence it takes a eireuit 
until it again touches the southern extremity of the circle : 
the Czidlina traverses its centre from north to south, and 
falls into the Elbe ; and that portion of Biezow which lies on 
tho western bank of this stream has in part an undulating 
surfaee, though it is in general level and productive. The 
mountainous and larger portion of the circle is dependent 
on its forests, pastures, and manufactures for its support ; 
these manufactures eonsist of linens, woollens, eottons, glass, 
and iron : it is also the principal seat of commercial dealings. 
The open and level districts in the west and south are de- 
voted to agriculture. It eontains nine towns, nineteen 
market-villages, and 610 villages. The majority of the in- 
habitants, whose numbers arc estimated at 248,500 (in 
1S17, 204,338), are of Bohemian extraction; tho few of 
German descent being located near the Silesian frontiers. 
The chief town is New Biczow (Navy Biezow) on the Czid- 
lina, which has a church and a synagogue, and about 3900 
inhabitants ; but the provincial administration has its seat 
at Gitshin (Gieyn), a walled town, delightfully situated on 
the same river, where the princes of Trautmansdorf possess 
a handsome residence, built by Wallenstein in 1G10 : it has 
two churches, a publie school, a military seminary, and 
about 3300 inhabitants. In the north lies Ilohenelbe 
(Wrchlaby), in the bosom of a picturesque valley, on the 
Kibe, a manufacturing town with a population of about 
3000 souls, and a eastle surrounded by a deep diteh ; Arnau, 
lower down on the same river, has about 1430 inhabitants, 
wholly employed in weaving linens and cottons ; and at the 
south-western extremity of the circle lies Podiebrad, with a 
castle in which invalid officers are quartered, a public school, 
and about 2840 inhabitants. East, of this town stands 
Chlumetz on the Czidlina, with about 2620 inhabitants. 
The Counts Kinsky have a handsome residence here called 
Karlskron, built in the shape of a crown, to which a park 
full of game is attached. In the northern part of Bic- 
zow, and on a ridge of the Giant mountains, lies Neuwald 
or Neuwelt, a village containing extensive glass-works, be- 
longing to the Counts Ilarrach : it is one of the largest esta- 
blishments of the kind in the Austrian dominions. Near 
this spot is the * Navorie meadow,* before referred to, whence 
the Elbe soon after falls down a cataract into the frightful 
abyss termed the * Elbgrund.' 

BIDASO'A, or VIDASOA, the name of a river in 
Spain, which rises in the mountains surrounding the valley 
of Baztan in Spanish Navarre. It is formed of two 
streams, which descend from the mountains of Aehuela 
and Aracan in the same valley, and are united between 
the villages of Erranzii and Azpllcueta, the latter situ- 
ated on its right, and the former on its left bank. While 
flowing through the valley it boars the name of Baztan- 
zubi, and runs with a gentle current between numerous 
neat villages situated on its banks. The stream becomes 
very narrow at the Garganta or passage of Ascape, just 
before reaching the village of Oronoz, situated on its left 
bank. Increased by the numerous streams which descend 
from the neighbouring mountains and flow into it below 
a bridge on the boundaries of Baztan and Bertizarana, it 



continues its course, inclining westwards, and then receives 
the name of Bidasoa, a Basque word, meaning 'the way 
to the West/ It then flows due west through the valle^*of 
San Estevan-de-Lerin, and after receiving fresh supplies 
from the mountains which surround the district of Cineo* 
Villas, changes its direction northwards, and enters the pro* 
vince of Guipuzeoa below Endarrasa. It then crosses the 
universidad or district of Irun, which town is at a short 
distance from' its left bank. At that place it forms the 
boundary between Spain and France. Not far from Irun 
is the small island of Faisanes or Pheasants; after which 
the river, continuing its course towards the .north, and 
leaving on its left bank the town of Fuenterabia (Eons 
rapidus) in Spain and Andaya or Endaye in France, enters 
the ocean near Cape Higuer. Its whole course, measured, 
upon the best maps, without reckoning its windings, ap- 
pears to be from forty to fifty miles. 

This river abounds in delicate fish, especially salmon, 
more than 4000 of which are yearly sent to the markets of 
Zaragoza, Madrid, and other places. . = 

Within the last two centuries the Bidasoa has been the* 
scene of important transactions more or less detrimental to 
the welfare of the people who live south of its banks. In . 
1GG0 the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in the small 
island of Pheasants by Cardinal Mazarin on the part of 
Louis XIII. of France, and by Count Don Louis' de Haro , 
on that of Felipe IV. of Spain. A new boundary line, 
drawn at Paris by the archbishop Pierre la MaVca or 
Marque, in conjunction with the Spanish commissioners, 
was fixed between Franee and Spain, by which the latter 
nation lost the wholo territory of Rousillon and Conflans in 
Catalonia. The Spanish king further renounced all claims 
to his dominions in the Netherlands, promised to pardon 
the revolted Catalonians, recognising expressly all their 
laws and privileges as perpetually inviolable, and gave the 
hand of his eldest daughter, the Infanta Maria Theresa, to 
the dauphin, afterwards Louis' XIV., on the express con- 
dition that the French king should renounce, both for 
himself and his successors, all claims to the Spanish throne. 
Louis accepted the hand of the Spanish princess for his 
son j but however solemnly that treaty was celebrated, it 
was violated by France, and a grandson of Louis and Maria 
Theresa ascended the throne of Spain and abolished all 
the privileges of the Catalonians', declared by both parties 
to be inviolable. Ever since this time the cabinet of tho 
Tuileries has exercised over that of Madrid the influence 
which it was the object of the treaty to prevent. 

In 1803 Ferdinand VII. erossed the Bidasoa on his way 
to Bayonne, where he surrendered to the emperor of the 
French all his dominions. • In January, 1823, the Duke of 
Angouleme crossed that river at the head of 100,000 men, 
intrusted by the sovereigns forming the Holy Alliance 
with a commission to destroy the representative govern- 
ment, in Spain, which three years before they had solemnly 
acknowledged, and the constitution of Cadiz, which, assisted 
by the joint efforts of the British and Peninsular troops, had 
broken the ignominious yoke that Napoleon had placed on 
their neeks. (See Diccionario Geograflco Historico de 
Academia; Minano.) 

BIDDLE, JOHN, styled the father of the English Uni- 
tarians, was born in 1G15, at Wotton-under-Edge in Glou- 
cestershire, where his father carried on the trade of a 
woollen-draper. Being sent to the grammar-school of his 
native town, he gave such proofs of talent and proficiency 
as attracted the notice of George, Lord Berkeley, who con- 
ferred on him, at an earlier age than any other scholar, an 
exhibition of 10/. per annum. Before he was fifteen, be- 
sides a Latin oration on the death of a schoolfellow, which 
was much praised for the classical purity of its diet ion, he 
translated into English verse the eclogues of Virgil, and 
the first two satires of Juvenal, which were afterwards 
printed, In 1G32, in his seventeenth year, he was sent to 
the university of Oxford, having been admitted a student of 
Magdalen Hall. Here ho pursued his studies with much 
success, and took his degree of bachelor of arts in 1G38, 
and that of master of arts in 1G41. Previously to this, he 
had declined an offer of the grammar-school in his native 
town; but, being now elected master of the free-school 
in the erypt in the city of Gloucester, he accepted that 
appointment, and performed its duties in a manner that 
raised the character of the school, and made parents anxious 
to place their sons under his care. His theological studies; 
meanwhile, were prosecuted with great ardour ; and carry • 



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ing into these the $imo freedom of inquiry which he had 
shewn in his philosophical and academical pursuits, he 
found the result of his investigations so different from what 
ho had expected, that lie printed for private circulation a 
small tract, entitled * Twelve Arguments, drawn out of the 
Scripture, wherein the commonly received opinion touching 
tho deity of tho Holy Spirit is clearly and fully refuted/ 
Being a* unreserved in expressing his doubts in conversa- 
tion, as he was frco in his inquiries, he did not scruple to 
declare his sentiments openly, and to assign his reasons for 
calling in question the truth of many doctrines which were 
commonly believed. This freedom of speech soon raised 
the cry of heresy against him. His printed tract was sur- 
reptitiously obtained for the parliamentary committee, then 
sitting at Gloucester, and on the information of a pretended 
friend, he was summoned before a bench of magistrates, and 
committed to the county gaol, Dec. C, 16J5, although suffer- 
ing at the time from a dangerous fever, His release, on 
bail, was not obtained without considerable difficulty. At 
his examination before the magistrates, he delivered a 
'confession of faith/ which failed to satisfy them in respect 
to his opinions concerning a plurality of persons in the God- 
head. From tho ambiguity of this document, it is evident 
that Biddle's mind was then in a state of transition from 
Trinitarianism to Unitarianism, without being quite decided 
either way. Six months afterwards, Archbishop Usher had 
a conference with him on the doctrine of the Trinity, with- 
out being able to convince him that it was founded in Scrip- 
ture. About the same lime he was summoned before the 
parliament, at Westminster, who appointed a committee to 
inquire into his case. The course pursued in this examina- 
tion was intended to involve him in a denial of the Trinity ; 
but on his refusing to make any admissions relative to the 
naturo of Christ, as being foreign to the point on which he 
was accused, he was kept in a state of suspense and delay 
for nearly eighteen months, at the end of which time he ad- 
dressed a letter to Sir Harry Vane, whose friendly inter- 
ference brought the matter before the house, But the termi- 
nation of these proceedings was unfavourable to Biddle, 
■who was committed to the custody of one of the officers of 
the House of Commons, and deprived of his liberty for five 
years. In the meantime the case was referred to the as- 
sembly of divines then sitting at Westminster, before whom 
Biddlo often appeared. Their answers to his doubts only 
increased his conviction of their validity, and made him feel 
the importance of giving them greater publicity. For this 
purposo he resolved to publish the * Twelve Arguments/ 
&c., which had only been privately circulated. This was 
no sooner dono than it raised such a spirit of opposition, 
that the book was immediately ordered to be burnt by tho 
common hangman. Undaunted by this proceeding, in the 
year 1C48, while yet in prison, he printed a * Confession of 
Faith concerning the Holy Trinity according to the Scrip- 
tures, with the Testimonies of several of the Fathers on this 
head.' This was followed by another tract, entitled •The 
Testimonies of Ircucous, Justin Martyr, Novatianus, Thco- 
phihis (who lived the two first centuries after Christ was 
bom, or thereabouts), as also Amobius, Lactanlius, Euse- 
bius, Hilary, and Brightinan, concerning that ono God and 
the persons of Holy Trinity/ The publication of these 
works in succession alarmed the Westminster divines to 
sueh a degree, that they determined upon the immediate 
necessity of silencing hisopiiHons. For this purpose they 
prevailed upon the House of Commons to pass a measure 
by which tho punishment of death was awarded to tho de- 
nial of the Trinity, and to other doctrinal points, bosides 
attaching severe penalties to minor offences. This act, or 
ordinance as it was styled, was especially aimed at Biddle; 
and ho must certainly have been the first victim to it but 
from an opposition which was raised to it in tho army, and 
this circumstance, aided by the dissensions in parliament 
concerning it, caused the ordinance to remain inoperative. 
I lis conBneinent continued with unabated strictness, until, 
after the death of Charles, the influence of the Independents 
gaincl ground, and with it, under tha auspices of Cromwell 
and Fairfax, ft relaxation of the penal laws relating to reli- 
gion. Favoured by these changes, Biddlo was released from 
prison under certain conditions, and retired into Stafford- 
shire, where lie was hospitably received into the house of a 
justice of the peace, who not' only inado him his chaplain 
and procured him a congregation, but at his death left him 
a legacy. His retirement was disturbed by Bradshaw, pre- 
sident of the council, who being informed of it, remanded 



him to prison. The loss of freedom, during his long con- 
finement, was hardly a greater hardship than tho loss of 
his friends, who wcro alienated from him by the odium cast 
uj>on him by the charge of heresy and blasphemy; not a 
single divine, except Dr. Gunning, afterwards bishop of 
Ely, paid him a visit while in prison. To his other "sufferings 
were now added tho severest privations, in consequence of 
his funds being exhausted ; but in this extremity he was 
most unexpectedly relieved by some pecuniary assistance 
which he obtained for correcting the press for a Greek Js'cp- 
tuagint, then being printed by Kogcr Daniel, in London, an 
employment for which ho was singularly qualified from his 
being so conversant with the Scriptures, that he could repeat 
them tvrbatim, not only in English but in Greek, as far as 
the 4th chapter of the Revelations. 

In 1C51 an act of indemnity and oblivion was passed by 
parliament, which included all heretical offences. To this 
measure Biddle was indebted for his liberty, after a con- 
finement, with a short intermission, of seven years. The 
first use that he made of his freedom was to collect around 
him those friends and adherents whom his writings had 
brought over to his opinions. They met on the Lord's Day 
for the purpose of expounding the scriptures, and gradually 
formed themselves into a society on this leading principle, 
viz. that * the unity of God is a unity of person as well as 
nature.' Tho members of this society were called Bidcl- 
lians, and from their agreement in opinion concerning tho 
unity of God and the humanity of Christ with the followers 
of Socinus, they were sometimes denominated Socinians. 
The name which properly characterizes their fundamental 
opinion is that of Unitarians. This was, indeed, the rise of 
the English Unitarians. Among tho early members of this 
church was the celebrated Thomas Firmin, whose charities 
arc so highly extolled by Bishop Burnet Another, who is 
less-known, was Nathaniel Stuckey,a young man who pub- 
lished a translation of Biddle's * Scripture Catechisms, fur 
the use of Foreigners." The publication of the two cate- 
chisms from which these translations were made brought 
the vengeance of government again upon their author. He 
was summoned to the bar of the House of Commons, and 
on his refusal to criminate himself, was committed to cIoms 
confinement in the Gatc-IIousc, while his prosecutors, in 
order to silence him effectually, had recourse to that cruel 
ordinance which, never having received the force of a law, 
had lain obsolcto. While the House was proceeding in 
this illegal manner, Cromwell dissolved the parliament, and 
Biddle again obtained his liberty, after ten months move 
imprisonment ; but his book shared the fate of his former 
tract, being publicly burnt. Twelve months had scarcely 
elapsed after this release, when another danger overtook 
hi in. The doctrines advocated by Biddle being embraced 
by a considerable part of a Baptist congregation, their pas- 
tor, Mr. Grillin, challenged Mr. Biddle to a public discus- 
sion, during which his adversaries, availing them selves t f 
somo declaration made by him, purporting that Christ was 
not the Most High God, lodged an information against him, 
aud obtained his committal to the Compter^ July 3, 1G35, 
from which prison he was removed to Newgate, aud tried 
fur his life on the ordinance against blasphemy and heresy. 
His trial was conducted with such indecent hnstc and Mich 
a total disregard to justice, that Cromwell himself inter- 
fered, and, in order to hatllc the malicious designs of the pro- 
secutors without seeming to jield too much to the more to- 
lerant party, he banished Hiddlc to Star Cattle, in St. Mary's, 
oneof the Scillylslcs, with an annual subsis.tcnccof a hundred 
crowns. In this fctatc of exile he continued for three years, 
when the solicitation of his friends and change of circum- 
stances induced the Protector to grant a writ of habeas cor- 
pus, under which he returned, and no charge being pre- 
ferred against him, he was set at liberty. lie then becamo 
the pastor of an Independent congregation in London, the 
duties of which office he faithfully discharged until the 
elevation of the Presbyterian party, after the death of Oliver 
Cromwell, induced him to withdraw into the seclusion of 
the country. The sudden dissolution of that parliament 
brought him arraiu to London, vvh^re he remained till tho 
restoration of Charles II. Tho changes consequent upon 
that event involved him in new difficulties, and made liim 
a sufferer in common with many of those who had been 
his persecutors. Biddle tried to cvado the threatening storm 
which fell upon all who dissented from the Episcopalian 
moilo of worship, now re-established, by retiring from publio 
duty, but his caution was unavailing, The little assembly 



BID 



387 



BID 



of adherents whom he occasionally met for religious pur- 
poses did not long elude the jealous notice of the magis- 
tracy. On June 1, 1662, he and his friends were appre- 
hended and taken to prison: they were fined in 20L each, 
and he in 100/. Not heing ahle to pay this penalty, he was 
remanded to prison, where, in less than five weeks, through 
the pestilential atmosphere of the place and want of exer- 
cise, he contracted a disease which terminated his life, 
Sept. 22, 1662, in the forty-seventh year of his age. During 
his exile he drew up an essay to explain the Apocalypse; 
and in 1653 he puhlished several small pieces, translated 
from the works of the Polish Unitarians, among which was 
Przipcovius's Life of Faastus Socinus. All his contem- 
poraries describe him as a man of pure and irreproachable 
life ; and Anthony Wood, who had no great love for here- 
tics, said of him, that * except his opinions, there was little or 
• nothing blame-worthy in him.' (Toulrain's Life of Riddle.) 

BIDEFORD, a port, borough, and market-town, on hoth 
sides of the river Torridge near its confluence with the Taw, 
in the hundred of Shebbear, in the county of Devon, thirty- 
six miles N.W. by W. from Exeter, and 180 W. hy S. 
from London; in 51° 2' N. lat., and 4° 3' W. long. The 
parish extends over the horough and manor, and contains 
about 4510 English statute acres, and is bounded on the 
north hy Northain, N. E. by Westleigh, S. E. by Weare 
Giflord, S. by Littleham, and W. by Abbotsham. 

Bideford, sometimes, but erroneously, spelt Biddeford, 
derives its name from its local position, being situated near 
an ancient ford, * by the ford.' We have no authentic 
account of it till the Conquest, when it was bestowed on 
Richard de Grandavilla, or rather de Granville, a Norman 
nobleman, by William the First. There is an ancient 
charter granted hy Sir Richard de Granville as lord of the 
manor, to which unfortunatelythere is no date ; hut it appears 
from Prince, and from the names of the witnesses to the char- 
ter, that this Sir Richard de Granville lived in the thirteenth 
century, and that in the twenty- fourth year of the reign 
of King Edward the First he held one fee in 'BytheforoY 
Camden mentions Bideford as a place of little consequence 
in his time, and Lelantl takes no further notice of it than 
to mention its bridge, which ho calls a * notable work, fairly 
walled on each side.* In 1573, through the interest of 
Richard Granville, Esq., Queen Elizabeth granted it a 
charter, and made the town a free borough. This charter 
was enlarged and confirmed hy King James the First, in 
the seventh and sixteenth years of his reign. Although a 
horough, Bideford does not appear to have sent members to 
Parliament ; it got excused from the burden as a very 
great favour, through the interest at court of the Granville 
family. In 1750 the manor of Bideford was sold by some 
of the descendants of William Glanville, Earl of Bath, to 
John Cleveland, Esq., and is now the property of his grand 
nephew, Augustus Saltren Willett, Esq., who has lately 
taken the name of Cleveland. The inhabitants of this 
plaee were not baekward in the civil wars of Charles the 
First : two forts were erected, one on each side of the river 
Torridge, so as to command the river and the town; and 
another was built at Appledore (a small watering-place in 
the neighbourhood, lately consolidated with Bideford), which 
effectually commands the entrance of the rivers Torridge 
and Taw. These forts, as well as the towns of Bideford 
and Barnstaple, surrendered to Colonel Dighy, who com- 
manded the forces of the Royalists, on the 2d of September, 
1C43: so desperate was the struggle which preceded the 
surrender, that Lord Clarendon in alluding to it says, * that 
the swords of the Royalists were hlunt with slaughter, and 
that they were overburdened with prisoners.' In 1680 thi3 
place was visited by the plague, which swept off a great 
number of its inhabitants. Also about this time threo old 
women, whose only erimes were age and poverty, were 
aceused hy tbe then nourishing and comparatively enlight- 
ened inhabitants of Bideford of witchcraft and sorcery, and 
were actually executed at Exeter for those offences. So 
deluded were these poor wretches themselves, that on the 
scaffold, either in the hopes of escaping punishment, or being 
persecuted into a sort of madness, they positively confessed 
themselves guilty, and acknowledged the justness of their 
punishment. Till within a few years the lower classes of 
Devonshire had implicit faith in witcheraft, and this is the 
case, even to tbe present day, in many parts of Cornwall. 

The governing charter is that of James the First, granted 
on the 20th of December, in tho sixteenth year of his 
reign. The government of the town is vested in a mayor, 



a recorder, seven aldermen, and ten eapital burgesses ', 
assisted by a town-clerk, a coroner, two sergeants at mace, 
sixteen constables, a beadle, a clerk of the market, a gaoler, 
and a town-crier. The mayor is elected on the 21st of 
September (St. Matthew's day) by the mayor for the time 
being, the aldermen, and the capital burgesses. He is 
appointed for one year and further until another alderman 
is declared and sworn mayor. He is a justice of the peace of 
the borough, and presides as chairman at the Quarter 
Sessions. He is also judge of the civil court of record and 
clerk of the market ; his salary is 20/. per annum, but that 
never covers his expenses. The aldermen are elected in 
the same manner as the mayor ; two of them sit as judges 
in the court of record. The recorder must be ' a discreet 
man, skilled in the laws of England,' and has power to 
appoint a deputy. Neither have any salary. Acourtleet 
is held here twice a year, and a general session quarterly, 
and petty session every other Monday, and at otber times 
when required. There is also a civil court, or court of record, 
where actions, real and personal, are tried to any amount. 
It is now become nearly useless, and is only opened four 
times a year. The magistrates bave an exclusire jurisdiction, 
and their duties are exceedingly laborious. By the Hundred 
Roll, temp. Edward I. it appears that formerly the lords of 
the manor of Bideford could inflict capital punishment. 

The town principally consists of two large well-paved 
streets ; the houses in these streets are generally well 
built and clean, but the rest are narrow and dirty. There is 
a good supply of water, and the town is pretty well lighted. 
There is a handsome bridge across rfie Torridge, said to 
have been built byTheol>ald Grenville early in the four- 
teenth century, and endowed with certain lands for its 
repair*. It consists of twenty- four arches, and is 677 feet 
in length. In 163S it underwent a thorough repair. The 
annual revenue of this bridge, ai ising from the rent of lands 
given by several benefactors now unknown, and a stock of 
about 650/., varies according to circumstances from between 
300/. to 400/. In censequence of some abuses by the 
trustees of the bridge estates there was a decree in Chancery 
which ordered a new election of feoffees in 1608. The 
trustees are a corporation, and have a common seal : a 
hall was built for tbeir use in 1758. There is also a good 
quay, the dues of which are paid to the lord of the manor, 
who pays for the lighting of it. The bridge is lighted by 
the trustees. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is rather a 
fine building, originally in the shape of a eross, but it has 
been considerably added to at different periods, and the 
uniformity of the building has not always been attended to. 
It contains a handsomely carved stone screen and several 
interesting monuments; amongst others that of Mr. John 
Strange, and of three children of Mr. Henry Ravening, 
who died of the plague in 1646. Here was also buried on 
Indian, brought over by Sir Richard Grenville. He was 
baptized at Bideford hy the name of Rawleigh, and is 
entered in the parish register as ' a natif of Wyngonditoia' 
(Virginia.) The living is a rectory in the archdeaconry of 
Barnstaple and diocese of Exeter, of the annual net yearly 
value of 033/. according to the Ecclesiastical Revenues' Re- 
port, 1835. The present patron is Lewis William Buck, Esq. 

Bideford was at a very early date of considerable im- 
portance as a commercial town. The weaving of silk was 
introduced in 1650, and after the revocation of the edict of 
Nantes in 16S5 many French Protestants settled here, and 
established a manufacture of cotton and silk. Wool was 
also exported to Spain. Brice says that in 1759 forty or 
fifty ships were employed in fetching cod from Newfound- 
land, and that there was a great export of herrings. Since 
that time tbe Newfoundland fishery has gradually declined, 
and now not more than one or two ships arc annually fitted 
out for that purpose. The foreign trade is at present very 
trifling. The principal imports are timber from North 
America and the Baltic, coals from Bristol and Wales, and 
spices and tobacco from the West Indies. The exports are oak 
bark, which is shipped in great quantities to Scotland and 
Ireland, oats, malt, and sails, cordage, and articles of gene- 
ral supply to the fisheries of Newfoundland. Ship building is 
carried on to a great extent ; there are nine or ten building 
yards, and several frigates were built here during the last 
war. There are also several potteries, principally for the 
manufacture of flower-pots. Anthracite, or culm, is found in 

• There Is a tradition that this bridge **» erected by »ubscrir>tioos raised in. 
Ciivons.li in; and OoruwnU by Grandison, Bishop oC lixeler, who granted in- 



dulgence* to all who contributed to the work. 



3D2 



13 I D 



3SS 



B I D 



tlio vmiaU-y in sufficient quantity to be worked for eeono- 
•raieal purposes. One bed passes through the town, nnd 
there are two or three pit* at the head of it. Tlic same bod 
continues to the coast at Grccnacliff, where it is worked for 
burning lime. The anthrarite is accompanied by fossil plants. 

In 1831 Bideford contained 997 houses and 48JG in- 
habitants, of whom 2169 were males, and 2G77 females; 
1U5 families were employed in agriculture, and 316 in 
trade, &c. There is a free grammar-school of very ancient 
date. It is not exactly known when it was endowed, but 
in IC99 Mrs. Susannah Stueklcy gave the sum of 200/. to 
be laid cut in land, which is now let for 57/. per annum. 
The salary of the master is 30/. per annum, for which he 
teaches ten hoys appointed by the corporation. There is 
a national school, which, according to the last report (1835), 
had 117 boys and 98 girls; and also a charity-school for 
writing, reading, and arithmetic ; the master has a salary 
of l0/< per annum, paid by the trustees of the bridge estate. 
Tho Dissenters have a school here which contains 100, and 
the Methodists one with fifty scholars. An hospital was 
built in the old town for twelve poor families pursuant to 
the will of Mr. Henry Amory, who died in IG63. In 1810 
Mrs. Margaret Newcommen left a considerable fund for 
]»oor Dissenters in this and the adjoining parishes, and Mr. 
John Strange founded four almshouses in 164G. Hie lands 
of the corporation are charged with the payment of \l. 
a-ycar to the poor of the borough, and they usually add 
about 10/., which is laid out in fuel and clothing. 

To the north-east of Bidcford, near the mouth of the 
river Torridge, is . a beach of pebbles about three miles in 
length, and of considerable depth and breadth : these stones 
have for many years been used for ballast and paving. The 
pebbles arc generally round or oval, from six to eighteen 
inches in diameter, and curiously variegated with veins of 
different colours. On them grows the lichetimarinus, or sea 
liverwort, more commonly known by the name of lavor, which 
is much esteemed as a pleasant and wholesome food. It is 
often packed in pots and sent to London. Opposite this 
pa'rt.of the coast is Lundy Island, about five miles long 
and two broad : its chief inhabitants arc rabbits and wild 
fowl. Although ten or eleven miles from the nearest land, 
it has several springs of fresh water. According to' Risdoit, 
it formerly had a castlo on it, which was inhabited and forti- 
fied by William Moriscoe, a famous pirate, who, after being 
for many years the dread of the vicinity, was executed, with 
sixteen of his companions. The celebrated Sir Richard do 
Granville, the friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, and the settler 
of Virginia, resided at Bidcford for many years after his expe- 
dition. In 1591, when Vice-admiral of England, he sustained 
with his single ship the most glorious and unequal conflict 
recorded in naval history, against the whole licet of the 
enemy, and after having repulsed them sixteen times, only 
yielded when all his powder was spent. He died of his 
wounds two days afterwards on board tho Spanish admiral's 
vessel. His own ship, reduced to a hulk, sunk before it 
could get into port. Bidcford was tho birth-place of the 
famous Dr. Shcbbcare, who was sentenced to stand in tho 
pillory in 1 753 for his political writings. The 'sheriff, who 
allowed him as a favor to stand on the pillory with a servant 
in livery holding an umbrella over his head, was prosecuted 
for not properly enforcing the sentence. (Lysons's Bri- 
tannia ; Report of the Municipal Corporation Commis- 
sioners ; Watkins's History of liideford ; Correspondence 
from Bideford, $c.) 

BIDLOO, GODKFROlD, an anatomist, born at Am- 
sterdam, in IG49; but of whoso parentage or early educa- 
tion wo can find no record. He at first studied surgery, 
which he practisod with great success, and was atone time 
surgeon to the force*. Afterwards ho took the decree of 
doctor of medicine, and was appointed physician to William 
III., king of England, by whom ho was recommended to the 
eurators of tho university of J^eydcn so strongly, as to in- 
duce them to elevate him to the professorship of anatomy 
and surgery, in 1G94. 

In 16S5 he had published at Amsterdam, in one volume 
folio, 105 plates, representing the anatomy of different parts 
of tho human body, winch wero admirablo as works of art, 
having been engraved hy Lairessc, but in many instances 
were deficient in accuracy. This work was reprinted at 
Lcydcu in royal folio, with 114 plates, and again at Utrecht 
in 17j0, with a supplement. Bidloo accused Cowpcr, an 
Knglnh anatomist, of having reprinted it without acknow- 
ledgment, and with only a few alterations. In this charge 



there was consideruMo trutlv. and Cowpcr made in reply a 
very lame defence. Bid loo also carried on with much asperity 
a controversy with Frederick Huysch, who exposed several of 
tho errors in his works. The other writings of Bidloo are : 
' De Anatomcs Antiquitato Oraiio/ Ley den, IG91; being 
his inaugural discourse, when ho took possession of tho 
chair of surgery and anatomy. ' Vindieiro quarumdam Deli- 
neationum Auatomiearum contra lncptas Animadvcrsioncs 
Frederic i Kuysch,' 4 to. 1 607. ' Observationcs do Animalculis 
in Hcpate Ovilloct alionnn Anhnaliutn dctcctis,* 4to. IG9S. 
* Guilliclmus Cowporus Cri minis Littcrarii citatus coram Tri- 
bunali Socictatis Anglicro,' 4to. 1700; this is the work in 
which he accused Cowpcr of plagiarism. * Excrcitatinnum 
Auatomico-Chirurgicarum Decades DuidV 4to. 1708; in 
which occur several important remarks on surgical diseases. 
' Opuscula omnia Anatomico-Chirurgica cdita ct inedita/ 
4to., with plates, 1715. 

Bidloo died in 1713, in the G4th year of his age. He had 
a brother named Lambert, who wrote on botany ; and a 
nephew Nicolas, who became physician to Peter the Great. 

B1DPAI. With the exception of the Bible there is pro- 
bably no work that has been translated into so many lan- 
guages, and at so early an epoch, as the collection of talcs 
which passes by the title of the Fables of Bidpai. or Pilpay. A 
tradition very generally received attributes to the Hindus the 
first composition of this work, and recent discoveries in Ori- 
ental literature have fully confirmed the truth of this report. 

Fables and talcs in which animals are introduced as 
actors, and in which moral principles and maxims of pru- 
dence are inculcated by example and precept, seem from an 
early age to have been current among the Hindus. Several ' 
collections of such stories, written in Sanscrit, are still in 
existence. The oldest of them, and evidently the parent 
stock of the Fables of Bidpai, is the work known in India 
under the name of tho Pattella Tantra, or the ' Five 
Sections/ so called from its being divided into five books. 
This work has been translated from the Sanscrit into 
the Tamul language, and again from the Taraul into 
French, hy the Abbe Dubois. An analytical account of 
it, drawn from the Sanscrit original by Mr. II. II. Wilson, 
is printed in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic So- 
ciety, vol. i. pp. 155-200. An abridgment of the Pancha 
Tantra, called the Ilitopadcsa, or ' Salutary Instruction,' 
has become more generally known in Europe than the great 
original work. " It has been translated into English by Sir 
Charles Wilkins (Bath, 1787, 8vo.), and hy Sir William 
Jones (JVorks, vol. vi. 4to. edition): several editions of 
the Sanscrit text have been published. Both the Pancha 
Tantra and the Ilitopadcsa consist of prose intermixed with 
poetry: the stories are told in prose, but the narrative is 
constantly interrupted by sentences in verse, borrowed from 
the works of nearly all tho celebrated poets that preceded 
the epoch of their composition. The names of the compilers 
of the Pancfia Tantra. as well as of the llitopadtsa, arc un- 
known. Vishnusarman, who is sometimes called the author 
of the Ilitopadcsa, is only one of the principal interlocutors 
in both works, and is the narrator of the greater nuinhci of 
fables contained in ihein. The age at which the Pancfia 
Tantra must have been composed can, however, at least 
approximately, be determined. In tlic first hook, a pas 
sage of an astronomical work by Varfihamihira is cited, 
which occurs, without variation, in the two best manuscripts 
of the original that Mr. Wilson had an opportunity of con- 
sulting; and as it is pretty well ascertained that Varaha- 
mihira wrote during the latter half of the fifth century 
(Asiatic Researches, vol. ix. p. 3G3 ; Bohlcn, Das aire In- 
dien, ii. 280), it follows that tl e Pancha Tantra must have 
been composed subsequently to that epoch. According to 
an anticnt tradition (recorded in the introduction to the ex- 
tant Arabic and Persian editions of the Fables of Bidpai, in 
the Shuhnumeh of Firdusi, aid hy nearly every oriental 
writer on the history of tho Sassinide dynasty). Barxuych, 
an eminent physician at the court of the Persian king, 
Nushirwan, who reigned between a.d. 531 and 579, visited 
India in search, it is said, of a plant which had been re- 
ported to possess the power of restoring dead lwdics to 
life, and on his return to Persia, instead of that fabulous 
drug, imported into his country a translation into Peblvi of 
the collection of stories now under our consideration. Some 
circumstances to which Baron dc Saey draws our attention 
render it not unlikely that Barzdych may have been a 
Christian monk. (Sec the Jlfemoire prefixed to Dc Sacy's 
edition of Calxlah tea Dimnah t pp. 3G, 37<) Certain it is 



BID 



389 



B 1 E 



that this Pehlvi version of. the Indian tales, or rather the 
Arabic translation made from it two'centuries later, became 
the channel through which these fables subsequently found 
their way to nearly every other nation of western Asia and 
of Europe. The author of the Arabic translation ■ was a 
Persian, who had originally professed the religion of the 
Magi, and was named Ruzbeh, but on his conversion to the 
Mohammedan faith took the name of Abdallah ben MocafFa. 
He lived during the first half of tbe eighth -century, and 
was murdered by order' of tbe Abbaside ealiph, Mansur, 
probably between the years* 137 and 139 of the Hcgira 
(a.d. 754-756). His Arabic translation of these fables is in 
the East usually called * the book of Calilah and Dimnah." 
It is thus designated in allusion to the names of two jackals 
which act a conspicuous part in the first story of the Arabian 
version, and which we recognise in the Sanscrit original 
under the forms Carataca and Damanaca. (See the be- 
ginning of the first book of the Pancha Tantra, where this 
is likewise the first story ; and the first story in the second 
book of the Hitopadcsa\ p. 4 7, edit. Schlegel.) In the title 
of a Syriac translation mentioned by Ebed Jesu, and attri- 
buted by him to Bud Pcriodeuta, the same two animals are 
called Caltlag and Damnag. Every trace of this transla- 
tion is now lost; but if Assemani is eorrect in saying that 
13 ud lived early in tbe sixth century, this Syriac transition 
must have been made from the Pehlvi version, or perhaps 
from the Indian original itself. 

The narrator of the stories is, in the Arabic version, ealied 
Bidpai : in the Sanscrit original no name similar to this 
occurs, and the explanations of it proposed by several Ori- 
ental seholars do not appear to us satisfactory ; but it is cer- 
tain that the name Pilpay, by which the work is at pre- 
sent most generally known in Europe, is a corruption of 
Bidpai, 

From the Arabie text of Abdallah ben Moeaffa sprung 
several translations into the (modern) Persian. One of the 
earliest into verse is attributed to Rudeghi, a blind poet who 
flourished during the earlier part of the tenth century. It 
was followed by a translation into prose by N T a?rallah, who 
wrote about the year 515 of the Hegira (a.d. 1121). The 
most admired Persian translation is, however, that written 
about tho commencement of the sixteenth century, by 
Hussain Vaez Cushefi, and known under the title ofAnwur- 
i-Soheili; though less exact and complete than the later 
one by the eelebrated vizir Abnlfazl, named Ayar-i-Da?iish. 
The AnwCtr-i-SoheiU was, soon after its appearance, trans- 
lated into Turkish, under the title Humayun-Namch, by 
A\i Chelebi, who dedicated his performance to the Osman 
sultan, Suleiman I. 

The earliest translation of the work of Abdallah ben 
Moeaffa into a European language is the Greek version 
by Simeon, son of Seth, who. flourished towards the elese of 
the eleventh century. S. G. Stark published it, from a 
Hamburg manuscript, in Greek and Latin, but without the 
introductory chapters prefixed to the work partly' by Bar- 
zfiyeh and partly by Ebn Moeaffa, under the title Specimen 
Sapient i ce Indorum Vetemm, &e. (Berlin, 1697, 8vo.) The 
chapters wanting in the Hamburg manuscript wero edited, 
though still incomplete, from a mannseript preserved at 
Upsala, by J. Floder. * (Prolegomena ad librum Trttpavirrjc 
Kfti IxvjjXdrrjQt Upsala, 1780.) It does not appear that trans- 
lations into other European languages flowed from the 
Greek text of Simeon. i, 

The means by which the Indian stories first became known 
to most of the nations of Europe, was a translation from the 
Arabie into Hebrew, made by Rohbi Joel, a learned Jew, 
probably a nativo of Spain, who seems to have flourished 
during the twelfth century. Of his Hebrew version of the 
book of Calilah and Dinmah, a singlo incomplete manu- 
script has been preserved in the Royal Library at Paris, of 
which Baron de Saey has given an ample account in the 
ninth volume of the Notices el Ex traits des MSS. de la 
Bibfiothcque da Roi. Tho Hebrew text of Rabbi Joel was,- 
in the thirteenth eentury (probably between a.d. 1262 and 
1*278), turned into Latin by Johannes de Capna, a converted 
Jew, who dedicated his translation to his protector, the Car- 
dinal Matthew de' Rossi (Matthams de Rubeis). It bears 
the title Directorium Humane Vite* alias Parabola Anti- 
quarian Sapientum; and has been printed onee, without 
date, bnt probably in 14 SO. This Latin interpretation was 
aguin translated into Spanish by Maestro Fadriqne Aleman 
de Basilea, under the title Excmplario contra los Enganos 
y Pcligros del Mundo (printed at Burgos, 1498, fob), and 
into German by Count Eberhartl of Wiirtemberg, under the 



title Beispiele der TVeisen. von Geschlecht zu Geschlecht 
(printed at Ulm, 1483). The Exemplurio contra los En- 
ganos seems to have been the source from which Agnolo 
Firenzuola drew the substance of his Discorsi degli Ani- 
mali : here, however, the scenes of the several narratives 
are laid in various real localities, transferred to Italy. (See 
Opere di Messer Agnolo Firenzuola y Florence, 1763, 8vo. 
torn. i. pp. 5-89.) Another Italian version of these stories, 
in Doni's Filosophia de' Sapienti Antichi t is little more 
than a translation of the Latin text of Johannes de Capua. 
In the Royal Library at Paris there is a manuscript of 
another Latin translation, which was made in the year 
1313 by Raymundus de Bytcrris (Raimond de Bezicrs), by 
order of Queen Johanna of^Navarra, the wife of Philip le 
Bel. The author says that he had a Spanish original before 
him, which is now lost, but which was probably a transla- 
tion from the Hebrew of Rabbi Joel. 

Besides the Latin version from the Hebrew by Johannes 
de Capua, there seems to have existed another Latin trans- 
lation made from the Arabic, which became the source of a 
translation into the Castilian language, said to have been 
made about the year 1289 at the eommaud of King Alfonso 
X. of Castilia. J 

(See the Memoire Historique sur le livre intitule Calilah 
et Dimna, prefixed to Baron de Sacy's edition of the Arabic 
text of the Fables of Bidpai, Paris, 1S16, 4to., and the dis- 
sertations on the same subject, and by the same authors, in 
vols. ix. and x. of the Notices et Extraits des MSS. de la 
Bibliotheque du Roi ; II. II. Wilson's Analytical Account 
of the Pancha Tantra, in the Tra?isacfions of the Royal 
Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 155.) 

BIELEFELD, a minor eircle in the administrative circle 
of Minden, in the north-eastern part of Westphalia, inter- 
sected by a triple chain of mountains, of which chalk, sand, 
clay, and' marl form the constituent parts : the mountains 
commence near Oerlinghausen in the earldom of Lippc, 
and pass from the territory of Oznaburg into this and the 
adjacent eircle of Halle. Cultivation is carried high up 
their slopes ; and their summits, of which the Sparenberg 
near the town of Bielefeld is one of the most elevated, are 
in part naked and in part crowned with woods. The circle 
is watered by the Liittcr and Aa, and their small tribu- 
taries; it is one of the most thriving- districts in the 
Prussian dominions, as well from the extent to which the 
manufacture and bleaching of linen is carried, as from its 
rich growth of grain, flax, and hemp, and the numerous 
droves of horned cattle which it rears. In no quarter of 
Europe is a finer description of linen-yarn spun than at 
Isseihorst; iron-ware, tobacco, woollens, leather, soap, cop- 
per and copper-ware, yarns, and damask eloths, are also 
among the manufactures of this circle. It contains an area 
of about 95 square miles, and had, in '1828, 33,292 inhabit- 
ants, and at the close of the year 1831, 35,346, of whom 
about 32,000 were Protestants. At* the last-mentioned 
date its stock of horses amounted to 1277 ; of horned cattlei 
to 7349 ; and of sheep and goats to 4021. 

Bielefeld, its eapital, on the high northern road from 
Elberfeld to Minden, in 52° l' N. lat., and 8° 30' E.long., 
lies at the foot of tho Sparenberg, on the Lutter or Lulter- 
bach, in tho midst of a highly picturesque country ; it is 
suirounded by ramparts and a broad diteh, which have been' 
laid out in agreeable walks. The most remarkable build- 
ings in the town are the churches of St. Nicholas and St. 
Mary, the church attached to the Franciscan monastery, 
and the new town-hall. It possesses a gymnasium, an 
orphan asylum, and infirmary, and a society of music, 
manufactures of linen and damask cloths, yarns, cottons, 
ribands, soap, tobacco, iron and steel, meerschaum pipe- 
heads, &c M and extensive bleaclring-gronnds. Its sale of 
linens and threads is estimated at nearly 80,000/. a -year. 
In December, 1831, the number of its inhabitants was 5539. 
It lies about 260 miles a little to the south-west of Berlin. 
BIELITZ, a duchy of Austrian Silesia, in the circle of 
Teschen, between the Vistula and Biala, and bounded on 
the north-east by the kingdom of Galicia. It was a minor 
sovereignty until it came into the possession of the princely 
line of Snlkofisky, in the year 1752, when Francis L, em- 
peror of Germany, erected it into a dukedom. * It is eight 
miles in length, and about the same distance in breadth ; 
and, inclusive of the two estates of Ernsdorf and Czechovitiv 
which are independent properties, it contains 1 town, 19 
villages, 2 colonies, 2600 houses, and nearly 10,000 inha- 
bitants, one-half of whom are Protestants, and the other 
half Roman Catholics, 



B I E 



390 



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Bielitz, the capital of tlio duchy and the scat of tho ducal 
administration, lies close to tho Galician frontier, on a 
declivity at the north-western base of the Carpathian moun- 
tains, and on the left bank of tho Biala. It is a well-built 
town, and has a spacious market-place, but the streets are 
narrow: of its three churches, two are Roman Catholic, 
and ono is Lutherau ; tho Lutherans havo also two schools 
here. Besides the ducal rcsidoncc, now appropriated for 
the public offices, which is an antient structure with a 
handsomo park attached to it, Biclitz possesses a hospital, 
and an asylum for the indigent, and very considerable 
woollen, kerseymere, and linen manufactures. It is the 
deposit for the rock-salt brought from Galicia for the con- 
sumption of Moravia and Silesia, and carries on an extensive 
trafiic in its own productions, as wellasin wooland Hun- 
garian wines, &c. with Poland, Russia, Moldavia, and the 
Austrian possessions. This town, which has been rebuilt 
since its total destruction by fire on the 6th June, 1808, 
contains at present about 5400 inhabitants, and lies in 52° 
1' N. lat., and 29° 55' E. long. It is connected, by a stone 
bridge across the river, with the town of Biala in Galicia, 
the population of which amounts to about 4000 souls, who 
have risen into much atlhience by the manufacture of wool- 
lens, coarse linens, nails, &c. 

BIELLA, a provinco Of Piedmont, which makes part of 
the Intcndenza or division of Turin: it contains 78 com- 
munes and 91,000 inhabitants. It is divided by a ridge of 
mountains to the north from tho province of Valsc&ia, and by 
the river Sesia to tho cast from the province of Novara. To 
the south it touches the province of Vcrcclli, and that of 
Jvrca to tho west. The province of Biella is watered by tho 
rivers Cervo and Elvo, which are affluents of the Sesia. 
Biella, with 7000 inhabitants, the capital of the province, is 
thirty-six miles N.N.E. of Turin. It is a bishop s see, and 
lias a royal college for secondary instruction, and a court of 
justice, * tribunalc di prefettura,' for the whole province. It 
has also manufactures of woollens and of silks. Tho prin- 
cipal products of the soil arc corn, rice, and hemp. Silk- 
worms arc also reared to a considerable amount. The fields 
are irrigated by canals, as in most other parts of northern 
Piedmont. 

BIENNE, BIEL in German, a town of the canton of 
Bern, situated at the foot of the Jura mountains, and about 
half-a-milo from the lake of the same name. Tho river 
Suzo, which comes from the valley of Erguel, passes through 
the town, and afterwards enters the lake. Tho territory of 
Bienno is well adapted for tho vine, and other fruit trees. 
The town of Bienne, with about 3000 inhabitants, has some 
cotton manufactures and some tan-yards. The language is 
the Swiss-German, but most people, especially in the country 
around, speak also French. Tho inhabitants of Bienne are 
Protestants, and they have both a French and a German 
church. Bienne was mado a free imperial town by Rudolf 
of Hapsburg in the thirteenth century, under the high do- 
minion of the Bishop of Basel. 1 1 afterwards became an 
ally of tho Swiss cantons, and it remained as such until the 
French invasion of 1 798, when it was united to France. It 
recovered its independence in 1814, and was then united to 
the canton of Bern. Bienne is a pleasant little town, and 
the inhabitants are noted for their sociable and hospitable 
disposition. Bienno is about seventeen miles N.W. of 
Bern. The lake of Bienne is about ten miles long, two and- 
a-half miles in its greatest breadth, and 217 feet in its 
greatest depth. It abounds with fish, especially trout. The 
level of its water is 1330 feet ahovo the sea, and several feet 
lower than that of the lako of Neucmttel. The river Zihb 
or Thicle, which is the outlet of tho latter, enters the lako of 
Bienne nt its S.W. extremity, issues out of it again at 
Nidau at tho opposite end, and then falls into the Aar. 
The small island of St. Pierre, celebrated on account of 
Rousseau's residence in 1763, is in the middle of the lako 
of Bienne. 

BIENNIALS are plants which require two seasons of 
growth to produce their (lowers and fruit; they differ from 
annuals in nothing but this circumstance, perishing as soon 
as their seeds aro ripened. They arc usually sown about 
Midsummer, when they become healthy, robust plants by 
the winter, and are ready to start into rapid growth the 
succeeding year as soon as the warmth of the returning 
spring is sufficient to excite them into action. 

BIESHOSCH, or BiESUOS, a lako or marsh situated 
between the provinces of North Brabant and South Holland. 
Its namo means a * marsh of reeds/ a term derived from the 
great quantity of reeds that grow in its shallower parts. It 



was formed in 1421 by a great inundation, which was occa- 
sioned by the rupture of several djkes near Dort, when tho 
sea rushed in and swamped a vast tract of country, ofabout 90 
square miles, and swept away a number of villages and many 
thousand persons, with a large quantity ofcattle. (Biisching s 
Geography.) It was reported that a peasant, out of spite 
against a neighbour, secretly broke a dyke opposite to tho 
houso of tho latter, near Dort, and the tide rising higher 
than he expected, widened the broach and overflowed tho 
whole country. (Deiices des Pays Bos.) The Waal and 
the Ma as flow into this lako on its eastern side, and issuo 
out of it by several branches, known generally by the namo 
of Maas : the widest of these branches, also called Hollands 
Diep, runs into the sea between the islands of Bcijcrland 
and Gocrec, by Hellevoctsluis. Tho northernmost branch of 
the Maas, after coming out of tho Biesbosch, Hows by Dort, 
and forms tho river of Rotterdam and Bricl. Part of the 
ground lost in the great inundation of 1421 has been since 
recovered, and there are now several islands in the midst of 
the Bicsbosch which axe cultivated and inhabited. 

BIE^VRE, a small river of France, a tributary of tho 
Seine, only remarkable as passing through Paris close to 
the great manufacture des Gobelhis. This stream, in the 
lower part of its course, is sometimes called Gobelins. It 
rises near Versailles, and its whole course does not much 
exceed 20 miles. 

BIG A, a chariot or car drawn by two horses : called by 
Suetonius (Calig. e. 19.) Bijuge curricidum. The biga 
was the most common chariot in use among the Romans. 
They had also their quadriga?, and sometimes their sejuges,* 
septini-jugcs, &c, and Suetonius assures us that Nero, w hen 
he was a performer in the Olympic games, made use of a 
decem-jugis, a chariot drawn by ten horses coupled together. 
(Suet, in Ncr. c. 24.) 

Pliny attributes the invention of the biga to the Phry- 
gians. (Hist. Nat. lib. viu e. 56.) Isidorus says tho in- 
ventor wa3 Ciristincs the Sicyonian. {OHgines, lib. xvii. 
C. 35.) 

The Roman silver coins stamped with the form of a cha- 
riot drawn by two or four horses were called bigafi, and 
quadrigati. (Sec Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. xxi. e. 3.) Hence 
Livy (lib. xxxiii. c. 23.) uses the term argent urn hi sat urn. 
The bigati, quadrigati, and victoriali were all of equal value, 
and differed only in the impress from which they derived 
their several names. The biga was one of the emblems of 
victory. 

BIGAMY, in the canon law, signified either a second 
marriage after the death of tho first wife, or a marriage 
with a widow. It incapacitated men for holy orders ; and 
until the 1st Ed. VI. c. 12, s. 1G, it was a good eounterplca 
to the claim of benefit of clergy. OYooddcsson's Vincrian 
Lectures* i. 425.) 

Bigamy, by tho English law, consists in contracting & 
second marriage during the life of a former husband or 
wife, and the statute 1 James I. c. 11, enacts that the per- 
son so offending shall suffer death, as in cases of felony. 
(Sec Hale's Pleas of the Crotcri. i. C92, fol. cd. 1736.) This 
statute makes certain exceptions which it is not necessary 
to refer to, as it has been repealed by 9 George IV. c. 31, 
s. 22, and operates only with respect to offences committed 
on or before the 30th June, 1828. The statute last cited 
enacts, " That if any person being married shall marry any 
other person during tho life of the former husband or wife, 
whether the second marriage shall have taken place in 
England or elsewhere, such offender and any person aiding 
him shall be guilty of felony and be punished by transuda- 
tion for seven years, or by imprisonment (with or without 
hard labour) for a term not exceeding two years." The 
statute excepts, first, any second marriage contracted out of 
England by any other than a subject of his Majesty ; 
second, any person wdiose husband or wife shall have been 
continually absent during seven years, and shall not have 
been known by such person to have been living within that 
time; third, a person divorced from tho bond of the first 
marriage ; fourth, ono who>e former marriage shall have 
been declared void by the sentence of a court of competent 
jurisdiction. 

With respect to the third exception it has been deter- 
mined in a case where a Scotch divorce a vinculo was 
pleaded, that no sentence of any foreign court can dissolve 
an English marriage a vinculo unless for grounds on which 
it was liable to be so dissolved in England : and that the 
term 'divorced' applies to the sentence of a spiritual court 
within tho limits to which tho statute extends, 'L'he fourth 



BIG 



391 



B 1G. 



exception cannot be taken advantage of, if .the first marriage 
has been declared void only collaterally and not directly ; 
or if admitting it to be conclusive, it can be shown to have 
been obtained fraudulently or collusively. See, as to this 
part of the subjeet, Marriage and Divorce ; and as a 
matter of euriosity, the trial of the Duchess of Kingston 
before the peers in parliament, in 1776, for bigamy. (Ba- 
con's Abridgment by Dodd, titles Bigamy and Marriage.) 

BIGENERI'NA (Zoology). D'Orbigny's name for a 
genus of those minute eephalopods whieh he has so well 
illustrated. There are two subgenera ; the first consisting 
of the Bigenerina* properly so ealled, with a central opening, 
and the other of the Gemmulince (D'Orbigny) with a mar- 
ginal opening. 

BIGGLESWADE, a market-town in the hundred of the 
same name, in the county of Bedford, forty-one miles N.N.W. 
from London, and nine miles E.S.E. from Bedford. It is 
situated on the great road to York, near the river Ivel, over 
which there is here a stone bridge. . The river has been 
rendered navigable to the town, by whieh means the town 
and neighbourhood arc supplied with eoals, timber, and 
oats. Lei and described Biggleswade as having * a good 
market and 2 faires/ It has still a good market, particularly 
in eorn, which is one of the largest in England, held on 
"Wednesdays ; and its fairs are now five, namely, February 
14, Saturday in Easter week, Whit-Monday, August 2, and 
November 8. It does not appear under what charter the 
market is held, but it is probable that it was granted to some 
of the bishops of Lincoln, to which see the manor was annexed 
by Henry I. in 1132. The manor was surrendered by Bishop 
Ilolbeach to Edward VI. in 1527. It is now held by lease 
under the erown, the king being lord of the manor. 

The^own is within tho jurisdiction of the county magis- 
trates, who hold a petty session for the hundreds of Biggle- 
swade, Clifton, and Wixamtree. The continual passage of 
travellers through Biggleswade, the expenditure of the 
strangers who resort to its market and fairs, and the ready 
sale whieh the town thus obtains for its own productions, 
have combined to extend the population and prosperity of 
the plaeo The parish, which ineludes the hamlets of 
Stratton and Holme, contained, in 1831, 606 houses, with a 
population of 3226 persons, of whom 1662 were females. 
In tho year 1785 the town sustained great damage by a fire, 
which raged for some hours with great fury. Not less than 
150 houses were eonsumed, besides eorn-ehambers, malt- 
houses, &e., all in the eentre of the town around the market- 
place. The damage was estimated at 24,000/. The town 
.'s, however, indebted to this calamity for its present im- 
proved appearance, as the houses have been mostly rebuilt 
with briek in the modern style. The parish church, whieh 
is a handsome Gothie structure, was built in 1230. It was 
formerly eollegiate, and several antient wooden stalls were 
remainiug till 1832, when the church was thoroughly re- 
paired and re -arranged, partly by the assistance of the In- 
corporated Society for Repairing Churches. The living is a 
discharged vicarage, in the diocese of Lincoln, worth 300/. 
per annum. The living is a peculiar, belonging to the pre- 
bendary of Biggleswade, in Lincoln cathedral. Speed men- 
tions that there was here a college dedicated to the Holy 
Trinity, valued at 1l. at the Dissolution ; but as he says it 
was founded in the church of St. Andrew here, Tanner 
thinks that what Speed calls a college was only a chantry be- 
longing to tho guild of the Holy Trinity. There are several 
good inns ; and a small manufactory for white thread lace 
and edging, which affords employment to females. A Hour- 
mill, worked by steam, has also been lately erected. 

Sir John Cotton bequeathed, for eharitable uses, the sum 
of 1800/., whieh was reeeived in the year 1752. It was to 
be laid out in the purehase of freehold lands and heredita- 
ments, and this parish was to enjoy the benefit of three- 
ninths of the rents. One of these parts was to augment the 
living, and the other two to be paid to a master, to be chosen 
I)y the lord of the manor of Stratton, for teaching twelve 
poor children of the parish the English tongue, writing and 
arithmetic, and instructing them in the principles of the 
Christian religion according to the Church of England. 
When the Charity Commissioners made their report in 1821, 
the property was let for 162/. per annum, though sup- 
posed to he really worth 300/. The two-ninths applicable 
to the purpose last specified amounted to 36/. a-year, which 
was appropriated as directed by the benefactor. The children 
are aVl boys, nominated by the lord of the manor of Stratton. 
They are received into the sehool as soon aa they are able to 



learn to write, and remain four or five years,, unless the 
parents remove them. The parents provide books. The' 
number of pupils is duly kept up, and there are numerous 
applications for admission. The disadvantageous lease 
expired in 1827, and the commissioners recommended 
that in consideration of the great increase which the mas- 
ter's salary would receive under a new lease, the trustees 
should make a corresponding increase in the number of 
children admitted to the benefit of the charity. The master 
had usually from fifteen to twenty pay seholars, and also 
instructed the boys belonging to the eharity of Edward 
Peake, who, in 1755, bequeathed a tenement, and a rent- 
eharge of 13/. a-year for the instruction of eight poor boys. 
Four eharitable bequests for the use of the poor of this parish 
produce altogether 27/. 17s. 3d. per annum. 

At Stratton, a short distance south-east of Biggleswade, 
as a ploughman was ploughing the land rather deep in 
1770, he discovered a yellow earthen pot, containing 300 
gold eoins (rose nobles) of Henry VI. They were a little 
larger than a half-erown piece, but, being very thin, were 
not equal by twenty grains to the weight of a guinea. 

(Lysons's Magna Britannia; Beauties of England and 
Wales; Fifth Report of the Commissioners for inquiring 
concerning Charities.) 

BIGNONIA'CEiE, are monopetalous dicotyledonous 
plants, with irregular flowers, a pod-like fruit, winged seeds 
without albumen, and usually a climbing habit. They are 
mostly shrubs, inhabiting the hotter parts of Asia, Africa, 
and America, and unknown in Europe except in a culti- 
vated state; some of them are trees of considerable size. 
They generally are remarkable for the large size and rich 
or delieate colouring of their trumpet-shaped llowers. No 
sensible properties of much importance have been recog- 
nised among them : one of them produces the Chico dye, 
a sort of reddish feculent substanee with which some of the 
South American Indians paint their bodies. Several arc 
valuable for their timber, which possesses extreme hard- 
ness. The most interesting genera are Bignonia, many 
species of whieh are eommon in our gardens, Tecoma, 
Catalpa, and Eceremoearpus, the three last of which will 
be mentioned in their proper plaees. 




[Bignoniaceae— Bignonia lac ti flora.} 

1, a corolla tHt open ; 2, a cup- shaped disk, out of which tho ovary often 
crows, together with the style and stigma; 3, n young ovary; 4, u H^e )ul; 
ft, a %eed ; 6, an embryo extracted from the integuments of ilto ami, 

BIGORRE, a district of tho south of Fraure. one of tho 
component parts of the form or province of G»&M>yn« or 



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302 



D I J 



Gascony. It was bounded on the \V. liy Beam, and on the 
N. and K. by different districts of Armagnac, viz. on the 
K. by Le Pays da Riviere Basse, on the N.IC. by Kstarao 
or Astarae, and on tho E. by Le Pays de Ncbouzan and 
Le Pays des Quatre ValleC*s." On the south it was bounded 
by Spain, tho Pyrenees serving to mark tho frontier line. 

Tho country of Bigorre is included in the basin of tho 
Adour, which takes its rise in the valley of Cain pan in tho 
southern part of the district* and tlows northward through 
it. Its length from N. by K. to S. by \V. is about sixty 
miles, and its greatest breadth nearly thirty. (Map of 
France in provinces by the Society for the diffusion of 
Usr/ul Knowledge,) This country is very mountainous, 
especially in the southern parts ; and some of the loftiest 
summits' of the Pyrenees aro cither within its frontier, or 
very little removed from it. It is watered by tho Adour 
and its tributaries, but these are not navigable within its 
borders. For an aeeount of its cliufatc, soil, and produc- 
tions we refer to Pyrr'nk'es (IIautks), Dkp. of, within tho 
limits of which Bigorre is now included. 

Tho chief towns were — Tarbes.thc capital, on the Adour, 
(pop. 970G:) Vic-dc-Bigorrc (pop. 3599 for the town, 3G79 
for the whole commune;) Lourdes (pop. 3 tG 1 for the town, 
38 IS for the whole commune;) Bagnfercs (pop. 5633 for the 
town, 758G for the whole commune;) Barege, St, Sever de 
Uustan, Jornac, &c. The whole district was divided into three 
parts, Lcs Montagnes (the mountains), La Plaiue (the plain), 
and Le Uustan. ' Les Montagues* were subdivided into the 
vallccs d'Azun, de Barege, de Cam pan, and de Lavcdan. 

In the timo of Julius Cicsar the country of Bigorre 
was occupied by tho Bigerrones. a people or tribe of tho 
Aquitani, from" whom it has derived its name. They 
submitted to Crassus, the lieutenant of Cavsar, when he 
attacked the Aquitani. Pliny, who mentions them, 
gives them the name of Begcrri; but they are not noticed 
by Ptolemy and the other geographers. Their capital 
was Turba, afterwards Tarvia and Tarba tnow Tarbcs), 
called also Custmm Bigorra. There were other tribes, 
who were included partly or wholly within the district 
of Bigorre; as the Tornates (people of Tournay, a town 
in Estarac, just on the border of Bigorre) and the Cara- 
pmi, who probably resided in and nave given name to 
the Vallce de Cam pan. These tribes of course shared the 
fate of their countrymen in becoming subject to the 
Hoinans ; and in the Roman subdivision of Gaul their 
country was included in the province of Noveinpopulania. 
In the fifth century, upon the downfall of the Western 
ICinpirc, Bigorre passed with the neighbouring districts 
under the yoke of the Visigoths ; and earlv in the sixth 
century it was acquired by the Pranks under Clovis, who 
had defeated and killed Alaric, king of tho Visigoths. 
During the troubles which marked the period of the Mero- 
vingian kings, successors of Clovis, tho Gascons began to 
extend themselves over the south-western parts of France, 
and their leaders were created dukes of Aquitaiue, and ac- 
quired possession of Bigorre, In the earlier part of the ninth 
centurv Louis lc Debounairc, successor of Charlemagne, 
erected Bigorre into a county in favour of a son of the duke 
of Gascognc. This count and his posterity held the so- 
vereignty of the district as feudal subjects of the king of 
France for about four hundred and seventy years. In the 
latter part of the 13th century the country was sequestered 
and put into the hands of Philip IV. (Le Ucl) king of 
France : but in 1399 it was restored by Charles VI. to a de- 
scendant of the former counts; and having l>cen by the mar- 
riage of tho possessors or hv other means united to Beam 
and Foix, it became part of the patrimony of Henry IV., by 
whom it was united to the crown of France. 

BIHAR (Ilungar. Bihar Barmegye), a county of Upper 
Hungary, in the province * Beyond the Thciss,' is bounded 
on the east by Transsylvania." It lies between 4G* 28' and 
47'40'N.lat., and 21 lu'and 22^55' IS. long., and con- 
tains an area of about 4i07 square miles, more than twice 
the surface of the county of Northumberland. This popu- 
lous district of Hungary is in many parts intersected by 
swamps and forests. In" tho east it is encircled by the Car- 
pathians, of which tho Biharyzcgy and Csaf are' here the 
most elevated points, and is full of forests, but in the west 
the surfoco is a level, coverod with swamps in many quar- 
ters, and for an extent of several square miles around lvo- 
rnadi, occupied by the grciit Sar Itctjo, a morass formed by 
the overflowing of tho Bcrcttyo and Koros river?. In this 
part of Bilur* aro a number ef eminences, from thirty to 



forty feet in height, which some assert to l>c watch-hills of 
artificial construction, raised in remote ages. The prin- 
cipal rivers in the county arc tho Black Koros, the Rapid 
KorBs, and the Bcrett>o» which pour down from the moun- 
tainous districts into the plain countrv, and being unimpeded 
by any barrier on either bank, overflow the adjacent lands, 
and giv'o riso to the numerous and extensive moras*cs fur 
which Bihar is distinguished. In this way the Rapid Koriis 
alone has, during tho last half century, laid abo\e 109.000 
aeres under water, and not only liavo whole tracts been mndo 
desolate, but the atmosphere round them has been rendered 
unhealthy. As you approach tho mountain-regions the air 
becomes pure and salubrious. In the Vale of Korotili, 
which extends over an area thirty-seven miles in length 
and eighteen in breadth, the climato is so genial, that few 
parts of Hungary are superior to it in cultivation and pro- 
ductiveness. On the whole, however, Bihar is accounted 
one of the most fertile counties in the kingdom: it contains 
2,1G0,834 acres of available soil, of which 1,095,120 aro 
under the plough, and 71,073 arc laid out iu vineyards; 
and it raises grain of all kinds in superabundance, particu- 
larly wheat of very superior quality. Vegetables and fruit 
are of luxuriant growth : the principal wines are white, and 
some of them are much esteemed. To theso must be 
added large crops of tobacco. Timber abounds in tho 
mountainous parts of the county, but fuel is so scarce 
in the low lands, that reeds, straw, and dried dung supply 
its place. Indian corn, hemp, flax, and saffron are among 
the other vegetable products of this county. It is rich 
in minerals also : gold-dust, with pieces sometimes as' 
large as a filbert, is obtained from the Black Koriis, near 
Vaskoll in particular; Ilezbanya produces annually about 
1000 marks of silver; of copper about 840 cwt. are yearly 
raised, and of lead about 25 tons ; much iron ore and 
many iron-works arc found iu the neighbourhood of 
Vaskoll and Grosvardcin; and the road from Barod into 
Transsylvania leads over a continued bed of marble for a 
distance of nine miles and more. Bihar also produces ala- 
baster, chalk, and limestone, potter's clay, porcelain earth, 
fire stone, granite, petrified carbon or jet, which takes a 
brilliant polish, coals (near Dcrna and Icketeto), naphtha, 
mineral alkalis, saltpetre, and excellent mineral waters, of 
which those near Grosvardcin are much esteemed. The 
rearing of domestic animals, among which horses, horned 
cattle, and swine are the chief, is carried to a considerable 
extent ; and game and fish anc plentiful. The population 
of Bihar is estimated at about 445.000 souls, giving an 
average of nearly 10G per square mile; of these the pro- 
portion of Protestants to Roman Catholics is about 150 to 
35, and of Protestants to Greeks about 150 to 1 38. There 
is no part of the country where agriculturo is not followed 
almost to the exclusion of the arts and manufactures J\~ 
ccpting Debrcczin and Grosvardcin, which are places of 
considerable trade. Bihar contains one royal free town, 
Debrcczin, the largest town in Hungary after Pcsth, with 
upwnrds of 40,000 inhabitants; the anticnt episcopal city of 
Grosvardcin, or Nagy Barad, on the Sedcs-Koros, or Knpid 
Koros, with about 1G,000 inhabitants; 21 market-towns, 
4 GO villages, and 170 prccdia. It is divided into the five 
circles of Sarctc, Szalouta, Belenyc, Vardein, and l£r- 
mclvc. 

til J A GANITA. [See Viga Gamta.] 

niJANAGHUK, or B1SNAGIIUR (Vijayana^ara, 
signifying, iu Sanscrit, the triumphal fortress), sometimes 
called Annagoondey, was once a Hindu city of great im- 
portance, but is now nearly uninhabited and little moio 
than a heap of ruins. It stands on both sides of the river 
Tooinbuddrn, in 15° 14' N. lat., and 7G° 37' E. long. Tho 
name of Annagoondey is more generally applied to that 
part of the city which occupies tho north-west bank of the 
river, while the part on the opposite side retains mindly tho 
namo of Bijnnaghur. The Toumbuddra at this sput is about 
$00 yards wide, and rapid in its course : its bed is occupied 
by many granite rocks. The river contracts greatly at one 
point between the two parts of the city, and here there was 
formerly a stone bridge, which is in ruins, and the com- 
munication is now kept up by means of a ferry. 

The city stands iu n plain, which is surrounded by enor- 
mous masses of granite, some of which take the form and 
magnitude of hills. In the plain there arc likewise larjrc 
blocks of granite, many of which have not been removed 
When building the citv, the course of tho streets being in 
luanv paits made winding in order to avoid the (tones. 



.B I J 



303 



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The principal streets are paved witli flags of granite, and 
this stone has been very generally used in constructing 
arches, and aqueducts, making pillars, and even for the 
flat roofs and rafters of houses. The remains of numerous 
temples t choultries (houses of accommodation for travellers), 
and many other public and private buildings, exhibit the 
purest style of Hindu architecture. Some blocks of granite 
which have been used in the construction of these edifices 
are from twelve to fifteen feet square; they are cut and 
fitted to each other with great nicety, and considering the 
want of mechanical skill among the builders, they testify 
in a high degree to their industry and perseverance. 

The part of the city which is situated on the south-east 
bank of the Toombuddra is, except where bounded by the 
river, inclosed with strong stone-walls, or by barriers 
planted by the hand of nature. The circuit of this part 
of the city is eight miles, hut in consequence of the inter- 
ruptions occasioned by the masses of rock already men- 
tioned, a great part of the inclosed area contains no 
buildings. Near the western extremity, and terminating 
a street ninety feet wide, running parallel with the Toom- 
buddra, is a magnificent temple dedicated to Mahadeva 
(the great god). This temple is surrounded by numerous 
cells for devotees : facing to the east is a pyramidal portico 
about 150 feet high, and divided into ten stories. The at- 
tendant Brahmins are numerous, and the establishment is 
well endowed. ^ The street which leads to this temple is 
chiefly^ appropriated to the use of the numerous pilgrims 
who visit it at the time of the annual festival. Another 
temple near the centre of the city is dedicated to Wittoba 
(an incarnation of Vishnu). This establishment consists 
of a group of buildings comprehending, besides the principal 
place of worship, four choultries and many smaller pagodas, 
the whole occupying an area of about 400 by 200 feet, and 
surrounded by numerous cells. The granite columns which 
support the roof of the chief temple have numerous figures 
of lions clustered round them, and the entablature is orna- 
mented, as well as the ceiling, with various sculptures. On 
holidays, the image of the god AVittoba is exposed in a 
chariot, constructed, wheels and all, of granite : this cha- 
riot is elaboratelyjind delicately finished. The division on 
the north-west bank of the river is uninhabited, with the 
exception of a small village built near the centre with 
stones collected from the surrounding ruins. A temple de- 
dicated to Krishna, situated near this spot, is kept in repair, 
and still used for the performance of religious rites. 

The city of Bijanaghur was built between the years 133G 
and 1343, by two brothers named Aka Hurrvhuraud Bucca 
Hurryhur, who ruled here in succession, Aka until 13 50 t 
and Bucca until 1378. The rajahs of Bijanaghur were con- 
stantly involved in war with the Mohammedan rulers of the 
iDeccan, and at length, in 15G4, the sovereigns of Alinied- 
liuggnr, Boeder, Golconda, and Bejapore combined together, 
and routed the forces of Ham Raja, the rajah of Bijanaghur, 
on the plains of Tellicotta. The conquerors afterwards ad- 
vanced upon the capital, which they took, and completely 
sacked, so that it was deserted by nearly all its inhabitants. 
BIJNEE, a "principality beyond the limits of Northern 
Hindustan, situated on both sidesof the Brahmapootra river, 
and bordering on Asam to the east, Bootan to the north, 
Kungpore to the west t and the Garrows on the south. 

Part of the lands of Bijnec are situated within the limits 
of British jurisdiction, and - a part consists of territory said to 
be independent, but which is subject to an insignificant tri- 
bute paid to the rajah of Bootan. The division north of 
the Brahmapootra is ealled Khungtaghaut, which name is 
sometimes applied to the whole principality, and that south 
of the great river is called Howeraghaut. 

This extensive country possesses much natural beauty, 
and contains a great proportion of fertile land, but the level 
country is subject to inundation, and the government is very 
badly administered. The inhabitants are sunk in poverty, 
and the land is consequently ill cultivated. Owing to the 
unsettled state of the country, and of some of the neigh- 
bouring states, many of the cultivators do not establish 
themselves in any fixed place, but always hold themselves 
in readiness to withdraw, as circumstances may require, 
into the English territory, BoMan, or;Asam. Hice is the 
principal vegetable production. The soil is adapted for 
wheat, barley, pulse, sugar-cane, and mulberry trees, but 
no silk-worms, and but little of the other kinds of pro- 
ductions here named arc cultivated. It is eustomary for 
many of the natives of Bijuce to bring their wives and fa- 



milies for safety within that part of the principality which is 
under British protection, while they themselves pursue 
their labours in other districts more liable to disturbance. 

The authority of the British over part of Bijnee is derived 
from its connexion with the Mogul emperor, to whose rights 
the East India Company has succeeded. Previous to 1785 
the tribute had been paid in a certain number of elephants, 
which were unprofitable to the Company's government, and, 
at the date just mentioned, the collector at Rungpore com- 
muted this tribute into an annual money payment of 2000 
rupees. 

In 1791 Ilavindra Narrain, the rajah of Bijnee, was as- 
sassinated, and the rajah of Bootan took upon himself to 
nominate as his successor Mahindra Narrain, a relative of 
the murdered chief. To this nomination the Bengal go- 
vernment assented, not because of any right of nomination 
in the rajah of Bootan, but because the pretensions of 
Mahindra to the succession were well founded. The reve- 
nue of the rajah is estimated at 1G2,000 rupees, but full 
one-half of the rents are paid in coarse cotton cloths, woven 
by the females of the country, and a considerable loss is 
sustained upon the sale of these fabrics. 

Bijnee, the capital of the principality, is situated in 26° 
29' N. lat., 90° 48' E. long. The town is surrounded by a 
brick wall, built in the form of a parallelogram. Beyond 
this wall is a ditch, on the outside of which is a strong 
hedge of prickly bamboo. Each side of the wall contains a 
gate, but when the latest account of the place was obtained, 
neither of these gates was provided with doors that could be 
shut. Besides the fort, which is built of brick, in which the 
rajah lives with his retinue, including fifty male and seventy 
female slaves, the town contains a few small brick temples, 
without any attempt at magnificence; the remainder ot'tho 
buildings are nothing better than thatched huts. This town 
is considered as a sort of neutral ground. To the English 
the rajah represents that it is subject to Bootam while the 
rajah of Bliootan is told that it is English property, and 
it is not considered an object of sufficient importance by 
either party to risk any misunderstanding on account of it. 

B1JORE, a subdivision of Sewad, an Afghan district in 
the province of Cabul. This district is described as an un- 
dulating plain, about 25 miles long from E. to W., and only 
l'J miles broad from N. to S. The soil is fertile, and pro- 
duces good crops of wheat. The towns of Bijore, the capital, 
and Mawagye, each contain about 1000 houses. The prin- 
cipal part of the inhabitants arc Afghans, but there are also 
uianv settlers from Caffristan. The town of Bijore is in 
34° 47' N. lat., 71° 14' E. long. 

It was long traditionally held that this district had once 
been inhabited by a tribe who were descendants from the 
companions of Alexander the Great. It was said that these 
inhabitants were remarkable for their personal beauty and 
European complexions, their worshipping of idols, and drink- 
ing of intoxicating liquors, besides the circumstance of their 
language being different from that of any surrounding tribe. 
The Emperor Baber, in his memoirs, written in the begin- 
ning of the sixteenth century, tells us, that as the men of 
Bijore were rebels to Islam, he put them all to the sword, 
and sold their wives and children into captivity. The recent 
investigations of Mr. Elphinstone do not tend to confirm the 
tradition as to the Grecian origin of the antient inhabitants 
of the district. * "' ' 

BILBA'O, a city in Spain, the capital of the lordship of 
Biscaya. It is situated in a spacious and fertile plain on 
the east or right bank of the river Nerva or Nervion, called 
by the inhabitants Ibaizabal, nine miles E.S.E. of Portu- 
galcte, 43° 15' N. lat, 2° 5G' W. long. The plain of Bilbao 
is surrounded by high mountains, from which numerous tor- 
rents descend in the rainy season. This circumstance for- 
merly exposed the town to frequent inundations; but the 
inconvenience has been of late avoided by widening the 
eanal, and constructing dams and other works. The plain is 
very well cultivated and covered with numerous neat country 
houses. The chief produce of the land is Indian eorn, 
chacoli or wino, chestnuts, fruits and grass. The bullocks 
and sheep which are fed in the pastures near the coast 
furnish a very juiey, tender, and well-flavoured meat; tho 
game is excellent, particularly a bird of passage called chim- 
bo, and the fish, both of the river and sea, are very delicate. 
Bilbao contains four parishes, five convents of nuns, two 
of monks, an hospital, and about 800 houses, substantially 
built, generally three stories high. The hospital is a mag- 
nificent stono building, containing GOO beds, a chapel, and 



No. 254. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-3 E 



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30 i 



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an apothecary's ball, with a competent number of officer* 
in every department. The sick aro visited twice a-day by 
the four physician* nnd two surgeons of the town. A com- 
wittco of respectable citizens superintend the whole. Tho 
hospital has been built and is supported by voluntary con- 
tributions and every poor invalid of Bilbao has admittance 
into it cost-free. 

Thcro is also a Casa do Misericord ia, or charity-houso, 
supported by voluntary contributions, and superintended 
by a committeo of respectable individuals, to provide with 
food, clothing, shelter, and instruction foundlings and 
orphans, or otherwise destitute children. There is a 
manufactory of common carthonwaro connected with 
tho establishment in which the children work. They arc 
l>csidcs instructed, at the expense of tho hou«e, in some 
business which may bo the means of procuring them an 
honest livelihood. The streets are all well paved with square 
flat stones on both sides, and with small round stones in 
the middle. No carriage of any sort is allowed in them, by 
which means the pavement is much longer kept in repair. 
The water of the river is conducted through pipes to the 
most elevated part of tho different streets, from which it 
ilows through them in abundance, washing away all the 
dirt, which it carries to tbe river. Tho market-place, si- 
tuated at the eastern extremity of the town, is always 
abundantly supplied. The slaughter-house, where tho meat 
is also sold, is a fine building of the Tuscan order situated 
in the middle of the town. Possessing an abundant supply 
of water from a fountain constantly (lowing* and being open 
on all sides so as to permit a free current of air, there 
is nothing in it to offend cither the sight or the smell. 
On the right bank of the river there is a wide and pleasant 
promenade planted with lime-trees and oak, and lined with 
many houses, gardens, and warehouses. Numerous wharfs 
and strong moles are built on both banks at different places 
down the river to Portugalcte; there are two bridges over 
the river at Bilbao, one very old of two arches built of 
stone, and another of wood of modern construction very 
solid and handsome, with one arch. The tide ascends as 
high as the town, but only small vessels under sixty or 
seventy tons can sail so far up the river, except with a very 
full tide ; the greatest part of them remain at Olaveaga, 
two short miles from the town. 

• Bilbao is the scat of the government of the province (sec 
Basque, Bizcaya) and of the consulado, or tribunal of 
commerce. That body has endowed schools for the gra- 
tuitous instruction of the youth of the town in architecture, 
mathematics, navigation, drawing, and the French and Eng- 
lish languages. There is also a school where poor children 
are instructed gratuitously in reading and writing, and an- 
other for teaching tho Latin language, both supported by 
the ayuntamiento, or common council. 

The people of Bilbao are kind and hospitable; their 
society is pleasing and easily accessible to strangers. Tho 
women of the lower class, who are employed as carriers 
and in other manly occupations, arc so robust (hat they 
may be frequently seen after a day of laborious employ- 
ment dancing as cheerfully as on a holiday. They are 
clean and neatly dressed, and in general go barefooted. 
To gratify the inclination of the common people for dancing, 
the town pays three men, who play on the tambourine and 
the provincial wind instruments at the public dances. There 
is a public building for playing at ball and two for tennis, 
of both which exercises the people arc exceedingly fond. 
There are fivo very pleasant fountains, a capacious and 
handsome playhouse, several coffee-houses, and many shops 
and warehouses, abundantly supplied with all articles of fo- 
reign merchandise, which, owing to the moderate duties and 
the intelligence of the people in mercantile concerns, may 
be obtained as cheap as in the countries where they arc 
manufactured. The population of Bilbao is 15,000. Tlw 
inhabitants aro employed in agriculture, commerce, and the 
manufacturing of iron. The most productive iron mines in 
Spain, and perhaps in the world, are those called Vcncras, 
five miles from Bilbao. They produce, in general, thirty- 
throe per cent, without straining the ore. There aro 
*lso manufactures of paper, bats, soap, leather, earthen- 
ware, and cigars. Tho principal articles of exportation arc 
wool and wheat to foreign countries, and iron to other 
part* of tho Peninsula. (Sec Diccionario Geographico 
llutorico ; Dicrionario de la Acadcmia). 

B1LKEUUY, a kind of berry-bearing shrub, found on 
the moors of th 'ountry. [Sec Vaccinium.J 



BILBILIS, a Ccltiberian town, in Hispania Tarraco- 
nensis, situated on a branch of the Ibcrus (Kbro), which is 
sometimes called by the same name as tho town, more fre- 
quently, however, mentioned by the name Salo (Martial, x, 
103, 104.) Its site is supposed to correspond with that of 
the modem Calatayud, which stands near the junction of 
tho Xiloca with tho Xalon. It was built upon an eminence, 
according to Martial, in the two epigrams above quoted 
(qnos Bilbilis acri montc crcat— altain Bilhilim), and i. 49. 
The steel manufactories at this place were celebrated in 
anticnt times (Plin. A^. //. xxxiv. 14; Justin, xliv. 3.; 
Martial. iv. 55.) ; but it is known to us principally as having 
been tho birth-place of M. Valerius Martialis Coquus, the 
great epigrammatist. It was a municipal town, as appears 
from coins of Tiberius, inscribed m. augusta munus ti. 

CAKS. HI., and M. AUGUSTA HILBIUS TI. CAKS. V. L. AELlO 

saiANO. About twenty-four Honian miles up tho Salo were 
the Aquoo Bilbilitanro tcgrotantibus salutares, * the medi- 
cinal springs of Bilbilis/ mentioned in tho Itinerary of An- 
toninus. 




[Cotu of BilbtlU, copper, Brit. Mat,] 
BILE, -an animal fluid of a greenish colour, bitter taste, 
and viscid consistence. It is sometimes found as a limpid 
and at other times as a turbid fluid. It is a very compound 
substance, being composed of water, albumen, a peculiar 
resinous principle, a portion of yellow colouring matter, and 
several salts. The principle, however, upon which its dis- 
tinctive characters essentially depend is the resinous, and 
the bile is therefore classed by physiologists among the 
resinous secretions. According to Thcnard, the composition 
of the bile is as follows : — 

Ox bile. 
Water . 700* 

Ficroincl and resin . . 84*3 

Yellow matter . . . 4*5 

Soda .... 4* 

Phosphate of soda ... 2* 

Muriate of ditto , . . 3*2 

Sulphato of ditto ... 0*8 

Phosphate of lime . . 1*2 

Oxide of iron , . .a trace. 





800*0 


IJuman bile. 




Water .... 


1000- 


Yellow insoluble matter 


2' to 10- 


Albumen 


42* 


Itesin 


41' 


Soda .... 


5'6 


Salts tho samo as in ox bile 


4*5 



According to Bcrzclius, the following is tho composition 
of human bile : — 

AVatcr ..... 908*4 

Picroinel , . . . so* 

Albumen .... 3* 

Soda .... 4*1 

Phosphate of lime . , , o*l 

Common salt ... 3*4 

Phosphate of soda with some lime , l*o 



1000*0 



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395 



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' The organ by whieh the bile is secreted is the liver. The 
liver is distinguished by two peculiarities: first, it is the 
largest gland in the body ; and secondly, it is provided with 
two distinct sets of veins. The veins that receive the blood 
from the viscera of the abdomen, that is, from the organs 
more immediately concerned in the process^ of digestion, 
unite together into a large trunk named the vena portae. 
This vein penetrates into the substance of the liver and 
ramifies through it in the manner of an artery ; at the same 
time the liver receives a large quantity of arterial blood by 
the hepatic artery. The ultimate branches of the vena 
port eg terminate partly in a set of vessels termed the he- 
patic ducts, which contain the bile, and partly in a set of 
vessels termed the hepatic veins, by which a large portion 
of the blood of the vena porta) U transmitted by the ordi- 
nary course of the circulation into the vena cava, the great 
vein that returns the blood from all parts of the body to 
the right side of the heart. [See Circulation.] 

This arrangement is peculiar. There is no other gland 
in the body in which the disposition of the blood-vessels is 
at all analogous: there is no other instance in which a vein 
is sent to a gland and distributed to it in the manner of an 
artery. This peculiarity has naturally led physiologists to 
infer that the vein, in this case, performs the ordinary func- 
tion of an artery ; that it carries on the process of secretion, 
and eliminates its product, the bile, out of venous blood. 
And this inference is strengthened by the following con- 
siderations: — 

1 . A large portion of the ultimate branches of the vena 
porta) terminate, as has been stated, in the hepatic ducts, 
that is, the excretory ducts of the gland, or the tubes 
provided for carrying away the secreted fluid after its ela- 
boration. 

2. The elements of which the bile is composed abound 
more in the blood of the vena porta) than in that of the 
hepatic artery. The chief constituent elements of the bile 
are hydrogen and carbon. These two elements always 
abound more in venous than in arterial blood, the venous 
blood acquiring them as it Hows slowly along the course of 
the circulation, and acquiring them the more abundantly 
the slower the stream and the longer its course. 

3. The distinctive character of every secreting organ is 
that it receives a copious supply of blood-vessels and nerves. 
Accordingly the ramifications of the vena porta) receive a 
much greater supply of arterial capillaries from the hepatic 
artery than is observed with respect to any other vein in 
the body, and a correspondingly greater supply of ganglial 
or organic nerves than venous capillaries in general ; these 
nerves being, as will be shown hereafter, the source whence 
tho blood-vessels derive their vital endowments, and are 
capable of producing those complicated changes which the 
blood undergoes during the process of secretion. 

These considerations go far to show that the secretion of 
the bile is an anomaly in the animal economy, inasmuch 
as it is elaborated by a vein out of venous blood ; but there 
are many eminent physiologists to whose minds they do 
not appear of sufficient weight to warrant this conclusion. 
Bichat, for instance, contends, and adduces plausible argu- 
ments in favour of the opinion, that the bile is secreted from 
tho hepatie artery ; and Magendie conceives that it is formed 
at one and the same timo from the blood both of the vena 
porteo and of the hepatic artery. It is certain that cases are 
on record in which tho vena porta) is said to have united 
directly with the vena cava without going to the liver at all ; 
and that, in such eases, the secretion of bile went on just 
as well as when the vena porta) is distributed in the ordi- 
nary mode. One such case, clearly made out, would afford 
a demonstration that bile is capable of being secreted by the 
hepatic artery. 

But whatever doubt physiologists may entertain by which 
of the two great vessels of the liver the bile is secreted, the 
consent is universal that the liver is the gland by which this 
fluid is formed. AVhen duly elaborated in this organ, the 
bile is received from the secreting vessels by exceedingly 
minute tubes, the union of which constitutes the excretory 
duct of the gland, which is termed the hepatic duct. The 
hepatic duct passing on towards the duodenum, which, phy- 
siologically considered, is a second stomach [see Duode- 
num], communicates with a small membranous cyst or 
bag, called the gall bladder, a reservoir for the bile. Tho 
duct of the gall-bladder, called the cystic duct, unites with 
the hepatic duct, and both together form a single tube, 
termed the choledoch duct, which pierces the duodenum. 



Thus the hepatio duct, carrying the bile away from the liver, 
either conveys it into the gall bladder by means of the 
cystic duct, or transmits it immediately into the duodenum 
by means of the choledoch duct. The bilo which flows 
immediately into the duodenum is called the hepatic bile ; 
that which is contained in the gall bladder is called the 
cystic bile. There is a striking difference in the external 
characters of the two, cystic bile being of a much deeper 
eolour, and much more viscid, pungent, and bitter than he- 
patic bile ; but the difference in their chemical properties, if 
there be any, has not been ascertained : hepatic bile, on 
account of the difficulty of collecting it in sufficient quan- 
tity, has not been analysed, while some portion of bile is 
generally found in the gall-bladder after death. Some 
physiologists, indeed, are of opinion that the gall bladder is 
not passive in the reception of the bile ; that it is not a 
mere receptacle for this fluid ; that the cystic duct acts as 
an absorbent, actually selecting from the bile, as it is flowing 
in the hepatic duct, its more active ingredients, which are 
conveyed into the gall bladder, and retained there until 
needed ; but it is more probable that the blander portions of 
the bile are absorbed during its retention in the gall bladder, 
and that while it remains there its elements re-act upon each 
other so as somewhat to modify the character of the secre- 
tion, rendering it more viscid, pungent, and hitter than the 
recently secreted fluid. 

From actual experiment it would appear that the secre- 
tion of bile is continually going on in the living system. In 
whatever circumstances an animal is placed — if the orifice 
of the choledoch duct be laid bare — the bile is always seen 
to be flowing drop by drop into the intestine. It is observed 
to flow much faster during the process of digestion than 
when the stomach is empty ; and there is reason to believe 
that, during the digestive process, the hepatic bile is se- 
creted in much larger quantity than when the stomach is 
empty, and that it is then conveyed directly into the duo- 
denum. The gall-bladder fills when the stomach is empty, 
and when the stomach is full the gall bladder becomes com- 
paratively empty. The gall-bladder, however, is seldom if 
ever completely emptied. Vomiting contributes more per- 
haps than any other action of the system to the expulsion 
of its contents. Magendie states that he has often found it 
completely empty in animals that died from the effects of an 
emetic poison. 

The use which the bile serves in the economy is to pro- 
duco a specific change upon the aliment, in a certain stage 
of the digestive process. The first change which the food 
undergoes after it has been swallowed is the reduction of it 
by the stomach into a fluid mass, tho appearance of which 
varies considerably according to the nature of the food. 
This fluid mass is termed chyme, which when accumulated 
in a certain quantity is sent from the stomach into the duo- 
denum. In the duodenum the food undergoes a further 
change, and is converted from chyme into the substance 
called chyle. These two fluids are distinguished from each 
other by specific characters. [See Digestion.] The bile 
is the main agent in producing the change by which chyme 
is converted into chyle. This is proved by a decisive ex- 
periment performed by Sir B. Brodic. 

This physiologist applied a ligature around the choledoch 
duct of an animal, so as completely to prevent the bile from 
entering the duodenum, and then noted the effects pro- 
duced on the digestion of the food immediately before or 
immediately after the operation. The experiment was re- 
peated several times, and the result was uniform. The 
production of the chyme in the stomach took place as usual, 
but the conversion of the chyme into chyle was immediately 
and completely interrupted. Not the smallest trace of chyle 
was perceptible either in the duodenum, or in the vessels 
which take up the chyle when formed, namely, the lacteals. 
This experiment is decisive as to the proper office of the 
bile, which is to separate the nutritious from the non-nutrient 
or excrementitious part of the chyme, and thus to form 
chyle. In effecting this separation the bile itself is divided 
into two parts ; its coloured and bitter portion passes on 
along with the excrementitious part of the chyme into the 
large intestines, while its albuminous and saline part com- 
bines with the chyle, is absorbed with it by the lacteals, 
and is thus carried with it into the circulation. The coloured 
and bitter portion of tho bile which combines with the ex- 
crementitious part of tbc chyme, and whicn, together with 
certain secretions from the mucous surface of the ahmen r 
tary canal, constitute the fccccs, imparts to the fccculcnt 

' 3E 2 



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3% 



n i l 



matter a stimulating property, wlifcn is necessary to excite 
the action of the large intestines, the office of which is to 
expel from the system ilio excrement it ion* portion of the 
aliment This cxercmentitiotrs part of the hilt may there- 
fore be considered as constituting a natural purge, formed 
in the canal itself, which it is to stimulate to the act of 
expulsion. And accordingly when the secretion of the 
liver is scanty, and the bile does not How in siiflicient 
quantity into the duodenum, one consequence uniformly 
is, ihut tho faeces are whhout their proper colour, and desti- 
tute of their natural stimulating quality; whence the due 
action of the largo intestines does not take place, and con- 
stipation and a long and varied train of evils in the general 
system follow. 

' Such arc tho nature and office of the bile, the very im- 
portant secretion elaborated by the liver. But the liver is 
an organ of enormous bulk, and receives an immense quan- 
tity of blood ; tho term * enormous" being used in comparison 
with the size of other glands, and the term * immense* in 
comparison with the quantity of bile secreted. Moreover, 
the liver is found in animals exceedingly low in the scale of 
organization, and even in these it is often of very great 
magnitude. Hence it is conceived that the secretion of 
bile is by no means the sole function performed by tho liver. 
Many physiologists look upon it as a supplementary organ 
of the lungs, acting that organ in ihe depuration of ihe 
blood, and, like it, eliminating from the blood its super- 
tluous hydrogen and carbon. * When the venous blood 
becomes loaded with inflammable matter (hydrogen and 
carbon) which cannot be discharged from the lungs, and 
when, from ecrtain causes, one of which appears to be the 
increase of cutaneous perspiration, this excess of in flammable 
matter is not employed in the deposition of fat, the liver 
would appear to be the organ by which it is removed. In 
ordinary eases the quantity discharged is small, probably 
no more than is sufficient to preserve the liver in its healthy 
state, and to perform the secondary objects to which the 
function is subservient; but when, from a conjunction of 
circumstances, there is an excess of inflammable matter, its 
accumulation is prevented by an increased discharge of 
bile/ (Bostock's Elements of Physiology, vol. i. p. 370.) 

Upon the whole there is reason to believe that the changes 
which the blood undergoes in the liver are threefold. 1. Ma- 
terials more or less heterogeneous and crude, absorbed by tho 
vena porta*, and coming chielly from the organs of digestion, 
undergo, while circulating through this viscus, a process of 
animalizarion, by which the blood is better fitted for carrying 
on the general functions of the system. 2. Certain consti- 
tuents of the blood, either noxious in their own nature, or 
injurious by tho excess in which they accumulate, arc here 
separated from the common mass of blood, and carried out 
of the system. 3. By the preceding changes, ihe blood cir- 
culating through tho liver is specially fined for the produc- 
tion of a peculiar secretion, which perforins a specific offico 
in the process of digestion. 

This multiplicity of ollices performed by one and the same 
organ is in conformity with ihe usual operations of the ani- 
mal economy, in which, while provision is made to accom- 
plish some purpose of primary importance by an organ, 
tho same apparatus, or the product resulting from its action, 
seeurcs some further secondary use in the system. (See 
Liver, and for a more detailed account of tho nature, 
source, and office of the bile, consult Bostock's Elements of 
Physiology; Richerainrs Elements of Physiology, with 
Notes by Dr. James Copland; and Magendie, Precis Ele- 
mentaire de Physiologic.) 
BILKDULGORID. [See Bklkd.] 
BLLIMBI, or BLIMB1NG, the Malayan mine of a 
Rpecies of acid fruit belonging to a genus called Averrhoa. 
It is chiefly used in pickles. 

BILIN, one of the possessions of the princes of Lobkovitz, 
in the most north-west part of Bohemia, close to the Ore 
and Middle Mountains, is about 1G3 square miles in super- 
ficial extent, wiih about 8000 inhabitants. Tho principal 
*pot in this district is Bilin or Bylina, a small town of about 
2500 souls, lying on tho little river Bila, embosomed in a 
deep valloy, and distant about three miles from the baths of 
Teplitz; it has a cotton-yarn manufactory, a handsome 
church, and a new as well as an anticnt castle, the one con- 
taining a collccrion of minerals, Sec, and the other a labora- 
tory, in which artificial waters, salts, and magnesia are pre- 
pared. The environs are remarkable for a precipitous moun* 
**ain, called the Bilincrstein, which is surrounded bv basalt 



rocks; but the place Itself is most celebrated for its springs 
which are of two qualities, acidulous and bitter. The main 
spring, an acidulous water, \ields U381 quarts per hour, of 
the heat of 12° lteaumur (5S° Fahrenheit): it is much re- 
sorted to In eases of spleen, indigestion, scrofula, gout, &c, 
and above CO.000 quarts of it are annually sent to foreign 
parts. The Bilincrstein affords a number of rare plants, as 
well as minerals. 
BILL IN CHANCERY. [See Equity.] 
BILL IN PARLIAMENT, is tho name given to any 
proposition introduced into either house for the purpose of 
being passed into a law, after which it is called an act of 
parliament, or statute of the realm. [See Statute.] 

In modern times a bill docs not differ in form from an 
act, except that when first brought in it often presents 
blanks for dates, sums of money, &c, which are filled up in 
its passage through the house. When printed, also, which 
(with the exception only of naturalization and uaine bills, 
which are not printed ) it is alwa) s ordered to be, either iin me- 
diately alter it has been read a first time, or at some other 
early stage of its progress, a portion of it, which may admit 
of being disjoined from the rest, is sometimes distinguished 
by a difierent type. But most bills arc several times printed 
in their passage ihrough the two houses. A bill, like an act, 
has its title, its preamble, usually setting forth the reasons 
upon which it professes to be founded, and then its scries of 
enacting clauses, the first beginning with the words — * Be it 
enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
and Commons* in this present Parliament assembled, and 
by the authority of the same ;* and each of those that follow 
with the more simple formula — * And be it further enacted.' 
The advantage of this is that a bill when made perfect by 
all its blanks having been filled up, becomes a law at once, 
without further alteration or remodelling, on receiving the 
royal assent. 

Originally, the bills passed by the two houses were intro- 
duced in the form of petitions, and retained that form when 
they came to receive the royal assent. The whole of those 
passed in one session were then, after the parliament rote, 
submitted to the judges, to be by tliem put into the proper 
shape of a law. But it was found that in undergoing this 
process the acts, as passed by the parliament, were fre- 
quently both added to and mutilated. Indeed a great deal 
of the power of making the law was thus left in the hands 
of the judges, and of the royal authority, in so far as these 
learned personages might be under its influence. To 
remedy this evil it was arranged in the reign of Henry V., 
that the statute roll of the session should always be drawn 
up before the parliament rose. In the following reign, that 
of Henry VI., the bill came as now to be prepared in the 
form of an act. 

Bills are either public or private. In the introduction of 
a publie bill the first motion made in the House of Lords is 
that the bill be brought in; but in the House of Commons 
the member who purposes to introduce the bill must first 
move that leave be given to bring it in. If that motion is 
carried, the bill is then either ordered to be brought in by 
certain members, generally not more than two, of whom the 
mover is one, or a select committee is appointed for that 
purpose. When the bill is ready, which it frequently is as 
soon as the motion for leave to bring it in has been agreed 
to, it is presented at the bar by one of those members, and 
afterwards, upon an intimation from the speaker, brought 
up by him to the table. The next motion is that it be read 
a first time; and this motion is most frequently made im- 
mediately after the bill has been brought up. This being 
carried, a day is appointed for considering the question that 
the bill bo read a second lime. The second reading being 
carried, it is next moved that the hill be committed, that is, 
that it he considered clause by clause either in a committee 
of the whole house, or, if the matter be of less importance, 
in a select committee. When the committee have finished 
their labours they make their report through their chairman ; 
and the next motion is that the report be received. Besides 
modifying the original clauses of the bill, it is in the power 
of the committee, if they think proper, both to omit certain 
clauses, and to add others. Sometimes a bill is ordered to 
be re-eoinmittcd,ihat it may undergo further consideration, 
or that additional alterations may be niado in it. The 
report of tho comnintee having been received, the next mo- 
tion is that the bill be read a third time, and when that is 
carried, there is still a further motion, that the bill do pass. 



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When a bill has passed the House of Lords, it is sent down 
to the House of Commons usually by two of tbe masters in 
chancery, and sometimes, in the case of measures of great 
importance, by one or more of the judges, who make tbree 
obeisances as they advance to the speaker, and, after one of 
them has read the title of the bill, deliver it to him, desiring 
that it may be taken into consideration. When a bill, on 
the other hand, is sent up from the Commons to the 
Lords, it is sent by several members (the speaker being fre- 
quently one), who, having knocked at the door of the Lords 1 
house, are introduced by the usher of the black rod, and 
then advance to the bar, making three obeisances. The 
speaker of the house, who is usually the lord chancellor, 
then comes down to the bar, and receives the bill, the mem- 
ber who delivers it to him stating its title, and informing 
him that it is a bill which the Commons have passed, and 
to which they desire the concurrence of their lordships. A 
bill thus received by the one bouse from the other is almost 
always read at least a first time ; but it docs not appear to 
be a matter of course that it should be so read. It then 
iroes again through the same stages as it has already passed 
through in the other house. 

The bill may be debated on any one of the motions which 
we have mentioned, and it commonly is so debated more 
than once. It is usual, however, to take the debate upon 
the principle of the proposed measure either on the motion 
fur leave to bring in the bill, or on that for the second 
reading; the details are generally discussed in the com- 
mittee. Amendments upon the bill, going either to its 
entire rejection, or to its alteration to any extent, may be 
proposed on any occasion on which it is debated after it has 
been brought in. Before it is committed also certain in- 
structions to the committee may be moved, upon which the 
committee must act. 

After the report of the committee has been received, and 
the amendments which it proposes agreed to, the speaker 
puts the question that the bill so amended be engrossed; 
that is to say. written in a distinct and strong hand on 
parchment. In this shape it remains till it receives the 
royal assent ; it is not engrossed a second time in the other 
bouse. Whatever clauses are afterwards added to it are 
called riders, and must be engrossed on separate sheets of 
parchment and attached to it. 

Bills of all kinds may originate in cither house, except 
what are called money bills, that is, bills for raising money 
by any species of taxation, which must always be brought 
first v.tfo the House of Commons. The Commons also will 
reject any amendment made upon a money bill by the 
Lords. And the Lords have a standing order (the XC, "dated 
2nd iMarch, 1664) against proceeding with any bill for resti- 
tution in blood which shall not have originated in their own 
House : all such acts, and all others of royal grace and 
favour to individuals, are signed by the king belbre being 
laid before parliament, where they are only read once in 
each house, and cannot be amended, although they may be 
rejected. [See Assent, Royal.] 

When a bill has passed the Commons and is to he sent 
up to the I^ords, the clerk writes upon it Soit bailie aux 
Seigneurs ; and upon one which has passed the Lords and 
is to be sent down to the Commons, tbe clerk of the Lords 
writes Suit bailie aux Communs. If it is afterwards passed 
by the Commons, the clerk writes upon it Les Commans 
ont assentez. All bills of supply, after being passed by the 
Lords, are returned to tbe House of Commons, in which 
they had originated, and there remain till they are brought 
to the House of Lords by the speaker to receive the royal 
assent : all other bills are deposited with the Lords till 
the rojal assent is given to them. 

A bill* after it has been introduced, may be lost either by 
the royal assent being refused (of which, however, there is 
no instance in recent times), or by a motion for its rejection 
being carried in any of its stages in its passage through 
cither house, or by any of the motions necessary to advance 
it on its progress being dropped or withdrawn. The rejec- 
tion of the bill may be effected by the motion in its favour 
being simply negatived, or by a counter-motion being car- 
ried to the effect that the next reading be deferred till a day 
by which it is known that parliament will have been pro- 
rogued (generally till that day six months, or that day three 
months), or by the carrying of an amendment entirely 
opposed to the measure. The motion for carrying it forward 
on any of its stages may be dropped either by the House 
iiot assembling on the day for which the order made re- 



specting that motion stands, or simply by no member ap - 
peariug to make the motion. When a motion has once 
been made, it can only be withdrawn by consent of the 
House. 

If a bill has been lost in any of these ways, the rule is 
that the same measure cannot be again brought forward the 
same session. 'It however appears/ says Mr. Hatsell, in 
treating of this subject in his Precede?its, ' from several of 
the cases under this title, as well as from every day's prac- 
tice, that this rule is not to be so strictly and verbally ob- 
served as to stop the proceedings of the House: it is rather 
to be kept in substance than in words ; and the good sense 
of the House must decide, upon every question, how far it 
comes within the meaning of the rule/ In fact there are 
several remarkable examples of the regulation being en- 
tirely disregarded, And sometimes a short prorogation has 
been made merely to allow a bill which had been defeated 
to be again introduced. 

When a bill which has passed one house has been 
amended in the other, it must be returned, with the amend- 
ments, to be again considered in the house from which it 
had come ; and it cannot be submitted for the royal assent 
until the amendments have been agreed to by that house. 
Incase of a difference of opinion between the two houses, 
tbe subject is frequently ordered to be discussed in a con- 
ference. [See Amendment.] 

According to the standing orders of the House of Lords 
(see Order CXCVIII. of 7th July, 1819), no bili regulating 
the conduct of any trade, altering the laws of apprentice- 
ship, prohibiting any manufacture, or extending any patent, 
can be read a second time until a select committee shall 
have inquired into and reported upon the expediency of the 
proposed regulations. By the standing orders of the Com- 
mons, no bill relating to religion, or trade, can be brought 
into the House until the proposition shall have been first 
considered and agreed to in a committee of the whole house ; 
and the house will not proceed upon any bill for granting 
any money, or for releasing or compounding any sum of 
money owing to the crown, but in a committee of the whole 
house. No bill also can pass the house affecting the pro- 
perty of the crown or the royal prerogative, without his ma- 
jesty's consent having been first signified. 

Private bills are such as directly relate only to the concerns 
of private individuals, or bodies of individuals, and not to 
matters of state or to the community in general. In some 
eases it might be doubtful whether an act ought to be con- 
sidered a public or a private one ; and in these cases a 
clause is commonly inserted at the end of the act to remove 
the doubt. Private bills in passing into laws go through 
the same stages in both houses of parliament with public 
bills ; but relating as they do for the most part to matters 
as to which the public attention is not so much alive, 
various additional regulations are established with regard 
to them, for the purpose of securing to them in their pro- 
gress the observation of all whose interests they may 
affect. No private bill, in the first place, can be introduced 
into either house except upon a petition stating its object 
and the grounds upon which it is sought, Nor can such 
petitions be presented after a certain day in each session, 
which is always fixed at the commencement of the session, 
and is usually within a fortnight or three weeks thereafter. 
In all cases "the necessary documents and plans must be 
laid before the house before it will proceed in the matter, 
and it must also have evidence that sufficient notice in every 
respect has been given to all parties interested in the mea- 
sure. To a certain extent the consent of these parties is 
required befure the bill can be passed; For the numerous 
rules, however, by which these objects are sought to be se- 
cured, we must refer to the Standing Orders themselves. 
An account of the principal steps necessary to be taken in 
the case of the most important description of private bills, 
those for enabling associations of individuals to undertake 
the formation of roads, canals, and other such works, and 
of the progress of such bills through the two houses, may 
be found in the first number of the Companto?i to the 
Neicspaper, p. 1 1 . 

An important respect in which the passage through par- 
liament of a private bill differs from that of a public bill is 
the much higher amount of fees paid in the case of the 
former to the clerks and other officers of the two houses. 
Although the high amount of the fees payable on private 
bills has been the subject of much complaint, and is un- 
doubtedly, in some cases, a very heavy tux, it is to be re 



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memborod that the necessary expense of carrying the gene- 
rality of such bills through parliament must always be vory 
eonMdcrable, so long as the present securities against pre- 
cipitate and unfair legislation shall be insisted on. Tho 
expenses of agency, of bringing up witnesses, and tho other 
expenses attending tho making application to parliament 
for n private bill, at present often amount to many times as 
much as tho fees. These fees, on the other hand, are con- 
sidered to be some check upon unnecessary applications for 
privato hills, with which it is contended that parliament 
would otherwise be inundated. The misfortune is, that it 
in not the most unnecessary applications which such a check 
really tends to prevont, but only tho applications of parties 
who are poor, which may bo just as proper to be attended 
to as those of the rich. 

BILL OF EXCHANGE, a well-known mercantile in- 
strument, of great and extensivo usefulness, which may ho 
described as a written order or request addressed by ono 
person to another, directing the latter to pay on account of 
the former to some third person or his order, or to tho order 
of the person addressing the request, a certain sum of money 
at a time therein specified. In commercial language, the 
person giving the direction is called the drawer of the bill, 
tio to whom it is addressed tho drawee, and ho in whose 
favour it is given tho payee or occasionally the remitter. 
Bills ofexehango are ordinarily divided into two classes, 
foreign and inland ; tho former comprehend such as aro 
drawn or aro payable abroad, tho latter those which are drawn 
and payablo in England. Thus, a bill drawn in France, or 
even in Scotland or Ireland, upon a party in England, or 
conversely, is a foreign bill; ana this, it is to be observed, 
is a distinction not merely nominal, but carrying with it 
important legal consequences. 

At what time and by what peoplo bills of exchango 
were first brought into use is a matter of history which has 
not been satisfactorily ascertained. The invention has been 
variously assigned— to the Jows and Lombards, as a mode 
of secretly withdrawing their effects from France and Eng- 
land, whenco in the thirteenth century they were banished 
for usury — to the Florentines (lying from the successful 
faction of the Ghibcllincs— and to the Mongolian conquerors 
of China. These, however, one and all, are conjectures 
resting on no solid foundation. All that can be safely 
nflirmed is, that instruments of this kind were current among 
the commercial states of Italy in the carlv part of the four- 
teenth century, and that it is probable tncy wcro not un- 
known at tho close of the same century in England. It has 
been commonly stated that the use of foreign bills preceded 
that of inland, and the statement, when confined to Eng- 
land, into which the practice was imported from other coun- 
tries, is unquestionably truo ; but there seems no reason for 
supposing that in the original application of the invention 
any such distinction existed at all. The object to be attained 
was tho facilitation of exchanges between parties resident 
at a distance from each other, by dispensing with the rcmit- 
taneo of money in specie; and whether the parties were 
resident in different countries or in the same, tho incon- 
venience would equally exist, and the remedy bo equally 
applicable. 

Tho history of bills of exchange would furnish much 
curious and instructive matter, as illustrative of the progress 
of trado, from tho simple and somewhat clumsy operations 
of early times down to tho refined and complicated system 
of modern exchanfres. Originally, as has been said, they 
were employed solely as media of remittance, and tho exi- 
gency which brought them into use may bo oxplained as 
follows: — A,, at Hamburg, consigned goods to B., in London, 
cither in execution of an order, or as his factor for sale. 
B., thereupon, being debtor to A. for tho invoice amount, or 
tho proceeds of the sale, as the case might be, was desirous 
of romitting to A. accordingly. The remittance could only 
be mado in money or in goods ; but A. might not want a 
return cargo of English commodities, and the sending out 
of specie was both inconvenient and hazardous. For, first, 
iho proper coin was to bo procured at the money-changers ; 
next, a ship was to be found to carry it ; then it was to bo 
safely deposited on board ; an insuranco was to be effected, 
and advices sent out by another vessel to A. If tho ship 
arrived safe, there was the unloading, carriage, and delivory 
on the other sido; if it were wrecked or captured, there was 
the entire loss, when uninsured, and tho trouble of procuring 
payment when insured. Now suppose (to take the simplest 
case; that some third person, C, were about to take his 



departure from Hamburg to London, mutual accommoda- 
tion would suggest the following arrangement: — A. would 
deliver to C. an open letter addressed to 1L, requesting him 
to pay to C. the amount intended to bo remitted ; and C., on 
receiving tho letter into his possession, would pay directly to 
A. tho valuo of it in money current at Hamburg, and 
having carried it over to London would there receive from B. 
tho sum specified. By this simplo contrivance much of tho 
expense, and all the risk and trouble of remittance would be 
saved to B.or A. ; and C, besides having a more convenient 
and portable sign of wealth, would probably receive a bonus, 
that is, some advantage for tho accommodation. It is obvious, 
however, that to bring the machinery into operation several 
things would be wanting: such as, first, the knowledge by 
tho two parties of the mutual want; secondly, confidence 
on tho part of C. that the money would be paid by B. on 
presentment of the letter of request, or that in default of 
payment by him he might safely look for reimbursement 
to A.; and, thirdly, tho assessment of the present value ot 
the letter, or, in other words, the determining how much 
C. ought to give A. in ready money of Hamburg for tho 
sum specifiod in the letter, to be paid at a future day in 
money of England. Now one branch of this last requisite, 
the adjustment of the comparativo valuo of different 
currencies, fell directly wkhin tho province of tho money- 
doalcrs, who, from their stalls or batiques at the great fairs 
and marts of exchange, received tho name of banquiers 
(bankers), and as all persons about to remit or to proceed to 
foreign countries resorted to them for the requisite coin, 
they would bo enabled to furnish the merchants with in- 
formation as to the other particulars also, and would thus 
naturally become the negotiators of this sort of exchanges. 

But the transactions bywav of letters of exchange would 
havo been very limited, had tncy depended on the occasional 
coincidence of a party setting out in person to the country 
to which tho remittance was to be made. There were, 
however, other cases in which the like operation might bo 
made availablo ; for although A. might not want goods from 
England in return for those shipped by him from Hamburg, 
other Hamburg merchants might, and so it might happen 
that at tho very time of the intended remittance B. had 
money owing to him at Hamburg in respect of goods so 
shipped. Let it bo supposed then that C, instead of setting 
out in person to London, wcro about to remit money to B., 
it is obvious that in that case the whole or a portion, as well 
of B.'s debt to A. as of C.'s debt to B., might be extinguished 
by a simplo arrangement of tho same kind as that beforo 
described. B. would writo a letter addressed to C, re- 
questing him to pay a specified sum to A., or, in mer 
can tile phrase, would draw upon C. in favour of A. ; this 
letter or draft he would remit, as payment, to A., who upon 
presentment to C. would receivo from him the amount, and 
would give credit to B. in account accordingly. 

To advance a step further, B. might not at tho moment 
have any debtor at Hamburg through whom the substi- 
tution could be made ; but as the trade between two coun- 
tries is never, unless under unnatural circumstances, en- 
tirely unilateral — consisting, that is to say, solely of ship- 
ments of goods on the one part, and solely of remittances of 
money on the other— it would happen that if B. had not, 
other London merchants would have, sums of money owing 
from Hamburg. When thcreforo the convenience of this 
method of exchanges had been felt, it was natural that B., 
when desirous of remitting, should endeavour to find out 
somo person so circumstanced, from whom ho might procure 
an order upon his debtor ; in other words, that he should buy 
a bill on Hamburg for remittance to A. For the reasons 
before mentioned, recourse would bo had for this purpose to 
the money -dealers ; and it is not difficult to conceive by what 
steps tho business of procuring and supplying bills soon be- 
came in their hands a distinct and important branch of trade. 

Nor, indeed, without tho intervention of such dealers, 
could the system over havo becomo extensively useful ; bc- 
causo although it is true, as has been said, that in the com- 
mercial intercourse of two countries it seldom happens that 
cither is merely buyer or merely seller, it is equally iMts 
that tho value of the commodities exchanged is exactly 
balanced. Thero would consequently be at times a scarcity 
of bills upon one country and an excess of those upon somo 
other. But as tho system gradually matured itself, tho 
dealers through whom tho exchanges wcro cfTcctcd, would 
find their advantage in adjusting the demand and supply by 
sending or procuring the superfluous bills in one market tc 



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fill up the void in another ; and would thus be enabled, in 
general, to furnish the required accommodation on payment 
of a proportionate premium. 

In the meantime, tbe instrument of transfer, which in 
this country had received the name of a bill of exchange, 
assumed a concise and permanent form, and became clothed 
with such properties and incidents as experience showed to 
be necessary or convenient. At first, no doubt, the order 
was to pay on presentment to the drawee, or as it was ex- 
pressed in the instrument, 'on sight/ But, as the intervals 
between drawing and presentment would necessarily be 
extremely variable, it was found expedient, or it insensibly 
became the practice, to fix them by a definite scale; and 
hence probably arose what was called the usance between 
two ports or countries, being, as the name would seem to 
import, the period fixed by usage, at which, with reference 
to the date, a bill was presentable for payment. Afterwards 
these usances came to signify the periods at which the mer- 
chants of any particular eountry or port were in the practice 
of paying the bills so drawn upon them, and these customary 
periods being of course universally known among com- 
mercial men, the word usance soon came to signify a specific 
term of clays, and it was formerly therefore not uncommon, 
when by agreement the time of payment was determined, 
to draw foreign bills payable at one, two, or more usances. 
In modern times, the more frequent practice has been to 
make them payable at so many days after sight, or at so 
many months or days after date. Again, in times when 
money was less at command than at present, it was but rea- 
sonable, that even after the maturity of the bill a short 
(•pace should be allowed to the drawee for providing the 
requisite cash; and hence it became usual to grant what 
we term days of grace, whieh, though varying as to limits 
in different communities, are in almost all recognised as 
part of the law and custom of merchants. 

Originally, as we have supposed, the bill was a letter ad- 
dressed by B. to C, directing him to pay A. But an ob- 
vious improvement would early suggest itself, viz. that as 
it might not be convenient to A. to present the letter in 
person, he should have authority given him to appoint an- 
other, hy whom the presentment might be made and the 
money received in his stead. It assumed therefore the 
form of a direction to pay A., or such person as A. should 
nominate and appoint, expressed with the quaint concise- 
ness of mercantile phraseology, thus: 4 Pay A., or order/ 
But if the letter or bill in the hands of A. were assignable, 
there was no reason why it should not be equally so in the 
hands of his assignee, and thus by the operation of the 
words *or order,' it obtained the character of a negotiable 
instrument or sign of value, transferable from hand to hand 
by a simple act of delegation apparent upon some part of it. 
The form of assignment, it may be readily coneeived, would 
at first run in some such language as this : ' Pay the within 
to D., or his order— signed A.,' and by a similar superscrip- 
tion D. might in like manner assign his right to E„ and E. 
to F., and so on. But as the bill was of eonrse delivered to 
each successive assignee, possession was of itself a sufficient 
voueher for payment, and the special superscription there- 
fore was soon frequently dispensed with as unnecessary, 
the assignment of the prior holder being indicated by his 
signature alone. In England, and in some other countries, 
it has long been the practice to write the assignment on the 
back of the instrument, and it has thence reeeived the name 
of an indorsement, the form first described, in which the 
assignee is named, being termed a special indorsement, or 
an indorsement in full, and the mere signature of the 
assijjner, an indorsement in blank. 

When bills were drawn payable, not as at first on sight, 
but at some future day, it was natural that the first holder 
who had the opportunity of doing so should, during the 
eurrcneyof the specified period, shew the bill to the drawee, 
and procure from him an undertaking to pay it at maturity. 
If he refused, the bill was protested for non-acceptance and 
notice of the dishonour was immediately communicated to the 
drawer. If ho gave the undertaking cither verbally or in 
writing upon the bill or otherwise, he was said to have ac- 
cepted it, and became thenceforth liable, as the acceptor, for 
the amount specified. For the effect of the acceptance was 
this : the drawee thereby affirmed the right of the drawer 
to eall upon him for payment of the money, and he assented 
moreover to the transfer of the right, or, to borrow a legal 
tjhrase, he attorned to the holder of the order. If, there- 
fore, after acceptance, he refused to pay the bill when due, 



he was responsible to the drawer as having acknowledged 
himself to be liis debtor, and to the payee or other party in 
possession in respect of his express engagement. But the 
right of the holder was not confined to the acceptor- for 
although, after acceptance, the drawee became the principal 
debtor, to whom therefore recourse must be had in the first 
instance, yet if upon regular presentment he made default 
in payment, the holder was not bound to take measures 
against bim alone, but might resort to all prior parties whose 
names appeared upon the instrument. For as the indorse- 
ment conferred the right to receive the money, it was to 
be presumed that it had not been made without an equi- 
valent, and it was but justice therefore that on the dis- 
honour of the bill by the drawee, the holder should receive 
back the value wbich he had given ; and as every person, 
whose signature, whether as drawer or indorser, appeared 
upon the bill, acknowledged himself by the act of signing, 
to have received value for the delivery of the order, it was 
not unreasonable that the reimbursement should be claimed, 
not merely from the party from whose hands the hill had 
been received, but also from the drawer and every subse- 
quent party whose name preceded that of the holder. The 
result therefore was this : if the drawee paid according to 
the tenor of the bill, the arrangement was complete, and all 
parties were satisfied ; but if he dishonoured it, by a refusal 
either to pay or to accept on due presentment, a notification 
of the dishonour was conveyed by the holder to all parties 
preceding him, or to such as he thought fit to call upon for 
indemnity; if then the drawer paid the .money, or as it was 
termed took up the bill, all tbe other parties were exo- 
nerated, and the drawer had his remedy against the drawee, 
upon the bill if accepted, or upon the original consideration 
in respect of which it was drawn, if the acceptance had 
been refused. In like manner, whoever satisfied the bill by 
payment, thereby discharged all parties posterior to himself, 
and obtained a right against all who preceded him. Thus 
each successive indorsee had the accumulated security of all 
the parties whose signatures were upon the instrument as 
acceptor, drawer, or indorser, when it came into his hands. 

The party remitting a bill is by the supposition debtor to 
him to whom the remittance is made ; and after the expla- 
nation just given, it will be obvious that it would be re- 
quired of him to acknowledge and fix his liability by 
making himself a party to the instrument. The bill there- 
fore purchased by him would not be, as has been above 
supposed, and as at first was probably the ease, a direction 
to pay the remittee, but to pay the remitter or his order ; 
and henee it happens, as was said in the eommenecment, 
that the party to whom the bill is made payable, is in mer- 
cantile language sometimes called the remitter. 

Bills remitted to or from places abroad are of course 
liable to be lost in their passage ; and to obviate the incon- 
venience thence resulting, it became usual to draw them in 
sets ; that is to say, two or more parts of each bill were 
drawn, and described as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on, each 
containing a condition that it should be payable only while 
the others remained unpaid. But this practiee of drawing 
in sets is made available for another purpose. The payee 
having indorsed and paid away one part, frequently remits 
another part to some agent or correspondent at the place of 
the drawee's residence, to be by him presented for accept- 
ance, with a direction added, by way of memorandum, to 
the bill, that, when accepted, it is to be held for the use of 
tho person who shall duly present the other part or parts for 
payment at maturity. The advantage of this arrangement 
is obvious: if the bill be accepted, it is held, according to 
the direction, till maturity: if refused, it is protested, and 
notice is given to the drawer. Upon this protest the drawer 
may be ealled upon to give security for the due payment of 
the bill at the expiration of its currency; or, as occasionally 
happens, some correspondent of the drawer at the place 
upon which the bill is drawn accepts it for his honour, and 
thereby plaees himself in the situation of the original drawee, 
being liable as acceptor to all parties subsequent to tho 
drawer. Such an acceptance is called an acceptance supra 
protest, or for honour, and maybe made at any time during 
the currency of the hill, and on behalf of any party who is 
liable upon it after default made by the drawee. In short, 
without entering into further details, by successive modifica- 
tions and improvements the letter of request has become at 
length a very useful and convenient instrument of exehangc, 
the operation of which as a vehicle of remittance at the pre- 
sent day will be apparent from the following illustration, 



bU 



<ioo 



n i l 



A person in London ha* a pavment to make in Paris, 
sny, for convenience, of tOUO/. Instead of reuniting the 
money, ho goes to an exchange broker, and purchases 
from him a lull on Paris equivalent to that sum. Hut how 
i* that equivalent to be ascertained, or, in other words, for 
what amount in French money is tho bill to he drawn ? 
In the determination of this question there are several 
items of culriilatioii. The bill will be payable in francs; 
how many francs thon aro equal to 1000/. By the mint 
regulation* between England and France, 1/. sterling of 
Kugu*h moncv is equal to 25 francs, 20 cents, which is 
therefore the nominal or standard par of exchange between 
the two countries. According to this scale then, 1000/. in 
I/indon would be worth 25.200 francs in Paris. But the par 
is fixed on the supposition that the currencies of the two 
countries respectively aro uniformly of the weight and 
purity established by the Mint, whereas not un frequently 
the coin is debased by alloy or attrition, and tho relative 
valuo undergoes a corresponding alteration. This devia- 
tion however is well known, and may he regarded as com- 
paratively constant. But there are other circumstances 
affecting the ratio of value of a more fluctuating and un- 
steady operation. When, for instance, any considerable 
portion of the circulating medium of either of the two coun- 
tries between which the exchange is to be effected consists 
of a paper currency, the stand a rd is materially affected hy 
the quantity of paper in circulation. Without entering into 
an exposition of the law of this variation, it is sufficient to 
remark, that a redundancy of paper money has invariably 
the effect of depreciating the standard, or, in other words, of 
raising the value of the standard coin as compared with 
the same nominal sum in jxipermoney. This effect is tem- 
porary onlv when the paper is convertible into specie on 
demand ; "if inconvertible, it is both permanent and consider- 
able. Thus it is well known that, at one period of the late 
war. the English guinea was worth 26?. in money, estimated 
according to the value of the 1/. sterling in bank noies. At 
that time thcreforo the English pound would tall far below 
the Mint standard of 3/. 17s. lOjtf. per ounce, and a propor- 
tionate effect would be produced on tho rate of exchange 
with any other country in which the standard was main- 
tained. 'Taking, as before, the instance of France, the par 
would varv, other things remaining constant, fiom 25 francs 
to somewhere about 19 francs or 1000/.. in a Bank of 
England note, would buy a bill on l'aris. not fur 25,200 
francs, but for about 19,000 francs only. But it is evident 
that the same cause might be operating in a greater or less 
degree in France also, in which case the calculation would 
bc°still further complicated by a comparison of the depre- 
ciation in the one country with that in the other. The va- 
riation here taken for an example is of course an extreme 
case, but fluctuations the same in kind, though less in de- 
gree, are still of continual occurrence, and must be carefully 
taken into account in all calculations as to the price of bills. 
But besides these monetary influences on the nominal 
par. there arc other causes in operation which materially 
nffect tho rate of exchange, and by consequence the price of 
bilk The accommodation of a remittance in the form of a 
bill of exchange is worth a calculable sum, the maximum 
being the compound of the labour, expense, and risk of the 
transmission of money in specie. Suppose this maximum 
to be one per cent., it is evident that it is worth the while of 
the romitier to pay any sum short of 10/. for tho purchase 
of a bill equivalent to 1000/. Now the market price of hills, 
like that of every other commodity, is mainly dependant on 
the relation of the supply to the demand, and this again 
is primarily regulated hy the state of trade between two 
given countries. When the value of the exports to any 
country in a given period is equal to the value of the imports 
from tho same country in the same period, the trade is said 
to be balanced ; the hills drawn in each country upon the 
other will ho equal in amount, and this equilibrium con- 
stitutes what is called .the real par of exchange. But it is 
obvious that this state of things can never actually exist, that 

t is the point on each side of which the exchanges will con- 
tinually oscillate, and at which they will never rest. Even 
where, upon tho average of yearsor months, the trade is 
nearly even, there will be disturbing cire um stances which 
will have a temporary effect upon the exchanges. There 
will consequently bo occasional scarcity ami occasional 
abundance of foreign bills in tho market. When scarce, 
their price of course is higher, or, as it is ordinarily expressed, 
they bear a premium* At such time* the unpoits exceed 



the exports, and the exchanges arc said to 1c agtunsi 
us. Suppose that, in the trade between England and France, 
the value of our imports from Franc* exceeds that of our 
exports to France hy alwnt three- fourths. The effect (if 
this, if matters were left to themselves, would he. that of the 
remittances to Franco three- fourths must be made in specie*, 
and that the hills in which the remaining one- fourth was 
made would he at the maximum price, that is to Kay, taking 
the scale before adopted, would bear a premium of nil but 
one per cent. But it is a fact, incontcstably established, that 
in every trading community the value of the whole of the 
exports" taken together is, upon an average, very nearly 
balanced by the value of the whole of the imports, or, iu 
other words', that ultimately all commodities imported are 
paid for directly or indirectly in commodities exported. Ne- 
cessarily, therefore, the bills drawn in Kngland upon foicign 
countries, say in one year, nearly balance the bills drawn in 
foreign countries upon Kngland in the same period. Thus 
to tako a familiar instance, although there may be a defi- 
ciency in lymdon. to the extent of three-fourths, of bills 
upon France, there may be an excess, in nearly the same 
ratio, of hills upon Belgium, and in like manner there may 
be an excess in Belgium, to the same extent, of bills upon 
France. Acting on the knowledge of this fact, the Ixmdon 
bill -merchant by means of his agent will buy bills upon 
Paris at Antwerp, where they are cheapest, and bring them 
for sale to London, where lhey are dearest. The cost of 
procuring, and the profit of the hill-merchant, therefore, 
upon this transaction* constitute the third element in the 
calculation. Supposing then the bill to be a gwd one, that 
is to say, guaranteed by names of known and cstalilUhed 
credit, the only remaining operation is to estimate the dis- 
count according to mercantile practice, or, in other voids, 
the interest of 101)0/. in money lor the time which will el ipso 
before payment of the bill; and ihe combined result will 
give the sum in francs for which the bill is to l>e drawn, or 
the amount of bills already drawn to be given in exchange 
for 1 0«0/. 

The same remarks, mutatis mutandis, arc applicable, if 
instead of a remittance to Paris a sum of money was M be 
received from thence; for the mode adopted would be this. 
The party in I^ondon would draw a bill upon his debtor in 
Paris, fir which the exchange-broker would immediately 
give him the value, ascertained as before, either in cash or in 
bills upon Jymdon, or in both ; and although the system, as 
here explained in detail, may seem, as in truth it is, of some 
complexity, yet practically the price, like that of even oilier 
commodity, readily adjusts itself. In London it is the prae- 
tice for the bill-brokers to go round to the principal mer- 
chants and inquire whether they are buyers or sellers of 
bills. The relation of supply and demand being thus as- 
certained, a few of the most influential merchants settle 
tho average price at the Uoyal Exchange; and a document 
known as * Wetcnhall's List* contains the record of rates 
according to actual transactions. By these means the \ alms 
of particular bills, varying of course according to the credit 
of the parties to them, or, as it is generally called, the. good- 
nesK of the names, is easily determined. 

Bills of exchange are also iu frequent use for the purpose 
of remittance from one part of tLie United Kingdom lo 
another. Thus the trader in Manchester, Leeds, or Bir- 
mingham, who has a payment to make iu I -on don. remits 
bills of his customers in the country. These are discounted 
by the monicd capitalists through the intencntion of bill- 
brokers. A few of the London bankers nlso discount tur 
the accommodation of their customers, and the Bank of 
Kngland deals extensively in that department. The bills 
so cached are transmitted to the provincial hanks to be pre- 
sented at maturity for payment. Conversely, in the pro- 
vincial towns the country bankers discount hills on London, 
and transmit them to their correspondents there for pay- 
ment The rate of discount varies according to the demand 
for money, and the character of the particular lulls ; but it 
is seldom, upon regular transactions, more than four, or less 
than two and a half per cent. 

Hitherto bills of exchange have been considered, in (heir 
primary application, as media of remittance, but there are 
other purposes equally important, to which, by an intel- 
ligible transition, lhey have been made subservient. For. 
the use and properties of bills being once understood, and 
their validity recognized, nothing was more natural than 
that they should bo applied to the ordinary transactions 
of trade. A trader desirous of purchasing a commodity 



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401 



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for which his available funds might not enable him to 
pay ready money, would tender to the seller an order for 
payment on some other person,' receiving or paying the 
difference, as the case might be, and making an allowance by 
way of interest, or, whieh is the same thing in other words, 
paying an extra priee, in proportion to the time of the bill's 
eurrency. To the seller this mode of dealing would obvi- 
ously be better than the giving of a naked credit, as afford- 
ing him an. additional chance of payment, "and a written 
acknowledgment of his debt. Moreover, when the nego- 
tiability of inland bills was admitted, they served all the 
purposes of aetual money, beeause in the same manner as 
the original seller had been induced to take the order in 
payment, another might be willing to reeeive it from him in 
tbe purchase of other commodities; or it might be at once 
discounted or converted into cash by application to a money- 
dealer, whether bill-broker or banker, in the manner which 
has been already explained in speaking of remittances. 

But the drawing of a bill supposes, as has been said, that 
the drawee either has in his possession funds of the drawer, 
or is his debtor to the amount specified in the order : it was 
therefore by an easy step that in the transactions of whole- 
sale dealing it became a eommon practice for the seller to 
draw upon the buyer, for the price of the goods, a bill payable 
to his (the seller *s) own order at some future day. This bill 
the buyer immediately accepted, and thus in effeet acknow- 
ledged himself to be the debtor of the drawer to the amount 
specified, and engaged to pay the holder at maturity. By 
tbis arrangement, now very general, the buyer obtains credit 
for the term at. the expiration of whieh the bill is made pay- 
able, and the seller has the advantage of a fixed day for 
payment being named in the bill, and a means of pro- 
curing cash if he chooses to negotiate the bill. 
' Neither was it an unreasonable extension of the principle 
that a bill should be drawn and accepted on the faith of 
funds to be received by the drawee at or beforo the maturity 
of the draft. At the present day this praetiee prevails to a 
great extent, and may be illustrated by a supposed case as 
follows :— There are established in most if not all the prin- 
cipal trading ports of the world, merchants who carry on the 
business of general factors or agents for sale, and whose 
establishments are known among mercantile men under the 
name of commission-houses. The courso of dealing with 
such houses is, for the most part, this : — A., a manufacturer 
at Manchester, consigns a cargo of cotton pieees to B and 
Co., a commission-house at Mexico, for sale on his account. 
The English correspondents of B. and Co. are Messrs. C. and 
Co. of London. By an arrangement among these several 
parties A. draws on C. and Co. for half or two-thirds, as 
may be agreed, of the invoice price of the goods consigned, 
and discounting the bill with his banker obtains at onee an 
instalment in aetual money, whieh immediately returns into 
his capital, and becomes useful in producing more goods 
and creating more wealth. Ultimately, account sales are 
furnished' by the Mexiean house, and A. again draws on C. 
and Co. for the balanee, if in his favour. Annual balances 
are struek between B. and Co. and C. and Co., and remit- 
tances by bills for the adjustment of the aceount complete 
the transaction. Now the advantages of this antieipatory 
part-payment are obvious, more especially in the trade with 
distant countries, as South America or the East Indies. 
But the practice has degenerated into something of an 
abuse ; for it has of late been frequent with the consigners 
of goods to make out invoiees with prices artificially high, 
and so to procure a remunerating return even from the 
proportion for which they are authorized to draw in advance. 
The effect is to throw, upon the consignees the whole risk, 
which was formerly shared between the two, and propor- 
tionately to impair the steadiness and security of eommeree. 

Perhaps, however, if this wero the only abuse of bills, 
there would be little to complain of — nothing, certainly, to 
counterbalance the immense advantages whieh are derived 
• from them as instruments of exchange ; but, unfortunately, 
of late years, the abundance of money in the English mar- 
ket, and the consequent facility of negotiating paper securi- 
ties, tho competition of trade, and the accompanying relax- 
ation of the system of credit, with other causes whieh will 
readily suggest themselves, have given occasion to practices 
whieh are not only a.wide departure from the original pur- 
poses of bills of exchange, but are most injurious to the 
general interests of trade. Good bills, we have said, may 
be always discounted. Accordingly, any man whose credit 
is good may at any timo raise monoy upon a bill 4rawn, 



'accepted, or indorsed by himself. If his credit bo doubtful 
he may still proeure eash by tho same expedient, paying 
however, a premium or rate of discount proportioned to tho 
increased risk. . Among needy men instances aro not un- 
frequent of discounts procured by these means even at tho 
exorbitant rate of 20 or 30 per cent. But a still more eom- 
mon practice is the negotiation of what are ealled by the sig- 
nificant name of accommodation bills. A trader unable to 
meet his liabilities applies to a friend whose eredit is better 
than his own, to aecept, or in some other way to become a 
party to, a bill coneocted for the purpose, undertaking to pro- 
vide the funds necessary for paying it when due, and gene- 
rally giving in return his own acceptance of another eon-* 
eocted bill, known . in the mercantile world as a eross accept- 
ance. When one or more names have thus been obtained 
sufficient to give currency to the bill, it is discounted, and 
the money applied to the necessities of the trader. As this 
bill falls due, the same operation is repeated, until the sys- 
tem of expedients failing at last, as sooner or later it inevi- 
tably must, the ruin of tbe insolvent trader himself is con- 
summated, and not unfrequently draws along with it others 
who, unfortunately or imprudently, may have beeome parties 
to these unsubstantial representatives of value. Of the 
more serious misehiefs of this dangerous practice, such as 
the temptation to forgery by the use of fictitious names as 
drawers or payees, it is perhaps useless to speak, beeause few 
men at first seriously contemplate the commission of a 
crime, but are rather drawn into it by circumstances not fore- 
seen or not appreciated ; but the rclleetion that it is a foolish 
and improvident praetiee — that, in addition to the loss of 
credit, which, onee perceived (and how can it fail to be per- 
ceived?), it is sure to occasion, there is the certain expense 
of stamps and higher rates of discount, and moreover a 
double liability in respeet of every shilling for whieh cross 
acceptances are given — may perhaps have some effeet in 
deterring honest men, however necessitous, from having re- 
course to this, fatal expedient. 

, The various uses to which bills of exehange are made 
applicable in the great community of commerce having been 
thu3 explained, it remains only to take a glanee t at their 
legal incidents as instruments of contract. 

In contemplation of law, a bill of exchange, as well in its 
original formation as in its successive transfers, is an assign- 
ment of a debt, by'whieh the right of the original ereditor 
to sue for and obtain payment is transferred to the holder 
for the time being. In sueh a substitution the Roman law 
saw nothing objectionable; and in those countries there- 
fore which adopted the civil law for their own, the negotia- 
tion of bills found no impediment. But the eommon law of 
England had early taken up a notion, founded probably on 
experience of the miscbief, that the assignment of things 
not in possession, such as a debt or right, being in truth the 
assignment of suits at law, might be converted into an en - 
gine of oppression, and refused therefore to reeognize tho 
validity of such transfers. Bills of exehange fell within the 
boundaries of this prohibition, but the reason of the prohibi- 
tion did not apply; and as the operations of eommeree would 
have been impeded, if usages current among merchants 
generally had not received the sanetion of the municipal 
tribunals in the several countries in whieh they were earned 
on, the negotiability of bills, which was reeognized else- 
where, was of necessity admitted as part of tbe law of Eng- 
land. It was not, however, until three centuries after the 
indulgence thus shown to foreign bills, that the negotiability 
of inland bills, whieh eould not plead the samo warrant of 
prescription, was reeognized by the courts, unless on proof of 
some speeial custom of trade ; but expediency finally pre- 
vailed, and at the present day, as well by the common law as 
by tbe statutes of 9 and 10 Will. III. c. 17, and 3 and 4 Anne, 
c. 9, they stand on the same general footing as foreign bills. 

It is this assignability, vesting in the holder a right of 
action against the original parties, whieh chiefly distin- 
guishes a bill i of exchange from every other form of con- 
tract recognised by t our law. Another and scarcely less im- 
portant privilege is, that though a simple eontract debt, and 
as sueh requiring a consideration, or quid quo pro, to give it 
legal efficacy, the consideration is presumed until the want of 
it be shown. It is available therefore in the hands of a bond 
fide holder, upon merely formal proof of title by the signa- 
ture of the parties to be charged : that is to say, it is unne- 
cessary to prove value given, unless it be first shown on the 
other side that tho bill is in some stage or other tainted with 
an illegality, and tuo bona fides is assumed until it shall be 



No. 255. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. fvV-3 F 



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402 



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mado to appoar that tho bolder was, at tho time of taking it, 
privy to that Illegality. From tlus rule an exception is mado 
as to bills given for a gambling debt, which by statute aro 
void even in the hands of an innocent holder. 

Of the Parties to a Bill. — Any person, whether trader or 
not, who is not under a legal incapacity to contract, may 
becomo party to, and thereby liable upon, a bill of exchange. 
Infants and married women arc not personally bound by 
becoming parties, but the instrument, though lnopcratlvo as 
against them may be available against others whoso names 
aro upon it. A person may becomo party to a bill, not only 
by his own act, but by that of his duly authorized agent 
liio agent ought either to sign the namo of his principal 
without anything further, or to add to his own signature 
tho words ' per procuration for A. B.,* or to make it in some 
way apparent upon the faco of the instrument that he acts 
as agent. Otherwise, though really an agent, he renders 
himself personally liable by his signature, and oxempts his 
principal. Any one who assumes to draw, accept, or indorse 
by procuration, knowing that he has no authority to do so, 
though without any intention of committing a fraud, is, 
upon default by the person whose authority is assumed, 
liable, though not upon the bill as a party, yet to a special 
action for deceit at the suit of a bond fide holder. 

Each member of a trading firm has an implied authority 
to bind his copartners by drawing, accepting, or indorsing 
bills: but this presumption of authority fails where the 
holder has covinously colluded with a partner to make the 
partnership funds or credit available to his own Individual 
purposes. The acceptance of a bankrupt partner in tho 
name of the firm, though after a secret act of bankruptcy 
committed by that partner, is an available security in tho 
hands of an indorsee for value. 

Of the form and other requisites of a bill. — A bill of 
oxchangc must bo in writing, but no prcelso form of words 
is essential to its validity. Tho only requisites are that it 
be an order for tho payment of money simply, and not for 
the payment of money and the performance of somo other 
act, and that It be payable at all events, and not upon a con* 
tlngcney, or out of a particular fund, The forms in ordinary 
use aro as follows : 

Form of a Foreign Bill in sett. 

No, London, UtJan* 1835. 

[Stamp] 

Days after sight (or days after dato, or at 

usances) pay this my first of exchange, second and 

third of tho same tenor and date not paid, to Messrs. A. B. 

and Co., or order, ten thousand francs valuo received of 

thera, and place tho same to account. C* D. 

Mr. E. P., Paris. 

Form of an Inland Bill. 
[Stamp] 

£100. 

London, Ut Jan. 1835. 
months after dato (or *at sight/ or days 

after date) pay Mr, A. B., or order, one hundred pounds for 
valuo received. C. D, 

To Mr. E. F., Castle-street, Liverpool. 

To take the several parts of this form in their order :— 
All inland bills, and such foreign bills as arc drawn in Eng- 
land, aro liable to a duty, and must bo made on paper; duly 
stamped, under a penalty of 50/. Foreign bills not drawn 
in England aro of necessity excluded from the operation of 
this statute. 

For inland bills and for foreign bills drawn singly the 
scale is as follows * 









Noltx.f mth*.»ft*r 


E«*fri. 1 








date, or 60 iUn »ft«r 


monttta, 








tiftht. 




to. 


£. *. 




£. e. 


£. 


*. d 


£. *. d. 


If 2 andnotabovo 5 5 


.. 


1 


1 6 


Above 5 5 


ti 


20 


.. 


1 6 


2 


20 


ii 


30 


.. 


2 


2 G 


30 


it 


50 


.. 


2 6 


3 G 


50 


*i 


100 


.. 


3 G 


4 G 


100 


it 


200 


.. 


4 6 


5 


200 


it 


300 


.. 


5 


G 


300 


it 


500 


.. 


G 


8 G 


600 


tt 


1000 


.. 


8 6 


12 G 


1000 


tt 


2000 


.. 


12 G 


15 


2000 


ti 


3000 


.. 


15 6 


1 5 


3(100 


»i 




.. 1 


6 0^ 


1 10 



For foreign bills drawn in sets the scale is 

For every bill of each sot, if the sum docs not 
oxceed 100/. . . . 16 

Exceeding 100/. and not oxeooding 20C/. ,030 
200 „ 500 . 4 

500 „ 1000 . 5 

1000 „ 2000 , 7 G 

2000 „ 3000 . 10 G 

3000 „ , 15 

A bill alterod in any material respect aftor it lias been 
once issued is in effect a new bill, and to which the existing 
stamp cannot therefore be applied. No action oan bo main- 
tained in any court of law or equity upon a bill not having 
the proper stamp as well in denomination as in value. 

A date, though usual, is not cssontial to a bill unless 
drawn for a sum under 5/. When no date is given, the bill 
is presumed to be dated when drawn. 

A bill in which no time of payment is oxpressod is con- 
strued to be payable on demand. 

Bills, as has been said, are ordinarily mado payable to 
somo third person, or to tho drawer himself. They may, 
however, bo expressly made payable to bearer, and when 
no name, or a fictitious one, is given as payee, the instrument 
is in legal effect payahle to bearer. It must bo observed 
that the inserting a fictitious name as payee and indorsing 
the bill with that name is a forgery, and punishable as such. 

The words ' or order give to the bill its character of nego- 
tiability, but tho general o peration of this expression may 
be restricted by the payee or any other indorser, who by tho 
following simple form of indorsement, « Pay A.B. (or A. B. 
or order) to my use,' may cast upon the next immediate 
holder the responsibility of seeing that the contents aro 
duly applied. 

Tho sum should be clearly expressed in the bill, and in 
such way as to render forgery difficult. But a blank draft 
or acceptance given to a third person may bo filled up by 
him with any sum which the stamp will cover. 

* Value received' upon a bill signifies, in general, value 
roecived from the payee, and the bill itself without these 
words imports so much. A total want of consideration is 
ground of dofence to an action upon the bill as between 
immediate parties, but is not available as an answer to 
the claim of a holder for value who has taken the security 
in the regular course. 

An alteration in a bill in any material part, as in the 
date, sum, or time when payable, will, independently of tho 
stamp acts, render the bill wholly invalid as against any 
party not consenting to the alteration, and this although it 
be in the hands of an innocent holder. But an alteration 
in a part not material, or made merely for tho purpose of 
correcting a mistake, in furtherance of tho original inten- 
tion of the parties, though made after the bill is complete, 
will not invalidate it, either as regards tho stamp laws or 
otherwise. 

Of the delivery of tlie bill to the payee. — The delivery of 
a bill of exchange in consideration of an antecedent debt, 
susnends the rignt to sue for that debt during tho currency 
of the bill; but if it bo dishonoured at maturity, the original 
dobt revives and with it tho legal remedy, provided that no 
act be done by the holder to prejudice or impair the claim 
of the drawer upon tho acceptor. In like manner the taking 
of a hill of exchange in payment suspends for the time tho 
lien of a seller upon goods sold and remaining in his pos- 
session ; but if the bill be not paid when duo, he is remitted 
to his right of retaining or stopping tho goods before they 
reach the buyer. 

Of tlie presentment, acceptance, and non-acceptance of 
bills, — It is usual, as already said, for the payee, or tho 
first holder who conveniently can do so, to present the bill 
to tho drawee for acceptance ; and when a bill is drawn pay- 
able at a certain tiino after sight, presentment for acccptanco 
is necessary in order to fix the date of payment, and ought 
to .ho made within a reasonable time. A foreign bill so 
drawn may bo circulated for any length of timo beforo ac- 
ceptance, and an inland bill may also be put into circulation, 
though with less latitude as to timo; but in either case, if 
the payee keep the bill in his possession for a longer timo 
than is customary among merchants, he is guilty of laches, 
and cannot recover against the drawer. 

The presentment snould in all cases be mado during tho 
usual hours of business, and to the drawee himself or his 
agent, who 13 bound to return an answer within twenty-four 
hours, 



B I L 



403 



B I L 



Tho acceptance of an inland bill must be in writing on 
the bill itself. A foreign bill may be accepted verbally or 
by a written paper, such as a letter, not part of the bill 
itself. An engagement to accept a bill not than drawn 
is not, in contemplation of law, an acceptance. 

An acceptance may be either absolute or qualified. — An 
absolute acceptance is an engagement to pay the bill ac- 
cording to the tenor : a qualified acceptance is when a bill 
is accepted conditionally ; as that the drawee will pay when 
certain goods shall be sold, or when certain funds shall come 
to his hands, or the like, and in this case the acceptor is" not 
bound until the fulfilment of the condition. 

A bill may also be accepted partially, as to pay a sum 
short of that for which the bill is drawn, or at a different time 
or place. In all cases of a conditional or partial acceptance* 
the holder ought to give notice thereof to all parties whom 
he intends to hold liable on default. 

An acceptance may also be qualified as to the plaee of 
payment, but in inland bills this can only be done by the 
use of restrictive words : as for instance, * Accepted payable 
at Sir Jas. Esdaile and Co., and riot elsewhere' 

If the drawee refuse or neglect to accept, any third party, 
after protesting the non-acceptance by the drawee, may ac- 
cept for the honour of the drawer or any subsequent party, 
and such an acceptance id called an acceptance supra pro- 
test, ox for honour. 

Upon the non-acceptance of a foreign bill, a protest is 
made by the holder, or a public notary for him. Inland 
bills need not be protested, and in practice are merely 
noted for non-acceptance, which itself also is a useless 
form. 

Notice of the non-acceptance must be given with all dili- 
gence to every party to whom it is intended to resort for 
payment, the want of such notice being a discharge from 
liability — to the drawer on the ground that he is prejudiced 
by not receiving immediate information of the default, so as to 
enable him to withdraw his efTects from the hands of the 
drawee, and to the indorsors for a similar reason, inasmuch as 
their interests may be affected by the delay. If the drawer 
had in truth no effects in the hands of the drawee, the 
omission to give the drawer notice constitutes no objection 
to the right of action as against him. Generally, the notice 
must be given within twenty-four hours after the dishonour, 
and each party on receiving such notico is allowed the same 
interval for communicating to those who precede him upon 
the bill. — The notice may in all cases be sent by the post, 
and it is sufficient to show that the letter containing it was 
deliverod into the post-office. 

The death, known insolvency, or even bankruptcy of the 
drawee, affords no excuse, either at law or in equity, for a 
neglect to give due notice of nort-acceptance ; but any party 
may, hy agreement, or by a subsequent admission of his 
liability, dispense with or waive the notice to which he is 
entitled ; and where the residence of the party is unknown, 
duo diligence to discover it is all which the law requires. 

Of the indorsement and transfer of bills, something has 
been already said. No form has been prescribed by the law 
for the mode of indorscmen t, and in general the mere signature 
of the party is sufficient. After an indorsement in full, the 
holder can derivo title only through the special indorsee, 
whose signature therefore must appear upon the bill. — An 
indorsement is valid though made after the bill is become 
due, but tho holder in that case is entitled only to such ad- 
van tagos as might have been claimed by the last indorsee 
before the maturity. 

After payment of a part, the hill may be indorsed over 
for the residue. Bills payable to bearer may he transferred 
by delivery only without indorsement. An indorsement 
may be restricted hy the words before mentioned, * Paj A. B. 
to my use/ or by any other expression clearly limiting the 
authority to assign, 

A bona fide holder for value is not affected hy the want 
of title in any previous indorscr; but gross negligence in 
taking a bill which has been lost or stolen takes away the 
right of action against all who were parties prior to the loss. 
If the holder, under such circumstances, has a right to re- 
cover upon the bill, it follows that the party who has lost it 
is deprived of the right. But where no claim is made from 
any other quarter, he may in general, through the medium 
of a court of equity, obtain payment on giving an indem- 
nity ; and it is provided by Stat. 9 and 10 Wm. III., c. 17, 
s. 3, 'that in case any inland bill for valuo received and 
payablo after date shall happen to be lost or miscarried, 



within the time before limited for tho payment of the same, 
then the drawer of the said bill is and shall be obliged to 
give another bill of the same tenor with that first given ; 
the person to whom they are delivered giving security, if 
demanded, to the drawer, to indemnify him against all 
persons whatsoever, in case the said bills so alleged to bo 
lost or miscarried shall be found again.' 

If it can be shown that the bill has been actually de- 
stroyed, the amount is recoverable in a court of common 
law. 

Of the presentment for payment, fyc— The holder of a 
bill is bound to present it to the drawee for payment at the 
time when due, when a time of payment is specified, or* 
within a reasonable time after receipt of the bill when no 
time is expressed. If he neglect to do so, not only is he 
disabled from afterwards resorting to the drawer or in- 
dorsee — whose implied engagements are severally to pay 
only in case of default by the drawee, and who are always 
presumed to have sustained damage by such neglect on the 
part of the holder — but he loses also his remedy for the con- 
sideration or debt in respect of which the bill was given or 
transferred. As in the case of presentment for acceptance,' 
so in that of presentment for payment, the insolvency of the 
acceptor furnishes no dispensation of presenting for pay j 
ment, as regards the drawer and indotsers; but to an action* 
against the acceptor presentment is not in any case a rtece&-< 
sary preliminary. If tho acceptance be Qualified as* to the 
place of payment in tho manner before described, the pre- 
sentment must be made at the place so specially indicated ; 
but in general, a presentment at the domicile of the drawee 1 
is sufficient, even though another place bo named upon the 
bill. The presentment ought to be rhado after the expi- 
ration of the days of grace, which have been before adverted 
to. Bills payable on demand, or where no day of payment 
is expressed, are hot entitled to days of grace* 

The following is a statement (taken front 'M'CulIoch's 
Dictionary of Commerce'} of the usance and days of grace 
for bills drawn in London upon some of the Chief c6rdmer- 
cial cities. 

m. d. t m.s. t d. d., d. &., d. a t , respectively denote months 
after date, months after sight, days after date, days after 
sight, days after acceptance ■ 

London on Usance. Days of Gratfe. 

Amsterdam . . 1 m.d. 6 

Rotterdam , , 1 i».i G 

Antwerp , . , 1 m.d, 6 

Hamburg . . I m.d. 12 

Altona ' . . . 1 m. d. 12 

Danzig , , . 14 d.d, 10 

Paris . . . 30 d.d. 10 

Bordeaux . . . 30 d.d. 10 

Bremen 1 m.d* 8 

Barcelona . . .60 d<d. 14 

Geneva . . . 30 d.d. 5 

Madrid * * 2 m. s. 14 

Cadiz . GO d.d. G 

Bilboa . . . 2 m.d, 14 

Gibraltar * . . 2 in. s< 14 

Leghorn * « # 3 m.d. 

Leipzig • , # 14 d. a. O 

Genoa , , . 3 m.d. 30 

Venice * ♦ » 3 m.d. 6 

Vienna . ♦ » 14 d,a< 3 

Malta t . . 30 d.d. 13 

Naples , , 1 3M,f/, 3 

Palermo , , . 3m,d, O 

Lisbon . . * 30 d.s. G 

Oporto . . « 30 d.s, 6 

Rio Janeiro . . 30 d.d. 6 

Dublin , ♦ . 21 d.s. 3 

Cork . . . . 21 d.S. 3 

It should be remarked however that many of these usances 
arc obsolete in the strict sense of the word. The same re- 
mark applies to days of grace; in Hamburg or France, for 
instance, it would be destructive of credit not (0 pay a bill on 
the very day that it becomes due. In England three days 
of grace arc allowed and always taken, so that bills are not 
presentable for payment until the three days are expired. 

In general, payment made on any part of the day on which 
the bill is presented will be sufficient ; yet if payment bo 
once refused, however early in that day, the bill is effectually 
dishonoured by such refusal, and recourso may be at once 
had to tho other parties, Tho requisites, With respect to 

3JF2 



B I L 



401 



B1L 



notice, &c aro the stmo'as thoso which have been already 
given under the head of presentment (or acceptance. In 
this country no damages are recovcrablo upon inland bills 
dishonoured, the party sued being liable only for tho amount 
of the interest to tho day on which judgment is entered up. 
On foreign bills duly protested tho expenses occasioned by 
the dishonour, as re-exchange, postage, commission, and 
provision, may be recovered under the name of damages, 
and amount sometimes to a considcrablo sum. But neither 
in this country nor in any other can compensation be claimed 
by tho holder for losses more remotely consequential, as the 
expense of I ravelling or the disappointment of some pro- 
fitublo adventuro. 

Jf tho holder mako any agreement with tho acceptor for 
taking a composition from him, or limiting a timo within 
which he will not press for payment, all the other parties 
to the hill, being in the situation of sureties only, aro ex- 
onerated from their liability by this dealing with the 
principal. 

Payment should be made only to the holder of the bill ; 
and it may bo refused unless tho bill be delivered up. It 
is usual moreover and prudent to take a receipt written on 
the back. If payment be made by mistake, as upon a 
forged acceptance, indorsement, or the like, tho money so 
paid may be recovered back from the holder, provided the 
discovery has l>ecn made in sufficient timo to allow the 
regular notices to be given, as in case of non-payment. 

The forgery of a bill of exchange or of any signature 
thereto, as well as the uttering of any such forged bill or 
indorsement with a knowledge of the forgery, is h felony, 
punishable with transportation for life. 

BILL OK HEALTH. [Sec Quarantine.] 

BILL OF LADING, an acknowledgment signed usually 
by the master of a trading ship, but occasionally by some 
person authorised to act on his behalf, certifying the ro- 
ecipt of merchandise on board the ship, and engaging, 
under certain conditions and with certain exceptions, to 
deliver iho said merchandise safely at the port to which the 
ship is bound, either to the shipper, or to such other person 
as ho may signify by a written assignment upon the Bill of 
Lading. 

The conditions stipulated on behalf of the master of the 
ship are, that the person entitled to claim the merchandise 
shall pay upon delivery of .the 5ame a certain specified 
amount or rate of freight, together with allowances recog- 
nised by the customs of the port of delivery, and known 
tinder the names of primage and average. Primage amounts 
in some cases to a considerable per centage (ten or fifteen 
per cent.) upon the amount of tho stipulated freight, but 
the more usual allowance under this head is a small fixed 
sum upon certain packages, e. g. the primage charged upon 
a hogshead of sugar brought from the West Indies to Lon- 
don is sixpence. This allowance is considered to be the 
perquisite of the master of the ship. , Average, tho claim 
for which is # reserved against the receiver of the goods, con- 
sists of a charge divided pro rata between the owners of the 
ship and the proprietors of ber cargo for small expenses 
(such as payments for towing and .piloting the shin into or 
out of harbours), when the same aro incurred for tno gene- 
ral benefit. 

Tho exceptions stipulated on behalf of tho shipowners are 
explained on tho face of the Bill of Lading, which instru- 
ment is in this country' usually drown up in tho following 
words : — 

1 Shipped, in good order and well conditioned, by [John 
Smith], in and upon the good ship called the [Mary], whereof 
is master [Thomas Jones], now lying in the [lliver Thames], 
and bound for [Hamburg] 

| it s i «i 100 nans I [Ono Hundred bags of Coffco, and 
! - ' mi 7 m—t»] I Seven Chests of Indigo], 

marked and numbered as in the margin, to be delivered in 
the like good order and condition at the aforesaid port of 
[Hamburg] (the act of God; the King s enemies, fire, and 
all and every other danger and accidents of the seas, rivers, 
and navigation, of whatever nature and kind soever ex- 
rrjAtd) unto [Messrs. Schroder and Co.] or their assigns, 
I hey pj ing freight for the said goods at the following rates, 
vu. [One Shilling and fourpenco sterling per Hundred 
Weight for the Coffee, and five-eighths of a penny sterling 
per pound for tho IndigoJ, together with primage and 
nvcrago aecustomed. In witness whereof, I, tho said master 



o' tho said ship, have affirmed to [four] bills of lading, all 
of this tenor and dato. any one of which bills being accom- 
plished, tho other [three] aro to stand void. Dated in 
London, this [Grst] day of [September] 1835. 

4 Thomas Jones.* 

In every case whero shipments are made from this 
country, one at least of the bills of lading must bo written 
upon a stamp of tho value of thrco shillings. 

Ono of the bills (unstamped) is retained by the master of 
the ship, the others are delivered to the shipper of the 
goods, who usually transmits to tho consignee of the goods 
ono copy by the ship on board which they aro laden, and a 
second copy by some other conveyance. In case the ship 
should be lost, when the goods are insured, the underwriters 
require the production of one of the copies of the Bill of 
Lading on the part of the person claiming under the policy 
of insuranco as evidence at once of the shipment having 
actually been made, and of the ownership of the goods. 

Considerable hardship was experienced up to a late period 
from the state of the commercial law of Englaud as re- 
garded pledges. A factor to whom consignments of goods 
should be made had full power over those goods to sell them, 
with or M*itliout, or even against, tho instructions of the owner, 
but he had no right to pledge them, and if he did so the 
owner of the goods might insUt upon their restitution from the 
pawnee without repaying the advances he might have made. 
It was impossible to know from the terms of the document 
whether the holder of a Bill of Lading was actually the owner 
of the goods represented by it, or only entrusted with thein 
as a factor, and cases of great hardship frequently occurred, 
sometimes indeed not without suspicion of collusion between 
the owner and the factor. This law was defective, because 
it visited upon a third party the carelessness or error of the 
owner of the goods in making a false estimate of the cha- 
racter of the factor whom he employed, and because, on the 
other hand, it frequently compelled factors to sell goods at 
an unfavourable moment, the necessity for which course 
might have been averted if they could legally have given 
the goods in security for an advanco of money. This state 
of things was remedied by the act 6 George IV. c. 94, tho 
second section of which declares * that any person in pos- 
session of a Bill of Lading shall be deemed the true owner 
of the goods specified in it, so as to make a sale or pledgo 
by him of such goods or bill of lading valid, unless the 
person to whom the goods are sold or pledged has notice 
that tho seller or pledger is not the actual and bona fide 
owner of the goods. 

The unavoidable practice of delivering more than one 
bill of lading as an acknowledgment for the same goods 
makes it necessary to protect tho master of the vessel 
against demands mado for the delivery of the same in 
the possible case of different copies of the Bill of Lading 
falling into the possession of different persons. In such 
case all that is required from the master of the ship is, that 
he, acting in perfect good faith, and without any reasonable 
suspicion of fraud on the part of the person first making the 
demand for delivery, shall comply with tho same to the person 
so first demanding the goods by the presentation of the Bill 
of Lading. The property in the goods represented by a 
Bill of Lading can be assigned liko a bill of exchange by 
either a blank or a special indorsement, and as, in the event 
of the first modo being used, the document might acci- 
dentally fall into improper hands — a fact which the master 
of a ship could not reasonably be expected to discover— it is 
manifestly only justice thus to shield him from responsi- 
bility "when acting without collusion. Should he, on tho 
other hand, aet cither negligently or collusively in tho 
matter, the law will compel Turn to make good their value to 
the real owner of the gooas. 

BILL OF RIGHTS is the name commonly given to 
the statute 1 William and Mary, scss. 2, chap. 2, in which 
is embodied the Declaration of Rights, presented by both 
Houses of the Convention to the l'rinco and Princess of 
Orange, in the Banqueting House at Whitehall, on the 13th 
of February, 1689, and accepted by their Highnesses along 
with the crown. The Bill of Rights was originally brought 
forward in the first session of the parliament into which the 
Convention was transformed ; but a dispute between the 
two Houses with regard to an amendment introduced into 
the bill by the Lords, naming the Princess Sophia of 
Hanover and her posterity next in succession to the crown 
after tho failure of issue to King William, which was re- 
jected in the Commons by tho united votes of the high 



B I L 



405 



n i l. 



church and the republican parties, occasioned the measure 
to be dropped, after it had been in dependence for. two 
months, and the matter of difference had been agitated in 
several conferences without effect. The bill was however 
again brought in immediately after the opening of the next 
session, on the 1 9th of Oetober, 1689, and the amendment 
respecting tbe Prineess Sophia not having been again pro- 
posed, it passed both houses, and reeeived the royal assent 
in the same shape in whieh it had formerly passed the Com- 
mons, with the addition only of a elause inserted by the 
Lords, enacting that the kings and queens of England 
should be obliged, at their coming to the erown, to take the 
test in tbe first parliament that should be called at the be- 
ginning of tbeir reign, and that if any king or queen of 
England should embrace the Roman Catholic religion, or 
marry with a Roman Catholic prinee or princess, their sub- 
jects should be absolved of their allegianee. Tbis remark- 
able elause is stated to have been agreed to without any 
opposition or debate. 

The Bill of Rights, after declaring the late King James II. 
to have done various aets, which aro enumerated, utterly 
and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and 
freedom of this realm, and to have abdicated the govern- 
ment, proceeds to enaet as follows * — 

' 1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or 
the execution of laws, by regal authority, without eonsent 
of parliament, is illegal. 2. That the pretended power of 
dispensing with laws, or the execution of laws, by regal 
authority, as it hath been assumed and exereised of late, is 
illegal. 3. That the commission for creating the late court 
of commissioners for ecelesiastieal eauses, and all other 
commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and per- 
nieious. 4. That levying of money for or to tbe use of the 
crown, by pretenee of prerogative, without grant of parlia- 
ment, for longer time, or in other manner, than the same is 
or shall be granted, is illegal. 5. Tbat it is the right of 
the suhjeets to petition the king, and all commitments and 
prosceutions for such petitioning are illegal. 6. That the 
raising or keeping a standing army within tbe kingdom in 
time of peace, unless it be with eonsent of parliament, is 
against law. 7. That the subjeets, whieh are Protestants, 
may havo arms for tbeir defenec, suitable to their condition, 
and as allowed by law. 8. That election of members of 
parliament ought to be free. 9. That the freedom of speeeh, 
and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not to be 
impeached or questioned in any court or plaee out of parlia- 
ment. 10. That exeessive bail ought not to be required, 
nor exeessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- 
ments in dieted. 11. That jurors ought to be duly empan- 
nelled and returned, and jurors whieh pass upon men in 
trials for high treason ought to bo freeholders. 12. That all 
grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular 
persons, before eonvietion, are illegal and void. 1 3. Arid 
that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, 
strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments 
ought to be held frequently.' 

It is added that the Lords and Commons ' do claim, de- 
mand, and insist upon all and singular the premises as their 
undoubted rights and liberties ; and that no declarations, 
judgments, doings, or proceedings, to the prejudice of the 
peoplo in any of tho said premises, ought in anywise to be 
drawn hereafter into consequence or example/ 

The act also recognises their Majesties William III. and 
Mary as King and Queen of England, France, and Ire- 
land, and the dominions thereunto helonging ; and declares 
that tho crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and 
dominions shall be held by their said majesties during their 
lives and the life of the survivor of them ; that the sole and 
full exercise of the regal power shall be only in and exe- 
cuted by King William, in the names of himself, and her 
majesty, during their joint lives; and that after their de- 
cease the erown shall descend to the heirs of the body of the 
queen, and, in default of such issue, to the Princess Anne 
of Denmark and the heirs of her body, and, failing her issue, 
to the heirs of the body of the king. 
. The Declaration of Rights is understood to have been 
principally the composition of Lord (then Mr.) Somcrs, who 
was a member of the first, and ehairman of the seeond, of 
two committees, on whose reports it was founded. The ori- 
ginal draught of the Bill of Rights. was also probably the 
production of his pen. In the latter especially there is very 
apparent a desire to preserve in the new arrangement as 
much as possiblo of the principle of hereditary, succession to 



the crown. The legislature, for instance, in strong terms 
expresses its thankfulness that God had mereifully pre- 
served King William and Queen Mary to reign over them 
| upon the throne of their ancestors ;* and the new settlement 
is eautiously designated merely • a limitation of the erown/ 
Mr. Burke has, from these expressions, contended (in his 
' Reflections on the Revolution in France') that the notion 
of the English people having at the Revolution asserted a 
right to eleet their kings is altogether unfounded. « I never 
desire,' he adds, in repudiation of the opposite opinion as 
held by one elass of persons professing Whig principles, ' to 
be thought a better Whig than Lord Somers, or to under- 
stand the principles of the Revolution better than those by 
whom it was brought about, or to read in the Declaration of 
Rights any mysteries unknown to those whose penetrating 
style has engraved in our ordinances and in our hearts the 
words and spirit of that immortal law/ 

The Declaration and Bill of Rights may be eompared 
with the Petition of Rights (drawn up by Sir Edward Coke), 
which was presented by parliament to Charles I. in 1628, 
and passed by him into a law. (See Petition of Right.) 

BILL OF SALE, a deed or writing under seal, evidenc- 
ing the sale of personal property. In general, the transfer 
of possession is the best evidenee of ownership, but eases 
frequently oeeur in whieh it is neeessary or desirable that 
the ehange of property should be attested by a formal in- 
strument of transfer ; and in all eases in whieh it is not 
intended that the sale shall be followed by delivery, sueh a 
solemnity is essential to the legal efHeacy of the agree- 
ment. The occasions to whieh these instruments are com- 
monly made applicable are sales of fixtures and furniture 
in a bouse, of the stoek of a shop, of the good-will of a 
business (whieh of eourse is intransferrable by delivery), of 
an offiee, or the like. But their most important use is in 
the transfer of property in ships, whieh being held in shares 
eannot, in general, be delivered over on eaeh ehange of 
part ownership. It seems to have been from antient times 
the praetiee, as well in this country as in other commercial 
states, to attest the sale of ships by a written document ; 
and at the present day a bill of sale is, by the registry aets, 
rendered neeessary to the validity of all transfers of shares 
in British ships, whether by way of sale or of mortgage. 
In general, bills of sale, being ex vi termini founded on 
valuable consideration, are available against the creditors 
of the seller ; but by the operation of the hankrupt laws, 
goods remaining with the eonsent of tho true owner in the 
order and disposition of the insolvent at the time of his 
bankruptcy, are deemed to be the property of the latter, 
and pass to his assignees to bo distributed with the rest of 
his effects for the benefit of his creditors. * Moreover, in all 
cases' such a deed may be set aside on proof that it was a 
merely colourable and fraudulent expedient for defeating 
the claim of bond fide creditors, and the courts of law are in 
general little disposed to favour assignments of this kind, 
made secretly and without the notoriety which attends the 
aetual transfer of possession. * 

BILLINGSGATE, a London market at the western ex- 
tremity of the Custom-house, and the only wholesale market 
for supplying the metropolis with fish.' It was established 
in 1699, and is held every day, exeept Sunday, when how- 
ever maekerel is allowed to be sold. Tho market is so di- 
vided that oysters are sold in one part and other descriptions 
of shell-fish in another; red-herrings, cod, salmon, and 
eels, are to be found in the respective divisions of the market 
assigned for their sale. The two latter are the only kinds 
sold by weight. The English rivers and coasts furnish an 
almost inexhaustible supply of fish, and eaeh season brings, 
its peculiar kind, such as herring, salmon, cod, pilchard, 
maekerel, turbot, lobster, oyster, &e. 

An artiele which enters largely into the consumption of the 
public should bo supplied under as few restrictions as pos 
sible. It is partly with this view that fresh fish of all de- 
scriptions, "taken by British subjeets and imported in British 
vessels, may be imported into the United Kingdom without 
report, entry, or warrant. Lobsters and turbot are admitted 
freo of duty, whether imported in British vessels or other- 
wise. Cured fish of every kind is admitted free of duty i' 
caught, taken, and cured by British subjeets ; but fish which 
is taken or eured by foreigners, or brought in foreign vessels, 
exeept turbot and lobsters, as previously notieed, are ad 
mitted on payment of the following duties: — oysters, pet 
bushel, 1*. Gd. ; stock-fish, per 120, 5s. ; sturgeon, per keg, 
not containing moro than five gallons, 0$. The duty on 



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caviare is 12#. per cwt, and on anchotiea 2<f. per lb. ; but 
those Articles arc imported on account of merchants, and do 
not find their way into this market Previous to 1629 the 
dutv on anchovies was 1*. per lb. j and in 1821, this article 
produced a net revenue of C390/. Sinco the reduction, the 
duty has averaged 1353/. j and it is probablo that tho public 
liavo not fully obtained the benefits of a reduced duty. 
Livo eels are chiefly supplied by tho Dutch, and tlw number 
of ship-loads entered at tho Custom-house in a year, has 
varied during tho last thirteen years from 59 to 83, viz. in 
1824, 83 j in 1830, 69; and in 1833, tho number was Gl. 
A duty of 13/. 1#. 3tf. is charged on each ship-load. The 
supply of foreign oysters during the last thirteen or fourteen 
Years, has varied, in different years, from a few bushels to an 
importation of 78,000 bushels, yielding a duty of 5846/. In 
(he five years succeeding 1823 there was not a single cargo 
imported. 

Tho duties on fish amounted in 1823, on anchovies, to 
4109/.; eels 796/.; oysters 1730/.; on all the other sorts, 
69/.; total, 3004/. In 1833, on anchovios 1478/. (having 
in tho two previous years averaged only 800/.); ools 956/,; 
oysters 1349/. j other descriptions, no duty ; total, 3783/. 

For many years it was a heavy complaint that tho supply 
of Billingsgate was engrossed by a monopoly. Colquhoun, 
in bis * Polico of the River Thames/ published in 1800, as- 
serts that the fishmongers at that time possessed a direot 
interest in tho fishing-vessels, and kept tnem from markot 
at their pleasuro. This stato of things no longer exists. 
Tho attempt to establish a second wholesale fish-market 
in London, in 1834, although it has proved unsuccessful, 
has doubtless occasioned some improvements at the older 
market ; and under tho direction of its present elerk such 
regulations have been laid down for tho observance of the 
dealers of all classes, and what is of equal importance, have 
been executed with such strict vigilance, that the public 
now enjoy tho advantages of a public market to a greator 
degroo than at any former period. Of courso great fluctua- 
tions in prices frequently and unavoidably oceur. The oar- 
liost supply of mackerel has been sold at the rato of Is* per 
fish, or forty guineas for the first boat-load. The second 
boat-load has perhaps fetched little more than one*fourth of 
this sum ; and the same description of fish has been bought 
on the coast at a more advanced period of the season at the 
rate of sixty for a shilling* Contrary winds also keep back 
vessels considerably beyond their proper time, and thus often 
occasion thoir arrival in unusual numbers, so as to glut the 
market ; but evon these circumstances, which are apparently 
boyond control, are rendered less frequent than heretofore, hv 
the employment of steam-towmg vessels, which bring cargoes 
into the market in spite of contrary winds. In tho same 
manner, tho supply of salmon was formerly so limited, that 
only the wealthy could afford to partake of It, but it is now 
brought up by the Scotch steam-boats in little more than 
forty hours in such largo quantities that it Is sold at a prico 
which brings it within the reach of most of the working 
classes. A fow years ago tho price of salmon was on an 
avcrago 1*. per lb., while during the present season (1835) 
it has frequently been disposed of at the same rato per lb. 
as butcher s meat; and owing to the rapidity of the convey- 
ance by steam-boats, was in a much better condition than 
when higher prices were demanded. The fishing-vessels 
reach Billinpsgato during the night, and frequently a fleet 
of fifty or sixty sail is lying at tho landing-place. At 
high-water a bell is rung, which is the signal for every 
vosscl or boat whose cargo has been discharged, to remove 
into tho river, in order to admit of others coming up to the 
market A small sum is charged for the use of a moveable 
landing-place and other facilities which are afforded. Each 
vessel is bound to display a board, with tho description of 
tho cargo painted on it in legible charactors, an arrange- 
ment which greatly facilitates tho sale. Between the fisher- 
men and tho retail fishmonger there is an intermediate 
class of dealers, about thirty in number, termed salesmen, 
who alone occupy stalls in tho market. The fishermen eon- 
sign their cargoes to the salesmen, who are compelled to 
fix up in a conspicuous place a statement of tho kind and 
amount of their stock, but they are not allowed to expose 
fish for salo beforo tho ringing of the market-bell at five 
o'clock. 

Fish of tho best Quality is always bought up imraediatoly 
on tho opening of tno market by tho dealers from tho west 
end and those who supply the riehost class of consumors. 
Xt may perhaps be allcgod that tho salesmen are to small a 



body that it would bo easy, by collusive acts, to render the 
market comparatively a closo one; but the business Is trans- 
acted with so much rapidity, and the rush of buyers is so 
great, that tho opportunity for effecting a sale would quickly 
be lost, if any other prineiplo were endeavoured to bo 
acted upon than that which the Wants of tho rotail dealer 
and tho amount of tho supply jointly determine The salo 
of oysters docs not begin until six o'clock, as tho throng of 
such a largo number of persons as aro engaged in various 
ways in vending this description of fish would interfere too 
miich with the general market. Tho high price of fish is In a 
great measure owing to the system of credit which tho rotail 
dealer is compelled to givo, the frequent losses he sustains, 
and to tho practice of the patronage of noblemen and gen- 
tlemen being disposod of by their servants in consideration 
of a heavy per centago. Theso aro abuses which may bo 
rectified by individuals. It is of much more importance 
to ascertain if the poor derive all tho advantages which 
they ought from the market being abundantly supplied, as 
they, in case of defeetivo regulations or secret abuses, would 
be tho greatest sufferers. 

The fish brought to market consists frequently of four 
descriptions, viz., that of first-rate quality, that of good but 
secondary quality, of inferior but not unwholesome quality, 
and that which. is in a stato unfit for food. It is quito 
certain, that without proper attention the last mentioned 
would bo purchased by the lowost description of dealers, 
and that it would bo consumed by the poor. In order to 
obviate this evil, Inspectors were appointed on the establish- 
ment of tho market, but although thoir salaries above a 
eontury ago might be sufficient to compensate them for the 
duties which thoy then had to perform, they received no 
addition when their task had become twonty-fold more oner- 
ous, and the office in fact nearly sunk into desuetude. In 
1832, when tho public became alarmod cm account of tho 
progress of the cholera, attention was directed to the con- 
sequences which might bo anticipated during the prc- 
valonco of such a disease from tho use of unwholesome 
articles of diet, arid particularly of tainted fish. On the 
recommendation of Mr. Goldhain, the clerk of Billingsgate 
market, an adequate salary was given to tho fish inspectors, 
and tho advantages Which tho public derivo from their la- 
bours may be eutimatedby the following statement of tho 
quantity of fish condemned In the course of a year as unfit 
for consumption *— Salmon 6G4, turbot 67G, cod 19G3, soles 
38,300, herrings 1448, haddocks 6783, mackerel 4027, 
plaice, maids, and seate 124,160, salt fish 18G1, whitings 
1500, brill 413, lobsters 8653, crabs 300, total 190,748 fish; 
periwinkles and wilks 437 bushels, muscles 15, sprats 80, 
total 532 bushels ; pickled salmon 12G kits, each contain- 
ing 15 Or 16 lbs. 

In addition to tho direct benefits arising to the public 
from so much unwholesome food being prevented from getting 
intd tho hands of the poor, the strict exercise of the duty of 
inspector has dostroyed several practices which arose from 
the ease with which an unwholesome cargo might be 
sold. At present, instead of being brought to Billings- 
gate, a cargo offish likely to becomo unwholesome by the 
time it reaches London, is soinelimos Cured or disposed of 
at some nearer port It forraerlv happened that a family 
Who had onco or twice purchased bad fish, gave up tho use 
of an article which there was some Uncertainty in procuring 
in a proper state ; but, in consequeneo of the vigilance of the 
inspoctors, the consumption has increased considerably. 
The dishonest trader is also doprived of his vocation ; and 
though ho may still sell fish In a state unfit for food, yet, 
not having an opportunity of purchasing it in that state, he 
is moro likely to be generally provided with a wholesome 
supply than when ho purchased bad fish at a low rate, and 
oxcrted himself to dispose of it beforo ho commenced vend- 
ing his stock of a hotter quality. The pcrmanohco of tho 
beneficial regulations for the sales at Billingsgate may pro- 
bably now be reckoned upon, as any relaxation would have* 
tho effect of throwing businoss into a rival market, which 
could hardly fail to be created, and, if conducted on proper 
principles, would put down malpractices by wholesomo com- 
petition. 

The number of fishing-vessels entered at tho Custom- 
house, London, in tho year 1834, was 4257 ; a few years ago 
the number was 3827. In addition, a considerable supply 
offish is brought up by vans from the various fishing towns 
on tho coasts of Kent, Sussox, Suffolk, and Norfolk, 

BILLITON, an island between tho eastern coast of Su- 



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BIL 



matra and tho south-western point of Borneo, in 3° S. lat., 
and 108° E. long. -The south coast of Billitonis about 170 
miles north of Batavia. The island is about fifty miles long 
from north to south, and forty-five miles broad from east to 
west, its form being nearly that of a square. 

Billiton was included in the deed of cession by which the 
island of Banca was made over to the English by the sultan 
of Palembang in 1812. It was not thought advisable at 
that time to detach any European force to take possession of 
this new acquirement, and a native chief of Sumatra was 
sent from Banca hy direction of the governor of Java to 
administer the government of Billiton in the name of the 
English East India Company. The native chiefs of the 
island offered considerable resistance to the establishment 
of this new governor, and although he at first succeeded in 
routing the insurgents and killing their leader, he was soon 
compelled to roturn to Banca in order to get assistance. 
Shortly after this time the possessions of the British in this 
quarter wero given up to the government of the Netherlands, 
and it has since been thought necessary by the Dutch go- 
vernor of Java to place a garrison on Billiton in order to 
check the piratical practices to which the inhabitants are 
addicted. Their European governors are accustomed to 
employ tho natives in constructing light vessels of a peculiar 
form well adapted for revenue cruisors in those seas. 

Tho inhabitants, who are said closely to resemblo the 
natives of Banca, are supposed not to exceed from 2000 to 
3000 in number; they cultivate riee, but not in sufficient 
quantity for their own subsistence, and food is consequently 
imported by them from Banoa and Sumatra ; tho soil of the 
island is for tho most part rocky and unproductive. 

Our geographical knowledge of the interior of the island 
and even of its coast is very slight, and being principally 
derived from the information of natives is not mueh to be 
depended upon. A ehart has boen published by Major 
Court, which he constructed under the instruction of the 
Sumatran chief already mentioned, who had resided for 
many yoars in Billiton before he was sent as governor by 
the English authorities; from this chart it appears that 
the island is well watered, tho mouths of several rivcra being 
marked on every part of the coast. 

The Malays trade hither for iron, tho ore of which is 
abundantly found in the island ; the metal is esteemed by 
them for making tho blades of their erecses. The inha- 
bitants employ themselves in converting some of this 
metal into nails and common tools, which are sold in the 
neighbouring islands. (Court's Description of Palembang, 
Banca, $c t ; Count Hogcndorp's Coup UCEil but IS lie de 
Java.) 

BILLOM, or BILLON, a town in France, in the depart- 
ment of Puy de Dome, on a small stream that flows into 
the Allier; in 45° 43' N. lat., and in 3° 20' E. long. It 
is a town of considerable antiquity, but of few claims to 
notice. Before the Revolution it had a eollegiate church, 
among the treasures of which were said to be a drop of the 
blood of Jesus Christ, and a piece of the wood of the true 
cross. These relics were solemnly paraded in an annual 
procession. At a very early period Billom possessed a cele- 
brated school. In 1555, the Jesuits were established here 
by the bishop of Clermont, and their society became very 
rich. In their church was found, upon the expulsion of the 
order, a picture from which a vast number of engravings 
have been taken, representing' religion under the emblem 
of a ship steered by Jesuits. After the restoration of the 
Bourbons, the Jesuits had again (from 1826 to 1828) the 
direction of the College of Billom, and seem to have mo- 
delled it as a seminary for tho priesthood {ecole secondaire 
ecclesiastique). The population of Billom in 1832 was 
4157 for the town, or 4746 for the whole eommune. 

BILLON, in coinage, Is a composition of precious and 
base metal, consisting of gold or silver alloyed with copper, 
in the mixture of which the copper predominates. The 
word came to us from the French. Some have thought the 
Latin bulla was its origin, but others havo deduced it from 
vilis. The Spaniards still call billon coin Moneda devellon. 
Scaligor says tho Greeks of the lower age called such money 
BowXXtowgpiov (Boulloterion). 

According to Boutterouc (Recherches curieuses des Afo- 
noyes de France, fol. Par. 1666, p. 142), in France, billon 
of gold was any gold beneath the standard of twenty-two 
carats fine; and billon of silver all below ten pennies fine. 
Boizard (Traite des Monoyes, de leur circonstances et de- 
pendances, 12mo. Hayc, 1714, torn, i, p. 16) says that gold, 



beneath the standard as far as twelve carats fine, and silver 
to six pennies fine, were properly base gold and base silver ; 
but that it was the mixture under those quantities which 
made billon of gold and billon of silver, in consequence of 
copper being the prevailing metal. Boutteroue however 
speaks of two kinds of billon, one termed haul-billon, the 
other bos-billon, according to tha proportion of copper in- 
troduced. 

Black money, or billon, was struck in the mints of th© 
English dominions in France, by command of tho kings of 
England, for the use of their French subjects. Monoy of 
billon was common throughout France from about the year 
1200. Hardies, authorised money of Edward the Black 
Prince, are also fouud of similar mixture. (See Pinker- 
ton's Essay on Medals, edit. 1789, vol. ii. p. 79.) It was 
probably one consideration with Henry VIII. in coining 
base money, that it would circulate in France to his advan- 
tage. Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth both ooined base 
money, approaching to billon, for the use of Ireland. 

BILLS OF MORTALITY, are returns of the deaths 
which occur within a particular district, specifying tho 
numbers that died of each different disease, and showing, in 
decennial or smaller periods, the ages at which decease took 
place. When the accuracy of these returns can be do- 
pended upon, facts of great importance in their actual ap- 
plication to the business of life may be deducod from them. 
From tho mortuary tables, commenced at Geneva in 1566, 
which have beon continued until tho present time, it is as- 
certained that at the Reformation one -half of the ehildren 
born died within the sixth year ; in th/seventeeth century, 
not till within the twelfth year ; and in the eighteenth con- 
tury, not until within the twenty-seventh year. Tables of 
this description, extending over a long period, mark tho pro- 
gress of a country in wealth and happiness; and the share 
which political causes have had in producing the results which 
they indicate, is a subject worthy of the highest consideration 
of the statesman and politician. The Northampton Tables of 
Mortality, also the Carlisle Tables, and the Swedish Tables, 
have served as the chief basis on which annuities, life in- 
surances, and other calculations relating to the duration of 
human life, have been founded. The London Bills were com- 
menced after a great plague in 1593. The weekly bills 
were begun in 1603, after another visitation of still greater 
severity; and since that time soarcely any improvement 
has bcon introduced into the modo of making them up. 
But imperfect as these documents are, there does not exist 
a completo collection of them, not even in the British Mu- 
seum. In London, a parish is said to be within the Bills 
of Mortality when the deaths occurring within its limits 
are supposed to be carried to the aecount of the general 
mortuary tables published overy year by the company of 
parish clerks. ' Within the Bills of Mortality ' is there foro 
a local term, which has reference to a particular municipal 
division. This division has occasionally undergono some 
ehanges. At present it lneludes the City of London, tho 
City and Liberties of Westminster, the Borougb of South- 
ward and thirty-four out-parishes in Middlesex and Surrey, 
the whole containing a population of 1,178,374. The fol- 
lowing parishes in the metropolis are not comprised In this 
district: — St. Luke's, Chelsea, population, 32,371; Ken- 
sington, 20,902; St. Mary-le-bone, 122,206; Paddington, 
14,540; and St. Paneras, 103,548;— total, 293,567. In the 
yoar in which the census was. taken (1831) the number of 
deaths published in the annual Bill of Mortality was 2: 5,33 7, 
or 1 in 46, on a population, as above stated, of 1,178,374. 
Now, as the rate of mortality for Middlesex is 1 in 41 (Rick-, 
man), it is clear that upwards of 3000 deaths occurred 
within the so-called London Bills of Mortality, which 
were unreported. Indeed, so irregular is the mode in 
which the system is conducted, that one parish; that of 
St. George, actually stated to be within the Bills of Mor- 
tality, had not sent in its returns for ten years preceding 
Dec. 1832. The annual number of deaths which at present 
appear on the London Bills is about 26,500. Nearly 9 GO 
of these are attributed to ' unknown causes, 1 and about 3000 
to ' age and debility.* A medical analysis of tlie Metropo 
litan Bills is given in the * Companion to the Almanac 1 for 
1835. Tho manner of procuring the returns, and their do- 
fects in a medical point of view, are easily accounted for. 
On the death of an individual within tho prescribed limits, 
intimation is sent to the searchers, to whom the undertaker 
or somo relative of the deceased furnishes the name and age 
of the deceased, and tho malady of which ho died. No 



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partof this information is properly authenticated, and it may 
either ho true or false.* Tho appointment of searcher is 
generally mado hy the churchwardens, and usually falls 
upon old women, and sometimes on thosowho are notorious 
for their habits of drinking. Tho fee whieh theso official 
eharaeters demand is one shilling, but in somo eases tico 
public authorities of this description proceed to the inspec- 
tion, when tho family of tho defunct is defrauded out of an 
additional shilling. " They not unfrcquently require more 
than the ordinary fee; and owing to tho eireumstanecs 
under whieh they pay their visit, tneir demands are gene- 
rally complied with. In some eases they even proceed so 
far as to claim as a perquisite the articles of dress in .whieh 
the deceased died. Sueh are tho means at present em- 
ployed in eolleeting medical and political statistics in the 
metropolis of England. 

Tho mortuary tables of France, Prussia, Belgium, and 
other continental nations, are kept in a manner whieh en- 
sures perfect accuracy in all their details, and are founded 
on medical testimony and documents of an authentic eha- 
raeter. This accuracy is the result of a numher of formali- 
ties, the compliance with which would be felt exceedingly 
irksome in this countrv. Still, it is to be hoped that some 
system may soon be devised in reference to this subject, 
which, founded on our national habits, and administered as 
far as possible with a due regard to the general spirit and 
temper of the eountry, may put the statesman and the poli- 
tical inquirer in possession of a mass of materials of great 
importance to the just comprehension of the great social 
questions whieh may arise for their consideration. 

BILMA is a place in the great African desert, or the 
Sahara, situated between 18° and 19° N. lat. and about 14° 
E. long. It lies at some distance cast of a roeky ridge 
of mountains of moderato height, whieh traverse the Sa- 
hara from north to south; these mountains begin on tho 
north in Fczzan to the south of Murzook (about 25° N.lat.) 
and extend between the meridians of 16° and 13° to the 
south of the parallel of Bilma. Up to this point it seems to 
form an uninterrupted ridge, with a steep declivity towards 
the east, It appears to continue farther to the south, but 
with considerable interruptions through Soudan, in a south- 
western direction, and to join the upland of Africa in tho 
parallel of Saekatoo (12* N. lat.). This ridge, whieh sepa- 
rates tho tribes of the Tuarieks, who inhabit the wostcrn 
country, from those of the Tibboos, who extend eastward 
towards Egypt, may also be considered as the boundary 
between the western and larger and the eastern and smaller 
desert of the Sahara. [See Sahara.] 

To the east of this ridge, at a distance of about 50 miles 
and upwards, rises a chain of isolated rocky hills, whieh 
arc most numerous between 20° and 18° N. lat.; tho 
country included by these two ridges forms, as it were, a 
large oasis, whieh is called Wady Kawas. 'Though in some 
way sheltered against the moving sands of both deserts, its 
surface is mostly covered with sand, and in othor places 
is rocky. It contains a few patches of cultivated ground 
and groves of date-trees, besides many salt-lakes : it is in- 
habited by tho Tibboos. Bilma, whieh is considered as the 
eapital of this nation, lies towards the southern extremity 
of tho oasis. 

This place stands in a hollow and is surrounded by mud 
walls, whieh, as well us the houses within it, arc mean and 
miserable. It owes its importance to tho earavans which 
pass through it on the road between Murzook and Bornou, 
and still more to the salt lakes in its neighbourhood. About 
two miles north of the town between low sand-hills are 
several lakes, in whieh great quantities of very fine crystal- 
lized salt is collected. The time for gathering the salt 
is [at tho end of the dry season, when it is taken in largo 
masses from the border of tho lakes in sheets, which 
ore put into bags and sent to Bornou and Soudan. A 
coarser kind of salt is formed into hard pillars and likewise 
sent to Soudan, where a ready market is found for it ; a singlo 
pillar weighing eleven pounds fetehes from four to five 
dollars. Wo aro unable to form an estimato of the quantity 
of salt gathered in tho neighbourhood of this place lor want 
of information, but it must be considerable, as the Tuarieks, 
who live at a considerablo distance and aro not tho pro- 
prietors of the soil, in one year earned off 20,000 bags of 
salt, of which a portion was sent to Soudan for sale. As 

* In No 07 oftht * Edinburgh Urvfew? a plan It triven by which, al very 
JUUr Irmtble or rxprtiMT, the metroixililan lulls uf Mortality might be ren- 
dered Authentic ww Y&luabtc legUttr*. _ 



tho scarcity and high prieo of this commodity in the interior 
of Africa are well known, the importance of these salt lakes 
to the inhabitants of Bilma may easily be conceived. Dates 
arc to bo had in abundaneo at this place, but other provi- 
sions aro scarce and dear, on aecount of the difficulty of 
transport. (Dcnham and Clapperton's Travels; Map of 
Berghaua.) 

BILOCULI'NA (zoology), D'Orbigny's name for a genus 
of minute eephalopods ; Les Milioles of Ferrussae. 

BILSTON, a market-town in tho parish of Wolver- 
hampton, in Staffordshire, U3 miles N.W. from Txmdon, 
and about two miles S.E. from Wolverhampton. It was, 
until recently, accounted merely a village, and had no 
market or fair; but having risen to great importance, and 
possessinc a population exceeded by few towns in the county, 
it obtained, in 1 825, the grant of a market, held on Monday 
and Saturday, and of two annual fairs, toll free, held on 
"Whit-Monday, and on the Monday preceding the Miehacl- 
mas fair at Birmingham. By the Reform Bill, Bilston, with 
other adjoining townships, was admitted to a participation 
in the franchise of Wolverhampton, and it contributes about 
500 qualifying tenements to the general constituency. Tho 
number of houses was 2988 in 1831, when the population 
amounted to 14,492 persons, of whom 6996 were females. 
Bilston extends nearly two miles in length, and is situated 
upon a rising ground on the great road from London 
through Shrewsbury to Holyhead, and that from Birming- 
ham to Manchester, Liverpool and Chester. By these roads 
and still more by the Birmingham and Staffordshire eanal, 
whieh passes in the immediate vicinity of the town, and its va- , 
rious brandies, it possesses the greatest facilities for trans- 
mitting its manufactures, and the heavy products of its mines 
and foundries, to the eastern and western as well as northern 
coasts, and to the interior of the eountry. Bilston owes all its 
importance to tho introduction of the ironworks: it pre- 
viously consisted of only a few private houses ; but standing 
in a district possessing considerable mines of coal, iron-stone, 
quarry-stone, and elay, it rapidly increased in extent and 
population. The town, which is irregularly built, contains 
a auc proportion of good and substantial houses in its prin- 
cipal streets : the numerous dwellings of the people cm- 
ployed in the different works are dispersed in all directions 
in the neighbourhood. There are numerous furnaees for 
smelting iron-ore, with foundries, forges, slitting-mills, 
steam-engines, and the various works necessary for tho pre- 
paration of iron. The town is intimately connected in interest 
with Wolverhampton. Their proximity and their increasing 
wealth and population render it probable that the buildings 
of the two towns will soon be united. The manufactures of 
tin, and of every kind of japanned and enamelled wares, with 
that of iron, from nails and wire to the heaviest and bulkiest 
articles, are largely carried on at Bilston. Coarse pottery 
is made with the clay which is found in the neighbourhood 
in much abundance. There is also here a deep orangc- 
eoloured and almost impalpable sand, whieh is much used 
in tho easting of metals; the. neighbourhood is also noted 
for a quarry, the stone in which lies in twelve horizontal 
layers, each of whieh increases in thiekness from the sur- 
face downwards, so that tho lowermost is about a yard in 
thickness. Plot mentions a person who got from this quarry 
a stone eight yards long, naturally so very even that it 
did not bevel or depart from the truo level abovo an inch. 
Cisterns, troughs, &e., are made of the stone, some of which 
is curiously streaked with blaek. Plot also mentions that 
the grindstones dug at Bilston arc much finer than thoso 
obtained in Derbyshire ; they are used in sharpening thin 
edged tools, as knives, razors, &c 

The town contains two churehes: that of St. Leonard 
was erected in 1826, in the place of one which was built about 
the middle of the last eentury: that whieh previously stood 
thero was erected in the reign of Henry VI., and having bc- 
como old and ruinous, was then taken down, with the excep- 
tion of the tower. It accommodates 2000 people. The 
living is a perpetual curacy, in the jurisdiction of the dean 
of Wolverhampton, the incoino of which is stated in tho 
recent returns at 635/. per annum. It is in the gift of the 
inhabitants. The other ehurch, dedicated to St. Mar)', is a 
handsome strueturo, ereetcd in 1829, at an expense of 
7223/., in tho later English style: it accommodates 1400 
persons, and has 956 free sittings; the minister has an in- 
come of 83/. per annum. Tho Methodists, Baptists, and 
Independents nave also plaecs of worship in Bilston. A 
court of requests for tho recovery of debts not exceeding 5/, 



B TN 



400 



B I N 



has been established in the town. There is a charity sehool, 
in whieh a few boys are elothed and edueated. 

This town suffered a dreadful visitation of eholera in the 
months of August and September, 1832, the particulars of 
which have been impressively detailed in a pamphlet by its 
minister, the Rev. William Leigh. It appears, that 35G8 
persons were affeeted by the disease, out of which number 
742 perished in the course of six weeks. The public sym- 
pathised with the inhabitants on this trying and afliieting 
calamity, and no less a sum than 8536/. 8*. 7d. was eol- 
leeted in behalf of the poor surviving sufferers. A useful and 
substantial building has been ereeted, called the 'Cholera 
Orphan Sehool/ in whieh 450 orphan ehildren are educated, 
part of whom, together with upwards of 100 widows, are still 
receiving a weekly payment out of the fund. 

At Bradley, a hamlet in the township of Bilston, there is 
a phenomenon whieh has attracted much attention. A 
fire in the earth has now been burning for more than a 
century, defying every attempt whieh has been made to 
extinguish it. The inhabitants eall it * wild-fire/ It has 
reduced several aeres of land to a mere calx ; but this calx 
furnishes a very excellent material for the repair of the roads, 
and the workmen in collecting it often find large quantities 
of excellent alum. The surfaee is sometimes covered for 
the extent of many yards with sulphur, in such quantities 
as to be easily gathered. We are informed that the wild-fire 
at Bradley is now nearly extinguished, the combustible 
matter being very mueh exhausted. (Shaw's History and 
Antiquities of Staffordshire ; Plot's Natural History of 
Staffordshire ; Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xiii.; 
Boundary Reports ; Communication from Bilston, &e.) 

BINCH, an old town in the province of Hainault in Bel- 
gium, situated on the high road from Mons to Charleroi, about 
ten miles east of Mons, and thirteen west of Charleroi. 

Bineh was built in 1110, and surrounded with walls. For 
a long time the Counts of Hainault were aeeustomed to givo 
it as a dowry with their eldest daughters. In the war be- 
tween Henry II. of Franee and Charles V. in 1554, it was 
taken by the former and burnt, but was soon after rebuilt. 
In 1578 it was twiec taken, once by the Spaniards, and 
afterwards by the French under the command of the Duke 
of Alencon. It was afterwards retaken by the Spaniards, 
and remained in their possession until 1G68, when, under 
the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it was given up to Franee. 
Ten years later this town again came under the dominion 
of Spain by the treaty of Nimeguen. 

Bineh, which is built on the summit and halfway down 
a hill, is remarkable for the pieturesquc spots which lie 
about it. The town is still surrounded by walls, and eon- 
tains 7G0 houses, many of them of considerable eleganee. 
One principal street traverses it from one end to the other. 
It contains a fine square ornamented with a fountain, a 
church, a eollege established in 1725 under the management 
of the Augustines, seven elementary sehools, and an hospital. 
Previous to the burning of the town in 1554, it contained a 
fine castle, which was the favourite residence of Maria, 
Queen of Hungary, the sister of Charles V. The re- 
mains of this building at present eonsist of a searp Hanked 
by towers, which has been converted into a terrace prome- 
nade, offering very fine views : the rest of the site of the 
castle is oeeupied by kitchen-gardens. 

Ineluding the suburbs, La Roquettc and Versailles, 
Bineh, in January, 1830, contained 887 houses, oeeupied by 
1215 families, consisting of 4878 individuals, divided as 
follows : — 



Moles. 


Females. 


Total. 


Single . . . 1,376 


1,5G3 


2,939 


Married . . 797 


81G 


1,G13 


Widows and widowers 121 


205 


326 



2,294 2,584 4,878 

The town contains several manufactories. The chief 
branehes of industry aro connected with the leather trade, 
comprehending tanning, currying, and shoe-making, in 
which last 400 workmen are employed. On the lGth day of 
each month a fair is held for the sale of horses and eattle ; 
there are besides three markets in eaeh week — on Monday, 
Thursday, and Saturday. 

(Vandcr Maelin's Dictionnaire Geographique de la Pro- 
vince de Hainaut.} 

BINDRABUND, a large antient town on the west bank 
of the river Jumna, about thirty-five miles N.N.AV. from 
the city of Agra, in 27° 34' N. lat., and 77° 34' E. long. 



The superstition of the Hindus has invested Bindrabund 
with a high degree of sanetity, in eonsequeuee of its having 
been, aeeording to their traditions, the residence of Krishna 
during his youth. Several plaees are pointed out as the 
seenes of various exploits of the god, and many pilgrims 
annually find their way hither to wash away their sins in 
some saered pools. The antient Hindu name for the town 
(Vrindavana) signifies a grove of tulsi trees. Such a grove 
still exists, and from having been the favourite haunt of 
Krishna, has now beeome the resort of numerous religious 
mendieants, who waste their lives there in filth and in- 
dolence. 

The town contains many temples, all of which are dedi- 
cated to Krishna: the largest, distinguished from the rest 
as the great erueiform pagoda, is remarkable for its size, 
and the elaborate style of its architecture. (Hamilton's East 
India Gazetteer.) 

BJND AVEED. [See Convolvulus.] 

BINGEN, a town picturesquely situated at the influx of 
the Nahe into the Rhine, in that part of the grand-duehy 
of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt), whieh is ealled « the provinee 
of the Rhine,' or Rhenish-Hesse : it is ineluded in the 
eircleof Altzey, and lies between Mayence and Baeha- 
rach in the Rheingau, at the entrance of the narrow vale 
of the Rhine between Taunus and Hundsriick. The bridge 
of stone leading across the Nahe into Bingen is generally, 
supposed to have been eonstrneted by Drusus, the Roman 
general, and the ruins of the old fort of Klopp upon an emi- 
nence near the town, stand upon the.site of the eastle 
known to have been built by the same commander. This 
fort was destroyed by the Freneh in 1G39, with nearly the 
whole of the town. The 'Bingerloch* that adjoins it is a 
portion of the bed of the Rhine, which in former times was 
an objeet of great dread to navigators, from the sunken 
roeks that lay across it; there was then no other channel 
for the passage of vessels but a very narrow one, through 
whieh the pent-up waters were furiously whirled, with°a 
roar so loud as to be heard at several miles distanee. The 
rocks have of late years been removed by blasting, and the 
passage of the Bingerloeh is no longer accompanied with 
any danger. On a little island not far from this spot stands 
the Miiusethurm or Mauththunn, a tower or antient toll- 
house, whieh is rapidly falling to decay. B-ingen contains 
about 500 houses and 45G0 inhabitants, has a gymnasium 
or public grammar-school, is the place of sale for the wines 
produced in its vicinity, particularly on the Scharlachberg 
(Mount-Searlet), manufactures woollen-stuffs, &c, pos- 
sesses a tannery, and carries on a brisk traflic upon tho 
Rhine. The average breadth of this river, between Bingen 
and Coblenz, is 1 GOO feet: its depth between Bingen and 
Caub, which lies opposite to Bacharach, varies from six to 
twenty feet ; and at Bingen its surface is at an elevation of 
235 feet above the level of the sea. Its whole line from 
Bingen towards Coblcnz abounds in the most varied and 
romantic seenery. Bingen is in 49° 55' N. lat., and 7° 49 
E. long. 

BINGHAM, a parish and market-town in the wapen- 
take of North Bingham, Nottinghamshire, 1 08 miles N.N.AV. 
from Loudon, and nine miles E. from Nottingham. The 
situation of the town is rather low, in the fertile vale of 
Bel voir ; but being surrounded with high grounds, all in a 
state of rieh cultivation, the views in the vieinity are 
pleasant and extensive. From the foundations of buildings 
being frequently discovered, from its giving name to the 
hundred in whieh it stands, and from its religious establish- 
ment and eollegiate church, of a date nearly as old as tho 
Conquest, it seems that Bingham was formerly a much 
more important place than at present. The market is held 
on Thursday, and the fairs are on the 13th and 14th of 
February, first Thursday in May, Thursday in AVhitsun 
week (the holiday fair), May 31st, and 8th and 9th of No- 
vember. The principal are those in February, at Whitsun- 
tide, and in November. 

The town, whieh eonsists chiefly of two parallel streets, 
is well paved; the market-plaee is extensive, and has com- 
modious shambles. The houses have been ereeted with 
little attention to regularity; they are generally neat, and 
some of them handsome. The parish contained 372 houses 
in 1831; the population was J 737 persons, of whom 906 
were females. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a 
strong and heavy building, consisting of a nave and two 
side aisles, badly lighted, owing in a great measure to tho 
upper part of the nave having been lowered, when a consi- 



No. 256. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV,— 3 G 



B I N 



410 



B I N 



derablo nart was taken down, and tho whole repaired in 
1384. The church ha* a curious early English tower, and 
a later bt'lfry-story and spire. Tho cornice of the tower is 
curious, and there aro tho remains of statues which have 
acrved for pinnacles. The piers of tho church, which aro 
small, have varied foliage of excellent design and execution, 
some late early English, others very early decorated. Tho 
transepts and chancel aro of later tfato titan the navo; tho 
chancol, which is lofty, spacious, and well lighted, Is joined 
by a very fine arch to tho body of tho church. There are In 
this church both early English decorated and perpendicular 
windows. The church has accommodation for 800 persons ; 
tho living is a rector)* in thodioceseof York worth 1503/. per 
annum. Speed mentions a college of St. Mary in this place 
valued at tho Dissolution at 40/. 1U., but Dugdalo says 
only 4/. 1 U. ; it seems to have been a guild or chantry. The 
Primitive and Wcslcyan Methodists havo places of worship 
in the town. Thomas Tealby, gent., who died in 1"21-*J, 
left 100/. to the parish, ono half of the interest of which was 
to bo employed in placing poor children at school. With 
this sum and 15/. additional from other bequests, the 
churchwardens bought lands, the proportion of tho rents 
from which applicable to the last mentioned purpose is 
7/. 10*. per annum, which is paid to tho parish school- 
master for instructing in reading ten poor children, boys 
or girls, of tho parish of Bingham, who, as well as the 
master, are appointed by the parish authorities. Tho school- 
master usually affords gratuitous instruction to a few 
additional children, and ho has many pay scholars. Tho 
nveragc number of children is about forty; but there 
were sixty-one in tho school when the commissioners 
wcro thero in 1828. The above endowment has been in- 
creased by 10/. per annum, being the interest of a share 
of 150/. in the Grantham Canal Navigation, which some 
inhabitants of the town bought with the proceeds of several 
plays which they acted for tho benefit of tho poor in tho 
severe winter of 1783-4. This amount was not appro- 
priated to purposes of education until 1827. (Throsby's 
Additions to Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire ; 
Beauties of England and Wales; Riclunan*s Attempt, $c. ; 
Ttrenty-first Report of the Commissioners for inquiring 
concerning Charities.) 

BIN OLE Y, a market-town and parish in the wapentake 
of Skyrack, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 179 miles 
N.W. from London and 31 miles W.S.W. from York. The 
name signifies * the field of Bingelor Bing,* the original pro- 
prietor in Saxon times. In Domesdav it is called Bing- 
Aeleia, and was ono of thirty-two lordships which the Con- 
queror gave to Erneis dc Burun. It had then six hamlets 
belonging to it The manor afterwards went through a 
great number of hands, and was ultimately bought in 1668 
by Uobert Benson, Esq., whose son was created Lord Bing- 
Icy by Queen Anne, wliose descendant in the female lino 
is the present proprietor. The town is pleasantly situated 
on an eminence between tho river Aire and the Leeds and 
Liverpool Canal. It is tolerably well built, partly of brick 
nnd partly of stone, and consists chiefly of one long street, 
in which the market is held on Tuesdays. The market 
was granted by King John at tho instance of tho then pro- 
prietor, William de Gant. The fairs are on tho 25th Ja- 
nuary and tho 25th, 2Cth, and 27th of August. The parish 
of Bingloy at present consists of four hamlets, namely, Bing- 
ley, Iiaruen, Mickelthwaitc, and Merton, tho three first of 
which constitute ono township, and Merton another. These 
hamlets provide for their own poor separately, but join in 
tho support of the church according to their population. 
The number of houses in tho township of Binelcy, Harden, 
and Micklethwaite, was 1606 in 1831, and the population 
amounted to 8036 persons, of whom 4037 were females. This 
is 1861 higher than at the census of 1821, and the great 
increase Is attributed to the extension of the worsted and 
stuff manufactures. The population of the whole parish was 
yJ56. Tho manufacture of worsted yarn is carried on to a 
considerable extent in the town and neighbourhood, besides 
which there aro some cotton-spinning concerns, a paper 
manufactory, and somo trade in malt. The church dedi- 
cated to All Souls was given to the priory of Drax by Wil- 
Knro Pagancll, tho founder, in the time of Archbishop 
Thurstan, who held the sec of York from 1119 to 1147. It 
i« a plain and decent structure, accommodating 500 persons. 
It was probably restored in tho reign of Henry VIII., which 
Whitakcr demonstrates to have been tho tcra in which most 
of tho churches of this district were enlarged and adorned. 



Tho devout liberality of the people, which had previously 
exhausted itself in benefactions to monaitio establishments, 
then directed itself to the improvement of the parish 
churches, which had been comparatively neglected. The 
living is a discharged vicarage in the diocese of York, It is 
in the gift of the crown, and the annutl Income is estimated 
at 233/. in the recent report of tho commissioners for in- 
quiring Into ecclesiastical revenues ; but this Is somewhat 
overrated ; the income arisos principally from Eanor dues. 
There are also in tho town chapols for the Methodists, Bap- 
tists, and Independents. In the reign of Henry VIII. 
William Wooler devised certain lands, the rents to bo ap- 
propriated towards enabling a schoolmaster to teach grammar 
within tho town of Bingloy. Tho commissioners who in- 
quired into the state of this charity in 1622 vested the power 
of appointing and removing tho master, and of receiving 
the rents, in a committee of tho inhabitants; and decreed 
that the master, besides being competent to bring up his 
pupils in tho doctrines of Christianity, must *bo 'of a vir- 
tuous and reformed course of conversation, no light or dis- 
ordered person, and industrious and diligent in teaching, 
and moderate and discreet in his corrections.* Tbe endow- 
ment, as increased by subsequent benefactions, produced 
about 375/. per annum at the time of the commitsioners* 
visit; tho income is received by the master, who also occu- 
pies a good house and garden belonging to the institution ; 
but the master has to pay 45/. out of the entire amount to 
tho poor, and gives a salary of 80/. to the usher. The not 
incomo to the master, after paying tho charities to tho poor 
and tho usher, does not now exceed 250/. Tho Charity 
Commissioners, who were there in 1826, say, 'the present 
master used to rccoive and educate boarders, but has lately 
discontinued to do so. In his time the school has been at- 
tended occasionally by between twenty and thirty free 
scholars at a time, but there were ten free scholars only in 
tho school at tho time of this inquiry. Tho boys arc taught 
reading, writing, and accounts, at a moderate chargo, 
and they are instruetod in English and in tho principles 
of religion." We aro informed that from twenty to thirty 
free scholars Is the general number attending the school ; 
tho circumstance of there being only ten at the time of 
the Commissioners' inquiry was a rare occurrence. Tho 
school is strictly a grammar-school ; and writing and ac- 
counts aro only taught for tho accommodation of tho inha- 
bitants. There is also a large national school in the town. 
(Whitaker's History of Craven; Beauties of England 
and Wales; Seventeenth Report of the Commissioners for 
inquiring concerning Charities; Communication from 
Bingley, &o.) 

BINNACLE, an article used on board ship which con- 
tains tho compass. It is placed next the steersman, and is 
divided into compartments for containing an hour-glass and 
a lamp. In order that the compass may remain unaffected 
by any local cause, tho binnacle is not put together with 
nails or any iron work. Bittacle, being an abbreviation of 
tho French word habitacle, a small habitation, was the 
name formerly given to this article, and it is so called in 
Johnson's Dictionary ; but It is now written binnacle. 

BINO'CULUS (zoologv), Geoffroy, Leach; Apus, Scop., 
Cuv., Latr. ; Limutus, Mull. Lam.; Monoculus t Linn. 
Fabr. Of these names, Apus is that now generally ap- 
plied to a genus of phyllopodous crustaceans inhabiting 
fresh-water ditches, pools, and stagnant waters. They are 
gregarious and occur often in innumerable quantities. 
Sometimes whole swarms are swept away by violent winds, 
and havo been seen to fall like rain. Thespring and the 
commencement of summer aro the seasons when they are 
most commonly found ; and they often appear suddenly in 
great numbers in accidental rain-water puddles where they 
never havo been before seen t as well as in ponds. They 
grow rapidly, feed freely on tadpoles, arc all provided with 
eggs, though naturalists have not as yet been able to dis- 
tinguish the sexes, and some consider that they can repro- 
duce the species without the aid of a second individual. 
The eggs are supposed to preserve the living principle for a 
longtime in a dry state ; and this would account for their 
sudden appearance in great numbers in placc3 where a fall 
of rain has formed a pool in a situation previously dry. 
They gradually arrive at tho perfect development of their 
organs by a succession of moults. M. Valenciennes re- 
marks that they are often devoured by the common wagtail. 
The generic name Binorulus appears to bo unnecessary, 
and that given by Scopuli should be restored; the true 



B I N 



411 



B I N 



Limuli form a marine genus, making a natural group of 
different form and habits; Linnseus's genus, Monoculus, 
comprehends Apus, Limulus, and other crustaceans. Dr. 
Leach has formed a genus (Lepidurus) of those species 
which have a plate between the bristles of the tail, hut, as 
Cuvier thinks, unnecessarily. Tho species figured is Apits 
productus, Latr. {Lepidurus productus, Leach ; Monoculus 
Apus, Linn.) The genus occurs in England, France, and 
Europe generally. 




[Apui productus.] 

BINOMIAL, in algebra, means an expression which 
contains two terms, such as 

a + 6 b — ex a* x —py 

Any expression may be considered and used as a binomial 
in any sense in which it may be said to contain two terms : 
thus, 

a-t- b + c x — ex , 

when put in the form 

(a + 6) + (c - e) x 
is a binomial, the terms of which are a + b and (c — e) rr. 

BINOMIAL THEOREM, by far the most important 
theorem in common algebra, first announced by Newton, as 
will presently appear. It is frequently called on the Conti- 
nent the binome de Newton, and is engraved on his tomb 
in Westminster Abbey. In explaining this theorem, we 
shall consider ourselves as writing for those who have already 
such a knowledge of algebra as will enable them easily 
to recognise the various expressions of which we make 
use. 

The binomial theorem, coupled with those preceding 
theorems from which it springB, is as follows : — 

(1.) If a be denoted by a 1 , aabyc£, a a a hy a*, &c, then 

a"x a* = a M+ " — = a m ~" (ni > »). 
a n 

(1) the equations in (1.) will hold good when the symbol 
a n is considered, provided that a° always signifies unity, 

(3.) The equations in (1.) will hold good when negative 
exponents are employed, provided that 



&- y means - 
a 



a~ % means -, &c. 

Hi 






(4.) The equations in (1.) will hold good when fractional 
exponents are employed, provided that 

a* means the square root of a 
a 8 „ ,, cube root of a 



a* 



fourth root of a &c. 



and altso that 



cfi means (a* ft the cube root of a 8 1 
<$ *> (a 4 ) the seventh root of a* 

a" » (aT the nth root of (T 



(5.) Binomial Theorem. In all the preceding cases, that 
is, whether n be whole or fractional, positive or negative, 

92 — 1 ?2 1 71 2 

(1 + x) n = 1 + nx + n— - — x 2 +n — — x* 



+ n 



n-In-2«-3 



2 
x K + &c, 



the preceding being a series of an infinite number of terms 
in all cases, except only where n is a positive whole num- 
ber. The pth. term of the preceding expression is 



n-1 w-2 



!Lz£±?*,-> 



2 3 p-1 

which expresses any term after the second. 

(6.) The preceding series is convergent, whatever may 
be the value of n, whenever x is less than 1 . If # be greater 
than 1, it is always divergent ; but the scries remaining after 
any term may be expressed in a finito form, as follows : — 
Let Vj, V a , V,, &c. represent tho several terms of the pre- 
ceding series, then all the terms after the jt?th term aro an 
algebraical development of a term of the form 

V p+ , (1 + 0*0"-', 
where is a function of x t the arithmetical value of which 
is less than unity ; so that 

(1 +#)"= V.+V.+ .... +V p +V 1 , +1 <l + 0a»— ' 



V x = 1 V, wnx 



v,I w ^_L^,&o. 



The preceding theorem, though theoretically necessary to 
those who do not allow the use of divergent scries, is of no 
practical use in the determination of (1 + #)", since the de- 
termination of itself is the more difficult problem of the 
two. 

We shall now give tho early history of this theorem, with 
some remarks upon its demonstration. 

Before the time of Vieta, no materials for its expression 
were in the hands of algebraists. That writer first used 
general symbols of determinate number: and in his works 
we find the first rude cases of the binomial theorem, though 
only in tho results of simple multiplications, and without 
the discovery of any law of connexion among the coefficients. 
For instance, in his Ad logisticen speciosam not a prions, 
we find the following: 

* Sit latus unum A, alterum B. Dico A quad.-quadratum + 
A cubo in B quater,+A quadrato in B quadratum sexies,+ 
A in B cubum quater, + B quad.- quadrato, ocquari A + B 
quad-quadrato.' This wo should now express thus ; 
(a +£) 4 = a 4 + 4a 3 £ + 6a s £ 9 + 4a0* + b*. 

The coefficients of the binomial theorem, in the case of a 
whole exponent, had long been derived from the method 
employed in what Pascal called the Arithmetical Triangle, 
and Briggs the abacus 7rayxpv<r™Q. To trace the history of 
this method would here lead us too far [sco Figuratk 
Numbers] ; it must suffice to say that Lucas do Borgo, 
Stifel, Stevinus, Vieta, and others, all had in their possession 
something from which, if we did not know that such simple 
relations were difficult to discover, we should say a little 
attention would have enabled them to find the first glimpse 
of the binomial theorem, which, as we shall proceed to state, 
occurred to Briggs. 

The abacus of the last-mentioned writer above alluded to 
is as follows (wo have only reversed right and left) : 
1 l l 1 1 &c 



2 


3 


4 


5 


6 Sec. 


3 


6 


10 


15 


21 &c. 


4 


10 


20 


35 


56 &c. 


5 


15 


35 


70 


126 &c. 


&c. 


&c. 


Sec. 


&c. 


&c. 



In which each number is formed hy adding that on the left 
to that immediately above. On which (Trigonometria 
Britannica, 1633, preface, p. 22) Briggs remarks, that by 
ascending obliquely, the coefficients of the several powers 
are obtained ; for instance, that 4, 6, 4 are the coefficients 
of the fourth power, 5, 10, 10, 5 of the fifth power, and so 
on Briggs therefore knew the dependence of these cocfli- 
cients on the preceding columns of figurate numbers, but 
not the algebraical expression for the «th of each class. 

The next step was made by WalHs, in his Anthmetica 
Infmitorum, published in 1655. One of the great objects 



B I N 



412 



B I N 



of this work was the determination of tho areas of a class of 
curves, involving a problem amounting to the determina- 
tion of 

f(\-x*) m dx frora:r=0 to:r=l 

whero m is a whole number. In this he deduces the alge- 
braical expressions for any figurato number, but not in the 
form in wnich Newton afterwards gave. For example, he 
prefers 



/* + 3 /* + 2 / 



to / 



/ + 1 



/ + 2 



though it appears he knew the latter form. Hut he con- 
fined himself almost entirely to the definite integral, and 
did not exhibit his results in the form of an algebraic, series. 
His work is broken into propositions, after tno manner of 
the antients, and the simplo form in which Newton after- 
wards cnuntiatcd his results does not appear (that we can 
find) in his work. It was as follows, using tho notation 
already adopted, or rather Newton expressed it as follows, 
and in the method of expression is the happy simplification 
which led him to the binomial theorem. In the first column 
is the expression of the ordinate of tho curve in question ; 
iu the second tho area included between the abscissa, the 
onlinates at its extremities, and tho intercepted curve. 

(l±tf*)° x 

(\±oc*) y x±\x* 

(l±:r*) 9 :r±|:r s +£:r s 

&c. &c. 

Wallis had suggested that the method of determining the 
area of the circlo depended upon finding a mean term be- 
tween 1 and I in the scries 1, |, /y, &e., made by taking 
the lower sign in the preceding set, and making x = 1 (he 
was considering the total areas). For the ordinate of the 
circle being V 1 — x* t the exponent of which is J, the mean 
between and 1, the question reduced itself to this: If 0, 
1, 2, &c, operated upon according to a certain law, give the 
results 1, §» -ft. &c, what will $ give when operated upon 
according to the same law? This interpolation he attempted, 
and obtained his well known and remarkable expression for 
the ratio of the circular area to the square on its diameter. 
Hut he could not succeed in tho interpolation, and as he in- 
forms us himself in his Algebra, afterwards published in 
1685, ' he gave it over as a thing not feasible,' one difficulty 
being that he could not imagine a series with more than 
one terra and less than two, which it seemed to him the in- 
terpolated series must have. And here the question rested 
till it was taken up by Newton. The latter, in a celebrated 
letter to Oldenburg, dated October 24, 1G7G, speaking of 
some developments then newly discovered by Leibnitz, gives 
the binomial theorem. We shall give his own words (that 
is, translated from the Lathi). * In the. beginning of my 
mathematical studies, whon I happened to meet with the 
works of our celebrated Wallis, in considering the series, hy 
the intercalation of which he exhibits the area of the cirdo 
and hyperbola, 1 .... He then goes on to describe what we 
havo already alluded to. . . .* for interfiling between these 
I remarked that in all tho first term .vas x % and tho second 
terms were in arithmetical progression. . . .that the two first 
terms of the scries to be intercalated shiuld bo 



**■ 



— .&c. 



For th« remaining intercalations I reflected that the deno- 
minators wero in arithmetical progression ; so that only the 
numerical coefficients of the numerators remained* to be 
investigated. But these, in the alternate areas, were the 
figures of the powers of the number eleven, namely 11°, 1 1 1 , 
1 1', 1 P, 1 1* ; that is, in the first 1 ; in the second 1,1; in 
the third 1, 2, 1 ; in the fourth l, 3, 3, 1 ; in the fifth 1, 4, 
6, 4, 1. I inquired, therefore, in what manner all the re- 
maining figures could bo found from tho first two; and I 
found that if the first figure be called m, all tho rest could 
be found by tho continual multiplication of the terms of the 
formula 



m — 2 m - 3 



X,&c, 



2 3 4 

• This rule, therefore, I applied to the Interpolation of the 
scries. And since in the circle the second term is J X 4 x* f 

1 made m - £ whence 1 found ihe required area of the 

circular segment to be 4 



-,&c. 



3 5 7 9 

1 This was my first introduction to such meditations, and 
it would have gone out of my memory, had I not cast my 
eyes on some of my notes a few weeks sinco. But when I 
had learned these things, J presently considered thafthe 
terms themselves (1 -or 1 )*, (1 -jcV, (1 -W, Sec. mi>/i/ be 
interpolated in the same manner as the areas generated 
from them, and that nothing more was necessary except tho 
omission of the denominators 1, 3, 5, 7, Sac. in the terms 
expressing tho areas : that is, that tho coefficients of tho 

quantity to be intercalated (1 -x*y t or (1 -#*)*, or gene- 

rally (1 -x**)" would arise from continual multiplication of 
tho terms of the series, 

m-l m — 2 m - 4 r , 

Newton then proceeds to relate that ho proved these 
operations by actual multiplication, and aftorwards by ap- 
plying the common rule for the extraction of roots, which 
gave the same results. He then states that he knew the 
common logarithmic scries by the same method, and that 
being then much pleased with such investigations, ho con- 
tinued them until the appearance of Mercator's Logarith- 
motechnia; when, suspecting that Mercator had inado the 
same discoveries (which however was not the case) before he 
(Newton) was of an age to write, ho began to care little 
about prosecuting his researches. 

It must be noticed that Newton had previously given the 
theorem itself in a former letter to Oldenburg, dated Juno 
13, 1676, with more copious examples: the statement of it 
is as follows :— * The extraction of roots is much shortened 
by this theorem, 

(P + PQr=P~+^AQ+^^BQ + &c.' 

where A means the first term itself, B the second term, &c. 

It must therefore be noticed, and similar things arc com- 
mon in the history of discovery, that several of those theorems 
which arc now among tho simple consequences of the bi- 
nomial theorem, wero in fact discovered before it. Thus 
Mercator and James Gregory had already used the logarith- 
mic scries, and Newton's discovery itself was not a con- 
sequence of any attempt at the general development of 
(1 + .r)n, but of the scries for / - x*) m dx, winch was 
(between certain limits) implied in the discoveries of Wallis. 

Newton gave no other demonstration of his theorem ex- 
cept the verification by multiplication or actual extraction. 
The theorem of Stirling (commonly called after Maclaiirin) 
and that of Taylor, being the general theorems of which 
the binomial is a particular case, soon diverted the attention 
of mathematicians. James Bernoulli first demonstrated 
the case of whole and positive powers by the application of 
the theory of combinations, in his treatise De Arte Corijec- 
tattdi, published after his death in 1713. Maclatvin, in his 
iluxions, published in 1742, gave, as we consider, the first 
general demonstration : for though he employs iluxions, 
yet he had not, as he himself notices (page G07), ' made uso 
of this theorem in demonstrating the rules in the direct 
method of iluxions.' In later times, when the avidity with 
which the results of the modern analysis were soughtbegan 
so far to subside as to allow mathematicians to look at and 
discuss the grounds on which tho several principles were 
established, n host of demonstrations appeared, each of which 
met with objectors : for it is a property of all the funda- 
mental theorems of every branch of mathematics to be in- 
eapablo of establishment in a manner in which all shall 
agree, though the theorems themselves arc held indis- 
putable. Among these demonstrations are those of James 
Bernoulli, Maclaurin, Landen, Kpinus, Stewart, Eulcr, 
Lagrange, I/IIuilicr, Manning, Woodhousc, Hutton, Bon- 
nycastle, Knight, Robertson, Creswell, Swinburne, and 
Tylecotc. We shall not discuss tho various objections, bo- 
causc they apply as much to the general doctrino of infinite 
series as to tho binomial theorem in particular; and wo 
must refer tho reader to Taylor's Theorem. We shall 
however alludo to the principal objections after we have given 
what appears to us a sufficient proof of the theorem, or 
rather after we havo indicated the steps of such a proof. 

Definition.— By (1 + x) " we mean (rn and n being wholo 



B I N 



413 



B I N 



numbers) a quantity which, multiplied n— \ times by itself, 

m 

gives (1 + x) m ; and by the expansion of (1 + x) ", we mean 
an algebraical series of powers of x (positive or negative, 
whole or fractional) which has all the algebraical properties 

of (1 + x)* t and which, when it is convergent, has (1 + x)" 
for its arithmetical limit or sum. 

Theorem 1. — Tho well-known proof of the expansion of 
(1 + x) m , where m is a positive whole number, giving 
(1 + x)* = 1+ 2x + x* 
(1 + xf = 1 + 3x + 33? + x 3 &c. 
This theorem is not absolutely necessary, as we shall see. 
Theorem 2. — If there be any function of a, namely, ^ a, 
which satisfies the condition 

(a) x (b) - (a + b) 

then ^(a) must be C* where C is any quantity independent 
of a. 
For the condition gives 

^ (a) x ^ (b + c) = ^ (a -f o + c) 
or ^ (a) X (f> (b) x £ (c) = ^ (a + 6 + c) &e. 

which leads (supposing b t c, &c, to be severally equal to a) 
to the equations 

(0 a)l= (« a) (^ a') m = £ (w a'), &c. 
where w and w» are any whole numbers, and a, a', &c, any 
quantities whatsoever. Let us suppose m a! = n a, which 
gives * 

^ (w aO = ^ (n a) or <V a / ) m . - (^ a)" 



or ^ a' = ty a) m or ^ 



(£.) = (*.r 



Again, the supposed universality of the first equation gives 

0(0) x 0(a) =0(a+O) =0(a) 
or p (0) = 1 : and also 

<p(a) x <p(—a) = <p(a— a) = 1 

whence <p ( - a) = a ( — n a) = 

<pa T f(na) 



1 
"(pa)" 



- (<pa)' 



so that the equation <p(na) = (p a)" is true for all values of 
n: if a be = 1, this gives <pn = {<p(l) }\ and # (1) is not a 
function of the general symbol n : let <p (1) = C, which gives 
the theorem asserted. 

This theorem is the fundamental part of Euler's proof of 
the binomial theorem. 

Theorem 3. — If the values of a and b may be made as 
near to equality as we please, then the limit of the fraction 

a" - b* . 

7— is n a"* l 

a — b 

In the case where n is a whole number, this is evident by 
the well-known theorem 

( a « _£«)_:- (a - b) = a +6 
( a *_& 3 )4_(a_ b) = a « +a 6 + £s 
(a*-6*)-r(a -6) = a 3 -r-a , 6 + a6 1 +6 3 &c. 
Let « be a positive fraction, for instance, f ; and let a = a 3 , 
6 = /3 s . Then J « a s , 6 3 = /3* and 

Q 3- 6* _ a* — J3» _ q + j3 
a _£ a* — j3 3 " a * + oj8 + /3» 
the limit of which, when a approaches to b t is 2a -J- 3 a* or 

2 -i 2 -i 2 §-i 

-a or -a or -a .In tho same way any other 

3 3 o 

case may be proved. 

Now let n bo negative, say it is - t, whero t is positive. 
Then 

aT-b* a-'-b- 1 _ 1 a' -&' 

a - b a — b a* if a — b 

of which the limit, by the two preceding eases (t being 
positive), is 

— «"" x /a*- 1 or - t a-'- 1 or « a"- 1 
Theorem 4.— If (1 + a?)" admit of being expanded in a 
series of whole powers of #, then that series must bo 



Let 

(1 + x)» =10 + 1^ + t 2 x* + &e. 
(1 + y)» = * + ' *y + **y a + &c. 
(1 + a?)" - (1 + y) n ■ ( , rc»- y* , 

ToT^r-ToTpr = '• + ''oi-iy + &c - 

which two sides being always equal, the limits to which 
they approach, as x approaches to y, are equal ; or 
n(\ + x) l = t l +2t 2 x + 3t 3 x 2 +&c. 
Multiply both sides by 1 + x, which gives 
n(\ +x)» = t x + (2^ + /!)^ + (3^ a + 2t 2 )x* + &c. 
but by the original assumption 

n(\ + x)" = nt + nt l x + nt i a? + &c. and 
therefore t l — nt Q 



2 t 2 + t x =nt x or t % = n - 

3 1 3 + 2 ^ = w / 2 or ^ s =s n 
&c. 



2 ° 
w — 1 n 

2™ 
&c. 



■fa 



But, making x = in the original series, we find t a = (\)* 
= 1 . Whence follows the theorem. 

Theorem 5.— The value of (1 + x)" is in all eases the 
series above investigated. 

Consider that series as a function of ns Or let 



<P(w) 



1 + nx + n. — — x* +, &c. 



771 — 1 

<p(m) = l +mx +m — — a* +, &e. 

Actual multiplication will be found to give 

m + n — l 

<pnx<pm = \ +(m + n)x + m+ n 7 



a. 8 +, &c. 



or <pn X <pm — <p (n ~b m). 

Or we may dispense with this multiplication by remem- 
bering that since <p n is (1 + &) n and <pm is (I + ^) m » when 
n and ?« are whole numbers, we must haver in that case 
(Theorem l.)» 

(p»X < pw = (l+ x) m + " = £ (m + n) 

but the result of a multiplication does not depend upon the 
values of the letters ; if therefore <p m and <p n give <p (m + n) 
when m and n are any whole numbers, they give the same 
result when m and n are fractional or negative. But we do 
not yet know that <p m in the latter cases represents (1 +.T) m . 
But by theorem (2.) it follows from <pm X ^n~<p{m + n) 
that $7i is {p(l) }\ or 



1 -1 

1 + 1#+ 1— r~# 8 + 



, &c y 



or (1 + x)\ 



The greater part of the preceding proof is a concession to 
the analytical taste of the age, which requires that synthe- 
tical demonstration shall not appear in algebra. The theo- 
rem is demonstrated rigorously as soon as it shall be proved 
that from <p m X %n — <p (m + w), it necessarily follows that 
<P m is {<P(l)} n , and that the'series above-mentioned satisfies 
the equation just named. And in reading the objections 
which have been made against the various proofs of tho 
binomial theorem, the student must bear in mind that there 
is one class of objections against the actual logic of the pro- 
cesses, and another arising out of the conventions already 
alluded to. Against the demonstration of Euler, which 
consists in theorems 2. and 5. of the preceding, one says 
that it is * tentative' (synthetical would have been the proper 
word) ; another that it is not * algebraical/ meaning ana- 
lytical, and assuming that algebra must be analysis. To 
all of which we should reply by another question, Is it 
logical ? 

The last attempt to produce an unanswerable demonstra- 
tion of the binomial theorem was made by Messrs. Swin- 
burne and Tylecote of St. John's College, Cambridgo 
(Deighton, 1827). The details are much too complicated to 
describe, but the general result is the expansion of (1 + x) n 
to any numher of terms, with a finite expression for the re- 
mainder. This expression is however so complicated and 
long, that it can be of no use, except as proved that the re- 
mainder can be assigned by the ordinary operations of 



B I O 



414 



li I O 



algebra* Tlie proof is certainly, if tho details bo correct, of 
a logical character, but It Is far above tho student. The 
remarks on other demonstrations in the preface, though 
dissenting entirely from many of them, wo should recom- 
mend to the attention of the advanced student, as an exercise 
in the consideration of objections. At tho same time we 
mav recommend the remarks in Woodhouse's Analytical 
Calculations. 

BIOGRAPHY, a modern terra, and ono indeed of only 
recent introduction, formed from the Greek /5/oc (biosj, 
' life/ and fpaft) (graphe), * writing/ and therefore signi- 
fying literally * life-writing*. It is that department of litera- 
ture which treats of the actions and fortunes of individuals. 
Biography is commonly distinguished from history by tho 
latter term being confined to the narration of tho actions 
and fortunes, not of individuals, but of the large communi- 
ties of men called states and nations; but properly bio- 
graphy is only a branch of history. Thus Thomas Stanley, 
in the preface to his ' History of Philosophy/ observes, 
• There are two kinds of history ; one represents general 
affairs of state, tho other gives account of particular persons, 
whose lives have rendered them eminent* At tho time 
when this was written (the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
tury) tho word biography, wo believe, had not been invented. 
Stanley adds, * Homer hath given an essay of each : of the 
first in his Iliads, a relation of a war between different 
nations; of the second in his Odysscys, confined to the 
person of Ulysses/ 

Owing to "this their natural connection, history and bio- 
graphy are frequently combined in the same work. Indeed 
it is scarcely possible to write any history of a nation, which 
shall not consist, in a great part, of narratives or notices of 
the acts of individuals. The life of every eminent political 
character, and of every person who has been conspicuously 
engaged in tho conduct of any department of public affairs, 
makes a portion of the history of his country. But besides 
such occasional threads of biography as are interwoven in 
almost every historical composition, a more formal intermix- 
ture, or association in the same work, of biographical details 
with national history, has sometimes been attempted. Thus, 
for example, to his ' History of the Age of Louis XIV./ 
Voltaire has added a biographical appendix of the more 
celebrated writers, painters, musicians, sculptors, and other 
artists who lived in France during that period. So, In 
the very useful ' Synopsis of Universal History/ written in 
German by J. H. Zopf. of which thero is an enlarged and 
otherwise improved translation into French (5 vols. 12mo. 
J 8 10), an account of the most eminent writers of every cen- 
tury is regularly added to the abridgment of political events. 
In many more regular histories, such as Henry's ' History 
of Great Britain/ Lord John Russell's ' History of the Af- 
fairs of Europo from the Peace of Utrecht/ the progress of 
literature is in a similar manner traced alongside of that of 
national affairs, in distinct chapters, containing accounts of 
the lives and writings of men of letters. There is indeed 
scarcely any other way than this of incorporating the history 
of literature with the history of political transactions ; and 
it will therefore bo more or less resorted to whenever the 
former subject is thought of sufficient importance to bo in- 
cluded in the writer's scheme. 

But biography has sometimes been intermixed with his- 
tory on a raoro comprehensive principle. Wo have an ex- 
ample of this in one of the divisions of the * Encyclopaedia 
Metropolitana/ which is described in the plan of the work 
as containing 'Biography chronologically arranged, intcr- 
spcrsod with introductory chapters of National History, Po- 
litical Geography, and Chronology.' Here the history would 
appear to be subordinate to the biography. In the ' General 
Introduction* to tho Encyclopaedia, which wa3 written by 
Mr. Coleridge, though much altered both by interpolation 
and othcrwiso afior it left his hands, it is said, * Biography 
and history tend to the samo points of general instruction, 
in two ways: the one exhibiting human principles and pas- 1 
sions acting upon a large scale ; the other showing them as 
they move in a smaller circle, but enabling us to trace tho 
orbit which they describe with greater precision As- 
suredly the great use of history Is to acquaint us with the 
nature of man. This end is best answered by the most 
faithful portrait; but biography Is a collection of portraits. 
At the same time there muRt be sorao mode of grouping 
and connecting the individuals, who are themselves the 
great landmarks in the map of human nature. It has there- 
fore occurred to us that the most effectual mode ef attaining 
the chief objects of historical knowledge will be lo present 



history in the form of biography chronologically arranged. 
....Thus will the far greater portion of history be conveyed, 
not only in its most interesting, bui in its most philosophical 
and real form ; while the remaining facts will be interwoven 
in tho preliminary and connecting chapters/ Substantially 
identical with the plan here traced is that of a work, tho 
first volume of which appeared at Glasgow in 1833, nnd 
which is still (1835), wo believe, in course of publication, 
entitled, * Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen, on 
an original plan, comprising tho twofold advantage of a 
general English Biography and a History of England ; 
edited by G. G. Cunningham/ In his preface tho writer of 
this work appears to admit that its plan is more adapted to 
exhibit tho popular attractions than tho scientific principles 
or most important lessons of history. 

Somooftho most anticnt literary compositions in exist* 
enco are works of biography, or of mixed biography and 
history. In tho historical books of the Old Testament tho 
narrative of public eveuts is everywhere intermixed with 
the lives of individuals— patriarchs, lawgivers, captains, 
high priests, judges, kings, and other rulors or eminent 
characters. In some cases the composition is purely biogra- 
phical, as the Book of Ruth. 

Of professed biographical works, by far the greatest that 
has eorae down to us from the Greeks, is the ' Parallel 
Lives' of Plutarch, written in the second century of our 
cera. This work comprehends distinguished characters in 
all tho departments both of military and civil life. Another 
collection of very small value is that of the ' Lives of Emi- 
nent Greek and Roman Commanders/ written by Cornelius . 
Nepos, in the rei^n of Augustus. There is also the work 
entitled ' The Laves of the Twelve Cassars/ by Suetonius, 
which however is necessarily in some degree of an historical 
character. It is a very indigested composition, to whatever 
class it may be considered as belonging. Suetonius like- 
wise wroto a book of lives of celebrated grammarians, of 
which some fragments have been preserved. ' They who 
writ of philosophers/ says Stanley, * exceeded the rest far 
in number, of whom to give a particular account will be un- 
necessary, because their works arc net extant, and thcrcforo 
wc shall only name them : Aetius, Anaxilides, Antigonus, 
Antistbcnes, Aristocles, Aristomcnus, Callimachus, Clito- 
machus, Dioclcs, Diogenes Laertius, Eunapius, Hcraclides, 
Hermippus, Hesyebius, Hippobotus, Ion, Idomeneus, Ni- 
cander, Nicias, Panactius, Porrius, Plotarch, Sotion, and 
Thcodorus. Of almost all these (which is much to be do- 
plorcd) there remain not any footsteps ; the only author in 
this kind for the more anticnt philosophers is Diogenes 
Laertius; for the later, Eunapius. And to mako tho mis- 
fortune tho greater, that which Laertius gives us is so far 
short of what ho might have done, that there is much more 
to bo found of the same persons dispersed amongst other 
authors/ Diogenes lived in the beginning of the third cen- 
tury. At the end of the second and beginning of the third 
century wc havo Flavius Pbilostratus, who wrote a collection 
of biographies in two books, entitlod * Lives of tho Sophists.' 
Of single biographical sketches the anticnts have also left 
us several, most of which seem to havo been originally pro- 
fixed to editions of the works of tho persons to whom they 
relate. Thus we have a Life of Homer attributed to Ho- 
rodotus; and another of Plato, by Olympiodorus of Alex- 
andria. • Of all such single lives perhaps the most curious 
is that of Apollonius of Tyana, written in Greek by tho Pbi- 
lostratus above-mentioned. An earlier life of Apollonius, 
which is now lost, is said to havo been written by Ins disciple 
and contemporary Damis. 

Since the revival of letters numerous biographical works 
have appeared in every language of Europe. Many of theso 
havo been accounts of tho lives of single individuals, pub- 
lished either separately, or (in the case of authors) along 
with the works of tho persons to whom they relate. In 
some cases the writer of such a lifo has aimed at making 
his work present a history, political, ecclesiastical, literary, 
or general, of the ago to which its subject belonged. 
Among instances of such attempts may be mentioned Jor- 
tin's Lifo of Erasmus, Godwin's Life of Chaucer, and rtl'Crie's 
Lifo of Knox. As answering a similar ond, though written 
apparently with a less particular regard to tho same object, 
may be added one of the most amusing, and in some re- 
spects one of tho most perfect, of all biographical works, 
Bos well's Life of Johnson. Others of these single lives aro 
called autobiographies, or narratives which individuals have 
written of Ihcir own lives. A collection of tho most cele- 
brated autobiographies, which it is evident must in general 



BIO 



415 



B I O 



have certain peculiarities strikingly distinguishing them 
from common biographical accounts, was published a few 
year* ago in London by Messrs. Hunt and Clarke, in 34 
vols. 18mo. 

Crosar's. Commentaries of the Gallic and Civil Wars may 
be quoted as examples of autobiographical works in antient 
literature. Another example is affordod by the lost history 
of his own times, also entitled Commentaries, written by the 
Greek General Aratus, whieh Polybius mentions. [See 
Aratus.] 

Tho collections of Lives that have appeared in modern 
times have also been very numerous. .Thus we have the 
various martyrologies, or aecounts of the lives and deaths 
of tho early Christian martyrs, by Ruinart (fol. Amster- 
dam, 1713), by Assemani (2 vols, fol, Rom. 1748), &c. 
.There is also the great work of the Flemish Jesuits, Bol- 
landus, Henschenius, &e., entitled ' Aeta Sanctorum Om- 
nium/ which was begun to be published at Antwerp in 
1643, and is of the enormous extent of fifty-three volumes 
folio. The 16 volumes quarto of Tillemont's work, entitled 
*Me*raoires pour scrvir a l'Histoiro Eeel^siastique de vi. 
premieres siccles de TEglise,* (Paris, 1693, See.) is also in 
the main a work of ecclesiastical biography, There are 
also the Lives of tho Fathers, by St, Jcrom, and by many 
succeeding writers ; the Lives of the Popes by AnastasiuH, 
commonly called the ' Bibliothecary/ and by others in later 
times ; the Histories of the various monastie orders, which 
are all in tho greater part biographical ; and such works 
as John Fox's ' Book of Martyrs, &e/ As examples of col- 
lections of lives of the members of different artificial orders 
of persons among ourselves, may be noticed such works as 
Ashmole's * History of the Order of the Garter,* tho various 
Peerages and Baronetages; Wilson's 'Biographical Index 
to the House of Commons,' (Lond. 1806) ; Ward's 'Lives 
of the Professors of GroBham College,' Wood's ' Athenas 
Oxonicnses/ whieh is an aceount of writers educated at 
Oxford, &c. 

The lives of ominent statesmen, military eommandcrs, 
admirals, navigators, travellers, highwaymen, and various 
other descriptions of persons, either in all countries, or in 
some one eountry, have frequently formed the subjects of 

► distinct works. Boccaccio wrote a work in Latin, first pub- 
lished at Ulm in 1473, in folio, entitled 'Opus de Claris 
Hominibus et Mulicribus/ and in subsequent oditions, * De 
Casibus Virorum et Ferainarum Illustrium/ boinga history 
of unfortunate princes and princesses, and other persons of 
eminence. A translation of this work into English verse, 
from a very paraphrastic French version executed by Lau- 
rent de Premierfait, was eomposed by John Lydgate, who 
lived in tho reign of Henry VI., under the titlo of *The 
Tragedies gathered by John Bochas of all such princes 
as fell from their estates through the mutability of fortune 
since the creation of Adam until his time.* The poem is 
commonly known by the title of Lydgate's ' Fall of Princes/ 
Somewhat similar to tho dosign of this work, and indeed 
confessedly borrowed from it, is that of tho celebrated col- 
lection of poems, first published in quarto, in 1559, with 
the tklo of ' A Mirror for Magistrates, wherein may be 
seen, by example of others, with how grievous Plagues 
Vices are punished, and how frail and unstable worldly 
Prosperity is found, even of those whom Fortune seemeth 
most highly to favour/ But the narratives in tho * Mirror 
for Magistrates/ are all selected from English History, from 
which, as tho editor in his dedication oomplains, Boccaccio 
had omitted to take any of his examples. A new edition 
of the ' Mirror for Magistrates/ whieh ranks so high in our 
old. poetry, on account of the two admirable pieees which 
it contains, — the Induction and the Complaint of Henry 
Duke of Buckingham, by Thomas Sackville, the first Lord 
Buckhurst and first Earl of Dorset— appeared in 2 vols. 4to. 
in 1815, under the superintendence of the lato Mr. Hasle- 
wood. Many biographical works have appeared, containing 
exclusively the lives of females. A collection of some of the 
earliest of these was published in a folio volume at Paris in 
1521, under the title of * Opera Diversorum aliquot Scrip- 
torum de Claris Mulieribus ex editione Jo. Ravisii Tex- 
toris/ Two of tho books of Brantome's Me*moires are 
occupied with gallant women (Dames Gallantea), and one 
with illustrious women. Menage wrote a work entitled 
• Historia Mulicrum Philosophorum/ There is a little book 
in French, called ' La Gallerie des Femmes Fortes/ by 
Pierre le Moync, an edition of which, adorned with hand- 
somely cxeeutcd portraits, was published by the Elzevirs 
at Ley den, in 1660, There was published at Paris, in 3 



vols. 12mo„ in 1579, a ' Dictionnaire Historlque Portatif 
des Femmes Celebres/ Bayle (Dictionnaire, Art. * Urraca/ 
note E.) complains that writers of lives usually select only 
persons of distinguished merit, and that of women espe- 
cially who havo been the disgrace of their sex and their 
eountry no biographical account as far as he knew had 
appeared. 'Yet,' he continues, 'it is a subject which it 
would be well worth some writers pains to handle. It 
might be treated after tho fashion of Plutarch ; I mean, 
that as that famous author has chosen the most illustrious 
Romans, and the most illustrious Greeks, in order to draw 
parallels between them, the queens and princesses of dif- 
ferent nations might in like manner be eompared together/ 
Such a comparison in regard to females of an opposite 
charaoter from those here spoken of, is perhaps instituted 
in a work of whieh we know nothing more than tho title, 
Holberg's ' Vies Paralleles de quelques Femmes Illustres/ 
The most numerous class of biographical works is that of 
collections of literary biography. Of these many of tho 
most important are mentioned under the article Biblio- 
graphy. Among others whieh are not notieed there, we 
may mention such works as the ' PulcherTractatus do Vita 
Pkilosophorura/ by Walter Burley (the Venerable Doctor, 
as he was called), 4to. Colon. 1472, a very rare volume ; the 
'History of Philosophy, containing the Lives, Opinions, 
Actions, and Discourses of the Philosophers of every sect/ 
hy Thomas Stanley, which appeared in four successive vo- 
lumes in 1655, 1656, 16G0, and 16G2, and has since been 
translated into Latin, as well as several times reprinted in 
English ; the ' Historia Critiea Philosophiro' of Brnckcr, 
5 vols. 4to. Leipzig, 1741-4, and second edition, 6 vols. 4to. 
1767: the ' Theatrum Virorum Eruditione Clarorum' of 
Paul Frehcr, 2 vols. fol. Noriberg. 1688; the ' Vita) Viro- 
rum Eruditorum' of Mclchior Adam, 2 vols. fol. Francf. 
ad Moen. 1705 ; the 'Mdmoires pour servir a l'Histoire des 
Hommes Illustrcs dans la Rdpublique des Lettres' of J. P. 
Niceron, 42 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1729-45; the * Lives and 
Charaoters of the English Dramatic Poets/ by Gerard Lang- 
baine, 8vo. Lon. 1698 ; the *Biographia Dramatica'of D. E. 
Baker, first published in 1764, the best edition of which 
is that published by the late Mr. Isaao Reed, in 2 vols. 8vo. 
in 1782; the * Lives of the English Poets/ by Dr. Johnson, 
&c. Under the same head may be mentioned Vasari's 

* Lives of the most eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Archi- 
tects,' first published at Florence in 2 vols. 4 to. in 1550, 
and repeatedly since with many additions ; the Dictionary 
of Artists of Pelegrino Antonio Orlandi, first published at 
Bologna in 4to. in 1719, under the title of * Abeecdario Pit- 
torico ;' Horaee Walpole's ' Anecdotes of Painting in Eng- 
land and Catalogue of Engravors,' forming in all 4 vols. 
4to. 1761-1771 ; Pilkington's * Dictionary of Painters/ 4to. 
1770, and 2 vols. 8vo. 1829; and other works of a similar 
description of later date. 

Of tho principal collections of exclusively British bio- 
graphy an aeeount is given in the preface to the first edition 
of the 'Biographia Britannica/ Tho writer mentions tho 
' Catalogus Seriptorum Eeclesice,' eomposed by John Bos- 
ton, a Benedictine monk of St. Edmondsbury, in tho reign 
of Henry IV. (which was never published, and of which 
there are but few manuscript eopies extant) ; the * Cora- 
mentarii de Seriptoribus Britannicis of John Leland, pre- 
pared in the reign of Henry VIIL, but first published at 
Oxford in 2 vols. 8vo. in 1709; John Bales ' Seriptorum 
Illustrium Majoris Britannia) Catalogus/ the first part of 
which was published at Ipswich, and the same year at 
Wesel, in 4to. in 1549 : the first complete edition appeared 
at Basel in the same form in 1557 ; the treatise entitled 

* Do Aeademiis et Illustribus Angliso Seriptoribus/ by John 
Pits, tho first volume of which (the only one that was ever 
given to the world) was published in 4to. at Paris in 1619 ; 
the 'Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum' of Thomas 
Dempster, 4to. Bonon. 1627, and of which a new edition 
was printed a few years ago by the Bannatync Club of 
Edinburgh, a work of no authority, or rather indeed a mcro 
romanco ; Sir James Ware'3 work, * De Seriptoribus Hi- 
berniso/ 4to. Dublin, 1639, also translated into English, with 
a continuation, in tho editions of his collected works published 
in 1739 and in 1764; and Fuller's 'Worthies of England/ 
folio, 1662. The first edition of the * Biographia Britannica/ 
or tho Lives of the most eminent persons who have flou- 
rished in Great Britain and Ireland from tho earliest ages 
to the present times/ was begun to be published at London 
in 1747, and was completed in 5 vols, folio, in 1766. Most 
of the best articles in this work wcro written by Dr. John 



B I O 



416 



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Campbell, the author of the • Political Survey of Great 
Britain ;' anion g the other writers wero tho Rev. Thomas 
B rough ton, William Oldys, and Philip Morant, author of 
the * History of Essex/ A new and much extended edition 
of the • Biographia Britannica* was begun in 1778 by the 
late Dr. Andrew Kippis, but was not carried farther than 
the fifth vol u mo (folio), which brings down the alphabetical 
list of names only to tho letter F. This edition, besides n 
great mass of new matter collected by the laborious editor,* 
is enriched by communications from Lord Hailes, I/>rd 
Hardwire (tho author of the * Athenian Letters') ; Dr. 
Percy, Bishop of Dromore ; Dr. Douglas, Bishop of Salis- 
bury; Sir William Blaekstone, Isaac Reed, and several 
other omincnt literary persons of that time. Perhaps the 
most important body of British biography that has issued 
from the press, since the publication of the 'Biographia 
Britannica/ is the work of the lato Mr. John Nichols, en- 
titled * Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century,' 9 
vols. 8vo. Lond. 1812-1816, with the supplement entitled 
* Illustrations of the Literature'of the Eighteenth Century/ 
5 vols. 8 vo. 1 8 1 7-28. Another work of considerable value in 
this department is that entitled 'Portraits of Illustrious 
Personages of Great Britain, with Biographical and His- 
torical Memoirs/ by Edmund Lodge, Esq., 12 vols. 8vo. 
Lon. 1823-35. This last-mentioned work is on a somewhat 
similar plan to the • Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great 
Britain, engraved by Houbraken and Vertue, with memoirs 
by Dr. Birch, which appeared in 2 vols. fol. in 1752. Nor 
ought we under this head to omit Mr, Grainger's * Biogra- 
phical History of England/ which originally appeared in 2 
vols. 4to. in 1769, but which was afterwards extended by 
the author to four 8vo. volumes. A continuation of- Mr. 
Grainger's work, in 3 vols. 8vo., by the Rev. Mark Noble, 
appeared in 1806. 

Of general biographical dictionaries, the * Dictionarium 
Historieo-Geographico-Poeticum/ of Charles Stephens, pub- 
lished in 4to. at Geneva in 1566, two years after the death 
of the author, may probably be regarded as the earliest ; 
but this work, as its title indicates, contained many others 
besides biographical articles. The same remark applies to 
the * Dictionarium Ilistorieum, Geographicum, Poetieum, 
Gentium, Hominum, &c./ of our countryman Nicholas 
Lloyd, which appeared in folio, first at Oxford in 1670, and 
again, greatly enlarged, at London in 1686. A much more 
extended work, of a similar description, is the * Lexicon UnT- 
versale Historico-Geographieo-Chronologieo-Poetieo-Philo- 
logicum,' of Jo. Jac. Hofman; the first edition of which, in 
2 vols, folio, was printed at Bile in 1677. A Supplement, 
or • Continuation/ as it is called, of the same extent, fol- 
lowed in 1C83; and, finally, the two publications were in- 
corporated in a new edition published at Lcyden in 4 vols, 
folio, in 1C98. Hofman's work may be considered as the 
origin of our modern encyclopaedias. Our exclusively bio- 
graphical dictionaries may be regarded as having been rather 
suggested by another work which appeared about the same 
time, • Le Grand Dietionnaire Historiquo et Critique/ of 
Louis Moreri. This work, the first edition of which appeared 
in 1 vol. folio in 1C73, although its contents wero also very 
miscellaneous, was still of a more decidedly biographical 
character than that of Hofman. Of Morcri's Dictionary 
there have been about twenty editions in French, the last of 
which appeared at Paris in 1759, in 10 vols, folio. Upon 
Moreri's Dictionary was founded the 'Great Historical, Geo- 
graphical, Genealogical, and Poetical Dictionary/ printed at 
London in 1C94 ; the second edition of which, • revised, cor- 
rected, and enlarged to the year 1688, by Jeremy Collier, 
A.M./ appeared in 2 vols, folio in 1701. To these a third 
volume was added in 1705, containing a Supplement by 
Collier, and, in a separate alphabet, * a Continuation from 
the year 1C88 to this time, by another hand.* The whole 
was afterwards republished, with additions, in 4 vols, folio in 
1727. Mcanwhilo the immortal * Dietionnaire Historujuc 
ct Critinue * of Bayle, originally undertaken with the view 
of supplying the deficiencies and correcting tho errors of 
Moreri, but which, in the course of preparation, soon as- 
sumed tho form and character of an independent work, 
appeared in 2 vols, folio at Rotterdam in 1097, A second 
edition, enlarged to 3 vols., followed in 1702; and a third 
in 1 722, after the death of the author, at Geneva, in 4 vols., 
the last being a supplementary volumo consisting of addi- 
tional articles which ho had left ready for the press. The 
l>cst of the old editions of Bayle is the fourth, published at 
Rotterdam in 4 vols, folio in 1720, under the supcrin- . 
tendence of Prosper Marehant, and often called the * Regent < 



edition/ from being dedicated to the Regent of France, 
Philip, Duke of Orleans; but an edition in 17 vols. 8vo., 
has recently been produced at Paris, which, from the anno- 
tations it contains in correction of tho original text, is now 
the most complete and valuable. Baylc's Dictionary, though 
it contains only a selection of names, is almost exclusively 
biographical. A very indifferent translation of it into Eng- 
lish was published soon after the appearance of the original ; 
but one much better executed was produced some years 
after by Peter Des Maizeaux, in 5 vols, folio, I^ondon, 
1734-7. To Bayle*s Dictionary should be added the Supple- 
ment to it by Chaufepil, published in 4 vols, folio at Am- 
sterdam in 1 750. 

The first * English Goncral (exclusively) Biographical 
Dictionary' appeared in 17C2, in 11 vols. 8vo. * It is un- 
derstood' (says the writer of an articlo * On Universal Bio- 
graphies ' in the London Magazine, No. XII. third series) 
'to have been projected and principally written by the Rev. 
Dr. Heathcote, who, assisted by the late Mr. Nichols, 
brought out a second edition of the work in 12 vols, in 1784. 
A third edition in 15 vols, appeared in 1798, under the su- 
perintendence of Mr. Tooke, the author of the * History 
of Russia.* It is the last edition of this work which goes 
by the name of Chalmers's * Biographical Dictionary/ 
which, having been begun to bo published in 1812, was 
completed in 1817, in 32 vols. 8vo. Chalmers's • Dictionary * 
is merely a hurried and tasteless compilation, and without 
any pretensions to be regarded as an authority. It is a 
better book however than the * General Biographical Dic- 
tionary,' of Drs. Aikin and Enfield in 10 vols. 4to./begun 
in 1799 and finished in 1815. Of our smaller English works 
of this deseriptien by far the best is that by the late Mr. 
John Gorton, published in 2 vols. 8vo. in 1828. This work 
is executed with vory superior ability. 

AVe have as yet however no English biographical dic- 
tionary at all to be compared with the great French work, 
the ' Biographie Universelle,' begun in 1810 and completed 
in 52 vols. 8vo. in 1828. To every article in this work the 
namo of the writer is affixed; and tho list of contributors, 
who are in all considerably above 300 in number, comprises 
the names of Biot, Delambrc, Laeroix, Maltc-Brun, AValckc- 
naer, Sylvestre do Sacy, Sismondi, Dc Barante, Gnizot, 
Cuvier, Victor Cousin, Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant, 
Laplace, Mad. do Stael, Delille, and many others of tho 
most eminent French writers now or lately living. To the 
* Biographie Universelle ' may be added tho * Biographie 
des Hommes Vivants/ in 5 vols. 8vo., or the * Biographio 
Nouvelle des Contcmporains/ in 20 vols., works of no great 
authority. 

BION, a name common to many Greek authors, more or 
less known to the moderns. They are usually distinguished 
by their ethnical names. Clemens Alexandrinus {Strom. 
vi. p. C29. A.) mentions a Bion Proconnesius, who wrote an 
abridgment of the work of Cadmus the historian, and he is 
probably the person cited by Athcncous (II. p. 45) : accord- 
ing to Diog. Laert. (iv. 58) he was a contemporary of Phe- 
recydes of Syros. 

Bion Borysthenites was a philosopher, who seems to have 
belonged to nearly all the different sects in succession. Ho 
was born some time near the 12Cth Olympiad, and is sup- 
posed to have died about 241 ».c. Olymp. 134. 4. He is 
mentioned by Strabo (i. 15) as a contemporary of Eratos- 
thenes, who was born 275 B.C., and of Zeno the Stoic, who 
died 2C3 oc. (Comp. Athenccus iv. 162. D.) His father 
was a frecd-man, his mother a Laecdremonian harlot, named 
Olympia. On account of some malpractices in his capacity 
of tax-gatherer, his father was sold with his whole family. 
Bion, who was then a child, was purchased by a rhetorician, 
who mado him his heir, and after his patron's death ho 
went to Athens, where ho set up as a philosopher. He was 
first an auditor of Crates; then he turned Cynic; after- 
wards he attended tho lectures of Theodorus, and finally 
became a disciple of Theophrastus. He was a great jester, 
and remarkable more for tho point than for the good- 
huinour of his witticisms. (See Horat. Epist. ii. 2, GO, and 
Cic. TuscuL ii. 2C.) He died atChaleis in Kubcua. (See 
Diog. Laert. iv. 4C-58.) 

But tho most celebrated person of this namo is Bion 
Smyrnneus, the Bucolic poet; of whom however wc know 
little moro than that he lived at the same timo with Theo- 
critus and Mosehus, of whom the former mentions him 
in his pocins, and the latter has written an elegy on his 
death. He died by poison. Au attempt was made many 
years ago by Giovanni Vintimiglia to deprive Smyrna of 






1 P 



417 



B 1 P 



the honour of his birth, and to prove that he was horn in 
Sicily, where he undoubtedly spent a great part of his life 
(see Lorenzo Crasso* Historia de* Poeti Greet, p. 90) ; but 
not only is his name mentioned by Moschus in connexion 
with the Smyrnsean river Meles, but we have also the 
express testimony of Suidas {vac. expiree) that he was 
born at a village ealled Phlosse, near that city. His longest 
Idyll is a lament over Adonis; it is interesting to the 
English reader from its similarity in point of subject to the 
earliest of Shakspeare's poems, which however was pro- 
bably suggested by Golding's translation of Ovid's Meta- 
morphoses, as there does not appear to have been any trans- 
lation of Bion extant in Shakspeare's time. (See Malone's 
Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 381., vol. xx. p. 10.) Bion's poems 
are generally published along with Theocritus and Moschus. 
The best edition is that of L. F. Heindorf, Berlin, 1810. 
We are not acquainted with any good English version of 
Bion. There is a German translation by J. H. Voss, Tu- 
bingen, 1808. Several other Bions are mentioned by Dio- 
genes Laertius, but nothing is known about them. 

BIPAPILLA'RIA (zoology), a genus of marine molluscs 
established by Lamarck upon a species figured and de- 
scribed in the manuscript notes of P6ron. The following is 
Lamarck's definition : — body free, naked, of a shape be- 
tween oval and globular, terminated posteriorly by a tail, 
and having at its superior extremity two eonical papillae, 
which are equal, perforated, and furnished with tentacula, 
three of whieh are to be found at each opening. The 
species. Bipapillaria Australis, on which the genus is 



founded, was seen on the west coast of New Holland.* 
Lamarck places this animal next to Ascidia, which is fixed^ 
observing that the two openings are analogous to those of 
that genus. Blainville also arranges it thus, but observes 
that it is too little known to warrant any certainty that it 
differs from Ascidia. 

BIPES (zoology), a genus of reptiles differing from Seps, 
inasmuch as that in Bipes the hind feet alone are visible, 
there being a total absence of the anterior extremities ex- 
ternally, though the clavicles "and scapulae (shoulder-blades) 
are in their proper situation, but hidden under the skin. 
[See Skps.] 

Cuvier^ dissected one of the species {Bipes lepidopodus 
of Lacepede), and found that, though its posterior and only 
apparent pair of feet had the external form of two oblong 
and scaly plates or processes,, the integument covered a 
femur (thigh-bone), a tibia and fibula (leg-bones), and four 
metatarsal, or finger-bones, but no phalanges (terminal 
finger-bones). He also states that one of the lungs is less 
by one-half than the-other. 

This genus, an example of one of those beautiful gra- 
dations by which nature glides from one type of form into 
another, is intermediate between the saurians (lizards) and 
the ophidians (serpents). [See Cn aixides and Chirotes.] 
* A single series of pores before the vent. 
Sub-genus Pygopus. 
Of this sub-genus, Pygopus lepidopodus (Bipes lepido- 
podus, Lacdpede) is an example. 

/ 




[Pygopus lepidopodus.*] 



Lacdpede describes the body and tail of this speeies as 
being nearly cylindrical, very slender, and a little like those 
serpents called by the French Orvets, of which our common 
blind-worm or slow-worm (Anguis fragilis, Linn.) is an 
example ; and which, though without limbs, have some of 
the rudiments of such members in the skeleton. (See 
Blind- worm.) The upper part of the head of Pygopus 
lepidopodus is covered by seven large scale-plates disposed 
around an eighth, which is a littlo larger than the others. 
Each eye is surrounded by small scaly globules. The gape 
is sufficiently large, and the teeth aro equal and small. 
The ilat long tongue is without a notch. The auditory 
orifice is near the commissure of the lips. The scales 
which cover the upper part of the body are lozenge-like, 
striated and small, especially those which cover the most 
elevated part of the back ; hut the scales of the under part 
of the belly and the tail are hexagonal and smooth, ant\ 
those of the two middle longitudinal ranks are larger than 
those of the lateral ranks. There are, before the vent, ten 
hollow tubercles pierced at the summit or apex (lc bout), 
and so arranged as to present two portions of a circle, the 
concavity of which is turned towards the throat. At each 
extremity of the curve formed by these tubercles is to be 
seen a foot, in which no finger is to be distinguished ex- 
ternally, and which is surrounded by very small scales on 
its lower part, and by scales a degree less small on its 
npper surfacc/r 

From this disposition of the scales Lacepede gave the 
species its name. 

The colour is greenish, varied with some very small 
black blotches. 

The following are the dimensions given by Lacepede. 
Each foot ten millimetres long, and four broad. Length of 
*be tail 320 millimetres, and total length of the animal 470. 

Lacepcdc's observation, though he prefaces it very mo- 
lcstly, is well worthy of attention. 'This reptile/ says he, 
like the other species of Bipes, ranks between the ovi- 
parous quadrupeds and the serpents ; it is related to the 
latter by its general form, as well as by the figure, pro- 
portion, and distribution of the scales, while it approaches 

• Our out is taken from the plate in the Annatti du Afuscvm, which illus- 
trates Laerp&le's memoir: but Cuvier states that Lacepede' s fljinro was taken 
from an individual wuoie tali had been broken and reproduced ; and he fltr- 
th*r ob*erwi, that in all thU class tfw proportion of lhe tail Is not to be de- 
pended on as a character. 

f These puddles or mnd-onri indicate that the haunti of the animal must 
be miry placet , through which inch a structure of the posterior limbs would 
"illy; ' 



materially assist its progression 



the former by its .auditory apertures, and by the hollow 
tubercles near the anus/ 

There is a Brazilian species, Pygopus cariocacca (see 
Spix, xxviii. 2) ; but Cuvier thinks that another species re- 
corded by Spix (Pygopus striatus, xxviii. 1) is only the 
immature state of the animal. 

• In the sub-genus Bipes of Merrem, Sceloies of Fitzinger, 
there is no series of pores before the vent, and the feet are 
each terminated by two unequal processes or fingers. Of 
this the small species found at the' Cape of Good Hope, 
Anguis bipes of Linnaeus, Lacerta bipes of Gmelin, is an 
example. Cuvier observes, that the Gronovian or Mono- 
dactylous Seps of Daudin, on which Merrem founded his 
genus Pygodaciylus, was only an ill-preserved individual 
and that this subgenus (Pygodactylus) ought to be ex- 
punged, as Merrem himself had allowed. Cuvier also 
states that the Seps sexlineata of Harlan (Sc. Nat. Phil, iv., 
pi. xviii., f. 2) is only a variety of this species. 

In the sub-genus Lialis of Gray, the head is elongated, 
the front ilat, covered with small sub-imbricated scales, and 
the irides linear and vertical. The auditory opening is 
oblong and conspicuous. 

The body is sub-cylindrical and attenuated. The dorsal 
scales are ovate, convex, and smooth. The two interme- 
diate scries of ventral scales are largest. There are two 
feet, posterior, obsolete, and acute, furnished with from two 
to three scales at the base. The vent is sub-posterior, and 
the prcsanal scales small. The sub-anal pores arc disposed 
in pairs on each side. 

Mr. Gray observes that this genus is very nearly allied to 
Pygopus of Merrem, hut may be readily distinguished from 
it by the characters above given. In Pygopus, too, the head 
is short, more rounded in front, and covered with regular 
shields, the pupil is sub-circular, and the feet are broad, 
ovate, blunt, and covered with three rows of scales. The 
vent has five largc'oblong scales in front of it, and the sub- 
anal pores form a continuous series. 

Lialis Burtonis (Gray), on which the suh-genus was 
founded, is of a pale ashy brown above, very minutely dotted 
with black, and beneath of a pale cocoa-brown. A white 
stripe passes on both sides from the upper lip above the 
eyes by the nape, and another broader one from the upper 
lip along the sides to the point of the tail. In the young 
state the lateral stripes of the neck are obsolete. The 
locality of the species is New South Wales (on the autho- 
rity of Dr. Mair) ; and Mr. Gray, whose generic and specific 



No. 257. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



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descriptions aro given above, observes, that when the epider- 
mis is removed the colour is whitish, with lactescent stripes. 
There arc specimens in the Chatham and British Museums. 

BIQUADRATIC, an algebraic terra, meaning of the 
fourth decree, or which contains the fourth power of any 
letter. Thus, to find the value of x in 

x* + 3a« = x+ 100 
is the solution cf a biquadratic equation. 

The term means r twice as high as a quadratic.* [See 
Quadratic] Among the older algebraists tho fourth 
power was also denoted hy the terms quadrat o-quadrat urn, 
pfano-pfanum, sutsofidum, zenzizensic (corruption of an 
Arabic word), &c. The word biquadratic is now wearing 
out of use, and it is becoming customary to say ■ of the 
fourth degree* instead. 

BIR, sometimes written BEER, the anticnt BIRTHA 
according to D'Anville, a town of Mesopotamia in Asiatic 
Turkey, m 3C J 59' N. lat. and 38° 7' 15" E. long., 144 miles 
N.E. from Aleppo. It is situated on tho side of a very 
steep hill on the east hank of tho Euphrates, which is 
here wider than the Tigris at Mosul, and may he^ loosely 
said to be at least equal to the Thames at Blaekfriars 
Bridge. Poeocke mentions some English gentlemen who 
found it214yaidswidein September; andsays generally that 
the bed of the river is ahout a quarter of a mile across, and 
that only half that hreadth is occupied when the water is 
low. More precisely.tho same English ccntlcraen measured 
tho bed, and found it 630 yards wide. This seems a medium 
account: some travellers make the breadth of tho river 
greater, and some much less ; hut it is to be considered that 
in the Euphrates the volume and hreadth of the water is 
greatly increased or diminished with tho season. The 
eastern hank of the river being here steep and the western 
Hat, the rapidity of the current is very different on the op- 
posite sides, hut its general course here is slow. The depth 
of course varies with the season ; hut Mr. Buckingham 
states that when ho was there, in tho month of May, it did 
not seem to exceed ten or twelve feet. This has long been 
the point where caravans and travellers from Aleppo to 
Orfah, Diarbekir, Bagdad, and Persia cross the Euphrates, 
the passage being effected in large boats, ahout forty feet in 
length by ten broad, not more than two feet high at the stem, 
hut not less than fifteen at the prow. There was formerly 
some trade carried on by the river between this place and 
J3ay:dad, hut it has long been discontinued by this channel. 

Btr is now become a place of considerable interest, as 
it is the point from which it is proposed to navigate the 
Euphrates by steam. Captain Chesney at first thought 
that Annah was tho highest point to which steamers 
could attain. The water to Bir is indeed deep enough; 
and it is well known at Bagdad, that some years ago heavy 
ordnanco from Constantinople, destined for Bagdad, was sent 
down the Euphrates from Bir on kellecks or rafts, which 
when heavily laden draw more water than an ordinary 
steamer. The obstructions arise from rocks in the river, as 
mentioned by Thcvenot, and now confirmed hy Captain 
Chcsncv, who thought that to render tho river navigable to 
Bir, ciifier some of the rocks must bo hlastcd, or some 
means devised to protect the paddles from occasional con- 
cussions against them, which, in places so limited, must be 
almost inevitable when of the ordinary construction outside 
the vessel. The means chosen to obviate this danger has 
been a peculiar construction in the steam -vessels destined 
for the navigation. The distance, by the river, from Bir to 
Basrah is, by this officer's computation, 1143 miles. In 
Mesopotamia itself the river is popularly considered to be of 
the general depth of two men. 

There arc perpendicular cliffs within and around the 
town in different directions. They are composed of a hard 
chalky stone, and have furnished tho material with which 
the town is built. Thus tho houses and tho rocky slope on 
which they stand present to a spectator on the opposite side 
of the river a mass of glaring white which greatly distresses 
the eye when tho suri shines, whilo tho fine impalpable 
powder is no less annoying when tho wind hlows. Tho en- 
virons are, however, very pleasant. Niebuhr considered 
tho town to contain 500 houses. Buckingham, a more re- 
cent visiter, says about 400, and from 3000 to 4000 inha- 
bitants; but Captain Chesney says the houses aro from 
1800 to 2000. There are five motques with tall minarets, a 
public hath, a caravanserai, a few coffee-houses, and a small 
out ill-supplied baxaar. The streets aro narrow, hut from 
the steepness of the sito and tho material of the buildings, 



they are more than usually clean. Except on the side to- 
wards the river, the town is surrounded by a wall of excel- 
lent masonry, with towers at the angles, and pierced with 
loop-holes throughout. There is an old ruined fortification 
in tho centre of the town on a height of tho rock ; and all 
along tho north end of the town, where a perpendicular cliff 
faces the water, are tho walls and towers of an anticnt 
castle, which, though a ruin, still presents an imposing ap- 
pearance. Maundrcll and Poeocke mention a curious col- 
lection of arms contained in this castle, such as were used 
before the invention of gunpowder : among thcie were bows, 
arrows, and slings. The cross-bows were about five feet 
long, and nearly straight. There were many bundles of 
long arrows with iron points, and others to which combusti- 
bles were variously attached, for the purpose of setting fire 
to tho huildingsofa town. The slings seemed adapted to 
some machine, and capable of throwing a stone ball ono 
foot in diameter, some of which were seen in the castle. 
There were also large iron casques, and some coats of mail 
made of small pieces of thick leather sewed together. Many 
have considered these to he antient Roman weapons, and in 
Poeocko's opinion they certainly agree with the descriptions 
of Ammianns Marccllinus ; but as there are Avnbie inscrip- 
tions on some of them, he concludes that they are the arms 
which happened to be in the castle when firearms were 
first invented. Niebuhr, whose visit was subsequent to 
that of Poeocke, takes no notice of these weapons, and 
Buckingham, who heard different reports on the subject 
from tho inhabitants, was unable to ascertain from personal 
examination whether or not they still remained there. 

Bir belongs to the pashalic of Orfah; and the local go- 
vernment is administered by an aga, who has only a few 
personal attendants and no troops. 

The inhabitants principally belong to two tribes of Turks, 
called Birk and Bashuan, who also extend five or six hours' 
joumoy along hoth banks of the river downward, and aro 
described as a quiet and harmless people, not likely to dis- 
turb the contemplated navigation. 

(Poeocke *s Description of the East, fol. vol. ii. ; Niebuhr, 
JRcisebeschreibung, &c., vol. ii.. Cope n hag. cd. ; Thcvenot *s 
Voyage au Levant ; Buckingham's Travels in Mesopo- 
tamia; RcnncH's Treatise on the Comparative Gevg. of 
Western Asia; Chesnev's Report on the Euphrates.) 

BIRBHOOM (Viraohumi, signifying, in Sanscrit, * tho 
land of heroes') is a district in the north-western extremity 
of the province of Bengal, about 24° N. lat., and 8G° E. long. 
Birbhoora is bounded on the north by the district of Bogli- 
pore; on tho east by Rajshahy; on the south hy Burdwan 
and the Jungle Mahals ; and on tho west by Boglipore and 
the Jungle Mahals. 

This district is hilly and in great part occupied hy 
jungles: its area is estimated at about 7000 square miles, 
and its population at 700,000 Hindus and Mohammedans, in 
the proportion of thirty of the former to one of tho latter. 

The principal productions of the country are sugar, rice, 
and silk. Mines of coal arc now profitably worked for the 
supply of Calcutta, and for tho use of shipping. Iron-ore 
is found in strata mixed with clay. This ore contains a large 
proportion of metal, but the expense of smelting it is so 
great, that it cannot, at least at present, be brought into 
competition in tho markets of India with iron of English 
production. Notwithstanding the presence of coal, the iron 
is smelted hy means of wood. Tho forests in the neigh- 
bourhood of the sm citing-works are of great extent, and so 
rapid is the power of rc-produetion in that climate, that the 
consumption of fuel is very speedily compensated. 

Soory, the modern capital of tho district, is in 23° 54' N. 
lat., and 87° 32' E. long., fifty miles south-west from Moor- 
shedahad. This town stands on high ground, and the 
country around it is open and undulating. The jungles to 
tho westward offer great facilities for depredations on the 
part of several petty chiefs. Tho principal sufferers from 
these marauders are Hindu pilgrims, who proceed in great 
numhers to the temple at Deoghur. The amount of pro- 
perty of which these devotees arc robbed is not great, but is 
nevertheless important to them on account of their poverty. 
These depredations arc frequently accompanied by violence, 
and are even followed by loss of life. In 1823 there oc- 
curred within tho district of Birbhoom ten cases of daeoity, 
two of which were aggravated by the commission of mur- 
der, and three were attended with wounding. In the samo 
year there occurred t\o eases of theft with murder, and ono 
with wounding ; thcro were besides four eases of murder 



b i n 



419 



B I It 



and seven of homicide, thirty-three cases of theft and rob- 
bery without personal violence, and one case of wounding 
in an affray. It was computed that in these fifty-eight 
eases there were 293 persons criminally concerned, of whom 
287 were apprehended and brought to trial. In addition to 
these there were 1276 persons apprehended for minor 
offences in the same year. 
BIRCH TREE. [See Betula.] 
BIRCH, THOMAS, an historical and biographical 
writer, was born in London, Nov. 23rd, 1705. His parents 
were members of the Society of Friends, and his father car- 
ried on the trade of a coffee-mill maker, for which business 
the son was designed, bat the strong desire which he dis- 
played for reading and study overruled this intention. On 
the assurance, that if permitted to indulge in his favourite 
pursuits, he would not render the change in his mode of life 
burdensome to his father, he was allowed to take his own 
course, and for several years he acted as teacher in different 
schools. At each new engagement he endeavoured to ob- 
tain introduction into a school which afforded him superior 
opportunities for study; and in all of them he sedulously 
applied to the pursuit of knowledge, stealing many hours 
from sleep for this purpose. His efforts were not without 
success, and in his twenty-fourth year being qualified to 
tako orders, ho was ordained in the Established Church 
without having attended either of the universities, a circum- 
stance at that time much less frequent than at present. He 
married in the same year in which he was ordained, and lost 
his wife in less than twelve months after their marriage. 

Being recommended *to the notice of lord-chancellor 
Hardwicke, then attorney-general, this - individual never 
lost sight of him, and he owed to this recollection his ad- 
vancement in the church. In 1734 he was elected a fellow 
of the Royal Society, and in 1752 he became one of its se- 
cretaries. In 1753 the university of Aberdeen conferred 
upon him the distinction of doctor in divinity; and he re- 
ceived a similar honour in the same year from Herring, 
Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr. Birch was most active and 
indefatigable in his literary pursuits. Distinguished by un- 
wearied industry, rather than by aeuteness and discrimina- 
tion, he accumulated in the course of his life a vast mass 
of materials of great value to those who possess a superior 
understanding without the doctor's spirit of laborious re- 
search. The first work of importance in which he was en- 
gaged was the * General Dictionary, Historical and Cri- 
tical.* It consisted of ten volumes in folio, and included a 
new translation of Bayle, besides a vast quantity of new 
matter. The first volume appeared in 1734, and the last 
in 1741. In 1742 he published 'Thurloe's State Papers,' 
in seven volumes folio. He published * Lives of Archhishop 
Tillotson, and the Hon. Robert Boyle/ in a separate form, 
and edited new editions of their works ; also a new edition 
of Milton's Prose Works, and the Miscellaneous Works of 
Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1 744 he eommeneed a series of bio- 
graphical memoirs of illustrious persons of Great Britain, 
for a work puhlished in folio by Mr. Howbraken and Mr. 
Vertue, two artists. Eaeh memoir was accompanied by an 
engraving of the individual to whom it related. The work 
was published in numbers ; the first volume was completed in 
1747, and the second in 1 752. In the list of his historical works 
are, * An Inquiry into the share whieh King Charles I. had 
in the transactions of the Earl of Glamorgan ;' * A View of the 
Negotiations between the Courts of En^land/France, and 
Brussels, from 1592 to 1617, from original documents.* 
The same volume contained a 'Relation of tire State of 
France, with the character of Henry IV.* In 1753 he pub- 
lished * Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from 
1581 to her death.* In 1760, a * Life of Henry Prince of 
Wales, eldest son of King James L* His last biographical 
work was * Letters, Speeches, Charges, and Advices of Lord 
Chancellor Bacon.* A Sermon which was preached before 
the College of Physicians, in 1749, appears to be the only 
discourses of his which has been printed. Besides his 
multifarious labours for the press, he transcribed a great 
number of volumes In the Lambeth lihrary. He also 
maintained an extensive correspondence. His biographer 
remarks, that Dr. Bireh's habit of early rising alone en- 
abled him to get through so much work. He found time 
in addition for the enjoyments of society. Dr. Birch was 
killed by a fall from his horse, between Loudon and H amp- 
stead, Jan. 9th, 1766. He bequeathed his library and MSS. 
to the British Museum, ofwhich he was a trustee. The re- 
mainder of his property, amounting only to about 500/., he i ( 



left to be invested in Government Securities, the interest to 
be applied in increasing the stipends of the three assistant 
librarians at the British Museum. 

BIRD CHERRY, one of our native wild fruits. [See 
Cerasus.] 

BIRD-LIME, a glutinous vegetable product, obtained 
principally from the inner bark of the holly, or from the 
berries of the misletoe, but also from other plants. It is 
prepared from the holly bark by bruising, long boiling in 
water, and fermentation ; the mass is again boiled in water, 
and evaporated to a proper consistence. In different coun- 
tries various processes are employed. 

According to M. Bouillon Lagrange (Annal. de Chim. 
56-24) the bird-lime of commerce is generally impure, 
"When properly prepared from the holly it is of a greenish 
eolour ; its smell resembles that of linseed oil ; its taste is 
bitter; it is adhesive, tenacious, and may be drawn out 
into threads. When dried by exposure to the air in thin 
layers it becomes brown, is no longer viscid, and may be 
reduced to powder ; when moistened with water its gluti- 
nous property is not restored. 

Water does not dissolve bird-lime, but sepamtet from it 
some mucilage and extractive matter, and a little acetic 
acid. The alkalis dissolve it, and so does sulphuric rather 
very perfectly. Dilute acids soften it, and dissolve a por- 
tion ; concentrated sulphuric acid blackens and carbonizes, 
while nitric acid renders it yellow, converting a part of it 
into oxalic and malic acids, and separates resin and wax ; 
chlorine bleaches and hardens it; alcohol dissolves some 
resin and acetic acid. / - 

When heated, bird-lime melts, swells, takes fire, and 
burns rapidly, but without giving any smell similar to that 
of burning gluten or animal matter. 

Bird-lime differs from gluten in containing free acetic 
acid, in yielding mucilage and extractive matter, in the 
great quantity of resin which nitric acid separates from it, 
and in its solubility in aether, and not containing vegeto- 
animal matter. 

M. Henry {Journal de Pharmacie, vol. x. p. 337) has par- 
ticularly examined the bird-lime yielded by the berries of 
the misletoe, which differs in some respects from that of 
the holly. It eonsists of the peculiar glutinous matter, 
much wax, and gum ; chlorophylle, with salts of potash, 
lime, and magnesia, and also oxide of iron. It is indeed 
probable that no two plants yield precisely the same pro- 
ducts. It is stated that before use bird-lime is mixed with 
a considerable quantity of oil. 

BIRD OF PARADISE (zoology). With no family of 
birds has fiction been more busy than with the Birds of 
Paradise, From one fabulist to another came the tradiiion 
(losing nothing, as is usual with traditions, in its descent), 
that these * gay creatures of the element' passed their whole 
existence in sailing in the air, where all the functions of 
life were earned on, even to the production of their eggs 
and young. The dew and the vapours were said to be their 
only food, nor were they ever supposed to toueh the earth 
till the moment of their death, never taking rest except by 
suspending themselves from the branches of trees by the 
shafts of the two elongated feathers which form a charac- 
teristic of this beautiful race. The appellations of Lufft- 
vogel, Paradyss-vogel, Passaros de Sol, Birds of Paradise, 
and God's Birds (to say nothing of Phoenix, a name which 
was applied to one of them), kept up the delusion that 
originated in the craft of the inhabitants of the eastern 
countries where they are found ; for the natives scarcely 
ever produced a skin in former times from which they had 
not earefully extirpated the feet. Nor was it only the ex- 
treme elegance and riehness of their feathers that caused 
these birds to be sought as the plume for the turbans of 
oriental chiefs ; for he who wore that plume, relying im- 
plicitly on the romantie accounts of the life and habits of 
the bird, and impressed with its sacred names, believed 
that he bore a charmed life, and that he should be invul- 
nerable even where the fight raged most furiously. 

In vain did honest Pigafetta, who is supposed to have 
been the first who introduced these birds to the notice of 
Europeans, represent them as being furnished with legs ; 
in vain was the samo truth attested by Marcgrave, John de 
Laet, Clusius, Wormius, and Bontius (the last ok' whom 
observes on their erooked claws, and even asserts that they 
devour little birds, sueh as greenfinches), and referred to by 
Hernandez,— a fairy tale was not to be so put down. Al- 
drovandus himself was deceived by the birds brought over 

3H2 



B I R 



420 



$n Ao mutilated btato abovo described, and joined in the 
cry aganut poor Pigafetta, charging him with falsehood. 
Jonston,in 1657, writes thus oracularly of the birds of Pa- 
15.?°' i . W P eculiar l0 th «m all to be without feet 
falthougb Aristotle asserts that no bird is without feet, and 
l igaietta assigns to them feet a hand breadth in length) :' 
aua this he declares after Clusius had refuted the absurdity 
and had stated that they had been brought to Holland 
(where Jonston's book was printed) with their feet on; and 
after the publication of Tradcscant's catalogue, wherein are 
mentioned among the ' whole birds* of his museum 'birds 
of Paradise, or Manueodiata, whereof divers sorts, some 
with, some without leggs/ And yet this samo Jonston has 
\\o mercy on that part of the fable which asserts that they 
live on dew, are perpetually flying, and that their eggs are 
hatched in a natural cavity on the back of the male. 4 Of 
a verity/ says the sage, 4 they must necessarily require rest, 
and are with ease suspended to the branches of trees by 
tho^e threads in their tails/ 

Wllughby and Ray treat these nonsensical stories as 
they deserve, and as was to be expected from their reputa- 
tion as observers. 

The high value set upon these birds awakened the cupidity 
nnd the fraud of the Chinese, who made up from parrots, 
parakeets, and others, artificial birds of Paradiso, so clum- 
fcily, however, that it is difficult to suppose that Scba, whe 
figures three of them in the 60th plate of his first volume, 
could have been taken in by the manifest imposition; but 
there is nothing in the text to show that his suspicion was 
even excited; and this is the more extraordinary, as he 
figures two of the real species (plate 33 and plate *63) with 
sufficient accuracy. 

Linnrous, who has commemorated the fable of the want 
of feet in these birds by bestowing upon the species most 
extensively known the name of 4 apoda/ because, as he ob- 
serves, ' the older naturalists called it footless/ savs that the 
food of this species consists of the largest butteri'ties. 
^U the last edition of the Systema Nature Linnrous 
gives but two species of the birds of Paradise, to which he 
applies the generic name, Paradisea. These two species 
are Paradisea apoda and Paradisea regicu In Gmeliifs 
edition the number of species is increased to eight, but one 
of them is the Paradise-Grakle. 

Ornithologists seem to agree in placing these birds either 
among the crows (Corrida) or in their immediate neigh- 
bourhood ; and this, from the form of their beak and legs and 
from their habits to which wo shall presently allude, ap- 
pears to be their proper place. 

Vieillot has divided the Linnaean genus Paradisea into 
the following genera * — 

1. Parotia. 

Beak furnished with short feathers to just beyond the 
middle, slender, compressed laterally, notched and curved 
at the tip ; hypochondrial plumes long, broad, and loose. 

Of this genus, Paroiia sexseiacca, Paradisea aureaot 
Gmehn, Paradisea sexsetacea of Latham, the Sifiiet of 
Lnffon, is an example. The figure represents a male. 



13 I It 

Loi'HOIUNA. 




[r*t0U«Mitctaefa.] 



Beak furnished with elongated feathers to jnst beyond 
the middle, narrow above, slender, straight, notched and 
bent at the tip; feathers of the neck long and disposed in 
a wing-form. Of this genus, Lophorina si^rba, Paradisea 
superba of Latham, Le super be, Button, is an example. 




[Lophorina itipCTba.] 
3. ClNClNNURUS. 

Beak furnished at the base with small feathers directed 
forwards, slender, convex above, a little compressed at the 
sides, finely jagged and bent towards the tip; hypochon- 
drial feathers broad, elongated, and truncated. 

Of this genus, Citicinnurus rcgius* Paradisea rcgia of 
Linnams, King-bird of Paradise of Petiver, who has this 
note, — * brought from the Molucca Islands, and rarely to be 
seen here but in the cabinets of the most curious, as with 
Dr. Sloan, and in the repository of the Royal Society/ and 
LeManucodeot Button, — is given as an example : the figure 
represents a male. 




[Cinclnnarai regiui.) 

4, Samalia. 

Beak robust, convex above, furnished at the baso with 
velvet feathers, straight, compressed laterally, jagged towards 
the tip ; hypochondrial feathers, very long, liexiblc, decom- 
posed, or cervical plumes moderate and stiff. Of this there 
are two sections, the type being Paradisea magnifiea of 
Latham, Le magnijique of Buffon, 



OB I R 



421 



B I R 




[Paradisea magtttflca,] 

But perhaps the most elegant of all these birds is that 
which is best known and most often seen, the Great Eme- 
rald, Le grand emeraude of the French, Paradisea apoda 
of LmnoeUs. 




[Paradisea apoda, mas.] 

The cuts, which are taken from Levaillant, may convey 
some very faint idea of the forms of these birds, whose 
beauty beggars all description. Even the magnificent 
works of Levaillant and Vieillot, splendid as they arc, can- 
not represent the vivid ami changing tints of the originals, 
though the former had the advantage of tho pencil of 
Barraband, whose drawings have all the life and truth of 
portraits. To these works, and such as theso t and to our 
museums, those who wish to have a distiact notion of what 



[Paradisea ap6da,fem.]/ 

nature can produce in form and brilliancy of plumage, must 
repair. With the aid of those authors who have attempted 
a description in words, we shall endeavour to show the 
reader how the species here figured are clad. Thev are all 
inhabitants of New Guinea. 

Parotia sexsetacea, velvety-black. — Front and part of 
the top of the head furnished with small, fine, and stiff 
feathers, black and white, so as to form a greyish tuft or 
crest; each side of the head ornamented with three long 
black shafts or threads terminated by a black oval ; feathers 
of the nape changeable golden green ; flanks furnished with 
black, loosely-constructed feathers, which cover the wings 
and hide the tail feathers when the bird is in a state of re- 
pose, but are raised obliquely when it is in the least agitated ; 
feathers of the throat large, scale- shaped, black in the 
centre, and bordered with iridescent green and gold ; tail- 
feathers velvety with some long and floating feather-fibres ; 
beak and feet black ; length ten to eleven inches. 

Lophorina superba. — Velvet black, iridescent with green 
and violet ; front adorned with two little tufts of a sooty 
black ; shoulders covered with long feathers, which, rising 
upon the back and inclining backwards, clothe the bird with 
a kind of mantle which partially covers the wings ; nape 
and lower part of the breast brilliant changeable golden 
green; throat black, shot with ruddy copper-colour; the 
lower feathers longer than the others, extending on each 
side over the front of the neck and breast, and forming a 
scaly cuirass brilliant with a reflection almost metallic : ab- 
domen, beak, and feet black; length eight inches and three- 
quarters : one of the most rare, if not the most rare. 

Cincinnurus regius. — Upper parts ruby-red ; front and 
part of the head of a beautiful velvety-orange ; a small 
black patch at the internal angle of the eye ; chin of a 
brilliant yellow, becoming deeper on the throat, which is 
terminated by a transverse stripe of brown and a broad 
belt of metallic green ; lower parts white-grey sometimes 
mingled with green ; flanks with broad grey plumes, tra- 
versed by two lines, one whitish, the other ruddy, termi- 
nating in a brilliant emerald-green; lower wing-coverts 
yellow ; tail-feathers of a red-brown, tho two intermediate 
feathers having their places occupied by two long, naked, 
red shafts, whose fcathcr-fihrcs are rolled up at the extre- 
mity so as to form a kind of battledore (palette) pierced at 
the centre, of a brilliant brownish- green ; beak azure blue ; 
feet leaden grey ; length from the end of the beak to the 
tip of the tail five inches and a half. 

Lesson describes the female as being reddish-brown 
above, reddish-yellow below, striped with brown ; tail recti- 
linear. 

Paradisea magnifica, — Body above of a brilliant brown ; 
base of the beak and front covered with short and thick 
feathers of a reddish-brown ,* top of the head and hinder 
part of it of an emcrald-grecn ; a double bundle of long 



BIR 



'422 



B I It 



feathers eut square inserted upon the neek and the upper 
part of the back; the first composed of narrow, raised, red- 
dish feathers spottod with black towards the extremity ; 
the second of longer feathers lying upon the back of a 
straw-yellow, deeper towards the end ; great wing-coverts 
of a brilliant carmclite colour ; quills yellow, brown in- 
teriorly ; tail-feathers brown; throat and breast mingled 
green and blue ; sides of the breast brown-green ; abdomen 
greenish -blue; beak yellow bordered with hlack; feet yel- 
lowish-brown ; two shafts turned circularly and terminating 
in a point, taking their origin on each side of the rump, 
extend to nearly a foot beyond the tail ; length from the 
end of the beak to the extremity of the tail -feathers (rec- 
triccs) six inches and a half. 

Paradisea apoda, — Body above, breast, and abdomen, 
marroon -brown ; front covered with elose-sct feathers of a 
vcUcty-black, shot with craerald-grcen ; top of the head 
and upper part of the neck, citron-yellow ; upper part of the 
threat, golden-green ; front of the neck, violet-brown ; flanks 
adorned with bundles of very long plumes, with loose bar- 
bulcsof a yellowish white, slightly spotted towards the ex- 
tremity with purpled red : these plumes extend far beyond 
the tail-feathers. Two long horny and downy shafts, fur- 
nished with stiff hairs, terminated in a point and elongated, 
take their rise on each side of the rump, and extend some- 
what circularly to a length of nearly two feet. Beak, horn- 
colour; feet, lead-colour; length from the end of the beak 
to the extremity of the tail-feathers (rectrices), thirteen 
inches. 

Female. — Front and fore-part of the neek of a deep mar- 
roon-brown ; head, neck, and back, reddish-yellow ; wings 
and tail of a deep and brilliant marroon colour; belly and 
breast, white ; no floating plumes. 

This species, which is not so common as the little eme- 
rald (Paradisea Papuensis, Latham), inhabits the islands of 
Arou, Tidor, and Wagiou, as well as New Guinea. 

We owe the most modern account of these birds vi a state 
of nature to M. Lesson, who, though he deeply laments his 
short stay at New Guinea (only thirteen days), appears to 
have made the best use of his time. 

* The b;rds of Paradise/ says M. Lesson, * or at least tho 
emerald (Paradisea apoda, Linn.), the only species concern- 
ing which we possess authentic .intelligence, live in troops 
in the vast forests of the country of the Papuans, a group of 
islands situated under tho equator, and which is composed 
of the islands Arou, Wagiou, and the great island called 
New Guinea. They are birds of passage, changing their 
quarters according to the monsoons. The females congre- 
gate in troops, assemble upon the tops of the highest trees in 
the forests, and all cry together to call the males. These 
last are always alone in the midst of some fifteen females, 
which compose their seraglio, after the manner of the galli- 
naceous birds.' 

M. Lesson then gives the following extract from his jour- 
nal, written on the spot. After observing that the birds of 
Paradise, with the exception of two species, were brought to 
the corvette, La Coquille, by the Papuans, and that the 
quantity afforded reason for supposing that these birds, so 
esteemed in Europe, were singularly multiplied in those 
countries, he thus continues: — 

* The manueode* presented itself twice in our shooting 
excursions, and wc killed the male and female. This spe- 
cies would seem to bo monogamous, or perhaps it is only 
separated into pairs at tho period of laying. In the woods, 
this bird has no brilliancy; its fine-coloured plumage is not 
discovered, and the tints of the female are dull. It loves to 
tako its station on the teak-trees (Arbres de teck), whose 
ample foliage shelters it, and whose small fruit forms its 
nourishment. Its i rides arc brown, and the feet arc of a 
delicate azure. The Papuans call it " saya." 

* Soon after our arrival on this land of promise (New 
Guinea) for the naturalist, I was on a shooting excursion. 
Scarcely had I walked some hundred paces in those anticnt 
forests, the daughters of time, whose sombre depth was per- 
haps tho most magnificent and stately sight that I had ever 
hcen,when a bird of Paradise struck my view: it flew grace- 
fully and in undulations ; tho feathers of its sides formed 
an elegant and aerial plume, which, without exaggeration, 
bore no remote resemblance to a brilliant meteor. Sur- 
prised, astounded, enjoying an inexpressible gratification, I 

* Cmelntimnts r#yi'«r. VMUot, Mnn*co4!aUt, of mn*wcodewata t i» an appel- 
lation common to all th* bints of ParadUr, and Ii laid to atgnlfy at the Mo- 
lucca*, ' Tho bird of God.* 



devoured this splendid bird with ray eyes; but my emotion 
was so great that I forgot to shoot at it, and did not recollect 
that I had a gun in my hand till it was far away. 

* One cansearcely have a just idea of tho Paradise-birds 
from the skins which the Papuans sell to the Malays, and 
which come to us hi Europe. These people formerly hunted 
the birds to decorate tho turbans of their chief*. They call 
them mambifore in their tongue, and kill the in during the 
night by climbing the trees where they perch, and shooting 
them with arrows made for the purpose, and very short, 
which they make with the stem (rac/tis) of the leaves of a 
palm (htanier). The campongs or villages of Mappia and 
of Emberbakeno are celebrated for the quantity of buds 
which they prepare, and all tho art of thutr inhabitants is 
directed to taking off the feet, skinning, thrusting a little 
stick through the body and drying it in the smoke. Some 
more adroit, at tho solicitation of the Chinese merchants, 
dry them with the feet on. The price of a bird of Paradise 
among the Papuans of the coast is a piastre at least. We 
killed, during our stay at New Guinea, a score of these 
birds, which I prepared for the most part 

4 The emerald, when alive, is of the size of a common jay; 
its beak and its feet are bluish ; tho irides arc of a brilliant 
yellow ; its motions are lively and agile ; and, in general, it 
never perches except upon the summit of the most lofiy 
trees. When it descends, it is for the purpose of eating the 
fruits of the lesser trees, or when the sun in full power com- 
pels it to seek the shade. It has a fancy for certain trees, 
and makes the neighbourhood re-echo with its piercing * 
voice. The cry became fatal, because it indicated to us the 
movements of the bird. Wc were on tho watch for it, and 
it was thus that wc came to kill these birds; for when a 
male bird of Paradise has perched, and hears a rustling in 
the silence of tho forest, he is silent, and docs not move. 
His call is voike, toike, roike, voiko, strongly articulated. 
The cry of the female is the same, but she raises it much 
more feebly. The latter, deprived of the brilliant plumage 
orthe male, is clad in sombre attire. We met with lhein, 
assembled in scores, on every tree, while the males, always 
solitary, appeared but rarely. 

4 It is at the rising and setting of tho sun that the bird of 
Paradise goes to seek its food. In the middle of the day it 
remains hidden under tho ample foliage of the teak-tree, 
and comes jiot forth. He seems to dread the scorching rays 
of the sun, and to be unwilling to expose himself to tho 
attacks of a rival 

* In order to shoot birds of Paradise, travellers who visit 
New Guinea should remember that it is necessary to leave 
the ship early in the morning, to arrive at the foot of a teak- 
tree or fig-tree, which these birds frequent for the sake of 
their fruit— (our stay was from the 2Gth of July to the 9th 
of August)— before half-past four, and to remain motionless 
till some of the males, urged by hunger, light upon the 
branches within range. It is indispensably requisite to have 
a gun which will carry very far with cficct, and that the 
grains of shot should be large; for it is very difficult to kill 
an emerald outright, and if he be only wounded it is very 
seldom that he is not lost in thickets so dense that there is 
no finding the way without a compass. 

* The little emerald, Paradise-bird, feeds, without doubt, 
on many substances, in a state of liberty. I can aiFtrni that 
it lives on the seeds of tho teak- tree, and on a fruit ealled 
amihoUt of a rosy white, insipid and mucilaginous, of the 
size of a small European fig, and which belongs to a tree of 
the genus Jicus* 

M. Lesson then goes on to state that he saw two birds of 
Paradise which had been kept in a cage for more than six 
months by tho principal Chinese merchant at Amboyna. 
They were always in motion, and were fed with boiled rice, 
but they had a special fondness for cock- roaches (blatttp). 

Rennctt, in his 'Wanderings,* gives the following account 
of a bird of Paradiso (Paradisea ajyoda) which he found in 
Mr. Bcale's aviary at Macao, where it had been confined 
nine years, exhibiting no appearance of age — 

4 This elegant creature has a light, playful, and graceful 
manner, with an arch and impudent look ; dances ahout 
when a visiter approaches tho cage, and seems delighted at 
being made an object of admiration ; its notes are very pe- 
culiar, resembling the cawing of the raven, but its tones are 
by far more varied. During four mouths of the year, from 
May to August, it moults. It washes itself regularly twice 
daily, and, after having performed its ablutions, throws its 
delicate feathers up nearly over the head, tho quills of which 



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feathers have a peculiar structure, so as to enable the hird 
to effect tbis object Its food during confinement is boiled 
rice, mixed up with soft egg, together with plantains, and 
living insects of the grasshopper tribe ; these insects when 
thrown to him, the bird contrives to eatch in its beak with 
great celerity; it will eat insects in a living state, hut will 
not touch them when dead. 

• I observed the bird, previously to eating a grasshopper 
given him in an entire or un mutilated state, place the in- 
sect upon the perch, keep it firmly fixed with the claws, and 
divesting it of the legs, wings, &<:., devour it, with the head 
always placed first. The servant who attends upon him to 
clean the cage, give him food, &e„ strips off the legs, wings, 
&c, of the insects when alive, giving them to the bird as 
fast as he can devour them. It rarely alights upon the 
ground, and so proud is the creature of its elegaut dress, that 
it never permits a soil to remain upon it, and it may fre- 
quently be seen spreading out its wings and feathers, and 
regarding its splendid self in every direction, to observe 
whether the whole of its plumage is in an unsullied condi- 
tion. It does not suffer from the cold weather during the 
winter season at Macao, though exposing the elegant bird 
to the hleak northerly wind is always very particularly 
avoided. Mr. Beale is very desirous of procuring a living 
female, to endeavour, if possible, to breed them in his 
aviary. 

• The sounds uttered hy this bird are very peculiar ; that 
which appears to be a note of congratulation resembles 
somewhat the cawing of a raven, but changes to a varied 
scale of musical gradations, as he, hi> ho, haw> repeated ra- 
pidly and frequently, as lively and playfully he hops round 
and along his perch, descending to the second perch to be 
admired, and congratulate the stranger who has made a 
visit to inspect him ; he frequently raises his voice, sending 
forth notes of such power as to be heard at a long distance, 
and as it could scarcely be supposed so delicate a bird could 
utter ; these notes are, whock, whock, whock, whock, uttered 
in a barking tone, the last being given in a low tone as a 
conclusion. 

• A drawing of the hird of the natural size was made by a 
Chinese artist. Tbe bird advanced stedfastly towards the 
picture, uttering at the same time its cawing congratulatory 
notes ; it did not appear excited by rage, but pecked gently 
at the representation, jumping about the perch, knocking 
its mandibles together with a clattering noise, and cleaning 
them against the perch, as if welcoming tbe arrival of a 
companion. After the trial of the picture a looking-glass 
was brought, to see what effect it would produce upon the 
hird, and the result was nearly the same ; he regarded the 
reflection of himself most stedfastly in the mirror, never 
quitting it during the time it remained before him. When 
the glass was removed to the lower from the upper perch he 
instantly followed, but would not descend upon the floor of 
the cage when it was placed so low 

'One of tho best opportunities of seeing this splendid 
bird in all its beauty of action, as well as display of plumage, 
is early in the morning, when he makes his toilet ; the 
beautiful sub-alar plumage is then thrown out, and cleaned 
from any spot tbat may sully its purity by being passed 
gently through the hill; the short ehocolate-colourcd wings 
are extended to tho utmost, and he keeps them in a steady, 
flapping motion, as if in imitation of their use in flight, at 
tho same time raising up the delicate, long feathers over 
the back, which are spread in a chaste and elegant manner, 
floating like films in the ambient air 

• I never yet beheld a soil on its feathers. After expand- 
ing the wings, it would bring them together so as to con- 
ceal tho head, then bending it gracefully it would inspect 
the state of its plumage underneath. This action it repeats 
in quick succession, uttering at the time its croaking notes ; 
it then peeks and cleans its plumage in every part within 
reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate tuft of 
feathers underneath the wings, seemingly with much eare, 
and with not a little pride, they are cleaned in succession, if 
required, by throwing them abroad, elevating them, and 
passing them in succession through the bill. Then turning 
its back to the spectator, the actions above-mentioned are 
repeated, but not in so careful a manner; elevating its tail 
and long shaft feathers, it raises the delicate plumage of a 
similar character to the sub-alar, forming a beautiful dorsal 
erest, and, throwing its feathers up with much grace, appears 
as proud as a lady dressed in her full ball-dress. Having 
completed the toilet, ho utters the usual cawing notes, at 



the same time looking archly at the spectators, as if read y 
to receive all the admiration that it considers its elegant 
form and display of plumage demands ; it then takes exer- 
cise hy hopping, in a rapid but graceful manner, from one 
end of the upper perch to the other, and descends suddenly 
upon the second perch, close to the bars of the cage, looking 
out for the grasshoppers which it is accustomed to receive 
at this time 

* His prehensile power in the feet is very strong, and 
still retaining his hold, the bird will turn himself round upon 
the perch. He delights to be sheltered from the glare of the 
sun, as tbat luminary is a great source of annoyance to him, 
if permitted to dart its fervent rays directly upon the cage. 
The iris frequently expanding and contracting, adds to the 
arch look of this animated bird, as he throws the head on 
one side to glance at visiters, uttering the cawing notes or 

barking aloud Having concluded, he jumps down 

to the lower perch in search of donations of living grass- 
hoppers. 

1 The bird is not at all ravenous in its habits of feeding, 
hut it eats rice leisurely, almost grain by grain. Should 
any of the insects thrown into his cage fall upon the floor, 
he will not descend to them, appearing to be fearful that in 
so doing he should soil his delicate plumage; he therefore 
seldom or ever descends, except to perform his ablutions m 
the pan of water placed at the bottom of the cage expressly 
for his use/ 

BIRDPEPPER. [See Capsicum.] 

BIRDS, in Latin Aves, in Greek^Opv^c, Orriithes, 
(whence Ornithology), a class of vertebrated, oviparous, 
feathered bipeds, generally formed for flight. We say ge- 
nerally, because, though their mechanism is, in its most per- 
fect development, designed for enabling them to support their 
bodies in the air and to make progress in that medium, it 
is also calculated for motion on the ground and for perching 
in trees. Some families indeed are framed entirely for 
moving on tbe ground, and others for that motion and for 
making their way both on the surface of the water, and 
even, for a short period, below it, without the power in 
either case of raising themselves into the air. 

Organization. 

Skeleton. 

Skull (cranium). The first peculiarity which strikes an 
observer, when comparing the skulls of birds with those of 
mammifcrs, is the absence of sutures in the former, the 
proper cranial bones being consolidated into one piece. 
The skull of birds is articulated to that part of the vertebral 
column called the neck by a single condyle or joint, which 
is situated at the front margin of the great occipital opening 
(foramen magnum), through wbich the brain, becoming 
elongated, as it were, into the spinal chord, descends into 
tbe vertebral column. It is this beautiful adaptation of 
structure to the wants of the animal, that gives sueh a free- 
dom of motion to the head, especially in a horizontal direc- 
tion. Take, for example, the wryneck (lynx torquilla), 
which, as those who have surprised the bird on the nest 
will readily admit, can writhe her head round so as to look 
the intruder in the face, hissing all the while like a snake ; 
by tbis 'terrible show' many a bird's-nesting novice is 
frightened away. Perfect repose in a bird seems hardly 
to be enjoyed without turning back the head and nestling 
the beak between the wings ; this attitude the articulation 
above mentioned enables the bird to command with the 
least possible effort 

The orbits are very large in proportion to the skull, to 
which last the lower-jaw is joined by a somewhat square 
bone (os quadratum, os cam of the French) not far from 
the ear. A small bone rests on the square bone at one end, 
while the other end comes against the palate. When, there- 
fore, the square bone is brought forward by depressing the 
lower jaw, and also by muscles adapted to the purpose, the 
small bone presses up against the palate, and this raises tho 
upper jaw, which, contrary to the rule in the structure of 
mammifers, is in birds, with but few exceptions, thus gifted 
with motion. 

Both jaws are completely destitute of true teeth, the want 
of which is, as we shall presently see, amply compensated. 
The upper-jaw is either formed of one piece distinct from 
the skull and articulated with it, as in the parrots ; or it is 
connected with it by means of yielding elastic bony plates, 
as in most other birds. These elastic plates admirably pro- 



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tect the bill (the upper part of which may ho considered as 
an elongation of tho intermaxillary bones) and tho skull 
from tho shocks of the former organ when used in pecking 
violently against hard substances. 

In a "few instances the upper jaw is entirely immovable. 
Blumcnbaeh gives the rhinoceros bird and tho cock of tho 
wood (Tctrao Urogallus) as instances. 

Bones of the neck and trunk. The upper, or, to speak 
more correctly, the anterior extremities of birds are calcu- 
lated for flight, and entirely useless as prehensile organs, 
because the bird depends principally upon its bill to gather 
its food. To give a greater freedom of action to this organ, 
it was necessary, as the bones of tho hack have hardly any 
motion (the dorsal vertebra) being often anehylosed or im- 
movably fixed by a continuation of bony secretion), that the 
neck should be long and flexible ; and eminently flexible it 
is. In the mamraifcrs tho number of cervical vertebras 
(neck-bones) i$ seven; the caraeleopard has no more, and 
the elephant and whale havo no less. Cuvier, indeed, gives 
tho sloth nine; Thomas Bell, however, has satisfactorily 
made out that the additional two are hones of the back, not 
of the neck. But, in birds, Nature has made up for the 
deficienoy of motion in the back (a deficiency absolutely ne- 
eessary to the comfortable existence of the animal, inasmuch 
as the back is the point of support to the wings) by the free 
grant of cervical vertebra?, according to the wants which the 
peculiar habits of particular birds require. Thus tho raven 
has twelve neck-bones, the domestic cock thirteen, the os- 
trich eighteen, the stork nineteen, and the swan twenty- 
three, the largest number, it is believed, yet detected, while 
the minimum amounts to ten. Tho articulation is so con- 
trived as to produce the greatest mobility, and that the con- 
trivance is complete is proved by the ability of a bird to 
touch every point of its body with its bill. 

The vertebra) of the hack are from seven to eleven in 
number. There are no true lumbar vertehrro, for they are 
consolidated into one piece with the pelvis (os innominatum) 
which is elongated, broad, and simple, and does not unite 
below, as in mammifers, to form what is called the sym- 
physis pubis, but has tho lateral portions distant from each 
other. This is the general rule. The pelvis of the ostrieh 
forms an exception; for it is joined below like that of most 
quadrupeds. In most of the quadrupeds the rump-bone 
{os eoccygis) is prolonged into a truejointed tail. In birds 
it never is, but is very short, although it supports the large 
tail-feathers (rectrices) 

^ Ten pairs of ribs are said to form the maximum among 
birds ; these, the true ribs t are joined to tho breast-bone 
(sternum) by small intervening bones. Tho false ribs 
(those which do not reach the breast-bone) have a forward 
direction. There is a pceuliar flat process directed upwards 
and baekwards attached to the middle pairs of the truo ribs. 

The breast-bone (sternum), a part of the greatest consc« 
quence, being the point of attachment for the most powerful 
of the muscles which set the wings in action, is composed of 
fivo pieces strongly joined together, and prolonged below 
into a crest (crista) for that purpose. The greater or less 
development of this crest or keel, and the greater or less 
ossification of tho component parts of tho breast-bone, de- 
pend upon the wants of the bird. Thoso birds whose flight 
is strongest and most continuous havo tho crest very large, 
and the breast- hone pieces very firmly cemented together, 
as any one may sec who will examine the breast-bono of a 
hawk, or eagle, or that of a humming-hird ; while in the 
ostrich and cassowary this crest is entirely absent, and the 
breast-hono presents a uniformly arehed surface, somewhat 
like that of a Highlander's target. 

In the crane and in the malo wild-swan thero is a cavity 
m tho anterior part of the hreast-bono for tho reception of 
the involuted wind-pipe (tracftea). The connexion of the 
wjnjp with thu trunk is managed by means of the two 
clavicles, and of that peculiar fork-like elastic bono com- 
monly called the merrythought, hy the French fourchette 
and lunette (furada). This apparatus operates as an 
antagonist power to the action which would bring the wings 
together in flight, did not these bones, especially the merry* 
thought, keep the shoulders asunder. The greater or less 
development of this bone depends on the exigencies of each 
particular case. In birds whose flight is long and rapid it 
is strong, with the branches widely arched and carried for- 
wards on the body; in birds which do not fly at all, in the 
otrich, cassowary, and emu, for instance, the hone becomes 
a mere rudiment. • In the ostrich/ as Macartney observes, 



the two branches are very short, and never united, hut an- 
ehylosed with the scapula (shoulder-blade) and claviclo 
(collar-bone). In the cassowary there are merely two littlo 
processes from the sido of the clavicle which are the rudi- 
ments of the branches of the fork. In the emu there are 
two very small thin bones attached to the anterior edge of the 
dorsal ends of the clavicles by ligaments ; they arc directed 
upwards towards the neck, where they are fastened to each 
other by means of a ligament, and have no connexion what- 
ever with the sternum.' 

The tcing-bones may be compared with the arms or upper 
extremities of man and of the monkeys. Indeed Bclon has 
shown with much ingenuity, though the design he rudely 
executed by the engraver, the resemblance between the 
skeleton of a bird and of a man — a resemblance greater, 
perhaps, than would be expected. Tho following are the 
bones composing the wing of a bird. The arm (os humeri); 
the fore-arm, consisting of two bones (ulna and radius) ; 
the wrist (carpus), formed by two bones; tho metacarpus, 
also made up of two hones ; a thumb, or rather the rudi- 
ment of one, there being but a single bone; and two fingers, 
the finger next the thumb consisting of two portions, and 
the other only of one. To this hand are attached the 
primaries, or greater quill -feathers; the secondaries are 
affixed to the fore-arms ; and the arm supports feathers of 
inferior strength and development, called tertiaries and xca- 
pidars. The bone whieh represents the thumb gives rise to 
the bastard quills, and along the base of the quills are 
ranged the largest of those feathers which arc denominated 
wing coverts. Such is the structure of the * sail-broad 
vans' which waft the condor over the Andes. 

Bones of the lower or posterior extremities. These con- 
sist of a thigh-bone (femur) : leg-bones (tibia and fibula), 
for there are two, though the fibula is very small, and be- 
comes anehylosed to the tibia ; one metatarsal bone (at the 
lower end of whieh there arc as many processes as there are 
toes, each process furnished with a pulley for moving its 
corresponding toe), and the toes. Of these, three gcnerall) 
are directed forwards and one backwards. This back toe, 
or great toe, is wanting in some birds. In the swallows it 
is directed forwards; in the climbing birds the outer toe as 
well as the back toe arc directed backwards. The number 
of joints is, generally, progressive; the back toe has two, 
the next three, the middle toe four, and the outer toe five 
joints. 




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425 



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[Skeleton of Spnrrow Hawk.] 
A, Cranlnrn* or skull. 
K, Cervical vertebra-. 

C, The dotted lines indicala the extent of the ancliylosed vertebra) of the 
back. 

D, The caudal vertebrae ; the letter is placed on the ploughshare, or ramp- 
bone. 

K. Ribs. 

F, Sternum, or breast-bone. 

G, Furcula, or mcrry.thonght. 

II, 11. Clsvicular. or coracoid bone.i t> t t ^ _ «j. 

1 1 • . Scapula, or shoulder-blade, J Forc » n S * ie ■«*»»»». 

I, Humerus, or bone of the arm. 

, K , Ulna, i Bones of the forearm : on tlia ulna is the place of insertion 
L, Radius, j of the secondary quills. 

M. Metacarpal bones, part of the hand which carries the primary quills. 
N, Phalanges of the fingers. 
O. I Hum. ) 

F, Pubis, > Bones of the pelvis. 
Q, Ischium, j 
It, Femur, or thigh-bone. 
o, o. Patella, or knee-pan. 
S, Tibia and fibula, or leg-bouas consolidated. 
T, T, 0% calcis, or hcel-bonc. 
V. V, Metatarsal* or shank-bones. 
W, \V, Toes. 




Wing-bones in detail. 
G, Outline of part of furcula. II*. Outline of part of scapula. I, Humerus, 
or bone of the arm. # K, Ulna; L, Radius, bones of the fore*nrm: on tha 



ulna are tha marks of insertion of the secondary quills. * # , Carpal hones, or 
wrist. M, M, Metacarpal bones, M*, Thumb. N, N, K, Phalanges of tlia 
fingers. 

' The stork, and some others of the graUco (waders),' says 
Macartney, 'which sleep standing on one foot, possess a 
curious mechanism for preserving the leg in a state of ex- 
tension, without any,' or, at least, with little muscular effort. 
There arises from the fore-part of the head of the metatarsal 
bone a round eminence, which passes up between the pro- 
jections of the pulley, on the anterior part of the end of the 
tibia. This eminence affords a sufficient degree of resist- 
ance to the flexion of the leg to counteract the effect of the 
oscillations of the body, and would prove an insurmountable 
obstruction to the motion of the joint if there were not a 
socket within the upper part of the pulley of the tibia to re- 
ceive it when the leg is in the bent position. Tlio lower 
edge of the socket is prominent and sharp, and presents a 
sort of barrier to the admission of the eminence that re* 
quires a voluntary muscular exertion of the bird to over- 
come, which being accomplished, it slips in with some 
force like the end of a dislocated bone.' 

Muscles of Motion and External Integuments. *' 

We will now briefly examine the means by which the 
framework which we have attempted to describe is set in 
motion. * The muscles/ writes Blumenbach, * in this class 
are distinguished by possessing a comparatively weak 
irritable power, which is soon lost after death ; and by their 
tendons becoming ossified as the animal grows old, particu- 
larly in the extremities, but sometimes >also in the trunk/ 

The pectoral muscles, as we might expect from the form 
of the sternum, exhibit, generally speaking, the greatest 
development. They are three in number, taking their rise 
chiefly from the ample breast-bone, and all being brought 
to bear on the head of the arm (humerus). Of these, the 
first, or great pectoral, is said, as a general proposition, to 
weigh more than* all the other muscles put together. Rising 
from the keelorerestof the breast-bone, the merry-thought, 
and last ribs, it is inserted in that rough linear elevation 
which may be observed on the bone of the arm of most 
birds. This bone it strongly depresses, and so produces the 
rapid and powerful motions of the wing, which, acting on the 
surrounding air, carries the bird forward in its flight. As an 
antagonist to the great pectoral muscle, the middle pectoral, 
which lies under it, and whose office it is to elevate the 
wing, puts forth its tendon over the point where the merry- 
thought is joined to the clavicle and shoulder-blade. This 
point of junction acts as a pulley for the tendon which is 
inserted in the upper part of the bone of the arm ; and by 
this contrivance the elevating power is situated on the lower 
surface of the body. The third, or small pectoral, aids the 
great peetoral in depressing the wing. Thus some birds 
are enabled to dart away with the rapidity of an arrow, 
while others soar to a height invisible to the gaze of man. 

We have already seen that the pelvis is prolonged back- 
wards to a considerable extent. This formation furnishes 
room for the attachment of the muscles which set the pos- 
terior extremities in motion, and enables them to perform 
the functions of walking, hopping, swimming, climbing, 
and perching, * To this end there are a set of muscles 
whieh go from the pelvis to the toes. One of the flexor, or 
bending, tendons given off from a muscle which comes 
from the bone of the pubis runs in front of the knee, and all 
the flexors go behind the heel, so that the mere weight of 
the bird will bend the toes. Any one may satisfy himself 
that this operation is purely mechanical, and not the result 
of muscular action, by making the experiment on a dead 
bird ; when he will find that the flexion of the knee and 
heel will at once bend the toes. This admirable con- 
trivance, useful as it generally is, shows itself in the most 
striking manner when brought to bear on the limbs of those 
birds which roost in trees. When all the voluntary powers 
are suspended, such a bird enjoys the most profound repose, 
and the most secure position on its perch, without an effort. 
Avoiding a minute detail of tho muscles which move the 
jaws, of those which give that complete flexibility of neck 
so necessary to this class, or of thoso which regulate the 
movement, of the tail, it will be sufficient to observe that 
their adaptation to the functions required is most beautiful 
and perfect. 

The integuments of birds are composed of the same parts 
as those of the mammifcrs, with the addition of feathers, 
the peculiar covering common to the whole class. > The 
beak is covered with horn, and at its base, as in the birds of 



No. 258. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-3 1 



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426 



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prey, there is a fleshy part called the cere. The lower ex- 
tremities are protected above by a scalv skin, and the bottom 
of the foot and toes by a callous modification of the same 
interment. Some, the turkoy for instance, are furnUhed 
with hair in certain situations. Tho feathers vary infinitely. 
Every form which the most sportive fancy could create out 
of the feathery material, and every hue that tho warmest 
imagination could picture to itself, will be found among them. 
"When a bird has just left the egg its covering is a downy 
kind of hair, several little bundles taking their rise from one 
common bulb. This is the origin of the future feather. A 
dark eylindcr soon makes its appearance, from the upper 
extremity of which the sprouting feather emerges, whilo 
tho lower extremity receives tho blood-vessels which supply 
tho vascular nourishing pulp of the barrel. When this 
pulp has performed its office, and the stalk and other parts 
of tho foather are fully developed, it shrivels up into tho 
well-known substance which every one finds in a quill when 
he euts it for tho purpose of making a pen. The care which 
nature takes for tho development of that particular part of 
the plumage first which the wants of the particular bird 
demand, should not be forgotten. A young partridge runs 
off as soon as it is hatched to pick up the pupae of the ant 
(emmet's eggs as the gamekeepers call them), which the 
parent bird scratches up for it. Some time elapses beforo 
it is necessary that it should ily ; we accordingly find that 
the body from the moment of its birth is protected with a 
close-set downy covering, while all the strength is thrown 
into the thighs, le«s, bill, and neck. The wings are gra- 
dually developed afterwards. A young thrush or a young 
blackhird is hatched nearly naked, and whilo its body pre- 
sents only a fow scattered bunches of weak downy hair-liko 
feathers, great progress may be observed in the formation 
of the quills and other wing-feathers; because from the 
habits of the bird it is necessary that it should he able to 
fly as soon as it leaves the nest. 

As a general rule the plumage of the cock bird far ex- 
ceeds in brilliancy that of the hen ; and in all such cases 
the yoang, at first, put on the more sombre garb of the 
mother. When the cock and hen are without much differ- 
ence in this respect, the young have a particular distin- 
guishing plumage of their own. 

Birds moult or shed their feathers. The summer dress 
in many species varies from that of the winter. 

The mode in which the plumago changes is well de- 
scribed in tho Transactions of the Zoological Society by 
Varrell ; and tho same able zoologist has shown, in the 
Philosophical Transactions, and in the Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society, that the putting forth of tho plumage of 
tho male bird is not confined to the female past the age 
of reproduction (so many well-known instances of which 
arc given by Dr. Butter, John Hunter, and others), but 
that the garb of the cock is assumed by those hen birds 
which from malformation or disease are rendered unable to 
assist in the continuation of the species. Tho following 
three modes by which changes in tho appearance of the 
plumage of birds arc produced have been pointed out by 
Varrell: — 1. By tho feather itself becoming altered in 
colour. 2. By tho bird's obtaining a certain portion of new 
feathers without shedding any of the old ones. 3. By an 
entire or partial moult, in which tho old feathers arc thrown 
off, and new ones produced in their places. The first two 
of these changes are observed generally in tho spring, indi- 
cating the approach of tho breeding season ; tho third is 
usually partial in the spring, and entire in the autumn. The 
subjoined cut is explanatory of the situation of the principal 
parts of the plumage, particularly those most conducive to 
flight 

That the skin and integuments of birds perform tho office 
of einunctory organs appears not only by their moulting, 
but also by tho quantity of mealy dust separated from tho 
skin in many birds. Tho cockatoo, for instance, discharges 
a quantity of white mealy dust from its skin, particularly at 
pairing time, according to Blumcnhach ; and Bruce, in the 
appendix to his travels, gives an account of his shooting a 
large bearded eagle, which, on his taking it in his hands, 
covered him with a powder which was yellow on tho breast, 
where tho feathers were of that colour, and brown on tho 
back, where the plumage was of tho same hue. A heron 
too which he shot is described as having a great quantity 
of blue powder on tho breast and back. 

Tho glands which secrete tho oil used by birds in preening 
tnd dressing their plumage arc situated on the upper part 



of the tail. Water-birds necessarily require a larger portion 
of this protecting fluid, and accordingly we find the glands 
largest in that race. Reaumur observes, that in that variety 
of tho common fowl which has no tail (Gaflus ecaudatus) t 
these glands are absent. Tyson states that the ostrich has 
the glands situated not on the rump, but farther forwards. 
Lawrence, in his translation of Blumenbach's Comjxirative 
Anatomy \ says, ' I have observed in the situation which Tyson 
mentions a pretty considerable bag with hard callous hides, 
and nothing glandular in its coats. It contained a brown 
and unctuous hut nearly solid matter, and I could discover 
no external opening ; but it had been somowhat cut before 
I examined it. It cannot, I think, bo very well compared 
with the oil-bag of the rump.' 




A,A,IMmnnei;B,B,Tertiili;C,C,Le*8ei covcrti; D,D. Greater covertt; 
K, E, Bastard wing; K, F.ScapuUri; G, Upper tall-coverts; 11, Uudcr tall- 
coverts; I, Tail-feather*. 

Digestive Organs. 
-Having endeavoured to give a sketch of the frame- 
work of birds, of the means by which that frame-work is 
set in motion, and of the integuments which cover the 
external parts, wo proceed to inquire into the provision 
made for the support and nourishment of those animals. 
This provision, as might bo expected, is, as Cuvicr ob- 
serves, ■ in proportion to the activity of their life, and the 
strength of their respiration/ First we have the hill, whose 
horny covering in some degreo answers the purpose of 
teeth, and indeed it is in many instances notched so as to 
represent them. The form of this important organ varies 
infinitely, but with evidence of the most perfect design in 
each varied instance, according to the nature of the neces- 
sary food. Thus in birds of prey it well executes the office 
of a dissecting knife ; in seed -eating birds it forms a pair of 
seed -crackers for extricating the kernel from the husk 
which envelops it; in tho swallows and goatsuckers it is a 
lly-trap ; in the swans, geese, and ducks it is a flattened 
strainer, well furnished with nerves in tho inside for tho 
detection of the food remaining after the water is strained 
by that particular operation which every one must have 
observed a common duck perform with its bill in muddy 
water. In the storks and herons wc find it a fish -spear ; 
and in tho snipes and their allies it becomes a sensitive 
probe, admirably adapted for penetrating boggy ground, 
and giving notice of tho presence of the latent worm or 
auimalcule. The food is transmitted from tho bill through 
tho oesophagus into the stomach, which is composed of three 
parts, viz. the crop, which is a dilatation of the cesophagus 
and lies just before the breast bone, the membranous 
stomach {vcntriciUe succcnturie of tho French), and tho 
gizzard. The first of these is furnished with many mucous 
and salivary glands; in the next (and tho structure of this 
may bo best observed in the gallinaceous birds) there are a 
number of glandular bodies which pour out a copious secre- 
tion to mingle with the food as it is ground down by tho 
powerful gizzard, which reaches its highest development in 
granivorous birds. This mill is rendered still more effective 
by the swallowing of small hard stones hy those birds with 
their food, a practice which is clearly instinctive, and carriod 
sometimes to a great extent, In the museum of the Col-; 



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427 



BTR 



lege of Surgeons (London) is a large glass bottle entirely 
filled with pebbles, &c. taken from the stomach of an 
ostrich. The well-known experiments of conveying bullets 
beset with needles and even lancets into the stomachs of 
granivorous birds, with the effect of the total destruction of 
those sharp instruments in a short period, need only he re- 
ferred to here ; but as Felix Plater's observations have not 
attained quite so much celebrity, we shall shortly mention 
them. He found that an onyx swallowed by a hen was 
diminished one-fourth in four days, and that a louis d'or 
lost in this way sixteen grains of its weight. 

In such birds as nourish their young from the crop the 
glands swell very much at the hatching season, and secrete 
a greater quantity of fluid than usual. In the pigeon, 
which thus feeds its young, there is a spherical bag formed 
on each side of the oesophagus, a specimen of which may be 
seen in the museum of the College of Surgeons. It is not 
improbable that the banter about * pigeon's milk* took its 
rise from this part of the ceconomy of the bird. 
. In those birds which feed on flesh, fish, or worms, and 
which consequently do not require so powerful an apparatus, 
the muscles of the gizzard are reduced to an extreme 
weakness, and tbat organ appears to make only a part of 
the same membranous bag with the ventricule succenturie. 

The food being thus reduced into a sort of chyme, passes 
through the remainder of the intestinal canal, where all the 
nutritious parts are taken into the system, and the remainder 
is at length expelled by the cloaca, where tbe urinary ducts 
terminate, and the organs of generation are situated. It 
may be worth mentioning that tbe liver becomes much 
larger in domesticated birds tban in wild ones (a propen- 
sity which can be increased by artificial means, as the 
gourmand who revels in his foies gras well knows), and 
that the gall-bladder is entirely wanting in some birds, the 
parrot and pigeon for instance. Hence, no doubt, the 
saying, • He has no more gall than a pigeon.* The pan- 
creas (sweet-bread) is of considerable size in birds, hut the 
spleen is small. 

Vital Functions and Organs of the Voice, 

The heart, in this class, is of peculiar structure. Instead 
of the membranous valve which is present in both ventricles 
of the heart of raammifers, and in the left ventricle in birds, 
the right ventricle of the heart in the latter is furnished with 
a strong musclewhich assists in driving the Wood witb greater 
impetuosity from the right side of the heart into tbe lungs; 
a structure rendered necessary from the want of expansion 
of the lungs in breathing consequent upon their connexion 
with the numerous air-cells. The lungs are small and 
flattened, and adhere to the back of the cbest in the inter- 
vals of the ribs, and a considerable part of tbe abdomen as 
well as' of the chest is occupied by membranous air-cells 
with whicb the lungs communicate by considerable aper- 
tures. In addition to these, a great portion of the skeleton 
in most birds becomes a receptacle for air. Instead of mar- 
row the larger cylindrical bones contain air, and form large 
tubes, interrupted only towards the ends by transverse bony 
fibres. The broad bones present internally a reticulated 
bony texture, pervaded by the same fluid, communicated 
from the lungs by small air-cells. The enormous bills of 
the toucan and of the hornbill are supplied with air from 
the same quarter. The very barrels of the quills, when 
fully developed, can bo filled with air or emptied at 
the pleasure of the bird ; and it is thus that the voluntary 
erection of the plumage in the turkey, &c, is supposed to 
be -in great measure produced. 

The effect of this structure in lightening the body of the 
bird, and facilitating its motions whether in flying, swim- 
ming, or running, is obvious. Where tbe demand is greatest 
(as in birds of the highest and most rapid flight) the supply 
is largest. Thus, in the eagle, we find tho bony cells of 
great size, and very numerous. Tbe section of a head of 
the hornbill {Buceros Rhinoceros), here represented, will 
convey some idea of the structure of these air-cells. 

The organs of the voice in birds bear a striking resem- 
blance to certain musical wind-instruments. The larynx is 
double, or rather made up of two parts: one, the proper 
rima gfattidis, situated at the upper end of the windpipe; 
ami ttie second, the bronchial, or lower larynx, which con- 
tains a pccond rima glottidis, furnished with tense mem- 
branes that perform in many birds (and especially in the 
aquatics) tho same part' as' a reed does in a clarionet or 



hautboy, while the upper rima, like the ventage or hole of 
the instrument, gives utterance to the note. 




f Section of the head of Buceros Rhinoceros.] 

The length of the windpipe and the structure of the lower 
larynx vary much in different species and even in the sexes, 
particularly among the water-birds. In the domestic or 
dumb swan the windpipe is straight ; in the male wild swan 
tbe windpipe is convoluted in the hollow of tbe breast- bone 
like the tube of a French horn. 

The following are the conclusions of M. Jacquemin in his 
paper lately read before the French Academy ; and though 
many of the facts were previously known, M. Jacqucmin's 
communication must be considered as a valuable addition to 
this part of the subject. After observing that the air enters 
not only into tbe lungs and about the parietes of the chest, 
hut tbat it also penetrates by certain openings (foramina) 
into eight pneumatic bags or air-eells, occupying a consi- 
derable portion of the pectoro-abdominal cavity, and thence 
into the upper and lower extremities, he concludes, 1st, 
That »the pneumatic bags are so situated as to be ready 
conductors of the air into the more solid parts of the body ; 
and that the air, by surrounding the most weighty viscera, 
may support the bird in flight, and contribute to the facility 
of its motions when so employed. 2nd. That the quantity of 
air thus introduced penetrates the most internal recesses of 
their bodies, tending to dry tbe marrow in the bones and a 
portion of the fluids ; a diminution of specific gravity is the 
result, tho true cause of which has been, in his opinion, 
vainly sought in the quantity alone of permeating air. 
3rd. That in birds the oxidation of the nourishing juices is 
not entirely effected in the lungs, but is much promoted 
also in the pneumatic bags above mentioned, for their con- 
tained air operates through the membranes upon the blood- 
vessels and lymphatics in contact with them ; a more com- 
plete and speedy oxidation is the result. 4th. That not 
only the skeleton, but all the viscera are much more per- 
meable by air in birds than in any of the other vertehrated 
animals. 5tb. That the air-reservoirs are not always sym- 
metrical, their shape and extent depending entirely upon 
the form and situation of the organs among which they 
occur; but the supply is so modified that tbe total quantity 
received into the pneumatic bags on the right side of the 
body is equal to tbat which enters into those on the left ; 
and indeed without the maintenance of tins condition the 
act of flying would be impossible, and that of walking diffi 
cult, 6th. That no portion of a bird's structure is imper- 
vious to air ; it reaches even the last joints (phalanges) of 
the wings and feet, and the last caudal vertebra?, or rump- 
bones. The quill of the* feathers is not excepted, as has 
been sometimes asserted. 7th. That the air within the 
head has a separate circulation, and does not directly 
communicate with the air-pipes of the rest of the body. 
8th. That in no instance does the air come into direct con- 
tact with the viscera or nourishing juices, but invariably 
through tho medium of a membrane, however fine and 
transparent, ,9th. That the volume of air which birds can 
thus introduce into their bodies, and the force with which 
they can expel it, offers the only explanation how so small 
a creature as a singing-hird (the nightingale, for example) 
is able to utter notes so powerful, and, without any appa- 
rent fatigue, to warble so long and so musically. 

The organs of respiration in birds, as well as their sexual 
organs, are the seat of the continual vibratory motions pro- 
duced by cilia, discovered by Professor Purkinje and Dr. 
Valentin of Brcslaw, to exist as a general phenomenon over 
the internal surface of those parts, and those parts only in* 

312 



b i n 



428 



n i r 



tlio classes of mammifers, birds, and reptiles. Dr. Sbarpcy's 
observation* confirm their discovery of this ciliary motion, 
with the following modifications, viz., in the air-passages and 
Fallopian tubes of mammifers, in the air-passages of birds, 
and in the mouth and throat of tho batrachians ; tho nega- 
tive observations respecting tho oviduct of tho bird being 
inconclusive. 

Brain, Nervous System, and Senses* 

We must now turn our attention to that part of the ani- 
mal economy wherein resides the intelligeneo which directs 
and regulates tho whole of tho voluntary powers. The 
brain of birds possesses the samo characters which are to 
bo found in other oviparous vertebrated animals, but its 
proportional volumo is its distinguishing peculiarity ; and 
this volumo often surpasses the development of that orpan 
in mammifers. Indeed, in some birds, and more particu- 
larly in some of the songsters, the brain lias been said to 
exceed that of man when considered in reference to the 
size of tho head and of the whole body. But this assertion, 
after all, involves a fallacy. The size of the eye regulates 
tho development in great measuro ; and when we look at 
the relative proportion of brain in a canary bird, we must 
not forget the great lightness of the other parts of its body. 
In a herring a part of the brain is as much developed in 
proportion as the same part is in man. The following scale 
has been given as an example of the size of the brain in 
relation to that of the body: — 

Eagle, l-260thof theboiy; sparrow, l-25th; chaffinch, 
l-27th; redbreast, l-32nd; blackbird, l-68th; canary- 
bird, l-14th; cock, l-25th; duck, l-257th; goose, l-360th. 
In man tho brain forms from l-22nd to l-33rd of the body ; 
in some apes, l-22nd; in tlio elephant, 1 -500th ; in the 
horse, l-400th; in the dog, l-161th ; and in the eat, l-94th. 
The size of the brain in birds arises principally from tu- 
bercles analogous to the corpora striata of mammifers, and 
not from the hemispheres, which are small, smooth, and 
without convolutions. The cerebellum is large, almost 
without lateral lobes, and formed principally by the vermi- 
form process. Several parts found in the brain of mam- 
mifers are absent in birds, and among these are the corpus 
callosum and jxms Varolii* With reference to the compara- 
tive size of the brain in birds, it may be necessary to say a 
few words. From tbe days of Aristotle down to a very late 
period it was received and transmitted as an axiom that man 
has tho largest brain in proportion to his body. The spirit 
of modern investigation, however, soon discovered several 
exceptions to this rule, and destroyed the generally admitted 
conclusion. Then came Summering, to whom we owe the 
great bulk of our information on this subject, and he pre- 
sented us with the ratio which the mass of the brain bears 
to the nerves which it gives off; a point of comparison which 
still holds good. ' Let us/ writes Lawrence in his edition 
of Blumenbach's Comparative Anatomy, * divido the brain 
into two parts,; that which is immediately connected with 
the sensorial extremities of the nerves, which receives their 
impressions, and is therefore devoted to tho purposes of 
animal existence. The second division will include the rest 
of the brain, which may be considered as connecting the 
functions of the norves with the faculties of the mind. In 
proportion, then, as any animal possesses a larger share of 
tho latter and more noble part — that is, in proportion as the 
organ of reflexion exceeds that of the external senses — may 
we expect to find the powers of tho mind moro vigorous and 
more clearly developed. In this point of view man is de- 
cidedly pre-eminent ; here he excels all other animals that 
have hitherto been investigated.' 

Of the five senses which arc on the watch to give infor- 
mation to the sensorium, sight, smell, and hearing are most 
acute in birds. 

Sight. — We havo seen that tho bony orbits are of great 
magnitude, and the organs of sight which are contained 
therein are proportionably large. In tho birds of prey tbe 
orbits havo tho shape of a ' chalice,* says Blumcnbaeh, 
• or cup used in tho communion service. Tlio cornea, 
which is very convex, forms the bottom of tho cup, and tho 
posterior segment of the sclerotica resembles its cover. This 
peculiar form arises from the curvaturo and length of the 
bony plates, whieh, as in all other birds, occupy the front of 
tlio sclerotica, lying close together and overlapping eaeh 
other. These bony plates form in general a flat or slightly 
eonvex ring; being long and curved in tho accipitres 
(hawks) they form a concave ring, which gives tho whole 



eyeball tho above-mentioned form.* By means of this ring 
tho evo becomes a kind of self-adjusting telescope, so as to 
tako in both near and very distant objects. 




t Sclerotic plalet of Pcnguia.] 



A representation of the sclerotic plates, forming the bony 
ring in the eye of the penguin (Aptenodytes), is here given. 
They remind us forcibly of the eye-plates in some of the 
reptiles, particularly of those belonging to the eyes of the 
Enaliosaurians, or fossil marine lizards. Tho penguin has 
to adjust its eye for vision both on land and under water. 
This contrivance must greatly assist the adjustment neces- 
sary for seeing clearly in such different media. 

The erystallino humour is flat in birds; and the vitreous 
humour is very small. The colour of the iris varies in dif- 
ferent species, and in many eases is very brilliant. The 
marsupium, which arises in the back of the eye, and tho 
use ofwhich is not very clearly ascertained, is a peculiarity 
in the eye of birds. They have three eye-lids, two ofwhich, 
the upper and lower, are closed in most of the race by the 
elevation of the lower one, as may be frequently seen in our 
domestic poultry. The owl, the goat- sucker, and a few 
others, have the power of depressing the upper eye-lid. Of 
these birds the upper only is furnished with eye-lashes 
generally : the ostrich, secretary vulture, some parrots, and 
a few other birds, have them in both lids. But the third 
eye -lid, or nictitating membrane, forms the most euri- 
ous apparatus. When at rest, this, which is a thin semi- 
transparent fold of the tunica conjunctiva, lies in the inner 
corner of tho eye, with its loose edge nearly vertical. By 
the combined action of two muscles which are attached to- 
wards the back of the sclerotica, it is eapable of being 
drawn out so as to cover the whole front of the eye-ball like 
a curtain, and its own elasticity restores it to the corner in 
which it rested. This, it is said, enables the caglo to look 
at the sun : it may be seen in operation to much advantage 
in the Great South American Eagle (Harpyia destructor) 
at the gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent's 
Park. 

The sense of hearing appears to be sufficiently aeutc in 
birds, though (with the exception of the night-birds, the 
owls in particular) they have no external cartilaginous ear; 
and the peculiar valve, partly muscular, partly membranous, 
placed at the auditory opening even in those birds, has none 
of the development which generally marks the concha of 
mammifers. The peculiar arrangement of the compara- 
tively loosely barbed feathers, however, round the aperture 
(meatus auditorivs) compensates for it; and this arrange- 
ment may be well seen in the rapacious birds. The mem- 
brane of the drum (membrana tympani) is convex exter- 
nally, and the drums of both ears arc connected by the 
air-cells of the skull. There is neither malleus nor stapes, 
and their place is supplied by a single auditory bone (ossi- 
culum auditus) which connects the membranes of the drum 
with the fenestra ovalis. The Eustachian tubes terminate 
in a sort of common aperture on the concavity of tho palate. 
The labyrinth is without a cochlea ; instead of which there 
is a short, blunt, hollow bony process obliquely directed 
backwards from the vestibule, and divided into two portions, 
one of which ends at the fenestra rotunda. 

The sense of smelling in the majority of birds seems to be 
highly developed. The olfactory nerve is given off from the 
foremost part of the front lobe of the brain, whence it passes 
along a canal to tho nose, and is ramified on tho pituitary 
membrane, which is spread over two or three pairs of bony 
or cartilaginous concha* narium. The nostrils terminato in 
different parts of tho upper mandible in different genera; 
and, according as these apertures are smaller or larger, or 
more or less eovcred by membranes, cartilages, feathers, or 
other integuments, the sense is probably more or less acute. 
But no bird is without nostrils, though Button asserts that 
several are unprovided with them : the puffin, indeed, and 
some others havo them so small, and placed so closely on 
tho margin of tho mandiblo, that they are not easily de- 
tected. 



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429 



B I ft 



This sense was supposed to have reached its highest 
point of perfection in the vultures and other carrion- birds. 
Poets and philosophers have dwelt on the ' delight* with 
which they 

* . . . . mufTd the smell 
Of mortal change on earth. .... 
Sagacious of the quarry from afar.' 

But, according to the experiments of Audubon (and they 
were made with a species which has obtained a reputation 
for great sagacity in this way), the nostrils do not seem to 
have been of the least assistance to the birds in directing 
them to their prey ; while the eye, even when the birds were 
far above human sight, appears to have been infallible. This 
conclusion has been, indeed, disputed : but the facts stated 
by Audubon are very strong. 

Taste, — Though all birds possess a tongue, it is probable 
that but few find enjoyment in the organ as ministering to 
their taste, and in those it is soft, thick, and covered with 
papillae. Some of the birds of prey, some of the swimmers, 
and the parrots generally, have sueh a tongue, and there 
can 'be no doubt that these taste food of a soft or fluid na- 
ture, and select that which they like best. But in general 
tbe tongue is horny and stiff, and appears unsuited to eon- 
vey sueh impressions, though as an organ for taking food it 
beeomes of tbe highest importance. In the humming-birds 
and other honey-suekers it is a tubular pump, and in the 
woodpeckers it is an insect-spear. In both eases it ean be 
protruded and retraeted at pleasure ; and the simple but 
beautiful machinery by which this act of volition is per- 
formed, is adapted with the most masterly fitness to the 
motion required. Upon examining the tongue of the com- 
mon green- woodpecker, we shall find that, instead of being 
very long, as it is erroneously supposed to be, it is really 
very short, sharp-pointed, and horny, with barbs at its sides. 
Behind this lies the singular tongue-bone (os hyoides), 
slender, and with two very long legs or appendages (crura). 
This is made up of five parts, consisting of a single portion 
and two pairs of cartilages. Let us suppose the tongue to 
he at rest, and tben the single piece lies in a fleshy sheath, 
capable of great extension. To this pieee the first pair of 
eartilagcs, whieh are situated at the sides of the neek, are 
joined, while the second pair, springing from these, run 
under the integuments completely over the skull, and, ad- 
vancing forwards, converge in a kind of groove, terminating 
generally in the right side of the upper jaw. This second 
pair, by their elasticity, become the springs whieh set the 
whole in motion. When the organ is to be protruded, the 
anterior pieees are drawn together, and enter the extended 
sheath of the single piece: the tongue is thus elongated as 
it were, and the bird can thrust it far forth. 




[Os hyofdes of woodpecker.] 

The seme of touch, as applied to external objeets, must 
be, generally speaking, very obtuse in birds. Feathers, 
horny beaks, and scaly skin, do not offer a satisfactory me- 
dium for conveying impressions by eontact. But in those 
birds which search for their food in mud (ducks, for instanee), 
where neither sight nor smell ean be of much avail, the 
bill is eovered with a skin abundantly supplied with sensa- 
tion by nerves from all the three branches of the fifth pair, 
in order that they may successfully feel about for their 
hidden sustenance. 

Duration of Life, Reproduction, Migration. 
That the animated machine which we have endeavoured 
to sketeh is formed for strong resistance of decay is proved 
by the very long life which many birds are known to have 
attained. The evidence of this faet does not rest upon tra- 
dition only, which has invested tho * annosa comix' with 
such venerable length of years ; for there are not wanting 
well-authenticated instances of birds which had seen out a 
century ; and yet the period of incubation in no instance 
exeeeds a few weeks. 

The continuation of tho species is carried on by eggs, 
which are laid in a nest more or less artificial according as 
tbe nestling is more or less eapable of gathering its own 



ibod at the time of its exclusion from the egg. Of those 
birds whose young possess this capability in the highest 
degree, the male is, for the most part, polygamous, and does 
not pair; but among those whose helpless young depend 
for some time on the parents for their sustenance, one male 
confines his attentions to one female, as long at least as the 
season of love, incubation, and parental anxiety endure. To 
the first and second of these seasons we, in great measure, 
owe that outpouring of melody which renders our groves 
and gardens so musical in spring. 

* There is every reason/ writes Montagu, ' to believe it is 
necessary there should be native notes peculiar to eaeh spe- 
cies, or the sexes might have some difficulty in discovering 
eaeh other, the species be intermixed, and a variety of mules 
produced ; for we cannot suppose birds discriminate colours 
by which they know their species, because some distinet 
species are so exaetly alike that a mixture might take 
place. The males of song-birds, and many others, do not 
in general search for the female ; but on the contrary, their 
business in the spring is to pereh on some conspicuous spot, 
breathing out their full and amorous notes, whieh by in- 
stinct the female knows, and repairs to the spot to choose 
her mate. This is particularly verified with respect to the 
summer birds of passage. The nightingale, and most of 
its genus, although timid and shy to a great degree, mount 
aloft to pour forth their amorous strains ineessantly, each 
seemingly vieing in their love-laboured song before the 
females arrive. No sooner do they make their appearanee 
than dreadful battles ensue, and their notes are considerably 
ehanged ; sometimes their song is hurried through without 
the usual graee and elegance ; at other times modulated 
into a soothing melody, The first we eonccive to be a pro- 
vocation to battle on the sight of another male ; the last an 
amorous eadence, a courting address. This variety of song 
lasts no longer than till the female is fixed in her choiee, 
which is in general in a few days after her arrival ; and if 
the season is favourable, she soon begins the task allotted 
to her sex/ 

We entirely agree with the writer of this animated pas- 
sage, that * Tis love creates their melody/ and that the ear 
is a principal guide to the hen-bird in her choice of a mate ; 
but we eannot entirely exclude the eye, when we remember 
what pains have been taken in most instances to distinguish 
the sexes by the colour of tbeir feathered garb, and even in 
many instances to prepare a nuptial dress (plumage de 
noces of the French) for the male, which fades when the 
season of love has passed away. 

AVe must not dwell here upon the wonders of birds'-nests, 
their admirable structure as places of comfort and conceal- 
ment, and the exquisite workmanship of some of them, 
that of the goldfinch, for instance. In those snug re- 
ceptacles the eggs are deposited and hatched. Then 
the old birds feel all the parent within them and entirely 
forget their own safety and wants in protecting and pro- 
viding for their helpless nestlings. This parental love 
changes the timid at once to the brave ; for birds of prey, 
cats, dogs, and sometimes even man, when he approaches 
the sanetuary, are attacked and followed with angry cries. 
For some time after quitting the nest this care continues, 
till the nestling is able to provide for itself. Then the whole 
scene ehanges. The young bird still lingers about the old 
one, and approaches it when it finds a worm or insect, ex- 
pectant of the morsel. At first the young bird is unheeded 
and treated " coldly ; but if it does not take this hint and 
perseveres in its solicitations, the parent, which but a few 
days before would have braved a hawk or a cat in its de- 
fence, and would have been eon tent to suffer hunger rather 
than have seen it without food, gives it a buffet, and thus 
compels it to rely on its own resources. 

Few phenomena have attracted more attention than the 
migration of birds. That some of our delieate songsters, 
with no' great power of wing, should cross the seas periodi- 
cally, returning, as they undoubtedly do, to those spots 
whieh they have before haunted, and which are associated 
in their memories with the pleasing cares of former years, 
excites our admiration, if not our astonishment. As regu- 
larly as the seasons of whieh many of them are the har- 
bingers, do these little travellers visit us, and as regularly 
do they take their departure. The immediate causo of 
migration is no doubt to be found in temperature and food, 
particularly that which is adapted for the sustenanee of the 
young; and the instinct of the bird accordingly leads it 
from one climate to another, 



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SrsTXMATTC Arranciwknt and Natural TIistory. 

AYe now approach a part of our subject not quite so fasci- 
nating; for, in a compendious aecount of the writers on the 
natural history of birds, and of the systems which have 
been proposed', wo cannot expect to find much amusement. 
But without method there cannot bo science, and without 
arrangement, natural history would bo but a tangled chain, 
nothing impainM indeed, but certainly all disordered. Birds 
appear to have been objects of interest from the earliest pe- 
riods. In comparatively later times we find them mingling 
in tho superstitions of Greeco and Rome, and it is evident 
that their history and habits wcro familiar, not only to the 
husbandman and tho augur, but to the great mass of the 
people. Without such a familiarity on tho part of the 
Athenians, Aristophanes would hardly have veutured on 
introducing his audienco to *Zii$i\oKOKKvyia (see his play 
entitled * Tho Birds* ) ; nor would other poets, Grecian 
and Roman, so often have referred to these animals as 
well known harbingers of certain times and seasons. 
But it remained for Aristotle, and after liim Pliny, to 
take up the subject philosophically. The former, in his 
History of Animals, has distinguished tho species, and 
recorded the habits of birds with tho accuracy and power 
which distinguished that great observer : the latter, in the 
tenth book of his Natural History has displayed much 
learning, but not a great doal of originality. 

In modern literature, tho first writer of note on this sub- 
ject is Pierre Bclon. who in 1555 arranged these animals 
according to their habits and their haunts. In his system 
tho rapacious birds form tbo first division, the waders the 
second, the swimmers the third, and the birds which nestle 
in trees or on the ground, the fuurth. He was an able 
zoologist and accurate observer, and has pointed out tho 
comparative anatomy of birds, with reference to that of 
man especially. 

The third part of Conrad Gesner's ' History of Animals,* 
published in 1555, consists of his treatise on birds, where 
he has with some labour collected their various national 
names, and referred to the writers who had noticed tho 
subject. 

In 1599, Aldrovandus of Bologna published his ornitho- 
logy. Pursuing the plan of Bclon, he arranged tho birds 
according to their haunts and their food, adding many new 
descriptions. 

These three works are all illustrated with wood-cuts. 

In 1G>7Jonston published his Natural History, a kind 
of ■ Repertorium Zoologicum," wherein all that had been 
done before his time was condensed, and where every 
monstrous zoological fable was perpetuated, even in the 
copper- plates, which ministered to the appetites of those 
who loved to see what mermen and mermaids were like, aad 
delighted in the sight of * hydras and chimeras dire. 1 

AVe now approach a period wherein the reign of System 
commenced ; and we owe one of the first natural arrange- 
ments, if not the fir.-t. to Francis Willughhy, an English 
gentleman, whose System of Ornitfwhgy was edited by 
our celebrated countryman Ray, in 1678, after the author's 
death. It is a work of wry gTeat merit. Tho general di- 
visions aro two, ' Land Birds,' and* Water Birds.* The 
land birds are further divided into those which have a 
crooked beak and crooked talons, and those which have 
those parts nearly straight. 

Tho water-birds are arranged in three sections. The 
first consists of waders, and thoso which haunt watery 
places. The second of those that are of a * middle nature, 
between swimmers and waders, or rather that partake of 
both kinds, some whereof are cloven-footed and yet swim ; 
others whole -footed, but yet very long-legged, like the 
waders :' tho third is formed by tho palmated birds or 
swimmers. 

The same friondly office that was performed for Wtl- 
lughby by Ray, Dr. Dcrham executed for the latter, whose 
Sijnopsii Mcthodica Avium, a posthumous work, but 
entirely completed by tho author before his death, was 
published by tho Doctor in 1713. In this synopsis Hav 
carried out and further improved Willughby's system. 
Upon the works of these Entfish naturalists rested in 
great measure tho zoological system ofLinncous. 

The first sketch of tho Swedish naturalist's Systcma 
Nature appeared in folio, at Leydcn, in 1 735. It consisted 
of twelve pages, and wa«, as Linn ecus himself says, * Con- 
spectus tantum operis et quasi mappa geographical' Eight 



subsequent editions, in variou* forms, with gradually in- 
creasing information, were published in various places, and 
in 1758 the ninth edition (* longe aucuits factum a me ipso/ 
says the author) was sent forth in 8vo. In this ediiion tho 
birds arc arranged under tho samo * orders' as they are in 
the twelfth and last edition, which appeared in 1766. The 
thirteenth edition was not the authors but Omclin's. 
The following arc tho orders of Liuncous's cla>s Aces: 

1. Accipitres. Birds of prey, properly so called. 

2. Piece. Woodpeckers, crows, humming-birds, king- 
fishers, &c. Sec. Sec. 

3. Anscrcs. Swimmers. 

4. Gr.illco. Waders. 

6. Gallium. Gallinaceous birds (partridge and domestic 
fowl, for instance). 

6. Passe res. Sparrows, finches, thrushes, doves, swal- 
lows, &c. &e. 

These orders, some of which are not very natural, include 
with their subdivisions 78 genera. 

In 1760 appeared the system of Brisson, which divides 
birds into two great sections. The first, consisting of thoso 
whose toes are deprived of membranes ; the second, of those 
whose toes are furnished (garnis) with membranes through 
their whole length. 

There are many subdivisions, under which arc arranged 
26 orders, including 115 genera. This able ornithologist 
owes much of his celebrity to the minute accuracy of his 
specific descriptions. 

In 1770 Buflbn published the first part of his work re- 
lating to birds. It is marked by the snme eloquent ani- 
mated stylo which adorns the rest of his Natural History ; 
but much cannot bo said for its arrangement, nor for tho 
justice of some of his conclusions. He seldom omits an 
opportunity of arraigning Nature at the bar of his fancy for 
some supposed defect of design, when tho fault is in his 
own want of perception of the end to Which that design is 
directed, arising from his not being acquainted with tho 
habits to which it ministers. 

SchrofFer. in his Elementa Ornithologica, which was given 
to the public in 1 744, divides birds into two great families, 
Nudipedcs et Palmipedes. 

Scopoli (1777), in his introduction to Natural Ilistory, 
divides them also into two families ; but he takes his dis- 
tinction from the arrangement of the scaly skin on the legs ; 
the first division t)r Retipedes consisting of those tlie skin 
of whose legs is marked by small polygonal scales; tho se- 
cond, Scutipedes, of those the front of whose legs is covered 
with segments or unequal rings with lateral longitudinal 
furrows. 

In 1781 onr countryman Latham published his general 
synopsis, and in 1787 and in 1801 his two supplements ap- 
peared. In 1790, his Index Ornithologirus, in two volumes 
quarto, being an abridgment of his more extended work, 
was given to the public. Separating, like Willughby and 
Ray, the birds into two grand divisions, land- birds nnd 
water-birds, he arranges them under the following orders, 
which include 101 genera. 

Land bird*. Waler-btnU. 

1. Accipitres. 7. Grallro. 

2. Picre. 8. Pinnatipedcs. 

3. Passeres. 9. Palmipedes. 

4. Col umba?. 

5. Gnllinre. 

6. Struthiones. 

In 1799 M. do Lacepcdo published his method, arrang- 
ing 130 genera under 39 orders. 

In 1806 Dumcril, in his Zoologic Analytique, divided- 
birds into six orders. 

The following is Blumenbaeh's arrangement: 

Land-bird*. Waicr-bird*. 

1. Accipitres. 8. Grallro. 

2. Levirostres. 9. Anscrcs. 

3. Piei. 

4. Coraces. 

5. Passeres. 
G. Onlling*. 

7. Struthiones. 

In 7810 Meyer, in the 'Almannch des Oisenux do 
rAllcmagnc, par MM. Meyer et Wolff,' arranged them 
under eleven orders; and in 1811 

Uliger di\ided them into seven orders, including 41 
families. Then came Cuvicr, who in his ' Regno Animal* 
(1817; published tho following method 



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431 



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1. Aecipitres. 4. Gallinae. 

2. Passeres. 5. Grallaj. 

3. Scansores (Climbers). 6. Palmipedes. 
Vieillot, whose work is dated in 1816, though it did not 

appear till 1817, distributes birds into the following five 
orders 

1. Aecipitres. 4. Grallatores. 

2. Sylvicolas. 5. Natatores. 

3. Gallinacei. 

Temniinck's arrangement (1815-1820) consists of the 
following sixteen orders : 

1. Rapaces, 9. Pigeons. 

2. Omnivores. 10. Gallinaces. 

3. Insectivores. 11. Alectorides. 

4. Granivores. 12. Coureurs. 

5. Zygodactyles. 13. Gralles. 

6. Anisodactyles. 14. Pinnatipe'des. 

7. Alcyons. 15. Palmipedes. 

8. Chelidons. 16. Inertes. 

In 1&25 Nicholas Aylward Vigors, Esq. (following out 
tbe principle adopted by William Sharp Mac Leay, Esq., in 
his Horce Hntomolngicce, a work of great learning and 
deep reasoning) proposed his arrangement of birds accord- 
ing to their natural affinities. * I discovered/ says the 
author, in his paper in the 14th volume of the Transactions 
of the Linnajan Society, * as I advanced, that the larger or 
primary groups were connected by an uninterrupted chain 
of affinities ; that this series or chain returned into itself; 
and that the groups of which it was composed, preserved in 
their regular succession an analogy to the corresponding 
groups or orders of the contiguous classes of zoology. I 
equally detected the existence of tbe same principle in most 
of the subordinate subdivisions, even down to the minutest, 
to a degree at least sufficiently extensive to afford grounds 
for asserting its general prevalence/ 

Thus, if his five orders 

Insessores, 
Itaptores, [Avks.] Rasores, 
Natatores, Grallatores, 
be arranged round a common eentre, the author eonceives 
that they would be found to be mutually connected to- 
gether, and that-the plan whicb holds good in the general 
division will be found to be confirmed on examining the 
subdivisions. 

The second order Insessores, for instance, he divides 
into five tribes, 

Conirostres, 
Dentirostres, Scansores, 

[Insessorks.] 

Figsirostres, Tenuirostres, 

in which he finds a similar connexion, as he also does in 

the five families into which he further separates each tribe. 

In the same year M. Latreille published his method as 
follows : 

Vremifere section, les Terrestres, Deuxiemc section, les Aquatiques. 

1. Ordre Rapaces. 6. Ordre Echassiers. 

2. Passereaux. 7. Palmipedes. 

3. Grimpeurs. 

4. Passerigalles. 

5. Gallinaces. 

These orders include 252 genera. 

The method proposed by M. de Blainville in 1815, 1821, 
and 1822, and developed by his pupil, M. Lherminicr, in 
1827, is founded entirely on anatomical details, and prin- 
cipally upon the comparative development of the sternum. 
In the method of 1827, the birds are divided into the 
4 Normaux/ those whose sternum is furnished with a crest 
or keel more or less developed, and which have three bones 
at the shoulder, distinct, and simply contiguous. This 
' sous-classe* contains thirty-four families from the first of 
the birds of prey to the last of the siwmmers. The second 
* sous-classe,* or the 'Anomaux,' consists of tho&e whose 
sternum is formed of two pieces originally separated, and 
uniting upon the median line to constitute a bony plate of 
variable form, but always without an osseous crest or keel, 
or brisket, and whose three shoulder-bones are distinct in 
youth, but anchylosed in the adult. To the * Anomaux* 
belong but one family, the Cursores, comprehending the 
ostrich and its congeners. 

In 1828 M. Lesson published his 'ProjeC wherein ne 
commences with the two great divisions ' Terrestrial' and 
'Aquatic/ and distributes the birds into nine orders, founded 
on the form of the toes, wings, and beak, Tho ninth order 



consists of * Paradoxaux,' which in place of wings are fur- 
nished with anterior memhers armed with claws, the fingers 
being surrounded by (empat£s dans) a membrane, and have 
the body covered with decomposed and hairy feathers • 
tbis order contains but one genus, Ornithorhynchus ? but 
to this last word the author adds a query. 

In 1831 William Swainson, Esq., rejecting the quina- 
rian theory above alluded to, which he had adopted in the 
year 1824, proposed (in the second part of the Fauna Bo- 
real i- Americana containing the birds) a new arrangement 
in these terms: 

* 1. Every natural series of beings, in its progress from a 
given point, either actually returns or evinces a tendency to 
return, again to that point, thereby forming a circle. 

* 2. The contents of such, a circle or group are symbo- 
lically represented by the contents of all other circles in 
the same class of animals ; this resemblance being strong 
or remote in proportion to tbe proximity or the distance of 
the groups compared. 

* 3. The primary divisions of every natural group, of what- 
ever extent or value, are three, each of which forms its 
own circle.' 

No one can read over the preceding compendium, which 
only embraces, be it remembered, the more prominent sys- 
tems (for many omitted names will occur to the learned, 
thoseofBarrdre,Frisch, Bonnaterre, and others, for instance), 
without perceiving that tbe great aim of modern science has 
been to produce the best natural arrangement. No sooner 
has one method been advanced and considered, tban doubts 
have arisen, and another and another still succeeds. Cuvier 
expressed his dissent from all the systems whicb he had 
seen, and his conviction that the true arrangement was 
yet to be sought for. 

That method which, founded on an intimate knowledge of 
the comparative anatomy, habits, and instincts of birds, 
unites them in groups that will bear the most strict appli- 
cation of those three tests, is the most likely, we may ob- 
serve in conclusion, to approach the nearest to the system of 
nature. 

To give a list of all the writers on the natural history of 
birds would he quite out of place in a work of this descrip- 
tion ; we shall therefore request the reader to be content 
with the following enumeration of some of the most cele- 
brated authors in this department. 

The ornithology of America and the West Indies has 
been given by Hernandez, Marcgrave, De Azzara, Sloane, 
Catesby, Vieillot, Wilson, Spix, Charles Bonaparte (Prince 
of Musignano), Audubon, Richardson and Swainsou, and 
Nuttall. 

That of Britain by Pennant, Lewin, White, Bewick, Mon- 
tagu, Donovan, Selby, Mudie, and others. 

That of Europe by Temminck ; that of Germany by 
Meyer and Wolff; and Charles Bonaparte has taken up 
that of Italy. Gould's 'Birds of Europe' and Meyer's 'Il- 
lustrations of British Birds* are in a course of publication. 

Le Vaillant has illustrated the birds of Africa, and of 
other countries. 

The following names of some of those who bave also dis- 
tinguished themselves as general authors or particular illus- 
trators will readily occur to the student who enters upon 
this branch of natural history :— Albin, Audebert, Audu- 
bon, Barraband, Bechstein, Bennett, Blyth, Brisson, Brun- 
nich, Buffon, Buhle, Cuvier, Daudin, Dcsraarest, Edwards,* 
Fleming, Forster, Frisch, Gerard in, Gould, Gray, Gunther, 
Hardwicke, Herbert, Houttuyn, Hunter, Illiger, Jardine, 
Jenner, Leach, Lear, Lesson, Macartney, MacLeay, Mark- 
wick, Meyer, Naumann, Nilsson, Nozeman, Rennie, Riip- 
pell, Sabine, Savigny, Selby, Sepp, Sctneffer, Shaw, Shep- 
pard, Slaney, Sonnini, Spix, Stephens,' Swainson, Sweet, 
Syme, Vieillot, Vigors, Wagler, Waterton, Whitear, Yarrell. 

In conclusion, it may not be uninteresting to say a word 
or two upon the fossil remains of birds. ' We mi^ht have 
anticipated,' writes Lyell (Principles of Geology, vol. iii. 
p. 1 75, 3rd ed.), * that the imbedding of the remains of birds 
in new strata would be of very rare occurrence, for their 
powers of flight insuro them against perishing by numerous 
casualties to whicb quadrupeds are exposed during floods ; 
and if they chance to be drowned, or to die when swimming 
on the water, it will scarcely ever happen that they will be 
submerged so as to become preserved in sedimentaiy depo- 
sits. In consequence of tho hollow tubular structure of 
their bones, and the quantity of tbeir feathers, they are ex- 
tremely light in proportion to their volume, so that when 



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first killed they do not sink to tho bottom like quadrupeds, 
but float on the surface until tho carcaso either rots away or 
is devoured by predaceous animals.* 

We will begin with an instance affording pood evidenco 
of the existence of a bird which, notwithstanding the con- 
current testimony of authors, catalogues, and even speci- 
mens, the latter indeed now reduced to fragments has 
been eonsidorcd by some the, mere ereaturo of imagination, 
M. Desjardins found, under a bed of lava in tho Islo of 
France, the head, breast-bone, and humerus of a bird, which 
Cuvier pronounced to be part of the remains of the dodo. 
These bones were in the midst of others belonging to tho 
large existing species of land-tortoiso named Testudo In* 
dica. fSce Dodo.] 

The hawks at the northern extremity of the rock of Gib- 
raltar, among other rejectamenta of their food, drop into the 
fissures the bones of small birds, which gradually become 
incorporated into au osseous breccia. 

Our attention is next drawn to the ossiferous caverns. In 
that of Kirkdale, for instance, Professor Buekland found, in 
company with the bones of carnivorous, pachydermatous, 
ruminant, and rodent quadrupeds, the remains of the raven, 
pigeon, lark, a small species of duck, and a bird of about 
the size of a thrush. 

AVe next come to the marine supraeretaeeous rocks of 
the South of France, in the sands or upper strata of which 
M. Marcel dc Serres found the remains of birds, accom- 
panied by abundant relics of terrestrial and marine mammi- 
fers. reptiles, fish, somo wood, and oysters and Balani. 

The remains of birds also occur in the gypseous beds, and 
fresh-water marls of the supraeretaeeous group. 

But perhaps the most interesting discovery relative to 
these remains was made by MM. Croizct and Jobert, who 
found in the fresh-wator sands, clays, and limestone in tho 
neighbourhood of the town of Issoirc (Puy de DQme), in 
company with the bones of quadrupeds, &c., the remains of 
three or four birds, and also their eggs, in a perfect state of 
preservation: M. Bertrand Roux, now M. Bertrand do 
Doue, had previously observed their bones in the fresh- 
water rocks at Vol vie. 

Upon the whole we may reckon nine or ten extinct 
species of birds in the Eocene period of Lyell. These belong 
to the birds of prey properly so called, — the gallinaceous 
birds, the waders, and the swimmers. Eggs of aquatic 
birds occur in the Eocene lacustrine formation in Auvergne. 

We are not aware that any bones of birds have been ro- 
corded in strata of greater antiquity than the tertiary, with 
tho exception of the fragments found by Mr. Mantell in the 
weald of Sussex. The so-called birds* bones of Stonesficld 
arc the bones of Ptcrodactyles. [Seo Pterodactyls.] 

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW, a mode of perspective represen- 
tation, which may be divided into two kinds, proper and 
improper. The latter of these, the one most generally 
employed, differs from ordinary perspective delineation, in 
nothing else than in the horizon being taken much higher 
than usual ; the horizontal line, and of course the point of 
sight, is either placed above the picture, or the level of the 
ground is supposed to be considerably below the base of 
the picture. The objects thus shown, whether buildings or 
landscape, or both combined, appear as they would do if 
viewed from some lofty station, from the summit of a build- 
ing, from a terraco, tower, or any other eminence ; but still 
the spectator is supposed to he looking in a straightforward 
direction, and the plane of the picture to be perpendicular 
to the natural horizon. Consequently, only distant objects 
can thus he shown, because, when looking in that direction, 
a person cannot possibly seo objects immediately beneath 
hiin. He can do that only by looking down upon them ; 
but in a picture there can be but one instant of view, nor 
can the point of sight be shifted at pleasure, by the eye 
being directed upwards or downwards, so as to alter the field 
of vision, and take different objects in succession. What* 
ever is shown In a picture must be supposed capable of 
being embraced by the eye at once; although in practice 
some little degree of license in this respect is occasionally 
allowable. 

If it be desired to show the objects immediately below 
the spectator, so as to give a distant view of tho tops of 
buildings so situated, and of parts that would otherwiso be 
concealed from sight, recourse must ho had to the first- 
mentioned mode, namely proper bird's- eye perspective 
This is the reverse of that employed for ceiling-pieces, 
termed di sot to in tu; for as there objects aro fore-short- 



ened as seen from below, so in tho bird's-eye they are fore- 
shortened, as if viewed from above. This species of * birds* 
eye* might therefore with great propriety be distinguished by 
the name of prone perspective, or looking downwards ; and 
the di sotto in sit, by that of supine perspective, or looking 
upwards. In like manner as in ceiling perspectives, tho 
plane of the picture becomes parallel to the natural horizon, 
instead of vertical, so does it in a proper birds-eye view ; 
with this difference, that in the former case the eye is be- 
neath ,the picture and looking up to it ; in the latter, over it, 
and looking down upon it ; at least, if not exactly hori- 
zontal, the piano of the picture must he more or legs in- 
clined, accordingly as the eye is supposed to lookdown 
moro directly or obliquely ; because the plane of projection 
or picture must be assumed as porpcndieular to the central 
ray from tho eye. The relative position of objects to each 
other and to the picture, and of the picture to the eye, aro 
tho same in this as in ordinary perspective, the sole differ- 
ence being that of the spectator's own situation. This will 
be apparent if we look into a hollow cube, or box, open on 
one side : it matters not whether it he open on ono of tho 
upright sides, or on the top. In either case the planes or 
sides perpendicular to the open side, and the ono parallel to, 
or facing it, will have the same perspective appearance ; only 
in the one case the plane facing the spectator will be ver- 
tical, in the other horizontal. In a picture or drawing this 
will depend entirely upon the artist— whether he chooses to 
represent tho plane parallel to the picturo as horizontal, 
that is the ground or iloor, and the other planes perpendicu- 
lar to the ground; or that parallel plane and two of tho 
adjoining planes upright, and the other two horizontal. 
Again, were a hole bored through the ceiling of a lofty 
room, a person looking down through it would have a per- 
fect or proper bird's-eye view both of the apartment and its 
furniture. Hence, it is obvious that in such representation 
the floor would answer to what in tho common mode of per- 
spective would bo the sido or end of the room facing the 
spectator ; also that the vertical lines of the sides of the 
room, of doors, windows, legs of chairs, &c, would vanish 
to somo point in the line or plane passing through the eye, 
exactly as the horizontal lines would do if they were seen 
according to the usual position. For unless the lines, in 
this ease intended to represent upright ones, were made to 
vanish, those planes or walls would not be fore-shortened ; 
and unless that were done they could not be viewed, but 
tho wholo would bo reduced to a mere plan of the room : 
just as a common upright new would be reduced to a section 
or geometrical elevation, if the planes representing the other 
two walls with the ceiling and floor were not shown per- 
spectively or fore-shortened. Yet, although such perspective, 
or bird's-eye view, would be correct in itself, it would seem 
too fanciful and unnatural, if not positively distorted, because 
tho objects would be shown unaer such very different cir- 
cumstances from those according to which thoy are really 
seen ; consequently, such kind of views would be quite un- 
pietorial, and merely matters of curiosity. They might 
nevertheless occasionally be found useful as explanatory 
diagrams, or drawings, whenever it should be required to 
show the effect of an interior, as beheld from a lofty upper 
gallery, not viewed in a cross or straightforward direction, 
but by looking down into tho lower area of the apartment. 
This prone perspective might also be applied for the purpose 
of giving a map-like, yet graphic view of a group of buildings 
and their locality. As a picture, indeed, such view would be 
extravagant, although as a picture-map it would have some- 
thing to recommend it. Even the moro usual kind of 
bird's-eye perspective, or view with a very elevated horizon, 
is by no means the best calculated for picturesque effect, 
since it brings those parts of an edifice into view which 
are intended to be concealed, and otherwise greatly takes 
off from tho architectural effect ; causing the building so 
viewed to appear too much like a small model placed upon 
a table. 
BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL. [See Ornithopus.] 
BIRDS-MOUTH. [See Moulding.] 
BIRD'S NEST. [Sec Latiiraa and Neottia.] 
BIREN. [See Anna Iwanowna of Russia.] 
BIRGUS (zoology)i a genus of long-tailed erustaeeous 
animals, approaching the hermit crabs (Pagurus) esta- 
blished by Lcaeh. The following arc the leading cha- 
racters : — Middle antennm having their second articulation 
crested or tufted ; feet of tho first pair of legs unequal, ter- 
minated by pincers or knob-claws ; feet of the second and 



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third pair terminated simply, in other words, by a single 
nail; fourth pair smaller and didaetylous, or terminated by 
two fingers, one moveable; fifth pair rudimentary, very 
small, but didaetylous; carapace somewhat in the form of a 
reversed heart, with the apex pointing forwards ; post- 
abdomen or tail orbicular, erustaeeous above, the plates 
being subannular or rudiments of rings. 

There are two speeies recorded: and of these Bir'gus La~ 
iro y Leaeh, Pagurus Latro, Fabr. and Lam., Cancer Latro> 
Linn., Cancer crumenatus, Beurskrabbe (purse erab) of 
Rumphius is the largest. Its rostrum is terminated by a 
single point. The pincers are red, tbe left being mueh 
larger than the right, and both deeply toothed. The feet 
of the three next pair are toothed on the edges, and marked 
with undulated streaks. It is a native of Amboyna and 
other neighbouring islands, where it is said to inhabit the 
fissures of rocks by day, and to come forth at night to seek 
its food on the beach. Mr. Cuming found it sufficiently 
abundant in I-ord Hood's Island in the Pacific, but there 
the purse-crabs dwelt at the roots of trees, and not in holes 
in the rocks. When he met them in his road, they set 
themselves up in a threatening attitude and then retreated 
backwards, making both at first and afterwards a great 
snapping with tbeir pincers. There appears to be a tradi- 
tion among the natives that it climbs eoeoa-nut trees (cocos 
nucifera) in tbe night to get the cocoa-nuts. Linnaeus, 
Herbst, and Cuvier, repeat this story, which, as Owen ob- 
serves in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1832 
(part 2. p. 17.), is confirmed in a degree by Quoy and Gai- 
mard, who relate that individuals of this speeies were fed 
by them for many months on cocoa-nuts alone, and still 
more amply by the observations eominunieated to him by 
Mr. Cuming, who states that these purse-crabs climb the 
Pandamts odoratis&imus, a kind of palm, for the purpose of 
feeding on the small nut that grows thereon, and that he 
saw thein in the tree. 

Linnaeus gives the Antilles as the locality of this purse- 
erab, as well as Amboyna, and quotes Rochefort's History 
of the Antilles, 1. e. 21, ' Boursires.' In the text of Rum- 
phius's Amboinsche Rariteit-Kamer, Book 1, p. 9, is a si- 
roiUr quotation. 

Neither Sloane, Browne, Hughes, nor Catesby, make 
any mention of this speeies, nor indeed of the genus ; and 
on turning to Roebefort, upon whose authority Linnaeus 
and others have evidently rested for the assertion that 
purse-crabs, properly so ealled, inhabit the Antilles, we 
think that it will appear that there is no foundation for 
giving them such a locality, so far at least as Roehefort is 
concerned, but that those who gave him as authority, either 
read his book very hastily, or, without reading the passage 
eited at all, made the quotation as soon as their eye fell 
upon the word * Boursieres/ not ' Boursires/ as it is written 
in the Amboinsehe Rariteit-Kamer, and also by Linnams, 
who probably copied tbe quotation from the Amboinsche 
Rariteit-Kamer. 

lloehefort's hook, ■ Histoire naturelle et morale des lies 
Antilles de l'Ainerique,' 4to. Rotterdam, 1681, is not in the 
hands of every one, and therefore we offer no apology for 
giving the passage, on reading whieh we have ventured to 
eall in question the accuracy of Linnseus. 

There is uo mention of ' Boursires," at the plaee quoted 
by Linmcus, but at 1. e. 22, p. 57, the term * Crabes Bour- 
sicrest' appears not as a name for a speeies, but as the 
name given by the inhabitants to some of the land-crabs 
(Tourlouroux) when they are in a soft state, after moulting 
and before their new erust is hardened. 

Speaking of some of theso erabs under the name of 
' Crabes peinles,' Roehefort thus proceeds : 

* Ce qui est de plus considerable en ees erabes, est 
qu'une (bis Tan, assavoir, apres qu'elles sont retournces du 
voiage tie la nier, elles se eaehent toutes en terre, durant 
quelques six seinaines: de sorte qu'il n'en paroit aueune, 
Pendant ee terns-la, ellcs ehangent de peau, ou d'eeaille, et 
se renouvelleut entierement. Elles poussent alors de la 
terre hi proprement a 1 'entree de leurs tanieres, que Ton 
n'en appereoit pas l'ouverture. Ce qu'elles font pour ne 
point prendre d'air. Car quand elles posent ainsi leur vieille 
robe, tout leur eorps est eoinrae a nud, n'e'tant eouvert que 
d'une pcllicule teudre et delicate, laquelle s'6paissit et se 
dnrcit peu a peu en croute ; suivant la solidite* de eelle 
qu'elles ont quitlees. 

* Monsieur du Montel rapporte, qu'il a fait ereuser a de3- 
ftsin en des lieus ou il y avoit apparenee qu'il y en eut de 



eaehe*es. ^ Et en ayant rencontre* en effet, qu il Irouva 
qu'elles etoyent comme envellopees dans des feiiilles d'ar- 
bres, qui sans doute leur servoient de nourriture et de nid 
durant eette retraite : mais elles e*toient si languissantes ot 
si ineapables de supporter Vair vif, qu'elles sembloient a 
demy mortes, quoy que d'ailleurs elles fussent grasses et 
tres-delieates a manger, Les habitans des lies les nom- 
ment pour lors Crabes Boursieres, et les estiraent beau- 
coup. Tout aupres d'elles il voyoit leur vieille depoiiille, 
e'es't a dire, leur e6que, qui paroissoit aussi entiere que si 
l'animal eut encore 6te dedans. Est ee qui est merveilleus, 
e'est qu'a peine, quoy qu'il y employast de fort bonsyeus, 
pouvoit il reconnoitre d'ouverture ou de fente par oCt le 
corps de la beste fust sorty, et se fut d^gage* de eette prison. 
Neantmoins, apres y avoir pris garde bien exaetement, il 
remarquoit en ees d£poiiilles une petite separation du coste" 
de la queue, par ou les erabes s'etoient d'evelloppe'es/ 

'What is the more worthy of note relating to these erabs 
is, that onee a year, namely, after they are returned from 
their journey to the sea, they hide themselves entirely in 
the earth, for some six weeks, so that not one appears. 
During this time they change their skin, or erust, and re- 
new themselves altogether. They plaee the earth at this 
season so dexterously at the entrance of their holes, that 
one cannot perceive the opening. This they do that they 
may not be exposed to the air. For /when they thus throw 
aside their old garb, the whole of their body is as it were 
naked, being only covered by a thin and delicate skiu, 
whieh thickens and hardens by degrees iiito a erust as solid 
as that whieh they have left. Monsieur du Montel reports 
that he caused people to dig on purpose in those places 
where there was any appearance of their lying hid, and 
having met with some of them, that he found that they 
were enveloped as it were in the leaves of trees, whieh with- 
out doubt served them for nourishment and for a nest 
during this retreat : but they were so languid and so inca- 
pable of supporting the fresh air, that they seemed half 
dead, though in other respects they were fat and very deli- 
cate food. The inhabitants of the Isles eall them at this 
period purse -crabs, bxl6. esteem them much. He saw quite 
elose to them their old eovering, that is to say, their shell, 
whieh appeared as entire as if the animal had been still 
within. What is wonderful is, that though he employed very 
good eyes, he could scarcely observe the opening or slit 
whenee the body of the animal had eorae forth, and had 
disengaged itself from this prison. Nevertheless, after 
having taken great care, he remarked in the empty shells a 
small separation near the tail, by which the erabs had extri- 
eated themselves." 

Then follows the most approved way of dressing these 
land-crabs for the table, a mode which is still in practice 
with little variation in the West Indies at the present day. 

In a MS. entitled *M£moires en forme de Dietionnairo 
eontenant Thistoire* naturelle notamment de Cacao, lln- 
digo, le Sucre, et le Tabae, Par M. * * *, Inspeeteur pour 
la Compagnie do Chandernagor/ in the possession of a 
friend of the author of this article, there is a very full ac- 
count of the land-erabs (Tourlouroux) of the Antilles, and 
the writer of the MS., speaking of their condition after 
they have thrown off tbeir old crusts, says ' Si on les prend 
alors, on les trouve eouvertes seulement d'une petite peau 
rouge, tendre et mince eomme du parehemin mouille, elles 
sont bien plus delieates qu'en tout autro tems : on les ap- 
pelle alors Crabes Boursierest — * If they take the erabs 
then, they find them covered only with a slight red skin, 
tender and delicate as moistened parchment : the erabs are 
then mueh more delieious than they are at any other sea- 
son : they eall them at that period purse-crabs (torn. ii. p, 
52G). The MS. is without date, but was written after the 
publication of Labat's works, whieh the writer quotes. 

There is a smaller speeies (Birgus laticauda) t whieh is a 
native of the Mauritius. Birgus Latro, whieh grows to a 
large size, is said to be excellent food when properly 
prepared. It was a favourite diet with the natives of Lord 
Hood's Island, but Mr. Cuming did not taste it, 

There is a specimen in Room 9, of the British Museum, 
case * Crustaeea,' G ; and another in the museum of tho 
Zoological Society. 

The locality of Atya scabra (see Atya), whieh does 
not appear to have been known to Dr. Leaeh, has been 
given by the late Rev. Lansdown Guilding, who has stated 
that they oeeur in ineredible numbers in the mountain 
streams of St. Vineent's, in company with Paltemon Caret* 



No. 259. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol, IV, -3 K 



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434 



J* I Jl 



pus, where they aro caught by the negroes in baskets, for 
the market 




[Btrgui Latro.] 

BIRKENFELD, a principality of Germany, which 
formerly pave its name to a collateral branch of the ducal 
house of Deux- Fonts or Zwcibriicken, but now belongs to 
the dukes of Oldenburg. It lies in the west of Germany, 
on the left bank of the Rhine, in what is called the valley 
of the Nahc, and between the principality of Liehtenberg, 
the Prussian province of the Lower Rhine, and the Bavarian 
circle of the Rhine. It occupies an area of about 160 square 
miles, and has a population of about 25,000 souls. The soil 
is unsuiicd to husbandry, its surface being covered with 
forests and mountains; it possesses iron-mines, and pro- 
duces a variety of semi-precious stones, such as the jasper, 
agate, chalcedony, &c, which are wrought up into articles 
of luxury, ehiefly for exportation, and produce a return of 
12,000/. to 13,000/. a year. Considerable quantities of 
stones are ground and polished, particularly at Obcrstein 
and Idar, and forty-one mills are employed in this branch 
of manufacture. But the principal occupation of the inha- 
bitants is cattle-breeding: some wine also is made. Under 
the treaty of Vienna in 1815,Birkenfeld was, in 1817, trans- 
ferred by Prussia to the Duke of Oldenburg. The ' Code 
Napoleon,' with some few exceptions, which render it con- 
formable with the Oldenburg laws, still subsists as the law 
of the land. Birkenfeld is divided into three districts or 
bailiwicks, at the head of which is placed an Amtmann, or 
liigh'Steward. The principality derives its name from Bir- 
kenfeld, a market-town on the Ziramerbach, situated in the 
Hundsriick, the range of country between the Rhine and 
Nahe ; it has a castle, a seminary for educating teachers, 
264 houses, and about 1800 inhabitants. There aro two 
iron-mines in the neighbourhood, and the town has very 
considerable fairs for horses. Obcrstein on the Nahe is also 
a market-town, and has a castle and about 1500 inhabitants, 
who aro chiefly employed in manufacturing articles in 
serai-precious stones, and grinding and polishing them. 

BIRKET-EL-KEROUN, the anticnt lake Mreris, a 
largo lake in the province of Faioum in middlo Egypt, to 
the west of the great valley of the Nile, from which it is se- 
parated by the range of tho Libyan mountains, [See 
Faioum.] A canal which is a branch of the Bahr Yus- 
ftoup, carries the waters of tho Nile at the time of its rise 
into the Faioum, through a gap in the ridge, near Bcnisouef, 
and after serving the purposes of irrigation, the superfluous 
waters discharge themselves into the lake Keroun. The 
kke is in the form of a crescent, the eonvex part of which 
faces tho N.AV., and it is bounded on that side by a ridge 
of rocks which separates it from the sandy desert. Along 
its S.E., or concave bank, is tho fertile plain of the Faioum, 



once irrigated with numerous canals and covered with vil- 
lages. The present number of villages in the Faioum is 
said not to exceed seventy. The length of the lake from 
one horn of tho crescent to the other is above thirty miles, 
and its greatest breadth in the centre is about five miles. 
The water is brackish, but it abounds with fish, (Seo Browne, 
Bclzoni, and the French Description of Egypt.) It is said 
by Herodotus (ii. 149) that tho waters of tho lake Maoris 
flowed out into tho Nile for six months in the year, and dur- 
ing the other six months the waters of the Nile flowed into the 
lake. This emission of the waters of tho lake has been sup- 
posed by some to have taken place through a canal near 
Tamieh, at tho N.E. extremity of the lake, where the French 
accounts say there is a valley or depression in the direction of 
Jizeb. (Sec the account of the French engineers, in De~ 
scription ds PEgypte, Etat Modcrne, vol, ii.) But if the 
level of the lake be about 120 feet lower than the bank of 
the Nile at Bcnisouef, as Mr. Wilkinson stales it to be, the 
account of Herodotus must be incorrect as applied to the 
lake, though it would bo true as applied to the canal. The 
description of this lake in Herodotus is very confused, as 
appears from his considering it a natural excavation. The 
description in Strabo also (p. 810, Causab.) is not without its 
difficulties, though ho appears to distinguish better than 
Herodotus between the canals, which were an artiOeial 
work, and the lake itself. (See Herodotus ; Strabo; Pliny, 
v. 9, &e« ; Wilkinson's Topography of Thebes.) 

BIRKET-EL-MARIOUT, the lake Mareotis, or Marea 
Palus of the antients, a large lake to the south of Alexan- 
dria in Egypt, which onco washed the city walls on that 
side. It communicated by a canal with the Canopie branch 
of the Nile. It also communicated by another canal with 
the sea at Port Eunostus, or the old harbour of Alexandria. 
[See Alexandria.] During the decay of that city, alter 
the Arab conquest, the canals being neglected, tho lake 
Mareotis ceased to receive the waters of the Nile, and its 
own waters' gradually receded from their banks. When 
Belon visited Egypt, in the sixteenth century, soon after the 
Ottoman conquest, the lake had receded about two miles 
from tho walls of the town, but it was still a large piece of 
water, the banks of which were planted with date-trees, and 
had a verdant and pleasant appearance. (Bclon's Travels.) 
In the course of centuries however the lake became gradu- 
ally dried up; and when Savary visited Egypt in 1777, its 
former bed was a sandy waste. In 1S01, during the French 
invasion of Egypt, tho English army, in order to distress 
the French garrison of Alexandria, cut the narrow isthmus 
which separates the bed of the Mareotis from lake Madich 
or Aboukir, when the sea- water flowed in and covered again 
the Mareotis to the extent of about thirty miles in length, 
and about fifteen in its greatest breadth. After the peace, 
Mehemet Ali Pasha re-established the isthmus, and re- 
stored the old canal of Alexandria, which communicates 
with the Rosetta branch of the Nile at Foua, and which has 
been called the canal Mahmoud, in honour of the reigning 
sultan. The depth of the lake Mariout varies from fourteen 
feet in its northern part near Alexandria, to four and three 
feet towards its southern extremity. To the westward the 
lake forms a long shallow projection, running nearly as far 
as the tower of the Arabs, and is only separated from tbe 
sea by a narrow isthmus. (Seo Atlas in French Description 
of Egypt.) 

BIRMA, or the BIRMAN EMPIRE, of which other 
names are — Burma, Brahma, Buraghmah, Boman, Banna, 
and Varma, called also the kingdom of Ava, extends over 
more than one-fourth of the surface of the Peninsula 
beyond tho Ganges, and contains nearly the double of 
tho area of the .British islands. According to Crawfurd, 
it may be conjectured to contain in round numbers, about 
184,000 square miles. But this is mere conjecture, its 
northern and eastern boundaries being imperfectly known. 
It is, however, certain that the most northern point of 
the erapiro extends considerably to the north of the 27th 
parallel, and probably passes the 28th, in the country 
of tho Bor Khamti (Wilcox). We have still less infor- 
mation respecting tho portion of Upper Lao, which is subject 
to the king of Ava. Bcrghaus, following Sir Francis 
Hamilton, extends it to 100° E. long., in the parallel of 
22°. Farther south, where the river Salucn or Saluacn divides 
it from the kingdom of Siam and the English possessions 
of Martaban, tho eastern frontier lies between 98° and 99* 
E. long. On the south, where it is bounded by the gulf of 
Martaban, it extends to 16 45Mat, f and on tho west, where 



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43& 



ti A 14 



if borders on Aracan, it probably does not run west of 93° 
20' long. The length of this country from the western 
mouth of the river Irawaddi to its source in the country of 
the Bor Khamti, may be about 950 miles. Its width to the 
south of the parallel of 24° amounts at - an average to 220 
miles, but to the north of it only to 180 miles. In this esti- 
mation, Upper Lao is not taken into account,- which, between 
21° 30' and 23° N. lat., extends perhaps lOO.miles farther. 

Tbe Birman empire has about 240 miles of sea-coast 
along tbe gulf of Martaban, extending from the cape of 
Kyai-kami, near the British settlement of Amherst in Mar- 
taban, to Cape Negrais, the southern extremity of the Ara- 
can Mountains. Tbe whole of, this coast is low, marshy, 
and broken by at least twenty considerable channels of 
rivers or arms of the sea. , • 

The Birman territory is divided from the British province 
of Aracan by a ran£e of mountains' called by Europeans' 
the Aracan Mountains, but by the natives, Ariaupectau- 
meaw (Anupectu-mew) or the Great Western Range ;. alsd 
Yeomadong or Romapokung Mountains. It begins at 16° 
N. lat. with Cape Negrais (Negraglia of ,Sangermano)', 
called by the Birmans Modaen,.and extends in a northern 
direction with a slight bend westward to the northern boun- 
dary of Aracan, about 21° N.. lat. Tbe southern part of 
it, extending from 16° to 18° between the Delta of; the Ira- 
waddi and tbe Gulf of Bengal, presents^ one continued ridge 
of craggy rocks' of a moderate height, whose bare cliffs of a 
reddish colour generally approach so near the sea as not to 
leave any intermediate level ground between them and.tho 
ocean. This portion of the range is called by the fiinrians 
Modacn Garit, from the Birman name of r Cape Negrais. 
To the nortb of 18° N. lat. the , mountains recede farther 
from the shore, and here begins the level country of Aracan 
on the west, wbile on the east extends the valley of the 
river Irawaddi. In this tract the mountains riseto a greater 
height, and between 20° and 21° N. lat. the highest sum-* 
mits are thought to attain 6000 feet above tbe level of 
the sea. Their western slope towards the plains of Aracan 
and the Gulf of Bengal is very rapid; but to thp east they 
descend in a kind of terraces formed by three M or four or 
more lateral ridges of less .height, which however pre- 
sent rapid declivities on the east and west. . 

Threo mountain-passes traverse the Anaupectau-meaw 
Mountains and connect Birma with Aracan. . The most 
southern, called the Tongho Pass, leads from Padaong 
Mew on the Irawaddi, 18° 34', to Tongho in Aracan, 19° J5'. 
N. lat. The highest point of the pass is 4692 feet above the 
sea, and many parts of it are so difficult that it eannot be 
travelled by beasts of burden. Tbe eastern ridges are com- 
monly covered with bamboo jungle,^ but on^ the western 
declivity there are extensive forests of lofty trees. The 
second pass connects Sembeghewn, , in the o valley of the 
Irawaddi (20° 40'N. lat), with Aeng in Aracan/ 19°^ 53' 
N. lat.), and is called tbe Nairiengain t*ass, from a small 
stockade of tbat name erected on. the highest part of it. 
The Birmans used it as a military road t to ,Aracan, and 
had rendered it passable for beasts of burden .by building 
bridges over the precipices and cutting a way. the rocks, in 
many places. Before the occupation of Aracan. by ^the 
British, a considerable commerce was earned qn r , by means 
of this road. This commerce is said to have pecupied 4 0,0.00 
persons, but this number seems greatly. exaggerated. ,This 
road is now rapidly falling into decay, being exposed to the 
destructive influence of tne south-west monsoons. ,, Tne 
third mountain-pass begins likewise at Semoeghewji^ajid 
leads to Talak in Aracan, 20°. I0| N. lat. iby, this pass^he 
Birmans entered Aracan at .the time of the conquest of that 
country. But it seems that they did, not use it afterwards, 
probably because that which leads to Aeng presented less 
difficulties. We have no information of any kind respecting 
this road. . .,. , t • ,j™,/ ^ ., 

To the north of 21° N. lat. the mountains appear to de- 
crease considerably in neight, but at the Same tim£ tney 
divide into soveral ranges, running mostly north an[d south, 
and occupying a considerable tract of country.. This rugged 
highland, which extends between^ and, along the upper 
branches of the Aracan river, the Surmah or rjver of Silhet, 
and 3ome tributaries of the^Kyan Duayn, a .branch of 5 the 
Irawaddi, is inhabited by savage nations which are inde- 
pendent of Birma and not subject to any of the^rinces 
protected by the British. Tne principal of these tribes arc 
the Kookis, and on that account this county is.called {he 
highland of tho Kookis, Jt has not been ascertained how 



far the authority of the court of Ava extends into thig 
region. 

Tbus for the western boundary of the Birman Empire is 
formed by mountain-ranges. The remainder, from 24° N. 
lat. up to tbe Nagas Mountains, which divide it from Asam; 
is bounded by the territories of the Raja of Munipoore, a 
prince who bas placed himself under the protection of the 
British, and whose country extends eastward as far as the 
Nampagha River, a branch of the Khyanduaen, wbich 
constitutes the boundary line of the Birman Empire in 
this part. 

( Tbe northern extremity of Birma is again separated by 
mountain ranges from the neighbouring country. The 
ranges called Patkoi or Poapud Mountains, which rise to a 
great height, and the still higher Langtan Mountains, 
divide it from Asam and the countries along the Upper 
Brahmapootra. In the high summits,' whence the Brah- 
mapootra descends to the west, are also the sources of the 
Irawaddi, which fiver may with great propriety be called the 
river of Birma, as all the countries drained by it and its tri- 
butaries belong to that empire, with the single exception of 
the soutjiern part of Munipoore. It has lately been ascer- 
tained that no part of the Chinese empire extends so far 
west as the banks of the Irawaddi. We shall,' therefore, fol- 
low the course of this river, and make some observations on 
the countries drained by it. 

, The different opinions respecting the source of the Ira- 
waddi, and its identity with the Zangbo-tsin of Tibet, will 
be examined under the head of Brahmapootra. Lieut- 
Wilcox wal informed that its. source was at no great distance 
from tnat.of the Brahmapootra, to the south of ft, and about 
fifty miles from Manchi* a town of the Bor Khamti. The 
river soon issues from the mountains, and enters a plain, of 
rather ( an < extensive* valley, occupied by the £or Khamti. 
The country here forms a perfect level, partly cultivated, 
and partly studded with clumps of trees and bamboos, and 
intersected by a number of rivulets. The Irawaddi opposite' 
the town of Manchi is only eighty yards broad, and fordable. 
Tbe plain on its banks is 1855 feet above the level of the! 
sea. , . .,. 

.From the country of the Bor fchamti the Ifawaadi con- 
tinues its southern course through three degrees of latitude 
to Bbarim6, through countries about which wc have scarcely 
any f information at all. . It would §eem that high mauntam- 
ranges frequently, close upon it, and at other places plains 
of considerable extent border its bankd. Such on its western 
side are tfie t $amokhtura Mountains and the plain of lvl.u.ng- 
kurig, extending on both £ides of the Mungkung river far to 
the west. Tbe mountain-ranges are partly .in' possession of 
tbe Singfos, a powerful mountain t^ibe which also occupies a 
considerable portion 'of the mountains south of Asam, and 
everywhere maintains its ..independence , in the mountajn- 
fastnesses. Tbe ranges which divide this ppftion of Birma 
from the I Chinese, province^ of, t Yunnan seem to bo exceed- 
ingly, rugged, .and the difficulties encountered in traversing" 
them have always, frustrated ftie attempts of the Chinese 
to conquer the countries' along the Jrawaddi. From Manchi 
to Bhanmo the river falls in the course of about 350 miles 
1300 feet, being at the latter place only 500. feet above tjhe 
sea. _ This accounts for the river.being unnavigable for the 
greater part of that distance, except. for .small canoes., 
^ Bhanmo is* a place* of some, note, being the principal 
market for Qhinese^ goods, , which t are,. brought to this town 
on ,horses T . arid asses. % Below ) Bhanm6 the. river suddenly 
turns to .tne west but soon resumes its. southern course, and 
thus continues ( to, a few. miles east of Amarapoora. The 
river flows iri this tract through a valley of no great breadth, 
the mountains inclosing it.on.eacli side, and frequently ad- 
vancing tp the vory banks of in'o river, especially on the 
east. Between .B.hanm6 and Amarapoora the river is only 
navigable for small trading boats., ,. .,.,.,, ^ ,, , ^ 

s Ahoy.e^ Amarapoora the Ira,waddi. begins (o decline to 
the south-west, arid from that town it rims in a. western 
direction, for nearly a hundred miles, ^as lair, as thp if mouth 
of the Kyan-Duayn. r With, thq change of the t? f(ver the 
face of the -country, is changed^ ilssuing^from^ the^narv 
fow^yaliey it enters' fi vcry.wj^e one, or .rafter a .plain* 
Along its banks, t and especially on the southern side, thq 
level country extends, for many miles, in sofne place;} even 
to thirfy, arid even then is not bounded J>y high mountains, 
but by moderate hills, , which increase in height as they 
fecede 4 farthef from^tho river. .Qonsjdcrajble portions of this 
plain are covered by the inundations of tfio river in the wet 

3K2 



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436 



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season. On the north side of the river the hills arc »t no 
great distance from the banks, and hero the ground is im- 
pregnated with muriate of soda and with nitre, of which 
great quantities are extracted. To the north of theso hills 
u tho lake of Nandagando, which extends in length from 
S. to N. abovo thirty miles ; the country about it presents 
an undulating surface. At a considerable distance east of 
tho mouth of the Kyan Duayn river the hills cease, and 
an open slightly-undulating country extends to its banks 
and beyond them. This portion of tho valley of tho Irawaddi 
seems to bo the most fertile and most populous part of tho 
Birman empire, and offers at tho samo lime the most easy 
communication with its internal provinces. The Irawaddi 
opens an easy access to the north as well as to the south, 
and its two greatest tributaries, tho Myit-nee" and the 
Kyan-Duayn, with the provinces lying east and north-west 
of the valley. The scat of government has for a long time 
been fixed in this central part of the empire, and here are 
the four capitals, Ava, Amarapoora, Sagaing (Zagain), and 
Monchabo. 

* The Myit-ng6, or * little river* (so called in comparison 
with the Irawaddi), which is named by Sir F. Hamilton 
the Mringngacn, rises in the Chinese province of Yunnan, 
and runs a little to the west of south, nearly parallel with 
the Irawaddi, probably for more than three hundred miles. 
In this course it drains an elevated but wide, fertile, and 
well-peopled valley, in which its waters are employed to 
irrigate -tho cultivated lands. Arrived at tho parallel of 
Ava, where it is still about eighty miles from the capital, 
it suddenly turns to the west, and continues generally in 
that direction to its mouth. Near its entrance into the 
Irawaddi it divides into two branches, of which the eastern 
retains the name of Myit-nge; the western is called 
Myit-tha. On the island formed by these two branches of 
the Myit-ng6, the present capital of the country, Ava, is 
built, more especially near the mouth of the eastern or prin- 
cipal branch, which at this place is from 150 to 200 yards 
broad and very deep. It must be considered as the proper 
port of the capital, and a considerable number of war-boats 
are always stationed there. 

Having given an account of the former capital, Amara- 
poora, under that article, wc shall here insert a short de- 
scription of the present capital, Ava, and the antient 
capitals of Sagaing and Monchabo. 

Ava is called by the natives Angwa, meaning a fish-pond, 
because the town was erected on a place where such a pond 
had formerly been. This name has been corrupted by the 
Hindus and Malays into Awa, and by Europeans again into 
Ava ; but in all public writings it bears the name of Ratna- 
poora, or the City of the Pearl. 

Ava consists of the inner town or city and the outer town. 
The city occupies the north-east angle of the whole, and 
extends'nearly up to the mouth of the Myit-nge* river. The 
outer town lies to tho south-west of the city. The whole is 
surrounded by a brick wall fifteen and a half feet high and 
ten foct in thickness, with innumerable embrasures about 
the distance of five feci from each other; on the inside of 
the wall there is thrown up a bank of earth, forming an 
angle of about forty-fivo degrees. The ditch round this wall 
is inconsiderable, and during all the dry season fordable in 
every part. The Myit-nge on the east face forms a con- 
siderable defence on that side. Tho city is enclosed by a 
separate wall, which is better constructed than that of the 
large town. The ditch on the south and west faces of it is 
also broader and deeper and not fordable ; the cast side is 
defended by the Myit-nge\ and the north by the Irawaddi. 
It is mostly occupied by the palace of the king, the Rung 
d'hau, or hall of justice, the Lut d'hau, or council chamber, 
tho arsenal, and tho habitations of a few eourtiers of dis- 
tinction. All these buildings are situated in a square, 
which is surrounded by a" strong well-built Wall about 
twenty feet in height ; and on the outsido of this wall and 
at no great distance is a teak-wood stockado of the same 
height as tho wall. 

The circumference of Ava round the walls and excluding 
the suburbs, is about five miles and a half. In general tho 
houses are mere huts thatched with grass. Some of tho 
dwellings of the chiefs are constructed of planks, and tiled ; 
there are probably in all not half a doien houses constructed 
of brick and mortar. Poor as tho houses are, they arc 
scattered over the extensivo area of the place, and somo 
large quarters arc, indeed, wholly destitute of habitations. 
There arc in the town eleven markets or bazars, composed 



of thatched huts and sheds, but well supplied with commo- 
dities, at least with reference to the wants and habits of the 
people. Paltry as the town is, it has a splendid and im- 
posing appearance at a distance, which it owes to the great 
number of temples, all surmounted by tall, white, or gilded 
spires. 

The town of Ava, which twice before had been the cnpllal 
of the Birman empire, became so a third time in 1822, and 
must therefore be considered as a new town. This accounts 
for its small population, which Crawfurd estimated in 1826 
at only 25,000 inhabitants. 

Tho town of Sagaing, or Zakkain, which was oneo tho 
seat of government, is situated on the opposite side of tho 
Irawaddi, directly fronting Ava. The river is at this place 
1050 yards wide. On the river faeo the town has a brick 
wall, which extends for about half a mile: the height of 
this is not above ten feet ; but it has a Urrt jileiiic, parapet, 
and embrasures, like the wall of Ava. On the land side 
there are no defences whatever. The town extends along 
the Irawaddi more than a mile and a half, but its depth 
towards the hills is very inconsiderable. It consists of 
mean houses thinly scattered among gardens and orchards. 
On the site of the town and its environs there are innume- 
rable temples, ruinous, old or modern, which givo it a 
striking appearance from a distance. 

Moksobo, eommonly called by Europeans Monchabo, is 
about fifty-two miles from Ava in a north-west direction, 
and at no great distance from the western shores of the lake 
of Nandagando. It is a walled town, and still a place of 
considerable traffic and population. In 1756 Alompra, the 
founder of the present dynasty, who was a native of the 
place, made it his capital, and gave it the Pali name of 
llatna-sinha, or * the pearl lion,' or lion of pearls. 

Below the town of Ava the Irawaddi is a majestic river, 
whose breadth in some places extends to four miles and 
upwards, but it is commonly divided into many channels by 
sandy and uninhabited islands, which arc inundated when 
the water of the river rises to its greatest height. Near the 
place where the river declines to the south-west begins an 
extensive island, called Ala-kyun or ■ middle islands/ which 
extends for many miles to the confluence of the Kyau 
Duayn with the Irawaddi. It is the largest of all the islands 
in the river, high and not exposed to inundation, and con- 
sequently well cultivated and inhabited. Opposite this 
island on tho eastern bank of the Irawaddi is the town of 
Yandabo, where the peace was concluded between the 
Birmans and English in 1826. 

The Kyan Duayn, by far the largest of the tributaries 
of the Irawaddi, drains an immense country, its further 
branches rising in tho Patkoi Mountains and the Saino- 
khtura, where these two chains meet tho Langtan Moun- 
tains. The numerous streams which descend from these 
ranges unite in a country called Hukhung, which, according 
to our imperfect information, seems to be a large plain en- 
closed on all sides by mountains, but fertile, and offering 
extensive tracts for colonization. Hukhung lies between 
26° and 27° N. lat The river formed in this plain receives 
the naino of the Tenui, and passes afterwards through a 
nearly unknown mountainous country in a narrow vale, till 
near 25° N. lat. it enters a wider valley, and unites with 
the Nampagna, which latter, for the greatest part of its 
course, constitutes tho boundary line between Birma and 
the kingdom of Munipoorc. After this junction the coun- 
try on the river begins to resemble an undulating plain* es- 
pecially on the eastern banks of the river, which is here 
called the Ningthi. On the western banks the country bo- 
longs to Munipoorc, and is much more hilly, and in soino 
parts even mountainous. South of 24° N. lat. Birma ex- 
tends on both banks of the Ningthi, which is here increased 
by the waters of the Kongba, or river of Munipoorc, which 
comes from the west. This latter river runs nearly parallel 
to tho Ningthi for about 200 miles from north to south, but 
then, suddenly turning to the cast, breaks through the chain 
of the Danghii Hills and unites with tho Ningthi. After 
this junction the river begins to he called Kyan Duayn, 
and to the west of it, at no great distance from its banks, 
rises a range of hills, the Danghii Hills, or G nam bean - 
dong, which arc of moderate height, but very barren and 
bleak. The level country on its eastern banks extends to 
a considerable distance, is in general well peopled, and con- 
tains extensive tracts of cultivated ground. It is bounded 
eastward by an undulating country, which becomes hilly 
only near the banks of the lake of Nandagando. The K\ an- 



B I R 



43/ 



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Duayn in the wet season is a considerable river, but in the 
dry season its mouth is not more than 200 yardswidc. The 
whole of its course probably exceeds 600 miles. 

From its confluence with the Kyan Duayn the Irawaddi 
continues, in general, its south-western direction, hut with 
numerous bends on both sides, to the neighbourhood of Sem- 
bcghewn, where it turns to the south, and continues in that 
direction to the town of Padaong Mew. Hence it runs to 
the south-east, and after a few miles passes the promontory 
of Kyaok-taran, and enters the low countries which form 
its delta. This promontory constitutes the boundary be- 
tween the antient kingdoms of Ava and Pegu. The popu- 
lation, which north of it consists principally of Birmans, or 
Mranmas, is to the south of it almost entirely composed of 
Talains and Karians. In this part of its course the river 
sometimes expands to a width of three or four miles, and at 
other places it narrows to 600 or 800 yards. At the more 
narrow places it is commonly very rapid, and the navigation 
is also rendered difficult in the dry season by numerous 
shoals and a few ledges of rocks which traverse the bed of 
the stream. 

The valley of the Irawaddi, south of its confluence with 
the Kyan Duayn, to the town of Melloon (south of 20° N. 
lat.), is, in its general aspect, hilly, and very uneven, but 
the hills rise to no great height, at least not near the river, 
and are in many places separated by tracts of flat country, 
which in some places are extensive and well cultivated. 
South of Melloon the hills approach nearer the river, and 
often form its banks. They are in most places covered with 
forest-trees of considerable size, among which teak-trees are 
frequent. Cultivation is confined to the narrow flat tracts, 
which here and there separate the hills from the river. 

The most remarkable place in this part of the valley of 
the Irawaddi is Pughan or Pagham Mew (north of 21° N. 
Int.), which, according to Birman chronology, was the seat 
of government for above 1200 years. It contains the most 
remarkable and interesting remains of antiquity in tho 
Birman dominions. The ruins extend for at least eight 
miles along the bank of the river, and occupy frequently a 
depth of three or four miles. In this space the numher of 
temples is quite surprising. They are of all sizes, and in 
various states of preservation. Some have been restored, 
and are still used as places of worship ; others are tole- 
rahly complete, though neglected ; but many are mere 
ruins, and a considerable number are heaps of mouldering 
brick. 

Farther to the south (about 20° 30' N. lat.) the eastern 
banks of the Irawaddi offer a remarkable natural phe- 
nomenon, the famous wells of petroleum, which are situated 
near a village called Renan-khyaung, about three miles 
from the banks of the river. The wells, which are stated 
to be about 300 in number, occupy altogether a space of 
about sixteen square miles. The country here is a series of 
sand-hills and ravines. The hills are either covered with a 
thin soil, or altogether bare, the trees, which are sparingly 
scattered over them, not rising beyond twenty feet in height. 
The pits from which the petroleum is obtained are artificial 
perpendicular shafts, eommonly from 200 to 250 feet deep, 
the greatest depth not exceeding 300. At the bottom of 
the pits the liquid seems to boil ; but whether from the 
emission of gaseous fluids, or simply from the escape of the 
oil itself from the ground, is not yet determined. The oil 
is drawn from them by common earthen pots. When taken 
out of the well it is of a thin, watery consistence, but thickens 
by keeping, and in eold weather it coagulates. It has a 
pungent, aromatic odour. Immense quantities of this oil 
are annually eonsumed in the Birman empire. It is used 
for 'the purpose of burning in lamps, and smearing timber 
to protect it against insects, especially the white ant, which 
will not approach it. The quantity exported to Coromandel 
and the Malay peninsula is trifling. 

The eountry near the petroleum wells is also remarkable 
for its petrified wood and its fossil bones. The petrified 
wood is abundantly scattered over the whole eountry be- 
tween Prome and Xva. It is commonly beautifully siliei- 
fied, and displays most delicately the structure and fibres of 
the living plant. The fossil bones are eonfined, as it seems, 
to the neighbourhood of the town of Wcsmasut, at no great 
distance from tho petroleum wells. They are imbedded in 
the sandy hills, and eonsist principally of the remains of 
mastodons, alligators, deer, and the rhinoceros. 

The most important placo on the Irawaddi, between the 
mouth of this river and the capital of the Birman empire, is 



Prome (about 18° 50' N. lat.), called by the Mohammed- 
ans Pron, whence the European name derives its origin ; 
the Birmans call it Pri (pronounced Pyi). It is a thriving 
town, and contained in 1827, shortly after the war, upwards 
of 10,000 inhabitants. This place, or rather one lyim* 
about six miles to the east of it, is reported to have been 
the most antient seat of the Birman government, at an 
epoch which begins some centuries before the Christian era. 
The ruins of the antient town consist of a broad, earthen 
wall, of a quadrangular form, from five to six feet in height. 
The area contains no relics of antiquity, and is overgrown 
with trees. 

The promontory of Kyaok-ta-ran, which forms the south- 
ern extremity of the valley of the Irawaddi, is the eastern 
extremity of one of the offsets of the Aracan mountains. 
Nearly opposite to it rises another chain of hills of very 
moderate elevation, which, however, in its progress to the 
east increases in height, and forms a range which is visible 
at a distance of fifty miles and upwards. The higher por- 
tion of these mountains, called the Galladzet Mountains, 
extends in an eastern direction probably to the banks of 
the Setang river. Nothing is known of this range but its 
geographical position ; nor are we better acquainted with 
the country extending to the north of this chain up to the 
capital of the empire, and occupying the central parts of the 
southern portion of Birma, between 18° and 22° N. lat., and 
the rivers Irawaddi and Saluen. It is supposed to be a 
country of secondary and tertiary formation/ and to consti- 
tute a kind of uneven table-land of very moderate elevation. 
As far as our information goes, it has 'in general a very 
sterile soil, consisting mostly of sand or gravel, and is very 
thinly inhabited. Perhaps the valleys along the rivers 
form an exception. The hills, which cover the whole sur- 
face, and are eommonly low, rise to a considerable height in 
a few places. A conical mountain, called Poupa, several 
miles to the east of Pughan, is thought to attain an eleva- 
tion of above 5000 feet. Crawfurd thinks that the ranges 
visible from Ava to the south-east exceeds the mountains of 
Araean in height ; and Sangermano states that the Ka- 
rians, who inhabit the neighbourhood of Tongo or Taunu, 
have been able to maintain their independence against the 
Birmans in their mountain-fastnesses ; whence we may 
infer that this portion of the Birman territories contains ex < 
tensive mountain-ranges. 

The southern portion of the Birman empire is a low, level 
country, without any hills. It comprehends the Delta of 
the Irawaddi, and all the extensive tract which spreads from 
its eastern branch to the banks of the Setang river. Ha- 
milton estimates the southern line of the Delta at 135, the 
western at 145, and the eastern at 113 miles. It contains 
more than 10,000 square miles, and is considerably larger 
than the Delta of the Nile., The country east of it may 
extend over a tract of nearly the same area ; and thus this 
level country eontains considerably more than 20,000 square 
miles. 

The Irawaddi enters the low lands near 18° N. lat., where 
it throws off a great number of branches of various magni- 
tudes, watering an immense extent of eountry, and affording 
a convenient internal navigation, to which there are few 
parallels in any eountry. Many of these branches reunite 
and divide again. The river falls into the sea by fourteen 
different channels. The three principal are Bassein, Dal la, 
and Rangoon, or Syrian. The Bassein river, also called 
Anank Khiaun, that is, western ehannel, forms an excellent 
harbour near the island of Negrais (called by the Birmans 
Haingri Kyun, and by Sangermano, Negraglia), and is 
navigable for vessels of considerable burden up to the town 
of Bassein ; farther upwards it is only navigated by the river 
barges, and this navigation extends in the dry season (from 
November to May) only to Lamena or Lemena. Higher 
up it is a trifling stream, nearly dry, and alt water con- 
nexion with the main river is interrupted ; but after the 
rains it becomes again navigable for the river barges. This 
channel branches off from the main river south of My- 
an-aong. 

After having thrown off the Bassein river on the right, the 
Irawaddi continues to flow in a southern direction, but with 
numerous windings, and sends off many smaller branches. 
At nearly the same distance from the sea and the place where 
the Bassein channel branches off, is the second great branch 
of the Irawaddi, at the village Yangain-chain-yah, the river 
here dividing its waters between the Dallah and Rangoon 
channels. The Dallah channel forms near tho sea nume- 



13 I R 



438 



B I It 



rous wide branches, but tbey arc not navigable, on account 
of tho bars beforo their embouchures. The Rangoon or 
Syrian channel, which is also called the Asiae Khiaun, that 
is, the eastern channel, Hows off nearly in an eastern direc- 
tion, and affords in all seasons an uninterrupted navigation 
into the main river, being from 80 to 150 yards across, and 
generally thrco or four fathoms deep, which, however, on 
somo shoals lessens to two and a naif fathoms. At the 
lowest water the depth on these shoals is said to be not more 
than five feet; ana hence Crawfurd infers, that the whole 
rise of the water in the river amounts to ten feot The ad- 
vantages which this branch of tho Irawaddi offers for naviga- 
tion have concentrated on its shores, especially at the town 
of Rangoon, all tho maritime commerce of the Birman 
empire. [See Rangoon.] In tho dry season the tides 
ascend the branches of the river to the placo where the two 
principal branches meet at the village of Yangain-chain- 
)ah, but in the wet season they are observable in the Ran- 
goon channel only as far as the village of Panlang, which is 
many miles farther down. 

The distance from Rangoon to Ava along the river, ac- 
cording to Colonel Wood's map, is 446 miles ; according to 
Syines, 500 ; and according to the Diana's log-book, 540. 
At tho height of the freshes, a war-boat, proceeding day 
and night, has been known to go from Ava to Rangoon in 
four days. In the dry season, a war-boat, proceeding in tho 
same manner, will go from Rangoon to Ava in eight days, 
and in the rainy season in ten. 

The Delta of the Irawaddi, as far as the tido reaches, is 
covered with a thick forest of moderate- sized trees, sparingly 
interspersed with some grassy plains. As soon as the tides 
cease, the character of the vegetation is greatly altered. 
The country is covered with a tall rushy grass (a species of 
saccharum), among which are scattered trees from twenty to 
sixty feet high, without any underwood. The appearance 
of inhabitants and cultivation is extremely scanty. Here 
and there, on the immediate banks of the river, are a few 
villages of Talain fishermen ; and farther off are the Karian 
villages, somewhat more numerous, and with a few patches 
of rice -culture. As the banks of the river are a foot or two 
above the level of tho surrounding eountry, this circum- 
stance might betaken advantage of for watering the land 
to a great extent But irrigation is neglected, and the 
country is covered with innumerable pools, which are often 
so extensive that they might be called lakes. In the pro- 
Mnee of Bassein alone, 127 of these lagunes were counted 
at the time when it was occupied by the British. In the 
northern district of the Delta, especially north ofHenza- 
<lah, the cultivated portion of the country is much more con- 
siderable, and here the water ot the river is used for irri- 
gating the rice-grounds. 

The country which extends to tho eastward of the Delta 
seems to be of the same description. It is drained by tho 
Pejrn river and the Setang. The Pegu river, which is called 
by tho natives Bagoo Kioup,or *Pegu Rivulet/ has its sourco 
in the Galladzet hills, and unites with the Rangoon branch 
Of tho Irawaddi three miles below the town of Rangoon. It 
is navigable only a few miles to the northward of the town 
of Pegu, which advantago it owes wholly to the action of the 
tide. In the fair season it is almost dry at low-water. The 
Setang has its sources near tho 20th parallel, and runs 
southward the whole of its course, till it empties its waters 
into the northernmost angle of the Bight of Martaban. This 
river, where it is of great breadth, is rather a considerable 
arm of tho sea than a river. Beyond tho reach of the tides 
it is an inconsiderable stream ; and even as low down as 
the town of Tongo it is only navigable for boats. Its mouth 
is confined by sand-banks, and is liable to a dangerous bore, 
which renders its navigation impracticable for largo vessels, 
and difficult for vessels of all descriptions. . , 

That portion of the Birman empire which extends along 
the western banks of the Saluen river is almost entirely 
unknown. It seeins to be more, mountainous than the 
country along the middle course of tho Irawaddi, but to con- 
tain soin^ fertile tracts. 

Of Upper Lao, or that portion of Birma which extends on 
the left bank of the Saluen river, between tho Chinese 
province of Yunnan and tho kingdom of Siam, we have so 
littlo information, that wo only know it to bo a mountainous 
country, which however contains some fertile and cultivated 
tracts along the courses of the rivers. It seems to bo rich 
in metallic wealth. 

Wo conclude Our description of the Birman Empire with 



a short notice of the Saluen river, which forms the eastern 
boundary-line between it and Siam, and the British pro- 
vince of Martaban, for between 500 and COO miles, Tho 
Saluen, or Thaluen, called also Sanluen, rises in the east- 
ern districts of Tibet, in the country of the Nou or Noui, 
and its upper course is called by tho Chinese Nou-kiang. It 
afterwards passes through tho Chinese provinco of Yun- 
nan, where it is named the Lou-kiang. Continuing its 
southern eourse, it leaves China, and divides the province of 
Upper Lao from the remainder of tho Birman territories, 
and afterwards forms tho boundary between Siam and Mar- 
taban on ono side, and the Birman empire on the other. 
This river is remarkable for the small number of large bends, 
and for not forming a delta, as is tho case with all larger 
rivers in this part of tho world. It is likewise less navi- 
gable: vessels of moderate size can only come np to tho 
town of Martaban, and with diiliculty and danger. Small 
boats may ascend as far as Ka Kayet, at the contluence of 
the Yunzalaen river; but farther to the north the naviga- 
tion in the wet season is entirely interrupted by numerous 
eddies, rapids, and cataracts. About twclvo miles north of 
the town of Martaban, a creek, called the Kadachaong, 
leads from the Saluen to the Setang, and another channel 
hence to the Pegu river; so that there is an inland water 
communication between the Saluen and tho Bassein branch 
of the Irawaddi, a direct distanco of more than 200 miles. 
Near its mouth the Saluen is divided into two branches by 
the island of Balu, which is about twenty miles .in length, 
and about half that extent in average breadth : it is noted m 
for its great fertility, in rico. The southern branch of tho 
Saluen, between tho island of Bali and the new settle- 
ment of Amherst, is seven miles across, and tho wider of 
the two. t 

The climato of such an extensive country, which extends 
over twelve degrees of latitude, must, of course, vary very 
greatly. .AVe are, however, acquainted only with a small 
portion ot it. Tho greatest difference observed is that 
which prevails between the; low country at tho southern ex- 
tremity and the valley of the Irawaddi before it branches off 
into differeut channels. In the low lands the south-west 
and north-east monsoons divido the year between them, and 
hence there are only two seasons, the wet and the dry. 
From the end of April or the beginning of May, to the end 
of July, or during the south-west monsoon, violent rains 
pour down nearly without intermission ; and at the begin- 
ning, as well as at the end of this period, the rains aro 
accompanied with tremendous thunder and lightning, and 
with violent winds. These rains are followed by an un- 
settled state of weather, which continues to the end of Oc- 
tober or tho beginning of November. But from this time to 
April the season is. perfectly dry, except the month of Feb- 
ruary, in which a little rain sometimes falls ; but it is very 
gentle, and never continues for several days. In the 
mornings however tnick fogs are frequent in October and 
November. 

In the valley of the Irawaddi and the adjacent hilly coun 
tries three seasons are observed, the cold, the hot, and tho 
rainy. The cold season, which may be called tho winter, 
though it never freezes nor snows, prevails during the two 
months which precede the winter solstice and tho two which 
follow it. The air is dry, the nights and mornings chilly, 
and the heat of Jhe day very moderate; but mists are fre- 
quent in November and December. This is the most plea- 
sant part of the year, and the season of tho harvest of rice, 
grain, and pulse. Tho transition from cold to heat is very 
Sudden. In March and April it .is often very hot, and the 
heat continues to the month of July. In May many trees 
shed their leaves, but they are instantly clothed with new 
ones. During the season of the heat the elimato of the 
low lands is less warm than the valley, because the rain di- 
minishes tho heat. In tho valley a little rain falls in May 
or tho beginning of June, and this rain is called the first 
rain ; but sometimes the rains do not come on, and even 
when they are abundant, they do not continue long 
enough to ehange tho temperature very much. During 
the hot season the clouds are carried by tho south- 
west monsoon between tho two ranges of mountains 
which encloao the valley of the river to tho hilly country 
adjacent to it on the north, where the moisturo contained in 
thein descends on the mountains which divide the Birman 
Empire from Asam, and pours down to the valley of the 
Irawaddi in torrents and streams, which causo the river to 
rise and to inundate the lower tracts on its banks during 



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*t& 



the months of June, July, and August. In some places 
the difference of the lowest and highest water-mark is not 
less than thirty-two feet. After thj first rains in May, two 
months and a half follow in which not a drop of rain falls 
in the valley of the Irawaddi. The second or great rains 
begin in the middle of August, and last to the end of Octo- 
ber. They are generally heavy, but it sometimes happens 
that these second rains do not come at all, or are not suffi- 
ciently plentiful, and in such an event scarcity is the natural 
consequence. Such a disaster never occurs in the low 
lands. During the second rains the river rises and falls 
several times ; but in general the waters are not entirely 
drained off before the end of October, in which month the 
fair weather becomes settled, and the agricultural labours 
begin, as well on those fields which have only the advantage 
of the rains as on those annually inundated by the river, 
which, by its deposits, renders the soil more fertile. 

The thermometer ranges in the low lands between 55° 
and 90°, rarely passing these two extreme points, but more 
frequently the latter than the former. In the valley of the 
Irawaddi it descends lower in the cold season an$. rises higher 
in the hot, occasionally to 94° and upwards. 

We are unacquainted with the climate of the northern 
mountainous districts, except that of the country of the Bor 
Khamti, at the most northern extremity of Birma, which 
was visited in 1827 by Lieutenant Wilcox, who states that 
after rain the thermometer fell five or six degrees, when 
the air was delightfully clear, and the sky partially co- 
vered with elouds. Within three or four days theatmo-, 
sphere thickened, and the thermometer regained its highest 
range, when it became excessively close, till another storm 
reduced the heat. In the morning at sunrise the range 
was from 72° to 78° in the shade, and at the hottest time 
of the day from 84° to 94°. The nights were comparatively 
cool and pleasant. The observations were made in the 
month of May. From the 1 5th of October to February, the 
weather is clear and dry; the remainder is perfectly un- 
certain. The heavy rains set in about the 15th of June, 
and continue to the 15th of September. 

Gold is obtained in Birma by washing in some rivulets, and 
is said to exist more abundantly in Lao. But the produce is 
not equal to the consumption, which is considerable, espe- 
cially for gilding; and a considerable quantity is imported 
from China. Mines of silver, copper, and tin exist in a dis- 
trict situated on the confines of China, not far from Bhamnd, 
and called by Hamilton, Boduacn ; by Crawfurd, Bor-twang. 
They are worked by the Chinese. Lead and antimony are 
said to exist abundantly in the mountainous country of 
Upper Lao, where they are worked, and the produce of the 
mines is brought to Ava. But in general the metallic riches 
of the country are much neglected. Iron, however, is got in 
several places, but though the ore is good, the produce is 
indifferent, owing to the ignorance of the natives. 

Of precious stones, those of the sapphire family and the 
spinello ruby are chiefly found. They are found at two 
places not far from each other, called Mogaut and Kyat- 
piian, about five days' journey from the capital, in an 
east-south-east direction. The stones are obtained by dig- 
ging and washing the gravel in the beds of rivulets or small 
brooks. The varieties said to exist are the oriental sap- 
phire, the oriental ruby, the opalescent ruby, the star ruby ; 
the green, the yellow, and the white sapphire; and the 
oriental amethyst. Noble serpentine or green-stone, is 
found in most of the upper branches of the Irawaddi, and 
exported in considerable quantities by the Chinese to their 
own country, where it is used for rings and amulets. The 
Uru, a branch of the Kyan-Duayn, produces a stone the 
nature of which is not known, but for which the Chinese 
paV a large price. [Wilcox.] 

Mines of amber are found on the branches of the Kyan- 
Duayn, and in the vicinity of the Bhamno. They seem to 
be abundant, from the eircumstanco of the unwrought ma- 
terial being very cheap at Ava. Coal seems to be plentiful, 
but it is not used. Limestone exists in great abundance 
in the mountains near the capital ; and at a place called 
Sakyin, about forty miles above Ava, on the eastern bank 
of the Irawaddi, statuary marble is worked, which Mr. 
Chantry considers equal to that of Carrara. 

Nitre, natron, and culinary salt arc found in many of the 
arid and calcareous tracts in the upper provinces, and ehieily 
in the neighbourhood of the capital. Natron, in an impure 
state, is used by the natives instead of soap, a preparation 
with which they seem to be unacquainted. Salt is extracted 



from some lakes in the upper provinces, especially near 
Monchabo, and from the sea-water in the lower provinces. 

Among the vegetable productions of the Birman forests 
the teak holds the first place. It is not found in the low 
alluvial lands to which the tides reach ; but in the high 
lands beyond their influence, it seems to be very generally 
dispersed throughout the country. The forest of Sarawadi, 
situated on the boundary-line between the low and high 
lands, furnishes nearly the whole of what is ' exported to 
Bengal, Madras, and other countries. The teak of Ava is 
considered less durable than that of the coast of Malabar 
when employed in naval architecture; but it has been 
determined by careful experiments, that it is stronger, 
and therefore fitter for gun-carriages and machinery. The 
second timber-tree is the Hopaea odorata of large size, and 
very abundant in the lower provinces; where it is used 
in boat-building, and the common eanoes arc often made 
of an entire tree of it, hollowed out. Another valuable 
timber-tree' Is the Heretiera robusta, called in India 
soondry, which grows in great quantities and of a large 
size on the sea-coast, and everywhere within the influence 
of the tides. In the upper country have been found seven-, 
new species of oak,' many of them fine forest-trees, of which 
the timber promises to be useful. No trees of the' pine 
family have been discovered. The bamboo grows every- 
where in the forests, and in the lower parts of the country 
it grows to an astonishing height and thickness ; some will 
measure one foot and a half in diameter, and are large 
enough to* form the principal pillars of a house. The Mi* 
mosa catechu, 'which affords the terra jdponica, or catechu* 
rises to the Beight of thirty and forty feet, and is found ge- 
nerally in tee upper and lower countries. The drug is ob- 
tained by .boiling the wood cut down into chips, and in- 
spissating the produce. This article is much used in the 
country and largely exported, particularly to Bengal. The 
Birman forests yield also the varnish which is generally 
used in the fabrication of the lacker ware ; the best comes 
from ,the country of the Shans, and especially from Upper 
Lao. From the forests of the same country is obtained a. 
large quantity of stick lac, of excellent quality. 

The following are the objects of agriculture in Birma : 
rice, maizp, millet, wheat, various pulses, palms, sugar- 
cane, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. In the valley of the Ira- 
waddi two crops of rice are generally obtained, and occa- 
sionally three ; the best during the periodical rains, and the 
others through means of artificial irrigation. The return is 
seldom abope fifteen or twenty-fold for the seed. In the 
.Delta and tie adjacent alluvial countries, only one crop is 
got, immediately after the rains, which frequently yields 
fifty and sixty-fold. Maize and millet are cultivated in the 
higher lands as winter-crops ; but neither produces in such 
abundance as in other countries ; maize, at the utmost one 
hundred-fold for the seed. Wheat is only grown in the 
neighbourhood of the capital, but though it yields from forty 
to sixty- four- fold, and in the worst soil from ten to twenty- 
four-fold, its cultivation is not much extended, because the 
Birmans prefer rice. The pulses most commonly cultivated 
are the Phaseolus max, the Dolichos Bengalensis, the Ci~ 
cer arietinurrii and the Arachis, or earth-nut. The Sesa- 
mum Indic'um is very generally grown throughout the 
upper provinces, its oil being used in cookery as a substitute 
for butter; and for the lamps, where petroleum is high- 
priced. 

Tea is cultivated in a district, about ten days' journey 
north-east of Ava, but it is not used as in China and with 
us. The Birmans eat the leaves pickled, with oil and gar- 
lick ; they consume an immense quantity of this article. 

Cocoa and areca palms are not frequent ; but the palmyra* 
or Borassus flabelliformis, forms immense groves in the* 
valley of tlio Irawaddi. Its wine, when inspissated, gives 
a cheap but impure sugar, which is universally con- 
sumed, partly like that of the cane, and partly for the pre- 
paration of a strong liquor. The sugar-cane forms al$.o art 
object of agriculture, but to a small extent : the only use- 
made of it is to eat it in its crude state. 

Excellent tobacco is grown in the higher lands. Cotton. 
is cultivated in every part, but more especially in the higher 
lands. There are two species of cottyn, one red, which is. 
not frequent, and is the most esteemed. The white species is- 
the Gossypitimherbaceum; its produce has a fine and silky 
texture, but a short staple. At the. market of Dacca, to * 
which large quantities are brought, it .'etehes a higher price- 
than the ordinary varieties of Indian cotton. Indigo is like* 

Li 



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wise generally cultivated, but both the- culture and manu- 
facture aro rude, and the produco is unfit for exportation. 

In tho upper provinces a species of Crotalaria is cultivated 
for cordage ; in the southern provinces tho rattan is the 
principal substituto for hemp. 

Littlo attention is paid to gardening and horticulture. 
Tho young shoots of bamboo, wild asparagus, the succulent 
stems of a variety of aquatic plants and uncultivated arums, 
are gathered and brought to market. Few vegetables aro 
cultivated. Our common potatoes, peas, carrots, cabbages, 
turnips, mustard, cresses, radishes, &c, are not known. 
Others are little attended to, as melons, cucumbers, the 
egg-plant, pumpkins, yams, sweet potatoes. Onions aro 
frequent in tho mountainous tracts towards the north, and 
especially in Lao, whence they arc imported into the other 
provinces. Capsicum and the betel pepper aro carefully 
cultivated. 

Fruit-trees aro numerous, but also much neglected. 
The most common aro tho mango, tho orange, the pinc- 
applo, the custard-applo (Psidium pomifenim), thejaccax 
or jaek-fruit, the papaya-fig (Carica papaja), and the plan- 
lain. A species of mango, called the Marian, bears a small 
fruit, about tho size and shape of a greengage, and is 
much cultivated and prized by tho natives, although little 
palatable to a European. It is found only in the lower pro- 
vinces, where also the pine-apple grows in great perfection, 
though it is inferior to that of the countries lying nearer the 
equator. The durian (Durio) and mangostin (Garcinia 
mangostatta), do not grow in Birma, Sangcrmano enu- 
merates among the vegetable productions of Birma, pepper, 
rassia, and a species of nutmeg of an oval shape, and larger 
but less aromatic than those of the Moluccas. 

The domestic animals are the ox, the buffalo, the horse, 
tbe hog, the dog, and tbe cat ; goats and sheep are only kept 
as rarities, and a few asses arc brought from China. The 
camel is not known. Both oxen and buffaloes are of a large 
size, and extensively used for domestic purposes ; the buffalo 
is confined to agricultural labour, and the ox to burden 
and draught The oxen arc generally of a reddish-brown 
colour, rarely black, and seldom or never of tbe light or 
white grey which is so general in Northern India. Before 
carriages they run at a quick pace. The horses* are small, 
rarely exceeding thrrteen hands high, and are' never used 
as beasts of burden, nor for draught, their only use being 
for the saddle. Hogs arc only useful as scavengers, and 
are not taken care of. except at Rangoon, where they are 
raised for the consumption of foreigners. Dogs are ex- 
tremely frequent, and rove about without belonging to any 
body. The cats, like those of the Malays, have only a short 
tail, and are oxcellcnt mousers. 

The wild quadrupeds are tho elephant, rhinoceros, hog, 
deer, oxen, and buffaloes, the bear, otter, tiger, leopard, with 
wild and civet cats. The elephant is very humcrous in 
the lower provinces, where it often enters the rice- fields 
and causes great damage. It is not used ns a beast of 
burden, and only the royal family arc permitted to mount 
it. Accordingly, only few are tamed ; tho king has a 
small number of white elephants. The rhUioceros with a 
single horn is numerous in the lower provinces, but probably 
less so than the elephant. Both are hunted by tho Karians. 
Stajjs and deer are found in immense "herds; and one 
species is nearly as large as an ox. Oxen and buffaloes are 
found in a wild state in the forests. The royal tiger, the 
spotted leopard, and several species of cats arc numerous. 
*It is remarkable, that none of the canine tribe, so frequent 
in tho neighboring country of Hindostan, are, as far as is 
known, to be found within the Binnan dominions. There 
nre neither wolves, jackals, foxes, nor hyenas ; and this 
zoological featuic is said To extend to all the countries of 
tropical Asia lying cast of Bengal." [Crawfurd.] Hares of 
a small size occur in the upper provinces. Monkeys, differ- 
ing in size, shape, and colour, arc numerous:: especially 
olong the water-courses of the Irawaddi in the Delta. The 
orang-outang is found in the great forests which lie between 
the city of Pcgik or Bagd, and Tongo or Tanau. 

Of poultry a few^mmon fowls and ducks only arc reared. 
Peacock* arc very fiuraerous in the woods of the lower pro- 
vinccs»andoffinelU vour. The jungle fowl is generally spread 
over the country*, an(l two species of pheasants are numerous 
in tho lower provinces. Pigeons abound everywhere, espe- 
cially the wild ones, of a green colour. There are also 
partridges, quails, geese, dneks, and snipes. Parrots aro 
numerous, and canto great damago to the fruit-trees. 



Esculent swallows' nests arc gathered on some small rocky 
islands in the neighbourhood of Cape Negrais, and exported 
to China. Many of the land-birds aro distinguished by tho 
brilliancy of their colour. The feathers of the blueja> nro 
used in China to ornament the dresses of ceremony of tho 
Mandarines. [Crawfurd.] 

Fish are plentiful in the Irawaddi. especially in the chan- 
nels of the Delta, where imraenso quantities of pressed fish 
or Ngapi are prepared. These pressed fish constitute n 
main article of tho diet of tho Birmaus. In some eases 
the fish is mashed and pounded, and this description gene- 
rally consists of prawns. In the coarser sorts the pieces of 
fish arc entire, half putrid, balf pickled. They arc all fetid 
and offensive to Europeans. 

Lizards arc numerous, and some species aro used as 
food : one of them especially, called padat, is not inferior 
to a fowl. Alligators arc met with in the channels of 
the Delta, where the water is brackish, and in many 
places where it is perfectly salt. Land and water- 
tortoises are found in several places, but especially in great 
abundance on tbe Bassein branch of the Irawaddi. Near 
the large island of Negrais is another island, called the 
Island of Turtles, where these animals are taken in im- 
mense numbers, and carried to Pegu and Bengal. They 
are of great size, and sometimes weigh 500 pounds. Farther 
up is a sand-bank, on which the tortoises deposit their eggs 
in such numbers as to bo sufficient for the supply of a 
great portion of the empire. These eggs arc sent hy boats 
to Basscin and Rangoon, and hence distributed over the 
count ry. 

Throughout the whole country, but more especially in 
the upper provinces, nearly every species of serpent is 
used for food, after the head has been cut off. Leeches are 
a great nuisance; some are as large as small eels, and 
inllict fearful wounds on the buffaloes, which are fond of 
bathing in the rivers. A species of red ant is eaten, fried, 
or with the ngapi ; and a worm, which in the lower pro- 
vinces is found in the heart of a shrub, is considered such a 
delicacy, that every month a great quantity is sent to the 
capital to bo served up on the table of the emperor; it is 
eaten cither fried or roasted. [Sanjjcrmano.] 

Bees are wild in the woods, and in such abundance that 
wax forms a staple article of commerce. 

The nations that inhabit tbe eastern and south-eastern 
countries of Asia seem to belong to one race, if we may 
judge from their physical constitution. They are distin- 
guished by a short, squat, robust, lleshy figure, and by 
features very different from those of Europeans. Tho 
faeo is somewhat in the shape of a lozenge, the forehead 
and chin being sharpened, while at the cheek holies it is 
very broad. The eyebrows project very little, and the eyes 
arc very narrow, and placed rather obliquely in the head, 
tbe external angles icing tho highest. The nose is very 
small, but has not, like that of the negro, tbe appearance of 
being llattened. The apertures in the nostrils, which in 
the European are straight and parallel, in them are nearly 
circular and divergent; for the septum narium, being much 
thicker towards tho face, places them entirely out of the 

Parallel line. Their hair is black, coarse, lank, and abun- 
ant. Even in the warmest climate the people have not 
the deep hue of the negro or Hindoo. 

If we may judge from the languages which are spoken in 
the Birraan territories, the inhabitants are divided at least 
into five nations, some of which comprehend many tribes. 
Crawfurd states that eighteen different tribes or nations 
had been enumerated to him. Wilcox, in his attempt to 
reach the sources of the Irawaddi, found in the most northern 
corner of the kingdom seven dialects spoken in villages 
only one day's journey from one another, and differing so 
much that the inhabitants of one could not be understood 
by those of another village. He also found that the lan- 
guages of the Bor Khamti, of the Stngfos, and of tho 
Knnungs, were entirely distinct from one another. 

The Birmaus, who call themselves Mranmas (pronounced 
Myanraas) or Brahmas (pronounced Byahinas), occupy tho 
centre of tho empire, between 18° and 22* or 23* N. lat, and 
extend from tho Aracan mountains to the Salucn river. 
The languages spoken hy the Yo or Io, and those of the 
Kyain and Karens, arc only dialects of the Birman language. 
The Yo inhabit the hilly country extending west of tho 
Danghii lulls to the mountains of the KooUis; we know 
very little of them. The Kyains, who call themselves 
Kuloun, are the inhabitants of tho Aracan mountains, but 



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many of them have settled in thevalleys on the west of the 
Irawaddi; they are a peaceful industrious tribe, who cul- 
tivate the ground and weave cloth of cotton'and silk. The 
men and women tattoo their faces all over, in lines mostly 
describing segments of circles. The Karens or Karians 
live partly intermixed with the Peguans in the Delta of the 
Irawaddi, where they call themselves Play, and arc the most 
industrious cultivators of the soil. They occupy also the 
hilly and mountainous country on the upper branches 
of the Setaing, near Tongo, where, according to the state- 
ment of Sangcrmano, they have preserved their inde- 
pendence. Other Karens arc found on the banks of the 
Saluen north of Martaban, as far as the mouth of the 
Junzalacn. 

The Peguans, who at no distant time formed an inde- 
pendent and powerful nation, seem at present not to be very 
numerous. They are called Talains by the Birmans, and 
By themselves Moan: they occupy nearly exclusively the 
low country between the Delta of the Irawaddi and the 
Saluen river. In the Delta itself they are mingled with 
the Karens, but form the greater part of the population. 

The Shans are the most numerous nation of the penin- 
sula beyond tho Ganges; they call themselves Tay. This 
nation is dispersed over nearly one half of the Birraan 
empire, and all the tribes inhabiting the kingdom of Siam 
and Lao belong to it. In Birma four tribes of Shan are 
distinguished: the Lowa Shan occupy Upper Lao, the 
Tay-yay, called by the Birmans Mrelap-shan (pronounced 
Myelapshan), live on the western banks of the Saluen, 
and extend north of Amarapoora to the hanks of the Ira- 
waddi, and even on the country to the west of that river. 
Their country is called Ko-Shan-pri (pronounced Ko-sang- 
pyi), or tho nine provinces of Shan. The country to the 
north of them is inhabited by the Tay-Loong, called by the 
Birmans Casi-Shan ; the Bor Kharati, visited by Wilcox, are 
only a smaller tribe of these Casi-Shan. Another numerous 
tribe of the Shan extends on both sides of the Kyan- 
Duayn up to the boundary of Munipoore, and the inhabit- 
ants of the last named country are likewise Shans. The 
Shans inhabiting the country along the Kyan-Duayn are 
called by the Birmans Kathu or CasL 

In the northern parts of the empire the tribes of the Shan 
appear to occupy only the plains and larger valleys. The 
mountains and the upper valleys are in possession of two 
numerous races of mountaineers, the Singfos and the Naga. 
The Singfos inhabit the mountains which skirt the Irawaddi 
on both sides and extend northward to the vale of the 
Brahmapootra in Asam. The Naga tribes are dispersed 
over tho extensive mountainj-distriets between the upper 
branches* of the Kyan-Duayn, and as far as the boundary 
of Asam. They seem to belong to the same nation which, 
under the name of Kookis, occupies the country between 
Munipoore and Chittagong. The Singfos and the Naga 
live in a state of independence. 

The Birmans are greatly inferior to the Hindoos in civili- 
zation, and still more so to the Chinese. Like the Talains 
or Peguans, they tattoo or stain the skin with an indelible 
tint, but this practice is confined to the men. Not to be 
tattooed is considered a sign of effeminacy, and there is no 
one who is not tattooed more or less. They bore the lobe of 
the ear, making a very large and unseemly aperture, into 
which a gold or silver ornament is put, or a piece of wood, 
or roll of paper. If the aperture is not occupied, a man 
or woman, after smoking half a cigar, thrusts the re- 
mainder into the ear for future use. They consume large 
quantities of tobacco in the form of cigars; and also much 
betel, which they mix with the areca nut, lime, and a little 
tobacco. 

Their dress, though upon the whole not unbecoming, is 
much less so than the flowing and graceful garments of the 
western nations of India. Too much of the body is left 
naked, and the fabrics worn are comparatively coarse and 
homely. Umbrellas, which are in general use among all 
classes, are among the principal insignia of rank or office. 
The colour of the dress of the priests is yellow, and it would 
be deemed nothing less than sacrilege in any one else to 
uso this colour. 

The Birmans are very uncleanly in their food. They eat 
all kinds of reptiles, lizards, iguanas, and snakes ; and, as 
their religion forbids them killing animals for food, they 
generally eat those which have died of disease. Venison is 
the only meat permitted to be sold in the markets. The 
kUlin* of a cow is punished with peculiar severity. 



The Birmans are of a gay character, and fond of amuse- 
ments, which are principally chess, music, the exhibition of 
fire-works, and some kinds of dramatic representations. 

Their progress in the useful arts has not been great. Alt 
their cotton fabrics are coarse and high priced, and 
British piece-goods are imported in considerable quantity. 
Silk articles are coarse and high-priced, hut durable. 
All the colours given to these fabrics are fugitive, espe- 
cially those of the cottons. Coarse and unglazed earth- 
enware is of very good quality, and cheap. Those known 
in India under the name 'of Pegu jars often contain 
180 gallons; but the Birmans are unacquainted with tho 
art of making any kind of porcelain. Their iron manu- 
factures, which are always coarse and rude, consist of 
swords, spears, knives, scissors, and carpenters* tools. 
Muskets, or rather matchlocks, are made at Ava, and the 
best tempered swords are imported from the country of the 
Shans. Brass ware is not much used, lacquered ware 
being chiefly substituted for it. The manufacture of this 
ware is very much extended, and in this the Birmans display 
invention and taste, but the best description is imported 
from Lao. Gold and silver ornaments are manufactured 
at the capital : some are good, but in general the jewellery 
is clumsy and rude, and inferior to that of India. 

In Birraa, as among other nations which have embraced 
the religion of Buddha, education is in some degree attended 
to. It is a kind of religious duty in the priests to instruct 
youth. The monasteries are the only schools, and the 
priests generally the only teachers. Education is entirely 
eleemosynary: the children even live at* the kyaongs, and 
the parents only make occasional presents to the, priests. 
The children are instructed for about six hours in tho day 
in reading, writing, and the four common rules of arithmetic. 
There are few persons who do not know how to read, and 
not many who do not write. The girls are instructed by, 
the nuns, or female priestesses, in reading, and some also in 
writing, but that is less general. 

Like the other Hindu-Chinese nations the Birmans have 
two languages and two alphabets, the vernacular and the 
foreign, or Pali. In the Birman language all the words not 
derived from the Pali are monosyllables, and even the poly- 
syllabic words derived from this source are pronounced 
as if each syllable were a distinct word. There is no in- 
flexion of any part of speech. Relation, number, mode, and 
time are all expressed by prefixing or affixing certain par- 
ticles. Some roots of this language may be converted into 
nouns, verbs, or adjectives by a similar simple contrivance. 
The Pali alphabet is very little used, even in their religious 
writings, for which they have recourse to the vernacular 
alphabet 

The literature of tho Birmans consists of songs, religious 
romances, and chronological histories, of which the second 
class occupies the principal rank. The Budd*hist religion, 
as it exists among the Birmans, does not appear, to differ, 
materially from that practised in Ceylon, Siam, and Kam-[ 
boja. Among the Birmans neither the Christian nor the 
Mohammedan religion has made any progress. ^ - 

In Birraa there is no census of the population, and ac- 
cordingly there are no exact data for ascertaining the 
amount. There is consequently a great difference in esti- 
mating the number of inhabitants. Syraes carried it to 
upwards of fourteen millions, which Cox reduced to from six 
to seven millions; and Crawfurd, who has been at great 
pains in collecting information on this subject, docs not 
rate the population of the Birman empire higher than 
four millions, or about twenty-two inhabitants to a square 
mile. u '* 

Tho sovereign of Birraa, who is called Boa, is lord of the 
life and property of all his subjects. Tho country and people 
are at his entire disposal, and the chief object of government 
is his personal honour and aggrandizement. .No elass of 
inhabitants possesses hereditary rights except the Taubwas, 
or Saubwas, who are the tributary princes of some of the 
subdued nations. Among the Birmans themselves there is 
no hereditary nobility. The first officers are appointed and 
dismissed at a nod, and neither their titles, rank, nor offices, 
and very often not even their property, can descend to their' 
children. Any subject can aspire to the first office in the 
state, and such offices in reality are often held by persons 
of very mean origin. . , m 

In Birma there is no vizier or prime minister; but the 
king has two councils, a public and a privy one, through 
which the royal order* are issued. The first is called the , 



No. 260. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV,— 8 I, 



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442 



B I R 



luf-d'hau, from the name of the hall in which the business 
Is transacted, and consists commonly of four officers, called 
wun-gyis, who have the right of deliberating and of voting, 
and four of less rank, ealled wundnuks, who do not do- 
liborato or vote; thero are also eight secretaries, called 
&are*-d'hau-gyis. The privy council consists likewise of four 
officers, ealled atwen*wuns, and thirty secretaries. What- 
ever emanates directly from the king is first discussed in 
the privy council and then transmitted to the lut'-d'bau. 

For internal administration the country is divided into 
provinces, these into townships, tho townships into districts, 
and the districts into villages and hamlets, and every ono 
of these divisions has its political head. The governor of a 
province is called myo-wun, his first officer rc-wun, who is 
his deputy, and then follow the ak'hwon-wun, or collector *<* 
taxes, ana the akaok-wun, or collector of customs. 

The Birmans have no standing array, nor is there any 
distinction between the civil and military classes, or between 
civil and military employments. As tbo sovereign is con- 
sidered the lord of all his subjects, every male adult is 
obliged to become a soldier. In caso of a war, all persons 
able to bear arras are brought together through the agency 
of the local officers, by an order of the lut'-d'hau ; and they 
serve under tho same leaders as when dwelling in thoir own 
districts or townships. The troops have no regular pay, but 
are armed and fea at the public expense. An army thus 
composed cannot be lonjz kept together, and a defeat or dif- 
ficulty is almost sure to disperse them. This accounts for 
the sudden disappearance of tho numerous armies which the 
Birmans opposed to the British at the beginning of the 
last war. Tne Birmans, however, would be good soldiers 
if tbey were well disciplined and armed ; but at present they 
are unable to withstand a European force. In their last 
contest with the English thoy displayed a good deal of skill 
in tho construction of field-works, hut they seldom knew 
how to defend them. 

In Birma there is no land-tax; but tho sovereign, being 
considered as tho lord of all the inhabitants, assigns 
the labour of tbe peasants or cultivators to his favourites 
and public officers instead of stipends and salaries, or 
appropriates them to tbe expenses of public establish- 
ments, such as tbo war-boats, the elephants, &c. Those 
to wbom the townships or villages are aligned in this 
way assess tho cultivators at their discretion, usually by 
levying a kind of capitation-tax, which, according to circum- 
stances, is taken cither in money, in kind, or in services. 
This manner of taxing the country is exceedingly oppres- 
sive and whenever such high persons are in favour at court, 
the cultivators have no resource against oppression but to 
abandon the lands, and to take refuge in some other 
place. Hence the decay of established towns and villages 
and tho rise of new onos is a thing of yearly occurrence. 

Tho lords of the land make yearly offerings to the king, 
and it is supposed that these offerings amount to one- tenth 
of the income derived from the grant. These offerings con- 
stitute one of the principal sources of the king's revenue. 
The remainder arises from a tax on tho petroleum, the 
ngapi, salt, and teak-timber, besides tho customs on the 
merchandise exported and imported, tho former paying five 
per cent., and the latter ten per cent. Crawfurd thinks 
that tho whole rovenue of the king does not exceed 25,000/. 
per annum. But his expenses are still less, as no public 
officer receives any fixed money salary. Tho principal officers 
are paid, a» already stated, by assignments of land, or, more 
correctly, by an assignment of tho labour and industry of a 
given portion of tbe inhabitants; and the inferior ones by 
fees, perquisites, and irregular emoluments. Money there- 
fore Is seldom paid out of tho royal treasury, unless for the 
personal gratification of the sovereign. In extraordinary 
cases, as for instance if a war be undertaken, an extraor- 
dinary contribution is levied on the people. 

The circulating medium consists, for small payments, of 
lead ; in the case of larger ono3, of gold and silver, and chiefly 
of tho latter; but thero is no coin of any of these metals. 
The money must be weighed and generally assayed at every 
payment. Silver may be considered as the standard, and 
gold is about seventeen times as dear. Lead fluctuates ac- 
cording to its market valuo. Tho weighing and assaying 
of the metals, which is dono by a class of brokers called 
poe-za, causes an expense or loss of two and a half per 
cent, at every disbursement. 

Tho cominerco carried on in tho interior of the country is 
considerable, the different portions of tho onipiro producing 



several things which are not found in others. Tho inha- 
bitants of tho sea-coast and tho lower country tako to the 
capital and the upper provinces rice, salt, ngapi, dried fish, 
and foreign commodities. The Shans bring to Ava cotton 
and silk stuffs, some raw silk, varnish, stick-lac, ivory, bees- 
wax, lacquer ware, swords, gold, load, and tin ; and tako in 
return tho articles brought from the lower provinces, espe- 
cially salt, ngapi, and dried fish. Ava scuds to tho lower 
provinces petroleum, saltpetre, lime, paper, lacquer ware, 
cotton and silk fabrics, iron, cutlery, some brass-ware, 
catechu, palm-sugar, &c. 

The internal commerce is much facilitated by tho easy 
water-communication, especially in the lower country, where 
tho numerous branches and channels of tho Irawaddi, to- 
gether witb the Pegu river and tho Sctaing, render tho 
transport of commodities so easy that roads are nearly un- 
known. Tho hilly country north of it possesses these ad- 
vantages only so far as it approaches the Irawaddi or Kyan- 
Duayn. In this part roads aro numerous, and the merchants 
travel for security in caravans, as in other parts of Asia. 
The trading vessels used on the Irawaddi for the transport 
of commodities are commonly small, not exceeding ten or 
fifteen tons burden ; but larger vessels are also used, sorao 
of which may be 100 tons. 

The foreign commerce of tho Birmans is limited to that 
with Cbina, carried on over land, and to that with the na- 
tions who visit the ports of tbe country. The traflic with 
China is considerable, and entirely carried on by the Chi- 
nese who come in great numbers to tho annual fairs of 
Bhanmfc and Mid6. Bhanm6 is situated on tho banks of 
tbe Irawaddi, and seems to be a considerable place. Midc" is 
a small town about six miles to the north-cast of Ava. 
This traffio resembles that between China and Russia at 
Kiachta and Maimatchin. The caravan arrives at Ava in 
the beginning of Decent her, and is stated to be six weeks 
in travelling from Yunnan. The commodities are brought 
on small horses, mules, and asses. Tlio principal fair 
is at Bhanmo, and few traders only come to Ava. Tho 
articles imported from China arc copper, orpiment or 
yellow arsenic, quicksilver, vermilion, iron pans, brass- 
wire, tin, lead, alum, silver, gold and gold-leaf, earthen- 
ware, paints, carpets, rhubarb, tea, honey, raw silk, 
velvets and raw silks, spirits, musk, verdigris, dry fruits, 
paper, fans, umbrellas, shoes, wearing apparel, and a few 
live animals. The largest article of import is raw silk, 
which is worked up in the manufactures of the country. 
T>.o exports from Birma consist of raw cotton, ornamental 
feathers, esculent swallows' nests, ivory, rhinoceros and 
deer horns, sapphires, and noble serpentine, with a small 
quantity of British wobllcns. Raw cotton is by far the 
most considerable article. The average amount is stated 
to ho not less than 14,000,000 lbs. Tho whole amount of 
tho export and import trade with China is estimated at 
from 400,000/. to 700,000/. 

The navigation of the Birmans docs not generally ex- 
tend beyond the Gulf of Bengal. The places visited by 
their vessels are Chittagong, Dacca, and Calcutta in Ben- 
gal ; Madras and Masulipatnam on the coast of Coro- 
inandel ; and the Nicobar Islands, and a few places in Su- 
matra. Many foreign vessels, especially British, American, 
and Chinese, visit the harbour of Rangoon. Tho articles ex- 
ported seaward are teak-wood, terra Japonica or catechu, 
stick-lac, bees-wax, ivory, raw cotton, orpiment, gold, silver r 
rubies, and sapphires, with horses. The most important 
article is toak timber, which is principally carried to Calcutta. 
Raw cotton goes to Dacca, and is used in the fabrication of 
the fine muslins. 

Tho principal articles imported at Rangoon aro cotton 
piece-goods, British, Bengal, and Madras; British woollens; 
iron, steel, quicksilver, copper, cordage, borax, sulphur, gun- 
powder, saltpetre, fire-arms, coarse porcelain, English glass- 
ware, opium, tobacco, cocoa and areca nuts, sugar and 
spirits. After cotton piece-goods tho most important ar- 
ticles are arcca and cocoa-nuts. The valuo of the cotton 
piece-goods was estimated in 1622 at 2S2,000/. Crawfurd 
thinks that the valuo of all tho imports of Rangoon is not 
over- rated at 300,000/. a year, and that the exports may be 
taken at the samo amount. [See Rangoon.] Bassein 
formerly was a place of considerable traffic, and some Ku- 
ropcan nations hail factories established there, but since tho 
foundation of Rangoon it bas lost all its commercial im- 
portance. 

(Symcs's and Crawfurd's Embassies to Ava; Cox's 



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443 



BIR 



Notes; Sangermano, Description 6/ the Burmese Empird 
(this work exists only in an English translation, which was 
published in 1834 by the Translation Society of London) ; 
Wilson s History of the Burmese War ; Hamilton, in Asiatic 
Researches and Edinb. Philos. Journal; Wilcox, in Asiatic 
Researches; Maps of Berghaus of Hinterindien and Asam; 
of Wilcox in Asiatic Researches, xviii.) 

BIRMINGHAM, a large commercial and manufactur- 
ing town in the county of Warwick, and hundred of Hem- 
lingford ; it occupies a narrow peninsular projection of the 
north-western portion of the county, which is bounded on 
the north and south by the neighbouring counties of 
Stafford and Worcester. It is in 52° 59' N. lat., 1° 18* W. 
long., 102 miles in a straight line N.W. of London, and by 
the nearest road 109 miles. It is 79 miles S.E. of Liver- 
pool, and the same distance N.N.E. from Bristol, both in a 
straight line. Birmingham is written Brymyncham in the 
letters-patent of Edward VI. by which the free -school was 
founded. 

The parish of Birmingham, though extending on the 
north and west to a considerable distance from the town, is 
smaller than the agricultural parishes in the neighbourhood. 
It is bounded on the east and north-east by the parish of 
Aston, in Warwickshire ; oh the south by that of Edgbaston 
in the same county ; on the west and north-west respectively, 
by those of Harborne and Handsworth, both in the county 
of Stafford. The parish is in form an irregular quadrangle, 
elongated east and west. It is about eight miles in circuit, 
and contains, according to late surveys, 2810 acres. The 
antient church, dedicated to St. Martin, is not far from the 
south-eastern boundary of the parish. The town at present 
covers the whole eastern half of the parish, and extends its 
lines of building to a considerable distance into the parish 
of Aston. Many of the inhabitants also find, in the conti- 
guous portion of the parish of Edgbaston, pleasant resi- 
dences, at an easy distance from the crowded and com- 
mercial part of the town. 

Birmingham is situated near the centre of England, and 
in it3 vicinity we find the water-shed which separates the 
streams that belong to the basin of the Trent from those 
which belong to the basin of the Severn. The river Rea, 
a remote branch of the Trent, is about 310 feet above high 
water in the Thames at London — taken at a point closo to 
Birmingham. The surface of the ground is varied, the 
streets generally lying on a declivity, which facilitates the 
cleansing of the town, and contributes to its general health. 
The prevalent geological character of the neighbouring 
country is the new red sandstone, with beds of clay and 
gTavel superimposed. It has been asserted that coal exists in 
the immediate neighbourhood, but this is questionable. The 
middle of the parish of West Bromwich seems the boundary 
of the accessible beds of coal, beyond which, in this direc- 
tion, the strata are greatly disturbed ; and the coal, if it 
exist here, appears from late trials to lie at an immenso 
depth. 

The soil in the vicinity of the town is of indifferent qua- 
lity, but the ample supply of manure, and the value of every 
open space of ground, induce sueh a system of culture as 
renders it highly productive. Large plots of ground in the 
immediate environs have been long divided by their pro- 
prietors into small gardens, which are let at the rent of one 
and two guineas per annum. Many of these are occupied 
by artizans, and have been productive of great benefit, both 
in respect of the vegetables they have yielded, and the 
healthful exercise derived from their cultivation. This ap- 
propriation of the land is however fast diminishing, owing 
to the rapid increase of the town. 

Birmingham has from a remote time been a market- 
town, and to a certain extent the seat of manufactures. 
Being situated at a moderate distance from the Stafford- 
shire mines of iron, which were unquestionably worked 
at a very early date, and placed in a district which was 
distinguished as woody (the northern or Arden division 
of Warwickshire), it offered great facilities for smelting 
the oro of iron, which, before the introduction of tho 
steam-engine, could only be effected by means of .char- 
coal That this was the fact, was noted by William Hut- 
ton, the first historian of the town, in his description of a 
very antieot furnace which was still worked when he wrote, 
in 1780, and near to which rose what he calls ' a mountain 
of cinder,* the refuse of the operations of smelting, which, 
according to the then existing scale of increase, must havo 
taken at least a thousand years to accumulate. The iron being 



prepared on the spot, it is natural to "suppose that a colony, 
of artificers would settle here, and that they would early 
acquire skill in the use of the material. During the Hep 
tarchy, the manor appears to have been a possession which 
gave dignity and consideration to its holders, who resided at 
a castle or mansion near the cluster of buildings which 
formed the nucleus of the present town. But it does not 
appear that in ' antient times * Birmingham attained to any 
degree of splendour. The only religious establishment of 
any considerable antiquity within the precincts, the priory 
of St. Thomas, if founded before the reign of Edward I„ 
must originally have been of small size, as nearly all the 
lands which are known to have belonged to it were granted 
in that reign by the neighbouring proprietors. 

Though the seat of industry and the simpler mechanical 
arts, the progress of Birmingham was for many centuries 
slow, and its productions, from the difficulty of transit, 
circulated within a limited district. In the sixteenth cen- 
tury Leland speaks of the place as ' a good market-town/ 
of which ' the beauty' was one principal street, of a quarter 
of a mile long. It was inhabited by ' smiths, that U3e to 
make knives and all manner of cutting-tools; and miny 
lorimers that make bitts, and a great many naitors.' A 
place thus characterized by the industry and ingenuity of 
its inhabitants waited only for more favourable circum- 
stances to increase its wealth. This change appears to have 
taken place in the seventeenth century, when, on the re- 
storation of Charles II., a fondness for metal ornaments 
was introduced from France, where the exiled king and his 
adherents had long resided, and Birmingham took the lead 
in the manufacture of the glittering trifles which the taste 
of the age demanded. 

Among other causes which favoured the progress of the 
town maybe mentioned the operation of the Corporation 
and Five Mile Acts, and other arbitrary laws. The conse- 
quence of these enactments was the ejection from cities and 
boroughs with chartered privileges of many individuals, 
who settled in this comparatively inconsiderable town, and 
brought with them the capital and the industry which 
enabled them to seize on the advantages presented by its 
locality. 

Except the parish church of St. Martin, Birmingham 
contains no edifices, either public or private, of greater an- 
tiquity than the black and white half-timbered houses of 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which arc nume- 
rous in the older part of the town, in the suburb of Deritend, 
and in the line of street which Leland describes as forming 
1 the beauty' of the place. 

Birmingham has not been the scene of any important 
historical events. It continued, from the time of the Hep- 
tarchy, in the possession of the Saxon family on which it 
conferred a name, whose members long paid * homage, 
suit, and service,' at the command of the Norman con- 
queror, to the lord paramount, who resided at Dudley- 
Castle. In the reign of Henry VIII. the last De Birming-> 
ham was ejected from his inheritance by the conspiracy of 
John Dudley, afterwards Duke of Northumberland. (Seo 
the narrative at some length in Dugdalc's fVdrwickshire.y 
After the attainder of this nobleman, the manor lapsed ta 
the crown, and was given by Queen Mary, in 1555, to Tho- 
mas Marrow of Berkswell, in the county of Warwick. It 
has since, by purchase and marriage, changed hands several 
times, and now belongs to Christopher Musgrave, of Fox- 
coat, in the county of Sussex. But the most important 
portion of the manorial rights, the market- tolls, were pur- 
chased a few years ago by the commissioners of the Street 
Acts, and are held by them for the benefit of the town. 

In the year 1643 the even course of events was inter- 
rupted by the civil wars. The inhabitants of Birmingham, 
as it appears from Clarendon, had been by no means back- 
wwd in the expression of their opinions on the important 
occurrences of the reign of Charles L, and had taken a de- 
cided part on the popular side by seizing the royal carriages' 
and maltreating the attendants, and by supplying large 
numbers of sword-blades to the parliamentary troops, while 
they refused to execute orders given by the commissaries of the 
royal army. Accordingly, when Prince Rupert, the nephew of 
the king, was sent with a body of 2000 men to open a com- 
munication between Oxford and York, his progress through 
Birmingham was resolutely opposed, and a sharp skirmish 
took place, attended by the loss of several lives on both 
sides, and the destruction of a considerable portion of the 
town by fire. A spot of ground near the entrance from Ox- 

3 La 



B I R 



ford revived," and has since borne, tbo name of Camphill ; 
a name which still indicates the placo where the prince 
halted tho night before ho forced his passage through tho 
town. Three short pamphlets were published on the occa- 
sion, two of them by writers on tho parliamentary side, and 
ono by a royalist gentleman. They severally fjive a minuto 
though somewhat oon fused account of the affair, each being 
coloured, as might bo expected, by the prejudices of the 
writers. 

At tho close of the eighteenth century occurred the tre- 
mendous explosion of party spirit which has been since 
known under the name of * tho Uiots.' On this occa- 
sion the motives and opinions of those who rejoiced in 
the dawn and progress of liberty in Franco were so far 
mistaken and misrepresented, that when, on the 14th of 
July, 1 791, a party of respectable inhabitants met to cele- 
brate tho anniversary of tho destruction of the Bastile, a 
mob was excited to break the windows of the hotel where 
tho festivity was held. Emboldened by the impunity which 
attended this outrage, the assailants, in rapidly increasing 
numbers, proceeded 'to aets of more extensive destruction. 
Tho Unitarians had been for some time objects of dislike 
and suspicion from their known freedom of opinion ; and 
among them Dr. Priestley, who resided in Birmingham, as 
minister of one of their congregations, was, from the uncom- 
promising languago of his writings, especially obnoxious. 
Tho two meeting-houses of the Unitartans, the houso of 
Dr. Priestley, and the residences of several of his personal 
friends, were accordingly the objects of attack, and were de- 
stroyed by fire, or otherwise greatly injured and plundered 
in the course of the night of the 14th of July and the two 
following days. Among the loss of valuable property which 
attended these acts of popular fury, none was so greatly 
to be lamented as that of the library and laboratory of Dr. 
Priestley, in which were accumulated in MSS. tiic records 
of the labour of years, the facts collected during a life of 
industrious observation. These valuable MSS. were wan- 
tonly destroyed, scattered, and irrecoverably lost The ar- 
rival of military -aid, tardily afforded, at length dispersed 
the plsmderers, and restored tranquillity ; but the effects of 
bitterly-excited party feeling long remained perceptible in 
the various circles of tbe town. 

- The simple form of municipal government which existed 
when Birmingham was an obscure village has never been 
changed, though the forms of manorial authority have gra- 
dually adapted themselves to the demands of an increasing 
community. The authorities are the constables and a 
headborough, assisted by other officers, whoso duty it is to 
superintend the weights and measures, and to examine into 
the quality of artieles of food offered for sale : they are all 
appointed annually bv the jury called by the bailiff of the 
manor, and assembled in court leeL During the long-eon- 
tinued non-residence of the lords of the manor, the bailiffs 
have gradually assumed an importance to which their actual 
official duties did not entitle them. They have long had 
the precedency in public meetings and on various occasions ; 
and under tho provisions of the late Reform Bill, which con- 
ferred the elective franchise on Birmingham, the high and 
low bailiffs arc named as the returning officers. 

Birmingham, from the nature of its staplo employments, 
lay, till lately, under the stigma of blackness and dirt ; 
but the improved processes, and the great change in the 
nature of its manufactures, with the excellent arrange- 
ments of the commissioners of the Street Acts, tend, espe- 
cially in the newor parts, to remove these grounds of re- 
proach. Its general aspect is that of a place suddenly and 
greatly improved ; tho streets lately altered or erected are 
wide, and the buildings are good. Many of the public 
edifices are substantially built, in a style highly ereditable 
to the taste of the people. 

Among tho public buildings the most prominent are 
those adapted to religious worship. Till the commence- 
ment of the la»t century there was only one church in Bir- 
mingham, that of St. Martin's, which was erected at a very 
early date, and is still standing, but is disguised externally 
by a covering of brickwork, and internally by coatings cf 
piaster, and numberless ornaments of dubious character. 
Tho spire, which is of lofty elevation and good propor- 
tions, is still unchanged. St, Philip's church, built in 
1719, is correct and elegant in its proportions and orna- 
ments, and adorned with an enriehed tower of considerable 
height, surmounted with a dome and cupola. 

Of the other places of worship belonging to the Esta- 



415 BIR 

Wished Church which have been sine© ereeted, St. Mary's, 
St. Bartholomew's, St. Paul's, St James's, Ashtod, and Su 
John's and Trinity, Deri tend, are chapels of ease ; Christ 
Church, St. George's, St. Pctor's, and St. Thomas's, arc 
churches in their respective parishes parcelled out from tho 
entire parish of Birmingham. This division, however, does 
not extend to the parochial assessments, which are levied 
uniformly through the whole original parish. 

The chapels of the various denominations of Dissenters 
are forty-five in number, and in several instances present 
marks of superior taste. 

Till within a very few years Birmingham had no public 
buildings of any pretensions to skill in design ; but latterly 
the commissioners and other superintending bodies have 
shown a laudable desire to beautify tho town by employing 
the best architects. The town-hall is a magnificent build- 
ing of the Corinthian order, the proportions of which are 
taken from the temple of Jupiter Stator at Uomc. The ex- 
terior is of a grey marble brought from Anglesea; the ex- 
treme length of the building is 166 feet, the breadth 104, 
and the height 83. The interior length of the hall is NO 
feet, the width 65, and the height 65. It contains a fine 
organ, said to be the most powerful in Europe, and is used 
for the great music festivals and for public meetings. The 
market-hall, lately erected in the High Street, is an ex- 
tensive stone building, well arranged, with vaults beneath 
for storing goods; it is one of tho finest structures of the 
kind in the kingdom. Tho public office, where the police 
sittings of the magistrates are held two days in earn week, 
and whero tho business of the commissioners of the Street* 
Acts and other public bodies is transacted, is a large and 
well-conducted establishment, at the back of which is tho 
town prison. 

- The old grammar-school has been taken down, and a 
magnificent building in the middle Gothic style is now 
(1835) erecting on the old site, which has been enlarged 
considerably by purchasing some adjoining premises. The 
school, when completed, will undoubtedly be one of the 
finest buildings of the kind in England. It will contain 'a 
very large school-room with cloisters under it, a large room 
for a library, and spacious accommodation for the head 
master and usher. 

• The buildings which belong to the Public Institutions 
and Joint Stock Companies also present in many instances 
handsome fronts ; as the Theatre, the Society of Arts, the 
Libraries, the Banking Companies, and the News Room. 

The beast-market is near the site of the antient inanor- 
houso of Birmingham, and on the ground formerly occupied 
by its moat. A cemetery has lately been made near tho 
Wolverhampton road, similar to that at Kcnsall Green, 
London. 

For domestic purposes a plentiful supply of water has 
always been attainable at Birmingham by digging below 
the prevailing beds of gravel and sand ; but in the higher 
parts of tho town the water thus obtained is of the quality 
called hard ; so that many persons have found employment 
and subsistence by conveying in wheel-carriages and in 
portable vessels the better water from the lower situations, 
where thero aro public pumps of soft water. The iucon- 
venienco attendant on this mode of supply has, however, 
induced the establishment of a water-company, whose reser- 
voirs and forcing engine are placed at some distance from 
the town on the Lichfield road, and which at a moderate 
charge distributo an abundant supuly of excellent wator to 
all parts of the town. 

Birmingham has for many years been lighted with gas. 
Of the two companies, one is seated near the town ; the other 
has its establishment at AVest Bromwich, a distance of six 
miles; in this latter caso the coal is burnt near tho spot 
whero it is procured, and the gas is conveyed by pipes through 
tho intervening distance. The vicinity of the mining dis- 
trict, and the consequent necessity of finding a mode of tran- 
sit for great masses of heavy material, as well as the bulk and 
weight of many of the artieles of manufacture, early led to 
the construction of navigable canals in different directions 
from the town, as from a centre, towards the principal point* of 
commercial distribution. The original canal, which commu- 
nicated with the collieries, was inconveniently narrow, and 
very winding in its course. These defects have been remedied 
by opening a new lino of canal, executed under the direc- 
tions of Mr. Telford, which by wide and deep cuttings 
avoids the necessity of the ascending and descending chain 
of locks, whieh impeded the former communication. This 



B I R 



445 



6 1 R 



canal is also remarkable for the grand proportions of the 
bridges of masonry and of iron, which cross the deep excava- 
tions. Birmingham will soon be the centre of extensive 
railway communications in different directions. That with 
London is now (1835) in progress. 

Camden, who travelled through England in the sixteenth 
century, a few years after Leland, says of Birmingham, in 
his * Britannia,' that * most of the inhabitants be smiths ;' 
to which Bishop Gibson, in his edition of Camden, pub- 
lished in 1 722, adds, ■ and other artificers in iron and steel, 
whose performances are greatly admired both at home and 
abroad.' The editor was, however, scarcely correct if he 
meant it to be understood that the manufactures of the 
town were in his time confined to iron and steel goods. 
Various fancy articles in other materials were then regu- 
larly made, and the manufacture of brass goods had com- 
menced. The use of this valuable compound metal has 
continually increased during the last hundred years, and the 
talent of the designer has been tasked in the invention of 
new forms, and in the adaptation of classical models to the 
purposes of modern domestic comfort and ornament. The 
introduction of the stamp especially, which was first applied 
to the multiplication of copies of smaller wares, as buttons, 
buckles, and cloak pins, and which was at length adapted, 
by increasing its power, to the production of large forms, 
has caused the greatest change in this branch of manu- 
facture. The process of casting, though preferable for 
many articles, is tedious; the forms require considerable 
repairing and finishing after they leave the sand, and the 
metal is necessarily so thick as to be for many purposes in- 
conveniently heavy : but the stamp brings up the work on 
the die, on light rolled sheet metal, so that the most intri- 
cate and involved patterns are executed with the greatest 
precision; and by the ingenious application of separate 
parts, the work of the carver and gilder, in large decorative 
pieces of scroll and foliage, is successfully imitated. 

In plated wares the style and form were long deficient in 
grace, but the taste and spirit of Messrs. Boulton and Watt 
were instrumental in improving the forms of the articles 
usually produced ; and an increasing familiarity with antient 
models, and with the flowery and playful style of the age 
of Louis XIV., continues to give new impetus to this manu- 
facture. The introduction of the new mixture called Albata, 
or British plate, will also, by its superior durability, increase 
the use of that material in domestic articles, suporseding to 
a great degree the use of spoons, knives, and forks, plated 
on steel, which have hitherto been made in large quantities. 
In these manufactures also the stamp is extensively used, 
assisted by the chasing tool and hammer for ornaments of 
low relief. 

The founding of iron is rapidly improving and extending 
itself. A comparatively few years ago the principal cast 
articles of this material were heavy kitchen articles, grates 
and stoves ; but increased care in the selection of the metal, 
and a desire to produce elegant forms at a cheap rate, has 
caused east iron articles to be manufactured of small size 
and of light and tasteful patterns, which, when coloured by 
bronzing, almost equal the more expensive brass wares; 
and in hollow vessels such perfection in thinness and light- 
ness is attained, that the use of beaten copper is almost 
forgotten. 

The manufacture of guns was introduced at the com- 
mencement of the last century, and has been carried on to 
an immense extent ; a total of nearly 5,000,000 of fire-arms 
were supplied from Birmingham between the years 1804 
and 1818 inclusive, to meet the demands of government and 
of private trade. A proof-house, under the conduct of a 
master, wardens, and trustees, has been established by act 
©f parliament, where the fabric of all guns and pistol barrels 
is tried by a heavy charge : all those which sustain the ex- 
plosion receive a stamp, to counterfeit which is felony ; and 
to sell such barrels without the stamp is punishable by 
heavy fines. 

Buttons and buckles, so far as they are articles of orna- 
ment, almost took their rise in Birmingham, and this town 
witnessed all the fluctuations of these manufactures, from 
the small plain buckle, and the horn or bone button coated 
with metal foil, through all the capricious and almost innu- 
merable varieties of form and ornament which prevailed 
during the age of powder, embroidery, and gold lace, or which 
the still more fantastic taste of foreign markets demanded. 
At length the buckle has been completely supplanted by 
•hoe-strings, and the button, except where the taste of foreign 



countries demands otherwise, is generally worn with a well 
gilt but plain or slightly ornamented surface. The deno- 
mination of * The toy-shop of Europe,' given to Birmingham 
by Burke, was correct at the time, but the extensive appli- 
cation of powerful mechanical forces has now raised the 
character of the staple productions of the place. All articles 
of metallic ornament, such as polished steel toys, gold and 
gilt jewellery, chains, snuff-boxes, &c. aro still manufactured, 
but not to such an amount as to form a characteristic part 
of the industry of Birmingham. 

The quantity of silver used in the manufacture of pen- 
cil-cases, boxes, chains, thimbles, &c, and in the numerous 
fittings and mountings attached to glass and other wares, is 
considerable, and an Assay Office is established in the town, 
where all articles in this metal being above 5 dwt. are ex- 
amined, and if found to be of the proper standard, are 
marked with the government stamp. The quantity of silver 
used in the manufactures at Birmingham is about 3000 
ounces weekly, or 150,000 ounces per annum. 

Japanning, in all its varieties, is another extensive branch 
of manufacture. It commenced with the varnished boxes 
and small articles, which were coarse imitations of the 
Oriental toys, but was gradually improved by John Taylor, 
who gave elegance to the devices on the surface ; and still 
further by Baskerville, who introduced the light and highly 
polished but firm and durable papier mache, which he 
adorned with paintings in a style before unknown. This 
branch of industry has called forth great talent ; and some of 
those who have taken rank among the painters of their age 
have commenced their career by executing the ornamental 
designs on the trays and waiters of Birmingham. Articles 
of this kind are susceptible of great elegance, and when pro- 
duced in perfection are beautiful specimens of the pictorial 
art. 

Glass-making has long been carried on in Birming- 
ham. This manufacture is not now confined, in its higher 
branches, to cut vessels for the table, nor to the spark- 
ling da^ps which decorate girandoles and chandeliers; but 
the glass for the latter purpose is cast into forms of scrolls, 
foliage, busts, and well-formed complete figures of small size-, 
with a degree of boldness hitherto unknown, and i3 rendered 
susceptible of all the variety of form which a metal could 
take; while the lathe and cutting-tool give it a perfection of 
surface which imparts a delicacy and a brilliancy attainable 
in no other material. 

An apparently trivial article, the steel-pen, has latterly 
grown into such extensive use as to form a considerable 
branch of manufacture. The price has been perpetually 
diminishing, and the article itself, at the same time, conti- 
nually improving. The principal manufacturer of steel-pens 
employs 250 individuals, and consumes annually upwards 
of forty tons of fine sheet -steel, each ton of whicty will make 
nearly 10,000 gross of pens. Supposing the whole work of 
the other manufacturers in the town to equal that of this- 
individual, it will give a total of 800,000 gross, or nearly ten 
millions of steel-pens, annually made in Birmingham, be- 
sides the large numbers made at Sheffield and other places* 
This manufacture was first established in Birmingham* 
about the year 1821, before which time the article wasp 
scarcely known in the market. Shortly after this date 
they sold for 12*.per dozen, but the price rapidly fell to 2a. 
per dozen, or 1/. 4*. per gross. The increasing facilities of" 
production, and the consequent abundant supply, added to* 
the competition of the numerous manufacturers, has since* 
gradually sunk the price of well made 'three-slit pens* 
down to 1*. per gross, while commoner articles are made at a\ 
price very much lower. 

The cutlers, lorimers, and makers of wrought nails, who* 
in Leland's time formed the bulk of the "industrious popula- 
tion of Birmingham, have thus been gradually driven away* 
by the increasing demand for articles requiring more taste* 
and skill in design and execution. Agricultural and' ma* 
nufacturing steel and edge tools, including files and- sawsV 
are however still made, and a number of new manufactures 
have been introduced during the last half century, which 
owed their origin to the facilities afforded by the newly 
created mechanical forces, that gave a spur to invention by 
almost insuring its success. Among these are wire-drawing, 
cut-nail, screw, and pin manufacturing. Ffrie turnery 
would naturally arise from the increasing use of the lathe. 
Die-sinkers, modellers, and designers were required by those, 
who used stamps and casting-moulds ; and engravers were 
called for to represent in the books of patterns, exhibited by 



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446 



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the merchants tbo forms of the numerous articles prepared 
by brass and iron-founders and other manufacturers. Artists 
in these several lines havo been thus drawn to the place, 
and the arts themselves are cultivated to a degreo of perfec- 
tion before unknown out of the metropolis. 

The establishment of gas companies gave an impetus to 
the manufacture of tubes of various descriptions, as well 
as to the taste of the designer in forming graceful combina- 
tions for the introduction of the new and beautiful light into 
shops and houses. 

Some branches of tho cotton manufacture have been lo- 
calized in Birmingham, such as those of webbing for braces 
nnd girths, cords, lines, &e., probably on account of the fa- 
cility with which the requisite machinery could be procured. 

The umbrella trade arose from the demand for tho brass 
furniture of these useful contrivances; which led to an at- 
tempt to execute orders for the article complete. 

In the nail manufacture, as carried on in Birmingham, 
machinery is used by which well- formed nails aro cut 
out of sheet-iron, with a rapidity which leaves far behind 
the swiftest motion of the muscles in snipping paper with 
scissors. Nails thus cut receive by powerful pressure well 
formed heads, while a happy application of chemical science, 
in annealing, gives thein "a tenacity which almost rivals 
the productions of the fire and the hammer. A more de- 
sirable object eould, indeed, be hardly conceived than that 
of finally superseding by improved methods the slavish 
labour of the nail-block, which still employs, at a rato of 
wages hardly sufficient to support life, from 20,000 to 30,000 
persons in the neighbourhood of Dudley and other places 
on the north-west side of Birmingham. 

Screws aro also formed with beautiful precision without 
heat, and by a series of mechanical contrivances which re- 
move the severity of the labour, and render the attention 
and superintendence of women and children nearly suffi- 
cient. 

The machine used for tho making of button-shanks is 
another of those aids to human industry in which the most 
intricate motions, regularly repeated, are successfully imi- 
tated. A single revolution of the machine cuts the suitable 
length from the wire, bends it into its proper curves, and 
gives to its extremities the llattening which is necessary to 
fix the shank to the surface of the button. 

Of the more ponderous apparatus that of the rolling- 
mills is the most interesting. In these a vast forco is 
necessary, in order, by simple compression, to dilate into 
a long and tbin sheet the bar or ingot of metal. The 
action of the steam-engine, the source of motion, the rapid 
revolution of the large and heavy fly, almost bafiling the 
eye in its efforts to follow its course, and the perpetual whirl 
of the rollers elongating the hard material presented to 
them, altogether give to the stranger a striking example of 
the wonderful power and almost endless application of the 
force of steam. Steam-engines are now very numerous in 
Birmingham, tho number being about 110, and tho total 
power, technically expressed, is nearly that of 2000 horses. 
In fact, steam-power is an articlo produced in great quan- 
tities for sale. A person who conducts a small manufactory 
in the vicinity of a principal steam-engine, willingly pays a 
certain sum as rent in order that he may be allowed to 
bring into his building a revolving shaft to give motion to 
bis range of lathes, as the work executed by each man is 
much increased if he be relieved from the labour of turning 
the wheel. 

Every condensing steam-engine of moderate size pours 
forth a constant stream of hot water, now suffered to run off to 
waste, sufficient to keep constantly heated to 100° a tank 
of water containing from 1000 to 2000 cubic feet. A very 
trilling outlay would, from such a source, form a system of 
warm-baths surpassing in the abundant supply of water, and 
in the prico at which it could be obtained, the most splendid 
bathing establishments of imperial Rome. Tho luxury of 
a warm -bath might bo thus enjoyed at a cost consistent 
with the means of persons in every class. The use of such 
baths would give to the working man, soiled and exhausted 
with the labours of tho day, a feeling of healthy enjoyment 
of which at present ho has no conception, and would send 
him forth in a fit condition for enjoying rational recreation, 
or for profiting by those means of instruction which are 
offered to him by the various existing institutions. (See 
Birmingham audits Vicin\ty % hy\f. Hawkcs Smith, pt. i„ 
p. 15, London, C. Tilt, 1834.) 

The principal staplo machines of the workshops aro tho 



stamp, tho pross, tho lathe, and tho draw-bench. The 
stamp and press aro used to multiply copies of a given form 
engraven on a die, or to eut out pieces of metal of similar 
sizo and shape : the former, by the sudden blow of a de- 
scending weight; the latter, by tho gradual but more ef- 
fective descent of the die, urged by a screw worked round 
by a long and loaded arm. 

Tho lathe is well known as the instrument used in turn- 
ing, or producing, by tho action of a sharp chisel or cutting- 
tool on the rapidly revolving material, correctly circular 
forms; and it is most extensively in use in smoothing and 
polishing the various metallic wares. An ingenious addi- 
tion renders the. lathe applicable to tho production of oval 
forms. 

The action of tho draw-bench is to elongate a piece of 
metal, whilo an equablo thickness is preserved, by forcibly 
drawing it through a small hole in a steel-plate. This is 
not only useful in the wire manufactory, but also in tho 
lengthening of tubes; in regulating the surfaces of various 
cylindrical and other continuous figures, as the bodies of 
candlesticks, pencil-cases, &c. ; and in giving uniform 
folds, or moulded curves to strips of metal for various pur- 
poses. 

With these few contrivances to assist the file, the hammer, 
and other hand-tools, the skilful workman produces the in- 
finitely varied fabrics of ornament and utility for which the 
town is so much celebrated. 

It is not difficult to obtain access to most of the manu- 
facturing establishments in Birmingham, and the viaiicr, in 
the course of his researches, is equally delighted by the 
power and precision of the machinery employed in some 
branches, and by the ingenuity of hand which is still required 
in others. 

The working population of Birmingham has rapidly in- 
creased within a few years, and now composes the great 
bulk of the inhabitants. A reference to the parochial ac- 
counts shows, that out of a total of 30,600 assessments, 
16,000, or a large half, are composed of those which are rated 
at 5/. per annum and under ; and 8060, or more than ano- 
ther fourth, from 5/. to 8/. 

Education.— Charities.— -In the ' Twentieth Report of 
the Commissioners for Inquiring into Charities' (dated 12th 
July, 1828), 114 folio pages aro devoted to tho charities 
of Birmingham. Wo avail ourselves of this to give somo 
account of the establishments for education. 

Free Gramv\ar- School — The Free Grammar-School was 
founded and chartered by Edward VI., in the fifth year 
of his reign, ' for the education, institution, and instruc- 
tion of boys and youths in grammar/ The government of 
the school and the management of the revenues were vosted 
in twenty discreet and trusty men of the town and pari is h, 
who were in the first instance nominated by the crown, but 
were empowered to fill up the future vacancies which might 
occur'in their own body. They were constituted a body 
corporate, with power to have and receive of the king or 
others lands and other possessions for the purposes of the 
charity. The school was then endowed by tho king with 
the property of the dissolved religious establishment called 
the Guild of tho Holy Cross, which was to be held in 
common soccago at a rent of 20s. per annum. The go- 
vernors were to nominate tho masters, and, in concur- 
renco with the bishop of the diocese, were from time to 
time to make written ordinances for the government of 
the school. It would be tedious to recapitulate tho minor 
details in the history of this establishment, and we shall 
therefore merely describe its state in 1828 ; only previously 
mentioning that sinco 1676 a sum has been set apart to 
furnish exhibitions at Oxford or Camhridge, for scholars 
chosen from tho more advanced pupils of the school. The 
amount appropriated to this purpose, and the number of the 
exhibitions, have been altered from time to time ; but since 
1796 the number has been ten, at 35/. each. The succes- 
sive regulations made by the governors appear very gene- 
rally to have been framed with the view of adapting tho 
establishment as nearly as possible to the changing wants* 
of the community. The incomo of the charity estates, 
which consist of numerous houses and other buildings in 
the town, erected for the most part under building leases 
granted for long terras of years, and of pasture- grounds 
and gardens adjacent to tho town, amounted in IS27 to 
33h£ 14*. \d.; and it was then calculated that, through the 
expiring of leases, it would become about 9000/. by the year 
1840, and about 11,000/. by 1850* Tho actual income 



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447 



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(1835) is about 4000/. The income was thus appropriated 

in the year mentioned : — 

£. s. d. 

Salaries, &c. .... 1393 15 10 

Branch schools . . . 370 1 10 

Exhibitions . . . . 315 

Secretary and law charges . 433 12 8 

Repairs and improvements . 126 18 3 

Taxes. &c 155 5 9 

Balance against the charity from pre- 
ceding year . . . . 114 9 2 



Total . . . £2909 3 6 

The funds of the charity have heen applied to the main- 
tenance of a grammar-school and other schools in the town 
of Birmingham. The smaller schools have amounted to 
eight : six for the instruction of hoys in the English lan- 
guage (in one of which drawing was also taught), and two 
for the instruction of girls in reading, knitting, and sewing. 
In 1827 all but one of these had been discontinued, in con- 
Sequence of the question which had arisen concerning the 
validity of some of the statutes, and in consequence of the 
proceedings in Chancery on the subject. The governors 
however continued to exercise the privilege of sending sixty 
children to the national school in Pinfold-street, in lieu of 
a ground-rent of ISA payable to them hy the trustees of that 
institution. 

The proceedings in Chancery alluded to ahove commenced 
in 1824 ; and in July, 1825, anorderwas made hy the master 
of the rolls, directing an inquiry, hy a master in chancery, 
into the state of the property, and the propriety of rebuild- 
ing the school-house, and also directing the preparation of 
a scheme for the future establishment of the school. This 
order was confirmed by the vice-chancellor in January, 1828; 
and in Mareh, 1829, the master made his report arid' pre- 
sented the scheme, which was varied, amended, and con- 
firmed by a Chancery decree, dated June 7, 1830. The 
scheme provided, among other things, that in the said 
grammar-school the learned languages shall be taught, 
and he conducted hy a head-master and usher, with an as- 
sistant to each. That a master to teach writing and arith- 
metic should also be appointed hy the governors, at a yearly 
salary of 100/. That the head-master and usher should 
have taken at least the degree of M.A, of Oxford or Cam- 
bridge, and he memhers of the Church of England and in 
holy orders, but to hold no ecclesiastical ofiiee requiring 
them to perform m person weekly paroehial duty. That the 
salary of tho head-master should he 400/. per annum, ex- 
clusivo of tho rents and profits ofeertain lands, for which 
however the governors are empowered to compound ; and 
that of the usher 300/. per annum : each of them to he also 
provided with a house free of rent and taxes. That the 
master and usher should each nominate his own assistant, 
subject to the approval of the governors, and that the salaries 
of such assistants should be 200/. per annum each ; and in 
ease of the master or usher not filling up a vacancy within 
three months of its first occurring, then the governors alone 
to appoint such assistant. That no boy should be admitted 
into the school under eight years of age, or who is unable to 
write and read English, nor any hoy continue in the school 
after having attained the age of nineteen. That hoys not 
sons of inhabitants of Birmingham or adjacent places shall 
pay such sums for their education as the governors shall fix. 
That ten exhibitions of 50/. a year each should he founded 
for the grammar-school boys going to Oxford or Cambridge, 
two exhibitioners to he elected in one year, and three in the 
following year, and so on alternately: the exhibitions to be 
held for four years, but residence during terms to ho indis- 
pensable. That an annual visitation he held, and^ an ex- 
amination of the hoys take place, as to their profieiency in 
learning, * and whether they appear to be instructed and 
•well-grounded in the fundamental principles and doctrine 
of the Christian religion; provided nevertheless that no hoy 
shall be subjected to such examination if the parents or 
guardian of such hoy shall in writing state to the examiners 
that they object to that part of the examination.' That the 
governors should have power, with the advice of the bishop 
of the dioeese, to provide a library for the use of the school, 
and to establish a system of rewards for eminently deserving 
hoys in or quitting the school. Exceptions were filed to this 
report, which wero overruled, and the report confirmed. In 
April, 1830, the master s report was presented, recommend- 
ing the rebuilding of the school-house, and Showing the in- 



creasing value of the property. This report also stated 
* that it would be of great benefit to the inhabitants (of Bir- 
mingham) if a school were established for the education and 
instruction of hoys in modern languages, the arts, and sci- 
ences;' and * that the governors conceived that it would be 
for the henefit of the said town of Birmingham, and not pre- 
judicial to the objects of the said charter (i. e. to the old 
grammar-school), to apply a portion of the said surplus re- 
venue of the said charity to support a school of the descrip- 
tion last mentioned.' T The hetter to carry the above reports 
into effect, an act was ohtaincd in August, 1831, regulating 
the grammar-school according to the scheme just detailed, 
with the exception of limiting the numher of boarders to be 
respectively taken hy the master, usher, and assistants, which 
had been fixed by the scheme at thirty, twenty, and ten, to 
eighteen, twelve, and four; any future assistants not to be 
allowed to take any hoarders, and the governors to have no 
power to increase the number of boarders to he taken by the 
master and usher. It is enacted also that the new school 
for teaching modern languages, the arts, and sciences, shall 
be regulated hy a scheme to be approved of by the Court of 
Chancery, upon a petition to be preferred by the governors ; 
and the governors are empowered to purchase a surrender 
of certain leases in order to erect the school-house, masted 
houses, and other erections for the purposes of the said 
school. Also power is given to the governors, and they are 
required within eight years from the passing of the act, to 
appropriate a Sum not exceeding 4000/. for the establishing 
of four schools for the elementary education of the male and 
female children of the poorer inhabitants of Birmingham, 
and to nominate masters and mistresses with such salaries, 
payable out of the rents of the charities, as they may think 
expedient. In case of there heing any surplus remaining, 
or hereafter accruing, such surplus to he applied, under tho 
direction of the Court of Chancery, in * improving, en- 
larging, extending, or increasing the said free grammar- 
school, the said new school for teaching the modern lan- 
guages, the arts, and sciences, and the said elementary 
schools, or either of them, or for promoting the objects of 
the said respective schools/ An abstract of the accounts of 
the income and expenditure is to be annually published in 
some newspaper printed and published in Birmingham ; but 
no alteration is made in the appointment of the governors, 
who remain self- elective, subject to eertain qualifications. 
We Have elsewhere mentioned that the building of theso 
schools is in progress^ 

Blue-coat School, — This school was founded in 1722, by 
subscription among the inhabitants, assisted by a grant of 
a site for tho sehool and some surrounding land from Lord 
Digby, the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and others. 
The property, as augmented by subsequent bequests of 
lands, and premises, and money, produced 1029/. in 1827, 
of which 173/. 16*. arose from investments in the funds, 
other moneys having heen invested in land. Adding to 
this annual subscriptions and collections, and casual bene- 
factions, the whole income exceeds 2000/. The greater part 
of this amount is annually exhausted hy the eurrent ex- 
penses of the school, at whieh about 160 children of both 
sexes are instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic and 
the principles of the Christian religion as professed by tho 
Church of England, and are entirely clotned, lodged, and 
hoarded. The institution is under the management of a 
eommittee of the subscribers. A number of children, vary- 
ing from ten to twenty, are also kept in this school, under 
the eharity of George Fentham, a mereer of the town, who by 
will, dated 1 690, left property now producing about 308/. per 
annum, a proportion of which was to he applied to teaching 
poor children, male and female, * to know, their letters, spell, 
and read English,* and to putting them out as apprentices. 
The trustees pay to the Blue-eoat school 11/. per annum 
for tlie board and lodging" of eaeh child, and allow to the 
master and mistress of the school a gratuity of 10/. for their 
additional trouble. These children are fully elothedonce a 
year: they leave the school at the age of fourteen; and if 
opportunity offers, they are apprenticed (without premium). 
Piddocks charity. — The 'rents and profits of a farm, be- 
queathed by William Piddock, became applicable in 1763, 
to the schooling, apprenticing, or otherwise to the benefit, 
of poor boys of the parishes of St. Martin and St. Michael. 
The farm now lets at 45/. Previously to 1820, the trustees 
used to contribute 30/. per annum to the Madras school of 
the town, in consideration of being allowed to place sixty 
ehildren therein ; hut a debt having been contracted in re- 



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building the premise* in 1820, none of the proceed s wero 
in 1827 applicablo to this purpose. It was expected that 
the charity would again becomo operative about this time. 
Ann Crowley* Charity,— Under the will of this lady, 
with an addition afterwards made by Mrs. Scott, 0/. is paid 
to a school -mistress for instructing, at her own house in Bir- 
mingham, ten girls sent by the trustees, to read, sew, and 
knit: and a further sum of live guineas is disposed of in the 
purchase of cloth and worsted, for the girls to work up into 
clothing for their own use. 

Protestant Dissenters' Charity-school.— This school is 
situated in Park-street, where it has been carried on for 
many years. It originated in and is still principally sup- 
ported "by voluntary contributions, with the addition of lega- 
cies and" other casual benefactions. There i* no land bo- 
longing to this charity, except that on which tho school- 
house stands. 

Sunday-schools were early established in Birmingham, 
and they are now' supported by the congregations of all the 
religious sect?,' both in the Establishment and among the 
dissenters, and pot less than 16,000 children are constantly 
in course of receiving at these seminaries the humble but 
useful portions" of elementary knowledge which they are 
capable of bestowing. Twenty day-schools, including the 
Blue-coat School and nine Sunday-schools, are connected 
with the National School Society. In the former there were 
1664 boys and 1813 girls, in March, 1835 ; nnd in tho lattor 
1050 boys and 735 girls. {Report of the National Society \ 
1833.) A charity-school, attached to the Established Church, 
maintains nearly 200 children of the two sexes; another, 
called the Dissenting Charity School, receives 50 girls. 
There aro several schools on the plans of Lancaster and 
Bell, and infant-schools which receive pupils between the 
ages of two and six ; nnd an excellently managed school for 
the deaf and dumb, where nearly 50 of these unfortunate 
individuals are instructed, and rendered capable of useful- 
ness and enjoyment. An extensive and well-conducted 
parochial asylum for the infant poor provides for upwards of 
400 children, who would be otherwise destitute, and who are 
judiciously educated, and taught early to spend a portion of 
their time in useful and profitable labour. 

Several useful institutions for intellectual improvement 
nre supported principally by individuals of the working 
classes. Among these is a well conducted Mechanics* In- 
stitute, not so numerous in its list of members as might 
be expected in such a place, but zealously supported. This 
institution gives class instruction in writing, arithmetic, 
mathematics, drawing, and the languages, under able 
tuition; and it contains a well selected library of 1200 
volumes. A weekly lecture is given on subjects connected 
with science, art, history, and general literature. 

The Artizans* Library was founded at tho commence- 
ment of the present century, and is supported by small quar- 
terly subscriptions. It consists of 1500 volumes. 

The Social Union for improvement and recreation is of 
late date. It consists entirely of persons of the working 
classes, and its members meet at fixed times, and alter- 
nately hear lectures and join in conversation, or enjoy 
musical and other entertainments. 

The efforts of the Temperance Societies arc also felt in 
Birmingham. Large numbers enrol themselves in these 
institutions, and numerous instances arc weekly produced 
of persons who, urged by the considerations presented to 
thcin, have succeeded in forsaking their habits of vicious 
indulgence. 

Sick cluhs and benefit societies aro of old establishment ; 
but many of them have been proved by experience to be 
founded on erroneous calculations, and nearly all are ren- 
dered useless by the condition of holding their meetings at 
the public-house, where tho members arc induced to lay 
out money in drink. This radical defect is now in eourso 
of removal by the recent establishment of Provident So- 
cieties, on true principles, which meet for despatch of busi- 
ness at the vestry-rooms of various places of worship, or 
other places unconnected with needless and prejudicial ex- 
penditure. All such institutions, supported and managed 
totally or principally by tho working people themselves, 
whether directly devoted to education or not, arc peculiarly 
valuable as tending, each in its own way, to give them 
habits of frugality, knowledgo of business and to elevate 
their general character. 

There are in Birmingham numerous charitable institu- 
tions, which arc well managed and liberally supported. 



Among these may be named tho General Hospital, whoso 
funds are assisted by the celebrated triennial musical fes- 
tivals, now held in the town-hall ; tho Dispensary ; a society 
for tbo suppression of Mendicity ; a Magdalen Institution ; 
and a great variety of minor associations for supplying 
clothing and other comforts to the necessitous poor. 

The upper and middle circles of Birmingham arc a highly 
improved and intellectual community. Great attention is 
paid to the cultivation of literature and the fine arts. Be- 
sides circulating and other minor libraries, there are two 
principal public collections of books, — the Birmingham Li- 
brary, containing 16,700 volumes, and with SCO subscribers 
of one pound per annum ; and the New Library, containing 
4000 volumes, and with 3G0 subscribers. There are also 
many reading societies, in which the new publications cir- 
culate among the members. In New Street arc the rooms 
of tho Society of Arts for the exhibition ol* pictures by an- 
tient and modern artists. Concerts of a high order of 
excellence aro given, and the exhibitions of the Society of 
Arts are of the very first class. A botanical and horticul- 
tural society has been formed whoso gardens are on an 
extensive scale ; and the school of medicine presents advan- 
tages second only to those of the metropolis. A philoso- 
phical institution is liberally supported, and there is al>o a 
spacious and well supplied nows and reading-room. 

Population of the parish of Birmingham . 1 12,000 
„ of the subuibs, connected with 
the town but in the adjoining parishes . 8,000 

Total 120,000 

Comparative state in 1815 ami 1831. 

1815 Population 78,000 Assessments £247,050 

1831 „ 112,000 „ 281,611 

Increase per cent, 50 „ 12J 

State of thfi closely peopled divisions, 

V«iue of Axed 
FarUlie«* Extcnl in properly per Total Population 

acres, ' ncrr. tiIih*. per ncre. 

£ £ 

St. Phillip's 118 9145 1,0S0,000 136 

St. Marys 130 7075 929,000 136 

St Peter's 143 5172 740,000 104 
Extent of the entire parish, 2810 acres. Average popu- 
lation, 41 to an acre. 

Assessments. 

Under £ 5 per annuo, ,6.000 { <*- %££?* ° f 

:: SS.5 : : JS}**- ■.«»*«. 
:: B«dV-«i- 3.7 o o} ci - sA .°» csc " nth - 



Total Assessments 30,600 

Ijxal taxation, as annually paid. 
Rates paid by 
Poors'.ratc 



Claw A. 


n. 


C. 


Tot* I*. 


£ 


£ 


£ 


£ 


3,190 


8,400 


3,700 


44,000 



23,000 



32,400 10,900 3,700 67,000 
Amount of a rate of Is. in tho pound £7S00. {Commu- 
nication from Birmingham.) 

BIKOSTRITES, in zoology, a fossil to which Lamarck 
has given the generic name at the head of the article. lie 
has placed it under his family Rtulistes, a family which, as 
Mr. G. Sowerby observes (Genera No. 11.). might be struck 
out; for there can be hardly any doubt that Lamarck has 
misconceived or misplaced tho genera of which it is coin- 
posed. G. Sowerby, from an examination of the cast of the 
inside of the shell, expresses his conviction that Birostrites 
ought to be placed next to Diceras, or at least in the same 
family with Chama and Diceras, inasmuch as it accords 
very nearly with thoso shells in its internal characters. 

The following is Lamarck's description of this singular 
fossil. Shell composed of two pieces or valves, which do not 
unite by the edges of their base, one enveloping the other, 
and tho dorsal disk of each being elevated into a nearly 
straight cone slightly arched within. These horn-shaped 
valves are unequal and diverge obliquely under the form of 
a very open V. It seems as if one valve camo out of tho 



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449 



B I R 



base of the other, and it is always the shortest that is en- 
veloped. 

Birostrites inccquilobus is the only species which La.^ 
marck records. 

The reader who wishes to follow the steps by which fla* 
turalists have arrived at their conclusions as to the true 
structure of these fossils may consult the 'Description de 
plusieurs nouvelles Especes d'Orthoceratites, par M. Picot 
de Lapeyrousc,* (Erlang, 1781, folio) ; the elaborate * Essai 
sur les Sphcrulites/ by M. Charles Des Moulins, in the 
first volume of the 'Bulletin d'Histoire Naturelle de la So- 
ciete Lincenne de Bordeaux 1 (1S26), where he proves that 
the genera Sphcerulites, Radiolites, and Birostrites, are 
identical ; and above all, the acute * Observations sur la Fa- 
mille des Rudistes/ by M. Deshayes, in the ' Annales des 
Sciences Naturelles,' (182S). M. Deshayes, admitting the 
soundness of the views of M. Des Moulins as to the identity 
of the three last-mentioned genera, rejects the theory of 
that naturalist, who proposes to place them as a class inter- 
mediate between the Tanicata and Acephala; brings for- 
ward additional evidence to show, that Birostrites is iden- 
tical with Sph&rulites (its nucleus in fact), and that there 
are two very large and lateral muscular impressions, a pow- 
erful hinge, and a ligament of a force equivalent to the 
thickness and extent of the valves. M. Deshayes concludes 
by declaring his opinion of the inutility of Rudistes as a 
family, characterized and placed as it was, and adds that of 
the three genera which remain, the SpheruUtes and the 
Hippurites approach \ery closely to the Chamce, in which 
situation they will form a well characterized small family 
or group. Calceola, he observes, having a greater relation- 
ship to Crania than to any other genus, might be without 
inconvenience comprehended in the family to which the 
latter belongs, viz. the Palliobranchians of Blainville, or 
the Brachiopods of Lamarek and Cuvier. 

BIRR, or PARSON STOWN, in the King's County 
in Ireland, situated in the 'parish of Birr and barony of 
Bally britt, on the Birr or Comcor river, close to its con- 
fluence with the Little Brusna, a considerable stream 
flowing westward from the Slieve Bloom mountains to the 
Shannon. Itlies in53°7' N.lat.and 7°5l'W.long.; sixty- 
eight Irish, or eighty-seven English, miles from Dublin. The 
parish contains, according to the Down Survey, 4995 acres, 
3 roods. Birr is not a borough town : the only parliament in 
which it has ever been represented was that of James II. in 
1689. From its central situation it has been distinguished 
by the title of Umbilicus Hibemitv, or navel of Ireland ; 
and a hollowed stone used to be shown here as the identical 
spot referred to by the appellation, which is as old as the 
time of Girald Cambrensis. Parsonstown is at present the 
authorised name of the place, and seems to have been re- 
cognised as such occasionally since 1621 ; it has, however, 
been known as Birr since the middle of the sixth century, 
when Brendan, a disciple of Finian of Clonard, founded the 
monastery here, which first distinguished it from its sur- 
rounding localities. Birr is also the name most commonly 
in use, as well as that best known in history. During the 
ninth century, the most disastrous in early Irish annals, 
Birr was considerable enough to afford frequent spoils, both 
to the contending native factions, and to their common in- 
vaders the Danes. In 1 1 62 it was burned down, and before 
the beginning of the next century was granted by Henry II. 
to Theobald Fitzwalter, Pincerna Hibernice, ancestor of the 
great Irish house of Butler. Its original possessors had 
been the ehiefs of Ely O'Carrol, in which territory it is 
situated, and they disputed the tenure so successfully with 
the hew proprietors and their lessees, that, after frequently 
changing hands, as the forces of either party prevailed, 
Birr, along with the surrounding district, came at length by 
royal patent into the possession of William O'Carrol, chief 
of Ely O'Carrol, in 1557. But the native owners soon for- 
■ feited their hardly- vindicated title ; and in 1612, Ely O'Car- 
rol, being confiscated anew, was made shire-ground, and 
disposed of to British undertakers by James I. Sir Lau- 
rence Parsons, a gentleman of good family from Norfolk, 
became the new proprietor in 1620. The eastle was then 
standing, as also the neighbouring hold of Ballybritt; both 
of which had probably been erected by the early conquerors. 
On the first plantation of Leix and Ofaly, Birr had been 
considered as lying in Munster, nor docs it seem to have 
been included in the King's County until after 1604. In 
the hands of Sir Laurence Parsons, however, it soon attained 
to the eminence of a county town, and became important as a 



stronghold of British interest thenceforth to the Revolution^ 
of 1688. Many new streets were built during his time ; he 
added flankers and a barbican to the castle ; and it appears by 
inquisition that at his death there were in the town five water- 
mills. When the civil wars broke out in 1641, Birr was held 
for the English by its proprietor and governor, Captain Wil- 
liam Parsons, but after a rather severe siege he was obliged 
to surrender to General Preston for the Catholic Confer 
derates in 1642, and they in turn were dispossessed by 
Ireton for the Parliamentarians in T650. Captain Parsons, 
having ultimately sided with the popular party, was restored 
to his wasted estates two years after, and the town of Birr 
seems to have recovered so rapidly from its disasters as to 
have become a place of some note again before the restoration* 
Some of the merchants issued their own coinage during 
these times ; and in 1682 the woollen manufacture, which 
was for a long time afterwards the staple trade of the 
town, was introduced. In the succeeding wars of 1689, Sir 
Laurence Parsons, being suspected of disaffection, was^ 
directed by the government of James II. to render his castlo' 
of Birr to his own agent, one Oxburgh, who had raised a 
royalist troop of horse, as it is said, out of the rents of his 1 
employer, and now enjoyed the rank of colonel in the army. 
Sir Laurence, standing upon terms, was adjudged guilty ot 
high treason, and condemned accordingly ; but successive* 
reprieves delayed the execution of the sentence until the 
next year, when the battle of the Boyne gave him his liberty, 
and restored him once more to the possession of his estates. 
Birr castle had still to endure another sfege by Sarsfield, 
but was so well defended by Sir Laurence's lieutenants in 
his absence, that the Irish broke up tbeir batteries after the 
first day's cannonade. The town and eastle were then* 
occupied by William's army, and by them surrounded with 
earthen ramparts. 

The quarter-sessions of the peace are held here, and in the 
sessions-house is also held on the first Monday in every 
month the Court Baron of the manor, before a seneschal 
nominated by the Earl of Rosse. Five officers of health 
are appointed annually, whose province extends as well 
to the cleansing of the streets and general purification of 
the town as to the superintendence of its establishments 
for the relief of the sick. The chief object of architectural 
interest in Birr is the castle, the residence of the Earl of 
Rosse, built upon the site of the old tower held by the 
O'Carrols, and still embracing some of the walls battered 
by Sarsfield's cannon : here are some curious tapestries', and 
a few good pictures; but Birr Castle is mainly distin- 
guished by an observatory, amply furnished with the best 
astronomical apparatus, added hy the present Lord Oxman- 
town, eldest son of the proprietor. The great telescope is 
said to be larger than the famous one of Herschel.- The 
new church is a rather fine-looking building, in the Gothic 
style, with 'a tower 100 feet high: the whole cost was 
about 8000/. . The old church has gone to ruin, and in 
1826 was quite dismantled; the old chapel is also in a very 
decayed state, but the new Roman Catholic chapel is a hand- 
some Gothic structure of cut stone, with a spire 1 24 feet in 
height : the first stone of the foundation was laid by Lord 
Oxmantown in 1817, and Catholics and Protestants sub- 
scribed with equal liberality to the erection: the chapel is 
dedicated to Saint Brendan. The eourt-house, jail, and ex- 
cise-office are in the chief street ; Duke Square, in their 
vicinity, is ornamented with a column about fifty feet high, 
supporting a statue of the Duke of Cumberland, raised by 
subscription in 1747 to commemorate the battle of Culloden; 
Here are a mendicity-house, a fever-hospital, and a. dis- 
pensary, supported by voluntary subscriptions and county 
presentments. There is also a charitable association for 
the relief of distressed housekeepers. Birr contains from 
thirty to forty streets and lanes, and has three bridges over 
the Birr and Brusna rivers. Its population in 1821 was 
5406 persons, and in 1831 amounted to 6594; but, as the 
adjoining villages of Sefiin, Crinkle, Ballindarra, and Bally- 
loughnane lie so close as almost to constitute suburbs, the 
place at large is in reality much more populous. Birr was 
formerly a town of some manufacturing importance, but 
the woollen trade has yielded to distillation, which has lat- 
terly been its chief support as a commercial town. Tho 
linen trade has also been encouraged, but the situation of 
Birr is not likely to admit of much commercial prosperity, 
as it lies too far from the Shannon to benefit by water- 
carriage, and is still so near other towns possessing that 
advantage, as to prevent its becoming an independent inland 



No. 2G1. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.--3 M 



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450 



I) 1 S 



Market. The barracks, built to accommodnto 2000 men, lie 
about half a tnilo from the town, and have sixty acres of 
land attached for holding reviews. Tho mendicity free- 
schools are supported partly bv subscription and the libe- 
rality of the Karl of Rosse, and partly by tho government. 
There were, in 182*1* in tho town and suburbs, 20 schools of 
various kinds; and in the parish of Birr at large, 31 schools, 
educating about 600 males and 400 females. There is a 
public reading-room, but no regular library. The neigh- 
bourhood is rich and well cultivated, and the gentry and 
proprietary in general resident. 

{The Picture of Parsomtown (privately printed, Dublin, 
1826); Statis. Surv. of King's County; Archdall's ATo- 
vast.Hib.; Calendar of Inquisitions for Leinster; Ap- 
pendix to Second Report of Commissioners of Education ; 
Pcttigrcw and O niton's Dublin Almanac and Geneinl Re- 
gister of Ireland for 1835; Communication from Ireland,) 
BISOA'CIIO. [Sec Lagostomys.] 
BISCAY, BISCA'YA, or VIZCA'YA, LORDSHIP 
OF, one of the Basquo provinces in Spain. For the ety- 
mology of the namo sec Basque, which appears to be the 
same word : thus the inhabitants of the three provinces are 
indifferently called Vizcainos and Bascos. The !crdship of 
Viscaya extends from 42° 55' to 43° 30' N- lat, and from 
2° 30' to 3° 25' W. long.: it is bounded on the north bv 
tbat part of the ocean called tho Bay of Biscay, on the south 
byAlavaand Old Castile, on tbe oast by Guipuzcoa, and 
on the west by Old Castile. The territory is occupied by 
mountains, with numerous narrow valleys and well-culti- 
vated plains between them, which givo the country a singu- 
larly pleasing aspect, both for the agriculturist and for the 
lover of the picturesque. Some of the mountains appear like 
several hills hoaped upon ono another, such as that of Gor- 
vcya, which is reckoned to require five hours' walking to 
reach the top. On its summit is a large plain, which fur- 
nishes abundant pasture to cattle during the summer months. 
Near Durango there arc other mountains, or rather largo 
masses of calcareous rocks, naked, and of very difficult 
ascent. Near the bar of Portugalcto is the lofty Serrantcs, 
an immense natural pyramid, which points out to sailors 
the entrance of the port, and which Bowles considers to bo 
an extinct volcano. There are other mountains, which ter- 
minate in bare points of calcareous rocks, yet have a very 
easy slope, aro well cultivated, and covered with neat farms. 
There are somo round low hills, which are inhabited, and 
well cultivated to the summit. 

The soil rests in general upon rock of different kinds, some 
of which rises above it in immense masses of sandstone, cal- 
careous rocks, or puro marble. Tbe marblo is nearly black, 
vitb white spots and veins. Several torrents descend from 
the mountains, which in tbe rainy season have a full stream, 
but in summer arc almost dry. The coast is very abrupt 
and deeply cut in different points, through which tho sea 
penetrates to a considerable distance inland, forming rias 
and ports for fishing-boats and small trading vessels. The 
principal of these ports are, from east to west, Hca, Bcrmeo, 
Plcncia, and Portugaletc. 

With the exception of the arablo land and the bare 
summits of the highest mountains, the province is covered 
with natural or artificial woods of wild holly, arbutus, 
and oalu Where the soil is not deep enough for raising 
large trcca, it is covered with argnmas, or furze, and 
several species of erica, or heath. The lower parts of the 
mountains are planted with oak and chestnut. Apple-trees 
grow in every part of the provinco almost without cultiva- 
tion. Cbcrry-trecs grow to the si2o of a large elm, and 
the peaches are among the best in tho peninsula. There 
aro several species of pears, two of currants, and several 
varieties of figs and walnuts. Strawberries are indige- 
nous in Biscay; thofeo that grow wild in the woods are 
not very large, but when cultivated in the neighbourhood 
of Bilbao they are of the best in Europe. The kitchen 
vegetables are excellent and plentiful, particularly onions, 
which arcjvery large and sweet. In the territory of Bil 
bao, Ordufia, and tbe Encartacioncs, very good muscat 
and white table grapes are cultivated ; and likewise the 
common grape, of which the Biscayans make their 
ehacoll or wine, Some of the vines aro high and planted 
by the sido of the road, or near tho farms; but tho greatest 
,part of them are low vines, rising between three and four 
feet abovo the ground. Tbo chacoli is one of tho products 
which gives most profit; but as the municipal authority 
fixca the price for »alo, and absolutely prohibits the intro- 



duction of any other wine while it lasts, the farmer only 
attends to tho quantity and not the quality of the liquor he 
makes. Bowles says, that if the grape was allowod to ripen, 
and the wine to ferment completely, chacoli would be a 
sparkling wine little inferior to chainpague. 

The soil of Biscay is in general clayey, and although 
from time immemorial the farmers have mixed it with cal- 
careous earth to render it lighter and more fertile, it is 
only by great labour tbat it is rendered productive. In Oc- 
tober the earth in the plain is dug up in large clods and left 
till the spring in that state, when it is broken to pieces and 
planted with Indian corn, pumpkins, and scarlet-runner*. 
This crop is gathered in October, when wheat is sow n ; after 
cutting which, in the following August, the soil is left bare, 
and produces only grass for the cattle. The labour on tho 
low hills is different ; in July and August, the turf is dug up 
and formed into heaps, which being hollowed are filled with 
dry brushwood and burnt. The ashes and burnt eartli are 
then strewed about. The three first years the soil produces 
abundant crops of wheat, in the fourth year they sow it 
with rye, and in the fifth with flax ; afterwards, it is left for 
pasture-ground. 

All the province abounds with game. The partridges 
and quails are exquisite. There are also wild doves, snipe?, 
and woodcocks. The chimbo, a very delicate bird of pas- 
sage, arrives at Biscay in August, and remains there till tne 
end of October. II ares are not very abundant ; but deer 
and wild rabbits arc plentiful. Wolves are very rare, and it 
is still a greater rarity to find a bear, but foxes are plentiful 
everywhere. The oxen of Biscay aie small but strong, and 
givo a very juiey and well-ilavoured meat. There are also 
goats, and a few sheep. The sea and rivers abound in deli- 
cate fish, not inferior in flavour to that of Asturias and 
Galicia. 

Biscay is very rich in minerals : the most common is iron, 
which is found in almost every part of the province. The 
richest mine, and that which contains the most malleable 
metal, is that of Soraorostro. Every body is allowed to dig 
out tho ore, to take any quantity ho pleases, and to transport 
it where he pleases, without paying any duty. A hundred 
pounds of ore produce from thirty to thirty-five pounds of 
iron. 

The population of Biscay is reckoned by Minano (1826) at 
133,000 inhabitants, and by Malte Brun at 133,000, distri- 
buted in one city, twenty towns, seventy anteiglesias, and 
ten valleys or republics. The only city in the province is 
Ordufia, and the principal villa or town is Bilbao, the capital 
of the province; but tho whole province appears one large 
town composed of isolated farms, a certain number of which 
form a parish with a church in the centre. Tho houses arc 
in general two stories high; the ground-floor is used for 
tho cattlo, cellaring, and the implements of agriculture ; the 
first floor is occupied by the family, and in tho second tho 
grain and fruits arc preserved. Every house has an oven, 
a kitchen-garden, an orchard, and a certain portion of arable 
land and woodland. In former times, the houses were 
built of stone to the first floor, and tho second of wood, but 
at present they are all of stone, floored with wood. It 
is tho greatest rarity to see a ruined house, while new 
ones are often built. The greatest part of the farms aro 
cultivated by their owners, who aro called echejaztnac, 
that is, lords of tho house, in possession of whose family 
they have been from time immemorial, as every family 
considers it a disgrace to sell the patrimonial house. In ge- 
neral, the name of tho family expresses the situation or somo 
other circumstance of the house ; hence the names, Echaluze, 
Goicochca, Goyenechc, &e. In this, as in all the northern 
provinces of Spain, are found those old edifices called Solares, 
from the founders of which the antient nobility descend. 
These buildings arc of very simple construction, flanked by 
strong towers : at present very few of them exist. The 
greatest part of them have been destroyed in times of civil dis- 
cord, and others have been altered to suit the convenience and 
comfort of the owner rather than please his vanity. The 
owners of these houses are called Paricntcs Mayores, and 
arc by all their relations considered as the heads of thctr re- 
spective families. Some of theso families were the founders 
of the churches, havo received the tithes, and appointed the 
ministers to serve in them, from a time which was said to 
be immemorial, five centuries ago. Beyond this privilege, 
and the influenco wbich their riches may give them, they 
possess no other, nor are they considered as superiors by 
any other independent although poorer farmer. Tho early 



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451 



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education which the people give to their children at home 
is more calculated to harden their bodies than to develop 
their mental faculties ; but at a later period they send them 
to colleges, where they receive the necessary instruction. 
The daughters, even of the richest persons, are employed 
in all the menial labours of the household, and pride them- 
selves on their skill in these matters. Bowles says, that 
when he visited that eountry he imagined himself trans- 
ferred to* the patriarchal age ; and adds, ' Whoever seeks 
native simplicity, health, and real happiness, will un- 
doubtedly find these blessings in these mountains ; it is in 
them that he will find in general a people, if not opulent, 
really contented, true patriots, and not servilely submitting 
to the powerful. Every one possesses something ; $nd, in 
general, it is considered disgraceful to be a beggar/ Although 
things have greatly altered since Bowles's time (1780), it is 
not rare to find families who still preserve the simplicity of 
manners here described. > 

The climate of Biscay is in general damp and cold, but 
so salubrious, says Bowles, that if it were not for the dis- 
eases which the people contract from exeessive eating during 
their festivals, physicians would be almost useless. Al- 
though they drink in proportion, it is a very rare thing to 
see a Biscayan drunk. [For the history, government, and 
languago of the Biseayans, see Basque.] 

Pedro el Cruel, having been expelled from Spain by his 
brother Enrique, sought assistance from the gallant son of 
Edward III. of England, known by the name of the Black 
Prince, and promised him, among other favours, the lord- 
ship of Biscaya, if he restored him to the throne. After the 
battle of Najcra, in which the allied forces eonqnered the 
Castilian troops, Pedro sent his minister Ayala .with the 
agents of the Black Prince to Bilbao, but the Biseayans 
refused to admit a foreign prinee for their lord. Some 
historians say that the refusal was the effect of the secret 
intrigues of Pedro, a thing which his eharaeter renders not 
improbable. 

(Miiiano ; Diccionario Geo<rrdficodelaAcademia;Bow\es % s 
Introduction d la Histona Natural, y a la Geograjia 
Ffsica de Espalia.) 

BISCAY, BAY OF, is that portion of the Atlantic 
Ocean which washes the northern coasts of Spain, and 
divides them from the western eoasts of France. Its open- 
ing, which is directed to the N.AV., is very wide: the two 
extreme points, Cape Ortegal (about 8° "W. of Greenwich) 
and the isle of Ushant (ealled by the French Ouessant), at 
the western extremity of France, are upwards of 400 miles 
distant from each other. From the opening the bay gra- 
dually becomes narrower, the coast of France trending to 
the S.E., whilo that of Spain continues nearly in a due 
eastern direction ; but even at the innermost extremity be- 
tween the mouth of the Bidasoa, the boundary river between 
Spain and France, and that of the Scvre Niortaise, it is 
still upwards of 200 miles wide. A line drawn from S. Jean 
dc Luz, situated at the western extremity of the Pyrenees, 
to the middle of another which unites Cape Ortegal with 
the isle of Ushant, would measure somewhat less than 400 
miles, which is the length of the gulf. 

The shores which enelose this bay vary greatly in cha- 
racter. Beginning with Cape Ortegal, and continuing along 
the whole of the coast of Spain as far as the mouth of the 
Bidasoa and the western extremity of the Pyrenees, they 
are rocky and elevated, sometimes vising to several hundred 
feet, and eut by numerous short inlets, which in several 
places form excellent harbours. This rocky coast extends 
upwards of 300 miles. The shores of France present a 
different aspect. From the Bidasoa to the Gironde, upwards 
of 150 miles, they are sandy and low, lined by an uninter- 
rupted series of sandy downs, by which numerous lakes are 
separated from the sea. There is not a single harbour on 
all this coast except those formed by the embouchures 
of tho rivers Adour and Gironde; the Bassin d'Areachon, 
wVieh lies nearly at an equal distance from each, is hardly 
accessible to fishing-boats. To the north of the Gironde the 
shore continues to be low, but instead of being sandy it is 
marshy, and at no great distance from the beach a fino 
slightly undulating eountry commences. The marshy 
ground is in general firm and cultivated, or used as pas- 
ture ; but it is in some places intersected by salt pools, from 
which immense quantities of salt are procured not only 
for the consumption of France, but also for exportation. 
This coast continues as far as the bay of Morbihan and the 
peninsula of Qnlberon, about 200 miles. The remainder of 



the French coast along the Bay of Biscay," about 120 miles 
in length, is rather high, but commonly of very mode- 
rate elevation, and only rocky in a few places. In this part 
there are several good harbours. 

No islands nor rocks occur along the coast of Spain, nor 
along that of France south of the Gironde. But to the 
north of this river there are some considerable islands at no 
great distance from the shore. Such are the isles of Olfcron 
and Re, which form the harbours of Roehfort and La Ro- 
chelle, and those of Noirmoutier and Bouin, all of which 
are rather low and marshy. The rocky island of Dieu or 
D* Yeu lies farther off from the shore. This part of the coast 
is lined by several shoals, but is free from rocks. "West of 
the bay of Quiberon the islands are smaller but more nu- 
merous, and the rocks frequent. The most considerable 
islands are Belle Isle and the rocky and almost inaccessible 
Ushant. 

The rivers whieh run into the Bay of Biscay on the shore 
of Spain have a short eourse, originating commonly twenty 
or thirty miles, and perhaps never more than forty miles, 
from the coast, so that here the basin of this gulf extends 
only a short distance inland. But it is otherwise in France : 
the^ waters from more than half the surface of France find 
their way to this part of the oeean, and the upper course of 
the Loire is fully 200 miles distant from the sea to which its 
waters descend: Besides the Loire and its numerous tri- 
butaries, the Pay of Biscay receives the waters of the Ga- 
ronne, by means of its sostuary, called the Gironde, and some 
rivers of less magnitude, as the Adonr near Bayonne, the 
Charante near Rochefort, the Sevre Niortaise, opposite the 
isle of Re*, tko Vilaine to the east of the bay of Morbihan, 
and the Blavet below Orient. 

The commerce carried on in the harbours of the Bay of 
Biscay is considerable. Spain, however, furnishes only a 
small portion of the exports, owing to the hejght of the 
mountains which divide its numerous and excellent har- 
bours from the plains in the interior of the peninsula, and 
the difficulty and expensiveness of the transport of heavy 
commodities. From the inland provinces only wool is 
brought to the ports of Santander and Bilbao ; the produce 
of the coast itself is not considerable, and consists chiefly of 
fruits. But more than half of the products of the soil of 
Franee, and nearly the same portion of its manufactures, 
are exported from the harbours of Bayonne, Bourdeaux, 
La Rochelle, Nantez, Vannes, and Orient; and great quan- 
tities of foreign merchandise are received by the same 
way. 

The navigation of this part of the ocean would be easy 
and safe on account of the great width of the bay and the 
absence of rocks and shoals, if ifs waters during strong 
western and north-western winds were not extremely agi" 
tatcd, and formed into high, short, and broken waves: on 
this account it is nearly as much feared by navigators as 
the Cape of Good Hope. This effect is probably mainly 
produced by the peculiar form of the hay. Its wide opening 
allows at once an immense volume of water to be brought 
into it by the western winds, to whieh at its innermost ex- 
tremity it oppeses a long, regular, unbroken line of coast, 
running nearly parallel to the opening of the bay, and 
throwing back all the volume of water which is cast upon 
it. Such immense masses of water pushed towards the 
centre of the bay with great force must neeessarily disturb 
its surface to a considerable depth. This agitation of the 
bay is probably sometimes increased by the current whieh 
runs along the whole of its shores. This eurrent, like that 
which is called by Major Rennell the North African or Gui- 
nea Current, originates, as it seems, in the sea north-west 
of Capes Finisterre and Ortegal, and is commonly very sen- 
sible at both of these points, running sometimes twenty-six 
miles per day, at a distance of fifty miles and upwards from, 
the shore. It continues along the northern coast of Spain 
to the cast, then turns northward and north-westward along 
the shores of France, and when it arrives at the point where 
the Bay of Biscay and the British Channel join, it shoots 
across the mouth of the latter, brushing and sometimes en- 
closing the Scilly Islands. It then bends farther west, and 
approaches the eoast of Ireland between Cape Carnsore and 
Cape Clear, whence it bends to tho south-west and south, 
till it joins the North African eurrent, performing a com- 
plete rotation between Spain, France, Ireland, and tho At- 
lantic Ocean at large. This eurrent is hardly perceptible 
after a long interval of raoderato winds ; bi*t after hard and 
continual gales from tho west, it is felt in eonsidcrablu 

3M2 



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452 



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strength at tho Scilly Islands and the southern coast of 
Ireland, and causes on both points considerable) loss of life 
and property, when vessels have been carried out of their 
way by it, and thick weather prevents their setting them- 
selves right hy an observation. This branch of the North 
African current is called Ucnnell's Current, in honour of 
this indefatigable geographer. (RcnnclTs Investigation of 
the Current t in the Atlantic Ocean.) 

B1SCHWILLER, or B1SCHWEILLER, a town in 
France, in tho department of Bas Hhin (Lower Rhine), on 
the right or south bank of tho Moder, a small feeder of 
the Hhine. Its distance from Paris by the road is pro- 
bably about 276 miles. It is in 48°4G f N.lat., and 7*52' 
E. long. 

This town is not fortified : it has a church situated on n 
small elevation, nt the foot of which is the castle surrounded 
by a moat. (Expilly.) The trade of tho town is consider- 
able. Some years since it consisted in the preparation of 
mndder, beating hemp, founding in copper and iron, and 
making bricks, tiles, nnd pottery, clay for which, of an excel- 
lent quality, was procured in the environs. (Encydopcdie 
M&ihodique.) Of late years some of theso branches of 
manufacturing industry seem to have hecn superseded or 
eclipsed by the increase of weaving. The looms of Bisch- 
willer now produce cloth for soldiers* clothing, linsey-woolsey, 
bed-ticking, and worsted gloves : woollen-yarn is spun ; 
hemp and madder are still cultivated ; and rones, oil, and 
leather arc made. Iron was formerly procured in the neigh- 
bourhood, but we arc not aware whether the mine is now 
worked. Poat has been lately dug. Tho population in 
1832 was 5927. 

BISCUIT (German, Ziceihach; Dutch, Scheepsbe- 
schuit ; Danish, Skibstvebak ; Swedish, Skepjisbrod ; 
French, Biscuit; Italian, Biscotto, Galetta; Spanish, 
BizcoehOt Galleta ; Portuguese, Biscoito ; Russ, Bort, 
Ssuclier; Latin, Pants Biscoctus Nauticus), a kind of 
bread mado usually in the form of flat cakes, in order to 
kisurc their being deprived of moisturo in the baking: 
which circumstance is necessary for preserving them fit for 
use during tho continuance of long voyages. The use of this 
kind of bread on land is indeed pretty general as a matter 
of luxury; but at sea, biscuits are an article of the first ne- 
cessity, since bread in the more ordinary form in which it is 
used on shore would speedily become mouldy and unfit for 
food. 

The namo biscuit is evidently derived from the nature of 
the processes to which this kind of bread was formerly sub- 
jected. The two hakings then used are no longer found ne- 
cessary, but the name, although thus rendered inappropriate, 
has been continued. 

The same name is applied, inappropriately also, to several 
articles made by confectioners, such as sponge biscuits, 
Naples hiscuits, Sec., the form and composition of which it 
does not appear necessary to deseriho any further than by 
saying that they are sweetened with sugar, nnd that they 
are not reduced by baking to the stato of dryness which has 
been mentioned as a necessary quality of biscuits in their 
ordinary form. Many other kinds of fancy hiscuits are 
indeed mado to which 'this quality is given, and which aro 
sweetened and variously composed so as to gratify the palate. 
Our description of biscuit-making will be confined to that 
kind which forms a principal part of the food of seamen, 
and which is for that reason usually known as ship-bread or 
biscuit. 

When intended for this use, biscuits arc most commonly 
made of the meal of wheat from which only the coarsest 
bran has been separated. It is hardly possible to be too 
particular in tho selection of meal for this purpose, sinco 
any damage to which it may have been subject, either before 
or after being ground, would prevent biscuits, however 
carefnlly made, from keeping sound for any length of time. 
The preparation of sea-biscuit is carried on as a substantive 
h ranch of business in nlmost every port to which vessels 
resort which arc engaged in trading with distant countries. 

Tho largest biscuit- manufactories arc thoso maintained 
by government for supplying the navy. The scalo upon 
which theso are carried on is such as to mako it of great 
importanco to introduco into the process every simplicity 
compatible with tho goodness of the articles, and attempts 
have, with this view, been made from time to time, in order to 
lessen the amount of labour in tho establishments. It docs 
not appear that theso attempts cau havo been very suc- 
cessful, sinco the process now used in tho great bakehouse 



at Deptford is identical with that employed there forty 
years ago, nnd which is as follows : 

Meal and water being mixed together in proportions 
necessary for giving tho due degree of consistency to tho 
dough, it is kneaded in tho following manner: — The dough 
is placed upon a wooden platform, about six feet square, 
fixed horizontally a few inches nbovo the floor of the bake- 
house, and against the wall. A wooden roller, or staff, five 
inches in diameter, and eight feet long, has one end fixed 
hy racnns of a staple and eye to the wall, at a convenient 
distance, at tho middle of that side which is against tho 
wall, abovo tho level of the platform, and it3 other end over- 
hangs by two feet the outer edge of tho platform. Having 
a certain play by means of the staplo and eye, this roller can 
bo made to traverse tho surface of the platform, and when 
the dough is placed upon it, the roller is used so as to knead 
it by indenting upon it lines radiating in a scinicirclo 
from the staple.^ To perform this kneading process, a man 
scats himself upon the overhanging end of the roller and 
proceeds with a riding motion backwards nnd forwards 
through tho semicircular range until the dough is suffi- 
ciently kneaded. 

In this state the dough is cut hy large knives into slices, 
which arc subdivided into small lumps, each sufficient for 
making a biscuit. In moulding these small lumps, which 
is done by hand, the dough undergoes a further degree of 
kneading, and at length receives the form of the biscuit. 
The men who thus fashion the dough make two of those 
cakes nt the same time, woiking with each hand inde- 
pendently of the other, AVhcn this part of the work is com- 
pleted, tho two pieces which have been simultaneously pro- 
pared are placed one on tho other and handed over to 
another workman, by whom tho two together are stamped 
with a toothed instrument, the use of which is to allow the 
equahle dissipation of moisture through the holes from all 
parts of the biscuit during the baking. The biscuits are 
then separated by another workman, who places tlicin on a 
particular spot of a small table standing closo to the mouth 
of the oven, so that each biscuit can be taken up in its turn 
without the necessity of his looking for it, by the man who 
supplies the oven. The office performed by this man is 
that of chucking tho biscuits in succession upon the peel, 
which is heldhy another man whose business is to arrange 
them in the oven. This peel is a flat thin board, a few 
inches square, which can, by means of a long handle, be 
slidden over the floor of the oven, so as to deposit and ar- 
range the biscuits thereon. The greatest nicety is required 
on the part of the man who thus chucks the hiscuits on the 
peel, and he could not perform this evolution with the 
necessary degree of precision, if he were at any time obliged 
to withdraw his eye from the peel in search of the biscuit. 
Tho oven is hy these means supplied nt the rate of seventy 
biscuits in one minute. 

Tho mouth of the oven is necessarily open during tho 
time of its hcing charged; the heat is therefore greater 
at the beginning than at the end of that operation, and 
besides this, the biscuits first deposited are of course a 
longer time exposed to heat than the rest. To remedy the 
irregularity that might be thus occasioned, the pieces of 
dough are gradually and regularly mado of smaller bulk, 
so that the effect of the cooler oven during a shorter time is 
equalized. 

When sufficiently haked, the biscuits arc placed in the 
warm atmosphere of rooms (which are well ventilated), over 
the ovens, and remain thcro until perfectly dry. In this 
stato it is found that only one hundred and two pounds of 
biscuits are procured from ono hundred and twelve pounds 
of meal. 

BISCUIT, in pottery, is a term used to denote porcelain 
as well as the commoner kinds of earthenwares at a certain 
stago of tho manufacturing process. To render them fit 
for most purposes, it is necessary that earthenwares should 
bo covered with a glaze, which is a vitreous coating, and 
henco arises the necessity for subjecting thcin twice to the 
action of heat in furnaces. The first baking is necessary 
in order to preserve the shape and texture of the pieces, 
since in these respects they would be altered through tho 
absorption of the water from the glaze, which must be used 
in a fluid form. Neither would it be possible, for the samo 
reason, to apply painting, or to transfer printed patterns to 
their surfaces in the green state, i. e. previously to firing. 
It is after this first baking, and previous to tho application 
of tho glaze and of embellishments, that these wares receivo 



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453 



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the name of biseult, which is given from the resemblance 
which they bear in colour and apparent texture to ship- 
bread. The second firing is necessary in order to vitrify 
the glaze, and to bring out the metallic colours which are 
used for embellishing earthenwares. 

The heat of the first oven must be at least equal to that 
employed for the vitrification of the glaze, and for this rea- 
son : as soon as that degree of heat to which earthenwares 
have been already subjected is passed, a further degree of 
shrinking occurs, which would occasion the glaze to eraek 
and peel off, an effect which will not be produced by a repe- 
tition of the degree of heat that has been once applied. It 
is a property of clay to contract when subjected to any de- 
gree of heat greater than it has previously borne but short 
of the point of fusion, and to eontinue at that same state of 
contraction at every other temperature which is not above 
the degree of heat to which it has once been subjected, 
and by whieh its actual state of contraction has been pro- 
duced. 

Earthenware in the state of biscuit is permeable to water, 
which however it imbibes without undergoing any altera- 
tion of texture. This quality fits it for being used in the 
eooling of fluids, which effect is produced through the rapid 
evaporation from the outer surface. (Lardner's Cabinet 
Cyclopcedia, vol. xxvi.) 

BISHAREEN is the common name of several tribes 
which inhabit the mountain desert between the valley of 
the Nile and the Red Sea, The tribes comprised under 
this name are masters of the desert lying between the Wady 
Naby (about 21° N. lat.), to the mouth of the Atbara or 
Tacazze (about 1 8° N. lat.) ; but they are also found to the 
north of Wady Naby, where they are mixed with the Ababde 
tribes, to whom the country north of Wady Naby is con- 
sidered to belong. To the south some of the Bishareen 
tribes are met witb as far as Massuah or Massowa (16° N. 
lat.) on the Red Sea, and here tbey are mixed with their 
southern neighbours, the Hadendoa. 

In their manner of life they are Beduins, though evi- 
dently not of Arabian origin. In winter they pasture their 
camels and sheep on the mountains near the Red Sea, where 
the rain produces plenty of herbage in the beds of the winter 
torrents ; but in summer, when the grass is dried up in the 
desert, they are obliged to descend to the Nile to feed their 
cattle on the herbage along the banks of tho streams. 

They lrye entirely upon milk and flesh, much of which 
they eat raw. A few of them occasionally visit Derr or 
Assouan with senna, sheep, and ostrich-feathers ; the ostrich 
h common in their mountains, and their senna of the 
best kind. In exchange they take shirts and dhurra, the 
grains of which they swallow raw as a dainty, and never 
make it into bread. 

Several of the Bishareen, though Beduins, do not neglect 
agriculture. They repair to the banks of the Atbara imme- 
diately after the inundation to sow dhurra and kidney-beans, 
and remain there till the harvest is got in, when they return 
to the mountains. 

They are a good-looking raee of people, resembling the 
Ababde. Their women are rather handsome, of a dark- 
brown complexion, with beautiful eyes and fine teeth ; their 
persons are slender and elegant ; they mix in company with 
strangers, and aro reported to be of very depraved habits. 
The dress of both sexes eonsists only of a dammour shirt. 

Their encampments consist of several long irregular rows 
of tents, formed of mats made of the leaves of the doum- 
trce. As the Nubian sheep and goats do not furnish the 
inhabitants with the necessary materials for tent- coverings 
of wool or goats'-hair, like the eastern Beduins, their place 
is supplied by mats. 

The Bishareen are constantly armed. Their youths make 
plundering excursions as far as Dongola t "and along the 
route to Sennaar, mounted upon camels of a breed superior 
to any other that exists between the shores of the Mediter- 
'rancan and Abyssinia. They fear none but the Ababde, 
who know their pasturing places in the mountains, and 
often surprise their eneampments. They are addicted to 
drunkenness and pilfering, and are described as treacherous, 
eruel, avaricious, and revengeful. They are all Mussul- 
mans, but tbey observe none of the rites prescribed by the 
Koran. Though kind, hospitable, and honest towards caeh 
other, they shew none of these virtues towards strangers ; 
and their want of hospitality is adduced as a proof that they 
are not of Arabian origin, whieh is likewise evident from 
their language. 



Scarcely any of them understand the Arabie language, 
except those who visit the neighbouring trading places. 
Towards the frontier of Abyssinia they understand the 
Abyssinians, who however are said to have greater diffi- 
culty in understanding tbe Bishareen. Tbe.r languages 
are probably derived from the same source, like many 
others of the numerous dialects which prevail towards the 
northern frontier of Abyssinia. (Burckhardt's Travels in 
Nubia.) 

BISHOP, the name of that superior order of pastors 
or ministers in the Christian ehurch who exercise" su- 
perintendency over the ordinary pastors within a certain 
district, called their see or diocese, and to whom also be- 
longs the performance of those higher duties of Chris- 
tian pastors, ordination, consecration (or dedication to reli- 
gious purposes) of persons or places, and finally, excommu- 
nication. 

The word itself is corrupted Greek. 'EthVottoc (episcopos) 
became episcopus when the Latins adopted it. They intro- 
duced it among the Saxons, with whom, by losing something 
both at the beginning and the end, it became piscop, or, as 
written in Anglo-Saxon characters, Bijceop. This is the 
modern bishop, in which it is probable that the change 
in the orthography (though small) is greater than in the 
enunciation. Othet modern languages retain in like man- 
ner the Greek term slightly modified according to the pecu- 
liar genius of each, as the Italian, vescovo; Spanish, obispo? 
and French, iveque; as well as the German, bischof; Dutch* 
bisschop ; and Swedish, biskop. 

The word episcopus literally signifies * an inspector or 
superintendent;* and the etymological sense expresses 
even now much of the actual sense of the word. The 
peculiar character of the bishop's office might be ex- 
pressed in one word — superintendency. The bishop is, 
the overseer, overlooker, superintendent in the Christian 
Church, and an exalted station is allotted to him corre- 
sponding to the important duties which belong to his office. 
It was not, however, a term which was invented purposely 
to describe the new officer which Christianity introduced 
into the social system. The term existed before both among 
the Greeks and Latins to designate certain civil officers 
to whom belonged some species of superintendency. (See 
Harpocrat. or Suidas in voc. liriaKoiroc.) Cicero (ad 4tfi. 9 
lib. vii. ep. 11) speaks of himself as appointed an Mokotzoq 
in Campana. * 

It has long been a great question in the Christian Church 
what kind of superintendency it was that originally belonged 
to the bishop. This question, as to whether it was origi- 
nally a superintendency of pastors or of people, may be 
briefly stated thus : — Those who maintain that it was a su- 
perintendency of pastors challenge for bishops that they are 
an order of ministers in the Christian Church distinet from 
the order of presbyters, and standing in the same high 
relation to them that the apostles did to the ordinary minis-. 
ters in the ehurch ; that, in short, they are tho successors- 
and representatives of the apostles, and receive at their 
consecration eertain spiritual graces by devolution and trans- 
mission from them, which belong not to the common pres- 
byters. This is the view taken of the original institution 
and character of tbe bishop in the Catholic Church, in the 
English Protestant Church, and we believe in all churches 
which are framed on an episcopal constitution. Episcopacy 
is thus regarded as of divine institution, inasmuch as it is 
the appointment of Jesus Christ and the apostles, acting in 
affairs of the church under a divine direction. There are, 
on tbe other hand, many persons who contend that the 
superintendency of the bishop was originally iu no respect 
different from the superintendency exercised by presbyters 
as pastors of particular churches. They maintain that, if 
the question is referred to scripture, we there find that bishop 
and presbyter aro used indifferently to indicate the same 
persons or class of persons; and that there is no trace in the 
scriptures of two distinct orders of pastors ; and that if the 
reference is made to Christian antiquity we find no trace of 
such a distinction till about 200 years after the time of the 
apostles. The account which they give of the rise of the 
distinction which afterwards existed between bishops and 
mere presbyters is briefly this. 

When in the ecclesiastical writers of the first thveo cen- 
turies we read of the bishops, as of Antioch, Ephesus, Car- 
thage, Rome, and the like, we are to understand the pres- 
byters who were the pastors of the Christian churches in 
those eities. While the Christians were few in each eity, 



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on© pastor would bo sufficient to discharge every pastoral 
duty among them ; but when the number increased, or 
when tho pastor became enfeebled, assistance would bo 
required by him, and thus other presbyters would be intro- 
duced into tho city and church of tho pastor, forming a kind 
of council around him. Again, to account for tlie origin of 
dioceses or rural districts which were under the tuperin- 
tendcucy of tlio pastors, it was argued that it was the cities 
which first received Christianity, and that the people in the 
country places remained for the most part heathens or pagans 
(so called from pagus. a country village) after the cities 
were Christianized ; but that nevertheless efibrts were con- 
stantly being made to introduce Christian truth into tlio 
villages around tho chief cities, and that whenever favour- 
able opportunities were presented, the chief pastor of the 
city encouraged the erection of a church, and appointed 
some presbyter cither to reside constantly in or near to it, 
or to visit it when his services were required, though si ill 
residing in the city, and there assisting the chief pastor in 
his ministrations. Tho extent of country which thus formed 
a dioccso of tho chief pastor would depend, it Is supposed, 
on the civil distributions of tho period ; that is, the dioceses 
of tho bishops of Smyrna, or any other antient city, would 
be the country of which the inhabitants were accustomed 
U) look to tbq city for the administration of justice, or in 
general to regard it as the scat of that temporal authority 
to which they wero immediately subject. 

All this is represented as having gone on without any 
infringement on the rights of the chief pastor, of whom 
tlicro was a regular series. Lists of them are preserved in 
many of tho raoro antient churches, ascending, on what may 
ho regarded sufficient historical testimony, and with few 
breaks in tho continuity, even iato the second and first cen- 
turies. Bishops are however found in churches for which 
this high antiquity cannot bo claimed. In these eases they 
aro supposed to bq either in countries which did not fully 
receive Christianity in the very earliest times, or that the 
bishops or chief pastors delegated a portion of that superior 
authority which they possessed over the other presbyters to 
the presbyter settled in one of the churches which was 
originally subordinate. This is supposed to have been the 
origin of the distinction among the chief pastors of bishops 
and archbishops, there being still a slight reservation of 
eupcrintendency and authority in the original over the newly 
created chief pastors. 

If this view of the origin of the episcopal character and 
office be correct, it will follow that originally there was no 
essential difference between the bishop and the presbyter, 
and also that the duties which belong to the pastor of a 
Christian congregation were performed by the bishop. But 
when the increase of tho number of Christians rendered 
assistants necessary, and this became a permanent institu- 
tion, then the chief pastor would divest himself of those 
simpler and easior duties, which occasioned nevertheless a 
great consumption of time, as a matter at once of choice 
and of necessity. Having to think and to consult for other 
congregations besido that which was peculiarly his own, and 
to attend generally to schemes for the protection or exten- 
sion of Christianity, ho would have little time remaining fur 
ratccbizing, preaching, baptizing, or other ordinary duties ; 
and especially when it was added that ho had to attend coun- 
cil*, and even was called to assist and advise the temporal 
governors in the civil and ordinary affairs of state. When 
Christianity, instead of being persecuted, was countenanced 
and encouraged by the temporal authorities, it was soon 
perceived that the bishop would ho a very important auxi- 
liary to tho temporal authorities; while in ages when few 
besides ecclesiastical persons had any sharo of learning, or 
what we call mental cultivation, it is manifest that the high 
ofllccs of state, for the performance of tho duties of which 
ranch discemmont and much information were required, 
must necessarily be filled by ecclesiastics, who might be 
expected, as we know to hare been the caso, to unite spi- 
ritual pra-crainenco with their high political offices. The 
Lord High Chancellor of England was always an eccle- 
hiostic, and generally a bishop, to tho time of Sir Thomas 
More, in tho reign of Henry VIII. 

I he functions which belong to tho bishop aro in all coun- 
tries nearly the same. We shall speak of them as they 
exist in the English Church. 1. Confirmation, when children 
on the threshold of maturity ratify or confirm the engage- 
ment entered into by their sponsors at baptism, which is 
done in the presence of a bishop, who may be understood 



in this ceremony to recognise or receive into the Christian 
church tho persons horn within his diocese. 2. Ordination, 
or tho appointment of persons decmod by him properly quali- 
fied, to the office of deacon in the church, and afterwards of 
presbyter or priest. 3. Consecration of presbyters when they 
are appointed to the offico of bishop. 4. Dedication, or con- 
secration of edifices erected for the performance of Christian 
services or of ground set apart for religious purposes, as 
especially for the burial of the dead. 5. Administration of 
the effects of persons deceased, of which the bishop is the 
proper guardian, until some person has provod before him 
a right to the distribution of those effects either as the next 
heir or by virtue of the will of tho deceased. 0. Adjudica- 
tion in questions respecting matrimony and divorce. 7. In- 
stitution or collation to vacant churches in his diocese. 
8. Superintendence of the conduct of the several pastors in 
his diooeso, in respect of morals, of residence, and of the 
frequency and proper performanco of the public services of 
the church. And, 9, Excommunication ; and, in the case 
of ministers, deprivation and degradation. 

These are the most matorial of tho functions which have 
been retained by the Christian bishops, or, if we adopt 
the thoory of apostolic succession, which have from the 
beginning been exercised by them. To these it remains to 
he added, that in England they arc the medium of com- 
munication between the king and thq people in respect 
of all affairs connected with religion ; and that they aro an 
important constituent part of that great council of the realm 
which is called parliament 

Whatever kind of moot, assembly, or council for the advice 
of tho king thcro was in the earliest times of the English 
monarchy, the bishops were chief persons in it. The charters 
of tho early Norman kings usually run in tho form that 
thoy aro granted by tho assent and advice of the bishops as 
well as others ; and when the antient great council became 
moulded into the form of the modern parliament, the bishops 
were seated, as we now sec them, in the Upper House. Jt 
is argued that they sit as barons [see Baron], but tho 
writ of summons runs to them as bishops of such a place, 
without any refcrenco to the temporal baronies held by thom. 
Down to the period of the Reformation they wero far from 
being the only ecclesiastical persons who had scats among 
the hereditary nobility of the land, many abbots and priors 
having been summoned also, till the houses over which they 
presided were dissolved, and their office thus extinguished. 
Henry VIII. created at that time six new bishoprics, and 
gave the bishops placed in them scats in the same assembly. 
But before the nation had adjusted itself in its new position, 
there was a powerful party raised in the country, who main- 
tained that a government of the church by bishops was not 
accordant to the primitive practice, and who sought to bring 
back the administration of ecclesiastical affairs to the stato 
in which there was an equality among all ministers, and 
where tho authority was vested in synods and assemblies. 
Churches upon this model had been formed at Geneva and 
in Scotland; and when this party became predominant in 
the parliament of 1642, a bill was passed for removing tho 
bishops from their seats, to which the king gave a reluctant 
and forced assent. It was soon followed by an entire dis- 
solution of tho Episcopal Church. At tho Restoration this 
act was rcpoalcd, or declared invalid, and the English bishops 
have ever since had scats in the House of Lords. They form 
the Lords Spiritual, and constitute one of tho three estates 
of the realm, tho Lords Temporal and tho Commons (the 
tiers etat) being the other two. Out of this has arisen tho 
question, now laid at rest, whether a bill has passed the 
House in a constitutional manner, if it has happened that 
no Lord Spiritual was present at any of its stages. When 
the House becomes a court for tho trial of a peer charged 
with a capital offence, the bishops withdraw, it being hold 
unsuitable to the character of ministers of mercy and peaco 
to intermeddle in affairs of blood. 

For tho execution of many of the duties belonging to their 
high function they havo officers, as chancellors, judges, and 
officials, who hold courts in tho bishop's name. 

Tlio election of bishops is supposed by those who regard 
tho ordor as not distinguished originally from the common 
presbyter, to havo been in the peonlo who constituted the 
Christian church in the city to wliich they were called ; 
afterwards, when the number of Christians was greatly in- 
creased, and thcro wero numerous assistant presbyters, in 
the presbyters and some of tho laity conjointly. But after 
a timo the presbyters only seem to have possessed the right, 



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455 



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and the bishop was elected by them assembled in chapter. 
The nomination of such an important officer was however 
an object of great importance to the temporal sovereigns, 
and they so far interfered that at length they virtually ob- 
tained the nomination. In England there is still the shadow 
of an election by the chapters in the cathedrals. When a 
bishop dies the event is certified to the king by the chapter. 
The king writes to tha chapter that they proceed to elect a 
successor. This letter is called the conge delire. The king, 
however, transmits to them at the same time the name of 
some person whom he expects them to elect. If within a 
short time they do not proceed to the election, the king 
may nominate by his own authority; if they elect any other 
than the person named in the king's writ, they incur the 
severe penalties of a pnemunire, which includes forfeiture 
of goods, outlawry, and other evils. The bishop thus elected 
is confirmed in his new office under a royal commission, 
when he takes the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, canonical 
obedience, and against simony. He is next installed, and 
finally consecrated, which is performed by the archbishop or 
some other bishop named in a commission for the purpose, 
assisted by two other bishops. No person can be elected a 
bishop who is under thirty years of age. 

Most of the bishops in England are amply endowed. 
Their churehes, which are called cathedrals, (from cathedra, 
a seat of dignity,) are nohle and splendid edifices, the un- 
impeachable witnesses remaining among us of the wealth, 
the splendour, and the architectural skill of tho ecclesiastics 
of England in the middle ages. The cathedral of the 
Bishop of London is the only modern edifice. 

For other information on this subject, see Archbishop 
and Archdeacons 

Bishops in partibus. — This i3 an elliptical phrase, and is 
to be supplied with the word Infidelium. These arc bishops 
who have no actual see, but who are consecrated as if 
they had, under the fiction that they are bishops in succes- 
sion to those who were the actual bishops in eitics where 
Christianity is extinct. Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and 
the northern coast of Africa, present many of these extinct 
sees, some of them the most antient and most interesting 
in the history of Christianity. When a Christian mission- 
ary is to be sent forth in the character of a bishop into a 
country imperfectly Christianized, and where the converts 
are not brought into any regular church order, the pope docs 
not consecrate the missionary as the bishop of that country 
in which his services are required, but as the bishop of one of 
the extinct sees, who is supposed to have left his diocese 
and to be travelling in those parts. So, wheu England had 
broken off from the Catholic Church, and yet continued its 
own unbroken scries of bishops in the recognized English 
sees, it was, for Catholic ecclesiastical affairs, divided into 
districts, over each of which a bishop has been placed, who 
is a bishop in partibus. Thus, Dr. Baincs, the actual 
bishop of the western district, is the bishop of Siga, an ex- 
tinct African see. When, in tho time of King Charles I., 
Dr. Richard Smith was sent by the pope into England in 
the eharacler of bishop, he came as bishop of Chalcedon. 

The English church has not adopted this plan ; hut the 
bishops who have been sent to Nova Scotia, to Quebec, and 
to the East and West Indies, have been named from the 
countries placed under their spiritual superintendency, or 
from the eity which contains their residence and the cathe- 
dral church. 

Suffragan bishops. — In England, every bishop is, in cer- 
tain views of his character and position, regarded as a 
suffragan of tho archbishop in whose province he is. But 
the suffragan bishop is rather to be understood as a bishop 
in partibus, who was admitted by the English bishops 
before the Reformation to assist them in the performance of 
the duties of their office. When a bishop filled some high 
office of State, the assistance of a suffragan was almost es- 
sential, and was probably usually conceded by the pope, to 
whom such matters belonged, when asked for. A cata- 
logue of persons who have been suffragan bishops in Eng- 
land was mado by Wharton, a great ecclesiastical # anti- 
quary, and is printed in an appendix to a Dissertation on 
bishops in partibus, published in 1784 by another distin- 
guished eburch -antiquary, Dr. Samuel Pegge. 

At the Reformation, provision was made for a body of 
suffragans. Tho act 26 Henry VIII. e. 14. is expressly on 
this subject. It authorises each archbishop and hishop to 
name a suffragan, which is to be done in this manner: lie 
is to present the names of two clerks to tho lung, one of 



whom the king is to select. He was no longer to be named 
from some extinct see, but from somo town within the 
realm. Six and twenty places are named as the seats 
(nominally) of the suffragan bishops. They were these 
which follow : 

Thetford, Shaftesbury, Bristol, Cambridge 

Ipswich, Molton, Penrith, Pereth, 

Colchester, Marlborough, Bridgewater, Berwick, 
Dover, Bedford, Nottingham, St. Germains, 

Guilford, Leicester, Grantham, and the 

Southampton, Gloucester, Hull, Isle of Wight. 

Taunton, Shrewsbury, Huntingdon, 

This was before the establishment of the six new bishop- 
rics. 

.Very few persons were nominated suffragan bishops under 
this act. One, whose name was Robert Pursglove, who had 
been an abbot, and who was a friend to education, was 
suffragan bishop of Hull. He died in 1579, and lies in- 
terred in the church of Tides well in Derbyshire, under a 
sumptuous tomb, on which is his effigy in the episcopal cos- 
tume with a long rhyming inscription presenting an ac- 
count, curious as .being contemporary, of the places at which 
he received his education, and the ecclesiastical offices which 
in succession he filled. 

Boy-bishop.— -In the cathedral and other greater churches, 
it was usual on St. Nicholas-day to elect a child, usually 
one of the children of the choir, bishop, and to invest him 
with the robes and other insignia of the episcopal office ; 
and he continued from that day (Dec. 6), to the feast of the 
Holy Innocents (Dec. 28), to practise a kind of mimicry of 
the ceremonies in which the bishop usually officiated, more 
for the amusement than to the edification of the people. 
The custom, strange as it was, existed in the churches on 
the continent as well as in England. It may he traced to 
a remote period. It was countenanced by the great eccle- 
siastics themselves, and in their foundation they sometimes 
even made provision for these ceremonies. This was the 
case with the archhishop of York in the reign of Henry 
VII., when he founded his college at Rotherhara. Little 
can be said in favour of such exhibitions, but that they 
served to abate the dreariness of mid-winter. Much may be 
found collected on this subject in Ellis's edition of Brand's 
Popular Antiquities, vol. i. pp. 328-336. The custom 
was finally suppressed by a proclamation of Henry VIII. 
in 1542. 

BISHOPRIC is a term equivalent to diocese or see, de- 
noting the whole district through which the bishop's su- 
perintendency extends. The final syllable is the Anglo- 
Saxon nice, region, which entered in like manner into the 
composition of one or two other words. 

In England there are two archbishoprics, and twenty 
bishoprics : in Wales, four bishoprics ; the Isle of Man forms 
also a bishopric, hut the bishop has no seat in the English 
parliament. 

The basis of the present diocesan distribution of England 
was laid in the times of the Saxon Heptarchy. At the 
Conquest there were two archbishoprics and thirteen bi- 
shoprics, viz. :- * 

Canterbury, Rochester, Hereford, 

York, . Salisbury, Coventry and Lichfield, 

London, Bath and Wells, Lincoln, 

Winchester, Exeter, Norwich, 

Chichester, Worcester, Durham. 

The first innovation on this arrangement was made by 
King Henry I., who, to gratify the abbot of the antient 
Saxon foundation at Ely, and to free him from the super- 
intendence of the bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese he 
was, erected Ely into a bishopric, the church of the mo- 
nastery being made the cathedral. He assigned to it as its 
diocese the county of Cambridge and some portion of Nor- 
folk, perhaps as much as had formerly been comprehended 
within Mcrcia, for we have no better guide to the exact 
limits of the antient Saxon kingdoms than the limitations 
of the antient dioceses. This was effected in 1109. 

The second was in 1133, near the end of the reign of 
Henry I., when the seo of Carlisle was founded. The dio- 
cese consists of portions of the counties of Cumberland and 
Westmoreland, perhaps not before comprehended within 
any English diocese. 

No other change took place till 1541, when King Henry 
VIII. erected six new bishoprics, facilities for doing so 
being afforded by the dissolution of the monastic establish- 
ments, which placed at the kings disposal largo and 



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splendid churches, and groat estates, out of which to rnako 
a provision for tho support of tlio bishops. These wore, 
I. Oxford, having for its diocese the county of Oxford, 
which had previously been included within tho diocese of 
Lincoln ; 2. Peterborough : this diocese was also taken out 
of that of Lincoln, mnd comprises tho county of Northamp- 
ton and tho greater portion of Rutland. 3. Gloucester, 
having for its dioccso tho county of Gloucester, which had 
been previously in tho dioccso of Worcester. 4. Bristol, 
to which tho city of Bristol, and the whole county of Dorset 
heretofore belonging to the dioccso of Salisbury, were as- 
signed. 5. Chester ; to this a very large tract was assigned, 
namely, the county of Chester, heretofore part of the diocese 
of Liclifield and Coventry, and the whole county of Lan- 
caster, part of Cumberland, and the archdeaconry of Rich- 
mond, all of which wcro before in the diocese of York ; and 
6. Westminster, the county of Middlesex, which before had 
belonged to the diocese of London, being assigned to it as 
its diocese. This last bishopric however soon fell. In 
about nine years, Thirl by, tho first and only bishop, was 
translated to the see of Norwich, and the county of Middle- 
sex was restored to the diocese of London. 

Since the year 1541, no change has taken place in the 
dioccsal distribution of England. There was at first no 
proportion among the dioceses ; some, as those of York and 
Lincoln, being of vast extent, and others, as Hereford, Ro- 
chester and Canterbury, small. The change which has 
taken place in the population of different parts of England 
has heightened tho irregularity in respect of the burthen of 
these sees. The revenues are not in any degree proportionate 
to the extent or population in the diocese, as they consist 
for the most part of lands settled upon the sees, often in 
times long before the Conquest, the revenues from which 
vary greatly, according as tho lands have lain in places 
toward which the tide of population has been directed, or 
the contrary. 

No change appears to have taken place in the distribu- 
tion of Wales into four bishoprics ; those of Bangor and 
St. Asaph in North Wales, and of St. David's and Llandaff 
in South Wales. 

From the Report of the Commissioners appointed by his 
Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of 
England and Wales, published in 1835, we abstract the fol- 
lowing return of the revenues of the English sees. The 
bishoprics aro arranged under the archbishoprics to which 
they respectively belong. For the number of benefices, 
population, &c, of each see, sec Benefice. 





Net Income. 




Kel iDcomc. 


Canterbury 


£19,182 


Lincoln 


. £4,542 


London 


. 13,929 


Llandaff . 


924 


Winchester 


1 1,151 


Norwich 


5,395 


Sl Asaph . 


6,301 


Oxford . 


. 2,648 


Bangor 


4,464 


Peterborough 


. 3,103 


Bath and Wells 


5,946 


Rochester 


1,459 


Bristol 


2,35 1 


Salisbury • 


3,939 


Chichester . 


. 4,229 


Worcester 


6,569 


St. David's 


1,897 






Ely . 


. Il,t05 


York 


. 12,629 


Exeter . ( . 


2,713 


Durham . 


19,066 


Gloucester . ' 


. 2,282 


Carlisle 


. 2,213 


Hereford . 


2,516 


Chester '. 


3,26 1 


Lichfield andCov< 


sntry 3,923 


Sodor and Man 


2,555 



Tho bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester, rank 
next to tho archbishops : the others rank according to pri- 
ority of consecration. 

While the church of Scotland was episcopal in its consti- 
tution it had two archbishoprics, St. Andrew's and Glas- 
gow, and eleven bishoprics, to which, as late as 1633, a 
twelfth was added, the bishopric of Edinburgh. In tho 
other thirteen sees there is a long and pretty complete cata- 
logue of bishops, running up to the ninth, tenth, eleventh, 
or twelfth centuries. • Tlio eleven anticnt bishoprics were 
those of 

Aberdeen, Caithness, Galloway, Uoss, 

Argylo, Dumblane, Moray, 

Brcclrin, Duukcld, Orkney, 

and the Islcs,"or Sodor, a sec which was formerly within 
the supcrintendency of the bishop of Man. 

At the Revolution, the Presbyterian church of Scotland 
was acknowledged as tho national church : but there is still 
an episcopal church in Scotland, the members of which are 
there in tho character of dissenters. 



•Before the late changes in the Irish establishment, there 
were four archbishoprics and eighteen bishoprics. Many 
of the latter had been formed by the union of sees, which 
had been cfTectcd.at different epochs. At the time of tho 
late act, by which many were to be extinguished on tho 
death of the existing bishop, thcro were in the province of 

Armagh — Mcath and Clonmacnoise, Cloghcr, Down and 
Connor, Kilmorc, Dromore, Raphoc, and Derry. 

Dublin — Kildarc, Ossory, and Ferns and l^cighlin. 

Cashel— Limerick. Cork and Koss, Watcrford and Lis- 
morc, Cloyne, and Killaloc and Kilfcnora. 

Taam— Elphin, Clonfcrt and Kilmacduagh, and Killala 
and Achonry. 

Of these, by tho act of 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 37, the archi- 
episcopal dioccso ofTuam was to be united to that of Ar- 
magh, and that of Cashel to Dublin ; but the two suppressed 
archbishoprics are in future to bo bishoprics. The dioccso 
of Dromore is to bo united to that of Down and Connor ; 
that of Raphoe to Derry ; Cloghcr to Armagh ; Elphin to 
Kilmorc; Killala and Achonry to Tuam and Arda^h ; 
Clonfcrt and Kilmacduagh to Killaloc and Kilfcnora; Kil- 
dure to Dublin and Glandclagh; Lcighlin and Ferns to 
Ossory ; Watcrford andLismore to Cashel and Eraly ; Cork 
and Ross to Cloyne. The diocese of Mcath and Clanmac- 
noisc, and that of Limerick, remain unaltered. The arch- 
bishoprics aro reduced to two, and the bishoprics to ten. 

One archbishop and thrco bishops represent the Irish 
Church in the House of Lords. They arc changed every 
session according to a system of rotation by which all sit in, 
turn. 

The bishopric of Man is traced to Gcrmannc, one of tho 
companions of St. Patrick, in the fifth century ; but there 
arc many breaches in the series of bishops from that tiino 
to the present Sodor, which is supposed to be a Danish 
term for tho western Isles of Scotland, was under the same 
bishop till tho reign of Richard II., when tho Islo of Man 
having fallen under the English sovereignty, the Islands 
withdrew themselves, and had a bishop of their own. The 
nomination of the bishop was in the house of Stanley, earl 
of Derby, from whom it passed by an heiress to the Mur- 
rays, dukes of Athol. This bishopric was declared by an 
act of 33 Henry VIII. to be in tho province of York. 

The Isle of Wight is part of the diocese of Winchester : 
and the Isles of Jersey and Guernsey, with the small 
islands adjacent, are in the diocese of London. 

In the colonics, where there arc churches dependent on 
the English episcopal church, bishops have been conse- 
crated and appointed to the several places following : namely, 
Nova-Scotia, Quebec, Jamaica, Barb adoes, Calcutta. 

The pope is the bishop of the Christian church of Rome, 
and claims to be the successor of St. Peter, of whom it is 
alleged that he was tho first bishop of that church, and 
that to him there was a peculiar authority assigned, not 
only over all the inferior pastors or ministers of the church, 
but over tho rest of the apostles, indicated to him by tho 
delivery of tho keys. The whole of this, the foundation of 
that superiority which the bishop of Rome has claimed over 
all other bishops, has furnished matter of endless contro- 
versy; and it docs not appear that thcro is any sutlicient 
historical authority for the allegation that St Peter did act for 
any permanency as the bishop of that church, or for the six 
or seven persons named as successively bishops of that church 
after him. It seems more probable that the superiority en- 
joyed by that bishop at a very early period over other bishops 
(which was not universally acknowledged, and strenuously 
opposed by our own Welsh bishops) resulted from his po- 
sition in the chief city of the world, and the opportunities 
which he enjoyed of constant access to those in whom the 
chief temporal authority was vested. 

Both tho eastern and western churches were framed in 
an episcopal form and order. The sees were very numerous ; 
far too many to be introduced within tho limits to which 
we must confine ourselves. 

BISHOP'S CASTLE, a borough and market-town, 
with a separate jurisdiction, but locally situated in the 
hundred of Pnwlov, county of Salop ; 144 miles N. W. by 
W. from London, and 19 miles S.W. from Shrewsbury. 
The local limits of the borough aro extensive, comprising 
a circuit of about fifteen miles, and being from three to four 
miles in width in all directions. It stands on the declivity 
of a lull near a stream of tho river Chin, and is irregularly 
built. Tho mass of the houses have rather a mean ap- 
pearance, being of unhewn stone, with thatched roofs; 



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457 



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but there are several very good houses in detached situ- 
ations. The place derives its name from a eastle belonging 
to the Bishops of Hereford, which formerly stood here, 
and was generally their country residence. It has long 
been demolished, but its sito may still be traced, and part 
of it, probably of the keep, now forms the bowling-green 
of an inn. The town is an old corporation, and received from 
Queen Elizabeth the privilege of sending two members to 
parliament, which it continued to do until it was disfran- 
chised by the Reform Bill. The town has had three char- 
ters, the first from Queen Elizabeth, the second from James 
I., and the last from James II. These charters vest the 
local government in a bailiff, a recorder, and fifteen eapital 
burgesses. The borough magistrates hold a quarter session, 
the business of which is very trifling ; the bailiff is also em- 
powered to hold petty sessions whenever occasions require : 
aud there is also a civil court of record, which has cogni- 
zance of all suits where the sum in dispute does not exceed 
20/. The town-hall, a plain brick building, erected in 1750, 
includes a prison for criminals, and another for debtors. 
The market-house is a handsome edifice of stone. • The 
market is held on Friday, and the fairs on February 13th, 
Friday before Good Friday, Friday after the 1st of May, 
July 5th, September 9th, November 13th. All these are 
cattle-fairs except that in May, whieh is the pleasure fair, 
and that in July, which is a wool-fair. The market and 
the fairs are much resorted to by the Welsh, which is 
a great benefit to the place. The parish contained 388 
houses in 1831, and the population was then 2007, of whom 
1124 were females. The population of the borough alone 
was 1729. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, 
is a fine old structure, with a square embattled tower, sur- 
mounted by pinnacles. It is ehief ly in the Norman style ; 
but having been burnt in the parliamentary war, it was 
afterwards restored without sufficient attention being paid 
to the original character of the architecture. It has accom- 
modation for 1000 persons. The living is a vicarage in the 
diocese of Hereford, with an annual net income of 350/. 

The free school at Bishop's Castle was founded by Mrs. 
Mary Morris, in grateful remembrance of her first husband, 
John Wright, Esq. By her will, dated in 1785, she 
directed that 1000/. should be paid to the bishop, the interest 
of which was to be applied to the education of fifty children, 
half of them boys, to be instructed in reading, writing, and 
arithmetic ; and the other half girls, to be instructed in read- 
ing, writing and plain sewing. She also* gave 200/. for 
the building of a school. The bishop is visitor and trustee 
of the school, the property of which now consists of 1598/. 
13s. three per cent, consols. The interest amounts to 
47/. 19^. 2d. t of which 47/. is paid to the sehoolmaster. 
There are about thirty girls instructed free on this founda- 
tion ; the schoolmaster's wife instructs them in needlework 
at the schoolhouse, in the afternoon, and the master 
teaches them reading, writing, and accounts with the boys 
at the market house in the morning. There are fifty boys 
in the school, of whom twenty-five are taught free on the 
foundation ; the rest are pay scholars, with the exception of 
ten, who are taught by an annual donation of 21/. from 
Lord Powis's family and the members for the town. The 
master takes all children who apply, and places such as he 
thinks proper on the list of free scholars. There is no other 
National or Sunday school in connexion with the Esta- 
blished Church, but the several dissenting congregations 
have schools in connexion with their chapels. 

(Camden's Britannia ; Magna Britannia ; Beauties of 
England and Wales; Twenty-fourth Report on Cha- 
ritfes ; Reports on Municipal Corporations.) 

BISHOPS STORTFORD, a parish and market-town 
in the hundred of Braughin, county of Hertford, twelve 
miles E.N.E. from Hertford, and twenty-six miles N.N.E. 
from London. The place derives its name of Stortford from 
its situation upon the river Stort, and the prefix, from its 
having been, even from Saxon times, the property of the 
bishops of London. Domesday Book records that the Con- 
queror gave the town and castle of Stortford to Maurice, 
bishop of London ; if so, as Salmon remarks, he gave 
no more than he had previously taken, for the same 
document mentions that William, the last bishop but one 
before Maurice, had purchased this manor of the lady 
Eddcva. The same authority states that the property was 
then worth eight pounds per annum, but had been worth 
ten in the time of the Confessor. The small castle, which 
stood on an artificial hill, is said by Chauncey to have been 



built by William the Conqueror to protect~the trade of the 
town, and to keep it in subjection at the same time. 
Salmon, however, thinks that it existed before the Con- 
quest, and was merely strengthened and repaired "by this 
king. It was called Waytemore Castle, and stood in a 
piece of land surrounded by the Stort. It would seem that 
the site had at a previous period been occupied by a Roman, 
eamp, as some Roman coins of the lower empire have been 
found in the castle gardens. It appears to have been re- 
garded as a fortress of some consequence in the time of 
King Stephen, and the empress Maud endeavoured, but 
without effect, to prevail upon the bishop to exchange it 
with her for other lands. King John caused the castle to 
be demolished in revenge for the active part which Bishop 
William de St. Maria took against him in his difference 
with the pope, this prelate being one of the three who 
placed an interdict upon the kingdom. When the pop© 
triumphed over the king, the latter found it necessary to 
give the bishop his own manor of Guildford, in Surrey, to 
atone for the demolition of this castle. * The castle hill," 
says Salmon, * stands yet for a monument of King John's 
power and revenge ; and the bishop's lands remain a monu- 
ment of the pope's entire victory over him.' It seems that 
some of the outbuildings and other parts of the eastle were 
standing in the seventeenth century, and indeed some very 
small remains are still existing. The bishops continued to 
appoint a custos, or keeper, of the ' Castle and Gaol' of 
Stortford till the time of James I. The^ast who made use 
of the prison was Bishop Bonner, in the time of Queen Mary, 
who kept convicted Protestants in its deep and dark dungeon. 
Quit-rents for castle guard are still paid to the see of Lon- 
don from several manors adjacent to Bishop's Stortford. 

We are disposed to concur with Salmon in consider- 
ing that the town more probably arose from the eastle, 
than the castle from the .town, as Chauncey supposes. 
Here, as in many other cases, the eastle seems to have 
formed an inducement for people to settle in the neighbour- 
hood, as it offered a place of safety to which they eould 
retire with their moveables in time of danger. It must 
have became a place of some consequence at the time that 
King John demolished the castle, for that king, in order 
to make it independent of the bishop, erected the town 
into a borough, with power to the commonalty to elect their 
own officers for the local government, and to return two 
members to parliament. This new constitution held until 
the 14th of Edward III., when the bishop was restored to 
his usual privileges in the place, as he had before been to 
his lands, and the town was thenceforward relieved from 
the necessity of making returns to parliament. The town 
is now within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, 
who hold a petty session here once a fortnight. 
> Bishop's Stortford is built chiefiy on the western side of 
the Stort, where it extends up the slope of a hill from the 
river. It consists of four principal streets, or properly two 
lines of street, in the form of a cross. There are some good 
inns, and many houses of the better class. The church, 
dedicated to St. Michael, stands upon elevated ground, ' as,' 
says Salmon, * those dedicated to that Saint generally do/ and 
consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a fine lofty tower 
at the west end. Chauncey was inclined to think it must 
be a church of Saxon erection, because the figures of King 
Athelstan and Edward the Confessor were in the windows 
about thirty years before his time ; but later inquirers ac- 
quiesce in the determination of Salmon, who says the 
painted glass may have been taken from some earlier 
structure, but that the church itself has no appearance of 
being older than the time of Henry VI. The church was 
partly rebuilt in 1820, and now accommodates 2000 persons. 
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of London in the 
«ift of the precentor of St. Paul* s, and has an annual net 
income of 419/. 

A fresh impulse was given to the prosperity of Bishop's 
Stortford in the last century, by means of a canal which 
was completed in 1769. The surrounding district being 
fertile in corn, the trade of the place is chiefly in malt and 
other grain, considerable quantities of which are sent by the 
river or by the canal, the banks of which are furnished with 
convenient wharfs and quays. This trade, with a silk mill 
which has been established here, affords the principal employ- 
ment to those who are not immediately engaged in supplying 
the wants of the other inhabitants. The market is held on 
Thursday, and there aro three annual fairs, respectively 
held ou Holy Thursday, Thursday after Trinity Sunday, 



No. 262. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. I V.- 3 N 



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458 



B I S 



and the 10th of October. A very superior markeUiou*o 
was erected in 1828 by means of funds raised in share* of 
100/. each. It stands at t be point where tha two principal 
lines of street intersect each other. Its front is in the Ionie 
style, and it has a semicircular aroa with a colonnade sup- 
ported by iron pillars. Besides the parts appropriated to tho 
common tratfie there is a large hall used as acorn-exchange, 
over which is an assembly-room, a coffee-room, and a cham- 
ber for the magistrates. The parish, which comprehends 3080 
acres, contained 803 houses in 1831, when tho population 
was 3958, of whom 2068 were females. 

The town contains a publio library and several book so- 
cieties. There is a National School, supported by voluntary 
contributions, in whieh 200 boys and 100 girls receive in- 
struction. There was formerly a free grammar-school in 
the place, tho history of which is very obscure. Chauneey 
mentions that in 1579 a Mrs. Margaret Dcane, of London, 
left 5/. per annum In fee towards the erection of a free 
school. Ho says nothing more about this establishment 
until, further on in his list of benefactors to tha town, he 
says, 'Among these benefactors I may well mention my 
honoured master Mr. Thomas Leigh, who raised a fair 
library for tho usa of tha school in the town, from whenco 
I was sent to the University of Cambridge : it was an ex- 
cellent nursery that supplied both universities with great 
numbers of gentlemen who proved eminent in divinity, 
law, and physick, and sorao in matters of state. 11a obliged 
divers of those gentlemen to present books to the school at 
their departure, wherein their names are recorded and remain 
to posterity/ Sir Henry Chauneey wrote in 1 700, and was 
tben advanced in years. Salmon, who wrote twenty-eight 
years later, states that when Dr. Tooka became master of 
the school, about twenty yoars previously, • its reputation 
was tben in ruins;' but he bestirred bimself to restore its 
efficiency, and succeeded. He got the gentry of Hertford- 
shire and Essex, and those who had been educated at the 
school, to contribute their pecuniary aid. A new school- 
house was erected in tha High Street; it was a square 
structure supported upon arcbes, and contained three rooms, 
tbat in front was the grammar-school, and as large as both 
tho others, of which one was the library and the other a 
writing-school. The market-place and shops were undor 
the arches. ' Dr. Tooke/ says Salmon, • raised it to a great 
degree of fame, as the living numbers of gentlemen sent by 
him to his own and other colleges attest, and considerably in- 
creased the trade of the town by such a beneficial concourse. , 
The following is the amount of the information which Car- 
lisle gives concerning the fate of tbis establishment. * The 
grammar-school of Bishop's Stortford no longer exists . the 
whole establishment, together with the school-house, is in 
ruins. The library, which is considered a scarce and valuable 
collection of books, is deposited at the vicarage, but they 
also are going to decay.* (Chauncey's Historical Antiquities 
of Hertfordshire ; Salmon's History of Hertfordshire ; 
Gough's Camden's Britannia ; Carlisle's Endoiced Gram- 
mar Schools ; Beauties of England and IVales, &c.) 

BISHOPS WALTHAM, a parish and market-town in 
tho lower half of tho hundred of the same name, which lies 
in the Portsdown division of tho eounty of Southampton; 
sixty-two miles S.W. by W. from London, and ten miles 
E.N.E. from Southampton. It has immemorially been the 
property of the see of Winchester, whence the affix * Bishop's.' 
Domesday describes it among the lands of the see in 
Hampshire, and says that it was held in demesne, and had 
always belonged to the bishopric. It was then, as formerly, 
assessed at twenty hides, but there were actually thirty. It 
was in tha time of the Confessor worth 31/., was afterwards 
worth 10/. 10*., but whs then worth 30/. There were seventy 
villagers and fifteen yeomen, employing twenty-six ploughs ; 
there were seven servants ; and Radulphus, a priest, held 
two churches belonging to the manor, with two hides and a 
half. There were three mills whieh paid 17*. 6rf. Leland 
speaks of Bishops Waltham as ( a praty townlct. Here 
the bishop of Winchester hath a right ampla and goodly 
maner-place, motid about, and a praty brooko running hard 
by It. Tbo maner-place hath been of many bishops' build- 
ing; most part of tha three pans of the leaso court was 
buddid of brick and timbro by Bishop Langten ; the reside w 
of tho inner part is all of stone.' Tho brook mentioned is 
the small river Hamble, the souree of which is about a mile 
from the village, and passes through a piece of water which 
is described as having been a largo and beautiful lake, half 
•a mile long and a furlong broad ; but it is now deprived of 

I 



this character by the growth of rushas and tha encroach- 
ments of the soil. Tho bishop's castle, mentioned hy Iceland, 
was originally built by Bishop Henry du Blois, brother of 
King Stephen; but much of tho grandeur which it ulti- 
mately attained is attributed to tho architectural taste of 
William do W'ykehara, whoso favourita residence it was, 
and who thero terminated his active life at tho age of 
eighty. The great hall in tho second or inner court was 65 
feet in length, 27 in breadth, and 25 high, and was lighted 
by flVo largo windows of magnificent proportions. Thecastlo 
was demolished during tho civil wars by tho parliamentary 
army under Waller; and tho ruins, which consist of tho 
remains of tha hall and of a square tower, are now mantled 
with ivy. The park in which it stood has since been con- 
verted into farms. Tho town is chiefly remarkablo for tho 
neighbourhood of this castle. It has however a trada of 
soma activity in laather, of which it sends large quantities to 
Guernsey, London, and the neighbouring fairs ; tbcro is 
also some business in malting. Its market is held on 
Friday; and there are fairs on tho second Friday in May, 
July 30th, and tho first Friday after Old Michaelmas-day. 
The parish contained 438 houses in 1831, when the popu- 
lation amounted to 2181 persons, of whom 1115 wera 
females. The ehurch, whieh is dedicated to St. Peter, 
accommodates 1100 persons. The living is a rectory, with 
a net income of 915*. per annum, in the dioceso of Win- 
chester, tho bishop being patron. Thero is an endowed 
eharity school in the town founded by Bishop Morley, who 
endowed it with an annuity of 10/.; this sum has been 
augmented to 38/. by subsequent benefactions, and now 
provides instruction for thirty-six boys. There are also 
two national schools in the town, containing together eighty 
boys and as many girls. 

Waltham forest, in this vieinity, was in tho early part of 
the last century infested by a formidable and resolute gang 
of deer- stealers who called themselves * hunters,' but were 
more generally known by the namo of the ' Waltham 
Blacks,' hecausa they blackened tbeir faces in their pre- 
datory enterprises. They are mentioned by this name 
in the act of parliament which was passed against them, 
and which was therefora, as well as from its extreme 
severity, called the Black Act. This act declared more 
deeds to be felonies than had ever before been compre- 
hended in a singlo statuto. On this account, when Bishop 
Hoadly was advised to re-stock Waltham Park, ha refused, 
observing that 'it had done mischief enough already/ 
(Leland's Itinerary; Gough's Camden's Britannia; "War- 
ner's Collections for the History of Hampshire; Beauties 
of England and f Vales, $c.) 

BISHOP WEARMOUTH. [See Sunderland.] 

BISIGNA'NO, a small town in the province of Calabria 
Citra, in the kingdom of tho two Sicilies, situated on a hill 
near the right bank of the river Crati, about thirteen miles 
N. of Cosenza, and about three miles from the high road to 
Naples. Bisignano gives the title of Prince to the repre- 
sentative of tho family of Sanseverino, one of tho oldest fa- 
milies of the kingdom of Naples, which once possessed vast 
territories in this district. 

BISLEY, a parish and market-town in the hundred of 
Bisley, county of Gloucester, 91 miles W. by N. from 
London, and 9 miles S.K. from Gloucester. This large 
parish is from 20 to 2S miles in circumference, and compre- 
hends about 6000 acres, the greater part of which is high 
ground, with steep hills and narrow valleys. The sides of 
tho hills present inclosed arable lands, interspersed with 
copses, and tha valleys are mostly kept for pasturage, and 
are watered by many rivulets, which form tho Stroud water 
Hiver. Bisley, dial ford, and other hamlets in tho parish, 
aro chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the woollen 
manufactures ; and many fulling and dressing mills are 
erected in different parts of the parish. On the establish- 
ment of the woollen manufacturas the parish received large 
additions to its population, and the new inhabitants esta- 
blished themselves upon the waste lands. Such lands were 
formerly very extensive. It appears from Holinshed that 
when the commons were given to the poor by Roger Mor- 
timer, Earl of March, in tho time of Edward III., they com- 
prehended 1200 acres. In 1730, although tho commons 
wero inucb reduced then by inelosures, they comprehended 
700 acres, but they have since undergone further reduction 
by additional inelosures. 

In tha Domesday Survey the manor of Biselege,' in the 
hundred of Biseloio,' is described among tha lands of Earl 



B I S 



459 



B I S 



Hugh, whose brother Robert held this manor of him. It 
waarated at eight hides. We count ninety-one persons enu- 
merated in this statement as holding property, or attached 
to the property, and who may be considered as equivalent to 
as many families. The enumeration comprehends, among 
others, two priests, twenty villeins, twenty-eight bordarii, 
translated * yeomen* by Kennett, and twenty-three persons 
paying a rent of 44s. and two sextaries of honey. There 
were five mills of 16*. value, and a wood of 20*., and eleven 
burgages in Gloucester yielding 66rf. The manor had been 
worth 24J. per annum, but was then worth only 20/. The 
singular circumstance of two quarts of honey being speci- 
fied as an annual rent, induces Bigland to hazard a conjec- 
ture that the parish derived its name from Bees ; but a pre- 
vious historian, taking into account the woody character of 
the district, which character was probably more prevalent 
at a former period, thought it not unlikely that the name is 
a compound of Bois, a wood, and leaz, a lea or pasture. 

Soon after the Domesday Survey tbe manor of Bisley 
came to tbe crown, and in the time of Edward I. it passed, 
by marriage, to the Mortimers, afterwards earls of March. 
It continued in that family for nearly three centuries, de- 
volved to Edward, Duke of York, afterwards Edward IV., 
the heir-general of that family in the female line. From 
that time it remained attached to the crown, with little in- 
terruption, until it was given by James I. to the Marquis 
of Rockingham, who sold it to Dr. Masters, since which it 
has remained exclusively in private hands, and has several 
times passed by sale from one family to another. 

Bisley is little more -than a village, although considered as 
a town since the grant of a weekly market and two annual 
fairs by James IT. Tbe market-day is Thursday: it is but 
little frequented, and may be considered almost extinct. 
The fairs for cattle, &e. f on May 4 and November 12, are 
however of considerable importance. The population re- 
turns do not give any account for the town separately from 
the parish, which, in its. large extent, comprehended 1480 
houses in 1831, with a population of 5896 persons, of whom 
3090 were females. The village, which stands partly upon 
the acclivity of a hill and partly in the valley below, consists 
of irregular streets, and has not many houses of good ap- 
pearance. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is spacious, 
and may be called handsome; and, being placed on an 
eminence, is a very conspicuous object. It consists of a 
nave and two aisles, and is considered to have been built, at 
least in part, about the time of Edward IV. Bigland calls 
the steeple ' a clumsy obelisk,' but says it is useful as a 
land-mark. The church was re-pewed in 1771, when a 
fresco painting, in very lively eolours, and about ten feet 
square, representing St. Michael subduing the fallen angels, 
was discovered- against the north wall, but it was immedi- 
ately defaced. The cburch contains some interesting monu- 
ments, among which one in memory of a crusader, with his 
effigies in armour, attracts particular attention. The church 
accommodates 1200 persons. The living is a vicarage in 
the diocese of Gloucester, in the gift of the crown, and has 
a net income of 527/. In the churchyard there stands an 
antient octagonal stone cross. It appears to have been 
erected over a deep well, into which a man fell and was 
drowned, in consequence of which the churchyard was placed 
under an interdict for three years, during which time 
the inhabitants were obliged to carry their dead to Bibury 
for interment. Mr. S. Lysons, in his Antiquities of Glou- 
cestershire, thinks, from tho style of ornament, that this 
cross was erected in the thirteenth century. It is now sur- 
mounted by an antient stone fount, which was removed 
from the ehurch when it was new pewed. 

There are church lands at Bisley which have from time 
immemorial formed the estate of the parish. The proceeds 
amount to about 100/. per annum, a portion of which is ap- 
propriated to the support of what is called the ' Free School/ 
the master of which receives out of it 13/. 14$. as his salary. 
He is allowed to take some day-scholars, and is also the 
master of the Blue-coat School, founded by the will of John 
Taylor (dated in 1732), who bequeathed lands, at present 
producing 55/. 10*. per annum, for the education and cloth- 
ing of ten boys. The additional salary of the schoolmaster 
from this source .is twelve guineas per annum. The two 
establishments are taught together in a commodious school- 
room, standing on ground belonging to the parish. The 
children are taught to read and write, and are instructed in 
the Church catechism. 

The canal by which the Thames and Severn are united 



passes through this parish ; and near the border of it, at Sap- 
perton, enters a tunnel two miles and five furlongs in length. 
It is lined with masonry; and arched over at top, with an in- 
verted arch at the bottom, except at some few places, where 
the solid rock being scooped out renders it unnecessary. 
The summit level Of tbe Thames and Severn canal at Sap- 
perton tunnel is 376 feet above low water-mark at London. 

(Bigland' s Collections relative to the County of Glou- 
cester; Rudder's History of Gloucestershire; Rudge's His- 
tory of the County of Gloucester ; Lysons's Collection of 
Gloucestershire Antiquities ; Beauties of England and 
Wales ; Reports on Charities; Phillips's General History 
of Inland Navigation.) 

BISMUTH ORES. The minerals in which this metal 
constitutes the principal ingredient are comparatively few 
in number; and of these only two species are of any im- 
portance in a commercial point o'fview, namely, the native 
bismuth, and its sulphurets. The general characters of 
these minerals are the following : Before the blow-pipe they 
are readily fused and reduced to a metallic state, the regulus 
itself gradually subliming if the flame be continued, leaving 
on the charcoal an orange-yellow areola, which however 
may readily be made to disappear in the deoxidizing flame. 
When the metallic regulus is fused in an open glass tube, 
a yellowish-white "sublimate is obtained, and the regulus 
itself becomes covered by the fused oxide, which while hot 
is of a dark brown colour, but assumes a yellow tint on 
eooling. These minerals are all of them soluble in strong 
nitric acid, the solution yielding a white/precipitate on being 
dropped into water. They are known and described hy 
mineralogists under the following names : — Native or Octa- 
hedral Bismuth, Bismuth- ochre, Prismatic Bismuth-glance, 
Needle-ore or Acicular Bismuth -glance, called by Phillips 
Plumbo-cupriferous Sulphuret of Bismuth; Tellurbismuth, 
formerly known by the name of Molybdan silver. Native, 
or octahedral Bismuth, is sometimes found crystallized : the 
observed forms arc the octahedron, the tetrahedron, and 
combinations of the latter with the dodecahedron, which 
produce the shape seen in the accompanying figure. 




The faces marked o belong to the tetrahedron and those 
marked with d to the rbombie dodecahedron. Tho edge 
between the faces o is therefore 70° 32', between the faces 
d 120°, and in tbe edges of combination between o and 
d 144° 44'. These crystals are generally very imperfect, 
and the faces rough and uneven ; they possess a perfect 
cleavage parallel to the faces of the octahedron. The hard- 
ness varies from 2 to 2'5 ; the specific gravity from 9*6 to 
9*8. The crystals. are opaque, possess the metallic lustre, 
and the fresh fracture presents a reddish silver white, but 
the surface is usually tarnished owing to partial oxidation, 
and presents a variegated appearance of grey, red, and blue 
colours. They may be considered as presenting us with 
the metal bismuth in a pure state, the only foreign matter 
being traces of arsenic. The occurrence of crystals is 
somewhat rare, this mineral being usually found in feathery 
and arborescent forms, and also in dentiform concretions in 
veins traversing gneiss, mica, and clay-slates, where it is 
usually accompanied by ores of silver, cobalt, nickel, and 
iron. It is found at St. Colomb and Botallack mines in 
Cornwall, and at Carrock in Cumberland, but in much 
greater abundance in tho mines of Saxony and Bohemia, at 
Johann-Georgenstadt, Annaberg, Altenberg, Schnceberg, 
and at Joacbimsthal, from whence the greater portion of the 
bismuth of commerce is obtained. It is also found at Briber 
in Hainau, at Lbling in Carinthia/and in tho Sophia mine 
at Wittichen in Furstenberg. 

Thebismnth-ochrc is a rare mineral, which occurs massive 
and disseminated. It is of a straw-yellow, passing some- 
times into a light yellowish grey. Its specific gravity is 
4*36, and its chemical constitution 

Bismuth , 89*87 

Oxygen . . . . 10*13 
It usually contains small quantities of arsenic and oxide of 
iron as impurities. Its known localities are St. Agnes, 

3N 2 



B 1 S 



4G0 



B I S 



Cornell ; Schriccbcrg and Johann-Gcorgenstadt in Saxony; 
and Joachimsthal in Bohemia. 

BISMUTH-GLANCE. This mineral occurs in four-sided 
prisms or unknown dimensions, but it is stated by Phil- 
lips to have angles about 91° and 89". It is further cha- 
racterized by its metallic lustre, and lead-prey approach- 
ing steel -grey colour, and from its possessing a perfect 
cleavage in the direction of the short diagonal, and ono less 
perfect in tho direction of the base. According to Mobs 
the hardness is between 2 and 2*5, and the specific gravity 
6*549. It also occurs massive of a granular composition, 
or columnar, tbc individual* being long and straigut, and 
aggregated in various directions. According to the analysis 
of II. Rose of a specimen from Rcddarhyttan, it is thus 
composed : 

'Sulphur . . 18*49 . . 18*72 

Bismuth . . 81*51 . % . 80*98 

which denotes a compound expressed in the notation of 

tti 
Berzelius by Bi. 

Before the blow-pipe sulphur is first driven off, which is 
followed by a sublimate having: the odour of tellurium, 
and afterwards the characters arc tho same as thoso of the 
other minerals of bismuth. 

** The other minerals will be found described under the 
names of Needle-ore and Tcllurbismuth ; but it may be as 
well to state, that according to Berzelius, there exists another 
sulphurct of bismuth, composed of one atom of each of its 
constituents, a mineral found in the Gregers Klack, Bisp- 
berg, which has hitherto been considered as pure bismuth. 

* BISMUTH, a metal mentioned by Agricola about 1529, 
but first shown to be a peculiar one by Stahl and Dufay : 

•this* metal' generally occurs native, sometimes combined 
with sulphur, but rarely with oxygen, in Saxony, Bohemia, 
and Transylvania. Bismuth is of a reddish white colour, 
its lustre is' considerable, and its structure lamcllated; it is 
so brittle as to be easily reducible to powder, when cold ; its 
density is 9*83, which by cautious hammering while warm 
may.be .increased to 9*83; it melts at 462° according to 
Daniell, at ,476° by Dr. IrvineV experiments, whilo Mr. 
Criehton, jun. makes its fusing point 497°. At a hijjh tem- 
perature tli is metal is volatilized, may be distilled inclose 
vessels, and solidifies in foliated crystals ; if it bo merely 
melted in a crucible and cautiously cooled, it crystallizes in 
well-defined cubes. 

Bismuth as met with in commerce is not pure, for.it ge- 
nerally contains iron and arsenic, and probably some otlicr 
metals ; in order to purity it, it is to be dissolved in nitric acid, 
the solution is to be decomposed by .water, and the preci- 
pitate, after being boiled in a solution of soda, is to be mixed 
with black tlux, and moderately heated in a crucible. 

Oxygen and Bismuth, combine in at least two propor- 
tions, forming tho protoxide and peroxide. When this metal 
is heated to whiteness in the air it takes fire and bums with 

• an obscure blue flame, and is converted into a yellow pow- 
der, which is the protoxide of bismuth, composed of - 

1 equivalent of metal . . .71 

1 do. of oxygen . . 8 

1 da protoxide • . 79 

"When the steam of water is passed over ignited bismuth 
the metal is not oxidized, and consequently the water is not 
decomposed by this process. Tho best method of preparing 
the protoxide is to uissolve the metal in nitric acid, to de- 
compose the solution by water, and calcine the precipitated 
subnitratc in a crucible. Tho resulting oxide is of a straw 
colour, is insoluble in water, but readily dissolved by acids, 
and is tho only oxide of this metal which forms salts with 
them. Neither potash nor soda nor their carbonates dis* 
wjlve this oxide, nor does ammonia, but tho carbonate 
takes up a little of it. 

Peroxide of Bismuth is obtained by heating iho prot- 
oxide with a solution of chloride of lime or soda; the 
ebullition must be continued for a considerable time. Tho 
oxide of bismuth assumes at first a fine ochro yellow colour, 
and at length it becomes deep brown; it is then to be well 
washed* and in order to separate any protoxide which may 
remain, it is to be treated with cold nitric acid, diluted with 
nine parts of water; this is to be added in excess, to prevent 
the formation of subnitrate of bismuth ; it is then to be 
washed, at first with weaker acid,, then water, and to be 
<lriedby.a gcntlo heat. The peroxido thus prepared is a 
. heavy deep brown powder, strongly resembling peroxide of 



lead ; when heated to about 600° it is decomposed, oxygen 
gas is evolved, and yellow protoxide of bismuth remains. 
It forms no compound with any acid ; from muriatic acid it 
evolves chlorine, by hydriodic acid it is converted into a fine 
brown iodide, and tho liquor becomes yellow, owing to the 
presence of free iodine; other acids, under various circum- 
stances, evolve oxygen from it. Tho fixed alkalies and 
ammonia produce no effect upon it ; the loss of weight which 
it suffers by being merely heated shows that it is composed of 

2 equivalents of metal . . .142 

3 do. oxygen . . .24 

equivalent . . 166 
or it may be regarded as a sesquioxide, composed of 7 1 = 1 
eq. metal 4- 1 2 = 1 4 cq. of oxygen. 

According to Berzelius there exists also a suboxide of 
this metal, but it is most probably a mere mixture of the 
protoxide and tho metal. 

Chlorine and Bismuth combine in two proportions at 
least. The protochloride may be obtained by dissolving the 
protoxide in concentrated muriatic acid, and evaporating the 
liquor to the point of crystallization. This salt is colourless 
and volatile, so that it may be distilled ; it was formerly 
called butter of bismuth ; when heated it tlows like oil, but 
it solidifies on cooling. This compound may also be prepared 
by heating one part of powdered bismuth "with two parts of 
pcrchloride of mercury; the results are protoehloridcs of 
both metals. It is composed of 

1 equivalent of metal . . .71 

1 do. chlorine . . 35 

equivalent . . 106 

When a neutral solution of nitrate of bismuth is poured into 
a concentrated solution of common salt, a subchloridc of 
bismuth is precipitated or probably an oxychloridc; it was 
formerly employed as a cosmetic under the name of magis- 
tcry of bismuth. Its exact composition has not been de- 
termined. 

Fluorine and Bismuth form a fluoride which is solublo in 
water and which precipitates during evaporation in the state 
of a white powder. 

Bromine and Bismuth combine to form the bromide when 
the metal in powder is heated in tho vapour of bromine in 
a long tube closed at one end ; excess of bromine must be 
employed; the combination is effected without any evolu- 
tion of light. Yellow vapour arises and condenses on the 
sides of the tube, and the compound remains at the bottom 
of it. The yellow vapour probably contains less bismuth than 
the more fixed bromine, which appears to bo composed of 
1 equivalent of bromine, . . 80 
1 ditto bismuth, . . 71 

equivalent 151 

This bromide is of a steel grey colour, and fuses at about 
392°, when it becomes of a hyacinth red colour, but it returns 
to the grey on cooling ; by exposure to the air it absorbs 
moisture and is rendered yellow ; a large quantity of water 
decomposes it, and there is formed a sub-bromide of bis- 
muth, which separates, while hydrobromic acid combined 
with a little oxido of bismuth remains in solution. 

Iodine and Bismuth readily combine with the assistance 
of heat, when the metal is finely powdered ; this iodide has 
a deep orange colour : it is insoluble in water, but is dissolved 
by potash : it is probably composed of 

1 equivalent of iodine • . • 126 
1 ditto bismuth • 71 

equivalent . . . 197 
When a solution of chloride of bismuth is gradually 
dropped into a weak solution of iodido of sodium, a chesnut co- 
loured precipitate is formed, which appears to be a subiodidc. 
Sulphur and Bismuth occur in combination and crys- 
tallized at Rcddarhyttan in Wcstmanland, and they very 
readily combino and form a sulphurct which has a metallic 
lustre and a crystalline texture; it is not very fusible, and 
its density is 7*501. Sulphuretted hydrogen throws down 
black sulphurct from the solutions of this metal, and also 
converts its oxide into sulphurct. Sulphuret of bismuth 
is composed of 

I equivalent of bismuth . . 71 

1 ditto sulphur • . 1G 

r 
equivalent t 7 * • * 8 ? 



B I S 



461 



B I S 



Phosphorus and Bismuth have but little affinity for each 
other: when phosphorus was dropped into melted bismuth 
the metal appeared to suffer but little alteration : it was 
found, however, when tried with the blowpipe, to yield evi- 
dent traces of phosphorus, though not amounting to more 
than about four per cent, and this was probably mixed and 
not combined. Phosphuretted hydrogen gas throws down 
a black phosphuret of bismuth from solutions of the metal. 

No compound of bismuth and carbon or boron is known. 

Selenium and Bismuth unite with the evolution of a slight 
degree of heat ; this seleniuret is of a silver-white colour and 
metallic lustre ; its texture is crystalline and it melts at a 
red heat. 

Bismuth and the other metals combine to form alloys, 
and it frequently renders the metal with which it unites 
more fusible. 

Potassium and bismuth form an alloy ; it may be prepared 
directly ; or indirectly by calcining bismuth with bitartrate 
of potash ; when this alloy is put into water hydrogen is 
evolved, potash is formed and dissolved, and bismuth re- 
mains in fine powder. Sodium forms a similar alloy with 
bismuth ; for arsenic it has but little affinity, but combines 
with antimony and tellurium in all proportions. 

Newton's fusible metal is composed of eight parts of bis- 
muth, five of lead, three of tin; this alloy melts at 212°. 
Rose's alloy is fctill more fusible ; it is made of two parts 
bismuth, one lead, and one tin ; it fuses at about 201°. 

Bismuth combines with copper to form a pale red brittle 
alloy ; it forms also a brittle compound with silver, and it 
has been proposed as a substitute for lead in refining silver; 
it is said to form a more fluid oxide, which penetrates the 
cupel more readily than that of lead, and may also be used 
in smaller quantity. * * r * 

With mercury bismuth forms a very fluid alloy ; it ren- 
ders the following metals brittle by combination i — tungsten, 
palladium, rhodium, gold, and platina. 

Bismuth and acids combine to form salts of bismuth ; 
the nitrate is one of the most important and most easily 
obtained, because a part of the acid being decomposed it 
yields the oxygen requisite to render the metal soluble in 
the remaining acid. 

When nitric acid is only moderately diluted it acts with 
great readiness upon bismuth ; much nitric oxide gas is 
evolved, and a colourless solution of nitrate of bismuth is 
procured, which by cautious evaporation yields deliquescent 
crystals composed of 

1 equivalent of acid • • . • 54 
1 ditto oxide bismuth ... 79 
3 ditto water .... 27 

equivalent . . . . 160 

This salt, as well as the solution which yields it, is decom- 
posed by water, a sub-nitrate being thrown down which is 
directed to be prepared in the London Pharmacopoeia under 
the name of bismuthi subnitras; it is a trisnitrate com- 
posed of one equivalent of acid + three of oxide. 

Sulphuric acid, neither concentrated nor dilute, acts upon 
bismuth unless heat be employed, and then the strong acid 
is decomposed with the evolution of sulphurous acid gas ; 
there arc formed in this process a small quantity of a super 
and subsulphate of bismuth, neither of which is applied to 
any use. 

Carbonate of bismuth is a white tasteless powder pro- 
cured by adding an alkaline carbonate to the solution of the 
nitrate; it appears to be a tris-carbonate, and is applied to 
no use. 

Most of the salts of bismuth are colourless, and they are 
generally decomposed by water; ferrocyanate of potash 
gives a white gallic acid an orange yellow, and sulphuretted 
hydrogen a black precipitate when addud to solutions of 
bismuth; copper and tin, when put into solutions of bis- 
muth, throw down this metal. 

Bismuth is principally employed for the purpose of making 
fusible alloys and as an ingredient in solders. It is often 
called in the arts tin-glass. 

BISMUTH, MEDICAL USES OF. Bismuth taken 
into the stomach in the state of a metal produces noeffect upon 
the human system. It is therefore in the form of one of its 
preparations that it is employed as a medicinal agent; and 
for this purpose the subnitrate, called also the magistery of 
bismuth, and also, incorrectly, the white oxide of bismuth, is 
generally preferred. This is a white powder, sometimes in 
lumps resembling chalk, inodorous and tasteless, It is in- 



soluble in water, and but slightly soluble in the juices of 
the stomach, a circumstance which accounts for its limited 
sphere of action ; hence its employment is almost entirely 
confined to affections of the stomach itself. In large doses, 
however, it is undoubtedly poisonous, and produces vomiting, 
with small pulse, faintings, and even death, the stomach 
exhibiting erosions and signs of inflammation. Even its 
external application is not free from danger, for the cosmetic 
termed pearl white, or Spanish white, which is subnitrate 
of bismuth, when applied for a length of time to the face, 
causes nervous twitchings, and finally paralysis. Subni- 
trate of bismuth is considered a tonic, and in nervous pains 
and cramps of the stomach it is decidedly antispasmodic. 
In what is termed gastrodynia, either given alone, or with 
one grain of opium, it is in general more efficacious than 
any other means in speedily removing the pain. It is also 
sometimes useful in pyrosis, especially if complicated with 
affections of the pancreas. In this case it is advantageously 
combined with rhubarb. Extract of hops is also an appro- 
priate vehicle for it. Being insoluble in water it can never 
be administered in that vehicle. 

Its employment has been proposed in hysteria, tetanus, 
and intermittent fever, .but its utility is very slight when 
the cause of these diseases is remote from the stomach. In 
case of an overdose, tea, white of egg, or milk, are the best 
antidotes. As pearl white is blackened by sulphuretted 
hydrogen, the face of those who employ this cosmetic is 
blackened by the use of the Harrowgate or other sulphureous 
waters. / 

BISNAGHUR. [See Buanaghur.] 

BISON (zoology), the name of a subgenus of the genus 
bos, ox, comprehending two living species, one of them 
European, now become very scarce and verging towards 
extinction; the other American, and, notwithstanding the 
advances of man, still multitudinous. 

European Bison. 

A good deal of difference of opinion has thrown some 
obscurity over this species. Pennant, in his British Zoo* 
logy, after stating his belief that the antient wild cattle 
of our island were the Bisontes jubati of Pliny, thus 
continues : — ' The Urus of the Hercynian forest, de- 
scribed by Cossar, book vi„ was of this kind, the same 
which is called by the modern Germans, Aurochs, i. e. 
Bos sylvestris' Now let us look at Csosar's description. 
'These Uri are little inferior to elephants in size, but are 
bulls in their nature, colour, and figure. Great is their 
strength and great their swiftness, nor do they spare man 
or beast when they have caught sijfht of them. These, 
when trapped in pitfalls, the hunters diligently kill. The 
youths exercising themselves by this sort of hunting are 
hardened by the toil; and those among them who have 
killed most, bringing with them the horns as testimonials, 
acquire great praise. But these Uri cannot be habituated 
to man or made tractable, not even when young. The 
great size of the horns, as well as the form and quality of 
them, differs much from the horns of our oxen. These, 
when carefully selected, they ring round the edge with 
silver and use them for drinkinjj-cups at their ample feasts.'* 
Though there are parts of this description applicable to 
the European bison, there is one striking character which 
forbids us to conclude that Csesar's Urus was identical with 
it. A glance at the European bison will convince us that 
it never could have afforded the horns whose amplitude 
Crosar celebrates. In the Archceologia, vol. iii. p. 15, it is 
stated that the Borstal horn is supposed to have belonged 
to the bison or buffalo. That it might have belonged to a 
buffalo is not impossible, but that it did not belong to a 
bison is sufficiently clear from the following description. 
'It is two feet four inches long on the convex bend, and 

* It is not improbable that the large horns (Ititfvn xi£«T«) of the oxen 
mentioned by Athentmis (book xi. c. 5, i.34. and book xl. e.7. *• 5 T I T •J ol \! l v • 
n, 233. et icq. Schwcighaouser), may have been thoie of Ca;sar s Uri. lie 
Says that Pelias's cup was, perhaps, formed of a horn of these oxen, and 
that some of their horns were so large as to contain three and four cnoes 
Uf z*tps7v rfitTf xtt) r'trvet^ £«'«?). A choe was probably about a gallon, 
lie also mentions the custom of snrrouuding the lip of such drinking cups 
with a rim of gold or silver (t« %iiXvi ^ri^yv^uyrei^ xat X?v™*£?0* 

the 
Is 
worthy of attention with reference" to the next note. 

Herodotus (vii. 26) records the Macedonian wild oxen with exceeding large 
horns (fii K £y««, t£v rk *Sgi« vTi^tydha Uri), These wild oxen 
were probably Cwsar's Uri.^ * * - 



B I S 



/IG2 



R I S 



twenty-three inches on ihe concave. The inside at the 
large end is three inches diameter, being perforated there 
so as to leavo the thickness only of half an inch for ahont 
three inches deep ; but farther in it is thicker, being not so 
much or so neatly perforated.' Such a horn wi^ht indeed 
have crowned the head of Ca?sar's Urus, a species which wc 
believe with Cuvier to be extinct; and it will bo no unin- 
teresting investigation to inquire what species or variety 
afforded some of those antlent horns whicn boro so promi- 
nent a part in many of thoold conveyances.* 

Having endeavoured to demonstrate that Ctesar's Urns 
was not the European Bison, we proceed to show that tho 
common ox and tho latter, so far from being derived one 
from the other, are descended from two distinct species 
equally antient, and which havo existed in our climates at 
epochs more or less distant and perhaps at the samo time. 
Daubeuton, Cuvier, and Gilibert have, we think, sufficiently 
proved this. From thera it appears that the Aurochs or 
European Bison has fourteen pairs of ribs, while the ox has 
but thirteen, and tho* the legs of the aurochs are more 
slender and longer than those of the ox and true buffalo. 
The European bison, moreover, has but fivo lumbar verte- 
bra), whilo the other oxen, with the exception of the Ame- 
rican bison, which has only four according to Cuvier, pos- 
sess six. 

* The front of the common ox/ says Cuvier, ' is flattened, 
and even in a small degree concave; that of the aurochs 
*is rounded into convexity (bombc"), though rather less than 
that of the buffalo. It is squaro in the ox, its height being 
nearly equal to its breadth, taking for its base an imagi- 
nary line between the orbits. In the aurochs, with the 
same mode of measurement, it is much broader than it is 
high, in the proportion of threo to one. The horns are 
attached, in the ox, to the extremities of the most elevated 
salient line of the head, that, namely, which separates the 
occiput from the front ; in the aurochs this line is two 
inches further back than the root of the horns. The plane 
of the occiput makes a sharp angle with the front in the ox ; 
this angle is obtuse in the aurochs, and lastly this quad- 
rangular plane of the occiput, as it is in the ox, represents 
a half circle in tho aurochs/ 

The figures here given were taken from the skull of the 
European Bison or Aurochs in the museum at Paris. 

* 'Amongst tin* various methods of lrausferring inhcrilanees in use with 
our ancestors,' says lYgge {Arch. \ol. ia. p. 1, i»t seq.),* was that of conveying 
them by a hum either in Frank Almoigne, or in Fee, or in Serjemitry. ln^ut* 
phus. abbot of Croylaud, porticuturly specifics the horn amongst those things 
whireby lands were couveyed in the bediming of the Conqueror'* relgii. 
liis words are too remar'yible to be omitted on this occasion. ** Con fere ban tur 
etinai prlmo maita prietlia nudo verbo, absque scripto vei chart!, tantuni cum 
dumini gladio, vei gah-i, Tel coma, vel cratera ; et plurima tenement* cum 
calcari, cum •trigilt, cum arcu, et noo nulla cum sagitta." A I first, says 
Ingulphus, sneaking of the Conqueror's time. many estates were transferred 
by bars word of mouth, without any writing or charter, only by the lord's 
sword, or helmet* or hvrn t or cup; anil maoy tenements by a spnr, a scraper, 
* lnm, ood some by an arrow.' 

The foilowiog account of the Borstal horn Is given In the third volume of 
th« Arch*oUtg\a. 

Edward the Confessorhad a royoi paiace at Brill, or Brehul.ln Bucks, to 
which he oftfn retired for Ihe pleasure of hunting in his forest of Bern wood. 
. This fur^it.h Is said, was much lnfeited by a wild boar, which wan at last 
statu by oue Nigel, a huntsman, who r>rc*cmed the boar's head to the king; 
aud for the reward Hie Mag gave to him one hyde of lande, culled Dciehyde-, 
and a wood cabled llutewode, with the custody nf the forefct of Bernwowt, to 



hold to him and his heiis per antra cornu, qo«l c*t charts prwdtetro forestm, 

The original hnrn was all along preserved by the lords 01 Borstal under Ih- 
name of Nigel's horn, aad is now (1773) in the possession of John Aubrey, 



Usq., son ond heir of Sir Thomas Aubrey, Bart, to whom this estote has de- 
scended without alienation or forfeiture, from before the Conquest to the 
present litre, by severoi heirs female from the family of Nigel to that of Au- 
brey. {Arth(twogin, 11115.) 

Of still more autieut date Is the Fusey horn {Archtrol, \o\. Hi.), 'a real ox- 
liorn two feet one half Inch long, the circumferenca In the largest part one 
foot, lathe middle lime Inches one- fourth, at the small end two Inches outs- 
fourth.' ()ui ring of silvrr gilt thot girt it was the following Inscription :— 

' Kyng Kuowde {Canute} geve Wyilyam Fewse 
Tbia home to bolde by thy lond.* 

Bugle-horn will occnr to every one as being derived from burtJat or bmcuta. 
Thus Johnson, word 'bugle, bugle-horn,' writes* from buxen, Saxon, to 
l«nd, Junius; from bucuia, Lai., a heifer, Skinner; fiom hughi, the bonasus, 
Lye. It Is very natural thai the term of the bea«l shonld he applied to the 
horn. Sea llntfe;' and at tint word Johnson writes • old Vr, bugle, bos, La- 
coutbe. A bull hi llampshiie Is called a bvftte.' 

Chaucer thus w rites In his * Fraiikclelns Tale,' — 

' The bitter frost with Uie slidder raina 
Dertrojed hath tlie greene in every yerd. 
J arms sit by tlw Are with don hie herd, 
And drinketh of Ids bugle home the wine, 
Hefbm him utont brawne of the tusked swina.' 

1 1 Is worthy of uote thst 1 dttleton, word bison, calls that beast a bogle. 

Wa are well aware that many of Ihew antlenl horn* — that at York affords a 
fioa example— were of Ivory arid richly carved j but wa have taleetod tb* two 
horns above described because they clearly belonged to soma aulmsl of tha 
genus kvt, though certainly not to Ihe European bison or aurochs. 




[ Froflle of the* samo.} 
But this must have been a youny animal, as will he seen 
from comparing the representation of its skull with that of 
the patriarch that died at Schonbrunn. 




[Skull of old European Bison, front vim* O 




[Frofilaoftht same.) 



B I S 



463 



B I S 



The distinctions, however, are not confined to the skele- 
ton, for the tongue of the aurochs is blue, according to 
Gilibert, who thus points out, in addition, the following 
external differences : 

* Tbe hairs of the cow are stiff and sessile upon the skin ; 
those of the female Bison are soft and make an obtuse 
angle. In the cow they are uniform ; in the Bison there 
are two kinds, as in the beaver, one kind short and yellow, 
the others longer and of a blackish chesnut. The longest 
are at the bottom of the neck near the shoulders, and those 
of the male are fourfold longer than those of the female. 
There are still longer ones under the lower jaw and neck, 
and those of the front limbs descend to the mid-leg, and 
sometimes to tbe feet. They are all soft and woolly ; along 
the nape to the hump there is a succession of sub- erected 
hairs ; but upon the back and hinder parts the hair is short, 
which makes tbose parts appear delicate in proportion to 
those of the ox. The tail descends to the hock, and is 
furnished with long and thick hairs towards the extremity. 
In summer the aurochs loses the greatest part of its long 
hair, and then has an entirely different aspect, but it only 
gets the short hair by" little and little, and its skin is never 
naked. It is the hair of tbe summit of the headparticu- 
larly that gives out an odour of musk, especially in winter ; 
but tbis odour is lost by degrees in the domesticated state. 
The hair of the males is blackest, and that of tbo front is 
longer and more curly; the odour is strongest in them, but 
the horns are small in both sexes. The thickness of the 
hide of the aurochs is double that of a common bull's hide. 
The individuals which have been observed alive showed a 
great antipathy to the common cattle.* 

There can be little doubt that the Bison jubatus of Pliny 
(book viii. c. 15, and xxviii. c. 10), which he seems to dis- 
tinguish from the Urus, was the European Bison or Aurochs; 
and though in the fifteenth chapter of the eighth book he 
mentions the tradition of a wild beast in Pseonia called a 
Bonasus, after he has dismissed his Bisontes jubati, and 
with every appearance of a conclusion on his part that the 
Bonasus ana Bison were not identical, his own description, 
when compared with that of Aristotlo, \\\\\ leave little douht 
that the Bison jubatus and Bonasus of Pliny and others, 
the Bovaff<roc or Bovacoc of Aristotle (for the word is written 
both ways), and the BiVwv of Oppian,* were no other than 
the European Bison, the Aurochs (Anerochs) of the Prus- 
sians, the Zubr of t\\o Poles, the Taurus Paonius, &c. of 
Jonston and others, I Aurochs and le Bonasusoi Buffpn, Bos 
Urus of Boddaert, and Bos Bonasus of Linnsous. 4 




i - m 



[Hi son Euiopapus.] 

Cuvier^ considers it as certain that this animal, the 
largest, or at least the most massive of all existing qua- 
drupeds after the rhinoceros, an animal still to be found in 
some of the Lithuanian forests, and perhaps in those of 

• Oppian's lively description or these indomitable llboni, with their thick 
necks and shaggy manes— p#/*«xi«v #«jV«v ^iv iTufiator— hke those of 
lions (Cyneget. 2. 153, et seq.) cannot be mistaken. 



Moldavia, Wallachia, and the neighbourhood of the Cauca- 
sus, is a distinct species which man has never subdued ; nor 
do we think that any one who takes the trouble to consider 
the evidence on which Cuvier* s conclusion was founded will 
be of a different opinion. Following out this subject with his 
usual industry and ability, that great naturalist goes on to 
state {Ossemens Fossiles) that if Europe possessed a Urus, 
a Thur of the Poles, different from the Bison or the Aurochs 
of the Germans, it is only in its remains that the species 
can be traced ; such remains are found, in the skulls of a 
species of ox different from the aurochs, in the superficial 
beds of certain districts. This Cuvier thinks must be the 
true Urus of the antients, the original of our domestic ox, 
the stock perhaps whence our wild cattle descended ; while 
the aurochs of the present day is nothing more than the 
Bison or Bonasus of the antients, a species which has never 
been brought under the yoke. [See Ox and Urus.] 

This antient species is fast following its extinct congener 
the Urus, Pallas observes, that it is remarkable that the 
aurochs does not exist in any of the vast forests of Russia 
and Northern Asia, whence (if it had penetrated therein) 
hardly any thing could have eradicated it. As late as the 
reign of Charlemagne it was not rare in Germany, but the 
range of the species is now nearly confined to the moun- 
tainous country between the Caspian and Black Seas. 



Cuvier, in the first edition of, his 'Ossemens Fossiles/ 
considered the fossil skulls of oxen found in Europe as be- 
longing to the aurochs, and those of Siberia as the crania of 
an extinct species ; hut, in his last, he declares that he has 
recognized hoth as the skulls of the same species, and opens 
the question. These skulls, though they differ scarcely in 
anything from those of the aurochs, he inclines to think 
the remains of a different species. He gives the portrait of 
a cranium in the Museum at Paris, here copied,* 




[Skull of supposed fossil Aurochs. Ficnt -view.] 




Profile of the same.] 

so like, as he observes, to the living aurochs, that the most 
practised eye can scarcely distinguish it ; but so fresh that 
he seems to think it recent, and that it owes its fossil ap- 

» N,B. The crania figured in this article are all takeu from Cuvier' s * Osse- 
mens Fossiles.' 



B I S 



464 



B I S 



pcarance to its having been much weathered. Lyell states 
that tho bones of the hison have been found at North CliiF, 
in tho county of York, in a lacustrino formation, in which 
all tho land and fresh-water shells, thirteen in number, can 
be identified with species and varieties now existing in that 
count j. [Sco Ox.] 

American Bison. 

Wo havo seen that tho European Bison has fourteen 
pairs of ribs, whilo tho common ox has but thirteen ; the 
specific differenco of the American Bison is marked by its 
having fifteen ribs on each side. Thus, in tho Bisons, the 
supplementary ribs spring from tho anterior lumbar verte- 
bras, or rather from vertebra) which arc lumbar as far as 
regards their situation, but dorsal when considered in rela- 
tion to their functions. The contour of the skull has much 
in common with that of the European species, but its de- 
velopment, and indeed that of the wnole frame, is much in- 
ferior in tho female. Beneath is represonted the skull of a 
young female American Bison,— 




[Skull of youug fenale American Bison. Front TiewJ 




[ProAlcof the Mine.] 

and we shall at once sec how tame and weak its chiselling 
is when compared with that of the old male. 





[Profile of th« tune.] 

The American Bison has many points of similarity with 
the Aurochs. In both wc have the huge head, and tho 
lengthened spinous processes of the dorsal vertebra for the 
attachment of tho brawny muscles that support and wield 
it. In both we have the conical hump between the shoul- 
ders in consequence, and the shaggy mano in all seasons; 
and each presents a model of brute force, formed to push 
and throw down. 



[Skull of oM m.\lo Amnion Biton. Froaltlo**.) 




[Bison Amerieanu*. Females. A bull in lite distance 




[11 won Americaous, A bull] 



BIS 



465 



B I S 



This is the Taurus Mexicanus of Hernandez, who gives 
a wood-cut of the beast, but not a good one, the Taureau 
Sauvage of Hennepin, who also gives a figure of it, not 
better than that of Hernandez, and probably a copy from 
it, the Buffalo of Lawson, Catesby, &c, of the Hudson's 
Bay traders, and of the Anglo-Americans generally; the 
Bison of Ray and Pennant, Bos Americanus of Gmelin, 
American Wild Ox or Bison of Warden, Peeeheek of the 
Algonquin Indians, Moostoosh of the Crees, and Adgiddah 
of the Chippewayans, aceording to Dr. Riehardson. 

Pennant says, 'in America these animals are found in 
the countries six hundred miles west of Hudson's Bay; this 
is their most northern residence. * From thence they are 
met with in great droves as low as Cibole (N.B. on the au- 
thority of Purchas), in lat 33°, a little north of California, 
and also in the province of Mivera in New Mexico ; the 
species instantly ceases south of those countries. They in- 
habit Canada to the west of the lakes ; and in greater 
abundance in the rieh savannas which border the river 
Mississippi, and the great rivers which fall into it from the 
west, in the Upper Louisiana. There they are seen in 
herds innumerable, promiscuously with multitudes of stags 
and deer during morning and evening, retiring in the sultry 
heats into the shade of tall reeds, which border the rivers 
of Ameriea.* 

Joseph Sabine, in the appendix to Franklin's Narrative, 
says that they are abundant in all parts of North Ameriea, 
wherever the progress of cultivation has not interfered with 
their range, and that they are extremely numerous on the \ 
plains of the Saskatchewan river. They are also found, he 
observes, though less plentifully, in the woods as far north 
as Great Slave Lake. The most northern situation in which 
they were observed by Captain (now Sir John) Franklin's 
party was Slave Point, on the north side of the lake. In 
the same work it is stated, that the natives say that the 
Wood Buffaloes, as they are ealled, are larger than those of 
the plains, but the difference is not material. 

Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna Boreali-Americana t gives 
the following compendious history of the geographical range 
of the American Bison: — 'At the period when Europeans 
began to form settlements in North Ameriea, this animal 
was occasionally met with on the Atlantie coast ; but even 
then it appears to have been rare to the eastward of the 
Apalachian mountains, for Lawson has thought it to be a 
faet worth recording, that two were killed in one season on 
Cape Fear River.* As early as the first discovery of Canada, 
it was unknown in that country, and no mention of it 
whatever oeeurs in the Voyages du Sieur de Champlain 
Xaintongeois, nor in the Nova Franpia of De Monts, who 
obtained the first monopoly of the fur trade. Theodat, 
whose history of Canada was published in 1G36, merely says 
that he was informed that bulls existed in the remote western 
countries. Warden mentions, that at no very distant date, 
herds of them existed in the western parts of Pennsylvania, 
and that as late as the year 1766 they were pretty numerous 
in Kentucky ; but they have gradually retired before the 
white population, and are now, he says, rarely seen to the 
south of the Ohio, on the east side of the Mississippi. They 
still exist, however, in vast numbers in Louisiana, roaming 
in countless herds over the prairies that are watered by the 
Arkansa, Platte, Missouri, and upper branches of the Sas- 
katchewan and Peace rivers. Great Slave Lake, in lat. 60°, 
was at one time the northern boundary of their range; but 
of lat* years, aeeording to the testimony of the natives, they 
have taken possession of the flat limestone district of Slave 
Point, on the north side of that lake, and have wandered to 
tbe vieinity of Great Marten Lake, in lat. 63° or 64°. As far 
as I have been able to ascertain, the limestone and sand- 
stone formations, lying between the great Rocky Mountain 
ridge and the lower eastern chain of primitive roeks, are the 
only districts in the fur countries that are frequented by the 
bison. In these comparatively level tracts there is much 
prairie land, on which they find good grass in the summer, 
and also many marshes overgrown with bulrushes and 
carices,t whieh supply them with winter food. Salt springs 

• The following, wc prctumc, it the passage in Lawson (o which Dr. IU- 
cliArdscm alludes: — • He (i. e, tlio buffclo, at Lawson nrinls it} seldom appears 
amongst the English inhabitants, his cliicf haunt being in the land of Meat- 
atipvu which ts, for the most part, a plain country ; yet 1 have known some 
killed on the hilly part of Cape- Fair-River, they passing the ledges of vast 
mountain* from thu said Meafasippi before they can eome near us.* Opposite 
to this paragraph Is the following marginal note:— 'Two killed one year In 
Virginia at Appnmaticks/ meaning, *e suppose, on the Appomattox, a branch 
of tlie James lllver. (See Lawson's History of Carolina, p. 115.) 

t Cares Is the name of a genus of Cyperaceae, a family of plants nearly 
allied to the grasses. 



and lakes also abound on the confines of the. limestone, and 
there are several well-known salt-licks, where bisons are sure 
to be found at all seasons of the year. They do not frequent 
any of the districts formed of primitive rocks, and the limits 
of their range to the eastward, within the Hudson Bay 
Company's territories, may be* nearly correctly marked on 
the map by ti line commencing in long. 97° on the Red 
River, which flows into the south end of Lake Winipeg, 
crossing the Saskatchewan to the westward of Basquiau 
Hill, and running from thence by the Athapescov to tlio 
east end of Great' Slave Lake. Their migrations to the 
westward were formerly limited by the Rocky Mountain 
range, and they are still unknown in New Caledonia, and 
on the shores of the Paeifie to the north of the Columbia 
river, but of late years they have found out a passage across 
the mountains, near the sources of the Saskatchewan, and 
their numbers to the westward are said to be annually' in- 
creasing. In 1806,' when Lewis, and Clarke crossed- the 
mountains at the head of the Missouri, bison-skins were, an 
important article of traffic 'between the inhabitants oh the 
east-side and the natives to the westward." Farthe'r to the 
southward, in NcwMexico~and California, the bison appeal's 
to be numerous on both sides of the Rocky Mountain chain/ 

Before we 'describe the habits of the Ameriean bison, tbe 
modes of hunting it, and the uses to whieh the several parts 
of the animal* are put, it may be well' to give some idea of 
the vast wildernesses where' it 'roams in unrestrained free- 
dom. We know hot how to eonvey this idea better than in 
the words of Washington Irving, who possesses the magie 
art of converting the reader into a spectator of the scene de- 
scribed. In his Tour on the Prairies, the following pano- 
ramic views are presented to us : — ' 

' After a toilsome march of some distance through a 
country eut up by ravines and brooks, and entangled by 
thickets, we emerged upon a grand prairie. Here one of 
the characteristic scenes of the "far west" broke upon us, — ■ 
an immense extent of grassy, undulating, or, as it is termed, 
"rolling** country, with here/and there a clump of trees 
dimly seen in the distance like a ship at sea, the landscape 
deriving. sublimity from its vastness and simplicity. To the 
south-west, on the summit of a hill, was a singular erest of 
broken rocks, resembling a ruined fortress. It reminded 
me of the ruin of some Moorish castle erowning a height in 
the midst of a lonely Spanish landscape. To this hill we 
gave the name of Cliff Castle. 

* The prairies of these great hunting regions differed, in 
the character of their vegetation, from those through which 
I had hitherto passed. Instead of a profusion of tall flower- 
ing plants, and long flaunting grasses, they were covered 
with a shorter growth of herbage ealled buffalo-grass, some- 
what coarse, but, at the proper season, affording excellent 
and abundant pasturage. At present it was growing wiry, 
and in many places it was too much parehed for grazing. 

* The weather was verging into that serene but somewhat 
arid season ealled the Indian summer. There was a smoky 
haze in the atmosphere that tempered the brightness of the 
sunshine into a golden tint, softening the features of the 
landscape, and giving a vagueness to the outlines of distant 
objects. This haziness was daily increasing, and was attri- 
buted to the burning of the distant prairies by the Indian 
hunting parties. Wc had not gone far upon the prairie be- 
fore we cainc to where deeply-worn footpaths were seen tra- 
versing the country. Sometimes two or three would keep 
parallel to eaeh other, and but a few paces apart. These 
were pronounced to be traces of buffaloes, where large droves 
had passed.' — p. 153. 

Turn we now to a more refreshing scene : — * About ten 
o'clock in the morning we came to where this line of rugged 
hills swept down into a valley, through which llowed the 
north fork of the Red River. A beautiful meadow, about 
half a mile wide, enamelled with yellow autumnal flowers, 
stretched for two or three miles along the foot of the hills, 
bordered on the opposite side by the river, whose banks were 
fringed with cotton-wood trees, the bright foliage of which 
refreshed and delighted the eye, after being wearied by the 
contemplation of monotonous wastes of brown forest. 

' The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps 
of trees, so happily disposed that they seemed as if set out 
by the hand of art. As we cast our eyes over this fresh and 
delightful valley, we beheld a troop of wild horses quietly 
grazing on a green lawn about a mile distant to our right, 
while to our left, at nearly the same distance, were several 
buffaloes, some feeding, others reposing and ruminating 



No. 263; 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol, IV.— 3 O 



II I s 



4bb 



B I S 



among the high rich herbage, under the shade of a clump 
of cotton-wood trees. The whole had the appearance of a 
broad, beautiful tract of pasture-land, on the highly-oma- 
mented estate of some gentleman-farmer, with his eattle 
grazing about the lawn* and meadows.* — p. 220, 

The American male bison, when at its full sire, is said to 
weigh 2000 Ihs., though 12 or 14 ewt. is considered a good 
weight in the fur countries. Dr. Richardson gives eight 
feet and a half as its length, exclusive of tho tail, which is 
twenty inches, and upwards of six feet as its height at the 
fore-quarters. The head is very large, and carried low ; the 
eyes arc small, black, and piercing ; the horns are short, 
small, sharp, set far apart, for the forehead is very broad, 
and directed outwards and hackwards, so as to be nearly 
erect, with a slight curve towards the outward pointing tips. 
Tbe hump is not a mere lump of fatty secretion, like that of 
the zebu, but consists, exclusive of a deposit of fat, which 
varies much in quantity, of the strong muscles attached to 
the highly-developed spinous processes of the last cervical 
and first dorsal vertebra), forming fit machinery for the sup- 
port and movement of the enormous head. Hie chest is 
broad, and the legs are strong; the hind parts are narrow, 
and have a comparatively weak appearance. The tail is 
clothed with short l\ir-l ike hair, with a long, straight, coarse, 
blackish-brown tuft at the end. In winter the whole body 
is covered with long shagged hair, which in summer falls 
off, leaving the blackish wrinkled skin exposed, except on 
the forehead, hump, fore-quarters, under-jaw, and throat, 
where the hair is very long and shaggy, and mixed with 
much wool. Catesby observes that on the forehead of a 
bull the hair is a foot long, thick and frizzled, and of a 
dusky black colour, that the length of this hair, hanging 
over their eyes, impedes their tlight, and is frequently the 
cause of their destruction, but that this obstruction of sight 
is in some measure supplied by their good noses, which are 
no small safeguard to them. A bull, says he, in summer, 
with his body bare and his head mufiled with long hair, 
makes a very formidable appearance. In summer the 
general colour of the hair is between dark-umber and liver- 
brown, and lustrous. The tips of the hair, as it lengthens 
in winter, arc paler, and before it is shed in summer much 
of it becomes of a pale, dull, yellowish-brown. In the fe- 
male tbe head is smaller, and the hair on the foreparts is 
not so long as it is in the male. 

Congregating in vast herds, these animals are said to 
cover the wide-extended savannahs of tho more southern 
districts of the north for miles in extent. * Such was the 
multitude,' say Lewis and Clarke, speaking of an assem- 
blage of bisons as they crossed the water, ' that although 
the river, including an island over which they passed, was a 
mile in length, the herd stretched, as thick as they could swim, 
completely from one side to the other.* The same travellers, 
speaking of another of these grand spectacles, say, — * If 
it be not impossible to calculate the moving multitude whieh 
darkened the whole plains, we are convinced that 20,000 
would be no exaggerated number/ Catesby, after stating 
that they range in droves, feeding on the open savannahs 
morning and evening, says that in the sultry time of the 
day they retire to shady rivulets and streams of clear water 
gliding through thickets of tall canes. Dr. James had an 
opportunity of observing them on such occasions, and ho 
thus describes their march : — * In the middlo of the day 
countless thousands of them were seen coming in from every 
quarter to the stagnant pools;* and in another place he 
says, that their paths are as frequent, and almost as conspi- 
cuous as the roads in the most populous parts of the United 
States. 

The bisons, in truth, are a wandering race, the motives 
of their restlessness being, either disturbance by hunters 
or change of pasture. After the firo bas cleared the prairie 
of all the old herbage, the delicately tender grass which 
springs up in the room of the old wiry bents that fed tho 
ilame, offers the most grateful food to the migratory bisons : 
such spots are well-known to the hunter as points of attrac- 
tion to these animals. In the winter, when the snow lies 
deep over the vegetation, they scrape it aWay with their feet 
o ^et at the grass. 

Fierce and terrible are tho fights among the bulls in the 
rutting season, and perilous is the condition of tho man who 
then approaches them. For the greatest part of the year 
tho bulls and cows live in separate herds ; but at all seasons, 
according to Dr. Richardson, ono or two old bulls generally 
accompany a largo herd of cows. 



Theso powerful beasts are in general shy, and fiy from 
the faco of man till they are wounded ; they then become 
furious, and pursuo their enemy with tho most vindictive 
spirit, as we shall presently see ; but wo must first say a 
word or two on somo of the different modes of hunting 
them. Du Pratz and Charlevoix givo several particulars of 
the chace of these animals by the Indians. If tho rifle be 
used tbe hunter is careful to go against the wind, for the 
senso of smelling is so exquisite in the bison that it will 
otherwise get scent of him and precipitately retire. If he 
gets within rifle-distance, he is careful so to lake his aim 
that the beast may drop at once, and not be irritated by an 
ineffectual wound. 

But the great hunting is, or rather was, somewhat a(ler 
the manner of the Scottish * tinchel.* A great number of 
men divide and form a vast square. Each band sets fire to 
the dry grass of tho savannah where the herds arc feeding. 
When the affrighted beasts perceive the fire approaching 
on all sides, they retire in confusion to the centre of the 
square, where the bands close upon them, and kill tbem as 
they are huddled together in heaps without hazard; 1500 
or 2000 beeves have been given as the produce of such an 
expedition. 

Captain (now Sir John) Franklin gives us the following 
information. After stating that the Stone Indians are so 
expert with the bow and arrow that tbey can strike a very 
small object at a considerable distance, and shoot with sutli- 
cient force to pierce through the body of a buffalo when 
near, he thus describes a buffalo or bison pound : — 

4 The buffalo pound was a fenced circular space, of about 
a hundred yards in diameter ; the entrance was banked up 
with snow, to a sufficient height to prevent tho retreat of 
the animals that once have entered. For about a mile on 
each side of the road leading to the pound, stakes were 
driven into tbe ground at nearly equal distances of about 
twenty yards; tnese wero intended to represent men, and 
to deter the animals from attempting to break out on either 
side. Within fifty or sixty yards from the pound, branches 
of trees, were placed between these stakes to screen the 
Indians, who lie down behind them to await the approach 
of the buffalo. ' The principal dexterity in this species of 
chase is shown hy the horsemen, who have to manoeuvre 
round the herd in the plains so as to urge them to enter the 
roadway, which is about a quarter of a mile broad. When 
this has been accomplished, they raise loud shouts, and, 
pressing close upon the animals, so terrify them that they 
rush heedlessly forwards towards the snare. When they have 
advanced as far as the men who are lying in ambush, they 
also rise, and increase the consternation hy violent shouting 
and firing guns. Tho affrighted beasts having no alter- 
native, run directly to the pound, where they are quickly 
despatched, either with an arrow or gun. There was a tree in 
the centre of the pound, on which the Indians had hung 
strips of buffalo tlesh, and pieces of cloth, as tributary or 
grateful offerings to the Great Master of life ; and we were 
told that they occasionally place a man in the tree to sing 
to the presiding Spirit as the buffaloes are advancing, who 
must keep his station until the whole that have entered are 
killed.' 

Tho same author further proceeds as follows :—' Other 
modes of kilting the buffalo are practised by tho Indians 
with success; of these, tho hunting them on horseback 
requires most dexterity. An expert hunter, when well 
mounted, dashes at tho herd, and chooses an individual 
which he endeavours to separate from the rest. If ho suc- 
ceeds, he contrives to keep him apart by tho proper manage- 
ment of his horse, though going at full speed. Whenever 
he can get sulficiently near for a ball toj penetrate the 
beast's hide he fires, and seldom fails of bringing the 
animal down ; though, of course, he cannot rest the pieeo 
against the shoulder, nor take a deliberate aim. On this 
service the hunter is often exposed to considerable danger 
from the fall of his horse in the numerous holes which tho 
badgers mako in these plains, and also from the rago of the 
buffalo, which, when closely pressed, often turns suddenly, 
and, rushing furiously on the horse, frequently succeeds in 
wounding it, or dismounting the rider, whenever the 
animal shows this disposition, which the experienced hunter 
will readily perceive, he immediately pulls up his horse and 
goes off in another direction.* The reader will find some 
animated descriptions of such encounters in 'The Tour on 
tbe Prairies,' before alluded to. 

' When the buffaloes aro on their guard,* as Captain 






BIS 



467 



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Franklin observes, * horses cannot be used in approaching 
tbem ; but the hunter dismounts at some distance and 
crawls in tbe snow towards the herd, pushing his gun 
before him. If the buffaloes happen to look towards him he 
stops, and keeps quite motionless, until their eyes are 
turned in another direction ; by this eautious proceeding a 
skilful person will get so near as to be able to kill two or 
three out of the herd. It will easily be imagined this 
service cannot be very agreeable wben the thermometer 
stands 30° or 40° below zero, as sometimes happens in 
this country/ 

Tbis chase of the bison is not unattended with danger, 
* for,* says Catesby, * when wounded they are very furious, 
which cautions the Indians how they attaek them in open 
savannahs, where no trees are to screen them from their 
fury. Tbeir hoofs, more than their horns, are their offensive 
weapons, and whatever opposes tbem is in no small danger 
of being trampled into the earth/ 

Dr. Richardson, in his * Fauna Boreali Americani,' ob- 
serves that the bisons are less wary when they are 
assembled together in numbers, and that they will then 
often blindly follow tbeir leaders, regardless of, or trampling 
down, the hunters posted in their way.' He further states 
that, though the gait of these animals may appear heavy 
and awkward, tbey will have no great difficulty in over- 
taking the fleetest runner, and gives the following account 
of the determined violence with whieh a wounded bison 
assails its enemy : * While I resided at Carlton-house,' 
writes Dr. Riehardson, *an accident of this kind oceurred. 
Mr. Finnan M'Donald, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's 
clerks, was descending the Saskatchewan in a boat, and 
one evening, having pitched his tent for the night, he went 
out in tbe dusk to look for game. It had become nearly 
dark when he fired at a bison-bull, which was galloping 
over a small eminenee, and as be was hastening forward to 
see if his sbot had taken effect, tbe wounded beast made a 
rush at him. He had tbe presence of mind to seize tbe 
animal by the long hair on its forehead as it struck him on 
the side with its horn, and, being a remarkably tall and 
powerful man, a struggle ensued, wbieh continued until his 
wrist was severely sprained, and his arm was rendered 
powerless; he then fell, and after receiving two or three 
blows became senseless. Shortly afterwards he was found 
by his companions lying bathed in blood, being gored in 
several places, and the bison was couched beside him, 
apparently waiting to renew the attack had he shown any 
signs of life. Mr. M'Donald recovered from the immediate 
effects of the injuries he received, but died a few months 
afterwards. Many other instances might be mentioned of 
the tcnaeiousness with whieh this animal pursues its re- 
venge ; and I have been told of a hunter having been de- 
tained for many hours in a tree by an old bull, whieh had 
taken its post below to watch him. When it contends with 
a dog, it strikes violently with its fore-feet, and in that way 
proves more than a mateh for an English bull -dog/ 

The same writer says, that the favourite Indian method of 
killing the bisou is by riding up to the fattest of the herd on 
horseback, and shooting it with an arrow ; and he speaks 
of the imposing spectacle which is afforded when a large 
party of hunters are engaged in this way on an extensive 
plain, and of the skill and agility displayed by the young 
men on such occasious. The horses, it appears, seem to 
enjoy the sport as mueh as their riders, and are very active 
in eluding the shock of the animal, should it turn on its 
pursuer. It should be remembered, on such occasions, that, 
when the bison runs, it leans very mueh first to one side for 
a short time, and then to the other, and so on alternately. 

Dr. Richardson also confirms Captain Franklin in the 

assertion, that the most generally practised plan of shooting 

the bisons is by crawling towards them from to leeward, 

and that in favourable plaees great numbers are taken in 

. pounds. 

Though the risk of the ehase be considerable, the reward 
is great ; for there are few animals that minister more 
largely to the wants and even to the comforts of man than 
the American bison. The horns are converted into powder- 
llasks ; the hide, which, according to Catesby, is too heavy 
for the strongest man to lift from the ground, is very va- 
luable, and is used for a variety of purposes. Purchas re- 
lates, that in old times the Indians made the best of targets 
of it; and Catesby says that they make their winter moc- 
casins of it also, but that, being too heavy for clothing, it is 
not often put to that use. Others, however, assert that the 



Indians dress the skins with the hair on, and clothe them- 
selves with them, and that the Europeans of Louisiana 
(Louisiana, in the older sense of tbe term before the pur- 
chase of it by the United States in 1803) use them for 
blankets, and find them light, warm, and soft. Dr. Ri- 
chardson confirms the latter account, for he says in the 
work above quoted, 'The fine wool which elothes tbe bison 
renders its skin, when properly dressed, an excellent blanket ; 
and they are valued so highly, that a good one sells for 
three or four pounds in Canada, where they are used as 
wrappers by those who travel over the snow in carioles/ 
Thomas Morton (in his New English Canaan, Amsterdam, 
1637,) observes, that * their fleeees are very useful, bcino- a 
kind of wolle, as fine almost as the wolle of the beaver, and 
the salvages do make garments thereof.' Catesby says that 
the Indians work the long hairs into garters, aprons, &e., 
dyeing them into various eolours ; and, according to Pen- 
nant, the hair or wool is spun into clotb, gloves, stoekings, 
and garters, which are very strong, and look as well as 
those made of the best sheep's wool. Pennant further says 
that the fleece of one of these animals has been found to 
weigh eight pounds, and quotes tbe authority of Governor 
Pownall for tbe assuranee that the most luxurious fabric 
might be made of it. This assurance, it appears, was far 
from groundless, for Dr. Richardson informs us that the' 
wool has been manufactured in England into a remarkably 
fine and beautiful eloth; and that in the colony of Osna- 
boyna, on the Red River, a warm and durable coarse eloth 
is formed of it. / 

Tbe flesh of a bison in good condition, says 'the author 
last quoted, is very juicy and well-flavoured, much resem- 
bling that of well-fed beef. Others describe it as bearing 
the same relation to common beef that venison bears to 
mutton. Tbe tongue, when well cured, is said to surpass 
that of the common ox as a relish. All concur in the praises 
of the delicious hump, rich, savoury, and tender. This is 
the fleshy part that covers the long spinous processes of the 
anterior dorsal vertebrae, and is called bos by the Canadian 
voyagers, and wig by the Orkney men in the service of tbe 
Hudson's Bay Company, according to Dr. Richardson, who 
says that much of the pemmiean used by tbe voyagers 
attached to the fur companies is made of bison meat, pro- 
cured at their posts on the Red River and Saskatchewan : 
be adds, that one bison-cow in good condition furnishes 
dried meat and fat enough to make a bag of pemmiean 
weighing ninety pounds. 

The fat bulls yield a great quantity of tallow ; and Du 
Pratz records that a hundred and fifty pounds weight have 
been procured from a single beast. Pennant says that 
these over-fed animals usually beeome the prey of wolves, 
for, by reason of their great unwieldiness, they eanuot keep 
up with the herd ; and, on the authority of Du Pratz, gives 
the following account of their sagacity in defending them- 
selves against the attaeks of their fierce persecutors* — 
* When they scent the approach of a drove of those ravenous 
creatures, the herd flings itself into the form of a circle : 
the weakest keep in the middle, the strongest are ranged on 
the outside, presenting to the enemy an impenetrable front 
of horns : should they be taken by surprise, and have re- 
course to flight, numbers of the fattest or the weakest are 
sure to perish/ Dr. Riehardson, however, speaking of the 
numerous wolves on the sandy plains which, lying to the 
eastward of the Rocky Mountains, extend from the sources 
of the Peace and Saskatchewan rivers towards the Missouri, 
says, that there bands of thein hang on the skirts of the 
buffalo herds, and prey upon the sick and straggling calves, 
but that they do not, under ordinary circumstances, venture 
to attack the full-grown animal. As a proof of this he 
adds, that the hunters informed him that they often saw 
wolves walking through a herd of bulls without exeiting the 
least alarm, and that the marksmen, when they erawl to- 
wards a bison for the purpose of shooting it, occasionally 
wear a cap with two ears, in imitation of the head of a wolf, 
knowing from experience that they will be suffered to ap- 
proach nearer in that guise. 

Tbe grisly bear is one of the most formidable enemies of 
the American bison ; and the strongest bull goes down 
before him. [See Bear.] 

Tbe Indian is too wild in his habits to submit to the 
fetters whieh an attempt to domestieatc animals would im- 
pose upon his liberty ; a child of the wilderness, lie depends 
on his bow or his rifle for his subsistence, and wanders free. 
It is not, therefore, surprising that no attempt should have 

3 O 2 



B I S 



4G8 



B I S 



been made by the aboriginal inhabitants to reduce the bison 
to obedience. Catesby, however, says that theso animals 
have been known to* breed with tame rattle that were be- 
come wild, but that the calves being so too, were neglected, 

• and though/ he continues, * it is tho general opinion, that 
if reclaiming these animals were irapraetieable (of which no 
trial has been made), to mix the breed with tamo eattle 
would much improve tho breed, yet nobody has had the 
euriosity nor havo given themselves any trouble about it/ 
Pennant states that the experiment has been made, and 
that it has failed, for ho thus writes in his Arctic Zoology — 

• Attempts have been made to tame and domesticate the 
wild bison, by catching the calves and bringing them up with 
the common kind, in hopes of improving tno breed. It has 
not yet been found to answer: notwithstanding they had the 
appearanee for a time of having lost their savage nature, 
yet they always grew impatient of restraint, and, by reason 
bf their great strength, would break down the strongest 
inelosure, and entico tho tame eattlo into the eorn-fields. 
They have been known to engender together, and to breed ; 
but I eonnot learn whether the species was meliorated by 
the intercourse. 

A very fine American* hison bull was shown a few years 
ago in this country as the ' bonassus/ and under that name 
found its way into the epilogue of the Westminster Play as 
one of the wonders of the day. It was afterwards pur- 
chased by the Zoological Society of London ; but it had been 
enfeebled by confinement and disease, and died soon after 
the Society became possessed of it. The Hudson's Bay 
Company supplied its place by presenting a young cow, 
which has lived for some years in its present quarters at 
the Garden in the Regent's Park. 

BISSA'GOS, THE, or BIJUGA ISLANDS, lie on the 
west coast of Africa, between 1 1° 40' and 1 0° 50' N. lat., and 
15° 30' and 16° 30' AV. long., opposite the mouth of the 
jiver Bulola or Rio Grande. They form a group of about 
twenty islands, enelosed by a reef. Most of them are in- 
habited, but some are nearly bare rock, and only visited oc- 
casionally. The largest* Marshi, is above fifteen miles long. 
The islands Carache, Corbele, Cazegut, Gallinas, Orango, 
Canyabae.and Bulama are much smaller. On Bnlama the 
English formed a settlement in 1792 ; but it was abandoned 
in 1793, on aecount of its unhealthiness. 

These islands, which are of volcanic origin, have an 
excellent soil, composed chiefly of decomposed lava and 
vegetable matter. They are mostly covered with wood, but 
there aro somo natural savannahs, and a few elear spaees, 
affording ample pasturage for innumerable elephants, deer, 
buffaloes, and other wild animals. The inhabitants culti- 
vate some maize, and have plantations of bananas and 
palms; but their ehief wealth consists of eattle and goats. 
It is remarkable that the hippopotamus is found in the 
straits which divide the islands of Canyabae and Bulama 
from tho continent; there is no fresh-water river within 
several miles. 

The inhabitants, called Bijuga, are a warlike and trea- 
cherous people, as Captain Beaver learned by experience. 
They are always armed, generally with a musket, knife- 
dagger, spear, and sometimes a sword. The women do the 
labour of doraestie economy, except that the males climb 
tho palms to get the calabashes for collecting the palm- 
wine, and bring them away. The men attend only to hunt- 
ing and fishing: they frequently rob when they can find 
their way across to tho main. The two sexes eat separately. 

{Life of Captain Heaver, by Smyth ; and Capt. Beleher, 
in the Journal of the Geogr. Society.) 

BISSEXTILE, or B1SSEXTUS DIES, the name given 
in tbe Roman Calendar, after its reformation by J. Crcsar, 
to the intercalary day which was inserted every fourth year 
between the 24th and 25th of February. The 24th of Fe- 
bruary was expressed according to the Roman reckoning, 
•sexto Calendas Martii/ i. e. the sixth day before the Ca- 
lends, or first of March. AVhen the intercalary dav was in- 
serted, it was also called * sexto Calendas Martii*;' nnd as 
tho name was thus repeated, this day was ealled the bissex- 
tut dies, or the sixth day twice over. In legal reckoning as 
to the birth of a child, the 24th and following day in the 
bissextile year were considered in the Roman law as one 
day. (See £>r>. 4. tit. 4. 3.) In Greek, this day was called 
IftftSXtfios vplpa, which siuniGes the same as intercalated 
clay. By the statute 21 lien 111., the bissextile day and 
the day immediately preceding wero to be considered le- 
gally as one day (computetur dies ille ct dies proximo pro- 



ccdens pro uno die). At present February has twenty-nine 
davs in leap year. [Seo \ eaju] 

bl'STGN (entomology), a name given by Dr. Leaeh to a 
genus of moths of the family Geomctridar. Tho principal 
distinguishing eharaeters of this genus are as follows: — 
Palpi short, and three-jointed ; antennce rather long, and 
distinctly peetinatcd in the males, each joint being furnished 
with a eiliated branch, and theso branches longest on the 
central joints (in tho females these branches are wanting, 
or nearly so); body thick; wings present in both sexes, 
not very thiekly eovered with scales, and henee slightly 
transparent, especially in the females. The larva has ten 
legs, and is elongate, cylindrical, and tuberculated, and has 
the head raoro or less notehed in front ; it assumes tho pupa 
state underground at the roots of trees. 

There appears to be an analogical resemblance between 
these moths and tho Notodontidce, their larvae -showing 
that they aro not otherwise allied. The imago state of the 
species however may be distinguished by the different tex- 
ture of the wings, and structure of the antennae. 

Three species of this genus have been discovered in this 
country : — B. prodromana, tho oak -beauty ; B. betularius, 
tho pepper-moth ; and B* hirtarius, the brindled-beauty. 
The first of these has the antennae bipectinated to the 
apex, and the two latter have the antennce siraplo at the 
apex, in the males : — 

B. prodromaria has the wings of an ash colour, or ap- 
proacning to white, finely sprinkled with black: each of the 
upper wings has two transverse bent fasciae of a brown eo- 
lour, more or less margined with blaek, and the under wings' 
have one fascia of the same description. AVhen the wings 
are expanded it measures from an inch and a half to two 
inches in width. 

The caterpillar feeds upon tho oak, poplar, &e. The 
moth is rare, but is found in tho month of March in the 
trunks of oak trees in tho neighbourhood of London and 
elsewhere. 

B. betularius has received the name of pepper-moth 
from its being of a white eolour, and, as it were, peppered 
with black almost uniformly over the wings. 

This moth is about the same size as the last, and is not 
uncommon in the month of June in woods near London, 
and in other parts. Its caterpillar feeds upon the oak, 
willow, poplar, elm, &c. 

B. hirtarius is of a brown eolour, dotted with grey, with 
three or four transverse, blaek, bent lines on each wing, 
and a whitish faseia near the hinder margin : it is common 
amongst poplar and lime-trees, and is about an inch and 
three quarters in expanse. In the females the wings have 
a greenish hue. 

BISTORT. [Seo Polygonum.] 

BISTRE, a brown pigment made from the root of differ- 
ent kinds of wood, but that of beech is preferred by somo 
who have given directions for making it. 

In the * Handmaid to the Arts/ vol. i. p. 176, the follow- 
ing process is recommended: — Put the soot of any wood (of 
beeeh when it can be procured) into water, in the propor- 
tion of two pounds to a gallon, and boil them for half an 
hour. Then, after the fluid lias stood some timo to settle, but 
while it is yet hot, pour off the clearer part from the earthy 
sediment at the bottom ; and if on standing any longer it 
form another earthy sediment, repeat the same method ; 
but this should be done only while the fluid remains hot. 
Evaporate the fluid to dryness ; and what remains will ho 
good bistre, if tho soot was of the proper kind. It is then 
mixed with a little gum-water and made into small eakes. 

According to Dr. M'Culloeh, bistre is a very variable 
artiele, and is often unfit for use, and he concludes from his 
experiments, that this is owing to its too near alliance to tar, 
and henco the disagreeable gumminess whieh it frequently 
possesses. Ho has proposed a process for removing the 
defeets which he has pointed out, by preparing it from the 
pitch of distilled wood. {Trans. GcoL Soc. vol. li. p. 1.) 

BISTR1TZ (BESZTERCZE, B1DEKE), a circle in 
Transylvania, bounded on the north by Hungary and on 
the east byGalicia: iteontainsan area of about 1200squaro 
miles, rather less than that of Gloucestershire, and tho po- 
pulation, which in 1791 amounted to 55,000, is at present 
about 107,500. It lies at a considerable elevation above tho 
level of the sea, and the larger portion of it is covered with 
the Carpathian mountains. The principal river by whieh 
it is watered is the ' Greater Szamos/ whieh rises within the 
borders of tho circle below Mounts Wurful-Oraului and Lo- 



B I T 



469 



B I T 



padna, and receives the Szalva, near the town of that name. 
Among tbe minor streams are the Golden Bistritz. which 
springs from the Kiihhornel and falls into the Screth — this 
stream brings down gold-dust; and the Great Bistritz, 
which flows from Mount Piatra Dorni and joins the Sza- 
mos, not far from the town of Bistritz. The climate, parti- 
cularly in the more elevated districts, is inclement ; and 
even in the vale of Rodna strawberries do not ripen until 
the month of August. The principal products of this circle 
are grain, fruits, vegetables, ilax, wine, and large quantities 
of timber. Cattle are but partially reared ; on the other 
hand Bistritz abounds in game and fish, and contains gold, 
silver, lead, iron, salt, garnets, chalcedonies, magnetic-stone, 
marble, lime, fire -stone, magnesia, and a few mineral waters. 
The circle is divided into two minor circles, and contains 
one town and fifty-five villages. The town of Bistritz (or 
Besztercze), a free royal town, on the river of the same 
name, is called by the Saxon settlers, who constitute the 
majority of the population in these parts, * Nosen,' or 
* Nosenstadt/ It is situated in a long and delightful valley, 
and has three gates of entrance, two suburbs chiefly tenanted 
by AVallachians, a Protestant church within the walls, 
and a Protestant gymnasium, a Roman Catholic church 
and two schools, two hospitals, a monastery of Minorite 
friars, and one of Piarists, about 800 houses, and 6000 inha- 
bitants. The environs produce wine; potashes are made 
here; and the town has large cattle-fairs. Near it are 
the remains of an antient castle, once the residence of the 
illustrious family of the Hunyads. 47° 5' N. lat., 24° 32' 
E. loner. 

BITHY'NIA, a country of Asia Minor, including part 
of the Turkish district of Khodavendkiar and the peninsula 
of Khodjaili. We cannot exactly determine the antient 
boundaries, for it is uncertain whether the Mariandyni are 
to be included in this country. If not, Bithynia was bounded 
on the west by the river Rhyndacus, on the east by the 
river Sangarius, or Sagaris, on the north and north-west 
by the Euxine and the Propontis, and on the south by 
Phrygia and Galatia. It had the advantage of an exten- 
sive line of sea-coast, indented by two deep bays, the Cian 
and the Astacene. Xenophon, who was in the country pro- 
bably more than once, describes the part along the Euxine 
in the neighbourhood of Calpe as covered with inhabited 
villages, and fertile in every kind of natural produce except 
olives. (Anabas. vi. e. 4, $ 5, 6.) Dionysius Periegetes 
(v. 793) also says that the Bithyni inhabited a fertile coun- 
try (Ktirapijv %B6va vauraovai). Mr. Kinneir found it a 
beautiful and romantic country, abounding in vines and 
forests ; and Mr. Browne (Walpole's Turkey t ii. 108) speaks 
in the highest terms of the plenty which prevailed near 
Brusa when he was there. The forests consist principally 
of oak, occasionally intermingled with beech, chestnuts, and 
walnuts. But this country, one of the most interesting in 
Asia Minor, is yet comparatively unknown. In the southern 
part, the immense mass of Olympus, at the base of which 
Brusa stands, occupies a large part of the country, and in- 
cludes between two of its branches the extensive plain of 
Brusa. The summit of Olympus is a grey granite; the 
sides are marble. Still farther to the west two branches of 
Olympus form the boundary of the extensive basin of Lake 
Apollonna: one of these branches, the eastern, separates 
the basin of this lake from the plain of Brusa. The northern 
part of Bithynia, which consists of the peninsula, is occu- 
pied by a chain of hills running westward from the banks 
of the Sangarius, and terminating on the channel of Con- 
stantinople. Between this range and the lake of Iznek, the 
antient Ascania, is a plain country which contains the 
lake of Sabanja or Nicomedia. From Guevc, where there is 
a fine bridge over the Sangarius, to Sabanja, the country is 
described as an alluvium, with sand and small hills of sand- 
stone : from Sabanja to Ismit (Nicomedia) a plain, with 
• sand and forests : the rest of the line to Scutari through 
Gebize" is mainly calcareous rock of different kinds. The 
basin of Lake Ascania appears to be bounded on the south 
by one of those branches of Olympus which enclose the 
plain of Brusa, and on tho north by the high land which 
fills up the promontory between the Astacene and Cian 
gulfe : the maps mark the Lake Ascania as communicating 
by a stream with the Cian gulf; but our maps of this coun- 
try are not to be trusted. The Sangarius, which probably 
formed the eastern boundary of Bithynia, (lows through an 
immense plain which spreads out S.W. of Gueve : before it 
enters the Euxine it traverses the high lands which occupy 



the northern peninsula and terminate at the channel of 
Constantinople. (Fontanier, Voyages en Orient) 

The principal cities in this district were Astacus on the 
gulf of Astacus, which was founded at the beginning of the 
seventeenth Olympiad by the Megarians, who were after- 
wards joined by some Athenian settlers; Calchedon, or 
Chalcedon (Bekker, Anec. iii. 1207; the coins have the 
former: see Eckhel, Doctr. Num. ii. p. 411), opposite to 
Byzantium, was also founded by the Megarians (Olympiad 
26, 2), and was the birth-place of the great sophist Thrasy- 
machus ; Prusa ad Olympum, now called Brusa, or Broussa, 
was founded, according to Pliny, by Hannibal, according 
to Strabo by a Prusias who lived in the time of Croesus ; 
it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire before the capture 
of Constantinople, and is still one of the most flourishing 
towns of Anatolia. Of its warm baths some are chalybeate 
and others sulphureous; they were celebrated in antient 
times (Athemeus, 43, a) and are still much used. [See 
Brusa.] Cius, founded by the Milesians, and restored by 
Prusias after its destruction by Philip in B.C. 203, was by 
him called Prusias ; Nicaea, on the Lake Ascania, is cele- 
brated as the birth-place of Hipparchus the astronomer 
and Dion Cassius the historian ; and Nicomedia, founded 
by Nicomedes I., B.C. 264, was the birth-place of FlaYius 
Arrianus. 

The earliest inhabitants of Bithynia seem to have been 
the same with those of the neighbouring districts of Mysia 
and Phrygia (Horn. Iliad, B. 812, N. 792) ; they wero called 
Bebryces. But we have positive information that they were 
afterwards conquered or displaced by a Thracian immigra- 
tiofl*from the European side of the Propontis (Herod, i, 28, 
vii. 75) ; the invading tribe was called the Thyni, or Bithyni, 
and there is reason to believe that they were intimately 
connected with a European race of that name (Xenoph. 
Anab, vii. 2, 22), although it is the opinion of a learned 
writer that the word must be understood in a geographical, 
not an ethnographical sense. (Philol. Mus. i.p. 112.) They 
appear to have had chiefs of their own from the earliest 
times, who held a subordinate authority, even under the 
Persian government. Thus Dydalsus and Boteiras reigned 
between the commencement of the Peloponnesian war and 
376 B.C. (Clinton, Fast. Hel. iii. p. 411, n. c.) Bithynia was 
conquered by Croesus, and passed with the rest of his domi- 
nions into the hands of tbe Persians. When Darius divided 
his empire into twenty satrapies (Herod, iii. 90-95) theBithy- 
nians formed one with the Asiatic Hellespontians, Phrygians, 
Paphlagonians, Mariandynians, and Syrians, and were rated 
at 360 talents. This satrapy was called the Dascylian, from 
Dascylium, the residence of the satrap on the Propontis. 




[Hadrian. Copper, Brit. Mus. Weight 408.6 grains.] \ 




[Vespasian. Copper. Brit. Mus. 235 grains.] 

The following is a list of the satraps drawn up by Dr. Arnold 
(on Thucyd. viii. 5) :— Mitrobates (Herod, iii. 120), Orretes 
(iii. 127), and (Ebares (vi. 33) in the reign of Darius I. ; 
Megabatcs and Artabazus, the son of Pharnaces (Thueyd. 
i. 129), in the reign of Xerxes ; Pharnaces (Thucyd. in 67, 



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470 



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vi.) in the reign of Artaxerxcs Longimanus ; and Phama- 
bazus, the ton of Pharnaccs, in the reign of Darius No thus. 
Bithynia was taken from the Persians bv Alexander tho 
Great, but his general, Calantus, was defeated by Bas, 
the son of Boteiras, a native prince, and Bithynia became an 
independent state. 

Mr. Clinton (Fasti HelUnici, See, Append, r. 7, p. 410) 
has made such a complete collection of the passages in 
antient writers relating to tho kings of Bithvnia, that wo 
cannot do better than refer our readers to his work for all 
particulars respecting tho history of this district during the 
period in which it had a scparato existence. Bas was 
succeeded in 326 B.C. by his son Ziptetes, who carried 
On a successful war with Lysimachus, and founded tho 
city Zipottion. His eldest son, Nicomedes 1., camo to 
tho throno about 278 B.C. His succession was disputed 
by his brother Zyboetcs, and he called in the Gauls to 
support his claim ; who also seem to have assisted his son 
Zeilas in recovering his inheritance from his step-mother, 
Etazeta. Zeilas or Zelas (not Zielas, as Clinton writes it) 
reigned till about 223 B.C., when ho was succeeded by his 
son, Prusias I. This prince is described as a man of cou- 
rage and activity, and indeed gained his name of * tho lame ' 
from a wound which he received while mounting a scaling 
ladder at the siege of Heraclea ; but his memory is in some 
tflegree tarnished by his connexion with the death of the 

freat Hannibal, who sought refuge at his court. Hannibal 
ied in 183 n.c, and Prusias II. probably came to tho throne 
jn 180 B.C., or thereabouts. lie married the sister of Per- 
seus, king of Maccdon, botween whom and the Romans he 
endeavoured to mediate. (Liv. xliv. 14.) He visited Rome, 167 
n.c, along with his son, Nicomedes, by whom he was mur- 
dered, 149 B.C. Little is known of Nicomedes II. He was 
applied to for succours during the Cirabrian war by Marius, 
and died probably in the year 91 B.C. His son, Nicomedes 
III., was expelled by Mithridatcs, but was restored by the 
Romans, and expelled again, 88 b.c, At the peaco in 84 
H.c, he was a second time restored, and, dying in 74 B.C., 
he left his kingdom to the Romans as his heirs. 

Bithynia as a Roman province is thrown quite into the 
shade till the time of Trajan, when Pliny the younger pre- 
sided over it, and from his epistles we derive a good deal of 
information respecting its condition at that time. In the 
division of Augustus it was one of the Proconsulares Pro- 
vinciro, !.«., one of those which were left to the senate and 
the people (Dio. 53, 12, Straho, i. 17, Tacitus, Annal. xvi. 
18) ; but Pliny's appointment was duo to his intimacy with 
the Emperor, with whom he corresponded familiarly on the 
affairs of tho province. He found near Nicomcdia a foss 
commenced by a king of Persia probably for tho purpose of 
irrigating the neighbouring lands, and ho endeavoured to 
induce the emperor to turn it into a canal between the lake 
of Nicomedia and the sea: Trajan seems to have been in- 
clined to adopt his suggestion. (Kpist, x. 50, 69.) In his 
46th Epfot. 1. 10, he asks Trajan for an ' aquilex' to com- 
plcto tho aqueduct commenced by the Nicoinedians, and 
appears in general to have been a great benefactor of the 
province. 

It was on tho plain of Niccca that tho Sultan Solyman 
cut to pieces the army of Peter the Hermit, and its prox- 
imity to Constantinople has made this district the scene of 
many important events in modern history. 

BlTON, a Greek writer about the time of Archimedes. 
A work by hiin on the construction of catapult a) (ieara<rjcti<m 
rroXtutKwv dpyavwv KaraTrArncwv) is extant, in the collection 
of Thevenot. 

BITONTO, a town in the province of Bari, in the king- 
dom of tho two Sicilies, with a population of about 4000 in- 
habitants. It lies on the road from Canosa to Bari, twelve 
miles W. by S. of Bari, and about seven miles from the 
nearest point of the Adriatic coast. The country around is 
very fertile. [See Bari.] Bitonto is the antient Butuntum 
or Butuntus of the Antonine Itinerary. It is known in 
modern history for a battle fought near'it, 25th May, 173J, 
between the Spaniards, commanded by the Duke of Monte- 
mar, and the Austrians, commandod by tho Prince of 
Bclmonte. The Spaniards won tho battle, which gave them 
tho possession of the kingdom of Naples, where the Bourbon 
dynasty was thus established. Montcmar was created by 
King Charles Duko of Bitonto. (Botta, Storia d Italia.) 
I BITTER PRINCIPLE. When indigo and some other 
.vegetable products are acted upon by nitric acid a substanco 
')% produced, which, before its properties had been accurately 



examined, was called, on account of its taste, bitter prin- 
ciple. This is now, however, known to be a peculiar acid, 
and is called earbarotic or nitropieric acfd, and will bo men- 
tioned hereafter under the former name. 

Besides this artificial product, there exist a vast number 
of vegetables, most or all of which are used in medicine, 
that contain bitter extractivo matter, and from which a 
peculiar bitter principle may in many cases be separated : 
thus gentian root yields a crystallizable and extremely 
hitter matter ; but it has not been ascertained that this is 
the only bitter contained in this root ; it is called gen- 
tianine; that of senna is termed cathartcn, of colocyuth, 
colocynthen, &c. These and others of tho samo class will 
be mentioned under their respective letters. 

BITTKRSPAR. Considerable uncertainty will bo found 
to exist in the use of this term in the various mineralogical 
works.owing to a very close connection existing between the 
carbonates of lime, magnesia, protoxides of iron, manganese 
and zinc, and the compounds which theso carbonates form 
with one another. There is consequently some ditliculty in 
determining the preciso limits which divide one species from 
the other, According, however, to tho most general accepta^ 
tion it must be considered as denoting the crystalhzed 
varities of Dolomite, and therefore its essential chemical 
constitution may be considered as containing one equivalent 
of carbonate of lime united with one equivalent of carbonate 
of magnesia, which expressed in symbols is 

Ca c + Mg o 
That exactly the above compound should rarely occur, is, , 
from what we know of tho principles of isomorphism, no 
longer a matter of any surprise, since either of the elements 
may be partially replaced by the other, or by the protoxides 
of manganese and iron, which is indeed usually the case. 
On the supposition of the above composition, 100 parts 
should be found to contain 

Of Carbonate of lime .... 54*3 
Carbonate of magnesia . . . 45*7 
whilo the analysis of varieties from Tyrol by Klaproth give 
the composition thus ■ 

Carbonate of lime . . . 54*18 . . 52 

Carbonate of magnesia . . 45*82 . .45 
Carbonate of iron and mangancso . 3 

100 100 

The quantity of iron and manganese is, however, at times 
much greater, Berthier having obtained as much as 14 per 
cent, of tho former, and six of the latter. Particular atten- 
tion is requisite to distinguish this species from calcareous 
spar, carbonato of lime, on the one hand, and magne^itspar 
or talcspar, tho carbonate of magnesia, on the other, two 
species to which tho bitterspar is most nearly allied, and 
between which it is situated, not only in its chemical con- 
stitution, but in almost all of its other properties. Thus 
for example they are all three clcavahle in directions parallel 
to tho faces of a rhombohedral, the <ingle in the obtuse 
edges of which in the purest specimens 

OfCalcsparis . . , 105° 5' 

Biticrspar . . . 106° 15' 

Talcspar . . . 107 3 22' • 

In the general character of the crystals also the bitterspar is 
intermediate between the other iwo ; for while in calcspar 
we find an almost infinito variety of forms and combinations, 
with a most decided tendency to the ocenrrenco of the six- 
sided regular prism, and a remarkable complexity and 
variety of shapes, talcspar on tho contrary is as remark- 
able for its simplicity, the faces of its cleavage rhombo- 
hedron being the only ones which have as yet ever been 
observed to occur in this mineral. Bitterspar, on the con- 
trary, holds as it were a mean between these two extremes, 
presenting us, in addition to the planes of the cleavage 
rhombolicdron, the faces of the first obtuser, and first and 
socond acuier rhombohedron, together with the planes trun- 
cating the terminal angle ; the two acuter rhombohedron 
occur alone as well as that of cleavage. The principal com- 
binations arc seen in tho accompanying figure, where tho 
faces marked E represent tho plane truncating the terminal 
angle, R the clcavago and its second acuter; the faces R 
are frequently not present. The crystallino faces, par- 
ticularly those of iho cleavage rhombohedron, arc fre- 
quently rounded, by which tho crystals assume the 
form of a lens. In hardness it is also situated between 
calcspar and talcspar, its number being 3*5 to 4, while 



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471 



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calcspar is 3, and talcspar 4 to 4*5. The specific gravity is 
2*8 to 3. It is sometimes colourless, but frequently presents 
tints of pink, yellow, brown and green, derived from the 
presence of iron and manganese. It possesses various 
degrees of transparency, and has a somewhat pearly lustre, 
whence it has been called pearlspar. 

BITTER SWEET. [See Solanum.] 

BITTERN (zoology), Botaurus (Brisson), a subgenus of 
the family of herons, or Ardeida?* The following are the 
characters which principally distinguish the bitterns from 
the rest of the family: — Bill strong, about as long as the 
head, compressed, and higher than it is broad ; mandibles 
equal in length, the upper being rather the deepest, and 
slightly curved from the base to the point ; edges of both 
mandibles somewhat incurved, very sharp, and finely ser- 
rated towards the point. Legs, as compared with those of 
others of the family, rather short. Neck also comparatively 
short, covered on its sides and front with long loose feathers 
which can be erected at pleasure, and on the back (of the 
neck) with down, the long loose feathers of the side meeting 
behind and covering the downy part in certain attitudes, as, 
for example, when the bird passes through the reeds and 
rushes. 

The bitterns comprehended under Bonaparte's subgenus 
Botaurus are widely diffused, but, being solitary birds, 
haunting wooded swamps or reedy marshes, where they 
generally lie hid all day, and coming forth to feed at night, 
they are seldom seen. There are several species of Bona- 
parte's subgenus, and of these the Night Heron, or Qua 
Bird (Ardea Nyciicorax, Linn., Nycticorax Europceus, 
Stephens), is found both in the old and new world. Bona- 
parte notes it in his Specchio Comparativo as common in the 
spring and autumn near Rome, and in Philadelphia during 
the summer. It has been shot in England ; and there are 
not wanting those who assert that it has been recognised in 
all tbe quarters of the globe. Le Vaillant states that he saw 
it in Africa. It occurs in the catalogue of birds which were 
collected on the Ganges, between Calcutta and Benares, 
and in the Vindhyian Mountains, between the latter place and 
Gurrah Mundela, on the Nerbudda,by Major James Frank- 
lin, and in Colonel Sykes's catalogue of birds observed in 
the Dukkun (Dcecan). [See Nycticorax.] 

As an example of the subgenus, the Common Bittern, or 
Bittour, Botaurus stellaris, Steph., Ardea stellaris, Linn., 
Uccello lepre and Trombutto of the Italians, Rohrdommel 
of the Germans, and Butor of the French, may be taken. 
The provincial English names of Mire-drum, Bull of the 
Bog, &c., will occur to many of our readers as being indi- 
cative, in common with some of the foreign ones, of the 
bellowing or drumming noise for which the bird is so 
famous. This deep note of the ' hollow-sounding bittern' is 
exerted on the ground at the breeding season, about Feb- 
ruary or March. As the day declines he leaves his haunt, 
and, rising spirally, soars to a great height in the twilight. 
Willughby says that it performs this last-mentioned teat in 
the autumn, ' making a singular kind of noise nothing like 
to lowing/ Bewiek says that it soars, as above described, 
when it changes its haunts. Ordinarily it flies heavily, 
* like the heron, uttering from time to time a resounding cry, 
not bellowing, and then Willughby, who well describes the 
bellowing noise of tho breeding-season, supposes it to be the 
night-raven, at whose ' deadly voice* the superstitious way- 
farer of the night turned pale and trembled. * This, without 
doubt/ writes Willughby, 'is that bird our common people 
call the night-raven, and have such a dread of, imagining 
its cry portends no less than their death or the death of 
some of their near relations ; for it ilies in the night, answers 
their description of being like a (lagging collar, and hath 
such a kind of hooping ery as they talk of.' Others, with 
much reason, consider the yua-bird, above-mentioned (which 



utters a loud and most disagreeable noise while on the 
wing, conveying the idea of the agonies of a person attempt 
ing to vomit), to be the true night-raven. 

The food of the bittern consists, for the most part, as 
might be suspected from its haunts, of aquatic animals. 
Pennant says that frogs are its principal food, adding, • not 
that it rejects fish, for small trouts have been taken out of 
its stomach.' In Graves's British Birds it is stated that in 
one dissected in 18 11, the intestines were completely full, 
containing the remains of four eels, several water-newts, a 
short-tailed field-mouse, three frogs, two buds of the water- 
lily, and some other vegetable substances. 

The rude nest of the bittern is generally formed of reeds, 
sticks, &c, on some * tump,' to use Montagu's expression, 
in a reedy marsh or well-clothed rushy moor, and contains 
four or five pale-green eggs. The time of incubation is 
about twenty-six days. 

In the palmy days of falconry the bittern afforded the best 
of sport. We find it mentioned in the ' Flights to the field, 
called great flights.* « There is yet,' say£ Turbervile, 
* another kinde of iiight to the fielde, which is called the 
great flight, as to the cranes, wild geese, bustard, birde of 
Paradise, bittors, shovelars, hearons, and many other such 
like/ Accordingly wc find it protected by the severe penal- 
ties of the stat. 25 Heu. VIII. c. 11, confirmed by stat. 3 
and 4 Edw. VI. c. 7* One year's imprisonment, and a for- 
feiture of 8rf. for each egg, Was the punishment awarded for 
those who destroyed or took away the eggs of the • bittour/ 
When the hawk had ' bound with ' the / blttern and brought 
it down, it was the duty of the falconer to make in apace to 
rescue her, by plunging the bill of the bittern into the 
ground, to prevent injury to the hawk; for when wounded 
the bittern is not daunted, but lies watching his opportunity 
to dart his spear-like bill at his enemy as soon as he comes 
within his reach, and, as he generally aims at the eye, he 
should be approached with the greatest caution. The mo- 
dern sportsman should beat for these birds with pointers or 
very close-hunting spaniels; for they arc moved with as 
much difficulty as a jack-snipe, and, like that bird, will 
often lie till they are almost trodden on, rather than take 
wing. 

The bittern was well known to the anticnts, and there 
can be little doubt that it is the atrnpiag, asterias, (*pw£ioc, 
erodius,) of Aristotle. (Hist. Anim. book ix. c. xviii.) In 
the same chapter its sluggishness, and the fable of its ori- 
gin from slaves metamorphosed into birds are mentioned. 
Aristotle observes further that the 0<it£ especially strikes at 
the eyes; and in the edition of Belon (1557), ' enrichy de 
quatrains,' we find the following verse below the figure of 
the 'butor:' — 

• En un Butor Phoix, pour sa paresse 
Fut par les tlieux change divinement, 
Un paresseux aussi communtrment, 
Est (lit Butor, pour son peur d'alegressc' 

The flesh of the bittern was formerly in high esteem (in 
the reign of Henry VIII. it was valued at 1*.), nor is it de- 
spised in the present day ; when well fed, its ilavour some- 
what resembles that of the hare, nor is it rank and fishy, 
like that of some of its congeners. The long claw of the 
hind toe is much prized as a tooth-pick, and, in the olden 
time, it was thought to have the property of preserving the 
teeth. 

A paragraph in the last edition of Pennant, signed J. L., 
written probably by Latham, states that this bird ' is said to 
inhabit the greater part of Africa ; and is certainly found 
on the coast of Barbary, at the Cape of Good Hope, and 
also in -India and China/ Selby observes that its geogra- 
phical distribution • seems confined to Europe, extending 
nearly to the confines of Asia ;' but it was in the collection 
formed in the neighbourhood of Trebizond by Keith E. 
Abbott, Esq., and presented to the Zoological Society by 
that gentleman. Colonel Sykes notes it as rare in Dukkun 
(Dcecan), and Mr. Gould as inhabiting the three continents 
of the Old World. In England inclosure and drainage 
have made the bittern a very scarce bird, and its capture is 
no longer an ordinary event. 

In size the common bittern is less than the common 
heron, being about two feet and a half in length. The bill 
is about four inches long, brown above, greenish below; 
irides yellow : feathers on the crown black, shot with green, 
those of the hinder part of the head, neck, and breast long 
and loose ; general colour of plumage dull, pale yellow, va- 
riegated with spots and bars of black ; tail short; legs mo- 



B I T 



472 



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derate, pale-Rrecn ; toes and elaws long and slender, middle 
claw serrated on the inner edge, most probably to aid it in 
securing its slippery prey. 




[Uotanrtu atvllarU.] 

BITTERS, a collective term applied to those vegetable 
substanees the most prominent sensible quality of which is 
bitterness, * Bitterness/ says Dr. Cullen, 4 is a simple per- 
ception that eannot be defined, but must be referred to a 
matter of experience in which mankind are eommonly 
agreed/ It was at one time attempted to refer this quality 
to an hypothetical principle, which was termed bitter prin- 
ciple ; but it was soon perceived that substanees having a 
bitter taste were indebted for it to very different sources. 
In the progress of scienee this term was limited to such 
natural nonazotized substanees as possessed the general 
character of extractive* which was designated bitter ex- 
tractive, and subdivided into mild bitter, sharp bitter, and 
narcotic bitter extractive. Moro recently, the pure non- 
azotized substances, to which many plants arc indebted for 
their bitterness, have been obtained separately, and even 
crystallized, sueh as gentianine, salicine, &c. But bitter- 
ness is not confined to vegetable substances destitute of 
azote, but is possessed by many alkaloids, into the composi- 
tion of which azote enters, such as quinia, strychnia, 
brueia. See. As some of these constitute valuable medicinal 
agents, as well as the non-azotized substances, it seems 
improper to adopt a chemical arrangement of these articles 
as the foundation of our observations. Any bitter sub- 
stance taken into the mouth produces instantly a sensation 
which on the first trial is seldom relished, but to which tlio 
taste soon beeomes reconciled, so that most persons can con- 
tinue the use of bitter longer than sweet substances. This 
impression on the organs of taste seems to have little general 
effect beyond causing a secretion of saliva in most indi- 
viduals, and it is not till they reach the stomaeh that they 
produce much effect Upon tho mueous membrane and 
muscular fibres of the stomaeh, as well as upon the neigh- 
bouring glands associated with it in the function of diges- 
tion, especially tho liver and panereas, they produee a very 
decided effect. Gummy matter, which forms a considerable 
portion of most vegetable food, does not easily submit to the 
aetion of the digestive organs, but frequently passes through 
the intestines very little changed. But when associated 
with bitter extractive it is feoon digested, and yields a large 
quantity of nourishment. Saeeharine matter or sugar is 
not, when existing alone in vegetable food, adequate to tho 
support of th« animals whieli feed upon it, but they be- 
come plump and healthy if any bitter matter exist in the 



plants along with the sugar, or if they.havc aeeess to other 
plants almost exclusively bitter, to "which they eagerly 
resort. Where there is a deficiency of bitter matter, and 
the food is of a very watery kind, sueh as grows in wet 
pastures, the eattle suffer from various diseases, especially 
from the rot 

That bitters develope and heighten the vitality of the 
stomach seems clear, and in popular language they are 
called stomachics. But they also cause an increased secre- 
tion of the juices of the stomach essential to digestion, and 
also of the bile and paucreatie juice. The secretions are 
also improved in quality, and when previously excessive 
may even be diminished in quantity, as a greater degree 
of firmness and tone is imparted to the whole intestinal 
canal, by which hasty and imperfect secretion is prevented. 
The beneficial effects of this improved condition of the 
stomach are extended to the rest of the system by two 
means, the first, sympathy, which is speedy in its action ; 
the second, more slow, being the result of the improved 
blood obtained from better digestion being distributed 
through the system. The nature of sympathy is little 
understood, but the effcets of that disposition or consent of 
parts to act in concert or harmony, which physiologists 
have agreed to term sympathy, are sufficiently manifest. 
The stomaeh has been eallcd the centre of sympathy, from 
its influence upon'every organ of the body, and of most 
organs of the body upon it, according to their respective 
condition. But by a well-ascertained law of the system the 
sympathies of the stomaeh are greatest with those parts 
the constituents of whieh are similar to its own: hence 
raucous surfaces and the muscular fibres throughout the 
whole body participate in its changes more extensively 
than other parts. Ilenee by improving the state of the 
stomaeh and intestinal eanal every muscle and every artery, 
for they as well as the heart arc muscular tubes, acquire 
an increased tone, by whieh the elasticity and energy of the 
system is greatly augmented. By the improved digestion 
of the food, a better kind of blood containing more fibrine 
and red partieles is circulated, and eonvcyed to every part 
of the body, by which not only better materials are supplied 
to the glands, out of which to form the secretions, but from 
whieh a firmer and better llesh is deposited ; and thus the 
individual finds his strength much increased. The nervous 
system likewise partakes of the benefit, and the mind is in 
general elear and aetive. 

Such being the eommon effect of the use of bitters, some 
writers regard them as synonymous with tonics; but as 
all tonie medicines arc not bitter, such, for example, as 
arsenie, this view eannot be taken, though many of tho 
most valuable tonics are bitter. They have this properly in 
common with most tonics : that their continued use seems 
to impair the power of the stomach, and leave it in a state 
of greater weakness than at first. Ilenee their employment 
should only be temporary, to raiso the powers of digestion 
when they have been enfeebled by previous disease or ex- 
cessive fatigue. There exists another reason for eaution 
in their use : they have a great tendency to increase the 
quantity of blood, both by augmenting the appetite, owing 
to which moro food is taken, and from which a more nutri- 
tive and stimulating chyle is extracted, by which a plethorie 
state of the blood-vessels is induced, and all the attendant 
ovils brought about. These cautionary remarks apply as 
well to malt liquors as to those bitters unassociated with 
any nutritive matter which are only employed as niedi- 
eines. The full and often bloated habit of body of those 
who daily consume a large portion of strong ale or porter 
sufficiently demonstrates the consequences of such indul- 
gences. Besides, hops possess, like many other bitters, 
more or less of a nareotie principle, so that the purest beer 
produces an injurious effect on the brain, if taken in con- 
siderable quantity. The sleepiness which follows its use 
shows this, as well as the fate of those who are addicted to it. 
4 In seven eases out of ten, malt-liqnor drunkards die of 
apoplexy or palsy/ A very moderate use, during dinner, 
of a beer not containing so much nutritious matter, or too 
much hop, is allowable to mo^t persons, but it should be 
thoroughly fermented and purified, and not be hard or stale. 

Persons naturally of a full habit of body should carefully 
avoid the stronger ales and porters. These remarks do not 
apply to the medieal employment of strong ales as a tonic 
or restorative during convalescence from aeutc diseases, as 
few agents so speedily recruit the exhausted powers, or re- 
place the wasted llesh. of the sufferer. Neither are they in- 



B I T 



473 



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tended to prohibit mothers while nursing 1 from making a 
moderate use of them, since at that time there is a demand 
upon the system for. an extraordinary quantity of highly 
nutritive blood, and the infant generally removes any super- 
fluous quantity; but an excessive use of very strong beer 
is not less hurtful to the mother than the child. 

Bitters may be advantageously employed by the inha- 
bitants of cold and damp regions to prevent the action of 
these causes of disease. These agents generally injure the 
function of digestion, both by their immediate action on the 
skin, and also, from abstracting the animal heat, on the 
nervous system: hence the prevalence of intermittent fevers 
or agues in sueh districts. Now these may be warded off 
by maintaining a healthy action of the digestive organs and 
of the skin. Some preparation of a pure bitter, such as 
gentian, or of an aromatic and bitter united, such as chamo- 
mile with sweet flag-root, or infusion of milfoil or yarrow, 
may be had recourse to for this purpose ; but if there be 
obstruction of the liver with ague-cake, which is the en- 
larged and hardened spleen, dandelion, having beef-tea 
poured upon it, and used as a soup, is preferable, in which 
way it is extensively employed by the Dutch. The Swiss 
peasant, inhabiting high stations on the Alps, which are 
almost constantly wrapped in a thick and penetrating mist, 
uses a spirit distilled from gentian, called * bitter snaps/ 
In the West Indies, where languor of the system, with 
weakness of the digestive organs, is produced by the ex- 
cessive heat, the appetite is restored and the stomach invigo- 
rated by taking before dinner a few drops in a glass of 
water, of Stoughton*s elixir, which is made of gentian, ser- 
pentaria, orange-peel, and sweet flag-root; and in America, 
the infusion or tincture of serpentaria is sometimes taken 
every morning in damp aguish situations to prevent inter- 
in ittcnts. Such employment of bitters, within certain limits, 
is wise and proper. 

During spring and autumn, when the sources of inter- 
mittent fevers are most abundant, the use of such bitters as 
those above mentioned would be very serviceable in the case 
of weak and feeble persons residing in aguish districts; but 
there may be weakness of the digestive organs, and general 
debility, accompanied. with a state of stomach which forbids 
the employment of bitters or any other tonie. Inflammation 
of the stomach, from its slightest to its most intense degree, 
is always attended with a sense of weakness, which prompts 
many persons to betake themselves to bitters or other sti- 
mulating articles, which never fail to aggravate the dis- 
ease. Such cases demand a widely opposite course of treat- 
ment. 

There is another malady to which feeble persons are sub- 
ject, the evils of which are much lessened by the use of 
bitters. AVorms are rarely developed except in persons with 
impaired digestion, in which case bitters form, along with pro- 
per dietctical means, the most appropriate instruments of 
cure. [See Anthelmintics.] Much diversity of opinion exists 
with respect to the propriety of using bitters by persons sub- 
ject to gout. Of late years the once famous Portland gout- 
powder has fallen greatly into disuse, partly because a more 
certain remedy has been discovered, and partly because one 
of the charges brought against it had some foundation in 
truth. It was said to cure the gout, but in a short time to 
carry off the patient by apoplexy. Now such a result was 
certainly the indirect effect of this tonic powder ; for, as by 
the immunity from paroxysms of gout, which the use of it 
for a time conferred upon the patients, they were enabled 
to indulge their increased appetites, a plethoric state of the 
system was brought on, which in many cases induced apo- 
plexy, in which disease gout has a tendency to terminate. 
This powder consisted of serpentaria, gentian, germander, 
and lesser centaury. 

AVhcre the disposition to gout is very strong, some of the 
most experienced practitioners condemn the use even of ale. 
Still it must be allowed that many persons who have no dis- 
position to excessive indulgence in the good things of the 
table, have such slow and troublesome digestion as to render 
tonic and aromatic stimulants useful ; but it is best to unite 
these with some gentle laxative, by which the plethoric ten- 
dency is lessened. For this purpose, orange-peel, rhubarb, 
and magnesia, united in equal portions, form a fitting com- 
bination. Gout and stone in the bladder arc so closely allied, 
and tho means which are useful in repelling them are so 
similar in many instances, that they are naturally treated of 
together : the origin of both is depraved digestion. In full 
livers this is accompanied with deficient secretion of urine, 



and a tendency to the formation of lithie acid, by which red 
gravel is voided. Here bitters with alkalies aro. eminently 
useful, such as quassia with lime-water, or colcUicum with 
magnesia. In very feeble persons, and also after 'the long 
continuance of the lithie acid diathesis, and the irritation or 
a stone in the bladder, an opposite state prevails, viz., an 
alkaline state of urine, in which it is excessive in quantity, 
pale, and on standing some time becomes covered with an 
iridescent pellicle, or lets fall a white; generally amorphous, 
sediment. In such a case bitters are extremely useful, 
especially infusion of quassia with phosphate of iron, or in- 
fusion of quassia with nitric acid;Uhe extract of Arctosta- 
phylos Uva Ursi (bear-berry). 

*In phthisis pulmonalis bitters are sometimes of service, 
such as the bear-berry and the Iceland mos3 {Cetraria 
Islandica), in which the bitter principle should be re* 
tained. 

In some eases of diarrhoea, from loss of tone of the intes* 
tines, bitters are of the greatest service, provided no inflam- 
matory condition of the mucous membrane exist, sueh as 
nuinia, infusion ' of eusparia, or even .strychnia, perhaps 
the most inteusely bitter substance with which we 'aro 
acquainted. 

The most eligible form for exhibiting bitters is in powder 
or infusion, but where the taste is objected to, an extract 
may be given formed into pill.' ' Decoction is a bad form, 
especially for aromatic bitters. "" Aromatic principles fre- 
quently conceal the disagreeable taste of bitters. * 

BITU'MEN; a Latin word used by 'facitus, Pliny, and 
other Roman writers. A considerable number of combus- 
tible mineral substances are sometimes arranged under the 
head of bitumens; but their properties vary greatly in some 
respects, as, for example, with regard to solidity, fluidity, 
and colour. The term bitumen is however usually applied 
to two varieties, namely asphaltum, a harder one, already 
treated of, and a softer kind called elastic bitumen, which 
we shall now describe. As to other bituminous bodies, see 
Hatchetine, Maltha, Naphtha, and Petroleum. 

Elastic bitumen, sometimes called fossil caoutchouc, is a 
rare mineral product, which has hitherto been found in 
three places only: 1st. in the Odin mine, near Castleton 
in Derbyshire, in a secondary limestone, accompanied by 
asphaltum, calcareous spar, fluor, blende, galena, and 
pyrites; 2dly. in a coal-mine of Montrelais, 'a few leagues 
from Angers in France, it occurs among quartz and calca- 
reous erystals, in the veins of grit of the coal formation; 
3dly. in a coal-mine near South Bury in Massachusscts, 
United States. 

Elastic bitumen possesses the following characters : it is 
brown, or blackish brown, and translucent in small portions 
it is soft and elastic like caoutchouc, but sometimes it is as 
hard as leather : it has the property like caoutchouc of 
effacing pencil mark's. Its density varies from 0*9053 to 
1*233. It fuses readily, and at a higher temperature it 
takes fire and burns with a sooty flame : it sometimes 
leaves l-5th of its weight of ashes, composed chiefly of 
silica and peroxide of iron. If the Derbyshire elastic bitu- 
men be subjected to distillation, it yields acidulous water, 
and volatile oil, resembling that of naphtha in smell : the 
oil is neither acid nor alkaline, slightly soluble in alcohol, 
but readily so in aether ; after the distillation of the water 
and oil, a brown viscid mass remains in the retort, which 
is insoluble in water or alcohol, but is dissolved by aether 
and by potash. If the distillation be longer continued, an 
empyreumatic oil resembling that of amber is obtained, 
and a black shining coal remains. 

When the elastic bitumen of Montrelais is similarly 
treated, there is obtained a yellow, bitter fetid oil, which is 
lighter than water and insoluble in alcohol, but it dissolves 
in the alkalis. 

Elastic bitumen swells when put into oil of turpcntino or 
of petroleum ; Bother and oil of turpentine when boiling 
extract a kind of soft resin from the English and French; 
bitumen, and this remains after the evaporation of the 
solvent: this resin is of a brownish -yellow colour, is hitter 
and inelastic ; its weight is nearly half that of the bitumen 
employed. 

. It is but slightly soluble in alcohol, but readily in potash -^ 
it is inflammable, and burns with a ' smell of petroleum • 
that portion of the bitumen which is insoluble in the rother 
and oil of turpentine, is a grayish dry mass, resembling 
paper ; it burns with difficulty, and carbonizes ; potash dis- 
solves only a part of it. If alter separating these twoprin- 



No. 264. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-3 P 



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474 



B I X 



ciples, they are mixed together, the bitumen docs not regain 
iU elasticity. 

Concentrated sulphurie acitl docs not act upon elastic 
bitumen; but when long boiled with nitric acid it yields 
resin, tannin, and a little nitropcrie acid. According te 
tho analysis of M. Henry, jun., tho elastic bitumen con- 
sists of 

English. French. 



Carbon » •' • 


52*250 


58*260 


Hydrogen « « 


7*49G 


4'690 


Azoto . . , 


0*154 


0*104 


Oxygen . • . 


40-100 


3G-74G 



100* loo- 

Bcrxclius remarks, that the diffcrenco in the quantity of 
hydrogen in these specimens is so considerable, that it is 
surprising their properties are not more dissimilar. 

BITUMENS, MEDICAL USES OF. Though the sub- 
stances popularly termed bitumens, in the most extensive 
use of the term, differ, % as stated above, yet as in medical 
writings the term is restricted to certain forms of these, 
a slight notico of their uses and modes of action may 
here do most appropriately introduced. In this limited 
sense bitumens comprise naphtha, petroleum, maltha, and 
asphaltum, which are all transition states of the same 
tning; viz., from naphtha the most fluid, to asphaltum the 
most solid. These appear to be all mixtures in different 
proportions of naphtha (strictly so eallcd, naphtha montana), 
paraffme, kreosote, acetic acid, and of some snbstanco 
which easily becomes black by the action of the air. The 
chief constituent principles are earbon and hydrogen.^ They 
may bo considered miiicral-cmpyreumatic oils, and in their 
action on the human system they are similar to balsams 
and resins. Their sphere of action does not seem to extend 
beyond tho spinal chord and ganglionic system ; they do 
not affect the brain or its nerves, except indirectly in ease 
of an over-dose, through the vitiated and imperfectly decar- 
bonized blood. The functions dependent for their perfecu'on 
on the nerves of organic life are more powerfully affected by 
these agents than by any other empyreumatic oil. The se- 
cretions of the mucous membranes, of serous membranes, 
and glandular structures, as well as the skin, are promoted 
by their influence. The process of absorption is also in- 
creased, and a more copious seeretion of urine takes place. 
They are better suited for slight and chronic affections of 
the nerves of organic life, than for acute or violent disorders 
of them. They have been employed in loss of power, 
eramps, and chronic affections of a nervous but obseuro 
nature ; also in affections of the mucous membranes of the 
lungs, when balsamic medicines are proper, such as humid 
catarrh, and some of the forms of asthma arising from ner- 
vous debility. 

Likewise in similar affections of tho bladder, such as 
atony of that organ, and loss of power of its sphincter 
muscle, catarrhus vesica, $c. They have alse been used 
in gouty and rheumatie affections, especially when theso 
threaten to terminate in stiffness or loss of power. Lastly, 
they have been employed as a remedy against worms, espe- 
cially the tape-worm, in which their efficacy is increased by 
combination with assafoctida. Externally they are used as 
embrocations in rheumatie and gouty affections, and also to 
allay eramps and spasms. They are also serviceable as an 
external application to chilblains and some other ulcers re- 
sulting from an imperfect circulation and low degree of 
nervous power. 

Their employment would be very improper during any 
inflammatory state of tho system, or increased sensibility of 
the nerves. An over-dose is decidedly poisonous, causing 
general oxcitement, tremblings of the limbs, cramps, con- 
vulsions, laborious respiration, a venous state of tho blood, 
great debility, and death : or recovery may tako place, if by 
means of respiration and a copious secretion of bile and 
urine, tho blood ean be freed. from its excess of carbon. 
Even after a favourable issue appears likely to occur, death 
may take place at the end of two or three days. A very 
large doso may very speedily cause death. [Sco Kreosotb. 
Fauaffink. Pztrolkuu.j 

BIVOUAC (written also BIHOUAC, BIOUAC), is a 
term in military tactics probably derived from the German 
verb bewachen, or beuwachen, signifying to wateh over : it 
was originally applied to the stronjj parties of cavalry which 
were posted beyond the lines of in frenchmen t in order to 
watch tho motions of the enemy, and prevent any attempt 



to approach the army by surprise ; and, because the Soldiers 
thus employed passed the night in the open air, the term 
was subsequently used to denoto tho condition of any body 
of troops when in the field, and not regularly encamped 
under tents. 

Formerly, ne army servod during a campaign without 
being well provided with every material necessary fur its 
protection from the inclemency of the weather ; but, since 
the Revolution, the French soldiers have, except on a few 
occasions, dispensed with tents. At the periods in which 
military operations were suspended, they were quartered in 
towns and villages; and while on active service, they had 
only the occasional cover afforded by such buildings as hap- 
pened to be situated in the district which they occupied. In 
all their great expeditions they remained au bivouac, us it was 
called ; and the rapidity of their motions was due, in a great 
measure, to their freedom from the impedimenta with which 
armies were formerly encumbered. The important suc- 
cesses which so long attended the armies of France were, 
no doubt, the cause of their example, in this respect, being 
followed by their opponents. 

The earriago of an extensive tent equipage is necessarily 
attended with serious inconvenience on any change of posi- 
tion, but tho removal of this evil must, it is feared, be ac- 
complished at the expense of the comfort and health of the 
soldier. During the summer season, and in the south of 
Europe, it may be indifferent whether or not the men pass 
the night under a roof; and indeed in those climates and 
in the summer season the open air may be preferred ; but 
the cold winds and rains which are so frequently experienced 
in the spring and autumn in northern climates must indnco 
painful and dangerous diseases, which render the men at 
an early period of their service unfit for tho active, duties 
of war. 

To lessen the severity of the bivouac, fires arc kept up 
during the night with wood obtained from the neighbouring 
forests or villages : the arms being piled along tho line, the 
troops place themselves in their rear in groups, each about 
its proper fire, which is lighted in any convenient situation, 
the men sitting or lying upon straw if it ean be procured, 
and endeavouring to shelter themselves from wind or rain 
by means ef boughs planted in the ground, or by boards 
formed into a roof, according to circumstances. The bivouac 
of an army making a rapid retreat before an enemy is that 
in whieh the most disastrous consequences follow, both to 
the soldier and to the noople of the country along the line 
of march ; a complete disorganization of the army too often 
takes place, and lamentable excesses are committed by 
men suffering the severest distresses from hunger and fa- 
tigue. In this state the soldier not only takes from the 
peasant what is requisite to satisfy his own necessities, but 
wantonly destroys every article of property which he cannot 
carry away ; fruit trees are eutdown, growing corn trampled 
under foot, and houses are demolished or set on fire to give 
cover or warmth by night. The retreat of the French army 
from Moscow will be for ever remembered as an example 
exhibiting every species of misery which can be inflicted 
and suffered under the consequences of a rash and ill- 
planned expedition. 

When a position is to be occupied for several days, it may 
happen that the men find means to construct rude huts for 
their protection with such materials as are at hand ; and, in 
an extremely inclement season, they arc usuallv cantoned 
in such towns or villages as are in their neighbourhood. 
They then light their fires in the streets, in gardens, or in 
barns; certain spots having been previously appointed as 
alarm posts, about which, on signals being given, the dif- 
ferent corns may assemble in order to form the line of battle, 
and act immediately as circumstances may require. Per- 
manent cantonments for the winter arc of this nature, and 
they aro secured against surprise by outposts constantly 
maintained at proper distances about them. 

BIXA, a West Indian genus of plants, which produces the 
substauco called Arnotto, and gives its name to the natural 
order Bixinkje; a small group in tho vegetable kingdom, 
principally characterized by having numerous hypogynous 
stamens, fruit with parietal placenta?, and leaves marked 
with transparent dots. The only species of any general 
interest either in the genus or natural order is the Bi.ra 
Orellana, a native of the Malayan Archipelago, but now 
extremely common in the West Indies, where it is cultivated 
in rich moist soil by the sides of rivers. 
This plant forms a small treo with decp-grccn, shining, 



B I Z 



475 



HA 



heart-shaped leaves, and clusters of purplish flowers, winch 
are succeeded by capsules of a heart-shaped form, covered 
with stiffish bristles, and opening into two valves which con- 
tain, attached to their middle, a number of seeds covered 
with a soft, sticky, vermilion-coloured rind. It is the 




fBixa Orellana.] 

1* a flower seen from beneath ; 2. a petal ; 3, an ovary with style anil stigma ; 
4, a seed cut vertically, showing the embryo ; 5* a ripe fruit. 

latter which furnishes the arnotto of commerce. Accord- 
ing to Fee, this substance is obtained by heaping up the 
seeds in water for several weeks or months, and afterwards 
pressing them, when the colouring matter separates and is 
afterwards precipitated in the water. Or the pulp is sepa- 
rated by washing and maceration, and the colouring matter 
precipitated by the aid of an acid, and caught upon fine 
sieves. Independently of the use of arnotto for staining 
cheese and butter, the Indians paint their persons with it, 
and thus, it is said, destroy the subcutaneous vermin with 
which they are infested. It acts as a purgative taken in- 
ternally ; but its reputed powers as an antidote to the poison 
of the cassava are imaginary. 

BIYSK, BUSK, or BISKAYA-KREPOST, the chief 
town of a circle of the same name in the Siberian province 
of Tomsk, and the principal fortress of the Kolyvan line of 
defences: it is situated upon the Biya, not far from its 
junction with tho Katunya, and contains about 2100 inha- 
bitants. It lies, according to Stein, in 52° 30' N. lat., and 
84° 50' E. lonj?. The Biya (a word signifying master) flows 
out of Lake Telezkoe or Altin-Nor, i. e. the Golden Lake, 
in the province of Kolyvan, and, after a course of about 140 
miles, forms a junction with the Katunya (wife or woman), 
and is thence designated the Ob for the remainder of their 
united course. The sources of the Biya lie in Soongary, a 
Chinese provinco in Mongolia. 

BIZAUI, PETER, a considerable poet and historian 
of the sixteenth century, was bom at Sasso-ferrato, near 
Ancona, in Umbria or Spoleto, within the estates of the 
Church. He was one of those who, having embraced tho 
doctrines of tho Reformation, were forced to leave their 
native country to escape tho cruelties which followed on the 
establishment of tho Inquisition in the Popedom. After 
spending some time at the court of London, he went to 
Scotland, where he was honourably received by Queen Mary 



and the Earl of Murray, who had then the chief direction 
of the government. Bizari informs us that Mary presented 
him with a chain of gold ; and he has addressed one of his 
works to that princess. {Varia Opusc. fol. 28 A.) At what 
time he was in Scotland does not precisely appear ; but in a 
poem inscribed Ad Jacobum Stuardum Scoticum, he cele- 
brates the victory which that nobleman gained over the 
Earl of Huntly, in such terms as to lead to the inference 
that he was then in Scotland. (Ibid. fol. 93 A.) The battle 
of Corrichie, in which Huntly fell, was fought in October, 
1562. 

Andrew Melville, the celebrated Scottish reformer, when 
at the University of St. Andrew's, was introduced to Bizari, 
who expressed his high opinion and warm regard for him in 
a dodecastichon of elegant Latin poetry, which, with several 
of Bizari's minor poems, is inserted in Gruter's Delicice 
Poetarum Italorum. 

Mackenzie {Lives of Scots Writers, vol. iii. p, 99), and, 
after him, Chalmers {Biographical^ Dictionary}, have con- 
founded Bizari with a person whom they describe as Peter 
or Patrick Bissat, Bisset, or Bissart, bom and educated in 
Scotland, and afterwards professor of the eanon law in the 
University of Bologna, and the author of ' P. Bissarti opera 
omnia, viz. Poemata, Orationes, Lectiones feriales, et lib. de 
Irregularitate,' Venetiis, 1565. Chambers (Biographical 
Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, vol. i. p. 209, Glasgow, 
1835) follows his predecessors in their blunders, and gravely 
tells us that tho said Peter or Patrick Bissat or Bissart was 
' a descendant of Thomas Bissat or Bissart, who was Earl of 
Fife in the reign of David II.' Now it is true that in that 
reign the widowed Countess of Fife espoused a Sir Thomas 
Bysset, who thereupon had a charter from the crown of the 
earldom of Fife, to be held by him and his heirs male 
through the countess, but the knight died without such 
issue. 

Bizari was the author of several works of merit : — 1 . ' Varia 
Opuscula/ containing various tracts and speeches, and two 
books of poems, published at Venice in 1565. 2. ' AHistory 
of the War in Hungary, with a narrative of the principal 
events in Europe from 1564 to 1568/ Lyons, 1569 : this 
work was afterwards translated by the author from the 
Italian, in which it first appeared, into Latin, and published 
in 1573. 3. ' An Account of the War of Cyprus between 
the Venetians and Selim of Turkey,' in Latin, Bale, 1573 ; 
Antwerp, 1583. 4. * Epitome Insignium Europao Histori- 
arum,' Bale, 1573. 5. * Annals of Genoa, from 1573 to 
1579,* published in Latin at Antwerp the latter year. 6.' Rei- 
publicae Genuensis leges nova?, nunc in lucem edits),* 
1576: this work was reprinted by Graovius in his ' Thesaurus 
Antiq. Italiso,* torn. i. ; as was also— 7. ' Dissertatio de 
Universo Reipublica) Genuensis statu et administratione/ 
Antwerp, 1579. 8. ' A History of Persia,* in Latin, 1583 ; 
in speaking of which, Boxornius calls Bizari ' gravissimum 
rerum Pcrsicarum scriptorem.' 9. Giacobilli, in his * Catal. 
Script. Prov. Umbria),' makes mention of another work of 
Bizari's, entitled ' De Moribus Belgicis.* 

(See Mazzuchelli, Gli Scrittori d Italia, torn, i v. p. 1 295 ; 
Tiraboschi, Storia della Litteratura Italiana, torn. xi. 
p. 1009; Verdier, BibL Francoises torn. v. p. 236 ; Diet. 
Univ. Historique; and M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. i. 
pp. 16, 17.) 

BLACK. [See Colours, or Light.] 

BLACK-JACK, a name by which zinc-blende is com- 
monly known to the English miners. 

BLACK LEAD. [Seo Plumba'go.] 

BLACK PIGMENTS. [See Carbon; Charcoal, 
Animal.] 

BLACK, JOSEPH, a physician and an eminent che- 
mical philosopher, was born in France on the banks of the 
Garonne in the year 1728. His father, John Black, who 
resided chiefly at Bordeaux, was a native of Belfast in 
Ireland, but of a Scotch family, as was also his mother. 

In the year 1740, when he was twelve years old, Joseph 
Black was sent to Belfast, that he might have the benefit 
of a British education, and six years afterwards he was 
sent to the University of Glasgow, where he continued 
his studies with great assiduity and success, devoting his 
attention chiefly to physical science. Having chosen the 
profession of medicine, he went to complete his medical 
studies to Edinburgh in 1750 or 1751, having previously 
had the advantage of attending Dr. Cullen*s lectures on 
chemistry at Glasgow. This science, in which he was des- 
tined to act so important a part, strongly excited his atten- 

3P2 



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tion, and ho pursued it experimentally with great vigour 
and commensurate success. 

The chemical subject which seems first peculiarly Us have 
excited his attention was connected with his profession as a 
phvsician, and is thus detailed by Dr. Robison in the prefaco 
to Dr. Black's ' Lectures on tho Elements of Chemistry :'—- 

• It was tho good fortuno of chemical scienco that at tins 
very time tho opinions of professors were divided concern- 
ing tbo manner in which certain lithontriptic medicines, 
and particularly limo- water, acted in alleviating tho excru- 
ciating pains of the stono and gravel. The students usually 
partake of such differences of opinion.and are thereby am- 
mated to more serious study, ami science gains by their 
emulation. This was a subject quito suited to the taste of 
young Mr. Black, ono of Dr. Cullcn's most zealous and in- 
telligent chemical scholars. It was indeed a most interest- 
ing subject, both to the chemist and tho physician. All 
the medicines which were then in vogue, as solvents of the 
calculous concretion, resembled raoro or less the lapis \n- 
femalis t and tho common ley of tbo soap-boilers, two sub- 
stances so terribly acrimonious, that in a very short lirao 
they will reduce the firmest and most solid parts of the 
animal body to a mere pulp. Therefore, while they were 
powerful lit lion triptics they were hazardous medicines, if in 
unskilful hands. All of them seem to derive their efficacy 
from quick-lime, and this derives its power from the fire. 
Its wonderful property of becoming intensely hot, and even 
sometimes ignited, when moderately wetted with water, had 
long engaged tho attention of chemists. It was therefore 
very natural for them to ascribe its power to igneous matter 
imbibed from the fire, retained in the lime, and communi- 
cated by it to alkalies and other substances, which it renders 
so powerfully acrid. Hence undoubtedly arose tho denomi- 
nation of causticity, given to the quality so induced. I see 
that Mr. Blank had entertained tho opinion, that caustic 
alkalies acquired igneous matter from quicklime. In one 
memorandum lie hints at some way of catching this matter 
as it escapes from lime, while it becomes mild by exposure 
to the air, but on the opposite blank pago is written — ' No- 
thing escapes, the cup rises considerably by absorhing air.' 
A few pages after ibis, ho compares the loss of weight sus- 
tained by an ounce of chalk when calcined, with its loss 
when dissolved by spirit of salt. Immediately after a me- 
dical case is mentioned which I know to have occurred in 
November, 1752. From this it would appear that he had 
before this time suspected the real nature of these sub- 
stances. He had then prosecuted his inquiry with vigour: 
the experiments with magnesia are soon mentioned. 

These laid open the whole mystery, as appears by ono 
other memorandum : — ' When I precipitate lime by a com- 
mon alkali there is no effervescence : tho air quits tho 
alkali for the lime, hut it is not lime any longer, but c. c. c. 
It now effervesces, which good lime will not.' He had now 
discovered that the terrible acrimony of tbese powerful sub- 
stances is their native property, and not any igneous pro- 
ycrtv derived from the lime, and by the lime from the fire, 
lo had discovered that a cubic inch of marble consisted of 
about half its weight of pure lime, and as mucb air as would 
fill a vessel holding six wine gallons, and that it was ren- 
dered tasteless and mild by this addition, in the same 
manner as oil of vitriol is rendered tasteless and mild in the 
form of alabaster, by its combination with calcareous earth.' 

I la vine thus most satisfactorily proved to what the caus- 
ticity of lime and tho alkalies was owing, he made it tho 
subject of his inaugural thesis, which he entitled ' De Acido 
a cibis orto, ct dc Magnesia 1 / This occurred in 1754, when 
the degree of doctor of medicine was conferred upon him by 
tbo University of Edinburgh. In the following year he 
published his ' Experiments on Magnesia, Quicklime, and 
other Alkaline Substances.' In this the views which had 
occn hut littlo more than indicated in his thesis were de- 
tailed at greater length, and the whole subject more fully 
doveloped. 

Dr. Black's experiments and opinions respecting caus- 
ticity gave rise to considerable discussion ; and they were 
especially attacked by Dr. Meyer of Osnaburg, who had 
published a considerable volume on quicklime, in which lie 
professed lo explain all tho phenomena by the action of an 
acidum pingtir, formed in the lime during calcination, and 
consisting of igneous matter in a certain inexplicable com- 
bination with other substances. Though this work was 
replete with injudicious experiments and incorrect reason- 
ing* it gave Dr. Black considerable uneasiness ; and without 



adding any fresh experiments, ho answered and refuted all 
the objections which had been urged against him. 

In 175G, Dr. Cullen having removed lo Edinburgh, Dr. 
Black was appointed professor of anatomy and lecturer on 
chemistry in the University of Glasgow, where he continued 
till 1766, wben he was appointed to the chemical chair in 
Edinburgh. Between the years 1759 and 17G3 ho matured 
tho speculations on heat which hall for a long period occa- 
sionally occupied his thoughts. Boerhaavc has recorded an 
observation made by Fahrenheit, that water would become 
considerably colder than melting snow, without freezing, 
and would frcczo in a moment if disturbed, and in the act 
of freezing emitted many degrees of heaL This notice sceras 
lo have supplied Dr. Black with some vague notion thai the 
heat received by ice during its conversion into water was 
not lost, but was contained in iho water. The experiments 
by which Dr. Black demonstrated the existence of what ho 
termed latent heat in bodies, arc extremely simple and easy 
of execution. He remarks (* Lectures/ vol. i. p. 119) that 
1 melting ice receives heat very fast, but the only effect of 
this heal is to change il into water, which is not in the least 
sensibly warmer than the ice was before/ ' A great quantity 
therefore of the heat* or of the matter of heat, which enters 
into the melting ice, produces no other effect but lo give it 
fluidity, without augmenting its sensible heat; it appears to 
bo absorbed and concealed within the water, so as not to be 
discoverable by the application of a thermometer.' 

' In order to understand/ he continues, * this absorption 
of heat into melting ice, and concealment of il in the water, 
more distinctly, I mado the following experiments: — Tho 
plan of the first was, to take a mass of ice, and an equal 
quantity of water, in separate vessels of the same size and 
shape, and as nearly as possible of the same heat, to sus- 
pend .them in the air of a warm room, and by observing 
with a thermometer tho celerity with which the water is 
heated or receives heat, to learn the celerity with which it 
enters the ice ; and the timo" necessary for melting the ice 
being also attended to, to form an estimate from these two 
data of the quantity of heat which enters into ice during 
its liquefaction.' He exposed in the same room a given 
quantity of water frozen into ice, and an equal quantity of 
water at 33°, and as the result of tho experiment he states, 
' that it was necessary that the glass with the ice receive 
heat from the air of the room during twenty-one half-hours, 
in order to melt the ice into water, and to" heat that water 
to 40° of Fahrenheit During all this time it was receiving 
the heat, or the matter of heat, with the same celerity (very 
nearly) with which tho water-glass received it during tho 
single half- hour in the first part of the experiment For, 
as the water received it with a celerity which was diminish- 
ing gradually during that half-hour, in consequence of tho 
diminution of difference between its degrees of heat and 
that of the air ; so the glass with the ice also received heat 
with a diminishing celerity, which corresponded exactly 
with that of tho water-glass, only that the progression of 
this diminution was much more slow, and corresponded to 
the whole time which the water surrounding the ice re- 
quired to become warmed to 40* of Fahrenheit. Tho whole 
quantity of heat therefore received by the ice -glass during 
the twenty-one half-hours was twenty-one times the quan- 
tity received by the water-glass during the single half- hour. 
It was therefore a quantity of heat which, had it been 
added to the liquid water, would have mado it warmer by 
(40-33) X 21, or 7X21, or 147°. No part of this heat how- 
ever appeared in the ice-water, except 8°; the remaining 
139°, or 140° had been absorbed by the melting ice, and 
were concealed in the water into which it was changed.' 

lie then mentions that another obvious method of melting 
ice occurred to him, in which it would be still more easy to 
perceive the absorption and concealment of heat, by the 
action of warm water. For tho details of these very simple 
yet most satisfactory experiments, we must content our- 
selves with referring to Dr. Black's 'Lectures,' vol. i. p. 123. 
In page 157 of the samo volume ho proves that in the case 
of boiling the heat absorbed does not warm surrounding 
bodies, but converts the water into vapour, and he adds, * in 
both cases, considered as the cause of warmth, we do not 
perceive its presence : it is concealed, or latent, and I gave 
it the namo of latent heat* It was indeed by Dr. Black's 
doctrine respecting the nature of steam that 3VIr. Walt was 
led lo his great improvements in the steam-engine, a sufli- 
eient proof, if indeed proof were required, of the iramenso 
importance of his discoveries. 



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The ' Philosophical Transactions' for 1775 contain a short 
paper by Dr. Blaek; giving an aeeount of some experiments, 
showing that recently-boiled water begins to freeze more 
speedily than water that has not been boiled, and he ex- 
plains the eause of its so doing. The only other paper 
written by Dr. Blaek was published in the sceond volume of 
the * Transactions of the Royal Soeiety of Edinburgh.' It 
is an analysis of the Geyser and Rikum springs in Ieeland, 
in which he found a considerable quantity of siliea. 

Dr. Blaek was never married. He died on the 26ih of No- 
vember, 1799, in the seventy-first year of his age. Dr. Ro- 
bison (Preface to Lectures, p. lxii.) says, ' As to the manner 
in whieh Dr. Blaek acquitted himself in his publie character 
of a professor, I need only say that none contributed more 
largely to establish, and support and increase the high eha- 
raeter whieh tho University of Edinburgh has aequired. His 
talent for communicating knowledge was not less eminent 
than for observation and inference from what he saw. He 
soon became one of the principal ornaments of the Univer- 
sity ; and his lee tu res were attended by an audience whieh 
continued increasing from year to year, for more than thirty 
years. It eould not be otherwise. His personal appear- 
ance and manners were those of a gentleman, and peculiarly 
pleasing. His voice in lecturing was low, but fine ; and his 
articulation so distinet, that he was perfectly well heard by 
an audienee consisting of several hundreds. His discourse 
was so plain and perspieuous, his illustration by experiment 
so apposite, that his sentiments on any subjeet never could 
be mistaken even by the most illiterate ; and his instruc- 
tions were so elear of all hypothesis or eonjeeture, that the 
hearer rested on his conclusions with a confidence searcely 
exceeded in matters of his own experience/ 

BLACK-ASSIZE, the name given to a fatal assize held 
in 1577 in the old town-hall of Oxford, situated at that time 
in the yard of the castle. Holinshed and Stow make par- 
ticular mention of it in their Chronicles, but the best aeeount 
of it is in Anthony a Wood's History and Antiquities of 
the University, published by Guteh, 4to. Oxford, 1796, vol. 
ii. p. 188, when noticing the trial of one Rowland Jencks, a 
book-binder, for sedition. He says — ' The assizes therefore 
being come, whieh began the 4th of July, and continued 
two days after in the court-house at the eastle-yard, the said 
Jencks was' arraigned and condemned in the presence of a 
great number of people to lose his ears. Judgment being 
passed, and the prisoner taken away, there arose such an 
infectious damp or breath among the people, that many 
there present, to the apprehensions of most men, were then 
smothered, and others so deeply iufeeted that they lived not 
many hours after. The persons that then died,' he adds, 
* and were infeeted by the said damp, when sentence was 
passed, were Sir Robert Bell, baron of the Exchequer; Sir 
Nieholas Barham, sergeant-at-law ; Sir Robert D'Oyley, 
tho high-sheriff; Hart, his under-sheriff; Sir William 
Babyngton, Robert D'Oyley, Wenman, Danvers, Fetiplaee, 
and Harcourt, justices of the peaee ; Kcrle, Greenwood, 
Nash, and Forster, gentlemen ; besides most of the jury, with 
many others that died within a day or two after. Abo re 
600 sickened in one night, as a physician of Oxford (Georg. 
Edryeus in Hypomnematibus suis in aliquot libros Pauli 
Mginetcc, edit, Lond. 1588, lib. 2) attested; and the day 
after, the infeetious air being earried into the next villages, 
there sickened 100 more. The 15th, 16th, and 17th days 
of July siekened also above 300 persons, and within twelve 
days* spaee died 100 seholars, besides many eitizens. The 
number of persons that died in five weeks* spaee, namely 
from the 6th of July to the 12th of August (for no longer 
did this violent infection continue), were 300 in Oxford, and 
200 and odd in other plaees : so that the whole number that 
died in that time were 510 persons, of whom many bled till 
they expired. Some,' Wood says, * left their beds, oeea- 
sioned by the rage of their disease and pain, and would beat 
their keepers or nurses, and drive them from their presence. 
Others ran about the streets and lanes in a state of phrenzy, 
and some even leaped headlong into deep waters. The 
physieians tied, not to avoid trouble,* he says, * but to save 
themselves and theirs.' The heads of houses and doctors 
almost all fled ; and there was not a single eollege or hall, 
but had some taken away by this infection. ' The parties,' 
Wood says, ' that were taken away by this disease were 
troubled with a most vehement pain of the head and sto- 
maeh, vexed with the phrenzy, deprived of their understand- 
ing, memory, sight, hearing, &c. The disease also increas- 
ing, they could neither eat nor sleep, nor would suffer any 



attendants to eome near to them. At the time of their 
death they would be very Strang and vigorous, but if they 
eseaped it, then they were to the contrary. It spared no 
complexion or constitution, and the eholeric it ebicfly mo- 
lested. That whieh is most to be admired is, that no women 
were taken away by it, or poor people, or sueh that admi- 
nistered physic, or any that eame to visit. But as the phy- 
sieians were ignorant of the eauses, so also of the eurcs of this 
disease.' - Holinshed says that no ehild died of this infection. 

It seems more than probable that the distemper which 
arose on this oeeasion, was a fever originating in the poi- 
sonous condition of the adjoining gaol, where the prisoners 
had been long, elose, and nastily kept. Wood mentions a 
similar event at Cambridge, at the assizes held in the castle 
there in the time of Lent, 13 Henry VIII., a.d. 1521, where 
the justices, all the gentlemen, bailiffs, and most who re- 
sorted thither, took such an infection, that many of them 
died, and all almost that were present siekened, and nar- 
rowly escaped with their lives. 

Father Sanders (in his book De Schismate AngL lib. iii.), 
notieing the blaek-assize of Oxford, ealled it * ingens mi- 
raeulum,' and aseribed it as a just judgment on the eruelty 
of the judge for sentencing the bookbinder to lose his ears. 

A contemporary aeeount of the blaek-assize is given in a 
letter from Sergeant Fleetwood, reeorder of London, to Lord 
Burleigh, dated 30th July, 1577, printed in Ellis's Original 
Letters Illustrative of English History (seeond series, vol, 
iii. p. 54) ; and another contemporary .account, in Latin, 
from the Register of Merton College, was eommunieatcd to 
the Royal Soeiety by professor Ward in 1758, and is printed 
in the Philosophical Transactions for that year, vol. 1. part 
\l p. 699. 

(See also Holinshed's Chron. edit. 1587, vol. ii. p. 1270; 
Stow's Annals, edit. 1631, p. 681 ; and Pointer's Antiquities 
and Curiosities of Oxford, 8vo. Lond. 1749, p. 171.) 

BLACKBIRDS (zoology), the English name for birds 
of the first tribe of the genus Turdus, Linn., belonging to 
the fifth family (Les Turdusinees) of Cuvier's seeond order 
(Les Passereaux), according to Lesson's arrangement. 

But the term Blackbird is more exclusively applied in 
England to that well-known native songster, Merula vul- 
garis of Ray, Turdus Merula of Linnaeus, the Schwarz- 
drossel and Schwarze Amsel of the Germans, Merle of the 
Freneh, Merla and Merlo of the Italians, and kottvQoc, or 
KotravfoQ (eottyphus or e6ssyphus), of the antient Greeks. 

The Blackbird is too well known to require a description ; 
but a word or two on the subjeet of its habits may not be 
misplaeed. There are not wanting those who praise the 
song-thrush at the expense of the blaekbird, alleging that, 
though the former commits depredation in our fruit gardens 
in summer, it makes amends by its destruction of the shell- 
snails (Helices aspersa et nemoralis), whereas the black- 
bird is a most notorious fruit-eater, without any sneh redeem- 
ing quality. That the thrush does this serviee is most 
true ; but it is not less true that the blackbird is particu- 
larly fond of the shell-snails, whieh it devours in the same 
way with the thrush. In truth, small slugs and shell-snails, 
to use the expression of a garden labourer, form * the ehief 
of its living,* while the thrush is equally fond of fruit in the 
season ; but the plumage of the thrush is in its favour, and 
it is often pecking away at the fruit without being secu. 
When disturbed it glides away without noise; but the 
blackbird's sharp cry of alarm as it eseapes generally strikes 
the ear, if its blaek coat and yellow bill have not arrested 
the eye. Thus much in justiee to the blaekbirds ; for we 
know of instances where a war of extermination has been 
waged against them, while the thrushes have been held 
saered. 

Early in the spring the blaekbird begins to build its nest. 
A thiek-set hedge-row, an insulated elose bush, a low ivied 
tree, are all favourite places. Moss, small stieks, root- 
fibres, arc the materials, with an internal eoat of mud-plaster, 
over whieh is a lining of fine dry grass. Four or five eggs 
of a bluish-green, variegated with darker markings, are here 
deposited. Aristotle (book v. e. 13.) observes, that it lays 
twiee, and Buffon says that the first deposit ranges from 
five to six eggs, but the seeond only from four to five. The 
early season at whieh it begins to lay is often so eold as to 
destroy the first brood ; moreover, the leafless state of the 
hedge or bush at that period makes the nest an easy prey 
to the sehool-boy. 

The blaekbird is in general shy, but there are exceptions 
to the remark. 



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In the spring of 1829 wo saw a hen blackbird sitting on 
her nest in tlio camellia-house belonging to Messrs. Lod- 
diges at Hackney. It was built in a camellia close to the 
walk ; so close, that a passer-by might have touched the 
bird ; but there she sat, and, undisturbed by the crowds who 
were attracted to the view of the noble and luxuriant collec- 
tion in full bloom, there sho safely hatched and brought up 
her young. 

In the spring of 1834 a pair of blackbirds built their nest 
In a fagRot-pilo close to tho door of a kitchen-garden in the 
parish of Sunhury, Middlesex, where the garden-labourers 
were passing all day long wheeling manure into the garden, 
&c. The nest was built among some dead thorns there piled 
up, so low that tho passer-by could look into it, and was very 
much exposed: but tho parents, notwithstanding the cu- 
riosity of spectators, brought up their nestlings. This was 
a late brood ; and as many early nests had been taken in 
the neighbouring hedge-rows, it is not impossible that the 
birds, disappointed of their first brood, might have been 
driven to choose a spot nearer the house for security. 

Albinos sometimes occur among theso birds.* Several 
instances arc recorded: the following from * Loudon's 
Magazine)' (No. 43, p. 596) is one of the latest. In 1829 
a blackbird's nest, containing four or five young ones, was 
found at Rougham, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. 
One of the young ones differed in colour materially from 
the rest. Its eves were red, its bill was yellow (which is 
not usual in very young blackbirds). The nest was not 
taken till the young were fully Hedged. On attempting to 
capture them, two or three mado their escape ; the white 
one was safely caught. * * * The red-cyed bird afterwards 
became nearly or wholly white, and it still retains this co- 
lour.' In the British Museum there is a female of a dusky 
white or cream-colour, with Yorkshiro for its locality. 

II. Bruce Campbell, Esq., lately presented a malo en- 
tirely white to the Zoological Society, in whose garden at 
the Regent's Park it is now (1835) living. It was found in 
June, 1832, at Bclsthorpe, Nottinghamshire. Thero wcro 
two other young ones in the nest, tne plumage of which, as 
well as that of tho parents, was of the ordinary colour. 

Bechstcin, in his interesting littlo book on cage-birds, 
says, * the white variety is very well-known ; there is, be- 
sides, the streaked, the black with a white head, and tho 
pearl gray.' Tho same author gives the following account 
of the musical properties of the blackbird in confinement. 
' Its voice is so strong and clear, that in a city it may be 
beard from one end of a long street to the other. Its me- 
mory is so good, that it retains without mixing them several 
airs at once, and it will even repeat little sentences. It is a 
great favourite with the lovers of a plaintive, clear, and mu- 
sical song, and may in these respects bo preferred to the 
bullfinch, whoso voice is softer, more ilute-likc, but also 
more melancholy. The price of these two birds, if well 
taught, is about the same.* 

The Ring-blackbird, Merula torquata,* Ring-ouzel or 
Amzel of Ray, Merle au collier of the French, Merulo Al~ 
pestro of the Italians, Ringamsel, Ringel Amsel and Ring' 
drofsel of the Germans, Tardus torauatus, Linn., Merle ri 
plastron blane of Buffon, is a periodical visitant, and, con- 
trary to the habits of its congeners, such as the Field-fare 
and Redtcing, arrives in spring, seeking tho mountainous 
and stony down-districts of Great Britain, where it breeds. 

The nest and cgps very much resemble those of tho 
blackbird in sizo and colour, and are generally placed in 
some bush or grass-tuft amonpr the heath, and about the 
rocks, on a shelf or in a cleft. When its young aro hatched 
it has no longer the shy character which, at other seasons, 
renders it so difficult to'be approached ; for it then becomes 
apparently hold, drawing the attention of the observer by 
loud cries and extravagant gestures, in order to lead him 
away from its nest. On the approach of autumn it retires 
southwards, and about the end of October leaves us for 
warmer climates. In Sweden, France, and Germany it is 
common. Bechstcin says f 'though it traverses the whole of 
Europe, it builds only in the north/ Tcmininck sneaks of 
it as rare in Holland. We have searched in vain Tor it in 
Prince Bonaparte's Spccchio Comparative but in Ray's 

• Aritlolle (boolc tx. chnp. 19.) mentions the white vartrly IxXtvxot, 
obflenrtos that In t\te It i« equal to lhe black, and that lu voire 1* neirly Uie 
»ame, 'r# h pxytht 7r#f )*!/»*, tut) « fw»n «-*f«xA.wi* U(»*.* lie 
add*, that tt it found tn Arcadia, It KvKXmn rnt A£x«3*«r, and no where 
elae, V*rro, d«r r* lhaticA (book HL), ia)i that white blackbird* aero aho» a 
*a public at ttome, wilh parrot*, &c 



Willughby (book 2, p. 195.) thcro ts tho following pas- 
sage. • In a bird that I described at Rome, the edges of 
tho prime feathers of the wings, as also of the covert fea- 
thers of the head and wings were cinereous. The ring also 
was not whito but nsh-coloured. I suppose this was cither 
a young bird or a hen.' Montagu speaks of it as brooding 
in sonio parts of Wales, on Dartmoor in Devonshire, and 
ticar the land's End in Cornwall, as well as in the north 
of England and Scotland. The same author says, that ho 
has received it from the mountainous parts of Ireland. We 
have seen it on Dartmoor in the breeding season ; and in tho 
spring of 1829 several were seen and somes hot near Bristol. 
In the catalogue of Dorset birds, Ring-ouzels are said to 
appear in Portland (where they are called Michaelmas 
blackbirds) when on their autumnal and spring flights. 
Slaney says, * Mr. AVhitc gives an account of his discovery 
of these birds in Hampshire, in October; and we have seen 
them near the Isle of Thanct, probably on their return 
southward after rearing their young. They aro said to 
breed on Dartmoor, and in the Peak of Derbyshire ; and 
we have observed them among the heath on the Welch 
mountains in July/ Sir W. Jardinc speaks of their depre- 
dations when they descend to the gardens from the moun- 
tains previous to their migration to winter quarters, and 
says that they arc known to the country people under the 
title of ' mountain blackbirds.' 

Buflfon observes, that they appeared in small flocks of 
twelve or fifteen, about Montbard in Burgundy in the be- 
ginning of October, seldom staying more than two or three 
weeks, and that the least frost made them disappear : but 
at the same time he states, that Klein declares that the 
birds had been brought alive to him in the middle of 
winter, and that though they very rarely inhabit the plains 
of temperate Europe, M. Sal erne asserts that their nests 
have been found in Solognc and in the forest of Orleans. 

Pennant, who gives them tho name Mtryalchcn y sraig* 
referring to Camden, among his synonyms, says 'Ring- 
ouzels inhabit the Highland hills, the north of England, and 
tho mountains in Wales. They are also found to breed in 
Dartmoor, in Devonshire, in banks on the sides of streams, 
I have seen thcin in tho same situation in Wales, very cla- 
morous when disturbed/ He further observes, *The place 
of their retreat is not known ; those that breed in Wales 
and Scotland never quitting these countries/ 

Latham, in a note to the last edition of Pennant says, 
'This species is met with in the warmer and the colder 
regions, as well in Africa as Asia ; but does not inhabit 
cither Russia or Siberia, though it is seen in Persia about 
the Caspian Sea/ 

BufFon also gives it a wide geographical distribution. 




[Merula tor*i«»la/) 

The Ring -blackbird or Ring-ouzel, is larger than the 
common blackbird. Txmgth, mcluding the tail, about ten 
inches and a half. Bill blockish-brown or raven gray, about 
an inch long, and yellowish at the base of the lower man- 



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dible; the irides ehestnut-brown, and the legs dark-brown. 
The following is Selby's description of the plumage : * Upper 
parts of the body black, the feathers being margined with 
blackish-gray. On the upper part of the breast is a large 
crescent-shaped gorget of pure white ; the rest of the under 
parts black, margined with gray. Greater wing-coverts 
deeply marginatcd with ash-gray. Tail black. 
• The plumage of the female bird is more elouded with 
gray, and the peetoral gorget is much smaller, and clouded 
with reddish-brown and gray. In the young females this 
gorget is not visible ; and in the young males it is of a red- 
dish-white. 

'Varieties are sometimes found similar to those of the 
blackbird. 

^ Bechstejn after remarking on the striking resemblance 
in the gait, in the motion of the wings and tail, and in tbe 
call of the ring-blaekbird, with those habits as manifested 
in the common blackbird, thus speaks of its song: 'Its 
voice, though hoarser and deeper, is nevertheless more har- 
monious and agreeable; It is so weak, that a redbreast may 
overpower it. It continues singing at all times, except when 
moulting. It will live in confinement from six to ten 
years/ 

There are other Enropean species of the tribe, such as 
Turdus saxalilis, the rock thrush, and Turdus cyaneus, the 
blue thrush, but they are not reeorded as having been ob- 
served to frequent the British islands. Cuvier observes 
that the foreign speeies which approach tbe European 
blackbirds are Turdus Manillensis, Turdus Eremita, Tur- 
dus varius, and Myiothera AndromedUv. 

The American blackbirds, so destructive of the young 
maize-erop, are of a different race. [See Quiscalus.] 

BLACK BONNET (zoology), one of the names of the 
reed bunting. [See Bunting.] 

BLACKBURN, a market- town and township, and, under 
the Reform Act, a borough, in the hundred, deanery, and 
parish of Blackburn. It is 209 miles N.W. by N. of Lon- 
don, 23 miles N.N.W. of Manchester, 12 miles N.W. hy 
N. of Bolton, 15 miles N.N.W. of Bury, 10 miles N.E. of 
Chorley, and 8 miles W.N.W. of Haslingden. 

The parish. of. Blackburn is very large, extending nearly 
fourteen miles in length, and ten in breadth. It contains 
fifteen townships and eight ehapelrics, viz., Blackburn, 
Clayton-le-dale, Cueudalc, Lower Darwen, Dinkley, Eecles- 
hill, Little Harwood, Livesley, Mellor, Osbaldeston, Pleas- 
ington, Ramsgrave, Rishton, Wilpshire, and Wilton, town- 
ships; along with Balderston, Billington, Over Darwen, 
Great Harwood, Salisbury, Samlesbury, Toek holes, and 
Walton-Iedale, Chapelries. This district is only a small 
part of the hundred of Blackburn, whose boundaries arc 
marked by the hundred of Amounderness on the north- 
east, by the Darwent and tho hundred of Leyland on the 
west, and by the hundred of Salford on the south. It 
comprises four whole parishes, Blackburn, Chipping, Rib- 
chester, and Whalley, and parts of Bury and Metton, alto- 
gether containing eighty townships. * This hundred contri- 
butes 302 men to the county militia ; and the inhabitants 
pay nine parts in every hundred to the county rate. 

All this division of the eounty of Lancaster, originally a 
wild and barren tract of country, was bestowed by William 
the Conqueror on Ilbert de Lacy, whose descendants and 
followers obtained portions of it, and derived from them their 
titles. Some of tho names of these antient gentry are pre- 
served in a curious book, a eopy of which is in the college 
library at Manchester, entitled ' The Visitation of Lanca- 
shire, made anno 1567, by William Smith Rouge Dragon/ 
Amdng others are Houghton, of Houghton Tower ; Osbal- 
deston, of Osbaldeston; Mawell, of Great Merly; and Talbot, 
of Salbery. The manor of Blackburn passed from tho 
Dc Lacies through several successive proprietors, till it be- 
came tbe property of the first Lord Fauconberg by mar- 
riage, whose descendant, Thomas Viseount Fauconberg, 
sold it with all its rights in 1721 to William Suddell, 
Henry Fielding, and William Baldwin, Esqrs., for 8650/. 

Dr. Whittaker, tho historian of this distriet, states that 
there was a castle at Blackburn in former times, occupied 
by the Roman-British chiefs, and subsequently by the 
Saxons, but no vestige of it remains, and the site itself is 
only known by tradition. Camden, in his description of 
this place, speaks of it as a ' noted market-town ;* while 
another writer (Bloom), whose aeeount refers to nearly a 
century later, describes it has having *a great weekly 
market for cattle, eorn, and provisions, on the Monday.' 



Tho town of Blackburn is situated near the centre of the 
parish, on the bank of a brook, called, in Domesday Book, 
* Blacheburne/ but whieh has now no particular name, 
It is sheltered by a range of hills, which stretch from 
the north-east to the north-west as far as Billinge HilL 
Like most other towns of the same antiquity it is irregu- 
larly built; and until lately the streets were badly paved 
and lighted. Under the operation of a police aet, whieh 
provides for the paving, lighting, watching, and cleansing 
the streets, many improvements have taken place, and 
others are in a state of progress. The introduction of gas 
has been very beneficial to the town, and it is probable that ' 
the inhabitants will soon discover the advantage of procuring 
a better supply of water. 

The poliee regulations in this town are very defective. 
Having no municipal government, the duties of preserving 
the public peace devolve upon irresponsible persons : and a 
sort of supreme authority is vested in two officers, annually 
eleeted, called high-constables, one for the higher and the 
other for the lower division of the hundred. The parochial 
eoncerns are managed by a select vestry. 

The town of Blaekburn depends entirely on trade for its 
prosperity. As far baek as 1650, one particular article of 
tbe staple trade of the county was produced here with better 
suceess than in any other place, which gave it the name of 
* Blackburn checks,' a species of cloth consisting of a linen 
warp and cotton woof, one or both of whieh being dyed in 
the thread, gavo to the piece when woven a striped or 
checked appearanee. This fabrie was afterwards superseded 
by another, 'the Blackburn grays/ so called because the 
materials of which it was composed were not dyed, but sent 
to the printers unbleaehed, or as it is technically described, 
in the gray state, in order to have the patterns stamped 
upon them. 

In the history of thoso improvements by which the ma- 
nufaeturo of cotton has been brought to its present state of 
perfection, it would appear that several of considerable im- 
portance owe their diseovery to the ingenuity and talent of 
natives of this town. Among the rest, the invention of the 
erank and comb, for taking the carding from the cylinder of 
the carding-engine, undoubtedly belongs to James Har- 
grave, a working carpenter. His patent was ono of the 
earliest that was taken out for the construction of the spin- 
ning-jenny. 

But, for a long period, the chief article manufactured 
hero was calicoes, for which the Blackburn weavers were 
celebrated. This branch of trade is now transferred to 
tho power-looms, and the remnant of hand-loom weavers 
are chieily employed, at the present time, in making low- 
priced muslins. A considerable section of the working 
community are engaged in the mills, whieh arc increasing 
to such an extent, that nearly 200,000 spindles are at work 
in the town and its immediate vicinity, yielding an average 
of between 60,000 and 70,000 lbs. of yarn weekly. 

The annual amount of manufactured goods is estimated 
at more than two millions and a half sterling ; but on com- 
paring this estimate with the production of neighbouring 
towns, it must be observed that a much greater quantity of 
cloth passes through the hands of the Blaekburn weaver for 
tbe same amount of remuneration, than will go into the 
looms of those districts where a heavier and more costly 
cloth is produeed. 

The commeieo of the town has every advantage of water 
earriage, hy means of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, whieh 
passes the outskirts of the town, opening to the inhabitants 
a direet communication between the eastern and western 
seas. The continuity of the coal-beds on the southern side 
of the town affords fuel at a very reasonable rate. On the 
northern side of the district, liino of an excellent quality is 
found in great abundance.' 

There are no public edifices in Blaekburn, except those 
whieh arc used for religious worship. * Tho parish church, 
St. Mary's, in the archdeaeonry of Chester, isof very antient 
foundation, having been built and endowed before the Nor- 
man Conquest. This structure was taken down and rebuilt 
in 1819, upon the site of the old grammar-school; and in 
1831, a few years after it was finished, the new edifice was 
partially destroyed by an accidental fire : it is again re- 
stored, and is much admired for its architectural beauty, 
The living is in the gift of the archbishop of Canterbury, 
who is rector. The viear of the ehurch holds the presenta- 
tions to all the chapelries of the parish, of whieh there are 
eight, but he derives no benefit from their rovenues* Be- 



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sicles St Mary s t there are threo other churches belonging 
to the establishment, vht., St. John's, St. Peter's, and St. 
Paul's. The last was formorly in Lady Huntingdon's con- 
nexion, but the minister and congregation having eon- 
formed, it was consecrated a few years since by the bishop 
of the diocese. One of tho other two, St. John's, was en- 
tirely built by subscription ; and St. Peter's is chiefly in- 
debted for its erection to the parliamentary grant. Tho 
dissenting places of worship are ten in number. Baptists, 
Independents, Roman Catholics, and Methodists, have 
each two chapels ; and tho Friends and Swedonborgians one 
each. 

Among the public institutions for the purposes of educa- 
tion, tho free grammar-school may be mentioned first It 
was founded and endowed, in consequence of a petition to 
that effect from the inhabitants, by Queen Elizabeth, 'for 
tho education, management, and instruction of children and 
youths in grammar/ and to have one master and one usher. 
The present income is reported at 120/. 7s. 4rf., consisting 
of lands and buildings, which have rather decreased in 
value. Tho endowment has however been augmented by 
benefactions from other sources. The general management 
of the school and the appointment of the masters is vested 
in fifty governors, who fill up vacancies as they occur. The 
charter describes the school as 4 free to all the world,' though 
the number in it never exceeds thirty, and these have to 
pay a small fee to the master annually at Shrovo tide. In 
1819 the old school-house was taken down to make room 
for the new church, when a neat stone building was erected 
near St. Peter's church, in tho architectural style of Queen 
Elizabeth's time. 

There is also a charity-school for girls, founded by a be- 
nevolent individual of tho name of Lcyland, in which ninety 
girls are clothed, and instructed in reading, sewing, and 
knitting. The national schools are attended by 800 chil- 
dren of both sexes. To most of the places of worship Sun- 
day-schools arc attached, and very considerable attention is 
paid to the instruction of the poor. The number of children 
who are receiving some education in this way amounts to 
nearly 5000. Religious knowledgo is also diffused through 
tho Bible Soeictv, the Society for the Promotion of Christian 
Knowledge, and the London and Wesley an Missionary So- 
cieties, who have all auxiliary branches in this town. Poli- 
tical and general information is circulated by means of two 
newspapers, tho 'Gazetto' and the 'Alfred/ The Inde- 
pendents have an academy here, under the direction of 
proper tutors, for the education of young men of their deno- 
mination for the ministry. A horticultural society, which 
is in a nourishing state, has a tendency to diffuse a taste for 
useful pursuits. A savings bank has been open ever since 
1818, in which tho deposits have been very considerable. 

There is a general dispensary, established in 1823, partly 
supported by voluntary contributions, and partly by assist- 
ance from the parochial funds. Tho Ladies* Society for the 
relief of lying-in women, and the Stranger's Friend Society, 
are maintained by tho subscriptions of the benevolent. So- 
cieties for sickness and funerals are very numerous among 
the working classes, and well conducted. 

There are no other public buildings except a small 
theatre ; and a cloth- hall on one side of Fleming-square, for 
the sale of woollen cloths, at the fairs, which arc held on 
Easter Monday, on the 11th and 12th of May, and on the 
1 7th of October. There are also fortnight fairs on Wednes- 
day, continuing from the first week in February to Michael- 
mas, for horned cattle. Monday was the antient market- 
day in Blackburn, but in 1 774 the markets began to be 
held on Wednesday and Saturday, and havo continued to 
bo so held to the present time. The market is well sup- 
plied with all kinds of vegetables and provisions suitable 
for such a population, but the want of proper accommodation 
for them is a subject of just complaint both among buyers 
and sellers. 

The population of Blackburn has kept pace with the ex- 
tension of the cotton trade. In 1770 it only amounted to 
6000; in 1801 it had increased to 11,980; in 1821 to 
21,940; and in tho census of 1831 tho population was re- 
turned at 27,091. During the same period, a very eonsi 
derablo increase took place in its dependencies, which ad- 
vanced between 1S0I and 1831 from 21,651 to 32,700. 
Two of tho southern townships of the parish, Over and 
Lower Darwen, now form, under the influence of the cotton 
manufactures, a town of considerable size, comprising 9G39 
inhabitant*, and containing two new churches, which have 



been recently erected, besides several other places of worship 
established by the dissenters. About 1 -1 7th of the population 
of this parish aro engaged in agriculture ; about 1-Mth are 
in professions or unemployed, and tho remainder aro occu- 
pied in trade, manufactures, or handicraft. The borough 
sends two members to parliament. 

(Whittaker's History qflVhalley; Raines's History o, 
Lancashire; Pigot's Directory ; Communication from Lanr 
cask ire .) 

BLACK-CAP (zoology), the common English name fo 
the blaek-cap warbler ; dtr branch of the Germans, Faitvctt . 
d tSte noire of the French, dtponera gentile of the Italians 
Atricapilla of Aldrovandus, Curruca atricapilla of Hrisson 
Motaalla atricapilla and Motacilla moschita of Gmelin (the 
latter being the female), and Sylvia atricapilla of Latham 
and of Reehstein. 




[Fjlvla ttricnplUa: malo, V 

1 Of all the birds,* says Sweet, ( that reside in, or visit tho 
British islands, there is none, that can come up to the pre- 
sent for song, except the nightingale, and by soino persons 
it is moro admired than even that bird. Its arrival in this 
country is generally about the first week in April, and the 
earliest that I ever saw was on the 25th of March. , They 
leave us again about the end of September, sometimes a 
straggling one may be seen at the beginning of October ; 
the latest I ever saw in a wild state was on the 15th of that 
month. When it first arrives in this country its chief food 
is the early ripened berries of tho ivy, and where those are 
there the black-caps aro first to be heard singing their me- 
lodious and varied song. By the time the ivy-berries are 
over, the little green larvae of the small moths will be getting 
plentiful, rolled up in the young shoots and leaves: this 
then is their chief food until the strawberries and cherries 
become ripe ; after that there is no want of fruit or berries 
till their return, and tbere is no sort of fruit or berry that is 
eatable or wholesome that they will refuse. After they havo 
cleared the cldcr-bcrrics in autumn, they immediately leave 
us.* 

Nor is Sweet singular in his eulogy. All agree in praising 
its melody. In Norfolk, and in other places in GreatRritain, 
it is called the mock nightingale; and indeed, like the 
nightingale, it continues its song far into tho night. Bcch- 
stein, who has paid so much attention to the song of birds, 
says that it rivals the nightingale, and that many persons 
even give it tho preference.* * If/ adds that author, ' it has 
less volume, strength, and expression, it is more pure, easy, 
and llute-like in its tones, and its song is perhaps more 
varied, smooth, and delicate/ 

This fruit-eating warbler is one of the ficcdulrp so much 
prized under the namo of bcccaflco, though, as Rechstein 
well observes, every tasto but that of tho palate must bo 
destroyed if this charming bird is caught for the table. Its 
fondness for ivy-bcrrics seems to have been noticed in Italy, 
where it is permanent, and thence probably is derived one 
of its Italian names, caponcra d'edera. The difference of 
plumage in tho males and females, and in the young birds, 
which resemble the females, may possibly throw some light 
on the opinion which Willughby thus mentions: — * The 
anticnts report/ writes Willughby, ' that the black-eaps 



HA 



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(Atri&ip'Ma?), in the beginning of autumn, are changed 
into ftcedulce, or beccq/igos, by the mutation of their voiee 
and colour; from whom, till I be assured by experience, I 
must erave leave to dissent.* 

There ean be little doubt that Willughby had in his 
mind that passage in the 49th ehapter of the 9th book of 
Aristotle, where the latter, speaking of the ehanges of birds, 
states that the beeeaficos (avicaXidtc) and the blaek-caps 
(fuXayKopv^oi) are ebanged into each other. Indeed, Wil- 
lughby thus heads his ehapter on the blaek-cap:— ' The 
Blaek-eap: Atricapilla seu Fieedula, Aldrov. ; called by the 
Greeks SwaMf et MtXayicopv^oc; by the Italians, Capo 
Negro/ The passage in Aristotle may be thus freely 
translated : — 

' And, in like manner, beceafieos and blackcaps, for 
these too are ehanged into each other. Tbe bird is a beeea- 
fieo at the commencement of autumn, and a black-eap at 
the dceline of that season, and the only difference is in their 
plumage and their voiee. That they are the same birds 
may he seen by observing them before the change is com- 
plete, and when they are neither one nor the other.' 

Pliny too appears to have had this passage in his view, 
though he does not acknowledge it, when he wrote Gib. x. 
eap. 29), ' Alia ratio fteedulis. Nam formam simul eolo- 
remque mutant. Hoe nomen non nisi autumno habent, 
postea melaneoryphi vocantur.' 

Belon (cd. 1555, folio) makes tho bulfinch the (rvjcaXtg 
and piXayKopvtfHjg of the Greeks, and beceafighi of the Itali- 
ans, naming it also atricapilla; but in a subsequent edition, 
' enriehy de quatrains' (small 4to. 1557), the Greek, Latin, 
and Italian names identifying it as a ficedula, as well as 
the name atrieapilla, are omitted ; and the bird appears with 
the provincial synonyms of the bulfinch. In other instances, 
in that of the very next bird for example, the Greek and 
Latin names given in the folio edition arc retained. 

Upon the whole, there is reason for eoming to the eon- 
elusion that our blaek-eap is the bird alluded to by Aristotle. 
Kay seems to have been of this opinion, for he thus reeords 
it in his Synopsis:—' Atricapilla sive fieedula, Aldrov.; 
trvKaXiQ et fuXa yicnpi^oc, Grcoeis ; the blaek-eap.* 

It occurs frequently in the greater portion of Europe, 
through the northern and eastern parts of which it is widely 
diffused. Temminek says that it is rare beyond the Apen- 
nines and Pyrenees. Bonaparte notes it as permanent 
and eommon near Rome. 

The male black-cap is nearly six inehes in length, and 
about four drams and a half in weight. Upper part of the 
head blaek ; back of the neek ashy brown; upper parts 
of the body grey, with a greenish tinge ; quills and tail 
dusky, edged with dull green ; breast and belly light asli- 
colour ; legs and feet bluish-grey, or lead-eolour; bill brown : 
irides dark hazel. 

The female is of larger size ; the erown of the head is of an 
umber-brown or rust-eolour; and the plumage generally is 
darker, and more inclining to greenish than it is in the male. 

The plumage of the young when they leave the nest re- 
sembles that of the female. 

Gardens, orchards, and thielc hedges are the favourite 
haunts of the blaek-eap ; and there, among brambles and 
nettles, or in some low bush, its nest is built. Dry stalks 
of goose-grass and a little wool, lined with fibrous roots, and 
frequently with a few long hairs, with now and then a little 
mo*s on the outside, form the structure. Four or fi\e, some- 
times six, eggs of a reddish -brown, weighing about thirty- 
five grains, mottled with a darker colour, and sometimes 
dotted with a few ashy speeks, are then deposited. Pennant 
speaks of a nest whieh he diieovered in a spruee fir. Tem- 
minek mentions the haw thorn -bush as the most frequent 
place. 

The black-eap in a state of nature is with difficulty seen 
when singing, at which time it seems to take pains to secrete 
itself. White, however, who saw it in this aet, says that, 
while warbling, the throat is wonderfully distended. 

In captivity it seems to be a great favourite, not only from 
its song but from its attractive qualities. Even in a state 
of nature it is a mocking-bird, and, when caged, it soon 
learns the notes of the nightingale and eanary. The female 
is also, but in a limited degree, a songster. 

Beehstein speaks of the striking affection whieh it shows 
for its mistress :— ' It utters a particular sound, a more tender 
note to weleome her ; at her approach he darts against the 
wires of his eage, and by a continued fluttering, accompanied 
with little eries, he seems to express his eagerness and gra- 



titude. A young male, whieh I had put in the hot-house 
for the winter, was aeeustomed to reeeive from my hana 
every time I entered a meal-worm ; this took place so regu- 
larly, that immediately on my arrival he plaeed himself near 
the little jar where I kept the meal-worms. If I pretended 
not to notiee this signal, he would take flight, and, passing 
elose under my nose, immediately resume his post ; and this 
he repeated, sometimes even striking me with his wing, till 
I satisfied his wishes and impatience/ 

The bird under consideration must not be eonfounded 
with another soft-billed black-eap,. Sylvia melanocephala of 
Latham, Motacilla melanocephala of Gmelin, which, accord- 
ing to Temminek, only inhabits the most southern parts of 
Europe, such as the south of Spain, Sardinia, and the Nea- 
politan States. He says that some pairs of these were killed 
by M. Natterer at Algesiras and near Gibraltar. This again, 
says Temminek, may be easily eonfounded with a third, 
Sylvia Sarda of Marmora, whieh is very eommon in certain 
districts of Sardinia, but not found in others. Temminek 
adds that it probably also lives in the kingdom of Naples, 
and in Sieily. The males of both these last are about five 
inehes long. 

BLACK-CAPPED TOM-TIT. [See Titmouse.] 
BLACK-COCK (zoology), one of the English names for 
the heath-eoek, the male of the blaek game or black grouse ; 
Der Birk-hahn of the Germans; Coqde bruycre a queue 
fourchue, Coq de bois, and Faisan bruyani (Belon), of the 
Freneh; Gallo di monte, Gallo cedrone, Gallo selvatico, 
Gallo alpestre, Fasan negro, and Fasiaiio alpestre of the 
Italians; Orrfugl of the Norwegians; Teirao seu urogallus 
minor of Willughby and Ray ; Tetrad tetrix of Linnaeus ; 
and Lyrurus tetiix of Swainson. The female is called a 
grey hen, and the young are named poults* a term which 
is applied to the blaek game generally on the borders of 
Hampshire and Dorsetshire. 







This noble bird, whose plumage when in full beauty has 
defied all pencils save that of Edwin Landseer, the only 
painter who has given a true idea of it, is now the largest of 
its raee in the British islands, of whose fauna it is one of the 
principal ornaments. It is, says Temminek, more widely 
diffused over the central parts of Europe than the paper- 
eailzie {Teirao urogallus); or the rakkelban, Temminek 
{Teirao medius, Meyer. In Germany, France, and Hol- 
land, it is tolerably plentiful : in the northern countries, sueh 
as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia, it abounds. 

• This is nn old name for the blnclt-gtimc. Thus Turbervilc (1611) writes. 
' If your goshawkc be once ti good partridgcr, bewnrc thru you let licr noi ilee 
tho pout or the fensnut.* 



No. 265. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.—3 Q 



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Of flic southorn counties of England, Hampshire, Dorset- 
shire, Somersetshire, and Devonshire posses* it, and now 
and then it is seen in the heathy parts of Sussex and Surrey. 
In the New Forest, and the wild heaths on tho borders of 
Hampshire and Dorsetshire, in the neighbourhood of Wim- 
borne, it is porhaps more common than it is anywhere else 
in the south. The Quantocks, and some other uncultivated 
tracts in Somersetshire, and Dartmoor and Sed^emoor in 
Devonshire, arc its head-quarters in those counties ; but it 
is comparatively raro. 

Staffordshire has it sparingly, and Northumberland plen- 
tifully. 

In the Highlands of Scotland tho black-cock is abundant, 
and it is found in some of the Hebrides. In North Wales 
it occurs sparingly, where it is strietly preserved. 

Pennant says that some had been shot in Ireland, in the 
county of Sligo, where the breed was formerly introduced 
out of Scotland, but expresses his belief that, at the time he 
wrote, they wero all exterminated. Some may be seen in 
avLirics, in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park 
for instance; but they languish in confinement, and all at- 
tempts to domesticate them have failed. 

Selby's account of the haunts and habits of the blaek- 
cock in a state of nature is so good, that wo shall give it in 
his own words :-» 

'The bases of tho hills in heathy and mountainous dis- 
tricts, which are covered with a natural growth of birch, 
alder, and willow, and intorseeted by morasses clothed with 
long and coarso herbage, as well as tho deep and wooded 
glens so frequently occurring in extensive wastes, are the 
situations best suited to the nabits of these birds, and most 
favourable to their increase. During the months of autumn 
and winter the males associate, and livo in Hocks, but sepa- 
rate in March or April; and, being polygamous, each indi- 
vidual chooses some particular station, from whence he drives 
all intruders, and for the possession of which, when they are 
numerous, desperate contests often take place. At this 
station he continues every morning during the pairing sea- 
son (beginning at day-break) to repeat his call of invitation 
to the ether sex, displaying a variety of attitudes, not unlike 
those of a turkey-cock, accompanied by a crowing note, and 
one similar to the noise made by the whettine of a scythe. 
At this season bis plumage exhibits the richest flosses, and 
the red skin of his eyebrows assumes a superior intensity of 
colour. With the cause that urged their temporary separa- 
tion their animosity ceases, and the male birds again asso- 
ciate, and live harmoniously together. The female deposits 
her eggs in May ; they are from six to ten * in number, of a 
yellowish- grey colour, blotched with reddish-brown. The 
nest is of most artless construction, being composed of a 
few dried stems of grass placed on the ground, under the 
shelter of a tall tuft or low bush, and generally in marshy 
spots where long and coarso grasses abound. The young of 
l»th sexes at first resemble each other, and their plumago 
is that of the hen, with whom they continue till tho autumnal 
moult takes place ; at this time the males aequiro {he garb 
of the adult bird, and, quitting their female paront, join tho 
societies of their own sex. The food of tho black grouse, 
during tho summer, ehietly consists of the seeds of some 
species of Juncus, the tender shoots of heath, and insects. 
In autumn, the erowberry, or erawcrook {Empetrum ni- 
grum), the cranberry {Vaccinium oxycoceos), the whortle- 
berry (Vaccinium vitis Idwa), and the trailing arbutus 
{Arbutus uva urs\), afford it a plontiful subsistence. In 
winter, and during sevore and snowy weather, it eats tho 
tops and buds of the birch and alder, as well as the embryo 
shoots of tho fir tribe, which it is well enabled to obtain, as 
it is capable of perching upon trees without difficulty. At 
this season of the year, in situations where arable "land is 
interspersed with the wild tracts it inhabits, descending into 
the stubble grounds, it feeds on grain. 1 

Colonel Hawker (Instructions to Young Sportsmen) 
mentions a very good day's black-gamo shooting on the 
manors of Hamprcston and Uddens near Wimborne,on the 
25th of August, 1825, when, according to his account, Mr. 
John Ponton of Uddens House and himself saw eleven 
brace of poults, and killed eight brace, but not one old cock 
did they sec all day. Colonel Hawker's excellent hints for 
getting at theso and other birds, founded, as all such hints 
of his are, upon a practical knowledgo of tho habits of tho 
objects of his pursuit, show tho advantage to bo derived by 
According lo Tctnaitu€k,lhe eggi tomotfmct amouul la ten, and according 



the sportsman from an acquaintance with natural history 
especially that part of it which is conversant with tho halnts 
of animals. 




1 rLyrurui tetrix* (em, *] 



Linnams says that the young are brought up upon gnats. 
Swainson, in his system, places the bird as the first sub- 
genus (Lyrurus) of his aberrant group of Tetraonida. 

That tho black-cock was known to the antients there is 
little doubt. Aristotle, in the first chapter of his sixth book, 
where he is speaking of the nidification of birds, says, that 
'those which aro not strong of flight, such as partridges and 
quails, do not lay in nests (properly so called) but on the 
ground, merely collecting together materials (v\i)v) : so also 
do tho larks (c<5pvi r «c) and the tetrix.' At the end of tho 
chapter he says, ' But the tetrix, which the Athenians call 
ourax, neither makes its nest upon the bare ground nor yet 
upon trees, but upon low plants (M roTc x a p ai Z*)^ ot c ^vrolc) :* 
answering to Temminek's description — ' Niche dans les 
bruyeres ou dans les buissons;* to Selby's — 'Under tho 
shelter of a tall tuft or low bush, generally where long and 
coarse grasses abound ;' and to Graves's — 'On any dry grass 
or heath, without any appearance of a nest, but most gene- 
rally in the midst of a high tuft of heath.* This tetrix, then, 
which the Athenians called ourax, was not improbably our 
black-cock. 

Pliny's description (cap. xxii. lib. x.) — * Dccet tetraonas 
suus nitor ahsolutaquo nigritia, in supercilns cocei rubor* — 
looks very liko our bird, though the passage occurs in his 
chapter on geese, and so it struck Belon. Tho tctraones 
mentioned in company with the peacocks, guinea-fowls, and 
pheasants, in chap. xii. of Suetonius (in Calig.), wero pro- 
bably the same. 

The flesh of tho black grouse is much esteemed. The 
different colour of the flesh of the pectoral muscles must 
have struck every one. Tho internal layer, which is re- 
markably white, is esteemed the roost delicate portion. 
Belon goes so far as to say that the three pectoral muscles 
have three different flavours : the first that of beef, the next 
that of partridge, and the third that of pheasant. 

Male. — Weight of a fine specimen about four pounds ; 
bill dusky black; irides hazel; head, neck, breast, back, 
and rump, glossy black, shot with steel-blue and purple; 
eye-brows naked, granulated, and of a bright vermilion red ; 
belly, wing-coverts, and tail, pitch black; secondaries tipped 
with pure white, and forming with the neighbouring coverts 
a band across each wing; under tail-coverts pure whito ; 
legs furnished with hair-like feathers of a dark-brown, 
* Tbe hen U represented too large tn pro)>ortion to the cock. 



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483 



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speckled with gray ; toes pectinated ; tail black— the exte- 
rior feathers bend outwards, and are much longer than those 
in the middle : this arrangement gives the singular eurva- 
ture and forked shape to the tail which distinguishes the bird. 

Female, — Weight about two pounds ; general colour fer- 
ruginous, barred and mottled with black above, paler below, 
with dusky and brown bars ; under tail-eoverts white, 
streaked with black ; tail orange-brown, speckled with black, 
showing a slight disposition to be forked, tipped with grayish 
whitOi 

No person is permitted to kill, destroy, earry, sell, buy, or 
have in his possession, any heath-fowl, commonly called 
blaek-game, between the 10th of December and 20th of 
August. The limitation in the New Forest, Somerset, and 
Devon, is greater, being from the 10th of December to the 
1st of September. 

Hybrids. 

There have lately occurred some well authenticated in- 
stances of hybrids bred between the common pheasant and 
the gray hen ; but before we enter into the history of 'these, 
we must call the attention of our readers to the celebrated 
bird sent by Lord Stawell to White for his inspection, and 
thus described by the latter in his * Selborne/ 

' The shape, air, and habit of the bird, and the scarlet 
ring round the eyes, agreed well with tne appearance of a 
cock pheasant ; but then the head and neck, and breast and 
belly, were of a glossy black ; and though it weighed three 
pounds three ounces and a half, tbe weight of a large full 
grown cock pheasant, yet there were no signs of any spurs on 
the legs, as is usual with all grown cock pheasants, who have 
long ones. The legs and feet were naked of feathers, and 
therefore it could be nothing of the grous kind. In the 
tail were no long bending feathers, such as cock pheasants 
usually have, and are characteristic of the sex. The tail was 
much shorter than the tail of a hen pheasant, and blunt and 
square at tbe end. The back, wing-feathers, and tail were 
all of a pale russet, curiously streaked, somewhat like the 
upper parts of a hen partridge. I returned it with my ver- 
dict that it was probably a spurious or hybrid hen bird, bred 
between a cock pheasant and some domestic fowl. When 
I came to talk with the keeper who brought it, he told me 
that some pea-hens had been known last summer to haunt 
the coppices and coverts where this mule was found.* 

After stating that Mr. Elmer of Farnham, the famous 
game painter, was employed to take an exact copy of this 
curious bird, the note in White proceeds thus :— ' N. B. It 
ought to be mentioned that some good judges have imagined 
this bird to have been a stray grous or black cock ; it is, 
however, to be observed that Mr. White remarks that its 
legs and feet were naked, whereas those of the grous are 
feathered to the toes. 

To this Markwick appends the following suggestion:— 

* May not this hybrid pheasant (as Mr. White calls it) be a 
bird of this kind: that is, an old hen pheasant, which had 
just begun to assume the plumage of the cock ?* 

We had always understood that this bird was in trie 
possession of Lord Stawell, and some recent inquiries 
tended to corroborate our opinion ; hut the Hon. and Rev. 
W. Herbert says, in a note to the description above given, 

* I saw this curious bird stuffed in the collection of the Earl 
of Egrcmont at Petworth, and I have not the slightest hesi- 
tation in pronouncing that it was a mule, between the^ black 
cock and the common pheasant. I did not entertain the 
slightest doubt on the subject : Mr. Markwick's suggestion 
that the bird may be an old pea-hen is very weak. He 
might as well have said an ostrich. Neither in size, shape, 
nor colour had the bird the least affinity to a pea-fowl. < I 
can also most positively assert that this bird was not, as 
suggested in a note (p. 343), a hen pheasant, with tho 
feathers of a cock. Such birds are well known to me, and 
it noways resembled them. To Mr. White's description of 
tho bird above, where he says that the back, wing-feathers, 
and tail were somewhat like the upper parts of a hen par- 
tridge, I scratched out at the time the words u somewhat 
like** and wrote in the margin "much browner than," and 
with that correction I believe Mr. White's description to be 
quite correct/ (White's Selbome, edit. 1833.) 

Notwithstanding Mr. Herbert's positive opinion that this 
bird was a mule between the black cock and the common 
pheasant, Mr. Yarrell, whose clear views of such subjects 
are well known, and who stated at the Zoological Society's 
meeting on tho 31st of May, 1833, that the hybrid grouse 
of White s Natural History of Selbome is believed to be 



a young black cock having nearly completed his first moult 
Still adheres to his statement, and we agree with him. 

We now come to undoubted cases of hybrids arising from 
a mixture with the gray hen. 

At a meeting of the Zoological Society on the 24th of 
June, 1834, Mr. Sabine called the attention of the meeting 
to a specimen of a hybrid bird between the common phea- 
sant, Phasianus Colchicus, Linn., and the gray hen, Tetrao 
tetnx, Linn., which was exhibited. Its legs were partially 
feathered ; it bore on the shoulder a white spot ; and its 
middle tail-feathers were lengthened. Mr. Sabine stated 
his intention of entering at some length into the history of 
hybrid and cross animals in connexion with his description 
of this bird, which was bred in Cornwall. This bird was a 
male 

On the 12th of May, 1835, at a meeting of the same 
society was read * Some account of a hybrid bird between 
the cock pheasant, Phasianus Colchicus, Linn., and gray 
hen, Tetrao tetrix, Linn., by Thomas G. Eyton, Esq. The 
paper, which was illustrated by the exhibition of the pre- 
served skin of the bird, and also of a drawing made from 
it, proceeded as follows: — 

* For some years past a single gray hen has been observed 
in the neighbourhood of the Merrington covers, belonging 
to Robert A. Slaney, Esq., but she was never observed to 
be accompanied by a black cock, or any other of her spe- 
cies t> In November last a bird was shot on the manor 
adjoining Merrington, belonging to J. A. Lloyd, Esq., re- 
sembling the black game in some particulars, and the 
pheasant in others. In December another bird was shot in 
the Merrington covers, resembling the former, but smaller ; 
it is now in my collection, beautifully preserved by Mr. 
Shaw of Shrewsbury. 

1 The hybrid bird in my possession, which is a female, 
may be thus shortly described : 

'Tarsi half-feathered, without spurs, of the same colour 
as in the pheasant; bill resembling that of the pheasant 
both in eoloUr and shape* irides hazel; crown and throat 
mottled black and brown; neck glossy black, with a tinge 
of brown ; breast of nearly the same colour as that of the 
cock pheasant, but more mottled with black ; tail of the 
same colour as in the gray hen ; centre tail-feather longest ; 
Under tail-coverts light brown. 

'The plumage of this bird is very curious, as some parts 
of it resemble either sex of both black game and pheasant. 

* I had an opportunity of examining the body after it was 
taken from the skin, and of comparing it with the black 
game and the pheasant. 

•The following are some remarks which I made on it* 
anatomy :-*- 

* Left oviduct very imperfect ; the ovaries very small ; the 
eggs scarcely perceptible, and very few in number. 

* The sternum approaches nearer to that of the black 
grouse than of the pheasant j but the bone is not so mas- 
sive, the anterior edge of the keel is more scolloped, and 
the bone between the posterior scollops is not so broad as in 
ihc black game. 

' 'The os furcatorium is that of the pheasant, being more 
arched than in the black game, and having the ilat process 
at the extremity next the sternum broader. 

* The pelvte is exactly intermediate between the two, 
having more solidity, and being both broader and longer 
than in the pheasant ; but resembling that of the pheasant 
in having tbe two processes on each side of the caudal ver- 
tebras, whieh serve for the attachments of the levator rnus- 
cles of the tail. 

•The subjoined table shows some comparative measure- 
ments between the hybrid bird in question, the cock phea- 
sant, and the gray hea 



Length of the tarsus ♦ . 
Length of the middle toe 
Expansion of the wings 
Length of the middle tail-1 

feathers . . . . J 
Length of the intestinal ca-l 

nal from vent to gizzard/ 
Length from the vent to the) 

caica .♦..♦/ 
Lon£th of the cceca . • 



Greyhen. 


Hybrid bird, 
female. 


Male 
pheasant. 


Ft. In. 
2ft 
2^ 
2 


Ft, In. 
2f 
2± 
2 2 


Ft. In. 
3 T '* 
2ft 

2 4£ 


4 


7J 


1 7 . 


4 2 


3 5£ 


4 


C 


5J ] 


4$ 


2 


2 


81** 



3Q2 



B L A 



484 



r> l a 



BLACK FOREST. [See Schwauzwald.] 

BLACK or DOMINICAN FRIARS, nn order of men- 
dicants whose founder was St. Dominic, a Spaniard, born at 
Calagucraga, a small town in the diocese of Osma in Old 
Castile, about a.d. 1170 (see the Hist, des Ordreu Monas- 
tiques, torn. iii. p. 198), and not as Tanner (Notit. Monast. 
edit. Nasmith, pref. p. xiii.) savs, in 1070. His real name 
was Dominic do Guzman, lie died in 12*21, and was 
canonized by Pope Gregory IX. in 1*235. 

These friars were called Daininieans from their founder ; 
Preaching Friars, from their oflicc to preach, and convert 
Jews and heretics (see Lit. Pat. 8 Kdw. 1. m. *23; and 14 
Edv. 11. p. 1, m. 16); Blaek Friars from their garments; 
and, in France, Jacobins, from having their first house in 
that eountry in tho ruo St, Jacques at Paris. 

Their rule, whieh was chiefly that of St. Augustine, was 
Approved by Pope Innocent HI. in the Lateran Conneil, 
A.D. 1216, by word of mouth; and by a bull from Popo 
Ilfonorins 111., a.d. 121 G. They were known, however, 
earlier than this; for llymer in his Facdera, torn. i. p. 137, 
has printed a license or permission addressed from Pope 
Innocent 111. to King John of England, a.d. 1204, for such 
Dominicans and Franciscans, who might aecorapany the 
king in going beyond sea, to ride, the rules of their order 
obliging them to travel on foot. 

Thirteen of these Dominican friars, according to Reyncr 
{Apostolat. Benedictin. in Angl. torn. i. p. 1G1), including 
a superior, came into England a.d. 1221, for the purpose 
of establishing their Order in England, when Stephen 
Langton, then archbishop of Canterbury, giving his ap- 
proval, they wcro allowed to settle, and fixed their first 
house at Oxford in that year. (Reyncr, ut supr. ; see also 
"Wood's Hist, o/ Oxford, p. 62 ; N. Triveti, Chron. p. 17G.) 
The Black Friars at London was their sceond house : origi- 
nally placed near where Lincoln's Inn now stands, but re- 
moved about 1279 to someplace near Castle Baynard, where 
the parochial district still bears the name of the Order. 

At the time of the dissolution of the monasteries under 
Henry Vlll. there were fifty-eight houses of Dominicans in 
England and AValcs. Tanner, who did not find them all 
out, rcekoned the English houses only at forty-three. 

Tanner says—' There were nuns also of this order, but 1 
think none in England; for, though Thomas Lord AVakc 
intended to have brought some of them hither, and had the 
king's license for it, yet he sccins Hot to have done it.' 
(Notit. Monast. ut supr.) The nuns of Dartford in Kent 
however are believed to have been for some timo of this 
Order. King Edward 111., in his letter to the bishop of 
Rochester, concerning his intended foundation of that house, 
calls it *une Maison des socrcs de TOrdre de Prcenou^/ 
(See Thorpe's Registrum Roffense, p. 312.) 

Stevens has given an elaborate aeeountof the origin of 
the Dominican Order, from the JJistoire des Ordres Monas- 
tiques, already quoted, followed by a eatalojruo of the most 
celebrated men of English birth among the Black Friars who 
were writers. Amongst these Robert Kihvarby, afterwards 
archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal of the Roman 
Church, who died in 1280; Nicholas Trivet, the historian, 
who died in 1323 ; and Robert llolcot, who died in 1349, 
arc the most distinguished. 

Stevens, in his Ajypendix, vol. ii. pp. 369, 370, has also 
preserved the following instruments illustrative of the gene- 
ral history of this order in England. The first two, from 
King Richard 11., forbid the granting of any degrees in 
the universities to apostate brothers of the Dominicans. 
(Pat. 14 Ric. 11. p. i. m. 16, a.d. 1390, Rym. Feed, old edit, 
torn. vii. p. 690; and Pat 21 Rie. ll.claus. 21 Ric. ll.p.l, 
m. 26, Rym. Fmd. torn. viii. p. 8, a.d. 1397.) The third, 
from the same king (Pat. 23 Ric. 11. claus. 23 Ric. II. m. 
2. d. Rym. Food. torn. viii. p. 87, a.d. 1399), i3 in vindication 
of the Dominicans and other racndieants from malicious 
charges. The fourth is tho license granted by Pope Inno- 
cent III., allowing them to ride, already mentioned. These 
deeds are reprinted in the last edition of Dugdale's Monas- 
ticon, vol. vi.pt. iii. pp. 1482-1484.* In tho same volume, 
pp. 1483-1500, there aro accounts and notices of fifty-eight 
houses of Black Friars formerly existing in the different 
counties of England and AValcs. 

BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE, one of tlio six magnificent 
bridges built over the Thames within the cities of London 
and Westminster, and tho third in point of date. The 
bridtfo takes its name from the circumstance of a monastery 
of Blaek Friar* having existed near its site, The north 



end of tho bridge, which ia situated in the citv of London, 
occupies what was formerly the month of the "Fleet ditch ; 
tho south end is situated in tho borough of Sonthwark. 
This structure, whieh was built by the late Robert Mylne, 
consists of nine elliptical arches, of which the central "arch 
is 100 and the sido arches 70 feet span. The whole length 
is 1035 feet. The breadth of the carriage-way is 28 feet, 
and the footways 7 feet caeh. On the cutwaters of the 









tJcate qft- 



piers arc two Ionic columns supporting an entablature, on 
which is a platform forming a projecting recess ; and above 
on a blocking course is a massive balustrade, whieh with tho 
entablaturo of the columns is carried along the whole extent 
of the bridge. The greatest height of the bridgo from tho' 
level of tho caissons on which the piers are laid to the top 
of the balustrades is about 70 feet. The road- way is very 
steep, the inclination being in some places 1 in 16. Tho 
first stone is stated by Pennant to have been laid on the 
30th of Oetober, 1760, but according to the * Narrative* 
hereafter quoted, on the 31st. Though the bridge is said 
to have been completed about the latter end of the year 
17G8, it was not entirely finished until 1770; and the ap- 
proaches and embankments, which were very extensive and 
attended with great dillieultics, were carried on for several 
succeeding years. 

From a Narrative referred to in the report of the com- 
mittee to the common-council of London, dated May 11, 
1784, we learn several faets connected with the building of 
Blackfriars-bridge, which, as they arc not generally known, 
it may be well to give here in a condensed form. 
• Tito city undertook to open a new bridge while the im- 
provements of the old London-bridge were being carried on. 
A report was made by a committee of the common council 
in 1 754, and a design by Mr. Dance, the surveyor to the 
city works, with an estimate amounting to 185,930/., ex* 
elusive of the approaches and the expense of piling. 

In 1756 successful application was made to parliament, 
and a grant of a reversionary toll, with power to borrow 
1G0,000/, upon the credit thereof, were obtained; and twclvo 
aldermen and twenty-four common-councillors were subse- 
quently appointed to carry the act into effect. 

On account of the seanty means of the city, and probably 
the difiieulty of raising money, it being war time, it was a 
matter of consideration whether the bridge should be of wood 
or stone, or both. A public proposition was eventually 
made for a loan of 144,000/., and the subscribers were to 
have the city seal for their security. This proposition was 
so eagerly embraced, that in seventeen days tho whole of 
the subscriptions were filled up ; and 19,000/. was eventually 
added to the fund, from the fines levied on those who re- 
fused to serve the ofllco of sheriff. To diminish the ex- 
penses, tho eommittcc aetcd without fee or reward, and by 
their prudent economy, 12,806/. Is. Gd. was added to tho 
general fund. The bridge was advertised as opeu for com- 
petition ; and the drawings and models were sent in on tho 
4th Oet. 1759. 

An objection being raado to the elliptical form of tho 
arches in the design presented by Mr. Mylnc, as defi- 
cient in strength and stability, the objection was directed 
to be laid beforo eight competent gentlemen. Iu 17C0 
these gentlemen determined in favour of Mr. Mylne. The 
form of his arch was then considered not only best adapted 
to the navigation at all times of tide, without raising the 
carriage-way to an inconvenient height, but also much 
stronger than the semieircular arch constructed in tho 
common way t whilst at the same time its great width ren- 
dered fewer piers neecssary, Mr. Mylno was accordingly 



B. I; A- 



485 



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chosen surveyor on the 27th of February, 1760. The 
foundations of the piers were piled, to guard against a failure 
like that which occurred in one of the arches of Westminster 
bridge; but the caissons on which the piers are laid are 
considerably distorted. The bridge was placed as near as 
possible at right angles to the stream of ebb and flood. 

The bridge itself cost 152,840/. ; but before it was opened 
a temporary way for passengers was carried across the 
arches, by which 1757/. was added. The total expense was 
however so much increased by the embankments and ap- 
proaches, that it was estimated in 1766 at 232,185/. 12s. 6d. t 
and amounted in the end to nearly 300,000/. .The shares 
were about the same time bought up by government, and 
the bridge made free to the public by the removal of the 
toll which had been placed on it. 

The soft nature of Portland stone, of which the bridge is 
built, and its unfitness for water-works, will satisfactorily 
account for the decay of the piers and cutwaters, as well 
as of many of the areh-stones. The attention of the city au- 
thorities having been called to the dilapidated state of the 
bridge, Messrs. Walker and Burges, engineers, were em- 
ployed to survey it, and from their report, read at a common- 
council held on the 25th of April, 1833, it appeared, that 
the works above low water would cost 60,000/. repairing, 
and 30,000/. would be required for piling, coffer-dams, and 
securing the foundations. The foundations were examined 
by means of Deane's patent helmet, and a full detail of the 
state of the works is given in the report. 

An act of parliament was immediately applied for and 
obtained, and the works of repair begun, under Messrs. 
Wafker and Burges's direction, early in the following sea- 
son. In these the chief object has been to protect the 
foundations from the effects of the increased depth and 
scour of the river in consequence of the removal of old 
London bridge, by a casing uf piles round the piers, covered 
with masonry ; and generally to restore the decayed parts 
of the superstructure. The architectural character of the 
bridge has not been materially interfered with, the only 
alterations contemplated being that the cutwaters are to be 
widened and made higher, and to be built of granite ; the 
columns are to be shortened, which will improve them, as 
they are now higher than the rules of architecture admit ; 
and tho present balustrade removed, and a plain parapet 
substituted. 

Great ingenuity has been displayed in the method of 
restoring the defective arch-stones. The aperture to be 
filled up being wider at the back part than the front, causes 
difficulty in efficiently repairing arches so dilapidated; for 
although a few stones may be repaired in an indifferent 
manner, and may not affect the stability of the structure, 
yet, when a fourth of the whole soffit has to be replaced, as 
has been done in the Surrey arch, it is of the greatest im- 
portance that each stone which is inserted should do the 
fluty of the one which was originally there. This object is 
attained by the plan adopted. 

The broken or decayed parts of the arch-stones are geno- 
rally cut out to the depth of fifteen inches. After the old 
work has been properly prepared, the space is filled up with 
two stones or thicknesses instead of one. Tho one first laid, 
which we will call the lower stone, is thicker at the back 
than at the front by rather more than the difference of the 
heights of the front and back part of the whole course of 
which it is a part. Suppose the course to be fitted in is 
two feet five inches high in front, and two feet six inches 
_ at the back, the lower stone is made one foot five inches 
high on the face, and one foot six and a half inches at 
the back. The other stone will then require to be thinner 
behind than before, and in the case supposed will be twelve 
inches in front and eleven and a half behind ; or, in other 
words, it is a stone wedge fifteen inches deep, with a draught 
of half an inch, which, when driven back, causes the two 
thicknesses to take a bearing with the old work. 

In the centre of the bed of this upper stone a hole is 
bored, into which, previous to its being driven, is put a cir- 
cular stone plug, tapering from the middle towards each 
end ; to this plug a cord is attached, which passes through 
a hole drilled from the chamfer outside to the upper part 
of the large hole, where it is fastened to the top of the stone 
plug. By this means the plug is kept steady during the 
operation of driving. When the upper stone has been 
driven into its place, the cord is loosened, and the plug falls 
half its length into a hole, which has been made to receive 
it, in the lower stone. » 




[Cut showing" tho plan of the cutwater restored. The doited line shows 
' ' the decay of the stone to that margin.] 

When it is necessary to replace a stone high up in the 
arch (for instance, a part of the key-course), as the plug 
which connects the two thicknesses lies horizontally and 
cannot fall into its place, the workmen are obliged to bore a 
small hole from the chamfer to the back of the large hole in 
the thickest stone, through which the^ pass another cord 
which is fastened to the other end of the plug,* A small 
groove is made in the beds of stone to protect the string 
while the wedge stone is driven home, which being done! 
it is only necessary to loose one cqrd and pull the other, and 
the plug is immediately brought into the hole in the other 
stone. By this means the two stones are so connected that 
it is impossible for one to come out without the other. The 
annexed sections of the stones will make this more intel- 
ligible. 




Figure A shows a stone just ready to bo driven to its 
place ; 1 is the wedge in which the plug a is kept steady 
by a cord which comes through a hole to the chamfer, 
and is made fast round a piece of wood at 2; 3 is the 
other half already set, with its hole 4 to receive the plug 
when 1 is driven home ; 5 is a weight (most commonly o 
mason's chisel) which keeps the cord tight that is attached 
to the end. of the plug marked a, by which it is drawn into 
the hole 4. Figure B shows a stone finished, with the plug 
drawn into the hole of the stone which was first set. Soft 
mortar is then forced through the hole b so as to fill up the 
whole of the space round about the plug, which being thus 
imbedded, it is impossible for it to move. 

To ascertain if the plug is in its proper place, a piece of 
iron with a joint is passed into the hole bored from the 
upper chamfer, which, if it enter into the hole, proves that 
the plug is in its proper place. If the plug cannot be got 
in, which rarely happens, the upper piece of stone has to 
be eut out again. 

In each of the piers there will be nearly 10,000 cubic 
feet of granite. Four dams in all are to be formed. The 
quantity of timber in that round the fifth pier is about 
30,000 cubic feet, the sheet-piling consisting of half timbers. 
The approaches to the bridgo on both sides are intended 
to be improved by being made less steep. The cornice 
line, which is now very irregular, is to be altered so as 
to be Hatter than at present. It was proposed to widen the 
bridge, but this project has been abandoned, from a wish to 
preserve the columns, which, however beautiful they may 
bo in themselves, are not of that value which the proposed 
alteration would have been to the public. (Narrative re- 
ferred to in the Report of the Committee to the Common 
Council, 14th May, 1784, MS.; Report of Common Coun-' 
cil on Blackfriars Bridge Embankment and Surrey Roads, 
1784, MS. j Pennant's London; Report to the Common 



BLA 



486 



BLA 



Council' from the Committee appointed in relation to 
Bladtfriar* Bridge, presented 25/A April, 1833; Plans, 
Elevation* t and Section* of the Machines and Centering 
used in erecting Blachfriars Bridge, drairn and engraved 
by /?. Baldtrin, Clerk of the Work, 7 largo folio plates, 
London, 1766.) Two fine folio prints, showing tho cen- 
tering of tho arches, executed under the superintendence of 
Mr. Mylne, were puhlished in 1764 and 1766, one engraved 
by Hooker, the other hy Piranesi. There is also an eleva- 
tion of tho bridge, published hy Taylor, London. The ori- 
ginal drawings for the bridge, and papers connected with its 
history, are in tho possession of a private gentleman. 

BLACKHEATH, tho name of a hundred in the lath 
of Sutton-at-Hone, eounty of Kent. This hundred is called 
in Domesday Book the hundred of Grenviz, or Greenwich, 
but it did not long retain this denomination, for we find it 
called by its present namo in tho 7th of Edward I., tho 
king being then lord of it. Tho hundred contains the fol- 
lowing parishes: — so much of Deptford as lies in Kent; 
Greenwich; Charlton; Woolwich; Eltham; Lee; Lewis- 
ham ; and part of Chislehurst. The fine elevated heath 
which gives name to tho hundred adjoins to the south of 
Greenwich, in which parish it ehiefly lies, although it also 
extends into those of Lewisham, Lee, and Charlton; being 
about one mile and a half in length from east to west, by 
three- fourths of a mile in breadth from north to south. The 
direct distance of its nearest part from St. Paul's, London, 
is five miles S. E. There are several fine prospects from 
different parts of this plain, which, together with its elevated 
situation, has occasioned a great number of elegant villas 
to be erected upon it Its name of Blackheath is derived, 
as some consider, from the appearance of the soil, or, as 
others think, from its bleak situation. The last conjecture 
of eourse assumes that black is a corruption of bleah On 
this heath is dug a kind of gravel, which is much in re- 
quest for making garden-walks. The Roman road from 
London to Dover is supposed to have crossed Blackheath 
nearly in tho same direction with the present road. Dr. 
Plot says that its courso appeared very plainly in his time ; 
but tho surface of the heath has been so much altered of' 
late years that little or no trace of such a road can now be 
discovered/ Many Roman antiquities havo however been 
found on the edge of the heath, particularly in that part 
nearest to Greenwich; and some tumuli or barrows of large 
dimensions still exist. 

In the early part of the eleventh century the Danes 
(whose fleet lay off Greenwich) appear to havo remained 
encamped for somo time at Blackheath, whence they made 
excursions into the interior of Kent, committing dreadful 
ravages wherever they went. In one of these excursions 
they spoiled the city of Canterbury, and carried away tho 
archbishop (Alphege), whom they detained for several 
months in their camp, and in the end slew, on his refusing 
to pay a largo sum of money as a ransom. In 1831 Wat 
Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball, remained for some time 
encamped on tho heath with their numerous adherents. 
Jack Cade occupied the same position twice in 1450 ; and 
ill Fehruary the following year, the king was met on the 
same spot by a large body of Cado*s followers in their shirts, 
who craved his pardon on their knees. Tho same king 
(Henry VI.) in 1452 encamped upon Blackheath while 
preparing to withstand tho forces of tho duko of York 
(afterwards Edward IV.). In 1497 the Cornish rebels, 
headed by Lord Audlcy, pitched their tents tin Blackheath, 
where Henry VII. gavo them battle, defeating them with 
great slaughter, and taking prisoners their chiefs, who wcro 
afterwards executed. 

Besides these melancholy occurrences many costly pa- 
geants and joyous meetings havo been held upon Black- 
heath, in consequence of its being eustomary for the lord 
mayor and corporation of London, and sometimes even for 
the king and court, to proceed so far in order to give tho 
meeting to illustrious foreigners from tho continent, or to 
other great or popular personages who had hecn absent. 
Thus Henry IV., about the end of 1400, met on Blackheath, 
in great state, tho emperor of Constantinople, Michael 
Palapologus, who eamo to solicit his assistaneo against tho 
Turkish sultan, Bajazet. Hither proceeded tho lord mayor 
and aldermen of London, with 400 citizens attired in Scarlet, 
wilh red and whlto hoods, on Nov. 13th, 1415, to meet their 
victorious monarch on his return from Franco after tho 
battle of Agincourt, and from hence conducted him to the 
metropolis with loud acclamations, The next year the 



samo parties proceeded again \o Blackheath to meet tho 
emperor Siglsmund, who came to mediate a peace between 
Franco and England, and was escorted by the citizens to 
Lamheth, where he was <net by tho king. In 1474 tho 
municipal authorities clothed in scarlet, and 500 citizens In 
murrey gowns, met Edward IV. on Blackheath on his re- 
turn from France. In tho reign of Henry VIII. (1577) a 
solemn embassy from France, consisting of the admiral of 
France, the bishop of Paris, and others, with 1200 persons 
in their train, were met hero by tho lord admiral of Eng- 
land, with a brilliant retinue of above 600 persons. In tho 
same year Cardinal Campejus arrived in England as legato 
from the pope, and was received with great pomp and cere- 
mony hy the duke of Norfolk and a great number of pre- 
lates, knights, and gentlemen, who conducted him to a 
magnificent tent of cloth of gold, where he put on his cardi- 
nal's dress, edged with ermine, and rode on in much stato 
to London. This procession was however greatly surpassed 
in splendour hy that which, in January, 1640-1, attended 
the meeting between Henry VIII. and Anne of Cleves, 
whieh took place on the heath, where a magnificent tent 
had been pitched for her reception. The king, who was at 
Green wieh, proceeded through the park to meet her, and 
afterwards conducted her to Greenwich, where they were 
married. Besides the immediate retinues of tho king and 
princess, and nearly all tho female nobility and other ladies, 
there were present 1200 citizens and others clad in velvet, 
with chains of gold. 

There are two episcopal chapels in Blaekheath.one in tho 
parish of Lewisham, and the other in tho oxtraparochial dis- 
trict of Kidbrook. Adioinlng to tho heath on the cast is 
Mordcn College, founded by Sir John Morden, atTurkey 
merchant, for the support of decayed merchants, for whose 
benefit, among all the benevolent establishments of London, 
no provision had previously been made. Sir John erected 
the college in his own lifetime* It is a spacious brick struc- 
ture, with two small wings, having corners and cornices of 
stone. The buildings form an inner quadrangle, surrounded 
by a piazza ; and there h a chapel adjoining, together with 
a cemetery, for the inemhers of the college. Over the front 
are the statues of Sir John Morden and his lady, and the 
hall contains their portraits, and that of Queen Anne. Sir 
John died in 1708; but the foundation did not enjoy the 
full benefit of his bequest until the death of his lady in 
1 72 1 . The property which produced about 1 200/. per annum 
several years since, now produces about 6000/. The govern- 
ment of tho institution is vested in seven trustees, proprie- 
tors of India Stock, who nominate the pensioners, and ap- 
point the treasurer and chaplain. The salary of both officers 
is 50/. per annum, besides the foundress* endowment for 
the chaplain, which at present yields him nearly 700/. a 
year ; and they have both apartments in tho eollege, where 
they as well as tho pensioners must reside, except in case of 
sickness; but no other persons may reside or lodge on tho 
premises. The pensioners, *who are about forty in number, 
must be upwards of fifty years old. Each of them receives 
5/. per month, and has a convenient apartment; but they all 
take their meals together at a common table. Their ex- 
penses in medicine, coals; candles washing, and attend- 
ance, are defrayed from the funds of tho college. Tho 
original endowment has been somewhat enlarged by addi- 
tional benefactions. 

Blackheath has two proprietary schools for hoys, and 
thero are several small schools supported by the resident 
gentry. (Hasted '% History of Kent ; Ly senses Environs of 
London , rf-c.) 

BLACK JACK, a namo by which zinc-blende is com- 
monly known to the English miners. 

BLACK LEAD. [See Plumbago.] 

BLACKLOCK, THE REV. THOM AS, D.D., a divino 
of the Established Church of Scotland, ami a writer of 
poetry, was born at Annan, in 1721. Before he was six 
months old he lost his sight, and it was partly to this mis- 
fortune that he owed his future distinction. Being pre- 
cluded from the usual enjoyments of youth, he imbibed a 
stronger love of learning, which his father, who was a 
tradesman of an intelligent mind, took pains to gratify by 
reading to his son tho works of tho best authors. His 
father did not possess the means of giving his son & liberal 
education, but notwithstanding this disadvantage his intel- 
lectual progress was very rapid, and tho mental concentra- 
tion which his loss of sijAt occasioned bceame habitual 
to him. At an early age he acquired some knowledge of 



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the Latin language from his more fortunate companions 
who attended the grammar-school, and in his twelfth year 
he produced verses which indicated considerable talent. 
When he had reached his twentieth year his sister was 
united to a man above her own rank of life, and young 
Blacklock now enjoyed the advantage of mixing with more 
intelligent society. His fathers death, which occurred not 
long afterwards, appears to have aflefcted him in an extra- 
ordinary degree. Dunng his life he had exerted himself in 
the most tender manner to prevent his son from feeling 
the utmost extent of his privation ; and by never suffering 
him to go out of his sight without a guide, he had unfor-r 
tunately encouraged a timidity of disposition to which, under 
different management, he would most probably have been a, 
stranger. In a poem entitled * A Soliloquy,' written . after 
the death of his father, Blacklock expresses himself with 
much feeling, but with piety and resignation, on Ins helpless 
condition. Having been introduced to pr. Stevenson, a 
physician of Edinburgh, this gentleman was so much struck 
with Blacklock's talents that he offered to take upon him- 
self the charge of his education ; and in consequence of 
this liberality he commenced his studies at the Edinburgh 
Grammar School in 1741, but they were interrupted in 1745 
by the Rebollion, when he returned to his friends at Dum- 
fries. He had in this interval made gratifying progress, 
had published a volume of poetry, and having been intro- 
duced to the family of the lord provost, whose wife was 
a native of France, he had acquired the French language 
(luring the intercourse to which it led. When affairs had 
resumed their ordinary course, he returned from Dumfries, 
where he had advantageously spent his time in the socioty of 
individuals of more than ordinary intelligence and acquire- 
ments, and continuing his studies for six years longer, 
made himself master of the Greek, Latin, and Italian lan- 
guages. He was, in addition, a proficient in music, of 
which he was particularly fond. In 1754 a second edition 
of his poems was called for, and a 4to. edition was published 
in London by subscription in 1756, when David Hume and 
Mr. Spcnce, professor of poetry at Oxford, particularly ex- 
erted themselves to promote his interests. 

Having completed his studies at the University, he was 
licensed in 1 759 as a minister of the Gospel. In 1 762 he 
married, and immediately after was ordained minister at 
Kircudbright in consequence of a crown presentation. Owing 
however to the hostility of his flock to this mode of church 
patronage, and also to the style of his preaching, which was 
too refined and philosophical for uncultivated tastes, he 
gave up the living after having held it two years amidst cir- 
cumstances very painful to his sensitive mind. The small 
annuity which he accepted in its place was scarcely suffi- 
cient for his support, and in retiring to Edinburgh in 1764, 
he opened his house for the reception of a few young gen- 
tlemen as boarders, to whose studies and improvement he 
directed his attention with much success. In this posi- 
tion he continued for twenty-three years, until 1787, when 
the state of his health induced him to withdraw from these 
duties. He died after about a week's illness July 7, 1791. 
The degree of Doctor of Divinity had been conferred on him 
in 1766 by the University of Aberdeen. 

In private lifo Dr. Blacklock was distinguished by the 
great mildness and gentleness of his disposition, which not 
even the nervous irritability to which he was subject could 
affect, by his ardent love of knowledge, and by the simplicity 
and modesty of his character. Singular as it may appear, his 
poems abound with faithful descriptions of natural scenery. 
Dr. Blacklock himself could not account for this; and having 
put it as a question, * How shall wo account for the same 
energy, the same transport of description, exhibited by those 
on whose minds visible objects were either never impressed, 
or have been entirely obliterated?* he confesses his in- 
ability to reply to it satisfactorily. This anomaly has since 
been explained by Professor Alison in his ' Essays on 
Taste/ Essay 2, chap. 3. 

Dr. Blacklock was. not only a poet but a writer on philo- 
sophy and theology. The following is a list of his works : — 
• An Essay towards Universal Etymology, or the Analysis 
of a Sentence/ 8vo. 1756. ' The Right Improvement of 
Time/ a sermon, 8vo. 1760. 'Faith, Hope, and Charity 
Compared/ a sermon, 1761. * Paraclesis, or Consolations 
deduced from Natural and Revealed Religion/ in two Dis- 
sertations ; tho first supposed to have been written by Cicero, 
now rendered into English ; the last originally composed by 
Thomas Blacklock, D,D, 1767. * Two Discoursos on tho 



Spirit and Evidences of Christianity/ translated from the 
French, and published in 1768 without his name. A 
Panegyric on Great Britain/ a poem, 8vo. 1773. * Tho 
Graham/ an heroic poem, in four cantos, 4to. 1774. In 
1793 a posthumous edition of his poems was published bv 
Mackenzie, author of the 'Man of Feeling/ with a Life of 
Blacklock. In addition to Spence and Mackenzie, the life 
of Blacklock has been written by Dr. Anderson and Mr. 
Gordon. [See Blind, Education of the.] 

BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD, a physician, poet, 
and miscellaneous writer, was the son of an attorney at 
Corsham, Wilts, and was bom about the year 1650. In 
his thirteenth year he was sent to AVestminster School, 
whence ho proceeded to Oxford, where he remained thirteen 
years. After this it is said that he was for some timo 
employed as a schoolmaster. He then made a tour on 
the continent, in the course of which he took the degrco 
of M.D. in the University of Padua. On his return to 
England ho was chosen Fellow of the Royal College of 
Physicians, and commenced practice in the metropolis. 
His attachment to the principles of the Revolution pro- 
cured him the appointment of physician to AVilliam III., 
and he was for some time one of the court physicians in Lho 
succeeding reign. He wrote several medical treatises, none 
of which aro in any way remarkable, except perhaps one 
on the small-pox, in which, unfortunately for his profes- 
sional fame, he combated the practice of inoculation. He 
also published an historical work: 'A true and impartial 
History of the Conspiracy against King William in 1695/ 
The numerous poems which he wrote are now nearly for- 
gotten. His * Prince Arthur/ an heroic poem in ten books, 
reached a third edition in 169t>. The following year ho 
published ' King Arthur/ another heroic poem in twelve 
books. Both these poems were published in folio. Besides 
the above, he wrote ' Eliza,' a poem in ten books, also 
printed in folio ; * the Redeemer/ a poem in six books; and 
' King Alfred/ a poem in twelve books. Dr. Johnson re- 
marks that * the first of his epic poems had such reputation 
as enraged the critics; the second was at least known enough 
to be ridiculed ; the two last had neither friends nor ene- • 
mies/ In 1 700 he published ' A Paraphrase on the Book of 
Job, and other parts of Scripture ;* in 1 716, two volumes of 
* Essays ;* in 1718, a ' Collection of Poems/ in one volume ; 
and in 1721, 'A new version of the Psalms of David, fitted 
to the Tunes used in Churches.' In a paper addressed to 
the king, and signed by the two archbishops and fifteen of 
the bishops, this work was strongly recommended on account 
of its * agreement with the original Hebrew, and its clear- 
ness and purity of English style/ In 1721 and 1725 he 
wrote in opposition to Arianism; and in 1728 he published 
a work entitled ' Natural Theology, or Moral Dutios con- 
sidered apart from Positive ; with some observations on the 
desirableness and necessity of a Scriptnral Revelation/ 
The 'Accomplished Preacher, or an Essay upon Divine 
Eloquence/ was published at his express desire after his 
death, which took place October 8, 1 729. 

Never perhaps was any writer the object of such general 
attack by his contemporaries as Sir Richard Blackmore. 
Nearly all the wits of his day seem to have joined in this 
confederacy. One topic of abuse against him was that he 
lived in Cheapside, whence he was sometimes called * the 
Cheapside Knight/ and ' the City Bard/ Sir Samuel Garth 
addresses him as ' tho merry poetaster at Sadler's Hall in 
Cheapside/ He was considered, par excellence, as the poet 
of dullness. In spite of these railleries he continued to put 
forth his * heroic poems/ which display little art either in 
their plan or composition, and as little imagination. His 
professed object being * to engage poetry in the cause of 
virtue/ he seems to have imagined that the graces of 
language were unworthy of his attention. The age had 
begun to show strong symptoms of distaste for the bulky 
folios and heavy writings of a preceding period; and this 
tendency Sir Richard himself had pointed out in one of 
his * Essays/ where he remarks that * even voluminous 
romances, the delight of the past age, are no longer de- 
manded, but lie by as neglected lumber in the shops, while 
short novels and tales aro become the common enters 
tainment of those who are pleased with fictions of that 
nature/ Yet he must have imagined that his works would 
be exempt from the consequences of this revolution ; and, 
confident in his own powers, ho continued his course, re- 
garding the attacks of his opponents with comparative equa- 
nimity. The, intention of his ' Satire upon Wit 'was to 



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castigate the authors of works of an immoral tendency, and 
ho t<A)k this opportunity of retaliating on his assailant*. Ho 
always reprehended with severity tho lieenso of the stage, 
and, though no Puritan, lamented tho licentiousness which 
succeeded the Restoration. It was probably this course, 
rather than the alleged dullness of his writings, that occa- 
sioned the ridicule of tho day to bo so strongly directed 
against him. Tho * Creation/ a philosophical poem, is not 
undeserving of commendation; indeed thcro are several im- 
portant testimonials in its favour. Addison states that it 
was * undertaken with so good an intention, and executed 
with so great a mastery, that it deserves to be looked upon 
as ono of the most useful and noblo productions in our 
lCnglisli vcrse. ¥ Dr. Johnson, in his * Life of Blackmorc,' 
says that if lie had written only this poem it ' would have 
transmitted him to posterity among tho first favourites of 
tho English Muse.* At a later day, Cowper, although he 
confesses that Blackmore has ' written more absurdities in 
verse than any writer of our country,' acknowledges that 
* he shines in his poem called the " Creation/* * Since this 
opinion was expressed this poem has been gradually sink- 
ing into tho neglect which Blackmorc's other writings ex- 
perienced much sooner. 

In November, 1713, Sir Richard commenced a periodical 
paper, called the ' Lay Monk/ which appeared three times 
a week. He was induced to undertake this publication 
from a belief that ho could do good by it; but it only 
reached forty numbers. It may be mentioned to his credit 
that the purity of his privato character was never onco 
called in question by his most bitter critics. His temper 
was serious, and he was a firm supporter of what he con- 
sidered tho interests of virtue and religion. 

(Johnson s Lives of the Poets; Cowpcr's Letters; Biog. 
Brit.) 

BLACKNESS, situated in the parish of Carridcn in 
Linlithgowshire, is a small sea-side village, on the south 
bank of the Forth, four miles cast of Borrowstonncss, five 
west of Qucensfcrry, and about eighteen miles west from 
Edinburgh. Blackness appears to have been a Roman sta- 
tion; a stone with an eagle on it, and a Vespasian of gold 
have been found there, with numerous axes, pots, and 
several vases, evidently Roman. Blackness at one time 
was the port of Linlithgow. Blackness Castle, which stands 
on the point of a small peninsula projecting from the vil- 
lage into the Frith of Forth, was the principal state-prison 
in Scotland during the reign of James VI. At the union of 
Scotland and England, Blackness was one of the four forts 
agreed to be kept up in Scotland. It is now garrisoned by 
a master-gunner and barrack-master, and the defences arc 
scarcely worth notice, consisting merely of a wall with a few 
port-holes and two irregular lotty towers. 

(Sir Robert Sibbald's History. Antient and Modern, of 
the Sheriffsdome of Linlithgow ; #c. Edin. 1710; Chalmers' 
Caledonia, vol. i. Lond. 1807; Chambers' Gazetteer, Edin. 
183-2; East and JFest Views, and Plan of the Castle of 
IXackness, King's Library, British Museum ; Sinclair's Sta- 
tistical Account of Scotland, vol. i. ; Sibbald's Theatrum 
Scoticc; Sibbald's Portus, Colonice, et Castclla Romana, 
&c. Edin. 1811; Sibbald's Historical Enquiries concern- 
ing the Roman Monuments and Antiquities in the North 
Part of Britain, $c. Edin., 1707.) 

BLACKPOOL, a watering-place on the coast of Lan- 
cashire, between the actuaries of the Ribble and Wyre, is 
a village and chapclry in the township of Lay ton with War- 
breck, in the parish of Bispham, and in the hundred of 
Amoundcrness ; 4 miles S.W. of Poulton, miles W.N.W. 
of Kirkham, 18 miles W.N.W. of Preston, 27 miles S.W. 
of Lancaster, and 235 miles from London. The dark 
pcaty-colourcd pool, from which its namo is derived, is at 
the south end of the village, near a house called Fox Hall, 
onco the reside nco of tho Tyldcsleys, but now a farm -house. 

The situation of Blackpool gives it many advantages 
over the other watering-places along the same coast. Its 
clc\ation above the sea at low water is considerable, but in 
very high tides the spray is thrown against the buildings 
that run along the parade. On a favourable day, the pro- 
montory of Furness, the Cumberland hills, and the moun- 
tains of North Wales arc distinctly visible, and at times 
the Isle of Man may be seen. 

The tide does not recede from the shore, opposite the vil- 
lage more than half a mile; when it comes in, if accom- 
panied with wind, the foreo of the waters is eo great that 
it has been founfl necessary to mako an artificial barrier of 



stones against the bank to prevent its being undermined. 
Tho inroads upon the high clay cliffs that lie northwards of 
tho village towards Norbreek, also in the parish of Bispham, 
bliow the encroachments of the sea in this direction. On 
the other side of the a?stuary of the Ribble, near Southport, 
tho contrary operation is going forward, large depositions 
of sand being made there. The extent of these encroach- 
ments in tho neighbourhood of Blackpool cannot be clearly 
ascertained. Tradition states that a large stone* which is 
standing upon the sands above half a mile from the shore, 
called Penny Stone, marks tho spot whero a public-house 
formerly stood. However this may be, it is certain that the 
high tides occasionally wash down considerable portions of 
the banks. The old road to Bispham has long disappeared, 
and parts of tho new road aro rapidly following it. 

Blackpool is recommended to visiters by the fine hard 
sands, and by the healthy bracing air, which however is too 
keen for persons labouring under some complaints. Many 
of the native inhabitants attain a great age. The shell 
banks on tho north side of the village arc large and 
numerous, and afford, along with an immense number of 
the more common sorts, marine specimens not found in 
any other locality. The clay and marl which compose the 
heights north of Blackpool', after falling down and being 
rolled about on the pebbles, form a kind of pudding, which, 
when hardened by the salt water and the air, becomes a 
stone, and is often used for gate-posts by the farmers. 

The hotels arc large, and occupy commanding situa- 
tions facing the sea. In the same line with them, fur 
about a quarter of a mile, is a number of lofty houses 
chiefly for the accommodation of visiters, forming a long 
but irregular range of buildings in front of the sea, at the 
distance of about a hundred yards from the edge of the 
steep bank that keeps off the tide. On the water's edge of 
this bank is a broad terrace-walk, which forms the chief 
promenade of the place, between which and the houses is a 
road for carriages. 

An episcopal place of worship was erected here in 1821, 
which is under the parochial jurisdiction of Bispham. There 
is also a free-school, where thirty boys aro educated on the 
system of Dr. Bell. For the accommodation of the visiters, 
a news-room, a coffee-room, and a library, arc open during 
the season. 

The whole of tho adjacent country, which is within the 
district called the Fylde, is one of the richest parts of the 
county of Lancaster. No trade is carried on in the village ; 
but those persons who arc not engaged in attending upon the 
visiters find employment in the fishing-boats, or in the 
fields. The population of Blackpool is about S00, exclusive 
of visiters, who, at the height of the season, amount to 800 
or 1000 more. 

BLACK ROCK, in the barony of Half Rathdownc and 
county of Dublin in Ireland, is pleasantly situated abont mid- 
way upon the railroad lately completed between Dublin and 
Kingstown. Black Rock has long been a favourite watering- 
place, but the increased facility of communication is now 
likely to give the advantage to situations farther down tho 
bay. The town has not latterly been on the increase, though 
at present (1835) it is improving. 

BLACK ROD, a chapelry and considerable manufactur- 
ing villago in the parish of Bolton-lc-Moor: it stands on the 
edge of some elevated ground, above the river Douglas, which 
forms its boundary on tho N.E. and N.W., about half a 
mile from the main road between Bolton and Chorley, 
within two miles of Horwich, seven miles of Bolton, and 
five miles of Chorloy. 

Few of tho inhabitants have been employed in agricul- 
ture for many years. In the census of 1801, out of 1G23 
persons, 1551 belonged to families engaged in manufactures, 
and the proportion appears to be rattier increased than di- 
minished in favour of trade by the returns of 1 83 1, when tho 
population was 2591 persons. The people arc employed cither 
in hand-loom weaving, or at the print and bleach-works in 
the adjacent village of Horwich. There arc no cotton-mills 
or power-looms in the place. Nankeens were formerly tho 
chief article of manufacture, but latterly many other sorts of 
cloth have been introduced, and are as much woven as the 
staple article. 

Blackrod is a place of great antiquity, being the site, as 
sonio suppose, of tho Roman station named Coccium by 
Antoninus, and Rigodnnum by Ptolemy : Rigodunum how- 
ever seems moro likely to be Ribchcstcr on the Ribble. 
The roads from it are visible.in all directions, and the names 



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489 



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of several villages are a memorial of their former existence. 
There is a curious natural phenomenon near Harley Hall, 
at the western end of the township, in what is called the 
Burning Well, from which a vapour rises, which by the 
application of fire will produce a considerable flame. The 
lower part of the township, ealled the Red Moss, has never 
been brought into cultivation, nor have any attempts been 
made until lately to drain it. Experiments are now being 
tried, by means of a machine propelled by steam, to effect 
such a drainage as will restore the whole tract of land, con- 
sisting of upwards of a hundred acres, to the purposes of 
agriculture. 

The town presents little that is interesting; the houses 
are irregularly built in one long street, and generally of a 
mean appearance. The ehurch, the only place of worship, 
except a chapel belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists, is 
an antient structure dedicated to St. Catherine, at the north 
end of the village. The living is a perpetual curacy in the 
gift of the vicar of Bolton, in the deanery of Manchester, 
and in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester. 

There is a free grammar-school, in which 100 scholars 
are educated. The income is returned at 140/. 4*., besides 
which thero are three exhibitions to Pembroke College, 
Cambridge. This school was originally endowed in 1568, 
by John Holm, who left property of the value of 8/. per 
annum to the school, and 51. per annum for the maintenance 
of a scholar at the College of St. Mary, now Pembroke 
Hal!, Cambridge, which property yields at present 80/. per 
annum. An estate which was bequeathed to the school by 
Elizabeth Tildesley of Bedford lets now for 120/. a year. 

A fair is held at Blackrod annually, on the first Thursday 
after the 12th of July, for toys, small wares, &e. There is 
no market ; the inhabitants attend either Bolton or Chorley. 
A petty sessions is held once a fortnight at Horwich, where 
eases of a trifling nature are heard, but the more important 
business connected with the township comes beforo the 
bench of magistrates at Bolton. (Baines's History of Lan- 
cashire ; Communication from Lancashire.) 

BLACK SEA, THE, is said to have received its present 
name from the Turks, who, being accustomed only to the 
navigation of the Archipelago where the numerous islands 
and their convenient ports offered many places of refuge in 
case of danger, found the traversing of such an open ex- 
panse of water, which is subject to heavy storms, very 
perilous, and accordingly they expressed their fears by 
the epithet * black.' Partly on the same account, and 
partly because the shores of this sea were occupied by very 
uncivilized and barbarous nations, the antient Greeks first 
called it d&vog (dxenos, inhospitable) ; but afterwards, when 
the art of navigation had been so far improved that they 
no longer feared the dangers to be encountered in navigating 
it, and had succeeded in establishing numerous colonies on 
its shores, they changed its name from a%tvog to tv&vog 
(eiixenoSt hospitable). This unsatisfactory explanation of 
the name, like many others of the kind, must be attri- 
buted to the fondness of the Greeks for turning every 
foreign name into one that had a resemblance to some term 
in their own language, and consequently thus became sig- 
nificant. The Greeks sometimes called this seii simply 
Pontus, or the sea. 

The Black Sea divides the southern provinces of Russia 
from Anatolia or Asia Minor, and extends in length nearly 
700 miles between 28° and 41° 30' E. long., and 41° and 
46° 40' N. lat. Its breadth on the west between the mouth 
of the Dnieper and the opposite shore near the Bosporus 
is .nearly 400 miles ; in the middle, where it is narrowed 
by the projecting peninsula of the Crimea, the narrowest 
part hardly exceeds 160 miles, but farther east it enlarges 
again to 300 miles, which width however decreases towards 
its eastern extremity. The space which it occupies is cal- 
culated by German geographers at upwards of 180,000 
square miles. It is therefore smaller than the North Sea 
(260,000 square miles), but larger than the Baltic (160,000 
square miles). 

The Black Sea is connected with the Sea of Azof by the 
straits of Yenikale or of Kaffa, and with the Archipelago 
and the Mediterranean by the Bosporus, the Sea of Mar- 
mora, and the straits of the Dardanelles. By the first it 
receives the drainage of a part of Southern Russia, and by 
the second it sends off the surplus waters which are not 
lost by evaporation. 

With tho exception of the Whang-Hat (or Yellow Sea) 
there is probably no portion of the ocean which receives the 



drainage of a greater extent of country than the Black Sea.' 
By far the greatest part of its basin belongs to Europe. 
This portion may be indicated by lines drawn from Con- 
stantinople to the sources of the Inn, thence to those of the 
Dnieper, and then to those of the Medwidicza, a branch of 
the Don rising near Saratow. From Saratow the boundary 
runs near the banks of the Volga, and approaching the 
shores of the Caspian Sea at the sources of* the Manish, 
terminates at the eastern extremity of the Black Sea. The 
countries included by these lines, all of which modern geo- 
graphers consider as belonging to Europe, occupy an area 
exceeding 860,000 square miles, and consequently nearly 
one-fifth of the whole surface of this division of the globe. 
This extensive surface is drained by numerous large rivers, 
among which are the Danube and the Dnieper, the largest 
rivers of Europe, if we except the Volga. That part of 
the basin of the Black Sea which is considered as lying 
in Asia, probably contains somewhat less than 100,000 
square miles, and runs from the eastern extremity of the 
sea along the river Rion or Fas (the Phasis of the antients) 
up to its source. Hence it follows nearly a straight line, 
drawn south-west to the most southern branch of the Kizil 
Ermak (the antient Halys). From this place the boundary 
line runs in a north-western direction between the sources 
of the Bujuk Minder (Mseander of the antients) and of the 
Sakaria (Sangarius), and following at a small distance the 
shores of the Sea of Marmora, terminates on the Bosporus, 
or straits of Constantinople. / 

As the basin of the sea comprehends 960,000 squaro 
miles, and its surface contains only 180,000 square miles, 
it follows that each square mile of its surface receives the 
drainage of five and one-third of a square mile. This will 
account for the small degree of saltness of its waters. Their 
specific gravity, compared with that of fresh water, is 1142 
to 1000. The water of the Atlantic is 1288; but it contains 
more salt than the water of the Baltic, the specific gravity 
of which is only about 1039 or 1042. 

The shores of the Euxinc present a very varied aspect. 
From the Bosporus eastward the coast is rather low as far as 
Cape Baba, though the hills are never far from the coast. 
From Cape Baba to Cape Karempi (Carambis), and hence 
to Sinup (Sinope), and even to the mouth of the Kizil 
Ermak, the high lands advance elose to the shore : then 
follows a low shore, which extends as far as Cape Yasoun 
(the Jasonium of the Greek geographers), the formation of 
which is ascribed to the alluvions of the three rivers, the 
Kizil Ermak, the Casahnak, and the Tharmeh, which empty 
themselves into the sea within these limits. To the cast of 
Cape Yasoun, up to the mouth of the Rion, and hence to 
Anapa, to which place the western extremity of Mount 
Caucasus extends, the eoast is alternately low and high, 
the offsets of the mountains which enclose the sea at no 
great distance advancing frequently to the very shores. 
The shores of the island of Taman, which on the east 
advances to the straits of Yenikal6, are very low and 
marshy. But though the peninsula of Kertch, which forms 
the opposite shore of the straits, rises into considerable eleva- 
tions, the coast continues low and sandy as far as the town of 
Kaffa. West of Kaffa however the mountain-range of the 
Yaila rises to a considerable height, and skirts the shore to 
Sevastopol, so that in some places it rises to some hundred 
feet, especially to the east of Sevastopol. The remainder 
of the shore, as far as the mouth of the Danube, is low and 
sandy, and continues so to Mangalia (about 44° N. lat.) 
north of Cape Shabla, where the western offsets of the 
Balkan Mountains approach the sea. Here the shore be- 
comes rocky, but does not rise so high as between the port 
of Varna and Cape Emineh. South of this cape the rocky 
shore continues to the straits of Constantinople, but rises to 
a moderate height only in a few places. 

The navigation of the Black Sea is neither difficult nor 
dangerous : it is almost entirely free from islands and rocks. 
In its whole extent there is only one small island, called 
Ilan Adassi, uninhabited, and lying under 45° 15' N. lat. at 
a considerable distance from the western shore. Rocks never 
occur except near Cape Kerpen, about sixty miles east of 
the Bosporus ; nor are shoals frequent. They are only found 
near the straits of Constantinople; also near Sinup, and 
at the mouth of the Dnieper, of which the first, called the 
sands of Domusdere, extend three miles, gradually deep- 
ening. In all the other parts the Black Sea is rather deep, 
the bottom of it not having been found by lines of 120 and 
140 fathoms, except towards the coast, where at a distance 



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of two or threo miles it varies from twenty to thirty fathoms, 
and in many places, as off the mouth of tho Danube, tho 
soundings decrease so gradually and exactly, that the dis- 
tance from tho shore may be known by soundings within 
half a mile. It is remarkable, that exactly in this part of 
the Black Sea a shoal is placed by Polvbius, which, as ho 
says, extends for more than a thousand stadia in length, 
and on whieh vosscls often ran aground by night. But 
Arrian, in his 'Periplusof tho Euxine,' does not mention U, 
and wo must, for this and other reasons, suppose that Poly- 
biuswas misinformed. 

Storms are not uncommon, but they are never of long 
duration. The sea is however short and troublesome, more 
especially about tho entrance of tho channel of Constanti- 
nople. In summer tho prevailing winds blow from north- 
east and north, but in tho sea these winds arc moro vari- 
ablo than in the channel itself, where they are almost con- 
stant during the whole summer, and ships sometimes lie 
here wind-bound for three months. These northern or 
north-eastern winds extend as far as the island of Tcnedos 
in the Archipelago. In autumn, winter, and spring, the 
winds are often southerly and various. 

Another disadvantage to navigation arises from some of 
the northern ports being frozen up from the end of Decem- 
ber or the beginning of January to the end of February or 
the beginning of March. This is always the case with the 
ports between the Crimea and Odessa. The harbour of 
Odessa is not often frozen up, but the navigation is ren- 
dered unsafe during a considerable time by drift ice. KafTa 
is open and safe all tho year, though the straits of Yenikale* 
are completely frozen over, and the navigation of the sea of 
Azof is impracticable during the whole winter. Sevastopol 
and the other ports of the Crimea aro never frozen. 

By far the greatest quantity of water is received by the 
Black Sea at its north-western comer, whero the Dnieper, 
Bog, Dniester, and Danube fall into it. Most of the coun- 
tries through which these rivers run are covered for three 
or four months of the year with snow; and in spring-time 
all the moisture whieh has descended on them during the 
winter, and has been preserved in a solid state, suddenly 
dissolves and descends in the channels of the rivers with 
great velocity and in an immense volume. It then produces 
a very rapid current along the western shores from the 
mouth of the Dnieper to the channel of Constantinople : 
this current always exists, and is strong, especially in 
summer, during the prevalence of the northern and north- 
eastern winds. The accumulation of tho waters towards 
the straits of Constantinople is so great, that the Bosporus 
is not able to carry oft' all of it, and a portion is pressed 
against the coast of Anatolia, where it gives rise to another 
current running eastwards, as to whieh however it is not cer- 
tain whether it is constant or not. Renncll recognizes tho 
effects of this current in the alluvions between the mouths 
of the rivers Kizil Ermak, Casalmak, and Tharmch, and 
"Sfgain in the peculiar form of the island of Taman. lie is 
inclined to think that a current runs round tho whole of 
the Black Sea with a varying degree of velocity, and at no 
great distance from the shore. 

Harbours are numerous, and many of them good. The 
principal are Burgas and Varna, south of the mouth of the 
Danube ; Kilia, on the northern arm of that river ; Akhier- 
man or Akcrman, on the ccstuaiyor Liman of the Dniester; 
Odessa, Oczakow, Nicolaief, Cherson, and Kinburn, on the 
Bog and Dnieper, and their common cestnary; in the 
Crimea, Eupatoria or Koslow, Sevastopol, Balaclava, and 
Cafla. Tho harbours round tho eastern shore, as Anakria, 
Kopi, Poti, Batumi, are not known because they arc not 
visited. On tho coast of Anatolia are the harbours of Rizo, 
Trcbizond, Tcreboli, Kerasun, Samsun, Sinup, Incboli, 
Erekli, and Kcrpen. 

The Black Sea was navigated at an early period by the 
Greeks. The discovery of the channel which leads to it 
from the Archipelago is probably indicated by the fable of 
Hc4lc and Phrixus ; and the first voyage to it, in the expe- 
dition of Jason. It is not unlikely that some dispute rc- 
HDectinjj tho free navigation of the Black Sea gave rise to 
the Trojan war, because Ilium was so situated that it could 
hinder vessels from entering tho straits of tho Dardanelles. 
At a later period the Greeks, and moro especially tho 
Ionian Greeks of Miletus, formed numerous establishments 
along its shores, from which they exported slaves, cattle, 
and corn in great quantities. The jwrts of the Crimea and 
tho region near tho Borysthenes exported large quantities 



of grain to Athens and the Peloponnesus, which trade wo 
find mentioned in Herodotus (vii. 147) as existing at tho 
time of the invasion of Xerxes, b.c. 480. Under the Ro- 
mans the shores of the Euxino became pretty well known, 
and a * Pcriplus,' or kind of survey, of this sea is among 
tho works attributed to Arrian. In the times of the By- 
zantino emperors, Constantinople drew from it a consider- 
able part of its provision ; and in the twelfth century 
tho Genoese formed some establishments on its north- 
eastern coast, and carried on a very activo commerce over- 
land with India. But when Constantinople was taken by 
the Turks, the eommerco and navigation of the Black 
Sea were nearly annihilated, their policy l)emg averse to 
permitting foreign vessels to pass the straits of Constanti- 
nople. Thus the Black Sea remained closed to the sea- 
faring nations for two centuries. But when the northern 
shores had fallen into the hands of the Russians, they 
wished to procure a free trade to the ports of tho Mediter- 
ranean, and they obtained their object in the peaco of 
Kontshak Kainardge. Though tho Russians themselves 
were not able to derive any great advantages from tho 
free commerce, the inhabitants of the Greek islands began 
to navigate tho Black Sea under Russian colours; and 
from that date tho Greeks began to aequiro wealth and a 
desire for liberty. Up to the present time the number of 
Greek vessels is by far the greatest in this sea. Tbcy ex- 
port the corn, hides, timber, iron, and furs of Russia, and 
import wine, fruits, and the manufactures of England and 
France. Between the northern and southern shores of tho 
Black Sea the commercial intercourse is not great: the pro- 
duce of the Anatolian shores, whieh consists of grain, timber, 
and copper, not being in demand in Russia, which exports 
the same commodities. 

We do not find any notice of any considerable fishery 
being now carried on in the Black Sea, except at the entrance 
of the straits of Yenikald, where a considerable number 
of sturgeons are taken. The great depth of tho sea and 
the want of sand-banks and shoals account for the absence 
of fisheries. Strabo (p. 320, Casaub.) describes the pctamys 
as issuing from the Mrcotis, the sea of Azof, in shoals, and 
following the coast of Asia to Pharnaeea and Trapczns 
(Trelnzond). The chief fishery was about Sinopc (Sinup) 
and Byzantium, whieh latter town derived considerable 
wealth from tho fishery. [See Azof.] 

Some modern geographers have supposed, that at a very 
remote period the desert country which extends between 
tho Sea of Azof and the northern part of the Caspian 
was covered with water, at which time the Black Sea and 
the Caspian wero united. As this hypothesis is sup- 
ported by very strong arguments, we shall examine it 
under the head of Caspian Sea. 

(Strabo, p. 124, &c Casaub. ; Rcnnell On the Compara- 
tive Geography of Western Asia; A Concise Account of 
the Commerce and Navigation of the Black Sca> l^nd. 
1805 ; and Captain Jones s Travels through Russia.) 

BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM, an English judge, 
is best known as the author of * Commentaries on the Laws 
of England.* lie was born in London, July 10th, 1723, a 
few months after the death of his father, who was a silk- 
mercer; ho had also the misfortune to loso his mother at 
an early age. His education was carefully superintended 
by an uncle, who sent him, when about seven years old, 
to the Charter -house, where at the end of five years he 
was placed on the foundation. At the ago of fifteen he 
was at tho head of tho school; and in his sixteenth year 
he removed to Pembroke College, Oxford. Having se- 
lected the law as his profession, he entered the Middle 
Temple, on which occasion he wroto the verses entitled 
* tho Lawyer's Farewell to his Muse,' which were printed in 
Dod slcy's Miscellany. He had display cd some ability as a 
writer of small pieces, and also had obtained a gold prize 
medal for verses on Milton. In 1743 he was elected fellow 
of All Souls College, Oxford, and three years afterwards 
was called to the bar. After an experience of seven years 
in the Courts at Westminster, during which he discovered 
that his talents were not calculated to ensure him any very 
eminent professional rank, he withdrew to his fellowship 
at Oxford, intending to lead an academic life. In 1749 
he was appointed recorder of AVallingford, Berks, on the 
resignation of his uncle. 

As tho University of Oxford did not afFord facilities for 
studying the principles of the English constitution and 
laws, he resolved upon supplying the deficiency by a courso 



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of lectures. This course opened in Michaelmas Term, 1753, 
and was so well received, that it was repeated with additions 
for a number of years. The advantage of rendering sueh a 
course of lectures permanent being fully demonstrated, a 
gentleman named Vincr left by will a provision for this 
purpose. In 1758 Blackstone was appointed tho first Vine- 
riau professor; and from the assiduity with which he dis- 
charged the duties of the situation, he attracted a large elass 
of students. Among his hearers was Jeremy Bentham, 
then sixteen years of age, and resident at Queen's College, 
Oxford. According to his own account, even then Bentham 
did not share in the almost universal applause bestowed 
on the lectures. (See Bcntham's Preface to the second 
edition of the Fragment on Government, London, 1823.) 
Having been requested to read his lectures to the Prince 
of Wales, Blackstone declined the honour, as he did not 
think himself at liberty to break his engagements with hi3 
class at Oxford ; however, he sent copies of many of the 
lectures to be read to the young prince. Bentham also 
states, on the authority of Lord Shelburne, that 'the lord 
introduced the lecturer (to the king), and made tho mo- 
narch sit to be lectured: so he himself told me.' To this 
no doubt Blackstone mainly owed his future promotion. 

Having been engaged as counsel in a contested election 
(for he occasionally practised), the right of eopyholders to 
vote camo under his eonsidoration, whieh circumstanee led 
him to publish his opinions on this question. He denied 
their right, and the enemies of popular privileges being 
glad to find themselves thus supported, the consequence 
was an aet of parliament taking away the franchise from 
this description of eleetors. 

The popularity of his lectures, together with the publica- 
tion of a new edition of the * Great Charter and Charter of 
the Forest,' accompanied by an historical prefaee, prepared 
the way for his return to the law courts in the metropolis, 
where he was soon engaged in extensive practiee. He 
entered parliament in 1761, and sat forHindon. The mi- 
nistry of Lord Bute marked their approbation of his con- 
duct, by granting him, in 1762, a patent of precedence to 
rank as king's counsel, and by appointing him solicitor- 
general to the queen in the following year. ' He had pre- 
viously declined the office of ehief justiee of the Court of 
Common Pleas in Ireland. About this time he married 
Sarah, eldest daughter of James Clitheroe, Esq., of Boston- 
house, Middlesex, by whom ho had nine ehildren, seven of 
whom survived him. As he lost his fellowship by marriage, 
the Earl of Westmoreland, then ehaneellor of the University 
of Oxford, appointed him principal of New Inn Hall: a 
year afterwards he resigned this appointment, as well as 
the Vinerian professorship. 

The first volume of the ' Commentaries on the Laws of 
England' was published at Oxford, in 1765. The other 
three volumes appeared not long afterwards. The work 
called forth an anonymous pamphlet, entitled 'A Frag- 
- rnent on Government, 1 the author of whieh was the late 
Jeremy Bentham. Dr. Priestley also made a fierce attack 
on some of the opinions which the work contained, relative 
to offences against the doctrines of the established chureh. 
On the question 'whother a member expelled was or was 
not eligible in the same parliament,' the opinions whieh 
Blackstono expressed in the House of Commons being 
deemed contradictory to his writings, he was attacked in 
a pamphlet, understood to be written by one of the mem- 
bers. He defended himself in a pamphlet, which 'Junius* 
noticed in his ' Letters.' With Priestley and 'Junius,' and 
the author of the 'Fragment on Government/ as his oppo- 
nents, tho ministry of the day (Lord North's) naturally 
becamo his protectors and continued their favours towards 
him. In 1770 he was offered the situation of solicitor- 
general, whieh he declined. ,He was then made one of 
the justices of the Court of Common Pleas. The motto 
which he chose for the rings distributed on sueh occasions 
was * Sceundis dubiisque rectus/ Previous however to his 
patent being passed, Mr. Justice Yates expressed a wish 
to retire from the Court of King's Beneh into the Court 
of Common Pleas, an arrangement to which Sir \V. Blaek- 
stonc, from motives of personal regard, at oneo consented. 
Four months afterwards, on the death of Mr. Justice Yates, 
ho removed to tho Court of Common Pleas ; a change 
whieh Bentham says was very agreeable to Blackstone, who 
found his position as puisne judge on the same bench with 
his ' scorning and overpowering Chief (Lord Mansfield) 
exceedingly uncomfortable. He sat in the Court of Com- 



mon Pleas till his death, which occurred Feb. 14th, 1780, 
from a dropsical complaint. 

As a judge, Sir William Blackstone had a great respect 
for the usagss and formalities which surround tfhe bench, 
and he strove to impress others with the same feeling. His 
political sentiments were of the class called moderate. He 
disliked the contentions of parties, and one of the conse- 
quences of his elevation, on which he most congratulated 
himself; was his removal from the House of Commons, 
| where,' as he used to observe, 'amidst the rage of contend- 
ing * parties, a man of moderation must expect to meet no 
quarter from any side.' His talents for business were very 
superior; and some offices which he had undertaken at the 
University he discharged with great advantage to the in- 
terests of those concerned. He kept his own accounts with 
rigorous exactitude. His brother-in-law, who drew up a 
memoir of his life, which is prefixed to the « Reports' pub- 
lished after his death, says that 'he was an excellent ma- 
nager of his time, and extremely rigid in observing the 
hour and minute of an appointment* It may be stated, on 
the same authority, that in private life he was a eheerfnl 
and faeetious companion ; a faithful friend; an affectionate 
husband and parent ; economical, but at the same time eha 
ritable and generous. He was severe to those less striet 
than himself in the observance of the ordinary duties of life ; 
and as he advanced in years, his temper, whieh was some- 
what irritable, was rendered worse by a nervous affection. 
Bentham says, that he ' seems to have had something about 
him whieh rendered breaehes with him^not difficult.' This 
' something,' to judge from an anecdote (told in the prefaee 
to the seeond edition of the ' Fragment'), was a very con- 
siderable idea of his own importance. The university of 
Oxford contains several memorials to his honour. In 1784, 
a beautiful statue by Baeon was erected in All Souls Col- 
lege, and in one of the windows of the ehapcl belonging to 
this eollege are placed his arms. His portrait was presented 
to the picture-gallery by the scholars on the Vinerian foun- 
dation. 

The 'Commentaries' have been edited by Coleridge, 
Arehbold, Williams, Chitty, Christian, and Lee, eaeh of tho 
six editions in four volumes 8vo. with notes. They have 
been abridged by Curry, and also by Gifford, published in 
the form of letters in one volume 8vo., and ' elucidated' by 
Jones. With the exception of Burn's 'Justice,' perhaps no 
law book, and few books of any kind, have had a sale equal 
to that of the ' Commentaries/ 

{Life of Sir W. Blackstone, by Clitheroe; Life, by Tho- 
mas Lee, Esq.) 

On the appearance of the fourth volume of Blaekstone's 
' Commentaries/ Dr. Priestley published some remarks on 
those passages whieh related to the dissenters. The pam- 
phlet is dated Leeds, July, 1769. The passages which 
Priestley selected for his animadversions were in the 
chapter entitled ' Of Offences against God and Religion/ 
p. 50 ; ' These penalties were framed .... poison the minds 
of the people;' and p. 52. . . 'Both papists and protestant 
dissenters, &c. . . but have never yet been able to exe- 
cute/ (See first edition.) The pamphlet of Priestley is 
written with great acrimony and considerable vigour. Ho 
exposes in a pointed manner the slovenly style and illogieal 
language of Blackstone, and the singularly perverted view 
which he gives of the historical origin of the difference 
between the chureh and the dissenters. But Priestley's 
views of religious obligation, as expressed in this pamphlet, 
were hardly consistent with the duty of civil obedience, as 
strietly and truly understood (see pp. 18, 19, of his pam- 
phlet) ; and in his notions of what he calls • the natural rights 
of mankind/ * the natural rights of man, when once he is 
entered society/ and in his inveetives against the Catholic 
religion (p. 46.), he showed that he had not more enlarged 
and eorreet views of the nature of civil society, and not 
mueh more real toleranee than the author of the • Commen- 
taries.' ' The Reply' of Blackstone (dated Wallingford, 17C 9) 
is in a calm and moderate, but feeble tone, and forms a 
curious contrast with the vigorous argument and somewhat 
scurrilous iuveetive of Priestley. The eommentator admits 
that one of the passages animadverted upon is ' somewhat 
ineorreet and confused; 1 but declares that his views towards 
the dissenters aro very different from what Dr. Priestley im- 
putes to him, first, by assuming that he (Blackstone) quoted 
with approbation the statute of 9 and 10 Will. III. (directed 
mainly against those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity), 
which statute Blackstono quoted simply without either ap- 

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probation or disapprobation; and, secondly, by omitting to 
quote the passages that followed, in which the author of the 
4 Commentaries* asserts, among other things, * that the sin of 
schism, as such, is by no means the object of temporal coer- 
cion and punishment/ ' Dr. Priestley,* says Bluckstonc, 
4 hath attributed to me the adoption of those principles 
which I only meant to mention historically, as tho causes of 
the laws which I condemn.' In fact, Blackstonc' s looseness 
of style and confusion of the proper subject of his 4 Com- 
mentaries/ positive law, with all other subjects that arc 
anv way related to it, laid him iustly open to censure; but 
Priestley, though an acute and ingenious controversialist, 
neither detected the real source of the lawyer's confusion, 
nor cleared the ground for a fair discussion of tho matter. On 
one legal point, Priestley, both in his original pamphlet and 
in a subsequent one, entitled An Objection, ^.considered 
(l^ondon, 1770), has tho advantage, when he combats Black- 
stone's doctrine derived from the act of union with Scot- 
land, * that any alteration in the constitution of either the 
Church of England or Scotland, or in the Liturgy of the 
Church of England, would be an infringement of those 
fundamental and essential conditions, — and greatly endan- 
ger tho union/ 

Several of these obnoxious passages were modified or cut 
out in subsequent editions of the * Commentaries/ (See a 
note on the pamphlets of Doctors Priestley and Fumcaux 
against Blackstonc, in Bcntham's Prefaco to his Frag- 
ment on Government.) 

It would take more space than we can spare, to express 
in the briefest terms the culogiuras that have been pro- 
nounced on the * Commentaries/ Sir W. Jones says they 
are * the most correet and beautiful outline that ever was 
exhibited of any human science/ Niebuhr {Roman Hist. 
vol. i. p. 320. Engl. Transl.) has dignified the author 
with the title 4 great' — *That great writer, Blackstonc/ It 
is sufficient to quote the testimony of one editor to the same 
effect, which may bo taken as that of all — * It has been 
said that this work, for a singlo production, is the most 
valuablo which has ever been furnished to the public by 
the labour of any individual/ and * to the truth of this pro- 
position' the editor (Mr. J. Chitty) 4 assents/ 

The number of testimonials in favour of the * Commen- 
taries' is doubtless much greater than the number which 
can be quoted against them. The weight of opinion per- 
haps lies on the other side. A short notice of Bcntham's 
* Fragment on Government' is necessarily connected with 
the history of the * Commentaries ;' and Bcntham's rea- 
sons, if they were good for any thing then, arc equally 
good now, (A Fragment on Government ; being an Exa- 
mination of what is delivered on the Subject of Govern- 
ment in general in the Introduction to Sir IV, Black' 
stone's Commentaries, with a Preface, London, 1776. — Se- 
cond edition, 1823.) 

In the ad mirablo Preface to his 'Fragment/ Bentham 
clearly points out the fundamental error of Blackstone, 
the source of his endless confusion*. 'There are two cha- 
racters/ he says, * one or other of which every man who 
finds any thing to say on the subject of law may be said 
to take upon him ; that of the expositor, and that of the 
censor. To the province of the expositor it belongs to 
explain to us what, as he supposes, the law is; to that of 
the censor, to observe to us what he thinks it ought to be. — 
Of these two perfectly distinguishable functions, the former 
alone is that which it fell necessarily within our author's 
province to discharge/ These two provinces Blackstono 
has confounded all through his work: he continually mixes 
up with his exposition of what the law is, the reasons tohy 
it is so ; and as the reasons frequently appear not the best 
in the world, it often happens that the absurdity of the law, 
which, if simply stated by itself, would have been regarded 
as a fact and nothing more, is surpassed by the absurdity 
of the reason given for it. Hence arises, as Bentham re- 
marks, the continual use of the words for, because, since, 
by Blackstonc. 4 1 must own/ says Bentham, * that I have 
been ready to grow out of conceit with these useful little 
particles for, because, since, and others of that fraternity, 
from seeing tho drudgery they are continually put to in 
these 44 Commentaries/ The appearance of any of them is a 
sort of warning to me to prepare for somo tautology, or some 
nbsurdity : for the same thing dished up over again in the 
shape of a reason for itself: or for a reason which, if a 
distinct one, is of the same stamp as those we have just 
teen/ The instances to which Bentham refers arc a fair 



specimen of the whole work, and two or three will serve for 
illustration as well as a larger number, which may easily 
bo collected from almost every page. — * Burglary cannot bo 
committed in a tent or booth erected in a market fair: though 
the owner may lodge therein : for the law regards thus 
highly nothing but permanent edifices ; a house, or church, 
the wall or gate of a town ; and it is tho folly of the owner 
to lodge in so frail a tenement/ 4 There needs no formal 
promulgation to give an act of parliament the force of a law, 
as was necessary by the civil law with regard to tbc empe- 
ror's edicts : because every man in England is, in judgment 
of law, party to the making of an act of parliament, being 
present thereat by his representative." Tnc law, according 
to the 4 Commentaries/ first says that a man is present whero 
he is not and cannot be, and then, according to a general 
principle, turning this fiction into a fact, very properly con- 
cludes, that as the man was present when the law was 
made, it is quite unnecessary to give him any further notieo 
of it. The observation about the emperor's edicts is of the 
same stamp: the emperor, the sovereign and maker of all 
law, was obliged by the law, that is, by himself, formally to 
promulge his edicts. (See Blackstone, i. C8. Chitty's edi- 
tion, where he himself quotes the Codo to prove that tho 
emperor was the sole maker of law ; sec also Bcntham's 
Preface, note on the ubiquity of the king, and the conse- 
quences that follow, according to Blackstonc, from this 
attribute. This noto is a good specimen of the admirable 
humour of Bentham.) 

This kind of objections applies to every part of the * Com- 
mentaries :* the author has not kept to his province of stating 
what law is, but continually goes out of his way to give 
reasons which are not required nor wanted. (See an in- 
stance in the chapter on the Law of Descents, in the short 
paragraph beginning 4 We arc to rellcct/ &c, ii. p. 211, 
Chitty's cd., which the utmost attainable degree of confu- 
sion pervades ; the remark on the policy of allowing a man 
to devise his lands by will, ii. p. 374 ; and the remark on 
the 4 piety of the judges,' ii. 375.) Blackstonc is only ex- 
cusable for mixing up his reasons with his law, when he 
traces the history and historical causes of a law ; and even 
here, and in all matters that belong to the constitutional 
history of the country, he has long since been pronounced 
to be very far from profound by very competent judges. 
His illustrations derived from the Roman law, which are 
not unfrequcnt, arc not always pertinent, and sometimes 
not correct. Ilis learning, though not wanting in surface, 
was evidently deficient in depth. 

But it is the introductory part of Blackstonc's 4 Commen- 
taries/ consisting of four chapters, which contains the matter 
that is the special subject of the remarks in the * Fragment on 
Government/ In tbe first chapter of the 4 Fragment/ 
the writer discusses the passage in Blackstone beginning 
4 The only true and natural foundations of society,' . . to . , 
4 define their several rights and redress their several wrongs/ 
It is only necessary for a man to read this passage atten- 
tively, to discover tbat it contains no exact meaning at all, 
and that if it did contain a meaning, that meaning would be of 
no use for tho object of tho 4 Commentaries/ It is observed 
by Bentham, and correctly, that the author, in the passage 
referred to, uses the term society in two different senses : in 
the first part of the passage, it means government, and cer- 
tainly can mean nothing else, if the whole is to have a con- 
sistent meaning. In the second part of the passage society 
means something which preceded government, that is, a 
society which preceded the society mentioned in the first 
paragraph ; but what this precedent society is, we arc not 
told. It cannot be government, as in the first paragraph it 
is. If it docs mean anything, it means what Blackstonc 
has called in the first paragraph a state of nature, which 
state he further declares never existed. Blackstonc in this 
same passage ridieules tho notion of an original contract, * 
which however may very well have been a fact for any 
reason that he gives to tbc contrary. Again, he says that ' in 
nature and reason an original contract must always be un- 
derstood and implied, in the very act of associating together :' 
and to complete the wholo he asserts (p. 52.) that in a 
certain ease, referring to our own government, 4 The legis- 
lature would be changed/ he says, * from that which fray 
originally set up by the general consent and fundamental 
act of society/ The following remark of Bentham briefly 
and pointedly states the exact character of tho whole of 
Blaekstonn's Introduction, though applied by the writer 
specially to the two paragraphs referred to :^ 4 Throughout 



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493 



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the wh:>le of it, what distresses me is, not the meeting with 
any positions, such as, thinking them false, I find a diffi- 
culty in proving so : but the not meeting with any positions, 
true or false (unless it be here and there a self-evident one), 
that I ean find a meaning for. If I can find nothing posi- 
tive to accede to, no more can I to contradict. Of this latter 
kind of work, indeed, there is the less to do for any one 
else, our author himself having executed it, as. we have 
seen, so amply/ 

In the last edition of Blackstone, published in 1829 
(Commentaries, &c, with eopious notes by Thomas Lee, 
Esq., of Gray's Inn, Barrister at Law), the life of Black- 
stone prefixed to the first volume terminates with the fol- 
lowing extract from the Preface to the ' Fragment :' — ' He 
(Blackstone) it is, in short, who, first of all institutional 
writers, has taught jurisprudence to speak the language of 
the scholar and the gentleman : put a polish on that rugged 
science : cleansed her from the dust and eohwebs of the 
office : and if he has not enriched her with that precision 
that is drawn only from the sterling treasury of the sciences, 
has decked her out, however, to advantage, from the toilette 
of classic erudition : enlivened her with metaphors and 
allusions : and sent her abroad in some measure to instruct, 
and in still greater measure to entertain, the most miscel- 
laneous and even the most fastidious taste.' This some- 
what dubious praise Bentham gave to the author of the 
' Commentaries/ that he might not, while ' exposing the 
author's ill deserts, be backward in paying homage to his 
various merits/ But to do full justice both to the author of 
the * Commentaries' and the author of the * Fragment/ it will 
be necessary to eontinue the citation of the panegyric one 
short paragraph further, with which the compliment con- 
cludes. * The merit to which, as much perhaps as to any, 
the work stands indebted for its reputation, is the enchant- 
ing harmony of its numbers: a kind of merit that of itself 
is sufficient to give a certain degree of celebrity to a work 
devoid of every other. So much is man governed by the 
ear/ AVe do not find any other reference to the ' Fragment 
on Government ' in this last edition of Blackstone (we have 
only examined the notes on the Introduction) than the first 
part of the panegyric to which we have supplied the con- 
elusion. If any student has bewildered, or is still bewilder- 
ing himself with trying to find out a meaning in Black- 
stone's Introduction, in threading a labyrinth to which there 
is no clue, he may probably find the solution of his diffi- 
culties in the five chapters of Bentham's 'Fragment/ 

This little work, in which the utmost severity of reason- 
ing is united with the greatest imaginable felicity and per- 
spicuity of expression, with the happiest and most playful 
humour, and the most pointed sarcasm, without the ap- 
pearance of ill-nature, is still further recommended by the 
sincerity with which every line in it is stamped. It is not 
difficult to understand why this corrective to Blackstone's 
absurdities only reached a second edition in 1823. 

It remains briefly to notice, and more briefly than the im- 
portance of the subject demands, the arrangement of the 
matter of law in Blackstone; for with the facts of law as 
stated by him we have little to do. The work as far as it 
goes is useful ; at least, on this point there is not so much 
differenco of opinion. In Blackstone's chapter on the ' Abso- 
lute Rights of Individuals/ we have his fundamental defini- 
tion of law, which, coupled with his views contained in 
the Introduction, will sufficiently account for the confusion 
that prevails in numerous passages. (See vol. i. p. 133, and 
indeed the whole of the chapter entitled * Of the Absolute 
Rights of Individuals/) In this ehapter he says that the 
' primary and principal objeets of law are rights and wrongs/ 
' Rights * he subdivides into, ' first, those which concern and 
are annexed to the persons of men, and are then called 
jura personarum, or the rights of persons; or they are, se- 
condly, such as a man may have over external objects or 
things unconnected with his person, which are styled jura 
rerum, or the rights of things: He divides wrongs into 
private and public, the foundation and the nature of which 
division must be sought in those writers who adopt it. (See 
Blackstone, i. 122, &c.) In his division of his matter into 
these great heads,' and the subdivision of these heads into 
their several parts, Blackstone followed the Analysis of Hale, 
though, so far from improving upon it, his division and ar- 
rangement are very much inferior. His method is styled 
by Professor Austin, 'a slavish and blundering copy of that 
very imperfect method which Hale had roughly delineated 
in his short and unfinished "Analysis/ 1 From the outset to 



the end of his "Commentaries," he blindly adopts the mis- 
takes of his rude and compendious model : missing inva- 
riably, with a nice and surprising infelicity, the pregnant 
hut obscure suggestions which it proffered to his attention, 
and which would have guided a discerning and inventive 
writer to an arrangement comparatively just/ (See Austin's 
Outline of a Course of Lectures o?i General Jurispru- 
de?ice.) 

i The singular confusion in Blackstone's notion of tho 
rights of persons and things is rendered still more apparent 
by comparing the 1st chapter of vol. ii. 'of Property in 
General/ with the beginning of ehap. 2. of the same 
vol ii., where he comes to speak of the division of property 
into things real and personal, according to the system of 
English law. He borrowed the terms (rights of persons and 
things) from Hale's ' Analysis/ who however has used them 
in a sense far less objectionable than that of Blackstone. 

BLACKSTONE CANAL, in the United States, extends 
from AVorcester in the centre of the state of Massachusetts, 
in a S.S.E. direction to Providence in Rhode Island. It 
follows, in the greater part of its course, the valley of the 
Blackstone river, from which it derives its supply of water. 
Its entire length is forty-five miles ; its breadth at the 
surface is thirty-five feet, and at the bottom eighteen feet : 
the depth of water is four feet. The fall, from the summit 
at Worcester to tide-water at Providence, is 451*61 feet, 
The canal has forty-eight locks, eighty feet long by ten wide. 
It was formed by a company incorporated by chartors of the 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island legislatures, and was com- 
pleted in 1828 at a cost of 600,000 dollars. (American 
Almanac for 1833.)' 

BLACKWALL.' [See London.] 

BLACKWATER, the principal river of the county of 
Essex, called also the Pant and Freshwell in the early part 
of its course. It has its source near Debden, in the north- 
east part of the county, on the borders of Cambridgeshire, 
and, after a winding course through Booking and Coggeshall, 
approaches AVitham, and receives the stream which passes 
through that town ; then, flowing south-east, it unites with 
the Chelmer at Maldon, after which it widens and forms 
the extensive scstuary to which it gives the name of Black- 
water Bay, by which it enters the German Ocean. The 
course of the river, including its chief bends, is about forty- 
five miles ; but the direct distance between its source and 
the sea does not exceed thirty miles. This bay is celebrated 
for its oysters, called Walfleet oysters, which Camden con- 
jectures to be those which, according to Pliny, supplied the 
Roman kitchens, — to which Mucian gives the third rank 
after the Cyzicenian oysters, which he describes as ' larger 
than the Lucrine, and sweeter than the British ;' and whioh, 
finally, Ausonius calls ' wonderful.' In high tides the 
waters cover a large tract of country at the mouth of the 
Blackwater river. AVhcnce it derived its namo is net 
known. ' But/ says Camden, ' Ptolemy calls it Idumanus, 
which signifies the same, Ydu being black in British/ 

(Gough's Camden's Britannia; Beauties of England 
and Wales y tyc.) 

BLACKWATER, the chief river of the county Cork, in 
Ireland, rises on the confines of Kerry, and flows west- 
ward by Mill Street, Mallow, Lismore, and Cappoquin ; it 
thence runs southward to the sea, which it enters at Youg- 
hall, between the counties of Cork and AVaterford. The 
Blackwater is not navigable to any considerable distance 
above its sostuary at Youghall, hut the loss of carriage 
arising from its rapidity is counterbalanced by the gain of 
immense water-power which it affords to the rich corn coun- 
try on its north bank. On the south its course is bounded 
by a continuous chain of lofty mountains,. Beginning from 
the west, the highlands of Muskerry (the old Slieve Logher) 
run into the Boghra range, and these again are continued 
by the chain of the Nagles, which bound the valley to the 
borders of Waterford. The river's ehief feeders come 
from the more open country on the opposite bank : these 
are the Alia, the Awheg (the ' gentlo MulkV of Spenser), 
the Funcheon, and the Araghlin. The scenery all along 
is highly beautiful and picturesque, and a recent tourist 
has lately pronounced the descent of the Blackwater from 
Mallow to Lismore equal to that of any other river of 
its size in Europe. It is celebrated for salmon, although 
its fish have not so fine a flavour as those of the neighbour- 
ing Lee. This is the river to which Spenser (whose eastle of 
Kilcolman stands near its junction with the Awheg) alludes 
in the lines 



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494 



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1 Clear AwnUnfT.that of the Englishman 
1 1 called IllackwaUr.' 

(Statistical Survey of the Co. Cork; Inglis'a Ireland in 
1S34.) 

BLACK WATER, a river of the county Armagh, in Ire- 
land, runs in a north-easterly direction from the confine* 
of Tyrone and Fermanagh, and flows by Blackwatcr town 
and Charleraont into tho south-western extremity of Loch 
Neagh, Its ancient name was Avon More, er tho great 
river, a titlo merited only by comparison with the smaller 
streams of the district The Armagh Blackwatcr is not 
remarkable for anything except its historical importance, 
as having loag been the boundary betwoen tho jurisdic- 
tion of the English Pale and Uie independent country ef 
the Tyrone O'Neills. To restrain theso turbulent chief- 
tains, Sir John Perrot, in 158*1, aftor passing through their 
territory on an expedition into 0*Kanc's country (now 
Londonderry county), first proposed the erection ef a fort 
which might command the passes into Armagh, and keep 
O'Neill's neighbouring places of Dungannon and llenburb 
in check. It was the planting of this garrison which 
proved the proximate cause of Tyrone's great rebellion ; and 
as the most important battlo gained by the Irish during 
that insurrection was fought in the immediate vicinity, the 
Blackwatcr derives considerable interest from this circum- 
stance. O'Neill made this fort tbe bone of contention ; it 
was on account of violences committed by its garrison that 
he justified his first rising in arras as in fiis private quarrel, 
and it was taken and retaken again and again before he 
finally compromised his loyalty to the queen. At length, 
however, in 1598, Captain AVilliams, tho warden, being 
closely pressed by a powerful forco of the Irish under 
O'Neill, O'Donnelhand Maguire, Marshal Bagnal marched 
to his relief at the head of a well-appointed army. A con- 
siderable proportion of the soldiers were Irish in the queen's 
pay, and with them many of the young native nobility. Of 
these the most distinguished was the queens JReilly, 
sirnamed Maelmurry Dhas, or tho Handsome. This force 
in point of numbers was inferior to the insurgent array, but 
in discipline and equipment much superior. They marched 
from Armagh beforo daybreak, and early in the morning 
the action commenced. O'Neill had intrenched himself 
behind a shallow stream flowing through a marsh; the 
place was called Atbbury, or tho yellow ford, from the colour 
of the soil. Being approached through woods and narrow 
passes, it gave the Irish advanced guard an opportunity 
of galling the English march for half an hour before they 
got upon the plain. Here O'Noill had employed a stratagem 
similar to that of Bruce at Bannockburn: the ground was 
set thick with covered pitfalls, and tho men at arras charging 
across the open fields were at once thrown into confusion. 
But, in spite of this cheek, tho English passed tbe ford, and 
drove their antagonists to their trenches. The artillery was 
now brought up, and still, notwithstanding the bursting of 
a field-piece and the explosion of a powder cask, the assail- 
ants had again the advantage. Marshal Bagnal, at tbe 
head of his men, charged over the levelled breast- work, 
and neither O'Neill nor O'Donnell, though distinguished 
leaders, and fighting at tho hoads of their respective 
names, could maintain their ground. The victory now 
seomed won, when Bagnall received a shot in the head which 
killed him instantly, and the clans returned to the conflict. 
O'Neill himself led his galloglasscs to the charge : tho Eng- 
lish, disheartened by the death of their leader, gavo way ; 
tlie Irish pushed their advantage, and drovo them back 
upon the ditch ; here they got entangled in the trenches, 
and the rout became general ; tho slaughter was very great, 
and multitudes were trodden to death. Few of the English 
repassed the ford. The Irish historians attributo the pre- 
servation of those whodideseapo to the loyalty of O'Reilly, 
who covered the retreat, and was almost left alone on the 
field beforo he fell. Tlie victory was complete: Armagh 
and the fort of Blackwatcr surrendered next day, and the 
remnant of the English army returned to Newry. The 
English loss is estimated at from 1500 to 2500 men, with 
all the baggage, ammunition, and artillery. It may seem 
that undue imi>ortaneo is attributed to an action whero 
comparatively few were engaged on either side; but 
among tho petty skirmishes of that desultory war up 
to this timo, Atbbury is by far the most worthy ef the 
name of battle, and its effects were so important that, 
in les* than three months, thero wcro thirty thousand 
men in arras in various parts of tho country against 



the queen* Tho confiscations of tho counties soon after 
led to tho colonizing of Tyrone with raen who no longer 
required the maintenance of a garrison for their control, and 
tho fort went to det*ay. Blackwatcr town is now an incon- 
siderable place, but has a good linen market, and is in 
the centre of a rich and nourishing district.* (Cox's Hit- 
lory of Ireland; O' Sullivan's Hist. Cat hoi. Mb. Com- 
pend.) 

BLACKWELL, THOMAS, was born at Aberdeen in 
1 70 1 . I lis father was one of the ministers of that city, and 
filled at the same timo the office of principal of Marischal 
College. After having taken tho degreo of A.M. in the 
University of Aberdeen, at the age of seventeen, and been 
appointed by the crown professor of Greek in the Marischal 
College in 1723, he succeeded his father as principal in 
1743, In 1752 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon 
him. He had the merit of introducing an improved system 
of education into Marischal College, and before his death 
had the gratification of witnessing its success. An ac- 
count of this plan was printed by direction of the college 
authorities. 

Blackwell is allowed to have been a man of considerable 
acquirements, but he often rendered himself ridiculous by 
his pedantry and affectation of universal knowledge. He 
was well versed, according to the learning of that day, in the 
Greek and Latin writers, and was acquainted with tho princi- 
pal languages of modern Europe. His habits wero studious 
and retiring, but ho rather courted the acquaintance ef men 
of superior reputation. He was abstemious to a degree pre- 
judicial to his health. Being alllicted with a consumptive 
disease, he left Aberdeen in the month of February, 1757, 
with a view of trying tho effect of a change of air, but he 
died at Edinburgh in tho following month. 

The following is a list of his works : — * An Inquiry into 
the Life and Writings of Homer,' 1735. *A Key to the 
Inquiry, containing a translation of the numerous Greek, 
Latin, Spanish, Italian, and French notes in the original 
work/ 1736. * Letters en Mythology,' 1748. * Memoirs of 
the Court of Augustus/ 3 vols. : the first was published in 
1753, the second in 1755, and the third, which is incom- 
plete, was published in 1764, after his death. 

BLADDER, THE, of urine, or vesica urinaria, so called 
to distinguish it from tho gall-bladder, is a musculo-mem- 
branous bag or pouch, which serves as a temporary reser- 
voir for the urine; it communicates with the kidneys by 
means of the ureters, and opens externally by means of tho 
urethra. 

The urinary apparatus is confined to tbo red-blooded 
classes of animals, all of which have kidneys, whilst some 
orders and genera have no urinary bladder. In quadrupeds 
the bladder is of a pyriform shape, and is completely sur- 
roundodby the peritonceum or serous lining of the abdomen ; 
and it .may bo taken as a general rule, that it is smaller, 
stronger, and more muscular in carnivorous than in grami- 
nivorous animals : in the latter it is almost membranous, 
and in some of them is particularly large. 

In tho whole class of birds there is no urinary bladder, 
and the ureters open into tho cloaca, a musculo-membranons 
bag, which takes the place of tho rectum, bladder, and 
uterus, and serves as a reservoir for the solid cxcrcMncnts, 
the urine, and eggs. The urine in these animals dilutes the 
farces and forms the carbonate of lime, which constitutes the 
basis of tho shell. The urinary bladder exists in several 
genera and species of fishes. In the human subject, the 
bladder is placed in the pelvis, or basin, immediately hohind 
the symphysis pubis and beforo the rectum, er terminal por- 
tion of tho intestines, in the male ; but it is separated from it 
in the female by the uterus and vagina. Its form and rela- 
tions vary according to tho age of the individual. In infancy 
it is of a pyriform shape, and is contained almost entirely in 
the abdomen, thus resembling its permanent condition in 
quadrupeds. At this period it may bo considered as con- 
sisting ef three portions, the narrow tapering part, or nech, 
tbe upper rounded portion, or fundus (sometimes called 
summit), and tho intermediate portion, or body; but as the 
pelvis expands, tho bladder gradually subsides into it and 
undergoes a remarkable ehango of form. Thus, in the adult 

* There arc three other IHaekwalers; ono fa tho county of Meath, which 

f««»eii Kelts, and falU into tho Boyne al Navan; mother in tlm rountv of 
/ongfonl, which fills into the Shanuou north of Lancsbomngh ; and a third 
in tho county of Wexford, which reaches the sea nt Dan now It ay. Tho 
jtcnrral nnmo ts taken from Ibo ordinary appearance of deep streams; Imt 
O'Sullivan, in hla etymology of that near Armagh, has this charncterUUo 
pakuce— ' Vel qnod aliii lttcrnb fluviu luckUs ct purls lurbldiur flidl, Yel 
quod fpti AngU tUgru *t adverse Mart* ad lilum **pe iijpaa conlulcraot.' 



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495 



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its figure is that of a short oval, compressed at the fore and 
back part ; its lower surface subsides on the rectum, and 
expanding forms what is termed by anatomists tho bas 
fond of the bladder. This change of form is dependent not 
only upon the enlargement of the cavity in which the 
bladder is contained, but also upon the weight of the fluid 
which it habitually sustains, and thus in advanced age it is 
more deeply sunk in the pelvis than in the middle periods 
of life. In the female its transverse diameter is greater 
than in the male, in consequence of the antero-posterior 
diameter of the pelvis being encroached upon by the uterus. 
Its capacity varies in the different periods of life ; and, as a 
general rule, it may be said to increase in proportion as the 
individual advances in years, and to be greater in females 
than in males. Its capacity is modified in different in- 
dividuals by their habits and the natural exercise of its 
functions. It is more particularly changed by disease: 
thus, from the effects of long-continued irritation, it may be 
reduced to such a state that it will not contain more than a 
few drops of urine ; and on the contrary when, from any 
cause, its contents cannot be duly evacuated, it may be dis- 
tended so as to contain many quarts of urine, and occupy a 
large proportion of the abdomen. Its ordinary capacity may 
be estimated at a pint and a half. 




[The Ureters, running from tho kidneys to the bladder.} 
a Aorta. 6 Bifurcation, c Abdominal muscles turned down, d The Rectum 
cut and tied, t Bladder, // Ureters, g g Kidneys. 




3 * h f S 

[Side view of tlie Bladder of an adult male.] 

a Pn1>es. h Pacrum. c Recti muscles, d d Rectum, e Bladder. / Vas 
deferent, g Ureter. A Vesicula »eminalis. i Prostate gland, j Urethra. 
kkk Perllonamra, reflected from rectum upon bladder, thence upon tho recti 
muscles. 

The direction of the bladder is oblique, being inclined 
somewhat forwards and upwards ; in proportion to the degree 
*of distension the obliquity is increased, in consequence of 
the neck being fixed. It is retained in its position by two 
lateral ligaments, one on each side, and an anterior liga- 
ment ; the lateral ligaments are prolongations of the fascia 
iliaca, which, passing down into the pelvis, assumes the 
name of fascia pelvica, and becomes identified with the 
prostate gland and side of the bladder ; the anterior liga- 
ment is double, and it is formed by the fascia transversalis, 
which, passing down behind the symphysis pubis, is reflected 
upon tho upper surface of tho prostato gland ; from the 
point of reflection two strong fasciculi of fibres pass to the 
anterior surface of the bladder. These ligaments are some- 



times called the proper ligaments of tho bladder to distin- 
guish them from certain folds of the peritonaeum, sometimes 
called false ligaments. As the bladder is peculiarly inte- 
resting in a surgical point of view, anatomists have endea- 
voured to describe it precisely, and with this view they 
have divided it into six regions or surfaces, an anterior, 
a posterior, two lateral, a superior, and an inferior. 

Tho anterior surface, in the collapsed state of the organ, 
lies behind the symphysis pubis, with which it is connected 
by loose cellular tissue ; when distended, the bladder rises, and 
its anterior surface comes in relation, or in contact, with the 
recti muscles of the abdomen. The posterior surface is 
covered by the peritonaeum, which in the male is reflected 
upon it from the rectum, in the female from the uterus and 
vagina : it is then reflected from the sides of the bladder to 
the iliac fossa ; at the points of reflection it forms folds, 
one on each side and two posteriorly : these have been im- 
properly described as ligaments, for instead of* confining 
the bladder they serve rather as provisions to facilitate its 
expansion. 

The lateral regions are partially covered by the peri- 
tonaeum ; running along them we find the umbilical arte- 
ries, or their remains, in both sexes, and the vasa deferentia 
in the male. The superior region, or fundus, is partially 
covered by the peritonaeum, which is reflected thence on to 
the inner surface of the recti muscles : it has a fibrous cord 
attached to it termed the urachus, which lies between the 
peritonaeum and the recti muscles, and heing accompanied 
by the remains of the umbilical arteries, extends to the um- 
bilicus, where It becomes identified with the abdominal 
aponeuroses. This fibrous cord appears to be useful in re- 
taining the bladder in its situation, for never in the human 
subject, except in certain cases of malformation, which aro 
very rare, does it present the form of a canal, such as it is 
found to be in the young of certain quadrupeds, in which 
it is the medium of communication between the bladder and 
a bag, or sac, termed the allantoid. 

The inferior region, or bas fond, is the most important in 
a surgical point of view. It has no precise lines of demar- 
cation laterally, but is bounded before by the prostate gland, 
behind by the peritonaeum, which is reflected upon the pos- 
terior surface of the bladder. Attached to it we find in the 
male the vesiculao seminales and the vasa deferentia, which, 
in converging to the prostate gland, leave between them a 
triangular space, where the bladder is only separated from 
the rectum by a considerable quantity of fatty cellular 
tissue containing many vessels, principally veins : this rela- 
tion of the bladder to the rectum explains many circum- 
stances respecting their particular diseases. In the female 
this region rests on the vagina, which separates it from 
the rectum. We have seen that the anterior and in- 
ferior regions of the bladder are left completely uncovered 
by the peritonaeum, a fact which is of the utmost import- 
ance to the surgeon, for in consequence of it he is enabled 
to perform operations on these regions without injuring 
this membrane, which when wounded in any operation 
places the life of tho patient in a hazardous state, in 
consequence of the rapidity with which inflammation ex- 
tends along it. 

The nech, or constricted portion of the bladder, is coin- 
pared to a truncated cone, longer at the sides and below 
than above. In infancy, owing to the position of the blad- 
der, its direction is oblique; for a similar reason it is hori- 
zontal in the adult; it differs in structure from the rest of 
the organ. The neck, which is formed of a somewhat 
fibrous whitish substance, is the connecting medium between 
the bladder and the urethra. Its posterior part rests on the 
rectum ; its anterior is surrounded, at least below and at the 
sides, by the prostate gland, which is peculiar to the male, 
and is composed of an aggregation of mucous follicles, dis- 
posed so as to form three lobes, one on each side of tho 
neck of the bladder, and one below called the middle lobe, 
which forms a slight projection into the opening of the 
urethra. 

The bladder, like the other hollow viscera, is composed of 
three layers, or coats, united to each other by cellular tissue ; 
these coats are the peritoneal or serous, the muscular, and 
the mucous. The peritoneal coat has been already de- 
scribed as investing only a portion of the organ ; it is united 
to the muscular coat by cellular tissue, which is extended 
over the whole of the latter, being however thinner under 
the peritonaeal coat than elsewhere. The muscular coat lias 
been described by some anatomists as a distinct musclo 



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496 



BLA 



under tho name of detrusor urina: it is composed of pale 
fibres interlacing in all directions; three distinct layers 
have been described, but it is sufficient for all useful pur- 
poses to say, that the superficial fibres aro directed in tho 
course of the axis of the madder; that at the sides they are 
more and more oblique ; and that the more internal fibres 
assume a circular direction as they approach tho neck of the 
bladder, so that somo anatomists have described them in 
this part as a distinct muscle, under the name of sphincter 
vesica*. This reticulated structure of the muscular coat 
enables tho bladder to contract so perfectly as to expel 
even' drop of its contents. 

When tho bladder is much distended, the muscular coat 
l»ccomcs attenuated to such a degree, that it is difficult to 
distinguish it from cellular tissue. Sometimes its fibres 
become so much enlarged from the effects of long-continued 
irritation and overaction of the organ, that they form pro- 
jecting lines or columns under the viucous coat ; this ap- 
pearance of tho bladder is designated by the Frenc^ Vessie 
a colonnes. The mucous membrane is occasionally pro- 
truded between these columns, forming sacs, or. pouches, in 
which urinary calculi are sometimes lodged ; these calculi aro 
then said to be encysted ox sacculated. The muscular eoat is 
united to the third, last, or mucous eoat by a distinct layer of 
cellular tissue, to which the term nervous or vascular coat 
is sometimes improperly applied. The mucouseoat.or lining 
of the bladder, belongs to that division of tho mucous mem- 
branes, denominated genitourinary : it not only lines the 
Madder, but is prolonged upwards along the ureters into the 
Kidney, and downwards along the urethra ; it is of a palo 
rose-colour, is smooth when the bladder is distended, and 
corrugated when it is empty ; it secretes a viscid fluid termed 
mucus, which protects it from the acrimony of tho iluid 
with which it is constantly in contact. Three openings are 
seen in it, two situated posteriorly, about an inch and a half 
from each other, which are the openings of the ureters ; and 
one anteriorly, which is the opening of the urethra. Extend- 
ing from the openings of the ureters to that of tho urethra 
arc observed two prominent lines, which are formed by<mus- 
eular fibres elevating the mucous eoat : these lines form the 
sides of a triangle, the base of which is an imaginary lino 
drawn between the openings of the ureters ; tbo apex is at 
tho urethra. The space thus marked out is denominated 
tho trigone vesicate: it is paler than the rest of the internal 
surface of tho bladder, is possessed of peculiar sensibility, 
and is smooth in the contracted as well as in the distended 
condition of the bladder. 

The two prominent lines which form the sides of the 
trigone vesicate, according to Sir C. Bell, are distinct 
muscles, the muscles of the ureter?. They have their fixed 
point or origin at that prominence or tubercle existing at 
the inferior surface of the urethra, which has been already 
described as formed by the middle lobe of the prostate, their 
insertion or moveable point being at tho opening of the 
ureters. Their use is to assist in the contractions of the blad- 
der, to support and close the mouths of the ureters, and to 
preserve the obliquity of these canals by drawing them 
down during tho contractions of the bladder. The tubercle, 
whence these muscles are supposed to take their origin, is 
termed the luette or uvula vesicce: but these terms are more 
particularly applicable to it when enlarged and diseased. It 
then forms a prominent tumour at the orifice of the urethra, 
acts the part of a valve, and becomes a troublesome cause 
of retention of urine. 

Tho arteries of tho bladder aro derived from the internal 
iliac and its branches ; its veins empty themselves into the 
internal iliac vein: these vessels aro most abundant about 
its neck and bas fond. The lymphatics follow the course 
of these vessels. The nerves arc of two kinds, the one 
derived fiuin tho saeral plexus of the cercbro-spinal sys- 
tem, the nones of animal life; the other derived from the 
hypogastric plexus of tho sympathetic, tho nerves of or- 
ganic life. 

The secretion of the urine is performed by the kidneys ; 
it is constantly going on, and does not exhibit those alter- 
nations of action and repose observable in the other secret- 
ing organs. The rapidity with which certain diuretics aro 
eliminated with tho urino has induced several physiologists 
ti iinafjino that fluids are conveyed from the stomach to 
the bladder by a more direct route than the circuitous one 
of absorption and of the circulation. But no ducts or chan- 
nels which could answer this purposo have been discovered, 
nor is their existence necessary, for it is calculated that 



1000 ounces of blood circulate through tho kidneys in tho 
space of an hour ; and if only a tenth part of this be sepa- 
rated by tho kidneys, 100 ounces, or seven pounds and a 
quarter, may be given out in this short space of time. It is 
not however improbable that tho lymphatics may convey 
tluids directly from the stomach to the bladder. 

Tho urine being secreted, dribbles along the ureters, and 
its descent is probably aided by the eon tract ility of these 
tubes and the impulse of the neighbouring arteries. It drops 
into tho bladder and gradually distends it, but it is pre- 
vented from regurgitating into the ureters, in consequence 
of these tubes taking an oblique course between the mus- 
cular and mucous coats before they perforate the latter. As 
the urine accumulates, these tubes are more and more com- 
pressed, and the obstacle to regurgitation is increased; hut 
the column of urine descending along the ureters, being 
higher than that contained in the bladder, is not pre\cnted 
from entering into it. 

When a sufficient quantity of urine is accumulated in tho 
bladder, varying according to the degree of irritability of 
the organ, a general uneasy sensation is produced, and a 
moro particular one referred to the trigone vesicate ; the 
diaphragm and abdominal muscles are called into action, 
the resistance of the neck of the bladder is overcome (the 
sphincter, if we admit its existence, relaxes), the muscular 
fibres of the bladder contract, and are able without further 
assistance to evacuate every drop of its contents. 

Congenital malformations of the bladder are, not unfre- 
quent. Morgagm describes a case in which it was of a. 
prismatic form, another in which it was of double its natural 
length, and another in which the fundus was as large as the 
bas fond. Ilaller observed it much and permanently con- 
stricted at its body. Sometimes the bladder is altogether 
wanting, in which eases the ureters open either into the 
rectum, as into the cloaca of birds, at the pubes, or imme- 
diately into the urethra. But a moro frequent malforma- 
tion is that, where the inferior portion of the recti muscles 
being imperfect, and the anterior wall of the bladder defi- 
cient, the posterior wall is protruded, and forms a red 
fungous-like tumour above the pubes. This tumour pre- 
sents two orifices which are the mouths of the ureters, from 
which the urine constantly dribbles ; this species of mal- 
formation is peculiarly interesting, as it has enabled phy- 
siologists to determine the manner in which tho urine distils 
into the bladder. In some rare cases of imncrforation of tho 
urethra, tho urine, being prevented from escaping by this 
canal, has dilated the u radius and escaped at the um- 
bilicus or navel. M. Deschamps, however, imagines that 
all the cases which have been described as dilatations of 
tho uraehus are not in reality such, but that the muscular 
coat of the bladder having given way in some point, tho 
mucous coat has been protruded or extended by the pressure 
of the urine, has followed the course of the umbilical cord, 
and then burst at the umbilicus. Cases are on record of 
individuals who have had more than one bladder. Thus, 
Blassius describes a case in which it was double. Mollinctti 
found in a female whom he dissected five kidneys, fi\e 
ureters, and five bladders. It sometimes but rarely hap- 
pens, that the bladder is divided into cells, but this species 
of malformation in all probability is not congenital. The 
bladder is liablo to inflammation, which may invade tho 
totality of the organ or its coats separately ; and this may 
be acute or chronic. When the mucous membrane is in- 
flamed, the organ becomes exceedingly irritable, and there 
is a constant call to discharge its contents. In consequence 
of inflammation, ulcers, gangrenous spots, and indurations 
of different kinds may bo produced, and its secretion maybe 
increased and altered: to this state the term catarrh of tho 
bladder is applied. Sometimes the parictcs of the bladdci 
become exceedingly thick. The mucous membrane some- 
times is found in a varicose state: it sometimes gives origin 
to cysts of different kinds, and fungous growths, which latter 
are found more particularly in old people ; sometimes also 
it protrudes through tho muscular coat and forms hernia?. 
Many cases are on record in which worms have been dis- 
charged from the bladder. The bladder is sometimes pro- 
truded through the inguinal or femoral canals, forming a 
hernia of the bladder, or cystoeclc, which is always readily 
distinguished from other hernia? by the regular diminution 
of the swelling when the urine is passed. 

Various accidents and diseases may prevent the bladder 
from evacuating its contents, in which ease the organ be- 
comes iuordinately distended, and unless relieved, the dis- 



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497 



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tension increases, inflammation ensues, a spot mortifies, 
the urine escapes into the abdomen, and death is speedily 
the result. Such is the process by which the bladder re- 
lieves itsel£ and it never, under such circumstances, is 
lacerated or burst, as it is'ordinarily said to be ; such a result 
is never produced except by direct violence. With respect 
to these cases of retention of urine, there is a fact which 
never should be lost sight of, viz. that after the third day 
or so from the date of the retention, the urine, as it descends 
from the kidneys, is evacuated from the bladder in small 
quantities. At this period the bladder is distended as 
much as possible, and the case may be mistaken for one of 
incontinence of urine, though it is, as we have seen, one of 
retention. If under these circumstances a catheter cannot 
be introduced, the only means left for relieving the patient 
is puncturing the bladder, whieh may be effected through 
the perinsBum, through the rectum, or above the pubes; 
the bladder, as we have seen, is not covered by the perito- 
neum in these regions. But the most important disease to 
which the bladder is liable is the formation of urinary eal- 
culi or concretions in it. When they are present and not en- 
cysted they produce intense suffering; and as medicines 
possess ho certain power over them, the ingenuity of sur- 
geons has been exercised in order to devise means of re- 
moving them. These means are reducible to three : when 
small, they may be extracted through the urethra by a pair 
of forceps, invented for the purpose : when larger, they may 
be reduced to pieces so small as to pass away with the urine, 
or they may be removed by cutting into the bladder; to the 
former method the term Lithotrity, to the latter that of Li- 
thotomy is applied. [See Lithotrity and Lithotomy.] 

BLADDER-NUT. [See Staphylea.] 

BLADDER-SENNA. [See Colutea.] 

BLADENSBURG. [See Washington.] 

BLA1N, a small town in France in the department of 
Loire Inferieure (Lower Loire), on a cross road from Ploer- 
mel and R6don to Ancenis and Angers. It is in 47° 30' N. 
lat., 1°47' W. long. The town is on the north or right bank 
of the little river Isaac, which ilows into the Vilaine. The 
population in 1832 was 4899 for the whole commune. There 
is an hospital for the poor. Blain was the birth-place of 
the Due de Rohan, ehief of the Protestant party in France 
in the reign of Louis XIII., and one of the most remarkable 
men of his day. 

BLAIR-ATHOL. [See Athol.] 

BLAIR-GOWRIE, a parish and borough of barony 
(i. e. a borough governed by a bar,) in Perthshire, Scotland, 
is situated four miles from Cupar Angus, and about fifteen 
from Perth. The southern part of the parish lies in the 
beautiful valley of Strathmore : it is about eleven miles long 
from south to north, and in some places eight miles broad, 
but the breadth is very irregular. The village is on the 
south side of the Ericht, which divides it from the village 
of Rattray. It lies on the east side of a range of hills, at 
the northern boundary of the valley of Strathmore; and 
when seen from these, the windings of the Ericht, gene- 
rally hidden but occasionally coming into view, have the 
appearance of a number of lakes scattered over the plain. 
Blair-Gowrie was made a borough of barony by a ehartcr 
from Charles I. in 1634. 

There are the remains of several Druidical temples in 
the parish. At the back of the manse, in 1 796, there was a 
mote-hill or eircular mound, where, it is said, Earl Gowrie 
held his regality eourts. There are also some cairns, in one 
of which when opened a small stone coffin was found at 
the .bottom ; and many tumuli run through the parish. 
Not far from the village, commanding a fine view of Strath- 
more, is Newton House, built somewhat, in the style of a 
castle, on the foundation of the old house, in a vault of which 
many gentlemen were saved while it was burned down. 
Two modes of eatching salmon are practised on the Ericht 
'at this place. One is by poke-nets .—Towards twilight, 
the fishermen throw into the stream near the Keith Falls, 
where it runs through deep narrow channels among the 
rocks, large quantities of black mould, until the water 
becomes muddy. Nets in the shape of pokes or bags are 
then put into the narrowest parts of the stream, and in them 
the salmon are eaught. The other method is by pikes or 
poles with sharp points, and iron hooks at the end of them, 
with which the fishermen, on a dark night, strike the fish 
the moment they are attracted to the surface by the glare 
of torches held from the roeks above the dark parts of the 
stream. 



'The village* consists of one principal "street, which winds 
irregularly to the Bridge of Ericht, and from which almost 
all the other streets branch off. There is a good town-houso 
lately built; and an apartment in the principal inn is occu- 
pied as a reading-room. The parish church is a new and 
handsome building, placed high on the side of a hill at the 
back of the village. There are two dissenting meeting- 
houses : the Antiburger Meeting-house, conveniently situ- 
ated near the town-house ; and the Congregational Chapel 
in William Street, at the south end of the village. They 
are capable of containing nearly 400 persons each, and the 
parish church may seat about 1000. The town is governed 
by a baron baillie. It has a post-office. There are several 
thriving manufactures carried on in the place. The annual 
value of the real property in the parish as assessed in April, 
1815, was 6206/.; and the population in 1831 was 3644. 
It has three annual fairs. 

The clergyman's stipend, as fixed by a decreet of the 
Court of Teinds in 1 79 1, is five chalders of grain (two-thirds 
of meal and one-third of bear), with 45/. sterling of money, 
and 5/. for communion elements. The glebe contains nine 
and a half acres, of which four and a half are good soil. 

In the parish school, English reading, writing, arithmetic, 
book-keeping, and mathematics are taught. The whole 
emoluments of the teacher, exclusive of a free house, did not 
exceed, in 1796, 22/. a year. There are several private 
schools in the village. 

The poor's fund arises from the interest of a small stock, 
the collections at the ehurch doors, the dues of the mort- 
cloths, and the rents of the seats in the galleries of the 
church. It is of course variable in amount. 

{From communications with Blair- Gowrie ; Sinclair's 
Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xvii. ; Chambers's 
Gazetteer ; Chalmers's Caledonia; Comparative Account 
of the Population of Great Britain ; Enumeration Abstract 
of Population Returns, tyc.) 

BLAIR, HUGH, D.D., a divine of the Church of Scot- 
land, was born in Edinburgh, April 7, 1718.- He was 
educated at the University of Edinburgh, and took his de- 
gree of A.M. in 1739. In 1741 he was licensed to preach, 
and was soon after appointed to the living of Colessie in 
Fifeshire. In 1 743 he was appointed second minister of the 
Canongate Chureh, Edinburgh; in 1754 he was presented 
to the ministry of Lady Yester's Church, Edinburgh ; in 
1 757 the University of St. Andrews conferred upon him the 
degree of D.D. ; and in 1 758 he was removed from Lady 
Yester's to be one of the ministers of the High Church, 
which is what is called a collegiate eharge, or one in which 
the duties are divided between two clergymen. He was 
indebted to his merits alone for this success. While at 
the university, he had been a diligent student. In 
going through an extensive course of reading he made 
abstracts of the most important works, in order to render 
his acquaintance with them more intimate and accurate. 
To aid and methodise his historical reading, he and a few of 
his fellow-students constructed chronological charts, in 
which they arranged the principal historical facts which 
they met with in the course of their studies. 

An * Essay on the Beautiful,' which he wrote while a 
student, was regarded as highly creditable to his taste and 
abilities. His advancement having lightened his profes- 
sional labours, he was enabled to bestow more time on lite- 
rary pursuits ; and accordingly having prepared some lectures 
on * Composition,' he read them to elasses in the university, 
with the permission of that learned body. In 1762 the 
king erected and endowed a professorship of rhetoric 
and belles lettres in the University of Edinburgh, and ap- 
pointed Dr. Blair, in consequence of his approved qualifica- 
tions, regius professor, with a salary of 70/. > The * Lectures * 
were first published in 1783, when he resigned the profes- 
sorship. On the controverted question of the genuineness 
of Ossian's 'poems, he published, in 1 763, a * Dissertation/ 
in which he supported their elaims to originality. He was 
intimately acquainted with Macpherson, and his opinions 
scein to have been in some degree influenced by his par- 
tiality for the man, whom he thought incapable of im- 
position. 

The career of Dr. Blair as a divine was marked both by 
its success and usefulness. By the time he had attained his 
fortieth year he was called upon to discharge one of the most 
important ministries in the church, and for the long spaco 
of forty-two years ho was considered one of its greatest 
ornaments. Notwithstanding his popularity as a preacher, he 



No. 267. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-3 S 



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499 



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had nearly reached his sixtieth year before ho could he in- 
duced to publish a volume of his serraous. "When however 
it appeared, it was received with an extraordinary degree of 
favour, although Mr. Strahan, the publisher to whom Dr. 
Blair hud sent the manuscript, discouraged its publication ; 
but the opinion of Dr. Johnson having been requested, he 
wrote to Mr. Strahan, stating that lie had perused tho 
sermon which had been forwarded to him * with more than 
approbation.* The sale was so rapid and extensive, that the 
original sum paid for the copyright (100/.) was voluntarily 
doubled by tho publisher; and 300/. were offered for the 
next volume. It is stated that Dr. Blair was paid at the rate 
of 600/. for each of the subsequent volumes. The fifth 
volume, which \va3 published after Blair's death, consists of 
discourses written at different times ; but it was carefully 
prepared for thp press a little before his death in the 
eighty-second year of his age. In 1780 a pension of 200/. 
a year was conferred on him by tho king, which ho enjoyed 
till his death. 

Dr. Blair did not possess a strong constitution, and to- 
wards the latter part of his life he was unable to fulfil his 
duties in the pulpit; but his intellect was unimpaired to the 
last, and his large congregation had still the benefit of his 
services as their friend and adviser. His counsel was 
sought not only by those around him, but it was frequently 
solicited from distaut places, in which tho benevolonce of his 
disposition had been made known by his published dis- 
courses. 

He married his cousin, Catherine Bannatino, daugh- 
ter of a minister of Edinburgh, in April, 1748, and had two 
children, a son who died in infancy, and a daughtor whom 
he lost in her twenty-first year. Mrs. Blair died a few years 
before her husband. 

. Dr. Blair's literary reputation rests upon his * Sermons ' 
and his 'Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres,* both of 
which have enjoyed a long period of popularity. The ser- 
mons appeared at a time when the elegant and polished 
style, which is their chief characteristic was less common 
than at present ; and to this merit, such as it is, they ehielly 
owed their success. They are still read by many people 
with pleasure, on account of their clear and easy style, and 
the vein of sensible though not very profound observation 
w*hieh runs through them; but they have no claim to 
be ranked among the best and most solid specimens of 
sermon-writing which our language contains. The * Lec- 
tures' have not been less popular than the * Sermons/ and 
have long been considered as a text-book for the student. 
They are however exceedingly fceblo productions, and 
show no intimate acquaintance with the best writers anticnt 
and -modern; nor do they develop and illustrate, as a 
general rule, any sound practical principles. The following 
remark by Dr. Whately, archbishop of Dublin, impliedly 
contains a just judgment of their merits. Alluding to 
Dr. Campbell's * Philosophy of Rhetoric/ he observes, ' It 
is a work which docs not enjoy so high a degree of popular 
favour as Dr, Blair's, but is incomparably superior to it, not 
only in depth of thought, and ingenious original research, 
but also in practical utility to the student/ 

(Finlayson's Life of Dr. Blair, prefixed to his Sermons.) 

BLAIR, JOHN, a relative of Hugh Blair, and well 
known as tho author of a valuable set of chronological 
tables, went to London for the purpose of improving his 
fortune, and was at first en paged as teacher in a school. In 
1754 he published 'The Chronology and History of the 
"World, from the Creation to the year 1753, in fifty-six 
tables, by the Rev. John Blair, LL.D/ This work was de- 
dicated to the Lord Chancellor Hardwickc. In the following 
year ho was elected F.R.S., and in 17C1 F.A.S. A second 
edition of hli ' Chronology* appeared in 1768, to which were 
added maps of antient and modern geography. In Sep- 
tember, 1757, he was appointed chaplain to the Princess 
Dowager of Wales, and mathematical tutor to the Duke of 
York, and in 1761 to a prcbendal stall at Westminster. 
Six days afterwards, tho vicarago of Hinckley, Leicester- 
shire, having become vacant, ho was presented to it by the 
dean and chapter of "Westminster; and he obtained a dis- 
pensation to hold with it tho rectory of Burton Coggles, 
Lincolnshire. In 1 7C3 he attended his pupil, tho Duke 
of York, on a continental tour, during wliich they visited 
France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and returned home 
after about a year's absence. lie received several other 
pieces of church preferment, besides those above mentioned. 
His death took place June 24, 1782. A courso of his ' Lec- 



tures on the Canons of the Old Testament, and a small 
volume entitled * The History of Geography,' were published 
after his death. 

BLAIR, ROBERT, author of a poem entitled 'The 
Grave,' was born in the year 1C99. Few particulars aro 
known respecting him. Ilia father was one of the ministers 
of Edinburgh, and chaplain to the king ; and after securing 
to his son tbo advantages of a liberal education at the uni- 
versity he sent him to tho continent for his further improve- 
ment. Ou the 5th January, 1731, he was ordained minister 
of Athelstaneford, where he spent the remainder of his life. 
He had by his marriage a daughtor and five sons, one of 
whom became solicitor- general for Scotland. Ho appears to 
have been in oasy circumstances, was fond of gardening, 
and had a taste for botany ; and these pursuits, together 
with a correspondence which he maintained on Scientific 
subjects, engaged much of the time which was not required 
for tho performance of his ministerial duties. In the pulpit 
he is said to have been serious and earnest. Watts and 
Doddridge honoured him with their esteem: he submitted 
his poem to them, and in a letter to the latter states that it 
was written before his ordination. Watts signified his appro- 
bation of this production, and offered it to two booksellers, 
who however both declined undertaking tho publication. 
Blair seems to havo anticipated the reception which it would 
meot, and attributed it to the serious naturo of the subject. 
Ho had however endeavoured to conciliate public favour, for 
he says, in his letter to Doddridge — * In order to make it 
more generally liked, I was obliged sometimes to go cross 
to my own inclination, to make it go down with a licentious 
age which cares for none of theso tilings/ It lias been usu- 
ally asserted that * The Grave * was not printed until after 
the author's death, but the editor of Chalmers's biographical 
Dictionary has stated that he had seen a copy which was 
printed in London in 1 743. 4 Tho Grave * is written in a 
striking and vigorous manner, and has always been most 
popular among persons of an uncultivated taste, possessing 
some strength of mind, and a serious disposition. With 
the exception of a short piece written in memory of Mr. Law, 
ono of tho professors of the University of Edinburgh, 'The 
Grave* is the only production of Blair's which we possess. 
The author died of a fever, February 4, 174C, in the 47th 
year of his age. Home, the author of ' Douglas/ succeeded 
him in his living. (Anderson's Lives of Scottish Poets.) 

BLAISE HILL Is one of a chain of anticnt fortresses 
wliich may be traced along the southern part of the vale of 
the river Severn, beginning nt tho Somersetshire Avon, 
and extending upwards of forty miles iu a north-easterly 
direction, and so situated as to be capable of communicating 



6 ii 




N An* S. 



*V.i. 



a a a, lhe rwnp*rti; It b the dilcbe* j e c t the nncicnl entrance*; d, KLnffi« 
wciUm UU1 ; t, U»e eiilranco to the modem » alki, 



BLA 



499 



BLA 



with each other by signal. Blaise Hill, which was a strong 
military post formed and occupied by the Britons, rises on 
the south-west above the village of Henbury, which is five 
miles north-north-west of Bristol. The entire hill is occu- 
pied by the camp, the area of which covers the summit, and 
on the declivities are the ditches and ramparts. The hill, 
which is conical, is apparently sixty feet high above the 
level of the field on the north-west, but much more above 
the valley on the south-east, where it is so precipitous as to 
be impregnable. The extent of the area from the rampart 
on the south-west to that on the north-east is about three 
hundred and twenty-four yards; the breadth is about a 
hundred and ten yards, and it contains probably from four 
to five acres. The sides of the hill are shaped into three 
ramparts (a a a), and two ditches (b 6), as delineated in the 
plan and section (Fig. 1 and 2.) The ditcbes and ramparts 
aro not complete all round towards the precipice : on each 
side they gradually decline into the general slope of the 
hill ; but whether tbey have been levelled or were never 
finished docs not appear. There are two entrances (c c), one 
on the north-east, and the other on the south-west, each 
winding through the ramparts and up the steep; this whole 
path is in the neighbourhood called tbe fosse-way ; it is 
wide enough to admit one carriage, and in some parts still 
retains a covering of pitched stones. From the summit of 
the hill may be seen Kingsweston Hill (rf), distant more 
than a furlong, Clifton Down, Knoll, Old bury, Old Sodbury, 
Wcstridge, and Drakestone, which are the sites of seven of 
tbe fortresses ; tho others are Elberton, the Abby (which is 
a piece of ground conjectured to have formerly belonged to 
an abbey), Bloody Acre (situated in Lord Dueie's park at 
Tortworth), Bury Hill (about a mile from Wintcrbourne), 
Burril Camp, near Dyrham (where there is a deep and 
perfect ditch and a steep bank, which cross a point of tbe 
hill which is too steep to need any defence), Horton, 
Uley Bury (which is one of the most remarkable of tbe 
whole, and contains thirty-two acres within trenches), Broad- 
ridge Green, Painswick Beacon (said to be nearly the, 
highest point of the Cots wold Hills), Church Down, High 
Brotberidge, a hillock at Witcombe, Crickley Hill, Leck- 
hampton Hill, Clee Hill, and Breedon Hill. (Seyer's Me- 
moirs of Bristol; Atkyn's Gloucestershire; Bigland's 
Gloucestershire ; Fosbroke's Gloucestershire, Beauties of 
England and Wales; Archceologia, $c.) 

BLAISOIS, LE, the district of which Blois was the chief 
place. [Seo Blois.] 

BLAKE, ROBERT, was one of the most intrepid and 
successful admirals that have adorned the British navy. 
He was born in August, 1598, at Bridgewater in Somerset- 
shire, a sea-port town, where his father exercised the busi- 
ness of a merchant. He was educated at the free-school of 
that place until he was of age to be removed to Oxford, where 
he became successively a member of Alban Hall and 
Wadham College. Blake was of a studious turn, yet fond of 
field-sports and violent exercises ; and his first biographer 
reports a piece of scandal against him, not noticed, we be- 
lieve, by Clarendon or other contemporaries, that he was 
given now and then to stealing swans, a species of game, 
so to call it, then much esteemed, and protected by severe 
laws. {Lives \ English and Foreign, 1 704.) We may infer 
that he had a fair share of scholastic learning, from his 
having stood, though unsuccessfully, both for a studentship 
at Christchurch and a fellowship at Merton College ; not 
to mention Clarendon's testimony that ' he was enough 
versed in books for a man who intended not to bo in any 
profession, having sufficient of his own to maintain him in 
the plenty ho affected, and having then no appearance of 
ambition to be a greater man than he was.* He returned 
to Bridgewater when he was about twenty-five years old, 
and lived quietly on his paternal estate till 1640, with the 
character of a blunt bold man, of ready humour, and fearless 
in tho expression of his opinions, which, both on matters of 
politics and religion, were opposed to the views of the court. 
These qualities gained for him the confidence of the Pres- 
byterian party in Bridgewater, which returned him for that 
borough to the short parliament of April, 1640. The speedy 
dissolution of that assembly (May 5) gave bim little oppor- 
tunity of trying his powers as a debater ; at least we do not 
find it recorded that he ever spoke. In the long parliament 
of November, 1640, he did not sit. 

On the breaking out of the civil war he entered the par- 
liamentary army, but as to the time or the capacity in which 
he began to serve we have no certain information. In 



1643 he held the command of a fort at Bristol, when tha* 
city was besieged by the royalists. Having maintained 
his post, and killed some of the king's soldiers after the 
governor had agreed to surrender, Prince Rupert was with 
difficulty induced to spare his life, which, it was alleged, 
was forfeited by this violation of the laws of war. He served 
afterwards in Somersetshire with good reputo; and in 1644 
was appointed governor of Taunton, a place of great im- 
portance, as being the only parliamentary fortress in the 
west of England. In that capacity he gave eminent proof 
of skill, courage, and constancy, in maintaining the town 
during two successive sieges in 1645. It is recorded that 
he disapproved of the extremities to which matters wero 
pushed against Charles I., and that he was frequently heard 
to say that he would as freely venture his life to save the 
king's, as he had ever done to serve the parliament. 

In February, 1649, Colonel Blake, in conjunction with 
two officers of tbe same rank, Deane and Popham, was ap- 
pointed to eommand the fleet ; for the military and naval 
services were not then kept separate and distinct as in later 
times. For this new office Blake soon showed signal capa- 
city. On the renewal of war after the king's death, he was 
ordered to the Irish seas in pursuit of Prince Rupert, whom 
he blockaded in the harbour of Kinsale for several months. 
At length, being pressed by want of provisions, and threat- 
ened from the land, the prince made a desperate effort to 
break through the parliamentary squadron, and succeeded, 
but with the loss of three ships. He fiechto the river Tagus, 
pursued by Blake ; who, being denied permission by the 
lung of Portugal to attack his enemy, captured and sent 
home several richly laden Portuguese vessels on their way 
from Brazil. He finally attacked and destroyed the royalist 
fleet, with the exception of two ships commanded by the 
Princes Rupert and Maurice, in the harbour of Malaga, 
in January, 1651. Both of these actions appear, at first 
sight, to be breaches of international law. For the latter 
a valid plea may be found, since it is alleged that Ru- 
pert had destroyed British shipping in the same harbour. 
For the former the best excuse is the unsettled state of re- 
lations between the parliament and the court of Portugal; 
but Blake's creed seems to have been that, in maintaining 
the supremacy of the British flag everywhere and at all 
hazards, he could hardly do wrong— a doctrine which has 
always been too palatable to the national vanity of the 
English. These services were recompensed by the thanks 
of parliament, together with the office of warden of tbe 
Cinque ports ; and in March of the samo year, Blake, 
Dcane, and Popham were constituted admirals and generals 
of the fleet for the year ensuing. In that capacity Blake 
took the Scilly Islands, Guernsey, and Jersey from tho 
royalists, for which he was again thanked by parliament ; 
and in the same year he was elected a member of the coun- 
cil of state. 

In March, 1652, Blake was appointed sole admiral for 
nine months, in expectation of the Dutch war, which did in 
fact break out in tbe following May in consequence of Van 
Tromp, tbe Dutch admiral, standing over to the English 
coast, and insulting the English flag. Blake, who was then 
lying in Rye Bay, immediately sailed to tho eastward, and 
fell in with the " Dutch fleet in the straits of Dover. A 
sharp action ensued, May 19, which was maintained till 
night, to the advantage of the English, wbo took one Dutch 
man of war, and sunk another. The Dutch retreated under 
cover of the darkness, leaving the honour of victory to the 
English. The States did not approve, or at least disavttved 
the conduct of their admiral, for they left no means untried 
to satisfy the English government; and when they found 
the demands of the latter so high as to preclude accommo- 
dation, they dismissed Van Tromp, and placed De Rnyter 
and Cornelius De Witt in command of their fleet. Mean- 
while Blake took ample revenge for their aggression. Ho 
made a number of rich prizes among tho Dutch homeward- 
bound merchantmen, which were pursuing their eourse 
without suspicion of danger; and when he had effectually 
cleared the Channel ho sailed to the northward, dispersed 
the fleet engaged in the herring fishery, and captured a 
hundred of the herring busses, together with a squadron of 
twelve ships of war sent out to protect them. On tbe 12th 
of August he returned to the Downs, and September 28th 
the hostile fleets again came to an engagement, in which 
the Dutch rear-admiral was taken, and three other of their 
ships were destroyed. Night put an end to the action, and 
though for two days the English maintained tho pursuit, tho 

3 S 2 



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Nghtnes3 and uncertainty of t ho wind prevented them from 
again closing with the enemy, who escaped into Gorec. 
After this battle, the drafting off detachments on different 
services reduced the English tlect in the Channel to forty 
sail. With this force Blake lay in the Downs, when Van 
Tromp again stood over to the English coast with eighty 
men-of-war. Blake's spirit was too high for him to decline 
the hattlc, even against these odds; an act of imprudence 
for which he suffered severely. An action was fought off the 
Goodwin Sands, November 29. Two of his ships were 
taken, and four destroyed ; the rest were so much shattered, 
that they were glad to run for shelter into the Thames. The 
Dutch remained masters of the narrow seas ; and Van Tromp, 
in an idle bravado, sailed through the Channel with a broom 
at his mast-head, to intimate that he had swept it clear of 
English ships. However, neither the nation nor the admi- 
ral were of a temper to submit to this insult, and great 
diligence having been used in refitting and recruiting the 
licet, Blake put to sea again in February, 1C53, with eighty 
ships. On the 18th he fell in with Van Tromp, with nearly 
equal force, escorting a large eonvoy of merchantmen up 
the Channel. A running battle ensued, which was con- 
tinued during three consecutive days: on the 20th the 
Dutch ships, which, to suit the nature of their coast, were 
built with a smaller draught of water than the English, ob- 
tained shelter in the shallow waters of Calais. In this long 
and obstinate fight the English lost one man-of-war, the 
Dutch eleven men-of-war, and thirty merchantmen ; but 
the number killed is said to have amounted to 1500 on each 
side, a loss of life of most unusual amount in naval battles. 
Blake himself was severely wounded in the thigh. 

Another great battle took place on the third and fourth 
of June, between Van Tromp and generals Dcane and 
Monk. On the first day the Dutch had the advantage : on 
the second Blake arrived with a reinforcement of eighteen 
sail, which turned the scale in favour of the English. Bad 
health then obliged him to quit the sea, so that he was 
not present at the great victory of July 29 (the last which 
took place during this war), in which Van Tromp was 
killed ; hut out of respect for his services, the parliament, in 
presenting gold chains to the admirals who commanded in 
that battle, gave one to him also. When Cromwell dis- 
solved the long parliament and assumed the office of Pro- 
tector, Blake, though in his principles a staunch republican, 
did not refuse to acknowledge the new government. Pro- 
bably he expected to find the administration more energetic ; 
and he is reported to have said to his officers, * It is not our 
business to mind state affairs, but to keep foreigners from 
fooling us/ He sat in the first two parliaments summoned 
by the Protector, who always treated him with great respect. 
Nor was Cromwell's acknowledged sagacity in the choice 
of men at fault when he sent Blake at the head of a strong 
fleet into the Mediterranean in November, 1654, to uphold 
the honour of the English Hag, and to demand reparation 
for slights and injuries done to the nation during that stormy 
period of civil war, when internal discord had made others 
daring against English vessels. Such a mission could not 
have been placed in better hands. Dutch, French, and 
Spaniards concurred in rendering unusual honours to his 
Hag. The Duke of Tuscany and the Order of Malta made 
compensation for injuries done to English commerce; and 
the piratical states of Algiers and Tripoli were terrified into 
submission, and promised to abstain from further depreda- 
tions. The Dcy of Tunis alone resisted, but was speedily 
forced to conclude peace on satisfactory terms. These trans- 
actions occurred in the spring of 1C55. 

On the breaking out of war between Spain and England 
in 1656, Blake took his station to blockade the Bay of Cadiz. 
At this time his constitution was greatly impaired, inso- 
much that in the expectation of speedy death he sent homo 
a request that some person proper to be his successor might 
be joined in commission with him. General Montague was 
accordingly sent out with a strong squadron. But in the 
following spring that officer returned home in charge of 
some valuable prizes laden with bullion, and Blake was 
again left alone in the Mediterranean, when he heard that 
a Spanish platc-llcct had put into the island of Teneriffc. 
He immediately sailed thither, and arrived in the road of 
Santa Cruz, April 20th. The bay was strongly fortified, 
with a formidable castle at the entrance, and a chain of 
smaller forts at intervals round it. There was also a con- 
siderable naval force, strongly posted, the smaller vessels 
being placed under the guns of the forts, and the galleons 



strongly moored with their broadsides to the sea ; insomuch 
that the Spanish go\crnor, a man of courage and ability, 
felt perfectly at ease as to the security of his charge. The 
master of a Dutch ship which was lying in the harbour wus 
less satisfied, and went to the governor to n-qucst lcavo to 
quit the harbour, for * 1 am sure/ he said, * that Blako will 
presently be among you/ The governor made a confident 
reply, * Begone if you will, and let Blake come if he dares.' 
Daring was the last thing wanting; nor did the admiral 
hesitate, as a wiso man might well have done, at the 
real difficulties of the enterprise in which he was about to 
engage. The wind blowing into the bay, he sent in Captain 
Stayncr with a squadron to attack the shipping, placed 
others in such a manner as to take off, and as far as pos- 
sible to silence the firo of the castle and the forts, and him- 
self following, assisted Stayncr in capturing the galleons, 
which, though inferior in number, were superior in size and 
force to the English ships. This was completed by two 
o'clock in the afternoon. Hopeless of being able to carry 
the prizes out of the bay against an adverse wind and a still 
active enemy, Blake gave orders to burn them, and it is 
probable that he himself might have found some ditliculty 
in beating out of the bay under the fire of the castle, which 
was still lively, when on a sudden the wind, which had 
blown strong into the bay, veered round to the SAY, (a 
thing, says the earliest writer of our admiral's life, not 
known in many years before), and favoured his retiring, as 
it had favoured his daring approach. Of this, the inosst 
remarkable and the last exploit of Blake's life, Claren- 
don says, * The whole action was so incredible, that all men 
who knew the place wondered that any sober man, with 
what courage soever endowed, would ever have undertaken 
it, and they could hardly persuade themselves to believe 
what they had done ; while the Spaniards comforted them- 
selves with tho belief that they were devils and not in en 
who had destroyed them in such a manner. So much a 
strong resolution of bold and courageous men can bring to 
pass, that no resistance or advantage of ground can disap- 
point them ; and it can hardly be imagined how small a 
loss the English sustained in this unparalleled action, not 
one ship being left behind, and the killed and wounded not 
exceeding 200 men ; where the slaughter on board the 
Spanish ships and on shore was incredible/ 

For this service the thanks of parliament were voted to 
the officers and seamen engaged, with a diamond ring to 
the admiral worth 500/. Blake returned to his old station 
off Cadiz ; but the increase of his disorders, which were 
dropsy and scurvy, made him wish to return to England, 
a wish however he did not live to accomplish. He died as 
he was entering Plymouth Sound, August 17, 1C57. His 
body being transported to London, was buried with great 
pomp in Westminster Abbey, at the public expense. After 
the Restoration it was disinterred, and, with the bones of 
others who had taken part with the Commonwealth, was 
removed to St. Margaret's churchyard. 

Blake was of a blunt and singularly fearless temper, 
straightforward, upright, and honest in an unusual degree. 
He seems never to have sought his own advancement by 
any underhand means, and his pecuniar)* integrity was.un- 
impeached. He left his paternal estate unimpaired, hut 
notwithstanding the great sums which passed through his 
hands, it is said that he did not leave 500/. behind him of 
his own acquiring. His temper was liberal, and his be- 
haviour to his sailors most kind. Clarendon gives the fol- 
lowing account of his character : — • He was a man of private 
extraction, yet had enough left him by his father to give 
him a good education ; * * * of a melancholic and sullen 
nature, and spent his time most with good fellows, who 
liked his morosencss, and a freedom ho used in inveighing 
against the license of the time, and tho power of the court. 
They who knew him inwardly discovered that he had an 
anti-monarchical spirit, when few men thought the govern- 
ment in any danger/ * After having done eminent service 
to the parliament, especially at Taunton, by land, he then 
betook himself wholly to the sea, and quickly made himself 
signal there. He was l\\e first man that declined the old 
track, and miidc it manifest that the science might be 
attained in less time than was imagined, and despised thnsc 
rules which had long been in practice to keep his ship and 
men out of danger, which had been held in former times a 
point of great ability and circumspection, ns if the principal 
art requisite in the captain of a ship had been to be sure to 
come safe home again. He was the first man wbo brought 



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the ships to contemn eastles on shore, which had been 
thought ever very formidable, and were discovered by him 
to make a noise only, and to fright those who could be rarely 
hurt by them. He was the first who infused that propor- 
tion of eourage into the seamen, by making them see what 
mighty things they eould do if they were resolved, and 
taught them to fight in fire as well as upon water ; and 
though he has been very well imitated and followed, he was 
the first that gave the example of that kind of naval 
eourage, and bold and resolute achievements.' 

Clarendons History, Heath's Chronicle of the Civil 
Wars, and the Memoirs of Whitelock, Ludlow, and other 
contemporary authorities, will furnish accounts of the nume- 
rous battles which we have only mentioned. The earliest 
memoir which we know to exist of Blake is in Lives, Eng- 
lish and Foreign, London, 1 70*1. There is also one by Dr. 
Johnson. The account here given is taken, with some 
curtailment and a few slight corrections, from that pub- 
lished in the Gallery of Portraits, vol. 5. 

BLANC, LE, a town in Franee in the department of 
Indre, in 46° 39' N. lat., 1° 3' E. long. It is on the river 
Crease, and on a cross-road which branches off from the 
high road from Paris to Limoges, towards Poitiers. The 
river Crense divides the town into two parts, called the 
upper and lower town. This river is not navigable, but 
serves, as the older topographers tell us, to float timber and 
staves, which are thrown in and re-assembled at a place 
lower down the stream. There is a castle in the upper town ; 
and previous to the Revolution there were two religious 
houses in the lower town. At the same period there were 
three parish churches in the whole town. The population 
of Le Blanc in 183*2 was 3617 for the town, or 4804 for the 
whole eommune. The Dictionnaire Universelde la France 
(1804) assigns to it a manufactory of woollen yarn, and a 
considerable pottery. 

Lo Blane is the eapital of an arrondissement, whieh had 
in 1832 a population of 56,614. The territory around the 
town is sterile, and eovered with wood ; it yields however 
some wine of a fair quality. A good deal of iron is smelted 
in this district. The neighbourhood is remarkable for the 
immense number of pools, the fish from which form an 
article of trade at Le Blane. Game and poultry are also 
abundant. 

BLANC, MOUNT, in the system of the Alps, is in the 
dominions of the king of Sardinia, on the boundary-line 
between Savoy and Piedmont; it extends from S.W. to 
N.E. between 45° 46' and 45° 57' N. lat. In this direction 
it may have a length of about thirteen miles ; its breadth 
varies from five to six miles. 

This enormous mass of primitive rook rises far above 
the line of perpetual congelation, and descends with great 
steepness and to a great depth on the N.W. and S.E. ; the 
valleys, whieh bound the mountain on these sides, being 
only between 3000 and 4000 feet above the level of the sea. 
The valley to the north-west consists properly of two val- 
leys, those of Montjoie and of Chamouny, which are sepa- 
rated by a lateral branch of the mountain for some distance, 
but afterwards join one another. The valley of Chamouny 
is the larger, and the place to which travellers commonly 
resort to have a view of the Mount Blane, or to ascend it: 
tho village of Chamouny, or the Prieur6, which is nearly in 
the centre of the valley, is 3403 feet above the level of the 
sea. The valley to the south-east of the mountain mass, 
ealled the Valley of Entreves, consists properly of two val- 
leys, which lie in the same direction, and open one into 
the. other, which takes place nearly at equal distances from 
the extremities of tho mountain-mass. The lowest point of 
this valley is Cormaggior, situated 3900 feet above the level 
of the sea. 

The southern extremity of the mountain is both united 
to and separated from the high mountain-range which ex- 
tends in a southern direction to the very shores of the Medi- 
terranean sea, by the Col de Scigne. This mountain-pass, 
the highest part of which isielow the point of eternal snow, 
rising only to 8083, unites the Valley of Bonneval in Savoy 
with the Valley of Entreves in Piedmont, and presents one 
of the grandest views of the Mount Blanc. 

The northern extremity of the mountain is connected 
with the high range which, running to the east, separates 
Wallis, or the Valais, from Piedmont ; and with another 
which, extending in a north-western direction, divides Savoy 
from Wallis, and terminates at no great distance from tho 
Lake of Geneva. From the former range it is separated by 



the Colde Ferret, or Ferrex, a mountain-pass, J764 feet 
above the sea, which connects the valley of Ferret, or Ferrex, 
with that of Entreves. From the range of mountains ex- 
tending to the Lake of Geneva, the Mount Blanc is divided 
by the Col dc Balme, which unites the vallev of Chamouny 
with that of Trient in Wallis, and rises to 7552 feet. 

The whole mountain mass enclosed between the valleys 
and these three mountain-passes probably rises to upwards 
of 10,000 feet, and as in this parallel the snow-line does 
not extend beyond 9000 or 9300 feet, it probably is about 
1000 feet above it. It is consequently all eovered with 
snow, except in a few places where the steepness of the 
rock does not allow the snow to lie. The upper surface is 
extremely irregular, and a considerable number of rocks 
rise from it, which, from their resemblance to pyramids or 
steeples, are called aiguilles, or needles. 

Towards its southern extremity this extensive mass of 
rocks rises to its greatest elevation in that mountain pin- 
nacle properly called Mont Blanc, whose summit attains 
the height of about 14,748 feet above the sea, in 45° 41' 
52" N. lat. and 6° 44' 22" E. long. When seen from the 
north or south, it presents the form of a pyramid, descend- 
ing nearly perpendicularly to the south. When seen from 
the N.E. or the valley of Chamouny, it resembles the back 
of a dromedary, and is called by the inhabitants of that 
valley Bosse de Dromedaire. 

Near it rises the Aiguille de Goute to the height of 
12,204 feet. Farther to the N.E. the Aiguille du Midi at? 
tains 12,854 feet, and its neighbour, the 7 Aiguille de Geant, 
13,902 feet. Still farther to the N.W. stands the Aiguille 
d'Argenticr, 13,400 feet high, and to the west of it the 
Aiguille de Dru, 12,460 feet. The most northern and 
lowest is the Aiguille de Tour, whose summit is only 11,036 
feet above the level of the sea. There are still more of these 
peaks, but they have not been noticed by travellers. 

Mount Blanc exhibits all the grandeur of the Alps on a 
large scale. High tapering pyramids covered with eternal 
snow ; extensive fields of ice, split to a great depth by wide 
cracks ; glaciers of green eolour descending from its sides 
between bare dark-coloured perpendicular rocks, and skirted 
by forests of fir ; and grottoes formed in the masses of etor- 
nal ice, in addition to all the other varieties of mountain 
scenery, attract great numbers of curious and scientific tra- 
vellers. [See Chamouny.] 

The first mention made of Mount Blane does not go back 
a century. If we are not mistaken, this mountain was first 
noticed by our countryman, Richard Pococke, who, in his 
travels to the East, being struck by its extraordinary height 
and appearance, described it in his account of the glaciers 
of Switzerland. Nearly fifty years elapsed after Pococke's 
description before it was ascended, for the first time, by Dr. 
Paccard and James Balma, with great difficulty and danger, 
in August, 1786. A year afterwards Saussurc succeeded 
in reaching the summit, where he remained for five hours, 
and made a great number of observations. The pulse of 
the whole company, which was composed of twelve persons, 
beat with extreme quickness, and all of them felt great 
thirst and exhaustion, without any desire to take food. The 
colour of the sky was dark blue ; the stars were visible in 
the shade; the barometer sunk to 16 inch. 1 line, while at 
Geneva it stood at 27 inch. 1 line ; the thermometer indi- 
cated in the shade + 26£°, and in the sun + 29°, whilst 
at Geneva it was + 87° of Fahrenheit. Water consequently 
froze even when exposed to the sun. Since Saussure's 
ascent Mount Blanc has been ascended at least twenty 
times, but no very important observations have been made 
since that date. 

BLANCHARD (aeronaut). [See Balloon.] 
BLANCO, CAPE, on the west coast of Africa (20° 46' 
26" N. lat., and 1 7° 4' 10'' W. long.), is the western extremity 
of a rocky ridge, which extends eastward into the Sahara 
to an unknown distance, and is called Jcbel el Bied, or the 
White Mountains, probably from their colour. The cape 
itself terminates in a rocky but low point, which bends to 
the southward, and forms with the shore a spacious harbour, 
called the Great Bay. A few miles farther south is another 
harbour, the bay of Arguin, which is by many considered as 
the extreme point to which antient navigation extended. 

Cape Blanco is remarkable in more than one respect. 
The coast to the north of it, as far as Cape Geer, the western 
extremity of the Atlas Mountains, is rocky, but of very mo- 
derate elevation (near Cape Blanco from sixty to eighty feet), 
except at a few places, as at Capo Laguedo, Cape Bojadar, 



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and Capo Noon, but it is very little broken, and contains 
only a tow harbours. This ii the more to be regretted, as 
this coast is one of tho most dangerous on the globe, tho 
sea and tho winds combining to tho destruction of tho 
sailor. Though nearly tho wholo ofthis coast licswithin tho 
sphere of the trade-winds, they do not extend to the shoro 
itself; but, to a distance of about 150 miles and upwards, a 
western wind always prevails. This is naturally enough 
attributed to tho sands of tho Sahara, which, when heated 
to a high degree, rarify the superincumbent air, which con- 
sequently rises, and tho deficiency thus produced is ehietly 
supplied with fresh air from the sea f by which a continual 
western wind along the shore is produced. The sea along 
tho whole coast is likewise in continual motion to a dis- 
tance of 150 or 180 miles, and this current runs likewiso 
east, or very little to the south of east, and points nearly to- 
wards the land. In consequenco of these combined causes, 
many vessels are lost on this shore, and the crews fall into 
the hands of tribes who aro among tho most cruel and bar- 
barous on the globe. 

South of Capo Blanco, or rather of the Bay of Arguin, the 
shores arc low and sandv as far as Cape Verde, and oven to 
the mouth of the Rio Grande. Here tho curront is moro 
favourable to navigators, as it runs along the shoro, or rather 
in a south-western direction, the north-east trade- wind pre- 
vailing at the same time, especially south of Cape Mirik. 
But here also there are no harbours between the Bay of 
Arjruin and the mouth of tho Senegal. 

Tho rocks of which Cape Blanco consists aro composed 1 of 
a mixture of calcareous and siliceous sandstone, in lines of 
stratification dipping southerly in various inclinations, some 
as much as 45, Its summit is partly covered with sand- 
bills, blown from the desert by the winds, and partly with 
rocky eminences. "With the exception of the sandhills which 
are of recent formation, the whole surface is eovered in the 
most extraordinary manner with shells of all dimensions 
and species, which aro still found in the Great Bay. These 
shells are in a perfect state of preservation, and havo evi- 
dently not been used as food. 

The Moors who wander about tho neighbouring desert 
seldom visit this place, and only in small numbers at a 
time; but boats of 100 to 150 tons burden resort to it 
from the Canary Islands, and carry on a lucrative fisher)*. 
Fresh water is found about four or five miles north of tho 
Cape. (Capt. Beleher, in the Journal of the Geographical 
Society ', vol. ii. ; Rennell's Investigation of the Currents; 
and Jackson's Account of Morocco and Timbuctoo.) 

BLANDFORD FORUM, also called BLANDFORD 
CHIPPING, or MARKET BLANDFORD, a parish and 
market-town in the hundred of Pirn per ne, county of Dorset ; 
ninety-two miles S.AV. from London, and sixteen N.E. from 
Dorchester. >Nine parcels are mentioned in the Domesday 
Survey, under tho common namo of Bleneford, or Blane- 
ford ; Ave of these aro small, and were doubtless small 
manors included in some of the greater. Four Blandfords 
remained distinguished in after times, namely, Blandford 
Forum, Blandford St. Mary, Blandford Bryanston, and 
Long Blandford, now Langton. In tho roign of Richard I., 
the then Earl of Leicester mortgaged it for 452/. 6*. Bd. to 
Aaron, a Jew of Lincoln, whose estates being seized by the 
king, this manor, among others, was put into the roll for tho 
king's use. Not long after however, the Karl procured a 
discnargo under the seal of Aaron for 240/. C*. 8rf., and 
dying very rich, his estates wero divided between his daugh- 
ters. It passod through several femalo heirs, who by mar- 
riage carried it into various noble families, until it becamo 
the property of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by mar- 
riage with Blanche, daughter of the Earl of Lincoln. When 
tho duke's son became King Henry IV., the estate was 
united to tho erown. Henry V. granted it, with other 
manors, jointly to Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, and to his unelc, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Win- 
chester. After this tho manor reverted to and remained 
in the crown until Edward IV. bestowed tho wholo on his 
^brother, the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III. 
From this period the accounts of the desecnts of the manor 
are contradictory : part of it appears to havo been dependant 
on the principal manor of Kingston Lacy, and the remainder 
has either been given to or has been purchased by the eor- 
i»oration. Blandford is ealled a burgh in old records; hut 
it never sent members to parliament tuoro than twico, 
namely, in the 33rd of Edward I. and tho 22ud of Edward 
111. The town reeeived its charter of incorporation as a 



free borough from James L, which conferred on it new 
liberties, and confirmed those which it had immcinorially 
enjoyed. Under this charter the town has been governed 
by a bailiff and six capital burgesses. 

The town had a market very early: for we find that in 
2 Henry III. a precept was directed to the sheriff that tho 
market at this place, which had previously been hold on 
Sunday, should thoncc forward be held on Saturday, Sinco 
that time Saturday has accordingly been the market-day, 
A fair also was granted so early as 35 Edward I. : there are 
now thrco fairs, chiefly for horses, cattle, and eheese, hold 
on March 7, July 10, and November 8. It is by the*o 
markets and fairs, and by the resort of travellers and the 
neighbouring gentry, together with the races annually held 
in July or August on a neighbouring down, that tho town 
is chiefly supported. Blandford was in former times noted 
for its manufacture of band strings, but that article falling 
into disuse, attention was paid to the manufacturo of hone- 
lace, and until the beginning of the last century the finest 
point-laco in England was made at Blandford : it was valued 
at 30/. per yard, and was considered to be equal, if not supe- 
rior, to that of Flanders. After Una had also declined, tho 
making of shirt-buttons was the only manufacture which 
became of much iraportanco in the town ; this is principally 
earricd on by women and children, and is still considerable, 
though not so extensive as in former times. At present 
Blandford is one of tho neatest little towns in the west of 
England, and it is increasing every year in extent and 
population ; but it is not lighted, nor is there any general 
watch for tho borough and town. In 1831 the parish con- 
tained 028 houses, with a population of 3109, of whom 1703 
were females. Ofthis population tho town eontains 99 parts 
out of 100. 

Blandford is situated in one of the finest tracts ofpasturo- 
land in the kingdom. ' Pasturage only,* says Mr. Ma ton, 
' is seen in this part of the eounty, which, from tho multi- 
tude of eows fed on it, may truly be called "a land flowing 
with milk.** ' The town stands on a bend of the Stour, 
which ilows on both tho south and west sides of it. The 
river, which is here of considerable width, is crossed by 
a bridgo of six arches. The town owes its present neat 
appearaneo to the fires by which it has been repeatedly de- 
vastated. It was burnt in Camden's time, and afterwards 
rebuilt in a more handsome manner than beforo; and it 
was again partially destroyed by fire in 1G76 or 1C77, and 
again in 1713. But the greatest calamity of this kind 
occurred in 1731, when the town was desolated by an almost 
general conflagration, in which all the public buildings, 
and all but forty dwelling-houses were consumed. Four 
hundred families were thus deprived of their homes ; and 
the total amount of the loss is stated by differeut authorities 
at from 84,000/. to 100,000/. Tho neighbouring towns and 
parishes promptly assisted the sufferers with provisions and 
money ; and sixty barracks were built of boards and thatched 
for tho temporary accommodation of the poorer sort. Next 
year an act was'passed for the rebuilding of the town, and 
it was ultimately restored to more than its former neatness. 
Tho streets are regular, and well paved, and tho houses 
built uniformly with brick. The town-hall is a neat build- 
ing of Portland stono, supported on Dorie columns, with a 
regular entablature : within this building there is a pump, 
a marblo panel over which bears an inscription commemo- 
rative of the fire. This is dated in 1760, and describes the 
town as then having risen Mike a phumix from its ashes, to 
its present tlourishing and beautiful condition." The church, 
dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, was completed in 1 739, 
on the ruins of that destroyed by fire. It is a neat building 
in the Grecian style, consisting of a chancel, body, two sido 
aisles, and a tower eighty feet high, surmounted by a cupola. 
The ehurch is built with a greenish-eoloured stone, but tho 
windows, door-cases, and ornaments are of Portland stone. 
It eost 3200/, The interior, which is very neat, contains 
some handsome monuments, and accommodates 1000 per- 
sons. Tho living is a viearage in the diocese of Bristol, 
with a net income of 1C7/. 

Tbero is a free-school adjoining the church. "When or 
by whom it was founded is not known ; hut the anonymous 
author of a description of somo places in Dorsetshire in 
1079, says thero was then here a school of great fame, of 
whirh one Millar, a person of fjjrcat reputation and learning, 
was master. Archbishop Wake, who was a nativo of the 
town, is said to havo received the early part of his education 
in this school. Tho endowment is very small, tho chief 



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part of it being a proportion of a bequest made in 1621 by 
William Williams, who left 3000J. to be laid out in lands, 
the proceeds to be applied for sundry charitable purposes, 
among which was 51. per annum to enable the schoolmaster 
of Blandford to afford instruction to ' four poor men's children 
apt for learning/ This cannot however be considered a 
free grammar-school, as the present master pays a rent of 
10 J. a year for the school-house, and is under no obligation 
to teach gratuitously any of the children of the town. There 
is another* inefficient free -school at Blandford. It was ori- 
ginally founded at Milton Abbas, six miles from Blandford, 
hy the abbot of Milton, in the year 1521 ; but its efficiency 
was nullified by an act of parliament whieh, in 1785, trans- 
ferred the sehool to Blandford, in spite of the opposition of 
the feoffees of the school. No children have been sent to 
the sehool for education since its removal. 

Arehhishop Wake founded a blue-coat sehool, and endowed 
it with 1616/., for the instruction and clothing of twelve boys. 
In 1698 Robert Rideout bequeathed 50/. to the parish ; and 
John Bastard, in 1 768, gave 600/., a part of the annual pro- 
duce of hoth which sums is applicable to the purpose of 
teaching poor children to read. For a town of its size Bland- 
ford has a large amount of eharities, consisting in alms- 
houses, and suras left for apprenticing boys, and for sup- 
plying the poor with bread, clothing, and alms. 

Besides Archbishop Wake, already mentioned, Blandford 
gave birth to Dr. Lindesay, who wa3 primate of Ireland at 
the same time that Wake was primate of England. To 
these we may add Bruno Ryves, D.D., who, during the civil 
war, started the early newspaper called Mercurius Rusticus, 
and who assisted in the Polyglott Bible ; Christopher Pitt, 
the translator of Virgil ; and Thomas Creech, who suc- 
cessively translated Lucretius, Horace, and Theocritus. 

(Hutchins's History of Dorset, 2nd edit. ; Maton's Obser- 
vations on the Western Counties; Carlisle's Endowed 
Grammar Schools; Municipal Corporations 9 Reports, &e.) 

BLANEj GILBERT, an eminent physician, was the 
fourth son of Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, in the county of 
Ayr, in Scotland, at whieh place he was born on the 29th of 
August, 1749. Being intended for the ehurch, he was sent 
to tnc university of Edinburgh ; but during his attendance 
there certain conscientious seruples induced him to abandon 
his original intention, and to devote himself to the study of 
medicine. In the prosecution of- this branch of scienee he 
showed such ardour and industry as acquired for him the 
notice not only of his fellow-students (among whom as a 
member of the Speculative Society and Royal Medieal So- 
ciety he greatly distinguished himself)* but also of Dr. 
Robertson, the principal of the university, of Dr. Blair, and 
Dr. Cullem After obtaining his degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine he was reeommended by Dr. Cullcn to Dr. William 
Hunter, at that time the most eminent teacher of anatomy 
in London, and in high estimation as a physician. Through 
his instrumentality Dr. Blane was appointed private physician 
to Lord Holdernesse. This appointment introduced him to 
the notice of many distinguished individuals, and among 
others, to Lord Rodney, who nominated him his pri- 
vate physician, in which capacity he accompanied Lord 
Rodney, when in 1780 he assumed the eommand of the 
squadron on the West Indian station. In the course of 
the first engagement every officer being either killed, 
wounded, or employed, Dr. Blane was intrusted hy the 
admiral with the duty of conveying his orders to the officers 
at the guns, and in one of these dangerous missions he was 
slightly wounded. As. a reward for his services on this 
occasion, and on the recommendation of Lord Rodney, ho 
was instituted at once, without going through the subordi- 
nate grades, to the high office of physician to the fleet* 
In the execution of his duties he was unremitting, and ex- 
erted himself most heneficially in preserving the health 
and efficiency, as well as in promoting the comfort of the 
seamen, on that siekly station. He was present during six 
engagements under his friend and patrou Lord Rodney, 
and of tho battle of the 12th of April, 1782, he gave so. 
animated an account in a letter to Lord Stair, that his nar- 
rative was published. He remained on the West Indian 
station till 1783. Soon after his return to England he cm- 
bodied the results of his experience, and also many of tho 
conclusions drawn from the returns of the surgeons of tho 
ships, in a volume, whieh he published in 1783, entitled 
Observations on the Diseases of Seamen, 8yo. London. This 
work has several times been reprinted, with enlargements 
and improvements. 



As his appointment was of a nature to preclude his being 
allowed half-pay, a unanimous application was made by all 
the officers who had been on the West Indian station to 
the Admiralty to bestow upon Dr. Blane some reward ; and 
accordingly a pension was granted him hy the erown, the 
amount of which was subsequently doubled, on the recom- 
mendation of the Lords of the Admiralty. 

In the course of his residence in the West Indies he fre- 
quently met the present king, William IV., then Duke 
of Clarenec, serving as a midshipman in Lord Rodney's 
ileet. Dr. Blane obtained the favourable regard of his 
Royal Highness, and upon determining to settle in London 
as a physician, he was by the influence of the Duke of 
Clarence appointed physieian extraordinary to the Prince 
of Wales. In 1 785 he was eleeted physieian to St, Thomas's 
Hospital, in his canvass for whieh he was greatly assisted 
by Lord Rodney. About this time he was appointed one 
of the commissioners of sick and wounded sailors ; and in 
1795 was placed at the head of the Navy Medical Board. 
During the time that Earl Spencer was first lord of the 
admiralty, Dr. Blane, seconded by that nobleman, was 
enabled to effeet the introduction into every ship of the use 
of lemon-juice, as a preventive and eure for scurvy. This 
measure has had the beneficial effect of almost completely 
eradicating scurvy at sea, and has done more to keep up 
our naval foree in a state of efficiency than any other 
measure. [See Antiscorbutics.] Dr. Blane zealously 
direeted his attention to improve the condition both of the 
men engaged in the service, and of the medical officers 
whose duty it was to superintend their health. He eaused 
regular returns or journals of the state of health and disease 
to be kept by every surgeon in the service, and forwarded 
periodically to the Navy Board. From a eareful examina- 
tion of these returns, he drew up several dissertations 
which were read before tho Medico-Chirurgical Soeiety, in 
whose transactions they were subsequently published. 

In 1786 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, 
who appointed him to deliver tho Croon ian Leeture in 
1788. He selected for his subject 'Museular Motion,' hfs 
treatment of which evinced the extent and variety of his 
knowledge as well as the originality of his mind. It was 
printed in 1791, 4to., and reprinted in his Select Disserta- 
tions, London, 1822, of whieh a second edition appeared in 
two volumes, 1 834. An essay on the * Nardus,' or spikenard 
of the ancients, was published in the Transactions of tho 
Royal Society, vol. 80, in the year 1 790. During the searcity 
in 1799 and 1 800, he published an 'Inquiry into the Causes 
and Remedies of tho late and present Seareity and High 
Price of Provisions, in a Letter to the Right Hon. Earl 
Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty, &c, dated 8th Npi 
vember, 1800 ; with Observations on the Distresses of AgrU 
culture and Commerce which have prevailed for the last 
three years, by Sir Gilbert Blane, Bart,, F.R.S,, Physician 
to the Prince Regent, 8vo.' This tract was first published 
in the end of the year 1800, without the author's name ; 
but a seeond edition, with considerable alterations and addi- 
tions, was printed exclusively in the ' Pamphleteer" in 1 81 7, 
vol. ix. No. xvii., of which some impressions were issued 
separately. 

Having attained great eminenee as a physieian, and his 
private praetiee becoming very extensive, he resigned his 
office of physician to St. Thomas's Hospital. Ho re- 
corded some of his observations made during the period of 
twenty years that he held that situation, in a dissertation 
on the Comparative Prevalence and Mortality of differed 
diseases in London, which was published in the Transactions 
of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, and reprinted in his 
Select Dissertations. 

The last publie serviee on whieh he was employed 
was on a professional mission to inquire and report on the 
cause of the sickness of the army in Walcheren in 1809 ; 
and to Northfleet, to report on the expediency of establish- 
ing a dock-yard and naval arsenal at that plaee in 1810. 
His great merit and public serviecs were rewarded by tho 
title of a baronet conferred upon him in 1812 ; he was also 
appointed physician in ordinary to the Prinee Regent in the 
same year. 

In 1819 he published Elements of Medical Logic, whieh 
in a few years went through several editions. Of all his 
writings, this is calculated to be the most permanently and 
extensively useful, his other productions mostly referring to 
subjects of temporary interest. His observations on tho 
diseases of seamen however must always bo worthy the at* 



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501 



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tcntive perusal of all who are designed for that branch of the 
public service. In IS21 ho suffered severely from an attack 
ofprttrigo senilis, from tho harassing irritation of which he 
could only obtain relief by the use of opium ; and as^ the 
discaso never completely left him, he acquired a habit of 
consuming a quantity of that potent drug, equal to what any 
of the opium-eaters of tho East can take. In 1826 ho was 
elected a member of the Instituto of France. His zeal for 
tho improvement of the naval medical scrvico continued 
unabated to the last years of his life, and in 1829, with 
the sanction of tho Lords of tho Admiralty, he founded a 
prize-medal for the best journal kept by tho surgeons of 
his Majesty's navy. In 1830, on the accession of King 
AVilliam iV., lit was nominated by his former royal ship- 
mate first physician to his Majesty. His last appearance 
before the public was as the author of a pamphlet, entitled 
Warning to tlie British Public against the alarming ap- 
proach of the Indian Cholera, 1831. His later years were 
spent in retirement from professional labours, and in the 
revision of his Select Dissertations, the second edition of 
which ho livod to see published. lie died on the 26th of 
June, 1 834, in the S5th year of his age. As he was always 
greatly esteemed and respected by tho medical officers of 
the navy, he was assiduously attended during his last 
illness by a distinguished surgeon belonging to that branch 
of the public service, who had served under him, Mr. Cope- 
land Hutchinson, from whose biographical sketch of Sir 
Gilbert Blanc many of the above statements are taken. 

The career of Sir Gilbert Blanc was long, and marked 
throughout by zeal for the mitigation of the evils attendant 
upon war and a sea life, as well as the relief of the sufferings 
of his fcllow-crcaturcs in every condition. Animated by 
higher motives than that of obtaining the favour of fashion- 
able circles, he neglected the little arts which recommend 
many to the attention of the great, and may fairly be consi- 
dered to have gained the station which he obtained by the 
diligent cultivation and exertion of his solid talents. Few 
members of his profession, whether exercising it in the 
public service or in private life, have stronger claims on the 
lasting gratitude of the country. 

BLANK VERSE, verse without rhyme, or the conso- 
nance of final syllables. Of this species is all the verse of 
tho antient Greeks and Romans that has come down to us. 
But during the middlo ages, rhyme, however it originated, 
camo to be employed as a common ornament of poetical 
composition, both in Latin and in the vernacular tongues of 
most of the modern nations of Europe. In the fifteenth 
century, when a recurrence to classical models became the 
fashion, attempts were made in various languages to reject 
rhyme, as a relic of barbarism. Thus, Homer's ' Odyssey' 
was translated into Spanish blank verse by Gonsalvo Perez, 
ttic secretary of state to the Emperor Charles V., and after- 
wards to Philip II. AVarton, in his * History of English 
Pootry,* observes also that Felice Figliucci, in his admirable 
Italian commentary on the ethics of Aristotle, entitled 
' Filosofia Morale sopra i libri dell' Ethica d' Aristotile,* not 
only declaims against the barbarity of rhyme, and strongly 
recommends a total rejection of this Gothic ornament to his 
countrymen, but enforces his precept by his own example, 
and translates all Aristotle's quotations from Homer and 
.Euripides into verse without rhyme. Figliucci's com men - 
"tary was published in 1551. AVarton afterwards ohscrves — 
* In tho year 1523 Trissino published his " Italia Libcrata 
di Goti,** or " Italy Delivered from the Goths," an heroic 
poem professedly written in imitation of the "Iliad," with- 
out cither rhyme or the usual machineries of the Gothic ro- 
mance. Trissino's design was to destroy the terza rima of 
Dante. AVe do not however find, whether it be from the 
facility with which the Italian tongue falls into rhyme, or 
that the best and established Italian poets wrote in the 
Man z a, that these efforts to restore blank verse produced 
any lasting effects in tho progress of the Italian poetry.* 
This statement is allowed to stand uncorrected in the last 
edition of AVarton; but in fact Trissino's poem was not 
published till it appeared in three volumes, the first printed 
at Rome in 1547, and the second and third at Venice in 
1548. (See Do Bure, Bibliographic Instructive* iii. G78, 
079,) The * Italia Liberata' is stated by the biographers of 
Trissino to have been begun in 1525. Another work in 
blank verso by the same writer, however, his tragedy of 
' Sofonisba,' celebrated as the first regular tragedy which 
appeared in tho Italian language, was printed in 1524. (Sco 
the catalogue at tho end of Riccoboni's Histoiredu Theatre 



Italien.) It was first represented at Rome in 1515. In 
15IG the tragedy of 'Itosmuiid a,* ako in blank verse, by 
Trissino's friend, Rucellai, was recited at Florence in tho 
presenco of Popo Leo X., and was printed at Sienna in 
1525. In a work entitled an * Historical Memoir on Italian 
Tragedy,* by Joseph Cooper AValkcr (4 to. Lond. 1799), thero 
is a short paper on tho origin of blank verso in the Italian 
language (Appendix, No. 3, pp. xx. — xxiii.), in which the 
author observes that Trissino, though tho first Italian writer 
who used blank verse in long works, and accordingly recog- 
nised both by his contemporaries and his countrymen 
generally as tho first who introduced it into their poetry, is 
not, strictly speaking, to bo considered as its inventor. Not 
to speak of the occasional specimens of blank verse which 
arc to bo found interspersed in the works of Boccaccio and his 
contemporaries, thero is a blank verse poem, called the 
' Cantico del Sole,' written by St. Francis, the founder of 
the Franciscans, in the beginning of the thirteenth century. 
This poem, however, it seems, was thought to be in prose 
till its metrical character was detected by the critic Crescim- 
beni in his *IstoriadcIla A r olgar Pocsia,' a work published 
towards the end of the seventeenth century. 

In the French language, in like manner, various writers 
.have one after another attempted to write Acrse without 
rhyme. Among those who arc said to have composed in this 
fashion are Jodelle and De Baif, who were two of the cele- 
brated Pleiad of poets that adorned the age of Francis I. and 
Charles IX. (See Pasquier, Recherches sur la France* liv. 
vii. chap. xii. ; and Baillet, Jugetnens des Savons, torn, iv 
pp. 94 and 124, edit, of 1725.) Afterwards Nicholas Rapin, 
who lived in the reign of Henry lA r ., repeated the same 
attempt, and, in the opinion of tho Cardinal du Perron, with 
more success than Dc Baif. (Sec Baillet, torn, iv. p. 155.) 
Still more recently French blank verse was written by De 
la Mottc lc A r aycr, in the age of Louis XIA'. None of these 
attempts however have had the effect of reconciling tho 
French ear to this mode of composition, and it is probable 
that there is something adverse to it in the genius of the 
language. 

The first English blank verse ever written appears to 
have been tbc Translation of the First and Fourth Books 
of thc/Encid, by Lord Surrey, which was printed in 1557 
under the title of ' The Fourth Bokc ofA r irgill, intrccting 
of the Loue betwene ^Encas and Dido; translated into 
Englishc, and drawen into straunge metre.' Lond. without 
date, 4to. 1557, along with the second Book; but which 
must havo been written at least ten years before, for 
Surrey was executed in 1547. Surrey most probably bor- 
rowed the idea of this innovation from the Italians; but Dr. 
Nott is of opinion that he could not have seen Trissino's 
poem, already mentioned, as it was not printed till after his 
death, though written many years before. Ascham, in his 
'Schoolmaster,* expressly commemorates this translation of 
Surrey's as the first attempt to write English verse without 
rhyme. *The noble Lord Thomas, Earl of Surrey,* he says, 
* first of all Englishmen, in translating the fourth book* of 
Virgil, and Gonzalvo Perez, that excellent learned man, and 
secretary to King Philip of Spain, in translating the Ulysses 
of Homer out of Greek into Spanish, have both by good 
judgment avoided the fault of rhyming.' * The spying,* he 
adds, 'of this fault now is not the curiosity of English eyes, 
but even the good judgment also of the best that write in 
these days in Italy.' The first who imitated Surrey in the 
new kind of verse which he had introduced was, according 
to AVarton, Nicholas Grimoald, or Grimaldc, some of whoso 
poetical compositions were first printed in the same volume 
in which Surroy's translation from A r irgil appeared. * To 
the style of blank verse exhibited by Surrey,* says AVarton, 
'he added new strength, elegance, and modulation. In the 
disposition and conduct of his cadences, he often approaches 
to the legitimate structure of tho improved blank verse/ 
The next thirty years may bo said to have naturalized tho 
new modo of versification in the language. The first thea- 
trical piece which appeared in blank verse was Lord Sark- 
ville's tragedy of ' Gorboduc,* otherwise called the tragedy of 
' Fcrrcx and PorrcxV which was acted in the hall of 
the Inner Temple in 15G1, though not printed till 15G5. 
Then followed George Gaseoigne's tragedy of ' Jocasta/ 
which was acted at Gray's Inn in 156G. In 157G the same 
author published a poem in blank verse, entitled * Steel 
Glass.* In 1579 appeared George Pcclc's blank verse tra- 
gedy of* David and Bcthsabc' In 1583 was published 
Askc's poem, in the same form of versification, entitled 



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1 Elizabetha Triumphans. < A Talc of Two Swans,' a blank 
verse poem by William Vallans, appeared in 1590; and 
* Hieronymo,' another tragedy without rhyme, had also been 
acted before that year. So that when Shakspeare began to 
write for the stage, as he is supposed to have done in 1591, 
he may be said to have found blank verse already familiar 
to the publie ear as tbe legitimate form of dramatic poetry. 
(See Wartons History of English Poetry, section xl., and 
the notes to the edition of 1 824. See also section x. of the 
Dissertation by Dr. Nott on ' The State of English Poetry 
before the Sixteenth Century,' prefixed to his edition of 
Surrey's Poems, 1815.) 

It is curious that Sir Philip Sidney does not mention 
blank verse in his treatise entitled 'The Defence of Poesy/ 
which must have been written after several of the pieces we 
have mentioned above had appeared. Sidney died in 1586, 
at the age of thirty-two. ' Now of versifying,' he says, 
' there are two sorts, the one antient, the other modem; 
the antient marked the quantity of each syllable, and ac- 
cording to that framed his verse; the modern observing 
only number, with some regard of the accent, the chief life 
of it standeth in that like sounding of the words which we 
call rhyme.' * Truly,' he afterwards adds, ' the English, 
before any vulgar language I know, is fit for both sorts ;' 
and then he goes on to show its superiority to the Dutch 
(that is the German), the Spanish, the Italian, and the 
French, resting his argument entirely, in so far as the three 
last-mentioned tongues are concerned, on its alleged greater 
variety of final rhymes. In a preceding part of the treatise 
he expressly mentions the tragedy of Gorbodue, making it 
an exception to the rudeness of all the English plays he 
had seen, as being ' full of stately speeches, and well- 
sounding phrases, climbing to the height of" Seneca his 
style, and as full of notable morality, which it doth most 
delightfully teach, and so obtain the very end of poesy/ 

Notwithstanding the examples thus set, tbe employment 
of blank verse was almost confined to the drama for the 
greater part of the seventeenth century. Drayton, and 
Daniel, and Phineas Fletcher, and Davenant, all in that 
interval wrote long poems, and all in rhyme. Even dra- 
matic composition had, after the Restoration, in the hands 
ofDrydcn and others, begun to revert to that form. At 
length in 1667 appeared the 'Paradise Lost/ and vindi- 
cated the capabilities of blank verse by the noblest exem- 
plification of it the language yet possesses. In an adver- 
tisement prefixed to the second edition of this poem, printed 
in 166S, Milton, professing to give ' a reason of that which 
stumbleth many — why the poem rhymes not,' says, ' The 
measure is English heroic verse, without rhyme. . . . This 
neglect of rhyme is so little to be taken for a defect, though 
it may seem so perhaps to vulgar readers, that it is rather 
to be esteemed an example set, the first in English, of 
antient liberty recovered to heroic poem from the trouble- 
some and modern bondago of rhyming.' He allows, how- 
ever, and indeed urges the fact in vindication of himself, 
that ' some both Italian and Spanish poets of prime note 
have rejected rhymo both in longer and shorter works, as 
have also long since our best English tragedies.' 

For the last century and a half blank verse may be said 
to have been recognised as the only legitimate form for the 
higher species of dramatic composition in our language. 
' Aristotle observes/ says Addison (Spectator, No. xxxix.), 
' that the Iambie verse, in the Greek tongue was the most 
proper for tragedy, because at tbe same time that it lifted 
up the discourse from prose, it was that which approached 
nearer to it than any other kind of verse. For, says he, we 
may -observe that men in ordinary discourse very often speak 
Iambics without taking notice of it. Wc may make the 
same observation of our English blank verse, which often 
enters into onr common discourse, though we do not attend 
to it, and is such a due medium between rhyme and prose, 
that it seems wonderfully adapted to tragedy. I am there- 
fore very much offended when I sec a play in rhyme ; which 
is as absurd in English, as a tragedy of hexameters would 
have been in Greek or Latin/ Many long moral and de- 
scriptive poems, as well as shorter pieces of tho same class, 
have also within this period been composed in blank verse ; 
but here it can only be said to hold a divided empire with 
rhyme. It is to be observed, that unless we are to include 
a few attempts to imitate the hexameters, pentameters, sap- 
phics, adonics, and other measures of Greek and Roman 
poetry, the use of blank verse has almost been confined in 
English to the common heroic line of ten syllables. The 



attempts that have been made to reject rhyme in our ethef 
measures have all been foil u res, in so for as regards tho 
establishment of the principle, however mucli the°bcauty of 
particular poems composed upon that system, such as Col 
lins's ' Ode to Evening/ may have beon admired. 

The German probably, of all tbe languages of modem 
Europe^ admits the greatest variety of blank verse mea- 
sures. From the practice of modern German poets, it would 
appear that any species of verse which may be used in that 
language with rhyme, may also be used without it. In the 
German translations from" Greek and Roman poets we find 
every species of antient metre successfully imitated, and 
of course without rhyme. That which approaches nearest 
to, or rather is identical with, our ten-syllable blank verse, 
is also much used, as in the following example : — 

Berblinde Grois erhub sich alsobalri, 

Wahlt' einen'Text. t-rklart* ihn, wandt' ihn an, 

Ermahnte, warnte, strafte. trostete 

So herzlicli.'dass die Thranen mildiglich 

Ihm nicderflossen in den grauen Iiart. — Koseoartzn. 

The expression ' blank verse* looks like a French phrase : 
but we observe that French writers speak of it as one of 
English invention. (See the article ' Vers Blancs* in tho 
Encyclopedie.) Johnson, in his Dictionary, explains ' blank 4 
here as meaning ' where the rhyme is blanched or missed / 
and he quotes as his oldest example of the use of the ex- 
pression the following sentence from Shakspeare : — ' Tho 
lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt 
for it.' According to Mr. Park, in a note "to War ton's ' His- 
tory of English Poetry/ vol. iv. p. 241, the poet Daniel, in 
bis 'Apology for Rhyme/ published in 1603, appears to 
designate what we now call blank verse by tbe expression 
single numbers. The Italians call blank verse verso sciolto, 
that is, loosened or untrammelled verse. 

BLANKENBURG, a principality in the north of Ger- 
many, belonging to the dukes of Brunswick, and lying in 
the region of the Lower Harz ; it is bounded on the west 
by the Hanoverian and Prussian dominions, on the north 
and south by Prussia, and on the east by Prussia and 
Anhalt. This principality contains about 144 square miles, 
or somewhat less than the county of Rutland. In its 
northern parts it is well cultivated, but the southern dis- 
trict, which lies among the Harz mountains or adjacent to 
them, is full of forests; it contains, however, valuable iron 
mines and quarries, particularly of marble, and rears much 
cattle. It is the personal property of the dukes of Bruns- 
wick, into whose possession it came in the year 1590, as a 
lapsed fief and earldom, and is estimated to produce a yearly 
revenue of at least 20,000£. It was created a principality 
of the German empire under the name of the principality 
of Brunswick-Blankenburg, in the year 1707. It contains 
two towns, four market villages, and fifteen other villages, 
and about 12,000 inhabitants; and is now included in the 
circle of Blankenburg as part of the Brunswick territory. 
This circle, which has an area of about 194 square miles,* 
comprehends the three bailiwicks of Blankenburg, Hasscl- 
felde, and Walkenried, in which are three towns, four 
market villages, and twenty-three villages and hamlets, 
with a population of about 19,000 souls. 

Blankenburg, the chief town, is situated on the Harz, at 
an elevation of 732 feet above the level of the German 
Ocean, and is crossed by the rivulet which bears the same ■ 
name as the town. The principal public buildings are a 
gymnasium, a female school, school of industry, three 
churches, a town-hall, an hospital, and a factory for the tic- 
posit of the iron, marble, and dye-earths raised in the sur- 
rounding districts. Upon the Blankenstein, a rocky height 
1 038 feet above tbe level of the sea, and close to the town, is 
situated the ducal palace of Luiscnburg, in which there are 
270 apartments, a large collection of paintings, and other 
objects of note. Immediately below lies the ' Devil's Wall' 
(Tevfelsmauer), a long and almost unbroken line of sand- 
stone cliffs, of the wildest and most grotesque forms, on the 
back of the Heidelberg group of hills ; they run from north- 
west to south-east, and spread as far as Ballcnstiidt in 
Anhalt-Bernburg. About half a mile from the town also 
stands the lofty and romantic Regenstein, on the summit 
of which are the ruins of a spacious castle, entirely hewn 
out of the rock, besides a number of caverns, and the 
splendid colossal rock called the ' Rosstrappe/ Blanken- 
burg contains about 400 houses, and 3200 inhabitants ; and 
is between nine and ten miles from Halberstadt, in 51° 47 f 
N. lat., and 10° 57' K. long. Much mining is carried on in 



No. 268. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.— 3 T 



B L A 



50G 



BLA 



its neighbourhood, particularly at Riibeland on the Bode, 
where there aro iron works, and mills for working porph) ry, 
marblo, &c. 

BLANTYRE, a parish in the middle ward of Lanark- 
shire, seven miles cast from Glasgow, and bounded on tho 
cast by Hamilton, on tho west by Cambuslang, and on the 
south by Glasford and Kilbride. It stretches along the 
south bank of tho Clydo for nearly two miles and a half, 
and its greatest length from tho Ilaugh opposito Caldcr- 
bridge to its most southern point is about five miles and a 
half. The parish is low and sheltered, and henee its name 
Blantyre, which in Gaelic means 'a warm retreat/ From 
the church in tho middle of tho parish to the Clyde, tho 
ground is almost a plain, eovcred with small inelosurcs, 
which are surrounded by belts of planting; and from tho 
Clyde to tho southern boundary the soil is, by gradations, 
sandy clay, loam, moss. Iron-stone is found on the banks 
of Caldcrwatcr, which divides this parish from Kilbride. 

On the top of a high rock which rises up from the Clyde, 
stand amidst trees tho pieturesnue remains of tho priory of 
Blantyro, nearly opposite to Botnwell Castle, which crowns 
the bold and lofty bank on the other shlc of the stream. It 
was of tho order of Canon Regulars of St Augustine, and 
must have been founded before the year 1296, for at that 
time ' Frere "William, priour de Blantyre, was a subscriber 
to the Ragman's Roll. (Prynne, p. 663.) King Alexander 
II. annexed the parish church and its property to tho priory. 
At the Reformation the priory was demolished ; and in 
1595 Walter Stewart (afterwards Lord Blantyre), the lord 
privy seal of Scotland, was mado its commendator by King 
James VI. Tho patronago and church property of the 
parish are still in the hands of his descendants. 

The villago of Blantyre is on the road from Hamilton to 
Kilbride. The population of tho parish in 1831 was 3000, 
chiefly oeeupicd in woaving and at the cotton mills; 15 per- 
sons wero then employed in iron-stone mines and 27 in 
quarries. 

The manse was built in 1773; it is not known when the 
church was erected. The glebe consists of about 12 acres, 
and the stipend in 1792 was 56 bolls of meal and barley, 
and 53/. 6*. Bd. in money. At that time there was a stock 
of about 200/., out of the interest of which, and tho weekly 
collections at the church, the poor were supplied. Tho parish 
schoolmaster had then no house or garden attached to his 
ottiee ; his salary was only 6£, and the whole ineome of the 
school was worth about 20/. per annum. 

(Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. ii. ; Enu- 
meration Abstract of Population Returns,\o\. ii. ; Chambers's 
Gazetteer of Scotland ; General Vietv of the Agriculture 
of the County of Clydesdale, by John Naismith, Brentford, 
1794; Practical Observations upon divers Titles of the 
Law of Scotland, commonly called Hope's Minor Prac- 
tices ; to which is subjoined an Account of all the Religious 
Houses that were in Scotland at the time of the Reforma- 
tion, written by Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall, soractimo 
advocate to King Charles I., Ediu. 1734.) 

BLA PS {Fabricius), a genus of insects of the section 
Hetcromcra and family Melasoma (Latreitte) : the principal 
generic characters aro, — antennoo with tho two basal joints 
short, their breadth equalling their length, the third joint 
long, exceeding that of tho two following together; the 
three following joints are longer than broad ; the remaining 
joints nearly round, excepting the terminal one, which is 
round at the base and acuminated towards its extremity ; 
maxillary palpi with the terminal joint flattened, and when 
viewed from abovo or beneath somewhat hatchet-shaped : 
thorax broad, sides rounded, posterior margin straight: ab- 
domen oblong-ovate, exceeding the thorax in width : elytra 
generally soldered together, incurved so as to erabraco tho 
sides of the abdomen, more or less acuminated towards the 
apex, and prolonged to a point at the apex. 

The species of this genus aro tolerably abundant, and frc- 

?ucnt dark, damp situations, such as tho caverns in rocks, &c. 
n thiscountrv there arc only two well-authenticated species, 
B. obtusa and B, mortisaga, the latter is very common in 
our kitchens and cellars (in company with the cockroach) ; 
the former is much less abundant; it is occasionally found 
with B. mortisaga. 

Both species are of an obscure black colour, and about 
three-quarters of an inch in length. As B. mortisaga is a 
well-known common species, wo will merely mention tho 
characters distinguishing tho rarer one from it. The first 
striking difference is tho superior breadth in obtusa ; the 



antennco aro shorter, the fourth, fifth, and sixth joints are 
scarcely longer than broad (while in B. mortisaga their 
length' is neurly doublo tho breadth): tho thorax has it* 
hinder angles rounded (in mortisaga they aro acute) : tho 
legs arc much shorter in proportion, and the elytra are dis- 
tinctly punctured. 

There are many curious and interesting facts relating to 
species of this genus, for tho most part to bo found in Kirby 
and Spcnec's Introduction to British Entomology, to which 
wo refer our readers. 




a, Blurt obtusa* rather above the natural the. &, An antenna of Uie *.ima 
magnified* 

BLASENDORF, or BALASFALVA, a circle in tho 
county of Lower Weissenburg or Alben in Austrian Trans- 
sylvania, containing, besides the town of its name, fifteen 
villages. Balasfalva or Blasendorf, the chief place of the 
eirclc, and a large market-town, is the resideneo of the 
Gneeo-Roraan Catholic bishop of Foguras, and lies at tho 
confluence of the two Kockcls, in 46° 9' N. lat, and 23° 54' 
E. long. It possesses a theological and philosophical semi- 
nary for Gnceo-Catholies, a Roman Catholic school for edu- 
cating teachers, a Greek monastery of the order of St. 
Basil, two Gncco-Catholie churches, a Protestant church, 
and a gymnasium. Population about 4200 souls. 

BLA'SPHEMY (in Greek pXaa^ftia, biasphemia), a 
crime marked for public punishment in the laws of most 
civilized nations, and which has been regarded of such 
enormity in many nations as to be punished with death. 
The word is Greek, but it has found its way into the English 
and several other modern languages, owing, it is supposed, 
to the want of native terras to express with precision aud 
brevity the idea of which it is tho representative. It is, 
properly speaking, an ecclesiastical term, most of which 
are Greek, as the term ecclesiastical itself, and under this 
letter, B, the terms baptism, bible, and bishop. This has 
arisen out of the scriptures of the New Testament having 
been written in Greek, and those of the Old having in re- 
mote times been far better known in the Greek translation 
than in tho original Hebrew. 

Blasphemy is a compound word, of which the second part 
(phe-m) signifies to speak : the origin of the first part {bias) 
is not so certain ; it is derived from /3\rf7rrw fjblapto), to 
hurt or strike, according to some. Etymologically there- 
fore it denotes speaking so as to strike or hurt ; the using 
to a person's faco reproachful ond insulting expressions. 
(But others derivo the first part of the compound from 
p\d%. See Passow's Schneider.) In this general way it is 
used by Greek writers, and even in the New Testament ; as 
in 1 Tim. vi. 4, ' Whereof comcth envy, strife, railings, evil 
surmisings,* where the word rendered ' railings' is in the 
original ' blasphemies.' In Eph. iv. 31, ' Let all bitterness, 
and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking bo 
put away from you, 4 where ' evil-speaking * represents tho 
• blasphemy * of the original. In a similar passage, Col. 
iii. 8, the translators have retained tho • blasphemy ' of tho 
original, though what is meant is probably no more than 
ord i nary insulting or reproachful speech. Thus also in 
Mark vii. 22, our Saviour himself, in enumerating various 
evil dispositions or practices, mentions * an evil eye, blas- 
phemy, pride, foolishness/ not meaning, as it seems, more 
than tho ordinary case of insulting speech. 

Blasphemy in this sense, however it is to be avoided as 
immoral and mischievous, is not marked as crime ; and its 
suppression is left to tho ordinary influences of morals and 
religion, and not provided for by law. In this sense indeed 
the word ean hardly be said to bo naturalized among us, 



B L A 



507 



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though it may occasionally be found in the poets, and in 
those prose-writers who exercise an inordinate curiosity 
in the selection of their terms. But besides being used 
to denote insulting and opprobrious speech in general, 
it was used to denote speech of that* kind of a peculiar 
nature, namely when the object against which it was di- 
rected was a person esteemed sacred, hut especially when 
against God. The word was used hy the LXX to represent 
the 77p of the original Hebrew, when translating the pas- 
sage of the Jewish law which we find in Leviticus xxiv. 
10-16 ; this is the first authentic account of the act of blas- 
phemy being noticed as a crime and marked hy a legislator 
for punishment : — * And the son of an Israelitish woman, 
whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children 
of Israel, and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man 
of Israel strove together in the camp: and the Israelitish 
woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. 
And they brought him unto Moses, and they put him in 
ward, that the mind of the Lord might he showed them. 
And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Bring forth him 
that hath cursed without the camp, and let all that heard 
him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congre- 
gation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children 
of Israel saying, Whosoever curse th his God shall bear his 
sin, and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord lie shall 
% surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall cer- 
tainly stone him ; as well the stranger, as he that is born 
in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, 
shall be put to death/ It is said that the Hebrew com- 
mentators on the law have some difficulty in defining ex- 
actly what is to be considered as included within the scope 
of the term * blaspheme' in this passage. But it seems from 
the text to be evidently that loud and vehement reproach, 
the result of violent and uncontrolled passion, which not' 
unfrequently is vented not only against a fellow mortal 
who offends, hut at the same time against the majesty and 
sovereignty of God. 

Common sense, applying itself to the text which we have 
quoted, would at once declare that this, and this only, con- 
stituted the crime against which, in the Mosaic code the 
punishmont of death was denounced. But among the later 
Jews, other things were brought within the compass of this 
law; and it was laid hold of as a means of opposing the in- 
fluence of the teaching of Jesus Christ, and of giving the 
form of law to the persecution of himself and his followers. 
Thus to speak evilly or reproachfully of sacred things or 
places was construed into blasphemy. The charge against 
Stephen was that he * ceased not to speak blasphemous 
words against this holyplace and the law' (Acts vi. 13) ; and 
he was punished hy stoning, the peculiar mode of putting to 
death prescribed, as we have seen, by the Jewish law for 
blasphemy. Our Lord himself was put to death as one 
convicted of this crime. * Again the high priest asked and 
said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed ? 
And Jesus said, I am ; and ye shall see the Son of Man 
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds 
of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and said, 
What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the 
blasphemy : what think ye ? And they all condemned him 
to be guilty of death.' (Mark xiv. 61-64.) It was manifest 
that there was here nothing of violence or passion, nothing 
of any evil intention essential to constitute such a crime, 
nothing, indeed, but the declaration of that divine mission 
on which he had come into the world, and of which his 
miracles had been the indisputable signs. 

There are some instances of the use of the term in the 
New Testament, in which it is not easy to say whether the 
word is used in its ordinary sense of hurtful, injurious, and 
insulting speech, or in the restricted, and what maybe 
called the forensic sense. Thus when it is said of Christ 
or his apostles that they were blasphemed, it is doubtful 
whether the writers intended to speak of the act as one of 
more than ordinary reviling, or to charge the parties wjth 
being guilty of the offence of speaking insultingly and re- 
proachfully to persons invested with a character of more 
than ordinary sacredness : and even in the celebrated pas- 
sage about the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, it appears 
most probable from the context that blasphemy is there 
used in the sense of ordinary reviling, though the object 
against which it was directed gave to such reviling the 
character of unusual atrocity. 

Among the canonists, the definition of blasphemy is 
jnadc to include the denying God, or the asserting anything 



to be God which is not God,— anything, indeed, in the 
words of the Summa Angelica, voce • Blasferaia,* which 
implies 'quandam derogationein excellentis honitatis ali- 
cujus et prsccipue divince;' and this extended application of 
the term has been received in most Christian countries, 
and punishments more or less severe have been denounced 
against the crime. 

In our own country, hy the common law, open blasphemy 
was punishable hyfine and imprisonment, orother infamous 
corporal punishment. The kind of blasphemy which was 
thus cognizable is described by Blackstone to he * denying 
the being or providence of God, contumelious reproaches of 
our Saviour Christ, profane scoffing at the Holy Scripture, 
or exposing it to contempt and ridicule/ (Commentaries, 
h. iv. c. iv.) All these heads, except the first, seem to 
spring immediately from the root-sense of the word blas- 
phemy, as they are that hurtful and insulting speech 
which the word denotes. And we suspect that whenever the 
common law was called into operation to punish persons 
guilty of the first of these forms of blasphemy, it was only 
when the denial was accompanied with opprobrious words 
or gestures, which seem to be essential to complete the true 
crime of blasphemy. Errors in opinion, even on points 
which are of the very essence and being of religion, were re- 
ferred in England in early times to the ecclesiastics, as falling 
under the denomination of heretical opinions [see Heresy], 
to be dealt with hy them as other heresies were. There is 
nothing in the statute book under the word blasphemy till 
we come to the reign of King William 'III. In that reign 
an act was passed, tne title of which is /An Act for the more 
effectual suppressing of blasphemy and profaneness/ We 
believe that the statute-book of no other nation can show 
such an extension and comprehension as is given in this 
statute to the word blasphemy, unless, indeed, two statutes of 
the Scottish parliament, which were passed not long before. 
The primitive and real meaning of blasphemy, and we may 
add of profaneness also, was entirely lost sight of, and the 
act was directed to the restraint of all free investigation of 
positions respecting things esteemed sacred. The more 
proper titlo would have been, * An Act to prevent the inves- 
tigation of the grounds of belief in Divine revelation, and 
the nature of the things revealed;' for that such is its ob- 
ject is apparent throughout the whole of it : * Whereas many 
persons have of late years openly avowed and published 
many blasphemous and infamous opinions contrary to the 
doctrines and principles of the Christian religion, greatly 
tending to the dishonour of Almighty God, and may prove 
destructive to the peace and welfare of this kingdom 
wherefore for the more effectual suppressing of the said 
detestable crimes, be it enacted, that if any person or per- 
sons having been educated in, or at any time having made 
profession of the Christian religion within this realm, shall, 
hy writing, printing, teaching, or advised speaking, deny 
any ono of the persons of tbe Holy Trinity to he God, or 
shall assort or maintain that there are more gods than one, 
or shall deny the Christian religion to he true, or the Holy 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be of divino 
authority,' &c. These are the whole of the offences com- 
prised in this act. The penalties are severe : disqualifica- 
tions; incapacity to act as executor or guardian, or to receive 
legacies; three years imprisonment. (Stat. OWill. III. c. 3f>.) 
The writings alluded to in the preamble were not, in any 
proper sense of the term, blasphemous. They were, for the 
most part, we believe universally, the work of sober-minded 
and well-disposed men, who, however erring they might be, 
were yet in the pursuit of truth, and seeking it in a direction 
in which it is especially of importance to mankind to find 
it. To prevent such inquiries by laws such as these is most 
unwise and injurious. There can be no solid conviction 
where there can be no inquiry. In a state where laws like 
this arc acted on (happily, in this country, it is become a 
dead letter), Christianity can never have the seat she ought 
to have, not only in the affections, hut in the rational and 
sober convictions of mankind. What we mean however at 
present to urge is, that the title of blasphemy in this sta- 
tute is a palpable misnomer. The delivery either from the 
pulpit or the press of the results of reflection and inquiry 
applied to tho divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, or 
of any particular book included within that term, to the 
claim of Christianity to be a divine institution, or to tho 
claim of the doctrine of the Trinity to be received as part 
and parcel of Christianity, can never be regarded as in itself 
blasphemy or profaneness, however in particular instances it 

3T2 



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503 



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may sometimes b« accompanied by expressions winch may 
bring the individual using them within the scope of a 
eharco of blasphemy. It is remarkable that Blackstonc, 
-who is not one of an over-liberal school, in his chapter on 
offences against God and religion, does not treat of this 
statute in the section headed Blasphomy, hut under other 
head 4. 

We are surprised that such a statute could havo been 
passed so near our own timo ; still more that such a title 
should have been prefixed to it. Wo havo to add, that 
♦as to its main provision it remains in force. But in 1813, 
the number of persons who openly avowed that they did 
not consider the doctrine of the Trinity as possossed of 
sufficient support from the words of Scripture, when truly 
interpreted, to deserve assent, having greatly increased, 
nnd large congregations of them being found in most of 
tho principal towns, several clergymen also of undoubted 
respectability, learning, and piety having seceded from 
the church on tho ground that this doctrino as professed 
in the church was without sufficient authority, a bill was 
introduced into parliament to relieve such persons from 
the operation of this statute, and it passed without opposi- 
tion. This act, which is commonly called Mr. Smith's Act, 
after the name of the late Mr. William Smith, then member 
for tho city of Norwich, by whom it was introduced, is 
slat. 53 George III. e. 160. 

The legal crime of blasphemy and profaneness is made 
by this statute of King William something entirely dif- 
ferent from the crime when considered with reference to 
religion or morals. Few persons will ehargo any guilt 
upon a man who, in a course of philosophic investiga- 
tion, is brought at last to doubt respecting any of the great 
points of religious belief, after an investigation pursued 
with diligence, and under a sense of the high importance 
of the subject. Such a charge would be tho result of bigotry 
alone, ana would have no corresponding conviction in the 
heart of the person thus accused. Yet such a person may 
ho morally guilty of blasphemy. He is morally guilty, if 
ho suffer himself to be led to the use of gross and oppro- 
brious oxpressions, such as arc shocking to the common 
sense and common feeling of mankind, and abhorrent to 
the minds of all philosophic inquirers, and all persons who, 
in the spirit of seriousness, arc seeking to know the truth 
in respect of things which aro of the last importance to 
them. Whoever acknowledges tho existence of God, and 
that thero is a stream of providences and dispensations, 
common and extraordinary, proceeded and proceeding from 
him, and yet speaks of him, or still more to him, or of 
and concerning them, in the language of affront, or other- 
wise indeed than with a feeling of reverence correspondent 
to the dignity and awfulncss of the subject, cannot be held 
morally guiltless: and when there is no such admission, 
thero is at least a decency to bo observed in treating or 
speaking of them, which will be observed by all who have 
upon their hearts any spirit of seriousness, or any just re- 
gard for the peace and welfare of society. 

At the same timo it must also be admitted that a certain 
freedom must be allowed in respect of tho manner in which 
questions referring to sacred subjects are treated. All 
things are not really sacred which many agree to call so. 
The term sacred may bo made to cover any opinion however 
absurd, and witchcraft and tho popular superstitions havo 
sometimes taken shelter under it. It would scarcely bo 
denied that it was lawful to attack opinions of this class, 
even though the mind of a nation was not sufficiently en- 
lightened to discern the absurdity of them, with any wea- 
pons, even those of insult and ridicule ; and that though 
tho cry of blasphemy might be raised, yet that at the bar 
of sound reason such a person, so far from being justly 
chargeablo with so odious a crime, might be one who was 
rendering to the world tho most essential service, by setting 
tho absurdity of the opinion in that clear light in which it 
admitted of being placed, and thus attracting to it the eyes 
of all observers. But opinions which have better pretension 
to be called sacred may not improperly bo treated with a 
certain freedom that to those holding them shall be offen- 
sive. Very strong things in this way have been said 
against the doctrine of transuhstantiation by Protestant 
writers, who havo not been regarded by their fcllow-1'ro- 
tcstant* as doing more than setting an erroneous opinion 
in its true light, though tho Roman Catholic has no 
iloubt read the blasphemy, as he would call it, with hor- 
ror. So the Almighty Father, as he appears in tho system 



of Christian faith which is called Calvinism, has by some 
been represonted in characters which, to the sincere be- 
liever in that system, cannot but hove been accounted 
blasphemous; while by those who hold the system to 
rest on a mistaken interpretation of Scripture it has been 
held to be no more than tho real character in which that 
system invests him. Thero is in fact, when tho subject 
is regarded as one of morals rather than of law, a relative 
and a positive blasphemy. That is blasphemy to one which 
is not so to another. And this should teach all persons 
a forbearance in tho application of so odious a term. Strong 
and forcible expressions have had their use. Satire and 
ridicule may reach where plain argument would not go : 
but it behoves every man who ventures on the uso of these 
weapons to consider the intention by which he is inlluenecd, 
to look upon himself as one who is a debtor in an especial 
manner to the truth, and who has to satisfy himself that he 
aims at nothing but the increase of tho knowledge and the 
virtue and happiness of society. 

BLAST. BLASTING. [Sec Mining.] 

BLAST-FURNACE. [Sec Iron.) 

BLA'TTID^J, a family of insects of the order Orthnp- 
tera. — Distinguishing characters: tarsi five-jointed, the un- 
der wings folded longitudinally only, head hidden by tho 
thorax ; body oval or rounded, and depressed ; antennas long 
and thread-like, and composed of a great number of very 
minute joints; palpi long; thorax large, slightly convex,^ 
generally broader than long, and as it were a shield, cover- 
ing the head and baso of the wing-cases, which latter arc of 
a parchment-like nature, and ramified with nerves: one 
elytron laps over the other; the posterior extremity of the 
abdomen is furnished with two conical articulated appen- 
dages ; legs furnished with spines. 

The Blattidro arc extremely active voracious insects, 
some species apparently eating almost any thing that comes 
in their way. Mr. Stephens enumerates seven species in- 
digenous to this country, and four that arc not strictly so; 
among the last mentioned, the well-known and troublesome 
cockroach (Btatta orientalis) may be enumerated. It is said 
to havo come originally from Asia, but on this point there 
is some little doubt; the nocturnal habits and ravages of 
this species are too well known to need description. The 
male in its mature state has wings extending only half the 
length of the body ; tho female has only rudimentary wings ; 
her eggs, which are about sixteen in number, are deposited 
enclosed in an oblong, nearly cylindrical, but slightly com- 
pressed case, with an elevated serrated edge on one side : 
this at first is of a whitish colour, but after a little time be- 
comes brown and of a firm nature ; tho female carries this 
case about with her at first, fixed to the abdomen by a gnm- 
like substance; from this asylum the young make their 
escape by emitting a fluid which softens a part of tho 
case. 

The species of this family have been divided into two 
genera by Latreille; Blattu and KoJtcrlac (a name used 
for tho Blattm by the American colonists), the latter divi- 
sion including those species in which the females arc ap- 
terous (of which the B. orientalis forms a type), and tho 
former those in which both sexes possess wings. 

Tho number of exotic species of this tribe is very great ; 
the indigenous species oft his country are: B. Germanica, 
pallens, perspicillaris, Panzeri, nigripes, livida, pallida, 
and iAipponica; most of these aro comparatively small, 
and arc found in woods ; the last-mentioned species is said to 
swarm in the huts of the Laplanders, where it commits great 
havoc, and, in conjunction with Silpha Lapponica, has been 
known to devour their whole supply of dried fish in a single 
day. (See Kirhy and Speneo's Introduction to British En- 
tomology, and for a description of tho English species, Ste- 
phens's Illustrations of British Entomology.) 

BLAVKT, a river in France, rising in the mountains 
of the anticnt Bretagne (Brittany) at the part where tho 
two ridges of the Monts d'Arrtfc and the Montagncs Noircs 
(Black Mountains) unite to form the chain of the Mencz 
Mountains. Its course is south-east to Pontivy, where, 
having been swelled by several tributary streams, it becomes 
navigable ; and, turning to tho south-west, passes Ucnncbon 
and Loricnt, and falls into the Atlantic at Port Louis, oppo- 
site the lie do Groix. Its course is probably not much 
above seventy miles, but it is navigable for half its length. 
Its source is in the department of Cotes dn Nord, but the 
greater part of its course is in the department of Morbihan, 
There was a small town called Blavct near the mouth of tho 



B,L A 



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JB JL :E 



river, but it went to decay upon the ereetion of the town of 
Port Louis close by in the reign of Louis XIII. 

BLAYE, a town in France in the department of Gironde, 
and on the north-east or right bank of the river Gironde. 
It is probably about 370 miles from Paris, S.W. by S., 
through Chartres, Tours, Poitiers, AngoulSme, and Bar- 
bezieux; it is 33 miles N. of Bordeaux. It is in 45° 7' 
N. lat, 0°40' W. long. 

Blaye existed in the time of the Romans. It is men- 
tioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus under the name of 
Blavium or Blavutum, and in tbe Theodosian Table, and by 
Ansonius under the name of Blavia. (D'Anvillo, Notice 
de VAncienne Gaule.) In the middle ages the position of 
Blaye and its military strength caused it to be the subject 
of contest between the dukes of Gascogne and Aquitaine, 
at the time when these duchies existed separately. At a some- 
what later period Blaye with its territory was erected into 
a county , and was beld, as a fief under the dukes of Guienne, 
by a younger branch of the family of the counts of Angou- 
leme. In the religious wars of the sixteenth century, Blaye 
was taken in 1568 by tho Calvinists, who committed great 
excesses. After this it fell into the hands of the party of 
the League, and was besieged in vain in 1593 by the army 
of the king, Henry IV., under the command of Marcchal 
de Matignon. 

The town is divided into two parts, the upper and lower 
town. The upper town is built upon a rock : it is fortified 
with four large bastions and other works of defence, and is 
surrounded by a wide and deep ditch : this upper town is 
sometimes called the citadel of Blaye. In it is an antient 
castle. Th e lower town, which seems to have been originally 
a suburb of the upper town (from which it is separated by a 
small river, into which the tide flows), is the residence of the 
merchants, who have their store-houses there. The port is 
frequented by foreign ships, and by smaller vessels from 
Bretagne (Brittany), which come here to take in a cargo of 
the wines of the district. By an old ordinance of Louis XL, 
which long continued in force, vessels coming to Bordeaux 
were obliged to land their cannons at Blaye. The exports 
are chiefly wine, brandy, oil, soap, resin, fruit, and timber. 
A considerable quantity of corn is also shipped here, brought 
from tbe neighbouring departments, or the produce of some 
very fertile marshes near the town, which were drained in 
the early part of the last eentury. Vessels coming from 
Bordeaux take in provisions at Blaye. 

There were at Blaye, before the Revolution, two abbeys, 
one of Benedictines, and one of the order of St. Augustin ; 
but tbe societies were extinct, and the revenues held ' in 
commendam * (en commende). In the cburch of the abbey 
of the Aiujustinians was the tomb of King Caribert, whom 
writers state to have died in the year 570 ; but whose death 
Of be be, as is likely, Caribert, king of Aquitaine, brother 
of Dagobert L, see Biographie Universelle) should rather 
be placed in 631. 

The river Gironde at Blaye is very wide. Piganiol de la 
Force (Nouvelle Description de la France) states that it is 
1900 toises (equal to two miles and a quarter) across. Other 
authorities make the width as much as two leagues, or 
nearly six miles, but this is an exaggeration. The passage 
was not, therefore, thought to be sufficiently protected by 
the guns of the fortress of Blaye and those of tho Fort 
Medoe on the opposite bank. In consequence a fort of four 
bastions and other batteries, the works of which were formed 
of earth and of turf, was, in 1689, erected on a small islet 
in the midehannel. In the centre of this fort of earth a 
handsome tower of masonry was constructed. This fort is 
called Pate de Blaye, and is considered to render impracti- 
cable any attempt upon Bordeaux by the river. 

Blaye has an agricultural society and a theatre. Its 
population in 1832 was 3322 for the town, or 3855 for the 
whole eommune. Many pilots reside here, who conduct 
vessels into and out of the Gironde, the navigation of which 
is much disturbed by shifting sands. It is the capital of an 
arrondissement comprehending 732 square miles, or 463,480 
acres, and having in 1832 a population of 56,406. This ar- 
rondissement is subdivided into four eantons, and thirty- 
seven communes or parishes. 

BLAZONRY, the art of delineating figures and devices 
in their proper colours or metals, on armorial shields : also 
used to express the hatching of the same, according to their 
different colours, by the engravers. Du Cange says the 
etymology of this word is uncertain. (Glossar. edit. Paris, 
1733, torn. i. p. 1202.) Richelet says that some have de- 



rived it from the German blasen, * to praise,' a sense however 
in which this word does net appear to occur ; others from 
the same word signifying to sound a horn, because the 
heralds at tournaments sounded a horn when they pro- 
claimed the arrival of a combatant. (Dictionnaire de 
la Langue Francoise, fol. Lyons, 1759, p. 311.) Junius 
gives the English to blaze abroad as its origin. 

Allowing tbe mere invention to the Germans, says Dal la- 
way, the splendid aid that heraldry receives from the art of 
blazonry is unquestionably the property of the French alone. 
Theirs are the arrangement and combination of tinctures 
and metals, the variety of figures effected by the geometrical 
positions of lines, the attitudes of animals, and the gro- 
tesque and almost inexplicable delineations of monsters. 
Dallaway, as well as other writers, consider that the tourna- 
ments held with such magnificence towards the end of the 
tenth century, under the auspices of Hugh Capet, were in- 
troductory of the more general usage and assumption of 
arms. (Compare Dallaway's Inquiries into the Origin and 
Progress of the Science of Heraldry in England, pp. 8, 9 ; 
Gough's Sepulchr. Monuments of Great Britain, vol. i. p. 
exxx. ; Edmondson's Heraldry, pref.) 

BLEACHING, the process by which certain animal and 
vegetable products, and especially such as are used as arti- 
cles of clothing, are rendered white. The principal substances 
of the animal kingdom which are subjected to tbe operation 
of bleaching are wool and silk ; those of vegetable origin 
are chieily cotton and ilax. These bodies contain a quantity 
of colouring matter, winch though natural to them is, not 
an essential constituent; it appears also that the colouring 
matter is more readily acted upon by chemical agents, and 
suffers decomposition with greater facility, than the animal 
and vegetable matters with which it is mixed. On these ac- 
counts it is removed by operations producing little or no 
injurious effect upon the texture or durability of the articles 
from wbich it is separated; and thus not only is their 
beauty increased, but they are fitted for the reception of 
the colours of the dyer and the ornamental designs of the 
calico-printer. 

The process of bleaching is one of unquestionable an- 
tiquity, and more especially in Egypt, where white linen 
was used as clothing. Of the Egyptian processes nothing 
is known with ecrtainty ; they were probably tedious and 
imperfect ; eonsisting perhaps of little more than exposure 
to air, light, and moisture. (See Plin. xix. 1. on flax.) 

Until within a century the art of bleaching was scarcely 
known in Great Britain, and it was usual to send tho 
brown linen manufactured in Scotland to Holland to be 
bleached. The Dutch method consisted in steeping the 
linen for several days in a solution of potash, which was 
poured upon it boiling hot ; the cloth was tben removed, 
washed, and afterwards put into wooden vessels containing 
butter-milk, for nearly a week. This operation being over, 
the eloth was spread upon grass, and exposed to light, air, 
and moisture for some months ; the cloth sent from Scot- 
land to Holland was generally kept there for half a year. 
One of the earliest improvements made in this tedious pro- 
cess after bleaching was performed in this country, was pro- 
posed by Dr, Home of Edinburgh, who introduced the use 
of water acidulated with sulphuric acid, instead of the sour 
milk previously employed: by this substitution a great 
saving, especially of time, was effected, for the sulphuric 
acid was as effectual in one day's application, as the sour 
milk in six or eight weeks. 

Until the year 1787 little further alteration was made in 
the process of bleaching. But a most important improve- 
ment was effected in it in eon sequence of the discovery 
by Scheele, a celebrated Swedish ehemist, of what he 
termed dephlogisticated marine acid, about tho year 1774; 
this substanco was afterwards eallcd oxymuriatic acid, but 
is now known by the name of chlorine gas. The property 
which this gas and its solution in water possess of destroy- 
ing vegetable eolours, suggested to Berthollet the idea 
that it might be advantageously employed in bleaching, 
and might essentially shorten the process. In the year 
1785 he read a paper before the Academy of Sciences at 
Paris, which was published in the * Journal de Physique* 
of the same year. In this paper he mentions that he had 
tried this gas in bleaching cloths, and with a perfectly suc- 
cessful result : in the following year he published another 
paper on the subject, and showed the experiment to Mr. 
Watt, who first introduced this method of bleaching prac- 
tically into England. About the same time Mr. Thomas 



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510 



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Henry of Manchester wis actively engaged on the samo 
Bubject Indeed, these gentlemen appear to have unre- 
servedly described te each other tho progress of their ex- 
periments, and to them belongs the chief merit of introduc- 
ing the new mode into tho neighbourhood of Glasgow, and 
into Lancashire. By the application of this method, as 
much bleaching is as well performed in a fow hours, and 
in a space of a hundred yams square, as on tho old process 
would havo occupied weeks of exposure upon a hundred 
acres of land. 

Chlorine was first used in the state of simplo solution in 
water; afterwards, in order to lessen its destructive action 
when used in too concentrated a state, it was proposed to add 
potash to it This compound however was not found to 
answer the purpose ; but in tho year 1793, Mr, Tennant of 
Glasgow took out a patent for a liquid compound of chlorine 
and lime ; the patent however was set aside. Tho following 
year he took out another for imprecating dry hydrate of 
lime with chlorine gas; this invention was not contested, 
and the chloride of lime, generally known by tho name ef 
bleaching-powdcr, is now almost universally employed, espe- 
cially in tho bleaching of cotton : it is a compound which 
answers the purpose with economy, celerity, and safety. 
[See Calcium and its compounds.] 

The colouring matter ef cotton, ilax, and hemp, is inso- 
lublo in water, and appears to be of a resinous nature : it is 
partially dissolved by heated solutions of limo and potash, 
or soda ; and by their use, and the application of a solution 
of bleaching-powdcr and dilute sulphuric acid, the colouring 
matter which is not dissolved is destroyed. Cotton is more 
readily bleached than flax or hemp, and theso more readily 
than wool : indeed this last-mentioned substance, as well as 
silk, is generally bleached by tho fumes of burning sulphur, 
or sulphurous acid gas, after they have been properly 
cleansed. Straw and feathers aro also bleached by sul- 
phurous acid gas. Wax is generally deprived of its colour 
by mere exposure to air, light, and moisture. 

With respect to the theory of bleaching it may bo ob- 
served, that the action of lime and the alkalis, potash and 
soda, appears to be that of mere solvents ; they probably 
dissolvo the colouring matter without effecting much 
alteration in its properties. Tho actions of atmospheric air 
and chlorine seem to bo similar to each other, and very 
different from that of lime and the alkalis : tho oxygen of 
tho air aided by tho action of light and moisturo apparently 
combines with and destroys tho colouring matter; and tho 
ehlorino decomposing water, ono portion of it forms muriatic 
acid with its hydrogen, and another portion with its oxygen 
probably gives rise to a compound of easy decomposition, the 
nascent oxygen of which acting like that of the air, though 
more powerfully, produces the samo oxidizing effect upon 
tho colouring matter, but more perfectly, and in a much 
shorter period. 

That water is necessary to the action of chlorine upon 
vegetablo colouring matter is shown by immersing dry 
colouring matter in the dry gas, in which case no deco- 
loration whatever is effected, but it ensues immediately 
on tho introduction of water. Tho bleaching of rags for 
paper-making is effected by the agency of chlorine. Paper 
also, when written on or printed, may be bleached by the 
same means. 

Thore are some operations in which tho removal of 
colour is hardly rcferrible to the process of bleaching; 
such for example is the decoloration of sugar, which derives 
its colour, not from any natural cause, but the partial 
decomposition effected by heat. This is removed by what 
is usually termed animal-charcoal or ivory-black: this 
powerful decolorant is also used in some chemical opera- 
tions for tho samo purpose. [See Charcoal, Animal ; 
and Sugar.] 

BLEAK. [See Lknciscus.] 

BLRCHINGLEY, a parish and town (formerly a market- 
town and borough) in the hundred of Tanridgc, in the county 
of Surrey, twenty miles S. of London. Tho parish compre- 
hends 5250 acres. Homo was formerly comprised in it, but 
was made a distinct parish in tho reign of Queen Anne. 
Tho soil in tbe upper part of tho parish, in which tho town 
is situated, consists of chalk, stone, gravel, and sand; the 
lower district is of clay. Tho town itself stands near tho 
foot of the chalk-hills which run through the county. At 
the time of the Domosday Survey, tho manor (called there 
Blachiugclci) was in tho possession of Richard de Tollbridge, 
earl of Clare. It seems, rrom tho way In which the matter is 



there stated, that this earl united into ono manor what had 
formerly beon three. The whole had been worth 13/. per an- 
num in tho time ef tho Confessor, afterwards 8/., and to 
Richard was then worth 12/., bcsidei that Miis men* held to 
the value of 73*. 4d, It is probable that these • men,* whose 
names arc given, (Odin, Lemei, and Peter,) had privileges 
above the rest of the inhabitants, and that from among their 
descendants the burgesses wcro chosen to serve for this place 
in parliament when tho Commons came to be summoned. 
This event took place in the 23rd of Edward III., since 
which date the town uninterruptedly sent members to the 
House of Commons, until tho Reform Bill came into opera- 
tion, whon tho borough was disfranchised. Tho bailiff of 
the manor was retuming-officer, until it was determined by 
a resolution of tho House of Commons in tho reign of 
James I., that the bailiff had no concern in tho election. 
After that tho place continued to present the singularity of 
an election without a rctuming-efiicer, or rather without 
any person having an exclusive right to the efliee. When 
provisions, &c. were taken for tho king's house, this town 
and Horno wcro bound to furnish wood and coals, being on 
the borders of the woody country ; but for many years pre- 
viously to 1616 they had been excused from this obligation, 
through the interest of the Earl of Nottingham, lord of the 
manor. They had been so long excused that, when called 
upon, tho inhabitants were unwilling to execute the scrvico : 
tho matter was compromised by the Board of Green Cloth 
giving up tho arrears, which wcro 1 00 loads of wood, and 
30 loads of coal, on their undertaking to perform the service 
in future. A weekly market was formerly held here, but 
has long been discontinued. Two annual fairs are still held, 
on Juno 22nd and November 2nd ; to the latter (which, as 
well as tho elective franchise, was granted by Edward I.) 
great numbers of horses, hogs, and lean cattle aro brought 
from Scotland and Wales. The number of houses amounted 
to 203 in 1831, when the population was 1203, of whom 547 
were females. The inhabitants aro chiefly employed in 
agriculture. 

A castle formerly existed at tho westorn extremity of tho 
town, on the brow of a hill. A picco of wall was still stand- 
ing in Aubrey's timo (1673) ; but only tho foundations can 
now be discovered. It is not well known when or by whom 
it was built ; probably by Richard dc Tonbridgc : but it is 
certain that it belonged to his descendant, Gilbert dc Clare, 
earl of Gloucester. This noble joined the disaffected barons 
in the reign of Henry III., and commanded a division of 
their forces at tho battlo of Lewes, in 1264. The king's 
forces destroyed his castle at Blechingley, in revenge of the 
active part he had taken in this contest. The anticnt 
lnanor-nonse, called 'Blechinglcv Place, 1 stood in Brewer- 
street. Here resided Edward, duke of Buckingham, who 
was beheaded by Henry VIII. Somo of his conversations 
here with his chancellor and Sir George Ncvil were given 
in evidence on his trial. It has long been pulled down, 
with the exception of tho porter's lodge, which has been 
turned into a farm-house. 

The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a large and hand- 
some old building, in the early English stylo of architecture. 
It consists of a nave, with a south aisle and a donblo 
chancel, and a north transept called Ham Chapel. Tho 
nave is divided from tho chancel by a pointed arch, and 
from the south aisle by clustered pillars supporting four 
pointed arches : the two chancels arc separated by two 
similar arches. Tho south chancel is entirely occupied by 
a magnificent monument of the first Sir Robert Clayton 
and his lady, with their whole-length figures in white marble. 
Having been lord mayor of London, he is represented in 
the insignia of that ofllcc. He was father of tho city at his 
death, and had been for thirty years ono of its representa- 
tives in parliament. Ho raised himself from a very low 
condition of life, and died in 1707. Drydcn has mado him 
figure rather unenviably in his Absalom and Achitophcl; 
hut the justice of the satiro is in this instance disputed. 
The low sou aro embattled tower contains eight bells, and 
was formerly surmounted by a lofty spire, which rose sevenly 
feet above the battlements ; it was supposed to contain 200 
loads of oak timber, and was covered with shingles. It was 
burnt down in 1606, and never since rebuilt. The church 
affords accommodation for 600 persons. The living is a 
rectory in the diocese of Winchester, with a net income of 
881/. " Near the church there is a charity-school, founded in 
1633 by Thomas Evans, for the instruction of twenty poor 
boys of tho town. Tho founder endowed it with thirty acres 



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511 



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of land in the adjoining parish of Nutfield, and a house and 
garden for the master were afterwards bequeathed by 
Mr. Bostock of Tanridge. The property produces some- 
thing more than 20/. a year, which continues to be appro- 
priated according to the directions of the founder. There 
are eleven almshouses at Blechingley, and some small 
charitable donations for the benefit of the poor. (Aubrey's 
Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey ; Salmon's 
Antiquities of Surrey; Manning's History and Antiq. of 
Surrey, <J*c.) 

BLE'DIUS, a genus of insects of the order Coleoptera 
and family Sienidce. — Generic characters: antenna? with 
the basal joint very long, the remaining joints bent at an 
angle with the first ; maxillary palpi with the second and 
third joints large, terminal one slender ; mandibles armed 
with a tooth internally towards the apex ; body elongate and 
cylindrical ; head furnished with two tubercles or spines ; 
thorax armed with a horn in the males ; legs short, the four 
anterior tibia) broad and flat, having numerous spines on 
the external part ; tarsi four-jointed. 

The Bledii appear to be peculiar to the sea -coast, where 
they burrow in the wet clay or sand near pools of water, by 
means of the spined anterior tibia) above described; they 
are gregarious in their habits. Three species have been 
discovered in this eountry, all of which are of a black colour, 
with the wing-eases more or less red. 

Bledius tricornis, in the male sex, has two short horns 
on the head, and one long smooth horn proceeding horizon- 
tally from the front of the thorax. Length about 3-12ths 
of an inch. 

B. Taurus, in the male, has two long and slender horns 
on the head ; the thoracic horn is pubescent at the apex ; 
about tho same size as the last. 

B. Ruddii has short acute horns on tho head, and the 
thoracic horn pubeseent at the apex ; it is rather less than 
the two foregoing. 

BLEEDING, the operation by which blood is removed 
from the body, with a view to the prevention and cure of 
disease. Bleeding is either general or loeal. General 
bleeding is practised when the object is to lessen the whole 
mass of the circulating blood; local, when the object is to 
lessen the quantity in some particular part of the body. 
General bleeding consists either in opening a vein (vene- 
section), or in opening an artery (arteriotomy). Vene- 
section, the most eommon mode of abstracting blood, is a 
simple operation, and in skilful hands neat, elegant, and 
safe ; but in unskilful hands dirty, bungling, and exceed- 
ingly unsafe : it is always performed with a lancet Various 
means are employed for the removal of blood from parti- 
cular parts of the body ; such as cupping-glasses, the sca-» 
rificator, the division of visibly distended vessels with a 
lancet, and leeches. The mode of performing the operation 
of venesection and arteriotomy is fully detailed in the eom- 
mon books on surgery, where the requisite precautions are 
pointed out. It is only necessary to add here, in reference 
to local bleeding, and more especially to the application of 
leeches, that when there is a difficulty in making leeehes 
fix readily on any particular part, they may often be made 
to do so at onee, by first cooling the part with a eloth dipped 
in eold water, or by moistening it with eream or milk, and 
then confining the leeehes in the proper situation under a 
small glass. It should be bomo in mind, that these ani- 
mals are cold-blooded,, that heat is highly injurious to them, 
and that handling them with the warm hand, or keeping 
them long out of water in a heated room, totally unfits them 
for the performance of their office. Great fatigue to the 
patient, great aggravation of his disease, and even the loss of 
fife itself, sometimes result from the ignorant and unskilful 
manner in whieh attempts are made to apply Jeeehes. In 
the diseases of infants and children especially, in which ge- 
neral bleeding ean rarely be employed, the preservation of 
lifo constantly depends on the efficient application of 
leeches. # , 

It is searcely one time in a hundred that the physician 
finds a single person in a family who has the slightest notion 
of the proper mode of performing this sen' ice to the sick. 
It would be wonderful indeed were it otherwise, when tho 
education of women, in reference to the entire class of sub- 
jects the knowledge of which is necessary to qualify them 
for the performance of their duties as nurses and as mothers, 
is universally and wholly neglected. 

The conditions of tho system which require the abstrac- 
tion of blood, and the benefit whieh the removal of it is 



capable of effecting, will be better understood after reading 
the account of the blood. [See Blood.] 

BLEIBERG, or BLEYBERG, on the Drave, a market- 
town of Upper Carinthia, at present comprehended in tho 
circle of Villach, in the Austrian kingdom of Illyria, and at 
the foot of the Bleyberg, or Lead Mountain, to the south- 
west of the town of Villach. It is the seat of one of tho 
Austrian mining departments, and its neighbourhood con- 
tains valuable quarries of white and variegated marbles, 
copper, and lead; indeed the lead here raised is es- 
teemed the puiest in the Austrian dominions, and is in 
high repute in the east of Germany, Italy, and the adja- 
cent countries. There are six principal and forty minor 
shafts in full work, which produce annually between 1700 
and 2000 tons of metal. These, together with the copper 
mines and the production of about eighty tons of red lead, 
employ eight works in breaking the ores, &c, nineteen 
in washing, and twenty-one in smelting. The town of 
Blciberg bemg composed of five villages, spreads over a con- 
siderable surface : it contains one Catholic church, a Pro- 
testant place of worship, about 600 houses, and about 3700 
inhabitants. 

BLE'MUS, a genus of insects of the order Coleoptera 
and family Harpalidm. Generic characters: head almost 
as large as the thorax, the portion joining the anterior 
part of the eyes distinctly elevated ; antenna) very long ; 
palpi with the terminal joint somewhat conical and rather 
acute; labium slightly notched in front; thorax consider- 
ably narrowed posteriorly ; body elongate and rather de- 
pressed, wings ample ; the joints of the anterior tarsi of tho 
male dilated. 

About six British species of this genus have been disco- 
vered, the largest of which does not exceed 3-12ths of an 
inch. All the species are of a pale-yellow or ochre colour, 
having more or less of a bluish shade on the disc of tho 
elytra, excepting B. consputus, which, although generally 
placed in this genus we do not consider as strictly belong- 
ing to it. Blemus fasciatus, which may be considered the 
type of the genus, is rather more than 2-12ths of an inch 
in length, and of a pale-ochre colour, with a blue-black 
fascia crossing the elytra. This beautiful little species has 
been found near London, and in various other parts ; but, 
like all the species of this genus, is rather scarce. 

BLENDE, a name particularly given to zinc-blende, but 
most commonly used by mineralogists as denoting an order 
which in the system of Professor Jameson of Edinburgh 
contains the following genera: — Manganese-blende, Zinc- 
blende or Garnet-blende, Antimony-blende, Ruby-blende. 
The word is probably derived from a German verb (used only 
in combinations) signifying to mix: the term 'blende' 
signifies a mineral which eontains no ore — in fact a pseudo- 
galena. 

BLENHEIM, or BLENDHEIM, a village on the 
Danube, not far from the town of Hochstudt, in the circle 
of the Upper Danube in Bavaria. The population of this 
place and its environs is about 1500 souls. It was the 
scene of Marlborough's great victory on the 13 th of August, 
1704, when, at the head of the British troops, aided by 
Prince Eugene and the Imperialists, he totally defeated the 
French and Bavarian forces under Marshal Tallard. The 
marshal himself and 12,000 of his troops were taken pri- 
soners ; and his artillery and baggage fell into the hands of 
the conquerors. At Blenheim in Bavaria also the Austrians 
were defeated by the French in the year 1800. 

BLENHEIM PARK, the name of an extra-parochial 
district in the county of Oxford, seven miles N.W. from 
that eity, and sixty miles W.N.W. from London, containing 
seventeen houses in 1831, with a population of eighty-three 
persons. The district inclosed by walls comprehends about 
2700 acres, and is said to be upwards of twelve miles in 
circuit. It is a demesne-appendago to Blenheim House, 
which was erected at the public expense for the duke 
of Marlborough in the reign of Queen Anne, when par- 
liament voted 500,000/. for the purpose, in testimony of 
the public gratitude for the services which he had rendered 
to the nation. The queen enhanced the value of this gift 
by adding the grant of tho honour of Woodstock, an antient 
property of the crown. Although apparently intended as 
a general acknowledgment of the duke's services, the victory 
over the French and Bavarians near the village of Blen- 
heim, on the Danube, on the 2nd of August, 1 704, is that 
to which the grants had more especial reference, and from 
whieh the plaee takes its name. It was enaeted that on 



BLE 



512 



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©very anniversary of tms victory at Blenheim * the inheritors 
of the duke's honours and titles should render tit Windsor 
to her Majesty, her heirs and successors, ono standard or 
colours, with threo Ileurs-de-lis paiuted thereon, in acquit- 
tance for all manner of rents, suits, and services due to the 
crown.' Notwithstanding the liberality of parliament, the 
money voted was inadequate to complete this noble struc- 
ture, and largo additional sums were expended by the 
family for the purpose. The architect was Sir John Van- 
burgh. Every person has not been able to study the works 
of this distinguished man, but every one remembers the 
satirical epitaph, 

* 1 Je heavy on htm earth, for ho 
J.aid many a heavy load on ihce';' 

and henco most unscientific visiters came to examino the 
mansion at Blenheim with a predisposition to assign it a 
ponderosity and massiveness ill suited to a domestic struc- 
ture. It is certainly not a light building; * but,' says Mr. 
Brewer, * the palace appears to be august rather than pon- 
derous, and it would perhaps be diilicult to show how so 
extensive a pile eould be less weighty without losing essen- 
tial dignity/ Dr. Mavor, in his detailed description of 
Blenheim, had many years before expressed a similar 
opinion : — * He (Vanburgh) deserves very considerablo ap- 
plause for his judgment in a circumstanco which has prin- 
cipally exposed him to the censure of pretended critics; he 
has rendered this structure characteristic and expressive of 
its destination. Its massy grandeur, its spacious portals, 
and its lofty towers, recall the ideas of defence and security ; 
with these we naturally associate the hero for whom it was 
erected, and thus find it emblematic of his talents and 
pursuits.* It was a remark of Sir Joshua Reynolds that 
no architect understood the picturesque of building so well 
as Vanburgh ; and in the opinion of Mr. Brewer, Blenheim 
House might be adduced in proof of the accuracy of this 
observation. This writer, speaking with a particular re- 
ference to the grand northern front of the edifice, charac- 
terizes the whole display as august and impressive. * The 
eye,' he says, 'without taking leisure to examine the various 
features which conduce to the result, is at once struck by a 
combination productive of unspeakable grandeur.' lie 
allows however that on a more minute examination, sharp- 
sighted and captious observers will not be without grounds 
for objection. 4 Such will point to elevations which hesitate 
between cupolas and towers, and properly are neither. They 
will direct the eye to the central compartment and observe, 
that, if measured with the lateral portions of tho edifice, it 
will be found to want height though by no means deficient 
in weight* These objections may hold good when tho critie 
examines Blenheim as an architectural drawing) but when 
it is viewed as a building, we discover so much sublimity of 
effect, that little disposition remains to analyze the sources 
whence gratification is derived.* This result is no doubt 
owing to what the same writer calls 4 the consummate skill 
in the perspective of architecture possessed by the designer/ 
The spot on which the mansion stands is remarkably well 
ehosen, being sufficiently elevated to display the structure 
to great advantage, without detracting from its comparative 
magnitude. The local guides and minute descriptions ex- 
patiate upon the alternate grandeur and beauty of the ap- 
proaches, and the admirable arrangement of the spacious 
grounds in which the castle stands. Omitting this, we ob- 
serve that the usual entrance to the grounds from Woodstock 
is through a triumphal arch or gateway, with two posterns. 
This was erected by Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, in 
memory of her husband. It is of tho Corinthian order, with 
both fronts alike, and contains a Latin inscription on the 
sido next Woodstock, and a translation on the other side. 
At some distance in front of the palace a fine piece of water, 
partly river, partly lake, which winds through a deep valley, 
is crossed by a very stately bridge of stone, the effect of 
which is particularly good, as it unites two hills and gives 
consistency and uniformity to the sceuo. The centre arch 
of this bridge is 101 feet in span. Beyond this bridge, on a 
considerable eminence in tho middle of a fine lawn, is 
placed a tluted Corinthian pillar, 130 feet high, which is 
surmounted by a statue, in a Roman dress and triumphal 
attitude, of the conqueror whose glory all things here were 
designed to commemorate. The side of tho pedestal next 
tho house is covered with a long inscription, describing the 
duke's puhlie services. It is believed to have been written 
by Lord Bolingbrokc. The other three sides of the pedestal 
are inscribed with acts of parliament dcclarativo of the sense 



which tho public entertained of Marlborough's merits, to- 
gether with an abstract of the entail of his estates and 
honours on the descendants of his daughters. 

In tho general view tho buildings of Blenheim House 
occupy threo sides of a parallelogram, open to the north, to 
expose tho north front of the main or state building, whilo 
tho cast and west sides form wings, also with courts, which 
contain domestic offices, stables, and a chapel, and from 
which there are colonnades leading to the principal lloor of 
the house itself. The principal or northern front of this has 
already been generally characterized in stating the impres- 
sion which the view of it conveys. It is a noble piece of 
architecture, in a mixed, original stvle, extending 348 feet 
from wing to wing, and highly enriciicd, particularly in tho 
centre. Mr. Carter, who was certainly not disposed to ren- 
der praise where praise was not due, concurs fully in the 
approbation with which our preceding authorities havo 
spoken of this magnificent specimen of Sir John Vanburglfs 
talents. We take, with some verbal alteration, part of his 
description of this front, as given in No. ccvu. of a scries 
of papers contributed by him, in a long series of years, to 
the * Gentleman's Magazine:' — 'In tho centre of the (he 
divisions of the house is the hall ; a Ilight of steps with 
pedestals conduct to the portico with Corinthian columns 
and pilasters ; double height of doors and windows, a pedi- 
ment enclosing armorial bearings; above this an attic 
story, having breaks, windows, and pediment, the last sur- 
mounted by tiers of balls with foliage, &e. The second 
divisions, left and right, aro run out in line by Corinthian 
pilasters, circular-headed windows, &c. in two stories, sur- 
mounted by entablature and balustrade : the sweeping aug- 
mentations are in two stories, the first with Doric columns , 
circular and square-headed windows, with entablature and 
balustrade above. The third divisions, right and left, ad- 
vance considerably by means of the sweeping augmenta- 
tions: they are in two stories, with the ground rusticated, 
circular- headed windows, and an entablature, the frieze 
having a scries of scrolls. Here the chimneys, as attics, 
arc most imposingly introduced in one great pedestal with 
open arches, pilasters, parapet, and hall-ornamented finish- 
ings. The windows to the ground -story arc circular. Tho 
general terrace, with its several llights of steps, sided by 
pedestals and vases, afford a fine introduction to the eleva- 
tions. On the introductory colonnade from the wings to 
the house are vases and military trophies ; there are trophies 
also on the pedestals of the portico, statues on the entabla- 
ture of the first story of the sweeping augmentations, as 
also on the second pediment and balustrade of the centre 
division.* 

The south or garden front of the building has a less florid 
character than that wo have noticed in detail. It has five 
divisions corresponding with those of the grand front, but 
tho breaks do not advance much beyond the general line. 
In the centre, a Ilight of steps here also conducts to a por- 
tico with Corinthian columns and pilasters, but without a 
pediment. It was originally intended that the entablature 
should sustain an equestrian statue of Marlborough, but 
instead of this it bears, with appropriate military emblems, 
a colossal bust of Louis XIV., taken from the gates of 
Ton may. 

Wo must refer to architectural works for descriptions of 
tho other elevations, and to tho local 4 Guides' for accounts 
of the magnificent interior, with its painted ceilings by 
Thornhill, La Guerre, and Hakewill ; its sculptures, its 
tapestry, and its splendid collection of pictures, containing 
specimens of the works of almost every eminent master of 
every school. 

(Brewer's Oxfordshire in Beauties o/Englandand Wales ; 
Mavor's Blenheim Guide ; Carter' s Architectural Innova- 
tion in Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxvi.) 

BLE'NNIUS (Blennics; French, Baveuses), a genus of 
fishes of the section Acauthopterygii and family Gobioida) 
(Gobies): both the Greek and the French names have been 
applied to this genus, from tho mucous matter with which 
the bodies of these fishes arc covered. They may he easily 
distinguished by their having the ventral fin placed beforo 
the pectoral, and containing generally but two rays. The 
head is short and rounded ; teeth long and slender, and 
placed in a single row ; body long, compressed, smooth, and 
possessing only one dorsal fin, which extends nearly the 
whole length of the back : they have no air-bladder. 

The species of th is genus are small, live in shoals, hut not 
in great numbers : they are very active and tenacious of life* 



BLE 



513 



B L I 



and frequent rocky coasts, where they may often he found 
in the pools of water left hy the tide, hiding themselves 
among the weeds and in the crevices of the rocks. 

The genus Blennias of Linnaeus, in Cuvier's Regne Ani- 
mal, is divided into the following subgenera: Myxodes, 
Salarias, Clinus, Cirrhibarba, Maranoides, Opistogna- 
thus, and Zoarcas; which will be noticed under the proper 
heads. At present we confine ourselves to the Blennies, 
properly so called, of which, according to Mr. Yarrell, 
we have five species frequenting our coasts. The first, B. 
Montagui (Montagu's Blenny), is generally of an olive- 
green above, spotted with pale-blue shaded to white ; belly 
white, pectoral fins spotted with orange. The head, viewed 
laterally, forms an obtuse angle in front, and is furnished 
with a transverse conic or angular fimbriated crest. The 
dorsal fin has thirty rays, pectoral twelve, ventral two, anal 
(which extends from the vent to the tail) eighteen, and the 
caudal (which is rounded) fourteen. It is found on the 
south coast of Devon. 




[Blennius oeeUarli.] 

B. ocellaris (the ocellated Blenny, or Butterfly-fish) is 
scarcely three inches long, the head is rounded, the part 
anterior to the eyes very short, and above the eyes two 
slender fimbriated appendages arc situated ; body elongate, 
dorsal fin extending from the back part of the head to the 
tail, and consists of twenty-six rays, of which the first is 
considerably longer than the rest, the nine following dimi- 
nish in length to the eleventh, which is shortest, the twelfth 
nearly double the length of the last, from this the remaining 
rays gradually increase in length to about half-way, and 
then decrease towards the tail ; a large dark-brown spot 
extends from the sixth to the ninth ray. The pectoral fins 
have each twelve rays, ventral two, anal seventeen, and 
caudal eleven. The body is of a pale-brown colour, varied 
with patches of a deeper hue ; the pectoral and ventral fins 
are darker than the others. This species frequents the 
coast of Devonshire and elsewhere, but is not common. 

B. gattorugine (the gattoruginous Blenny) is about five 
or six inches in length ; it is elongate, rather robust ante- 
riorly, the forehead slopes considerably from the posterior 
part to the anterior ; the head is grooved between the eyes, 
and furnished with two branched membranes situated just 
above the eyelids, the dorsal fin extends from the back part 
of the head to the tail, the central part is very slightly nar- 
rower than the rest. The fins and body are of a dark red- 
dish-brown colour, the belly and hinder portion of the former 
is of a paler brown. The dorsal fin has thirty-three rays, 
the pectoral fins are broad and rounded, and have each 
fourteen, the ventral fin two, and the anal twenty- three ; 
the tail is slightly rounded, and has eleven rays. It has 
been found in Poole Harbour and other parts : not common. 
, B, pholis (the Shanny). In this species all the rays of 
the dorsal fin are nearly of equal length, except the eleventh 
and twelfth (which are short) ; the number of these rays is 
thirty-one, pectoral thirteen, ventral two, anal nineteen, 
caudal eleven ; the colour is very variable, but consists of 
shades of brown. B, pholis may however be readily distin- 
guished from any of the known British species by the ab- 
sence of the appendages on the head. 

B. palmicornis (the crested Blenny). This species may 
be known by its elongated even shape, the uniform length 
of the rays of the dorsal fin, the form of the tail (which has 
the external rays shortest, the others increasing in length 
to the middle, thus being somewhat lanceolate in shape), 
and the four appendages of the head which are all fimbri- 
cated; two of these appendages are placed one ovei each 
eye, and connected by a transverse fold of skin ; behind 
these are placed the other pair, which are of a larger size ; 



the fin rays are, dorsal fifty-one, pectoral fourteen, ventral 
three, anal thirty-six, and caudal sixteen. 

v Thi iv Sp 2'^ s appe *I? ?°. ¥ vei ^ rare on ou r eoasts. (See 
Yarrell s History of British Fishes.) 

a^^'? 1 ?^ 18, in , Ent omology, a subgenus allied to 
Mantis^ belonging to the order Orthoptera. ' 

BLE'PHARIS, a genus of Acanthopterygious fishes, 
which according to Cuvier belongs to the seventh family of 
that tribe, called Scomberoides. They may be distin 
guished by their having long filaments to their second 
dorsal, and to their anal fin rays, ventrals much prolonged 
the spines of the first hardly piercing the skin • bodv°ele- 



o o - --- -™-~v — "*** "u.u vucciva. vi mis genus 
but one speeies (Villosus) is known, which belongs to the 
Aleutian Islands. Generic characters: head compressed, 
cheeks mailed, fleshy barbels under the lower jaw, gills 
with five rays ; one dorsal fin divided into three unequal 
lobes ; ventral fin very small. 

BLE'SOIS, LE, the district of which Blois was the capi- 
tal. [See Blois.] 

BLETHFSA(Bonelli), a genus of Coleopterous insects,' by 
some authors associated with the family Harpalidte, and by 
others with the Elaphridcz. It is our opinion that the former 
classification is more correct, and that the latter family is not 
a natural one. Generic characters : head large, eyes slightly 
prominent, mandibles obscurely toothed y palpi with the two 
terminal joints of equal length, the terminal rather ovate, 
truncated at the apex; mentum emarginate anteriorly, the 
emargination with an obscure bifid lobe ; antenna? short, 
the three basal and base of the fourth joints naked ;' thorax" 
rather short, rounded at^the sides; elytra elongated, very 
convex and impressed with numerous small excavations; 
anterior tarsi of the male with four slightly dilated joints. 

Of this beautiful genus but one species has been found in 
this country, Blethisa multipunctata ; and apparently only 
two others are yet known on the continent. Tho species 
just named frequents marshy situations, and is often found 
crawling upon willow-trees ; it is about half an inch long, 
and of a rich bronze or hrassy'hue, by which characters, 
combined with the numerous indented points on the elytra, 
it may easily be distinguished. 

BLIGH, WILLIAM, the commander of the ship Bounty 
at the time when she was piratically seized in the South 
Seas. 

The description given by Captain Cook of the bread-fruit 
and edible fruits of various descriptions in the South Sea 
Islands induced a number of the West India merchants 
to take measures for introducing them into the West India 
colonies. On the advantages likely to result from such a de 
sign be;*ig strongly represented to George III., orders were 
given to prepare a vessel for the purpose. The arrangements 
were superintended by Sir Joseph Banks, who christened 
the vessel * the Bounty .'^Bligh; then a lieutenant, who had 
already sailed with Cook in those quarters, was appointed 
to the command, and sailed from Spithead for Otaheite on 
the 23rd December, 1787. On the 26th of October follow- 
ing they reached their destination, and remained at the 
island until April 4th, 1789, the crew enjoying the most 
unreserved intercourse with the natives during the whole 
of this long period. 

Lieutenant Bligh, in his journal dated March 31st, says, 
'To-day all the plants were on board, being in 774 pots, 39 
tubs, and 24 boxes. The number of bread-fruit plants was 
1015, besides which we had collected a number of other 
plants ; — the avee, which is one of the 'finest-flavoured fruits 
in the world ; the ay yah, which is a fruit not so rich, but of 
a fine flavour and very refreshing ; the rattah, not much 
unlike a chestnut, which grows on a large tree in great 
quantities ; they are singly in large pods, from one to two 
inches broad, and may be eaten raw or boiled in the samo 
manner as Windsor beans, and so dressed are equally good ; 
the orai-ab, which is a very superior kind of plantain/ 
The whole were under the care of competent persons ehosen 
by Sir Joseph Banks. Laden with these valuable plants 
the vessel proceeded on her voyage to Jamaica. On the 
morning of the 28th of April the captain was seized in his 
eabin, while asleep, hy Mr. Christian, who was the officer of 
the watch, and three other individuals ; his hands were tied 
behind him, and he was threatened with, instant death 
if he gave the least alarm. The mutineers then brought 
him on deck in his shirt, and gave orders for the boat to bo 



No. 2G9- 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-3 U 



B L I 



514 



B L I 



lowered. Thoso persons also who were supposed to be well 
affected to Bligh, or on whom they could not reckon, were 
summoned to leave the ship. They were allowed to collect 
twine, canvas?, lines, sails, eordage, a twenty-eight gallon 
cask of wator, aud one of them ^ot 150 lbs. of bread with 
a small quantity of rum and wine, and also a quadrant 
and a compass, but uo map, cphemcris, or sextant. It was 
Christian's intention to turn thcin adrift hi a crazy boat of 
very small dimensions, but he was prevailed upon to let them 
have the launch instead, which, though affording better ac- 
commodation, was not at all adapted for navigating the open 
sea, especially as their own weight, together with their slender 
stock of necessaries, brought the gunwalo almost to the 
water's edge. Lieutenant Bligh was put into the boat last, 
after he had fruitlessly endeavoured to rcstorothe mutineers 
to a sense of their duty. He states in his journal that, 
* After having undergone a great deal of ridicule, and been 
kept for some time to make sport for these unfeeling 
wretches, we were east adrift in the open sea/ The most 
able of the ship's eompany, to the number of twenty-five, 
were in possession of the Bounty ; the remainder, nineteen, 
including Bligh, were left to struggle with cold and hunger 
in an open boat deeply laden and some thousands of miles 
fiom any hospitable shore. They were near the island of 
Tofoa at the time of leaving the ship, in 19° S. lat., 184° E. 
long. ; and they landed, in order, if possible, to increase 
their stock of provisions, but a sudden attack by the natives 
compelled them to embark without obtaining more than a 
trilling quantity of bread-fruit, plantains, and cocoa-nuts. 
Their whole stock of provisions for nineteen persons consisted 
of 150 lbs. of bread, 32 lbs. of pork, six quarts of rum, six 
bottles of wine, and 29 gallons of water. They caught 
on their voyage a few sea-birds, and spent a few days 
among the coral islands off the coast of New Holland, 
which enabled them to get a comparatively comfortable 
meal or two of oysters, clams, and dog* fish, and relieved 
them from the fatigue of being constantly in the same posi- 
tion in the boat, aud enabled them to enjoy good rest at 
night. Their hungry condition and the selfishness which 
misery engendered may be understood, when one of the 
crew confessed afterwards that during one of their excur- 
sions he had separated from his companions, and having 
caught nine boobies, he devoured the whole of them him- 
self in a raw state. On the 14th of June they arrived at 
Timor. They had reached this island in forty-one days 
after leaving Tofoa, having in that time run by the log a 
distance of 3618 nautical miles with scarcely anything to 
support life, without shelter from the weather, and without 
the loss of a single man. To the prudence, firmness, and 
scaraanlikc qualities of Bligh their safety may be chiefly 
ascribed. After remaining a couple of months at Coupang, 
the capital of Timor, they obtained a schooner, in which 
they reached Batavia Road on the 1st of October. Lieu- 
tenant Bligh proceeded as soon as possible to England, 
'where he landed March 14th, 1/90. Twelvo only of the 
companions of his perilous voyage to Timor succeeded in 
getting to their native country; five died; and one, wJio 
was left behind, was never heard of afterwards. 

The relation of the treatment which Lieutenant Bligh had 
experienced, and of the hardships which he had encountered, 
highly excited the public sympathy. lie was again sent out 
to the South Seas, and was completely successful in con- 
veying to the West Indies a supply of the bread-fruit plant. 
Ho was also promoted to the rank of commander, and 
the Pandora frigate, Captain Edwards, was sent out to Ota- 
hcite, for the purpose of apprehending the mutineers. Tho 
Pandora reached this island March 23rd, 1791, where 
fourteen of tho mutineers were found, who wcro appre- 
hended and kept on board in irons. As to the Bounty, it 
appeared that she had in tho first instance been taken to 
the island of Toobouai, where the mutineers determined 
upon forming a settlement; but quarrels among them- 
selves and disputes with the natives determined them upon 
leaving tho island, and proceeding to Otaheite, whieh they 
reached on the 6th of June. Here they did not remain 
long, but having taken on board 312 hogs, 38 goats, 96 
fowls, a pig, and a cow, a largo quantity of bananas, and 
received an addition of eight men. nine women, and seven 
boys, they sailed on the 19th of June, and arrived for the 
second time at Toobouai, June 2Gth. Hero they recom- 
menced their labours to effect a settlement ; but tho quarrels 
among themselves poon became more inveterate than before, 
and many of tho natives who bad attempted to resist their 



wanton aggressions wero shot. All spirit of co-operation 
was entirely gone, and it was at last determined onco more 
to return to Otaheite, where those who were disposed might 
remain, and the rest be at liberty to proceed elsewhere with 
the Bounty. Thoy accordingly left Toobouai for the last 
time on the 15th of September, and arrived at Otaheite on 
the 20th of September (1789). Here sixteen of the party 
resolved upon leaving tho ship, and the remainder of the 
mutineers, nine in number, sailed on the night of September 
21st, in search of another asylum. There were also on board 
seven Otaheitun men and twelve women. Out of the sixteen 
who were left at Otaheite, one had been shot by another of 
the party, and the natives had stoned the murderer to death. 
The Pandora therefore only took home for trial fourteen 
individuals. On the 8th of May, 1/91, the Pandora loft 
Otaheite, and, after an ineffectual search of several months, 
with a view to discover tho place of Christian's retreat anU 
tho fate of tho Bounty, she was wrecked on the 29lh August 
on the coral rocks near New Holland, when four of the mu- 
tineers and thirty-one of the ship's company lost their lives. 
The survivors, consisting of cighty-ono of the crew and 
officers of the Pandora, and ten of the mutineers of the 
Bounty, proceeded in four open boats to Timor, which they 
reached in sixteen days. Captain Edwards, of the Pan- 
dora, finally reached Spithcad with his prisoners on the 19th 
of June, 1792. 

On the 12th of September following a court-martial was 
assembled at Portsmouth, under the presidency of Lord 
Howl, for the trial of the ten surviving mutineers, and on the 
18th they delivered their verdict. Four of thein were ac- 
quitted, and six were found guilty and .sentenced to death, 
of whom two were jeconimcnded to mercv. On the 21th 
of October the king's warrant was received atrPortsinouth, 
ordering the execution of three out of the four men who 
were condemned without recommendation, and granting a 
respite to the fourth ; the other two received a full pardon, 
one of whom, a young midshipman named Heywood, after- 
wards honourably distinguished himself in the service. The 
man who was respited subsequently received his majesty's 
pardon. 

Tt was much disputed at the time whether the mutiny 
of the Bounty was occasioned by the harsh conduct of 
Bligh, or whether the mutineers were seduced from their 
duty by the prospects of a life of case and pleasure in 
the delightful islands of the South Seas. During their 
stay at Otaheite they had been exposed to temptations 
which must have had some influence on their future con- 
duct. Experience too had taught them, that solitary de- 
sertions would subject them to certain punishment, as the 
chiefs had been compelled to give up all runaways. The 
only mode of effecting their purpose (if their object was 
to settle in soino of tho islands) evidently was to mako 
themselves masters of tho ship. On the other hand, it 
is certain that Bligh's conduct was often coarse and arbi- 
trary, and that both officers and men felt indignant at his 
treatment of thein. His character also appears in an ex- 
tremely uu amiable litfht, in a letter which he wrote to the 
afllieted mother of Heywood. Bligh's reply to her in- 
quiries consisted of somo six or eight lines only, in which 
he adds to a mother's distraction by representing her 
son's * baseness as beyond all description.' To the youth's 
uncle he expressed himself in a letter as follows :—■' I very 
much regret that so much baseness formed tho character of 
a young man I had a real regard for, and it will *give ine 
much plcasuro to hear that his friends ean bear the loss of 
him without much concern.' This was beforo the eourt- 
martial was held. Heywood was not in the secret of the 
mutineers, and his error consisted in not endeavouring to 
leave the ship along with his commanding officer. Thero 
is the best reason for believing that the mutiny was not the 
result of a maturely-formed conspiracy, but that * the plot 
was conceived and carried into execution between the hours 
of four and eight a.m. of the 29th of April/ {Marshall* 
Navcd Biography , art. i ! lei/tvood.) Tho two or three pre- 
ceding days Bligh, in the united capaeitiesof commander and 
purser, had acted in a manner more than usually arbitrary. 
In 1S0G Bligh was appointed governor of Now South 
Wales, where his acts appear to have been extremely 
tyrannical, and his use of the powers vested in hiin most 
impolitic and even illegal. (See Went worth's Statistical, 
Historical, and Political Descrtptioft of New South Wales, 
p. 200.) His conduct beearae at length so unbearable that 
ou the 26th January, 1808, he was arrested by order of tho 



B L I 



515 



B L I 



other civil and military officers of the colony, and his govern- 
ment was thus summarily terminated. The excesses with 
wliieh he is charged by Wentworth are of the most shameful 
and atrocious character, and ought to be taken into account 
in forming our estimate of his conduct on board the Bounty. 
(Sec WentwortlTs second edition, p. 203, and the note.) 
Bligh died in December, 1817. 

Nothing was heard of the Bounty until 1809, when an 
American vessel touched at the island which Christian had 
selected as a retreat. For an account of this interesting 
settlement see Pitcairn's Island. 

The mutiny of the Bounty has partly been made the 
subject of one of Lord Byron's poems, entitled the * Island,' 
which contains many passages of great beauty. 

See Narrative of the Mutiny on board H. M. S. Bounty \ 
written by Lieutenant W. Bligh ; Minutes of the Proceed- 
ings on the Court-Martial, icith an Appendix, by Edward 
Christian, brother of Fletcher Christian. To this publica- 
tion Lieutenant Bligh replied with great calmness, in a 
pamphlet entitled An Answer to certain Assertions, fyc. 
He rested his defence * on the testimony of others,' and on 
the written orders issued during the voyage. ' * These testi- 
monials, I trust, will be sufficient to do away any evil im- 
pression which the publie may have imbibed.' He has not 
accompanied them by any remarks, * lest/ he adds, * I might 
have been led beyond my purpose, which I have wished to 
limit solely to defence.* The account of his voyage to the 
South Seas was published in 4to., pp. 264, London, 1792, 
and contains charts, engravings, and a portrait of Bligh. A 
popular account, entitled *The Eventful History of the Mu- 
tiny and Piratical Seizure of H. M. S. Bounty : its Cause 
and Consequences,' forms one of the volumes of the 'Family 
Library.' Murray, 1831. 

BLIGHT, a popular name for any kind of pestilence 
which affects cultivated plants by curling up or destroying 
their leaves and blossoms, or by giving them a yellow sickly 
appearance, or by covering certain parts of them with un- 
natural colours. To a term thus loosely applied no precise 
meaning can be assigned; for tbe effects to which it relates 
are produced by causes of totally different kinds. The attacks 
of insects, especially of the aphis, produce a curling in leaves, 
and a stoppage of growth; those of the eriosoraa, tubercles 
upon the branches, and loose cottony tufts ; caterpillars 
spread their nets from branch to branch, destroying all they 
meet with ; cold dry winds in the spring, or sharp night 
frosts at the same period, cause an appearance of scorching ; 
and finally the ravages of numerous parasitical fungi, some 
of which are superficial and others intestinal, are the origin 
of much that is popularly called blight. The attacks of in- 
sects form a subject which it is the business of the entomo- 
logist to explain. Blight from the attacks of parasitical 
fungi will be explained under the head of Mildew; that 
which is produced by meteorological influences may find a 
brief notice in this place. 

Nothing can be more' absurd than the explanations of this 
malady as given by many writers on gardening, nor any- 
thing more simple than it is in reality. One person talks 
gravely of its being caused by certain transparent flying 
vapours, which may sometimes take such a form as to con- 
verge the sun's rays like a burning-glass. The fact appears 
to be this : when a plant first produces its young branches 
and leaves, all the new-born parts are tender and succulent, 
and part with their iluid matter with rapidity until the 
solidification of the recently -ereated tissue has taken place. 
To enable this function to be performed regularly and with- 
out interruption, it is necessary, 1. that the air should be in a 
certain state of humidity, or the perspiring parts will lose 
their aqueous particles too fast; and, 2. that the tempera- 
ture should not be low enough to destroy the tissue by rup- 
turing its sides, or by any other cause. Suppose these con- 
ditions to be maintained without interruption, leaves and 
branches gradually become fully formed, and no blight 
appears ; but if, as frequently happens in this country, the 
air is rendered extremely dry by the prevalence of easterly 
winds, the young parts perspire with such rapidity that the 
loss thus occasioned cannot be made good by the roots, and 
the consequence is that the tissue becomes dried up and 
scorched as it were, or at all events is brought into a more 
or less diseased condition. Such is blight properly so called, 
if that term can be considered applicable to any particular 
form of disease. It will bo obvious that the only remedy 
for this, after it has occurred, will be the restoration of the 
atmosphere to the necessary state of humidity, or to a suffi- 



ciently equable temperature. For this, artificial means can 
only be employed upon a limited scale, and perhaps the only 
practice which is ever attended with much advantage is fre- 
quently washing the blighted plants with a syringe. It has 
by some been recommended that wet litter should be burned 
to the windward of large tracts covered with blighted plants, 
and it has been supposed that the smoke thus produced will 
remedy it by destroying insects, its imaginary cause ; but if 
any effect is ever obtained from such a practice, it is not by 
the destruction of insects, but by the interposition of a canopy 
of smoke at night between the plants and the sky, by which 
radiation is stopped, and the severity of the cold diminished. 

Blight is often used to designate the mischief done by 
those insects which are destructive to vegetation ; and con- 
sequently many insects of various genera and even orders 
must be included under this' common denomination. It is 
not our intention however to describe the habits of all these 
various species, as they will be found under their respective 
heads : at present, we shall confine ourselves to the history 
of one species only, which has been carefully observed by 
Mr. Lewis, and which will be found in detail, in the first 
number of the Entomological Society's Transactions. As 
this 1 history is a satisfactory explanation of the sudden ap- 
pearance of certain insects infesting the apple, hawthorn, 
and other trees, it is hoped that the vulgar idea of blight 
breeding in the air, and coming with the wind, will, in a 
great measure, be refuted. * 

If the branches of the apple or hawthorn (particularly 
the young branches) be carefully examined during the 
winter months, certain little round and slightly convex 
patches will be found. These patches are rather less than 
tbe sixth of an inch in diameter, and generally attached to 
the underside of the branches :— each of these little patches 
is the work of a small white or lead-coloured moth, studded 
all over with black spots (Yponomeuta padella, the small 
ermine), and consists of a number of eggs (deposited in 
the month of June) covered with a glutinous substance, 
which is at first of a pale yellow colour, but by being ex- 
posed to the weather soon becomes dark, and thus closely 
resembles the branch. The eggs hatch early in the Au- 
tumn, and the larva) remain confined within tbis covering 
during the winter, at which time, if the case be opened, about 
a dozen or more of these little larva;, which are of a yellow 
colour, may ; be distinctly seen by means of a lens of very 
moderate power. As soon as the trees hegin to put forth 
their leaves, the larvco make their escape from the covering, 
and as they are yet very feeble, and cannot eat the epider- 
mis of the leaves, and require protection from the weather; 
they mine into the leaves, where they subsist upon the 
parenchyma only. When their little frames are grown 
stronger, so that they are able to bear the inclemencies of 
the weather, perhaps also some particular state of the at- 
mosphere being favourable, * they make their way out, and 
the anxious gardener, who has hitherto only observed the 
brownncss of the leaves, caused by the mining, but which 
is by him attributed to the withering blast of an easterly 
wind, is astounded when he perceives myriads of caterpillars 
swarming on the trees, and proceeding with alarming ra- 
pidity in their devastating course. The fact of their mining 
sufficiently explains the reason of this sudden appearance : 
it shows how one day not a single caterpillar may be visible 
on the trees, and the next,' they may be swarming with 
larYoo of so large a size as to rebut the idea of their having 
been recently hatched/ The webs wc so often see covering 
the branches of apple-trees, and the hawthorn of the hedges, 
are the work of the little caterpillar above mentioned ; 
which after a time becomes of a lead-colour spotted with 
black, and when full growii spins an oblong white cocoon, 
within which it turns to the pupa, and shortly after tho 
moth hatches : this takes place generally in the month of 
June. 

The aphides, or plant lice, are likewise great pests to 
the gardener (see Aphis). It may be observed, however, 
that as each infested plant has its peculiar aphis and as 
the aphides are quite as numerous (if not more so) when 
the plants are covered with a glass as when they are ex- 
posed, it is absurd to imagine that blight is bred in the 
air (the vulgar notion), and brought to these plants by the 
wind. Certain winds may be more favourable than others 
for hatching the young, which however are undoubtedly 
deposited on the plants by the parent insect. 

BLIND, INSTRUCTION OF THE. Blindness per- 
haps meets with more general sympathy than any other 

3U2 



B I, I 



5iG 



n l i 



calamity. Our most lwautiful and correct perceptions are 
derived through tho medium of sight; tho want thcreforo 
of such a medium is an evil for which no other posses- 
sion can compensate. Hence it is that we at first consider 
the blind as an unfortunate race, whoso conceptions must 
not only be confined to that narrow sphere in which they 
live and move, but, as far as a knowledge of external objects 
is concerned, must be limited to that imperfect ncquaint- 
auce which is obtained by the sense of feeling. Looking 
however further into the subject, wc find that tho sense of 
hearing is constantly communicating knowledge to n blind 
person which helps him to analyse and compare; from 
which ho draws inferences, and arrives at conclusions more 
or less correct; that constant experience enables him to 
modify any false impressions which lie may have received ; 
that association, memory, and other powers of the mind arc 
active ; that the sense's of smell and taste arc continually 
contributing somo small ndditions to his stores of know- 
ledge, and that, by these united means, he may become 
well-informed on subjects of ordinary discourse, tlibugh 
labouring' under a disadvantage at first appearance insur- 
mountable. The Self education of a child bom blind com- 
mences as soon after its birth as that of one who sees; and 
if parents in such cases would give themselves trouble in its 
instruction, instead of looking upon their case as one of 
despair, they would he amply rewarded by the improve- 
ment, surpassing -all expectation, which their child would 
make. They would find little difficulty in communicating 
to him tho names, shapes, and many other particulars of 
objects; and indeed language, with tho exception of some 
classes of words denoting colour, or other qualities, which 
can only be known by means of sight, might be as perfectly 
conveyed to hiin as to the child possessing all its senses. 
They would find that they could give correct ideas of num- 
l>ers to a large amount by means of tangible objects, and of 
stiil larger numbers by analogy; that they could also give 
ideas of time, space, distance; so as to impress him with 
correct notions of the earth, its size, inhabitants, productions, 
climates; the occupations, the pleasures, and the pains of 
mankind. All this is khowlcdgo of a useful and pleasing 
kind, and many parents would become highly interested 
in such a work ; they would soon find that tncy might pro- 
ceed still farther, and enable their blind child either to 
attain a certain degree of perfection in some mechanical 
art, or, by educating his higher faculties, train him to occupy 
a more intellectual and important station. 

Tho parent who reasons and acts thus upon his child's 
calamity will be supported and animated by the knowledge 
that he is supplying by his own attention the defect of na- 
ture, and that ho is educating his child to fulfil important 
duties with the same pleasure to himself that others have 
who possess a more perfect organization, and that he is pro- 
viding a most ellieicnt check to listlcssncss and mental 
torpor. 

Tho car has been happily called * the vestibule of tho 
soul/ and the annals of the blind who have become illus- 
trious confirm the remark, for they show that few intellectual 
studies are inacecssiblo to them. It has even been said, 
and has received a kind of universal assent among those 
who have associated much with them, that in certain 
branches of study they have a facility which others rarely 
possess. The blind appear to have immense advantages 
over tho deaf: their intercourse with tho outward world, 
by means of speech, is more direct, and consequently more 
rapid, and their knowledge of passing events is equal to 
that of mankind generally. The deaf and dumb see in- 
deed all (hat passes within their immediato sphere, but 
owing to the circuitous mode of communication which they 
have to adopt, they can know little beyond it, and enter 
very partially into the spirit of passing events. In addi- 
tion to this, finding that they do not always understand 
perfectly, nor guess rightly, thoir temper becomes impatient, 
nnd their eountcnanco acquires an anxious or irritable cx- 

1>rcssion, which is sometimes mistaken for cleverness. We 
mow of no deaf persons who have attained to any great 
degree of eminence, even under circumstances favourable to 
the development of their powers; but with regard to the blind, 
they have enriched the arts, the sciences, and literature by 
their successful pursuits, and not nnfrequcntly under circnm- 
sluices of extraordinary difficulty. Viewing both theso 
classes of men as devoid of education, dependent upon them- 
selves for support, and for the enjoyment of life, the Mind arc 
physically greater objects of compassion than the deaf, be- 



cause, without peculiar modes of education suited to their 
privation, they cannot obtain a livelihood ; but so far as hap- 
piness is dependent upon knowledge, and from this sourco 
some of the purest enjoyments arise, they are nearly on a level 
with ordinary men. Ttirough the car they can acquiro know- 
ledge of the" highest order, and cannot remain long in any 
company of their fellow-inen without becoming in sume de- 
gree wiser. The caso of the deaf is the reverso of this : tlicy 
are not physically so dependent as the blind : having the ad- 
vantage of sight, they may applv themselves to and acquire 
the simpler imitative arts, and thus cam a subsistence, 
but mentally they are little above brutes; they can know 
nothing of the things around them, they feel themselves de- 
pressed and degraded among men; tho language, tho 
customs/ the enjoyments of society, where theso rise higher 
than what seems to exist among the more perfect animals, 
are to them unknown, and by ihem unregarded ; and it 
requires only a small amount of rctlection to perceive that 
an uneducated deaf person is not morally responsible for his 
conduct. 

Our object in making these remarks, and the comparison 
with which wo have opened this subject, arc not designed to 
show that the blind are less in need of education than the 
deaf and dumb ; we are advocates for education in its fullest 
extent among all classes, but more particularly among per- 
sons who labour under impediments so distressing as tho&o 
wc have mentioned. Our advice would be to educate such 
persons as highly as possible, to improve especially those 
faculties which they appear to possess in a superior degree 
to mankind generally ; but not to waste time and labour in 
endeavouring to instruct them in arts in which they can 
never attain to an equality with persons who possess the 
full enjoyment of their senses. 

In this and in other countries some attention has been 
paid to alleviate the sufferings and diminish the ignorance 
of the blind; tho hand of pity has been extended to lead 
them into society, and the voice of sympathy has been heard 
by them in the midst of their darkness. Asylums in several 
parts of Great Britain have rescued a few from a life of list- 
lcssncss and anxious care, who have been instructed in 
various arts with the view of wholly or partially relieving 
thein from dependence on their friends, their parishes, or the 
temporary bounty of the benevolent. Still, from all the in- 
quiries which wc have been able to make, wo do not think 
that sufficiently well-directed and persevering efforts have 
been used to raise them to that intellectual standard to 
which those may and should reach who arc cut off from so 
many of the pleasures arising from external impressions. 
Enough has been accomplished to assuro us that other im- 
provements might be effected, not indeed enough to show 
all the defects of tho plans which havo been pursued, nor 
perhaps to suggest a system which might be regarded as 
complete and in all its parts practicable. It has been 
proved that blindness is no insurmountable obstacle to the 
acquisition of knowledge; but the evidence of this fact has 
not led to a proper system in the establishments which have 
been formed for the reception of the blind ; that in conse- 
quence asylums have been provided rather than institutions 
— places of abode, rather than places for instruction. Where 
instruction has been professedly an object, the attempt has 
been to make the blind perform works to excite the wonder 
of visiters, rather than to confer any essential benefit upon 
the blind themselves; or they have been trained to execute 
works, which it would be irrational to suppose they could 
ever perform with the samo exactness as persons who see. 
Many of these fallacies in their education were probably 
derived from the French schools, in which they oneo pre- 
sented a moro prominent featuro than they do at tho pre- 
sent time. 

It is invariably found that persons who arc deficient in 
one sense exercise those that are left to them more con- 
stantly, and for this reason more accurately ; for the senses 
aro improved or educated by exercise. The exquisite fine- 
ness of touch and smell in tho blind, the quickness in the 
cyo of the deaf, the accuracy with which a seaman discovers 
a distant vessel long beforo it is discernible to the unaccus- 
tomed eye of a landsman, and the acutcness of sight, hear- 
ing, and smelling in many savage tribes, are all to bo re- 
ferred to the samo cause, namely, the constant exercise of 
those organs. Those persons who are deprived of one or 
other of their senses will, to a great degree, supply tho 
deficiency by the aid of those which they still retain. Hear- 
ing and touch are especially cultivated by the blind; by the 



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517 



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first they recognise speeeh, and the endless variations and 
modifications of sound; by the second they beeorae ae- 
•quainted with the external form of objects. The ehief art 
of the instructor of the blind therefore eonsists in supplying 
through an indirect medium those ideas of whieh his pupil 
eannot obtain a conception through the ordinary ehannels: 
and in doing this he will aet wisely to ascertain what ideas 
on kindred subjects his pupil possesses, whether such are 
true or false, and by what process he beeame possessed of 
them ; to become, in fact, the pupil of his pupil ; to draw forth 
the stock of knowledge already attained in order to form a 
ground-work on whieh to proeeed with his future instructions. 
The mode which would probably first occur to a. teacher 
in the intellectual education of the blind would be lessons 
delivered orally, illustrated by such analogies as would en- 
able them to follow their teaeher, taken if neeessary from 
objects appealing to their senses. At first they would ad- 
vance by slow degrees in comparison with pupils who see, 
but this very slowness would be accompanied by a surcness 
which would amply repay the pains taken to make the 
lessons understood. It is a fault in ordinary sehools that 
the first steps are taken too rapidly, and one advance too 
quickly follows upon a former. Such sehools might derive 
a useful lesson from the methods used in the instruction of 
those who are deprived of one or other of their senses. 
From oral instruction, the transition to a palpable language 
is natural. Accordingly, we find that the invention of 
characters in relief was among the earliest measures taken 
for instructing the blind. In the first attempt thus made, 
it is worthy of remark, for a reason which will presently 
appear, that the letters chosen were those of the Illyrian or 
Selavonian alphabet modified. This alphabet was doubtless 
preferred on aceount of the square form of the letters, which 
it was thought would make them more obvious to the touch 
than ours. (Essai sitr I Instruction des Aveugles, $>c. y par 
le Docteur Guillie, p. 134, 2nde edition.) It is somewhat 
singular that the principle of square or angular letters was 
abandoned, as * not offering greater advantages than eom- 
mon characters;' in the present day their superiority seems 
to be acknowledged in the advantages which Gall's trian- 
gular alphabet possesses over all others, but of this invention 
we shall soon speak more fully. Moveable letters were 
afterwards invented, which were plaeed on small tablets 
of wood, and were made to slide in grooves, on a similar plan 
to some of the toys which are made for the purpose of in- 
ducing ehildren to learn their letters, spelling, &c.' It was 
with similar letters that Usher, archbishop of Armagh, was 
taught by his two aunts who were both blind ; but this 
proeess was found defective for teaehing blind persons. 
Moveable leaden characters were afterwards east for the 
use of the blind, by Pierre Moreau, a notary of Paris, but 
the work was attended with difficulties and expenses which 
he was not prepared to eneonuter. Large pin-eushions 
were also brought into use for the blind, on which the cha- 
racters were figured with * inverted needles." Perhaps the 
relief caused by the heads of pins would have been more 
eligible. Various other attempts were made in wood and 
metal till the time of Haiiy, who invented the art of print- 
ing in relief for the blind. The latest improvements in this 
art are those of Mr. Gall, of Edinburgh (to whom we have 
referred), whose triangular alphabet when printed in strong 
relief ean be rapidly read by persons whose tactile powers 
are less delieate than those eommonly possessed by the 
blind. We give the shape of this alphabet, and regret we 
cannot show the relief; but we think we may assert that 
it is superior to every invention of this kind which has yet 
been produced, and deserving of every encouragement, till 
it is proved by experience, either that alphabetical eharae- 
tors are needless for the blind, or that stenography, or some 
other art yet to he discovered, offers greater advantages. 

. Mr, Gall's Alphabet 

JKlMAOJHr 

UVVWXYZ. 



The art of printing for the blind is yet in its infancy ; the 
refined sense of touch which they possess, together with a 
desire, which we are glad to see increasing to render them 
in as great a degree as possible independent of a teacher, 
will probably lead to improvements beyond our present an- 
ticipations. We have seen books printed in the above 
alphabet, whieh may be read by seeing persons with perfect 
ease, and we are surprised that it has not been more generally 
adopted. In France and in America the ordinary-shaped 
letters are used. In the former country the types are very 
similar to those ealled Script; the letters are set upright, and 
they are mueh widened, to render them more obvious to the 
touch. In Ameriea, a part of the gospel of St. Mark has 
been printed in embossed letters, and in the early part of 
the present year (1835) a handsomely bound eopy of this 
work was transmitted from the Pennsylvanian Institution 
for the Blind, and presented to the Liverpool Blind Asylum. 

Mr. Gall, of Edinburgh, has printed in his alphabet the 
whole of the gospel , of St. John, and also six elementary 
books. Though the appearanee of his works has been pro- 
tracted by unexpected difficulties and disappointments, it 
may be hoped that they will now be soon brought into 
extensive use, and made serviceable, as it has been proved 
they ean be, in supplying the wants of that elass tor 
whom they were provided. Alphabets for the blind have 
also been invented by Mr. Hay, a blind man, who is 
a teaeher of languages in Edinburgh, and by Dr. Fry, 
of Type-street, London. Mr. Craig, of Edinburgh, has 
either invented an alphabet, or modified one of the ex- 
isting ones. In addition to these attempts to supply a desi- 
deratum so long felt, an ingenious striiig alphabet was 
eontrived a few years ago, by David Macbeath, a blind 
teacher in the Edinburgh School, in conjunction with Ro- 
bert Milne, one of his blind companions. The following is 
their description of this* invention :— ' The string- alphabet 
is formed by so knotting a 'cord, that the protuberances 
made upon it may be qualified, by their shape, size, and 
situation, for signifying the elements of language. The 
letters of this alphabet are distributed into seven classes, 
whieh are distinguished by eertain knots or other marks ; 
eaeh class comprehends four letters, exeept the last, which 
comprehends but two. The first, or A class, is distinguished 
by a large round knot ; the second or E class, by a knot 
projecting from the line; the third or I class, by the series 
of links vulgarly ealled the * drummer's plait ;' the fourth 
or M class, by a simple noose ; the fifth or Q elass, by a 
noose with a line drawn through it ; the sixth or U class, 
by a noose with a net-knot east on it ; and the seventh or Y 
class, by a twisted noose. The first letter of each class 
is denoted by the simple characteristic of its respective 
class ; the second by the characteristic and a common knot 
close to it'; the third by the characteristic and a common 
knot half an inch from it ; and the fourth by the character- 
istic and a common knot an inch from it. Thus, A is 
simply a large round knot; B is a large round knot with a 
eommon knot close to it ; C as a large round knot with a 
eommon knot half an ineh from it ; and D is a large round 
knot with a common knot an ineh from it, and so on.' The 
alphabet above described is found hy experience to answer 
completely the purpose for which it was invented. In tho 
Glasgow Asylum, the greater part of the gospel of St. 
Mark, the 119th Psalm, *and other passages of Scripture 
and history have been executed in this alphabet. The 
knotted string is wound round a vertical frame, which re- 
volves, and passes from the reader as he proceeds. - 

This alphabet reminds us of the Quipos, or knot-reeords 
of Peru, in which the history of their country was recorded 
long before the diseovery of America by the Spaniards. Their 
quipos were formed of the intestines of animals, and there 
is a similar diversity in their symbols with that in the string- 
alphabet of whieh we are speaking. An aecount of these 
quipos was published in London in 1827. They were pur- 
chased by Alexander Strong for ten pounds, from a person 
who bought them at Buenos Ayres. 

In further explanation of the string-alphabet the in- 
ventors say, * It must readily oceur to every one that the 
employment of an alphabet, composed in the manner which 
has been explained, will ever be necessarily tedious ; but it 
should be borne in mind that there is no supposable system 
of tangible figures significant of thought, that is not more 
or less liable to the same objection. ^ The inventors are 
aware that among the different methods by whieh people 
at a distanee might be enabled to hold mutual intercourse, 



BLI 




through the medium of a language addressed to the touch, 
there arc some that would doubtless be more expeditious 
than theirs; but they Hatter themselves that, when all the 
advantages and disadvantages of each particular method 
arc duly considered, the plan which they have been led to 
adopt will appear, upon the whole, decidedly the best. There 
can scarcely be any system of tangible signs, which it would 
be less difficult either to learn or to remember; since a 
person of ordinary intellect may easily acquire a thorough 
knowledgo of the string- alphabet in an hour and retain it 
for ever. Yet the inventors can assure their readers that 
it is impossible for tho pen or the press to convey ideas 
with greater precision. Besides the highly important pro- 
perties of simplicity and accuracy which their scheme 
unites, and in which it has not been surpassed, it possesses 
various minor, nor yet inconsidcrablo advantages, in which 
it is presumed it cannot be equalled by anything of its 
kind. For example, its tactilo representations of articulate 
sounds arc easily portable — the materials of which they are 
constructed may always be procured at a trifling expense — 
and tho apparatus necessary for their construction is ex- 
tremely simple. In addition to the letters of the alphabet, 
thero nave been contrived arithmetical figures, which it is 
hoped will be of great utility, as the remembrance of num 
hers is often found peculiarly diflicult. Palpablo commas, 
semicolons, &c. havo likewiso been provided to be used, 
when judged requisite. The inventors have only to add, 
that sensible of the happy results of the invention to them- 
selves, and commiserating the fate of their fellow-pr boners 
Of darkness, they most earnestly recommend to all intrusted 
with tho education of persons deprived of sight carefully 
to instruct them in tho principles of orthography, as the 
blind being in general unable to spell is the chief obstaclo 
to their deriving, from the now mode of signifying thought, 
the much -wanted benefit which it is designed to extend to 
their melancholy circumstances/ 

We entirely agreo in tho views here taken of tho string- 
alphabet ; as an auxiliary to the blind in the acquirement 
and application of language, and in the absence of a tan- 
giblo writing on paper, wo think no invention is superior 
to it, and we should be glad to have scon it in more common 
use among tho blind in our recent inquiries at various 
institutions. The advice to instruct the blind carefully in 
spelling is important, for if this acquirement be not made, 
they cannot communicato by language with their fellow 
men otherwise than orally. To those blind porsons who 
have lived together in institutions, and formed friendships 
which thoy wish to continue when separated by distance, 
tho string-alphabet offers a mode of correspondence as per- 



fect as our pen, ono too which may be intrusted to ordinary 
persons to convey without any probability of the communi- 
cation being deciphered. 

David Macbeath, one of the inventors, died suddenly, at 
tho age of forty-two, in November, 1834 ; he had been con- 
nected with the Edinburgh Asvlum, as pupil and teacher, 
for twenty-five years. His inventions for teaching were nu- 
merous, and applicable to instruction in music, arithmetic, 
and mathematics. His string-alphabet was fully described 
in the 'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,* some years ago. 
Ho conducted the public examinations of the Edinburgh 
pupils, whero he never failed to excite tho interest and 
attention of those present towards the objects of his solici- 
tude. One of his pupils is at present a teacher in the 
Glasgow Asylum, and two others are similarly ernplojcd in 
America. 

In the infancy of tho art of teaching the blind, raised 
music was invented, in order that they might be enabled to 
acquire their lessons independent of a master. This inven- 
tion is at present little used, for the constant practice of 
those who pursue this branch of study is a continual exer- 
cise of the memory, and they are able to learn very long 
pieces by the car alone. We may here mention the inven- 
tion of Don Jaime Isern, the object of which is to enable a 
blind composer to transfer his thoughts to paper in the 
usual musical notation, without tho necessity of employing 
an amanuensis. For this invention the large silver medal 
of the London Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manu- 
factures, and Commerce was given to Don J. Isern in 1827. 
There is a full description of it, with illustrative engrav- 
ings, in vol. xlv. of the * Society's Transactions/ In the 
same volume there is an interesting communication on the 
subject of types for the blind, by Mr. G.Gibson of Birming- 
ham. Tliis communication is connected with various inven- 
tions which we havo had the pleasure of inspecting, and of 
which wo shall givo a short account, referring our readers 
who desire to be mado perfectly acquainted with the inven- 
tion to the work above mentioned. Mr. Gibson's aim has 
been to supply tho blind with a mode of writing and keeping 
their own accounts. * A cube of wood, or of any other con- 
venient material, the size of which will depend on the delicacy 
of touch in each blind person, is to have raised on one side 
of it a letter, or figure, or stop, in the manner of a printer's 
type. On the opposite or lower side of tho cubo is a repre- 
sentation of the same character as is on the upper side, but 
formed of needle-points inserted into the wood. If therefore 
a piece of paper bo laid on a cushion, or surface of felt, and 
tho type be pressed down, the points will enter the paper, 
and fifrra on tho under surface of it a raised or embossed 



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519 



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representation, by the projection of the burs where the points 
have penetrated, and this embossed character may be distin- 
guished, and consequently read by the toueh/ In its out- 
ward appearance, the whole apparatus of Mr. Gibson forms a 
small piece of cabinet furniture. "When the top is thrown 
open an even surface of cushion presents itself. Upon this 
there is a flat piece of mahogany about an inch broad, which 
can be moved from one notch to another, to any part of 
the desk. This is for the letters to lie against, like the com- 
posing-stick of a printer. The letters he uses are a com- 
position of tin and lead ; the upper surface is elevated so 
that he can distinguish the letter, and the under surface has 
inserted in it needle-points of the shape of the letter on the 
upper surface. In writing the Lord'3 Prayer, after the 
paper is placed, he takes O out of its division, and puts it at 
the beginning of the line, then U, then R, gently pressing 
eaeh letter down, as he puts it next the preceding one. At 
the end of a word he inserts a small mahogany space, and 
proceeds till his performance is complete ; whether it he a 
copy of any thing which he wishes to make, or an original 
piece of composition. It will be observed that, by putting two 
or more pieees of paper underneath his pointed types, eopies 
will be multiplied. The letters are in small divisions, which 
occupy side-drawers in his printing cabinet. The use of 
this machine implies more knowledge than the uneducated 
blind possess, as they must know how to spell. However, it 
is a part of its object to teach spelling. For this communi- 
cation to the London Society for the Encouragement of 
Arts, &c, Mr. Gibson was presented with the gold Vulcan 
medal of the Society. Another of Mr. Gibson's inventions, 
which has not been made public, may be here noticed. It 
forms a 'drawer of the cabinet above-mentioned, and is in- 
tended for working the rules of arithmetic. This Mr. G. calls 
his slate. It is divided into rows by elevated slips of wood, 
along which the figures are to slide. Like the types they 
are formed of metal, but have no needle-points underneath. 
We have seen him perform examples in multiplication and 
other rules by this apparatus, which is simply and beauti- 
fully conceived. It is obvious that all the elementary opera- 
tions fn arithmetic may be performed by it, and that by the 
union of this and the writing apparatus, a blind person may 
write his own letters, and. keep his own accounts. We 
have dwelt upon the subject of reading and writing for the 
blind, feeling that they are deserving of all the importance 
which can be attached to them. We return to the early 
methods pursued in this art. 

Embossed maps and globes for teaching geography would 
naturally be suggested to those persons who were engaged 
in teaching reading to the blind by raised figures. M. 
Weissembpurg, a blind man of Mannheim, appears to have 
been the first person who made relief-maps ; up to which 
time the instruction given to the blind on geography was 
merely oral. Various methods for producing maps of this 
character were employed, but at first without success ; after 
a timo however the chief difficulties were conquered, and a 
process which is minutely described by Dr. Guilli6 has sup- 
plied all the maps which have been in use at the Parisian 
institution to the present time. The map of a country is 
pasted upon thick pasteboard, a wire is then bent round the 
curves of the coast, and along the courses of the rivers; these 
wires are fastened down, and a second map in every respect 
similar to the first is pasted over it ; when this is pressed, the 
windings of the wire will be easily traced by the touch. It 
is stated in the * North American Review," No. lxxx., that an 
improvement has been made in the manufacture of maps 
for the blind, which ' consists in having a metal plate en- 
graved with all the lines, elevations, boundary-marks, posi- 
tions of towns, &c. ; from this plate impressions are struck 
in pasteboard, which produce a perfect embossed map/ It 
has sometimes occurred to us that the geographical reliefs 
of Kuramer, of Berlin, might be rendered useful in the 
instruction' of the blind. The wider a useful invention can 
be spread, the cheaper it will be afforded. There is a short 
'notice of Rummer's reliefs in the first Number of the 
' Quarterly Journal of Education/ p. 190. -* 

Palpable methods have also been adopted for making the 
blind acquainted with different branches of astronomical 
knowledge, and, in addition to raised maps of the heavens, 
various ingenious instruments have been contrived to further 
their progress in the science of astronomy. The application 
of such apparatus to tho purposes of teaching lias been at- 
tended with encouraging success. We shall detail some of 
the methods pursued in teaching arithmetic when we speak 



of the Edinburgh Institution, where the well-known inven- 
tion of Dr. Saunderson has been so much improved that, 
by its means, any operation may be readily performed. For 
a description of the original invention," which was the 
united work of Dr. Moyes and Dr. Saunderson, wo refer to 
the article * Blind' in Refes's Cyclopeedia, or in the Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica. By the improvements which we 
shall describe, it will be seen how greatly the simplicity of 
the contrivance has been increased. Previous to these tan- 
gible methods of teaching arithmetic tho blind were in- 
structed on this subjeet orally, the process on their part being 
entirely melital. A publication of late years, which is in- 
tended exclusively for the blind, is of a higher character and 
aim than any that have preceded it, though not one which 
will generally be considered as equal to many of those men- 
tioned, in point of utility. The work to which we allude is an 
elementary treatise on mathematics by the Rev. William 
Taylor of York, called 'The Diagrams of Euclid's Elements 
of Geometry, arranged according to Simpson's edition in an 
embossed or tangible form, for the use of blind persons who 
wish to enter upon the study of that noble science/ York, 
1828. As a means of leading to the acquisition of a science 
for which some blind persons have shown a predilection, we 
welcome the appearance of this beautifully-executed work, 
and we hope that the blind generally who show a superior 
aptitude for the exact sciences, even though instructed in a 
degree at the public expense, will have all the advantages 
which works like Mr. Taylor's aided by good instructors can 
confer. ' 

Several centuries ago the blind were sufficiently taught 
to show that the privation under which they labour is no 
considerable obstacle to high attainments. Manual helps 
were contrived by some of the earliest learners to assist 
them in obtaining various kinds of knowledge ; but it would 
be mOrc eurions than useful to trace the progress of the art 
during its infant state. It will be enough for us to refer to 
the period when public interest was excited, and when 
publie beneficence promised to confer enduring advantages 
on those whom accident or disease had deprived of sight. 
The instruction of the blind, as an art, is of very modern date, 
and all the improvements which have been effected on the 
earlier methods are the work of our own days. The blind, 
as a body, can scarcely be considered as having derived much 
benefit from the means which have been taken to ameliorato 
their condition. Several causes have contributed to prevent 
the diffusion of that experience which has been found suc- 
cessful. Among these may be mentioned the want of a 
union of purpose and principle among those persons in 
whom the management of asylums has been vested, tho 
distance of the various asylums from each other, the small 
number of sUch establishments, and an ignorance of the fact 
that so large a number of the blind are intermingled with 
our seeing population. But there is reason to hope that 
some of these causes will not exist much longer. Within 
the past year two new institutions have been announced in 
populous districts of our own country, and several abroad ; 
and two of our older asylums are extending their benefits to 
a greatly increased number of objects. 

Institutions of a philanthropic tendency have frequently 
originated with members, individual or collective, of learned 
societies ; and such societies have lent their assistance and 
patronage to various efforts for advancing the condition of 
mankind, and removing the obstacles to improvement. The 
attempts of M. Haiiy to systematize a plan for the education 
of the blind are the first which are deserving of especial 
notice. His methods were submitted to the Academy of 
Sciences of Paris, where they received all the encourage- 
ment he looked for. The commissioners chosen to report upon 
tho means which he proposed to employ suggested to the 
Academy not only to bestow its approbation upon M. Haiiy, 
but also to invite hiin to publish his methods, and to assure 
him of their readiness to receive from him an account of his 
future progress. It appears that many of the plans recom- 
mended by Haiiy in his ' Essay on the Education of the 
Blind' were not so mueh his own inventions as adaptations 
of the ingenious contrivances of individuals of different 
ages, and in different countries, who had preceded him in 
this benevolent work. The celebrity of certain blind indi- 
viduals, partly the result perhaps of pains-taking teachers, 
and partly of their own highly-gifted minds, had reached 
the ears of Haiiy. By a happy exercise of benevolence and 
talent, aided by that enthusiasm without which the greatest 
labour is ineffectual, he formed the outlino of a system of 



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520 



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instruction, which required only time, and the modifications 
which discover themselves in every course of rational 
teaching, to bo brought into successful operation. He 
wished to make the sense of touch do that for the blind 
which tho Abbe dc l'Eple had made the sense of sight do 
for tho deaf and dumb. Ho wished to sec the fingers of the 
blind employed in reading written language, and for this 
purpose ho invented the noble art of printing in relief, which 
will hand down the name of Valentine 1 1 any with honour 
to posterity. Hauy offered to instruct gratuitously the blind 
children who were under the care of the Philanthropic So- 
ciety. He commenced his instructions in 1784, and taught 
his pupils reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, composing 
types, and printing. In 1 7SG public exercises were performed 
by the pupils at Versailles, in the presence of the king ; these 
exercises excited much astonishment, and there seemed to 
be little doubt of the stability and success of the undertak- 
ing. Large funds were subscribed, and the school was 
filled with pupils ; hut the commencement had been made 
on a scale too extensive for its regular maintenance, tho 
warmth of popular feeling cooled, and as the institution was 
unsupported by government. Haiiy never enjoyed the fruits 
for winch he had toiled. His school was not however suf- 
fered to fall entirely ; it was taken up by the Constituent 
Assembly of the Revolution, and has since been supported 
at the expense of the government. Tho establishment of 
which we are speaking is the School for the Young Blind 
at Paris. 

Previous to the time of M. II any no success had been 
obtained in the art of printing for the blind, though it had 
been attempted in a variety of ways, and by different per- 
sons. Letters were engraved in wood, not cut in relief, but 
in tho ordinary manner of wood-cutting. The configurations 
of tho letters were found to be difficult to trace, possessing 
none of the advantages which letters in relief afford. We 
have mentioned Pierre Morcau's plan, and the cause of its 
having been forsaken. Hatiy's was a holder invention 
than any other offered to tho public. Not only has it never 
been superseded, but from it have arisen all the modern 
attempts to teach the blind reading by means of relief-cha- 
racters. An objection has been made to the use of relief- 
characters which deserves attention, — that the fingers of 
children soon level the uneven surfaces. Gall's experi- 
ments (see page 83 of his work) appear to have been quite 
successful in providing a remedy for this evil. He says 
that his relief-letters ' may, upon a hnrd table, be rubbed by 
the fingers for any length of time, and with any degree of 
pressure and speed, without the slightest deterioration ; they 
may even be violently beaten on a board, with the llcsliy 
part of the closed fist, and tho relief will remain as perfect, 
and will stand out as prominently as ever.' He also sug- 
gests, as children sometimes, when learning their letters, 
tear the reliefs with their nails, that for the sake of economy 
the letters shall he taught in the first instance from thin 
metallic plates. Hauy had the satisfaction to sec his system, 
so far as it had been carried into effect, extended to other 
countries. He formed an institution at St. Petersburg, 
having been summoned thither by the emperor ; he also 
formed one at Berlin. Thus, though the zeal which had 
been excited at Paris by his first operations was beginning 
to relax, Haiiy had the pleasure of seeing similar institu- 
tions arise in other cities in Europe and attract so considerable 
a share of patronage as to give promise that his art would 
not bo forgotten. 

There arc at Paris two celebrated institutions for the 
blind. The moro ancient of these is the Hopital Royale des 
Quinze Vingts, founded by St. Louis in 12G0, for the re- 
ception of such of his soldiers as had lost their sight in the 
Bast. At its first establishment it consisted of blind and 
teeing persons, the latter being the conductors of the 
former. As its name indicates, it receives Jt/te en score, or 
three hundred blind persons. This nohlc asylum continues, 
ns it was originally placed, under the government of the 
grand almoner of France. To obtain admission it is neces- 
sary that applicants be blind and indigent ; they nro ad- 
mittcd from all parts of the kingdom, are lodged in the 
hospital, and receive twenty-four sous (about a shilling) a 
clay for their food and clothing. No instruction is afforded 
to the inmates of the Quinze Vingtx ; some of them, how- 
ever, execute works, which, for their ingenuity, attract and 
deserve attention. 

Tho other Parisian establishment for the blind is the 
Institution Royale des Jcuncs Aveugtes, of which llnoy 



was tho founder. It contains about a hundred young per- 
sons of both sexes, who are maintained and educated at 
the expense of the state for eight years. Paying pupils 
arc also admitted. Some particulars respecting this institu- 
tion appeared in tho North American Review for July, 1833, 
of whicn we shall make use; and though we do not ndopt 
all the conclusions of the writer, some of the suggestions 
there made arc deserving of the attentive consideration of 
all persons who feel an interest in the moral and intellectual 
improvement of the blind. 

' The institution for the young blind is intended solely 
for their education, and none hut children between ten mid 
fourteen years of ago are admitted: there are one hundred 
of theso interesting beings in the establishment, and a 
more delightful spectacle cannot be imagined than a view 
of its interior. You see not there the listless, helpless 
blind man dozing away his days in a chimney nook, or 
groping his uncertain way about the house ; but you hear 
the hum of busy voices— you sec the workshops filled with 
active boys, learning their trades from others as blind as 
themselves — you sec the school-rooms crowded with ca^er 
listeners taught by blind teachers. When they take their 
books you sec the awakened intellect gleam from their 
smiling faces, and as they pass their fingers rapidly over 
the leaves, their varying countenances bespeak the varjing 
emotions which the words of the author awaken : when tho 
bell rings they start away to the play-ground— run aluiig 
the alleys at full speed, — chase, overtake, and tumble each 
other about, and shout, and laugh, and caper round, with 
all the careless heartfelt glee of boyhood. But a richer 
treat and better sport await them : the bell again strikes, 
and away they all hurry to the hall of music ; each oue 
brings his instrument, and takes his place ; — they arc all 
there — the soft (lute and the shrill fife — the hautboy and 
horn— the cymbal and drum, with clarionet, viol, and violin; 
and now they roll forth their volume of sweet sounds, and 
the singers, treble, base, and tenor, striking in with exact 
harmony, swell into one loud hymn of gratitude and joy, 
which arc displayed in the rapturous thrill of their voices, 
and painted in the glowing enthusiasm of their counte- 
nances.' 

The writer of the article referred to laments that theso 
appearances of happiness and usefulness arc deceptive ; that 
real advantages arc not conferred ; that with all this display 
which carries nway the heart and the feelings of the super- 
ficial spectator, comparatively little good is done, as may bo 
discovered by the more constant and accurate observer of 
the methods pursued, who will ascertain that a far less 
amount of benefit accrues to the inmates than might bo 
expected from the extensive means of usefulness possessed 
in such an institution. It is stated that not one in twenty, 
at the expiration of the time spent in learning, eight years, 
is able to cam his own livelihood. These failures are attri- 
buted to various causes, the chief of which is one that has 
tended to wither the fair promise of many an institution in 
our own country. The North American Reviewer says, 
' AVe looked in vain for the improvements which ought to 
have been made in the apparatus of Ilaiiy, during the thirty 
years which had elapsed since his death ; we looked in vain, 
for none existed. A narrow and illiberal jealousy ; an at- 
tempt at secrecy and reserve met our endeavours to examine 
the nature of this apparatus; and when we inquired whether 
some obvious and simple changes might not be made for 
tho better, we were repelled by the sapient and reproving 
answer, that surely if any improvements could have been 
made, such great and good men as tho Abb6 Haiiy and his 
successors would not have overlooked them.' Independently 
of this spirit of illibcrality, there seem to be other causes of 
failure, as fatal to the efficiency of the institution, though 
not so offensive to the inquiring stranger. All the pupils 
have to spend a certain number of hours every day in study, 
and also a certain number of hours in handicraft employ- 
ments. Thus, if a person have a peculiar turn for somo 
branch of mechanics, no provision is made to allow him to 
cultivate such talent. If another possess the faculty for 
learning languages, or for mathematics, ho is not allowed 
to follow such inclination; but he must devote himself for 
a stated portion of every day to the acquisition of somo 
handicraft trade. All are expected to study music ; ' and 
if they have no car at all for it, they must study it without 
an ear/ Another fault is the change of employments to 
which the pupils are subjected: thus a few months are 
given to making whips, a few months to weaving, a few 



B L I 



521 



B LI 



months to netting, &c. ; so that in learning one art, the 
boy forgets the one which had pr'eeeded it, and while a su- 
perficial knowledge is acquired of several trades, excellence 
is not attained in any one. How much better than this 
would it be to allow those who have a talent for the higher 
intellectual studies to pursue them, and to beeome teaehers 
of those branches of learning in whieh they exeel ; to direct 
the mechanieal tact and inclination of others, so as to make 
it an available means of subsistence, by educating it to 
perfection ; and in all eases to regard the dispositions, the 
capabilities, and the genius of a pupil, before deciding 
whether he shall be a weaver or a mathematician, a musi- 
eian or a maker of baskets ; aud such decision being formed, 
to let the education of the pupil be pursued with a direet 
tendency to gratify his wishes, and thus to enable him to 
earn his future support in a manner pleasing to himself. 
The manual labours which are taught in the Parisian insti- 
tution (see Dr. Guillte's Essay) are knitting, spinning, net- 
ting, making purses, list shoes, list carpets, woollen-plush 
shoes, whips, bottoming chairs, rope-making, basket-making, 
and straw, rush, and plush mat-making. These are the 
inferior kinds of labour, and consequently the worst paid ; 
there is therefore the greater necessity that the blind work- 
man be skilful in his art, that he may the better enter into 
competition with those who see, in obtaining a livelihood. 
AVe have, already expressed an opinion that the blind who 
have good talents should be edueated to become teaehers, 
and we. believe they would suceeed in the offiee, and thus 
become valuable members of soeiety. 

The first British Asylum for the Blind was established at 
Liverpool in the year 1791. This institution has hitherto 
been liberally supportedby annual subscriptions, by legacies, 
and by donations. It derives an ineome of 300/. per year 
from the chapel which is attached to it, and a still larger 
sum from the payments made by the friends of the pupils, 
or by the parishes to whieh they belong ; during the year 
183 J it received for articles manufactured by the inmates 
of the asylum nearly 1600/., but the produce of these labours 
does not assist the funds of the establishment. The instruc- 
tion of the blind iri manual labour seems to be the primary 
objeet with the directors of the institution. The trades 
which are taught are those of basket-making, rope-making, 
weaving, shoe making, sewing, knitting and platting sash- 
line. The most profitable of these arts is the rope-mak- 
ing; the loeality of the institution contributes .to the ad- 
vantages derived from this trade. The sugar-houses re- 
quire so vast a supply of cordage, that it can searcely be 
furnished in a sufficient quantity. The next most profitable 
labour is the weaving of earpets, lobby-cloths, and bear- 
rugs. Masters possessing sight aro regularly employed in 
teaehing the various trades ; the reasons why the institu- 
tion derives no pecuniary advantage from the extensive 
labours carried on are sufficiently obvious when the ex- 
pense of experienced masters is considered, the waste of 
materials by the labourers who are chiefly learners, and 
their quitting the asylum when they can earn enough to 
maintain themselves. 

The total number of persons who have been received into 
this asylum from its commencement to the publication of 
the report (Deeember, 183-1) from whieh this portion of our 
artielc is derived, was 929. Some very interesting details 
are given in the same doeument on the eauses of the cala- 
mity under whieh the pupils labour, so far as eould be 
ascertained by the officers of the institution. 

Liverpool Institution, total number received 929. 

Totally. Partially. Total. 

Blind from their birth 

„ „ small pox 

„ „ inflammation 

„ „ eataraet 

„ „ external injury . 

„ „ defect in the optic nerve , 

„ „ iinperfeet organization 
Lost their sight at sea 

„ „ » by gradual deeay . 

„ „ „ after fever • 

„ „ „ after measles 

„ „ „ after hooping cough 

„ „ „ after convulsions . 

„ „ „ from eauses not men- 
tioned or imperfectly described 



49 


28 


77 


1G5 


42 


207 


174 


108 


282 


34 


78 


112 


47 


27 


74 ( 


60 


43 


105 


2 


8 


10 


8 


1 


9 


4 





4 


7 


2 


9 


5 


3 


8 


1 





1 


2 


3 


5 



14 



572 



12 
357 



26 



929 



From the reports of the Liverpool Asylum, as well as 
from others which we have seen, the blind seem to be 
pretty equally scattered in all parts' of the kingdom. Of 
the 929 persons who have been inmates of the Liverpool 
Asylum, 162 have belonged to Liverpool, 218 to other 
parishes in Lancashire, and 549 to distant parts of tho 
kingdom. A large proportion of the income of tlie institu- 
tion is derived from Liverpool and its vicinity. The blind 
of that distriet have therefore a just priority of admission. 
There arc 106 pupils in the Liverpool Asylum; 23 were 
admitted in 1834, and 28 left. Among those thus admitted 
the youngest is twelve years old, 18 are between twelve and 
twenty, and 5 are between twenty and thirty years old. 
The ages of the 28 who left are not given in the report. 
Most of those who have completed their education receive 
a gratuity of from two to five guineas when they quit the 
asylum, which sum is intended to assist them in procuring 
a few tools and materials for commencing the trades they 
may have been taught. This provision is both benevolent 
and wise; for there are numerous cases which eome under 
the notice of the directors where poverty accompanies tho 
deprivation of sight, and where, consequently, the instruc- 
tion imparted would be of no praetieal benefit were not 
some means afforded of making it available to provide for 
their eommon necessities. 

The intellectual cultivation of the blind is not' made an 
objeet of any great importance at the Liverpool Asylum. 
The observances of religion appear to be jjegularly regarded ; 
prayers are read in the chapel morning and evening, and 
the chaplain attends twiee in eaeh week to teaeli the cate- 
ehism. The inventions used for the instruction m reading 
and writing appear to be known to some of the officers con- 
nected with the establishment, but no arrangements for 
their introduction seem to be contemplated. The penal 
discipline by which the good order of the institution is 
maintained eonsists chiefly of privations from music and 
holidays, and occasionally, in the ease of junior male pupils, 
of corporal punishment, which is always inflicted in the 
presence of the other male pupils : in such cases the birch 
rod is used. The masters with sight are for basket, rope, 
and shoe making, and weaving ; and those without si^ht, for 
music. The work-mistresses are for basket-making, platting 
sash-ropes, knitting, and sewing. The salaries and gra- 
tuities for the year 1834 were as follow :— to the superinten- 
dent and his wife, 283/. 1 0*. ; to the wardrobe keeper, 21/. ; 
to the master weaver, 70/. 5*. ; to the master roper, 70/. 5*. ; 
to the master basket-maker, 70/. 5s. ; to the master shoe- 
maker, 70/. 5*.; to the singing master, 70/.; and to the 
music master, 90/. 10*. 

In the year 1792 an asylum for the blind was established 
in Edinburgh. The benevolent Dr. Blaeklock, who resided 
in that city many years, had long anxiously wished that 
sueh an establishment should be formed for the education 
of those persons who, like himself, were deprived of sight. 
He mentioned his wishes to his friend Mr. David Miller, 
who was also blind, and was himself an eminent example 
of what might be effeeted under the influence of early and 
judieious instruction. In the year mentioned, it was deter- 
mined by Mr. Miller and the Rev. Dr. David Johnston, of 
Leith, that an attempt should be made to provide an asylum, 
and means were taken to eall public attention to the object. 
Mr. Miller communicated with the Abbe Haiiy, and in 
many ways rendered important serviees during the infancy 
of the institution. The chief end in the formation of the 
contemplated asylum, next to imparting ordinary instruc- 
tion (orally, it is presumed), and imbuing the minds of the 
objects with religious truth, was to place them under such 
superintendence as should train them -in those trades in 
whieh the blind * are best fitted to exeel ;' at the same time 
rewarding them 'for their* labours according to their pro- 
gress and profieiency. In later years the directors of the 
asylum have extended their views, devoting increased at- 
tention to the intellectual eulture of the pupils ; but still 
the main objeet appears to be that of training them to 
habits of manual labour.- The economical character of 
the Edinburgh Asylum must be a striking feature to all 
who eompare its expenditure, considering the amount of 
good it accomplishes, with that of similar institutions. We 
have frequently heard of the excellent management of the 
public eharities of Edinburgh ; but in none is sueh manage- 
ment more visible than in this. In 1806 the directors 
formed a separate establishment for females, and since that 
time they have opened a school for the instruction of the 



N* 270. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



Vol. IV.-3 X 



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522 



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young: blind. It is by early training only that tbo blind, in 
common with other*, can bo brought under an effectual 
mental and moral discipline. By giving instruction to tho 
younjj in the higher departments of knowlcdgo, and by thus 
raising the intellectual character to the elevation of which 
it is capable, wo are of opinion the directors will discover 
that the arts in which tho blind aro best fitted to excel are 
not tho ordinary mechanical trades, to which, in our British 
institutions, and too generally abroad, all higher considera- 
tions have been sacrificed. "Why aro not their mental 
powers* which aro unaffected by their physical calamity, 
cultivated ? Such cultivation will qualify them for occupa- 
tions in which they may succeed as well as those who pos- 
sess tho advantages of sight. Tho enlightened policy of 
the directors of tho Edinburgh Institution has placed them 
in tho first rank among the benefactors of tho blind : their 
school for the young is a most interesting section of their 
establishment; and it may be hoped that many of its pupils 
will be trained to higher occupations than those of basket- 
making, weaving, &c. We do not anticipate that all the 
blind can be exempted from manual labour, any moro than 
that all other men are fitted for employments requiring a 
high degree of intellectual vigour, and acquirements which 
even the greater portion of mankind aro unable or unwilling 
to make : but wo do not hesitate to aflirm that the blind 
have been systematically trained in arts in which they never 
can enter into competition with seeing persons; and that 
they have not been sufficiently educated in that kind of 
knowledgo in which they might havo become at least as 
perfect as thoso who possess all their faculties. The former 
part of our proposition is allowed by the directors of the 
Edinburgh Asylum, who say that * when they (the blind) 
become as skilful workmen as their circumstances admit, 
they still labour under a disadvantage unknown to others. 5 
An argument which might with great propriety be used to 
enforce tho advantage of mental cultivation in preference to 
manual dexterity, is the loss invariably attendant on the 
manufactures carried on at the asylums. It appears to us 
from our examination into tho expenses of different esta- 
blishments, that the more extensive the scalo on which the 
manual arts are conducted, the greater the losses, from 
waste of materials, a succession of learners, &c. On the 
score of cheapness therefore it is desirable that such opera- 
tions should be confined within as narrow limits as may 
seem prudent, and that intellectual education should be ex- 
tended as widely as the talents and qualifications of the 
pupils will allow. Instead of the accounts of such institu- 
tions showing so great an amount of positive losses, we 
should not only sec this item reduced, but find the pupils 
qualified for a sphcro of usefulness superior to any which 



they can ever reach by any attainable degreo of dexterity in 
manual occupations. 

Tn tho Edinburgh Asylum, the whole machinery seems 
to be of a lii^h order; the devoted attention of tho different 
officers is visiblo in tho discipline and happiness of the in- 
mates, and thero can be no doubt that the institution is 
effecting great good. The young blind are instructed in re- 
citing the scriptures, in spelling, in grammar, in vocal and 
instrumental music, in reading, by means of the sense of 
feeling; in writing, arithmetic, mathematics, history, geo- 
graphy, and astronomy. Tho means by which instruction in 
these various branches is conveyed have been mentioned ; in 
all institutions of this nature they must bo generally the same, 
varying perhaps in some of their details. Several of tho me- 
chanical contrivances for conveying scientific knowledge to 
the pupils, arc the inventions of Mr. Johnston, the secretary 
(nephew of Dr. Johnston, who was named as one of the 
founders of the institution), in conjunction with Professor 
Wallace a gentleman who is deeply interested in all that con- 
cerns tho institution. An orrery, a comctarium, and raised 
maps of the heavens, all so constructed as to convey informa- 
tion by the touch, — while the reasoning powers arc at the 
same time addressed,— arc among the inventions of these 
gentlemen. The map of the world is described as coin prisin g 
*the eastern and western hemispheres, represented on each 
side of a circular board. The land is made rough, the seas, 
lakes, and rivers smooth. Towns arc represented by small 
pins. Mountains arc ridged, and boundaries simply raised. 
Degrees of latitude arc marked round the edge of the circle, 
of longitude along the equator, which is raised above tho 
surface of the earth. The orrery represents tho orbits of 
the planets by brass circles, and tho planets themselves 
are shown by spheres indicative of their rclativo dimensions ; 
tho spheres slide upon the brass orbits. The ecliptic exhi- 
bits raised figures of the signs of the zodiac, the degrees of 
the circle, and the days of the month, all tangible, and 
adapted to the learner who has to depend upon touch for his 
impressions. The arithmetical board has been much im- 
proved at the Edinburgh school. It is 16 inches by 12, 
and contains 400 pentagonal holes with a space of a 
quarter of an inch between each. The pin is simply a 
pentagon with a projection at one end on an angle, and on 
the other end on the side. Being placed in the l>oard, with a. 
corner projection to the left upper eorncr of the board, it re- 
presents I ; proceeding to the right upper corner it is 3 ; 
the next corner in succession is 5 ; the next 7, and the last 9. 
In like manner the side projection, by being turned to tho 
sides of the hole, progressively gives 2, 4, G, 8, 0. The size of 
the pentagon, and a drawing of the pin, showing the projec- 
tions on tho side and angle, arc given with the board below. 



The Arithmetical Board 




1357934$ o 


########## 


#••###•••# 


##«#•*«##« 


#########.#. 

< 



8& 



o 



3 

5* 



By tho use of this board the pupils may be carried to any 
extent in arithmetical knowledge, and make their calcula- 
tions with as much satisfaction as thoso who see. We havo 
the testimony of Dr. Guillie, that tho blind study the exact 
sciences under great advantages, and with remarkable suc- 
cors; but wo cannot apreo with tho doctor that tho blind, 
any more than les claxr-voyans have a natural disposition 
for mathematical studies. Tho eminent success of Sann- 
derson, Moyes, Gough, and others, afford sufficient proof that 
blindness is no great impediment to such pursuits ; there may 
possibly bo somo advantages consequent on the degreo of 
abstraction which appears necessarily to accompany blind- 
ness. On this supposition however wo do not lay much 
stress, becauso we cannot admit that there is vaturalhj any 
compensativc principle by which men who labour under one 



defect or deprivation aro enabled to exercise the powers 
which are left to them with greater accuracy than others 
who have no such deficiency. If a seeing person would 
cultivate his sense of feeling to the samo extent as the 
blind, his perceptions of touch would be as delicate as 
thoso of the blind man. • It is not probable that so refined a 
cultivation will ever be- tested by experience, as it would 
require a greater degreo of philosophical curiosity than wo 
ever witnessed or heard of, and he attended with a longer 
and moro painful effort than we think any one would volun- 
tarily undergo for the sake of making the experiment. 

Of tho Edinburgh Asylum wc have only to add, that from 
its admirable management it may be inferred that there 
exists both the disposition and the capability, so far as its 
managers arc concerned, to make it all that could bo wished 



B L I 



523 



B L I 



as an establishment for the blind, but it is matter of much 
regret that it is maintained with the greatest difficulty. 

The asylum for the blind at Bristol was instituted in 
1793; respecting its history up to a very recent date little 
is known to the writer. Its committee appears not to have 
contemplated any operations on a very extensive scale till 
within tho last few years. It was founded as an 'Asylum 
or School^ of Industry/ and its chief support seems to have 
been derived from legacies, donations, and payments on 
behalf of pupils. Its benefits have been extended to nearly 
200 persons, most of whom, the reports state, have returned 
to their homes, ablo and willing to support themselves. 
Thirty-three pupils are at present in the asylum; 'the 
females are boarded and lodged in the house, and the males 
who have not friends are boarded in decent and sober fami- 
lies in the neighbourhood of the asylum/ This institution 
is open to blind persons from every part of the kingdom; 
the present pupils are from various counties in the west 
of England. Inconsequence of a great augmentation of 
the funds by two legacies which were left to the institution 
in the years 1829 and 1830, an act of incorporation was ob- 
tained in 1832; it having been considered by the trustees 
m whom the above-mentioned legacies were vested, that 
thus placed * under the protection of legislative eontrol/ the 
permanence of the asylum would be secured, and its useful- 
ness extended. A new building is about to be erected 
in the Gothic style of architecture, of whieh it is intended 
that a chapel shall form a prominent feature. About 
an aere and a half of ground, eligibly situated, has been 
purchased for the purposes of the proposed edifiee, in whieh 
accommodations are to be provided for eighty or a hun- 
dred pupils. The trades which have been hitherto intro- 
duced are those whieh are pursued in other asylums for 
the blind ; and the pupils remain under instruction until 
they are qualified to support themselves by their labour. 

With the increased prosperity of this asylum the com- 
mittee have resolved to inerease its usefulness. Having 
meditated the immediate introduction of plans for the in- 
tellectual improvement ef the blind, they mention arith- 
metic, geography, and the mathematics, as scienees which 
are found to be accessible to them, and particularly in- 
viting in some instances. It appears that in effecting the 
improvement of the pupils of this asylum, oral instruction 
is ehieffy to be depended upon, with doubtless all the help 
which models and raised diagrams can supply ; the means 
of imparting the requisite knowledge of reading and writing, 
as a foundation for more important acquisitions, and as ren- 
dering the blind in great measure independent of masters, 
were not sufficiently evident to the committee at the time 
when the improvements in the system were resolved upon, 
though in their report (1834) the eommittee express san- 
guine hopes that on these important subjeets ' some method, 
combining distinctness with simplicity and cheapness, will 
in time be discovered/ How soon these hopes were to be- 
come, to a certain extent realized, will be seen from the fol- 
lowing notice which appeared in tbe 'Bristol Mirror* at the 
commencement of the present year (1835). 'In our city 
the blind are now taught to read with the most simple cha- 
racters that can be invented, and with great facility. The 
eomplete success of the experiment has been witnessed at 
the Asylum for the Blind, and at various other plaees, 
where lectures have been given explanatory of the system. 
The characters are employed not only for reading but like- 
wise for writing, arithmetic, and musie; and they are so 
simple, that to any book for the blind, not more than half 
the number of types are required that are necessary to print 
the same for those who are blessed with sight/ Should the 
event prove as successful as is intimated in the above an- 
nouncement, and so great a barrier to the improvement of 
the blind be removed, it will be desirable that the different 
institutions should unite their exertions, and set apart a 
common fund to supply their pupils, as well as other blind 
persons, with so powerful an auxiliary to their progress in 
knowledge. In reply to our inquiries respecting this in- 
vention, we have ascertained that the characters employed 
are stenographic, and that they are produced in relief on 
a paper similar to Gall's. The alphabet is composed of 
thirteen simple characters, and thirteen formed from the 
roots of these with a crotehet-head to each. There arc ten 
double letters from the same roots, distinguished also by 
the erotchet-head : these also represent the nine figures and 
the cyphor, whether used as numerals or ordinals. In all 
thirty-six characters arc employed. Tho advantages at- 



tending > the uso of stenographic characters seom to be in* 
the saving of types, paper, and labour, thus materially 
diminishing the cost of books for the blind. The disadvan- 
tages attending the system we are speaking of appear to 
consist chiefly in the eonfusion which the learner must feel 
in having but one character employed in several offices, as 
in the double letters, numerals, and ordinals, and in the 
necessity that every person should be a stenographist who 
communieates with the blind by writing. These difficulties 
are not very great for persons to overeome who have never 
been aeeustomed to a written language. The friends and 
correspondents of tho blind may readily avail themselves of 
the simple stenography which Mr. Lueas, of Castle Street, 
Bristol, has invented. The blind may employ types to eom- 
munieate with their friends ; and it is our opinion that a 
substitute for relief letters, for all occasions where great per- 
manency is not requisite, maybe found in characters boldly 
written with viscid ink on eommon writing-paper and sanded 
while wet. 

The manner in which the characters of Mr. Lucas are 
employed may be seen in the following commencement of 
St. John's Gospel, only that we give the extract in Roman 
letters instead of using the stenographic characters, 
t gospl b st jon, chap : 1. 

in t bgiui ws t wrd a t w ws w g, a t w ws g. t sam ws n 
t bgini w g. 1 thins wr mad b hm, a wo hm ws nt athin 
mad tht ws mad. in hm ws lif a 1 1 ws t lit f mil. 

It will be observed that the repetition'of numerous letters 
is avoided ; partieles are represented in most instances by 
their initial letter, and when a word, having been onee men- 
tioned, reeurs immediately, or frequently, it is represented 
by its initial letter also. 

The ' School for the Indigent Blind' in London was esta- 
blished in 1799 by four gentlemen of the metropolis, Messrs. 
Ware, Bosanquet, Boddington, and Houlston. At first the 
pupils were few, and it did not attract any extraordinary 
share of public attention. About eleven years after its 
formation, the patronage of the public enabled the mana- 
gers to take on lease a plot of freehold ground in St. Georgo's 
Fields, opposite to the end of Great Surrey Street, where 
suitable buildings were erected, within whieh the institu- 
tion is still carried on. An act of parliament was obtained 
in 1826, which invests the committee with all the rights 
and privileges of a corporation, and they tben purchased 
the freehold of the ground on whieh the buildings had been 
erected. These buildings having been found insufficient 
for the purposes of the establishment, the committee have 
lately purchased an adjoining plot of ground, upon whieh 
a new and enlarged building is now being erected. In 1800 
there were only fifteen persons in the asylum : the present 
number of inmates is 112, fifty-five males, and fifty-seven 
females. During thirty-three years 186 persons have been 
returned to their families enabled to provide either wholly 
or partially for their support. The inmates are 'clothed, 
boarded, lodged, and instructed/ It is understood that the 
number of persons taken into this asylum is about to be 
augmented, and that 100 of each sex will eventually be 
admitted. The funds of the eharity are ample. The re- 
ceipts have seldom exeeeded the expenditure. In addition 
to its annual subscriptions, donations, and legaeies, it pos- 
sesses a funded capital amounting to about 60,000/. besides 
other available property. The articles manufactured by 
the females are, for sale, fine and coarse thread, window- 
sash-line, and elothes-line, fine basket-work, ladies' work- 
bags, and other ornamental works in knitting and netting ; 
for consumption by the pupils, knitted stockings, household 
linen, and body linen. The oeeupations of the males arc 
making shoes, hampers, wieker-baskets, cradles, rope-inats, 
fine mats, and rugs for hearths and carriages. Tbese artielcs 
are sold at the institution, and it is said that the window- 
sash-line is highly approved of by builders of the first emi- 
nence. The sale of artieles manufactured during tho year 
1832 produecd 1345/. ( Some of the pupils are also in- 
structed in music, and are qualified for the situation of an 
organist in any church or chapel, and they are also in- 
structed in reading and writing/ (See Account of the 
School for the Indigent Blind for the year 1832.) The 
information which we have collected respecting this insti- 
tution is chielly derived from the publication above re- 
ferred to. Little is said in that publication on the sub- 
ject of intellectual oducation, and that little cannot be satis- 
factory to those who know how capable the blind are of a 

3X2 



B L I 



524 



B L I 



high degree of menial cultivation. The truth is that the 
institution h only a school of industry — that seven or cijrht 
hours daily are devoted to manual labour, and that the 
improvement of the mind is only attended to between 
working hours and at meals. The pupils are most care- 
fully instructed in tho principles of the Christian religion, 
nmf tho ehaplain to the institution attends three times at 
the least in ever)' week for that purpose. An attempt has 
been mado to teach reading and writing, but lias been in a 
great degree abandoned, from tho unwillingness of the pupils 
to receive instruction. In Gall's * Origin and Progress of 
Literature for the Blind/ a work replete with curious investi- 
gation and interesting details, a report is given of the intro- 
duction of the arts of reading and writing into the London 
Asylum in June, 1831 ; from which report it appears that 
these arts were commenced under the most promising aus- 
pices, and it is certainly matter of regret that with ample 
hinds, and even' other auxiliary, these branches of instruction 
havo not been continued. We extract from Mr. Gall's report 
some details showing tho suceess and also the peculiar 
difficulties attending the experiment :— * Tho pupils in your 
institution may, for the purposes of this report, be divided 
into two classes ; viz. those who eould read before they lost 
their sight, and those who have been blind from their in- 
fancy, or who have never been acquainted with letters. 
In teaching those who had proviously some knowledge of 
reading, tho nature of the alphabet was first explained to 
them, and its near approximation in form and principle to 
the common Roman alphabet was pointed out. They were 
then made to feel the letters in their order, which they 
learned to distinguish and name in a very short time. The 
first pupil who was tried on the boys' side of tho institution 
mastered the alphabet in fifteen minutes ; and the first 
who was tried on the girls' side mastered it in ten. This 
last pupil during her first lesson, which did not exceed an 
hour and a quarter, learned both to read and to write. And 
so perfectly was this done that, on the same afternoon, 
she, without assistance, and while alone, wrote a letter to a 
young lady, the daughter of one of your committee, who 
had been present during her first lesson. This letter could 
be easily read by the writer herself, and was also very easily 
deciphered by the person to whom it was sent, although 
previously unacquainted with the alphabet. 

* In teaching those who had previously been unacquainted 
with reading, the process was of course more tedious, and of 
a different kind. The difficulties which congregate around 
an adult in beginning to learn to read are more numerous 
than is generally supposed ; and with the blind adult who 
has never seen the manner by which the art of reading is 
earricd on by means of an alphabet, this must more es- 
pecially be the case. One of your pupils (No. 101) 
thought that the word " w-i-l-1" as she felt it, should be 
pronounced " all ;" that " v-e-r-y" should be " thy ;"* and 
that " a-n-v" should he **my". Another (No. 112) could 
not comprehend how the same letters should not always 
be the sign of the same word, in whatever order they 
were placed. When it was explained that the characters in 
the alphabet were but the signs of certain sounds, and that 
the letters b-a-d, which indicated the word " bad," and which 
sho had just before read, would make quite another word, 
and indicato an entirely different sound if transposed into 
' d-a*b,' she expressed somo surprise, and endeavoured to 
comprehend it. When asked what sound she thought 
would be likest the rapid pronunciation of the letters d-a-b, 
sho considered for a little, and then said that she thought 
it might be the word " stick.'' Being able to read all the 
letters, her hand was put for the first timo upon the word 
" Adam," and she was asked what word she thought theso 
letters would make ? She accurately read and repeated all 
the letters in their order, and after considering a while said 
she thought they would make the word " book." The letters 
f-r-o-ra she thought should be "the," and in many similar 
instances showed bow erroneous were her previous ideas of 
the nature of the art of reading. This girl has, however, 
already acquired a pretty good idea of tho powers of the 
letters, and reads her first book accurately and well.' (Gall's 
Literature for the Blind, pp. 125, 126.) 

It is impossible not to regret that an experiment so full 
of interest, which eould not havo been earricd forward with- 
out eliciting some new and eurious results, should have 
been discontinued. The asylum of which we are now speak- 
ing is too eonfincd in its operations, especially when we 
consider its wealth, its situation in tho metropolis of our 
country, and its consequent means of diffusing knowledge 



among a solitary portion of our fellow-beings, of sending 
forth intelligence of its successful experience to other coun- 
tries, and of becoming a guide and inodol for our own pro- 
vincial institutions. The eoinmittec are empowered by 
their charter, as well as by the bye-laws of the charity, to 
* form regulations for the internal management of the cor- 
poration, and for tho instruction and moral discipline of the 
pupils/ and it is to be hoped that an enlightened and a 
liberal policy will cause them to introduce the branches of 
knowledge which have been successfully taught elsewhere 
into their institution generally, or that a school for the 
intellectual, moral, and religious improvement of the 
young blind will soon become apart of their establishment. 
The eommittee must receive eredit for the good feeling 
which pervades tho ' account* they give of their trust, from 
the tone of which it is by no means hopeless that some 
ameliorations of the nature suggested may be brought 
about. They say 'it is perhaps difficult to point out any 
two situations in life more opposite to caeh other than the 
condition of a blind person with his faculties benumbed by 
sloth, and his spirits depressed by the consciousness of his 
infirmity, and that of the same individual engaged in regu- 
lar employment, and knowing that he contributes, by hi* 
daily occupation, to the comfort of the family of which he 
forms a part.' This contrast might be pursued, and the 
same person might be viewed uninstructed, devoid of intel- 
ligence, without a ray of the brighter kinds of knowledge 
enlightening his mind ; shrouded not only in physical dark- 
ness, but also in ignorance of the ordinary laws of nature — 
the constitution of man — tho manifold arts and inventions 
of civilized life: and again, he might be seen highly culti- 
vated, in the possession of a certain amount of knowledge, 
exereising those mental powers which he enjoys in common 
with his fellow men, his well-stored mind visible in the 
animated expression of his features, and his voice acknow- 
ledging in eloquent language his participation in the lofty 
views of the philosopher and the Christian. 

The blind arc inquisitivo on all subjects, and they will 
aequire knowledge if it be made accessible to them. In 
eompany with an educated blind person, it is common to 
forget his infirmity, so loth is he to allow conversation to 
relax, and so apposite arc his allusions to subjects upon 
which it would at first seem that vision only eould havo 
afforded him information. In some cases affectation may 
lead to such display, but we ean testify that such an affecta- 
tion is not displeasing to tbc hearers, who cannot but con- 
sider by what a cost of attention and by what intricato 
mental operations such ideas have been acquired. But 
much must be directly communicated ; and in the absenee 
of books, leeturcs on scientific subjects, and constant inter- 
course with educated persons, will perhaps assist more than 
any other expedient in furnishing the inquiring blind man 
with the knowledge which he desires. ' He could never of 
himself have found out that there are such bodies as the sun, 
the moon, and stars ; but he may be informed of all the noble 
discoveries of astronomers, about their motions, and the laws 
of nature by which they arc regulated.* (Reids If/quirt/.) 

The * Hospital and School for the Indigent Blind ' of Nor- 
wich was originally established in the year 1805, first for that 
city, and subsequently (as the condition of receiving a 
donation) for the county of Norfolk also; but its doors havo 
been opened to other parts of the kingdom since the year 
1819. The blind in the more elevated sphere of soeiety 
appear not un frequently to have been the first benefactors of 
their more indigent brethren. Mr. Tawell, a blind gentleman 
residing in Norwich, first called the attention of that city and 
its neighbourhood to the wants of tho blind, and with a mu- 
nificence commensuratowith his zeal, he purchased * a largo 
and commodious house, with an adjoining garden of three 
acres in extent/ which he offered as the basis of the institu- 
tion. A similar example of liberality has been manifested 
in the outset of an establishment for the blind at Boston, 
Massachusetts. [See Boston.] In May, 1833, Colonel Per- 
kins gave his mansion, land, buildiugs, &c., valued at 30,000 
dollars, as a permanent institution for the blind at Boston. 
To this gift a condition was wisely annexed, that 50,000 
dollars should be raised as a fund for tho institution before 
tho 1st of June, in order that it might rest on a permanent 
foundation. Considerable exertions were forthwith made, 
especially by the ladies of Boston ; the money was raised 
within the appointed time, the pupils were removed from 
their former domicile in the following December, and there 
appears to be every prospect that tho institution, under 
Dr. Howo's care, will becomo highly useful, 



B L I 



525 



B'L I 



The plan of the Norwich Asylum was to unite a school for 
the young with an hospital for the ageU. It designed to 
admit the young pupils at the age of twelve years, and to keep 
them in the school till they should have attained a suffi- 
cient knowledge of some trade, as far as this could be ac- 
complished within three years, but under no consideration to 
keep them longer than that time: some however have been 
kept longer. With respect to the aged, the rules express 
that none shall be admitted who have not attained the age 
of sixty-five years. It appears from the account of the 
institution published up to the end of 1833, that from the 
establishment of the institution to that date, 153 pupils had 
been admitted and 48 aged persons: 77 had been dis- 
charged qualified to work for themselves; 12 had. proved 
incapable of instruction ; 4 had left the asylum without 
leave, 13 had been discharged for irregularity, and 16 at 
their own request: 43 had died, and 36 remained on the 
books. The expenses seem to have averaged about 1100/. 
per annum, and the income about equalled the expenditure. 

We looked earnestly through the account of the Norwich 
Asylum published in 1810, to find some rule relating to 
the intellectual education of the pupils, but none appears. 
In answer to our inquiries, we have to state that the 
sole occupation of the pupils is manual labour, with the 
following exceptions: — the pupils are taught psalmody; 
they sing in parts, and many of them play on instruments : 
they perform of an evening for the amusement of the pa- 
tients, and also to visitors. Some of the blind form the 
choir of a neighbouring parish church. The secretary reads 
morning and evening prayers, and every evening reads 
aloud portions of the Bible and of history, for instance, the 
History of England. The principles of such an institution 
cannot be commended ; they tend practically to inculcate that 
we live only to produee the means of supplying our animal 
wants. The manual labour schools of the United States may 
teach the directors of such establishments a very useful 
lesson. There, learning is a recreation which follows se- 
verer toils ; and surely, in ouv own country, where manual 
labour is less valuable, a portion of time might be set 
apart for inculcating those duties which man, as a social 
being, has to perform, and for exercising and improving 
his rational powers. 

The asylum for the blind at Glasgow was founded by 
John Leitch, Esq., who was himself partially blind ; lie 
bequeathed 5000/. towards opening and maintaining the 
institution. Nearly eighty blind persons have been ad- 
mitted since it was opened in 1828 to the commencement of 
the present year (1835), and there are at present fifty indi- 
viduals, of whom thirty are adults, enjoying the benefits 
of the asylum. It depends for support upon legacies, 
donations, and the salo of its manufactured productions. 
The treasurer of the asylum, Mr. Alston, has published 
a short statement of the employments of the pupils and 
the internal arrangements of the asylum, from which the 
condensed view here given is derived. The alphabet, 
spelling, and exercises on the string-alphabet arc among 
the first auxiliaries used in the communication of know- 
ledge. Oral instruction is also an important feature in 
this part of their education, which is modified under the 
various forms of lectures, dialogues, and catechetical exa- 
minations. The works performed by the pupils of this 
asylum arc similar to those ef others, but there appears to 
be a greater variety of articles. The superintendent pur- 
chases the raw material for the manufactures and keeps an 
account of the work each person performs, from which a 
statement of their earnings is made, and they are paid 
every ■ Saturday. The male adults are allowed tho same 
rate that other workmen have for the same kinds of work; 
if a man ean make five or six shillings a week, he receives 
that sum for his weekly wages. At the end of every four 
weeks a statement of his earnings is made up from the 
work-book, and whatever he has earned over that sum is 
paid to him, and also' an additional shilling a week as a 
premium upon his industry. •• If the amount which he 
ought to earn be not earned, or if the work be bad, no pre- 
mium is allowed. At the monthly settlement some of 
them will have several shillings to receive in addition to 
their regular wages and premiums. Since the adoption of 
this regulation it has been found that a marked improve- 
ment has taken place both in the quantity and quality of 
work produced. A few elderly females are placed upon 
the same system ; they work in the institution, but reside 
Ht their own homes. Females generally, above the age of 
eighteen years, are admitted as day-workers ; they dine at 



the asylum and reeeive regular weekly wages; "their apart- 
ments arc separated from those of the males, and no inter- 
course is permitted. Boys and girls from ten to sixteen 
years of age reside in the house, and in addition to attend- 
ance on their classes, they are taught to perform light 
works suitable to their age, till old enough to be removed 
into the regular workshops. The girls and female adults 
are under the superintendence of a matron, who also has 
the management of the sales. Several of the blind men 
are employed in calling on the customers of the asylum to 
deliver goods and to solicit orders. It is common for adults 
who reside in distant parts of the city to go to and from 
their employment without a guide, and no aceident has 
ever happened to any of them. 

There arc three asylums for the blind in Dublin. The 
oldest of them, Simpson's Hospital, was opened in 1781; 
it was founded and endowed by a merchant whose name it 
bears, who was himself subject to a disorder of the eyes, 
and was also a martyr to the gout. The design of the hos- 
pital is to provide an asylum for blind and gouty men, tho 
preference being given to those of good moral character, who 
have formerly been in affluent circumstances. About fifty 
persons partake of the benefits* of this charity. It was incor* 
poratcd in 1799, and its income is about 3000/. per annum. 

The Richmond National Institution for the Indigent 
Industrious Blind is supported by subscriptions and dona- 
tions; it was opened in 1809; the inmates, who are all 
indigent, are instructed in the trades, ordinarily taught to 
the blind. At present the institution contains forty men 
and youths, who are lodged, maintained, and clothed there. 

The Molineux Asylum is supported by subscriptions, by 
the profits of a chapel, and by charity sermons ; it is solely 
for the reception of females, who are admitted at all aires. 
Those above fifty have here a permanent abode. The 
younger section of the establishment are lodged, clothed, 
and fed ; and for a certain number of years receive instruc- 
tion in those employments by which it is intended that 
they shall earn their living. This asylum was opened in 
1815, in the mansion of Sir Charles Molineux, Bart. This 
family has been among its most liberal benefactors. 

In addition to the institutions which we have mentioned, 
two others are in the course of being established in the 
north of England. One of these is the Yorkshire Asylum 
for the Blind, which opened in October last (1835), at 
York. At the first election, candidates between the ages 
of twelve and fifteen only were admitted ; and it is intended 
that the charity shall be confined as much as possible to 
young persons. Its design is ' not so much to provide main- 
tenance for the blind, as to give them such instruction as 
may help them to gain a livelihood for themselves, attention 
being at the same time paid to their moral and religious 
instruction : their friends or parishes therefore contribute 
towards their support whilst they are in the institution.' 
Those persons only are admissible who have lost their sight 
to such a degree as to be able at most only to distinguish 
light from darkness— those who have a capacity for instruc- 
tion—those who are free from any dangerous or communi- 
cable disease— and those who aro free from vicious habits. 

The Rev. W. H. Vernon Hareourt, canon residentiary of 
York, is actively engaged in forwarding the objects of this 
institution, which is partly supported by donations and sub- 
scriptions, and partly by payments on behalf of the pupils. 
The Rev. William Taylor, mentioned as the author of the 
tangible Euclid, is its superintendent, and persons of expe- 
rience from the Edinburgh Asylum fill the situations of in- 
structor and matron. 

The second new establishment in progress for the blind 
is at Manchester. An endowment of 20,000/. was left in 
the year 1810, for the purpose of supporting an asylum for 
the blind, at or in Manchester, by the will of Thomas Hen- 
shaw, Esq., formerly of Oldham. Nearly 10,000/. have 
been subscribed by the inhabitants of Manchester for the 
purchase of land, and for erecting a suitable building, as no 
part of Mr. Henshaw's endowment can be appropriated to 
either of these purposes. An eligible plot of land in the 
vicinity of the Botanic Garden has been taken by a com- 
mittee formed for effecting the objects proposed, and there 
is every prospect of an institution rising up worthy of the 
noble endowment of its first- benefactor. At present nothing 
is known upon the views of the committee as to what kind 
of education the blind should receive. Various opinions are 
held by the subscribers to the building-fund ; some think a 
mere asylum all that is necessary ; others, that trades should 
be taught, as at Liverpool ; and others again, that their edn- 



B L I 



52C 



B L 1 



cation should comprehend, as far as possihle, all that is ex- 
pressed in that terra. The last is tho view which we havo 
taken of the instruction of tho blind throughout this article 

In addition to tho systems of physical education which 
are followed in tho asylums of which wc have spoken, tho 
following general observations on the treatment of the 
blind from Dr. Blacklock, in the * Encyclopaedia Britannica,* 
are so just, that they cannot fail to recommend themselves 
to all who are interested in the practical application of plans 
for their benefit * From tho original dawning of reason 
and spirit, the parents and tutors of the blind ought to in- 
culeato this maxim, — that it is their indispensable duty to 
excel, and that it is absolutely in their jpowcr to attain a 
high degree of eminence. To impress this notion on their 
minds, tho first objects presented to their observation, and 
the first methods of improvement applied to their under- 
standing, ought to bo capablo of being comprehended with- 
out difficulty by those internal powers and external senses 
which they possess. Not that improvement should bo ren- 
dered quite easv to them, if such a plan wcro possiblo; for 
all difficulties which are not really or apparently insuperable 
heighten tho charms and enhance tho value of thoso acqui- 
sitions which they seem to retard. But care should be 
taken that these difficulties be not magnified or exaggerated 
hy imagination ; since the blind have naturally a painful 
sensoof their own incapacity, and consequently a strong pro- 
pensity to despondency continually working in their minds. 

* For this reason parents and relations ought never to be 
too ready in offering their assistance to the blind in any 
ofiiee which they can perform, or in any acquisition which 
they can make for themselves, whothcr they aro prompted 
by amusement or necessity. Let a blind boy be permitted 
to walk through tho neighbourhood without a guide, not 
only though he should run some hazard, but even though 
he should suffer somo pain. If he have a mechanical turn, 
let him not bo denied the uso of edge-tools ; for it is better 
that he should lose a little blood, or even break a bone, than 
be perpetually confined to the samo place, and thus debi 
litatcd in his frame, and depressed in his mind. Such i 
being can have no employment but that of feeling his own 
weakness, and becoming his own tormentor; or perhaps 
transferring to others a portion of the malignity and pee 
vishness engendered by the natural, adventitious, or ima- 
ginary evils which he feels. Scars, fractures, and disloca- 
tions in his body are trivial misfortunes compared with 
imbecility, timidity, or fretfulness of mind. Besides the 
pernicious effects of inactivity in relaxing the nerves, and 
consequently in depressing tho spirits, nothing can be more 
productive of discontent, envy, jealousy, and every mean 
and malignant passion, than a painful impression of de- 
pendence on others, and of our insufficiency for our own 
happiness. This impression, which even in its most im- 
proved state will be but too deeply felt by ever)' blind man, 
is redoubled by that utter incapacity of action superinduced 
by the officious humanity of those who would anticipate or 
supply all his wants, prevent all his motions, and do or pro- 
cure everything for him without his own interposition. It 
is the course of naturo that blind people, as well as others, 
should survive their parents ; and it may likewise happen to 
them to survivo thoso who by tho ties of blood and nature 
arc more immediately interested in their happiness. But 
when they come to be dependent on the world, such exi- 
gencies as they themselves cannot meet will be but coldly 
and languidly supplied by strangers. If their expectations 
he high, their disappointments will bo the more sensible : 
their desires will often be resisted, seldom fully gratified ; 
and even when their requests aro granted, the concession 
will sometimes bo so ungraceful as to deprive it of the cha- 
racter of kindness. For those reasons, wo repeat, that in 
tho training of a blind man it is infinitely better to direct 
than to supersede his own exertions. From tho time he 
can move and feci, let him be taught to supply his own 
wants; to dress and to feed himself; to run from place to 
place, either for exercise or in pursuit of his own amuso- 
ments or avocations. 

'In these excursions, however, it will be proper for tho 
parent or tutor to superintend his motions at a distance, 
without seeming to watch ovor him. A vigilanco too ap- 
parent may defeat its own object, and creato in a mind na- 
turally jealous a suspicion of its originating in some inte- 
rested motive. But, on tho othor hand, when dangers aro 
obvious and great, thoso who are intrusted with the care of 
the blind will find it neither necessary nor expedient to 
make their vigilance a secret. They ought then to acquaint ' 



their pupil that they are present with him, and to intcrposo 
for his preservation whenever his temerity renders it neces- 
sary. But objects of a naturo less noxious, which may give 
him some pain without any permanent injury or mutilation, 
may by design be thrown in his way, provided however that 
tho design be industriously concealed, for his own expe- 
rieneo of their bad effects will prove a much more eloquent 
and scnsiblo caution than tho abstract and frigid counsels 
of any monitor whatever. 

* When the season of childish amusement has expired, 
and tho impetuosity of animal spirits has abated, the tutor 
will probably observe, in the whole demeanour of his pupil, 
a more sensible degree of timidity and precaution, and his 
activity will then require to be stimulated rather than re- 
strained. In this crisis exercise will bo found requisite to 
preserve health and facilitate tho vital functions, as well as 
for tho mere purpose of recreation ; and of all kinds of exer- 
eiso, riding on horseback will bo found by far the most 
oligiblc and advantageous. On sueh occasions, however, 
care must be taken that the horses employed bo neither ca- 
pricious or unmanageable ; for, on the docility of tho animal 
which ho rides not only the safety but the confidence of 
the blind will entirely depend. In these expeditions, whe- 
ther long or short, his companion or attendant ought to bo 
constantly with him ; and the horse should be taught cither 
to follow Us guide, or be conducted by a leading rein. Next 
to this mode of exercise is walking. If the constitution be 
tolerably robust, let him be taught to encounter every vicis- 
situde of weather which the human constitution can endure 
with impunity. And when the cold is so intense, or the 
elements so tempestuous, as to render air and exercise 
abroad impracticable, thero aro methods of exercise within 
doors, which, though not equally salutary, aro still highly 
eligible. The durab-hells, the bath-chair, or spring-board, 
and the common swing, havo been particularly recom- 
mended for this purpose ; and as each affords an agreeable 
excrcitation, any of them may be had recourse to at pleasure/ 

The number of blind men who have become distinguished 
is large. The histories of many of them will be found 
under their names in this work. The table given opposite 
has been drawn from various sources, but chiefly from the 
Essay of Dr. Guillie\ on the Instruction of the Blind; from 
the Biography of the Blind, a 12mo, volume of 300 pages, 
by James Wilson, himself a living instance of the intellec- 
tual efforts of which the blind are capable; and from the 
first volume of the Pursuit of Knowledge under Diffi- 
culties in tho Library of Entertaining Knowledge. In addi- 
tion to those included in our table, many others might 
have been named of minor celohrity, who filled a sphere of 
usefulness in their day, and many arc still living in this and 
in other countries, whose perseverance and success may teach 
a useful lesson to some future age. We cannot forbear to 
name James Holman, who became bliud when a young man, 
and whose published travels round the world have excited 
very general curiosity and interest. Nor should we omit to 
mention Alexander Rodcnbaeh, *a member of the Bclpiau 
Chamber of Deputies, and one of the most conspicuous 
actors in the lato revolution/ who forms one of the prin- 
cipal supports of the democratic party, and who * often makes 
the Chamber ring with his original and eloquent speeches.' 

Tho acquirements and the labours of the individuals in- 
cluded in this table would alone be sufficient to give 
them celebrity even had they laboured under no physical 
defect. The knowledgo of what they accomplished may, 
in some measure, enable the teacher to ascertain what are 
fit studies for the blind," and by showing him what has liccn 
dono, to encourago him in his difficult undertaking. Tho 
instruction of persons who aro under so much greater (1U- 
advantages than ordinary pupils requires more than ordi- 
nary patience and encouragement. The iugenuity which 
a teacher must exercise is almost beyond calculation ; he 
requires also knowledge of a high degree, especially a 
knowledge of human nature under this peculiar alllietiou. 
In every country thero ought to be at least one normal 
school, where teachers may be trained for tho instruction 
of tho blind. A simple way of effecting such a purpose 
would be for the government to allow to ono establishment, 
which shall first be ascertained to be a superior one in its 
management and results, such an annual grant of money 
as shall enable it to retain several young men as assistant- 
teachers, who shall be ready to supply vacancies which 
occur, and to take charge of newly-estahlished institutions. 
This kind of assistance would, perhaps, he tho most valuablo 
encouragement which a government could afford. It 



Diodotus (lived in the century 
preceding the Christiaaa?ra) 
Kusebius , , t 

Diiiymtis . , 

Anfiilius Bassus , ] 

Achm^ Ilea Soliman , 

Henry the Minstrel . 
Sir John Gower 
Nicaise of Malines . [ 

Charles Ferdinand , 

Peter Pontanus ' , 

Margaret of Ravenna 



B L I 527 

Country. Born. Lived. Died. Whea Blind. 



B L I 



James Pchegkius . 

John Fernand , 

Pcdianus AsconiuB 
Uldaric Schomberg* , 

Herman Torrentins , 

John Paul Lomazzo* • 

Franciscus Sab'nasf • 
Connt de Pagan* 

Francois Malavae . . . 
Prosper Fagnani • . , . 
Claude Comiers . . . . 
Tiourchcau de Valbonnaii 
Nicholas Sanderson • . 

Hr. Moves 
Dr. Wacklock 

M. Pfenw 

M. Weisijembonrff , 

M. Ilqlxr 

John Gonolli . . 

John Gimbiisins , 

Mademoiselle Paradis . 

Martin Crmtelain 

Francis Potter . , 

CaTulhi 

Nicholas Uacon, LL.D. , 

Anua Williams . , 

I>eonar<J Euler . , 

Itcv. Johu Tronghton . 

Caspar Crnmbhorn . 
M.irtioi Pesenli 
Penis Iljimpson (Bard) , 

Mademoiselle Solignac 
Johu Stanley . . 

Parry (Welsh Harper) 

Edward Rushton 

John Metcalf (Hlind Jack) . 

John Cough . 



John Kay 

Nelson . 

John Millon . 
Sir Jnhn Fielding 
David M'llcalb 



Asia , 

. Asia , 

. Alexandria 
. Rome 
. Arabia 
. Scotland . 
. Loadoa 
. Netherlands 

{ Bruges, Nether 
' (. lauds 

Bruges, ditto 
' i Russy, near Ra- \ 
' I veana . . j" 

fThorndorf. Wur- \ 
* (. temberg , J 

. Belg-iim . .' * 



313 



973 
1361 



':} 



1651 
1632 

17&0 
1721 
1736 



• Germany . . 
S Zwoll, Unit Pro-]. 
' (. vinccs . . $ 

. Milan . . 1538 

.{ B Sf B - OWCa 8;}l5l3 
• Marseilles , 1604 



Marseilles , . 
Rome . . . 
Embrnn.Dauphiny 
Grenoble m , 
Yorkshire ." . 
Kirkaldy. Scotl. 
Annan, ditto * 
Colmar . . 
Mannheim, Gcr. 
Geacva . 
Cambassi, 
Volterra 

Vienna . , 
Warwick . 
London . , 
Nantes . , 
I^ondou . , 
Wales 
Bagle, Switzcrld. 

Coventry . 
Silesia 
Venice , , 
Ireland , 
Zaintonge » . 
London . , 
Wales 
Liverpool . 
Knaresbo rough . 
Kendal * . 



Became blind 

315 340 At five years 

393 At five years 

In youth 
1059 At three years 

Born blind 
1402 
1492 At three years 

I n early youth . 

15— At threo years . 

1505 At tltree months 

1537 While young . 
Born blind , 

Late in life 

16— At three years old 
1520 

At 17 years . . 

1590 At eight years . 

In middle life , 

1627 1719 At nine months , 



lflCl 



1693 

1739 

1807 
1791 
1809 



Tosc. 



1750 1784 



16— 1734 



1510 

170G 
1707 

IG37 



1693 

1713 

I75S 
1717 
1757 



1678 
17H9 
15?J 
1783 
1783 

1681 

1621 

1808 

1786 

IS 14 
1602 
1825 



In youth . • » 
At 12 months old 

At three years . 

At six months . 
Very young 

At seven years . 

At 17 yean , 

At twenty do. • 

At twenty do, . 

At twn do. , . 
Born blind . 

Became blind . 

Born blind . . 
At nine years 

At 34 years . , 

At 59 years , 

At four years 
At three years 
Born blind . 
At three years 
At two years 
At two years 
In Infancy 
At 19 years . 
At six years 
At three years 



Art or Science. 

Philosophy, geom. and music. 
Philosophy and divinity. 
Rhetoric, musie, and theology. 
Philosophy and geometry . 
Poelry. 

Poetry • « ♦ . 

Poetry nnd history . . 
Law aad divinity. 

Music, oratory, literature. 

Philosophy and literatnre 

Theology and morals. 

Philosophy and medicine , 
Poetry, philosophy, and music. 
Hislory • . . . 

Literature. 

Literature . . . 

Painting and literature . . 
Greek Ian. mathemat., & mns. 
Mathemat., mechanics, & astr. 

Mysties • • • . 
Law t 

Medicine, mathemat., physics. 
HiBtory .... 
Mathematics, nstronomy, &c 
Music, math., nat. philosophy. 
Poetry, divinity, music, &c. . 

Poetry 

Geography . . . 

Naturalist . . . . 

Seulptor. 

Sculptor. 

Music (comp. and perforin.) 

Mechanics and music. 

Mechan., tbeo., nnd painting. 

Music. 

Law. 

Poetry . . » . 

Mathematics nnd astronomy . 

Theology .... 

Music (comp. and perform.) 

Ditto ditto. 

Music (performer.) 

Music, writing, &c 

Music (comp. and perform.) . 

Ditto ditts. 

Poetry, politics , . 

Road-surveyor, contractor, Src. 

Botany, natural philosophy , 



Glasgow , 
New York 
London . . 
Westminster 
Dalkeith . 



1777 

1608 
1792 



1809 At ten years 

At twenty 
1674 At forty-four 
178'J From youth 
ld34 At an early age 



Workt written during ftllndncii. 



Treatise on tho Holy Spirit. 
A Greek History. 

Life of Wallace. 
Confcssto Amantis, &c 



On Rhetoric, &c. 

Several Treatises. 

Treatises on Grammar. 

Historical and Poetical Dictionary, 

Idea del tempio dclla plttura. 

De MuBici. 

Geom. Theorems ; on Fortifica- 
tions; Theory of Planets, &c. 
Spiritual Poetry, &c. 
Commentary oa Laws, 3vols. folio. 
On the Art of prolonging Life. 
History of Dauphiny, &c. 
Treatise of Algebra. 

Poems, Sermons, &c. 

Fables, 6 vols. Svo. 

Inventions for the Blind. 

On Bees and Ants ; ou Education. 

/ 

Explanation of the No. 666. 



Miscellanies, in Proie and Veiso. 
Elemeats of Algebra, and various 

otber scientific works. 
Various Nonconformist work*. 



Mechanics. 
Greek and Latin clai 
Poelry . . 

Police magistrate . 
Music, mathematics, &c, 



Oratorios (Jephtha, Zimri, &c.) 

Poems, Letters to Washington, &c. 

Fourteen Communications to Man- 
chester Society ; Thirty-six to 
Nicholson's Journal. 



Paradise Lost. &c. 
Universal Meator, &c. 
Inventions for the Blind. 



t 



* Lomazzo had studied literature nnd painting previous to becoming hlind ; he wrote on Painting after he became blind, 
Some nuthoritics slate that Salinas was blind from birth. t Count do Pagan published his works after he became 



; blind. 



would thus ensure the training of persons to continue and 
perfect an art which has been kept in a state of infancy 
from the want of such a provision. 

The addition of deafness to blindness seems almost to 
shut out a human being from the external world. It is 
difficult to conceive how the mind of a person who is deaf, 
dumb, and blind ean be occupied — much more difficult to 
decide how it can bo improved and educated. The case of 
.Tames Mitchell has been made known to the public by 
Dugald Stewart, Mr. Wardrop, and Dr. Spurzheim. He 
received no education, except that which was forced upon 
hiin ; his friends made no progress in communicating with 
him, except such as related to liis daily exercises and wants. 
The intercourse they mutually held was by natural signs, 
addressed to his sense of feeling. When hungry he ex- 
pressed himself by carrying his hand towards his mouth, 
and pointed to the cupboard where the eatables were kept. 
If his sister wished to express satisfaction, she tapped him 
gently; if displeasure, she gave him a quick slap. If he 
wanted to go to bed he inclined his head sidewards. He 
readily interpreted signs, and so evinced the activity of 
his powers. Several cases of similar deprivations are 
recorded ; perhaps tho most interesting, and the one 
least known in England, is that of Julia Brace, the deaf, 
dumb, and blind American girl, who resides in the in- 
stitution for the deaf and dumb at Hartford, Connecticut. 
Julia Brace was seized with typhus fever at four years of 
age : during the first week of her illness she became blind 
and deaf. She retained her speech for about a year, fre- 
quently repeating her letters and spelling the names of her 
acquaintance, but she gradually lost it, and seems now con- 
demned to perpetual silence. For thvee years she con- 
tinned to utter a few words ; one of the last was * mother/ 



At first she was unconscious of her misfortune, and ima- 
gined that a long night had eome upon the world. At 
length in passing a window she felt the sun shining warm 
upon her hand, and she made signs indicating that she was 
aware of it. She was governed by her mother, by means 
similar to those employed in the case of Mitchell ; at first 
she was exceedingly irritable ; but she at length became 
habitually mild, obedient, and affectionate. At nine years of 
age she was taught to sew, and since that time to knit 
Julia Braco, who is now nearly thirty years of age, is sup- 
ported in the Hartford Asylum in part by the contributions 
of visiters, and in part by her own labours in sewing and 
knitting. A language of palpable signs was early esta- 
blished as a means of communication with her friends; this 
has been much improved by her intercourse with the deaf 
and dumb, and is now sufficient for all ordinary purposes. 
It is obvious that her only means of perceiving external ob- 
jects are the smell, the taste, and the touch. The touch is 
her chief reliance, and enables her to distinguish every 
object with which she has been familiar, sometimes by the 
aid of her lips and tongue. But her smell also is surpris- 
ingly acute, and often enables her to ascertain facts which 
are beyond the reach of other persons. Her countenance as 
she sits at work exhibits the strongest evidence of an active 
mind and a feeling heart, and thoughts and feelings seem 
to Hit across it, like the clouds in a summer sky. A shade 
of pensiveness will bo followed by a cloud of anxiety or 
gloom ; a peaceful look will perhaps succeed ; and not un- 
frequently a smile lights up her countenance, which seems 
to make one forget her misfortunes. But no one yet has 
penetrated the darkness of her prison-house, or been able 
to find an avenue for intellectual or moral light. 
These particulars are derived from two interesting articles 



B L I 



528 



n l I 



in the American Annals of Education. Captain Basil Hall, 
who xiMttd the Hartford Asjluin, also give* somo interest- 
ing particulars respecting Julia Brace in his Travels in 
North America. 

Of tho statistics of the blind we have no very accurate 
information. Their proportion to the whole population 
varies from local causes : in Kgypt 1 in 300 are supposed 
to be blind; in England not more than 1 in 1000, but 
this gives a large aggregate. As improvable beings they 
call for education; as labouring under n serious organic 
defect they demand our sympathy and benevolence. It 
is our duty to support institutions for their education, and 
to encourage those inventions which have been found in 
any way adequate to their wants. The important work of 
Ja'iucsGall on the Origin and Progress of Literature for 
the Blind supplies a vast variety of useful information on 
the subject. 

BLINDAGE (called also BLIND), is a military build- 
ing, consisting usually of stout timbers, to secure troops, 
stores, or artillery. . 

In fortresses, when regular casemates have not been con- 
structed for the protection of the ammunition and provisions, 
or of the soldiers, whilo not employed in active duty, co- 
vered buildings of a temporary nature are formed for those 
purposes at, or previously to, the commencement of a siege. 
The simplest are such as are made against the side of 
some strong wall within tbe place, or, which is preferable, 
against the revetment of the counterscarp, in n dry ditoh, on 
any of tho fronts tiot exposed to the fire of the enemy. 
These inclined blindages consist, when timber is pleutiful, 
of thick beams placed close together, and leaning against 
the wall so as to make with it an angle of 45 degrees, one 
extremity of each resting on a sleeper laid in the ground : 
in other cases the beams are placed at intervals from each 
other ; over them are laid horizontal joists close together, 
and tbe whole is covered to tho required thickness with 
fascines and sods when tbey can be procured ; the entrance 
is at one extremity of the building. This kind of blind- 
age is also constructed to cover a man while employed in 
piercing the escarp wall of a rampart, in order to form a 
breach in it by the explosion of a mine. 

A blindage is sometimes formed independently of any 
wall, by planting the timbers in the ground in inclined po- 
sitions so that their upper extremities meet together in a 
ridge, by which means the building resembles the roof of a 
house, and the whole is covered with fascines and sods. 
But generally an area is inclosed by a wall made of strong 
palisades planted vertically in the ground, the roof being 
formed of timbers disposed horizontally and close together, 
above which comes the bed of fascines and earth. For a 
small magazine the inclosing wall may consist merely of 
gabions filled with earth ; the area being covered as before. 
A blindage is said to he bomb-proof, when, from tbe 
thickness of its roof, it is capable of resisting tho shock of 
loaded shells; and splinter-proof when merely capable of 
securing persons within it against the fragments resulting 
from the explosion of such shells. 

The French give the name of blindage to any building 
already existing in a fortress, when a shell-proof covering 
has been made to it in place of its proper roof; this cover is 
obtained by placing great girders over the interior, and over- 
laying them with joists and earth. It is recommended that 
the walls, when not sutliciently strong, should be cut down 
to a convenient height, and covered as before. On the ex- 
terior of the building leaning blindages may be formed as 
above described, and sometimes the whole of the exterior 
walls is protected in the same manner except at the in- 
tended entrances, which are generally opposite to the piers 
between tho doors and windows, where some of tho in- 
clined timbers are omitted: but occasionally the walls and 
roof aro merely strengthened and supported by shoars or 
inclined props firmly fixed below in the ground, and abovo 
renting against the extremities of the girders. For these 
kinds of blindages such buildings should be selected as have 
their lengths in tho probable direction of the enemy's fire, 
to avoid their being too much exposed. 

To secure some of the artillery on tho ramparts of a 
lortrcss, shell-proof blindages are formed, by plnnting in the 
enrth strong palisades vertically on each side of the gun, 
from the interior slope of tho parapet to the extent of about 
eighteen feet from thence, across the terreploin or upper 
surface of the rampart; and a roof is made with timbers, 
which also cover the embrasure as far as six feet from its 
neck, or interior extremity. These blindages aro open to- 



wards the rear, and the guns fire through the embrasures 
as usual. It has also been recommended to form the blind- 
age in the thickness of the parapet itself, the roof being 
well covered with timbers, fascines, and earth ; the. interior 
side should be open, but the exterior may bo closed by a 
number of stout timbers placed horizontally, so as to make 
a wall four feet thick, through which the embrasures may 
be cut like tho portholes of a ship. 

In the attack of fortresses, when the trenches of the be- 
siegers become subject to a plunging fire from the place, 
they are protected by blindages ; theso nre formed by fixing 
rectangular frames of timber vertically along the two sides 
of the trench, and placing similar frames across the trench 
so as to rest on trie upper extremities of the former ; tho 
roof frames carry a laver of fascines, which is covered with 
earth or raw hides. 

Blinded trenches of this kind were formerly much used 
by the besiegers to protect tbeir descent into the ditches of 
fortified towns ; one of this kind was executed by the French 
for that purpose whcn.thev besieged Danzig in 1813. 

BLINDNESS. [Sec Eye.] 

BLIND-WORM (zoology), the English name for a 
species of the tbird subgenus of the family of Anguidc?, 
les Orvets of the French, and the genus Anguis of Lin- 
nams. This family have a bony head, .their, teeth and 
tongue rcscmblo those of the lizards distinguished by the 
name of Seps t nnd they have three c vol ids : they are, in 
short, as Cuvicr observes, so to speak, Seps-lizards without 
feet. [See Skps.] 




[Head of Bhud-worm.J 

Before we enter into a description of the reptile whose 
name stands at the head of this article, it may not be unin- 
teresting to trace the steps by which nature, leaving the 
form of tlie lizards, arrives at that of the snakes. Proceed- 
ing in the lizards from Seps to Bipes> from Bipes to C/ial- 
cides, and from Chalcides to Chirotes, forms almost insen- 
sibly becoming more and more serpentine, she arrives at the 
Attgitida? or Snakes , which may be said to form the con- 
necting link between the lizards and the true serpents. [See 
Serpents.]. These Anguida are characterized externally 
by imbricated scales which cover thcin entirely. There arc, 
according to Cuvier, four subgenera; in the three first of 
which are to be found, under the skin, the rudiments of 
some of the bones of the anterior extremities and of the 
pelvis. In the last subgenus there is no vestige of such 
bones, nor of a sternum (breast-bone). 

We will givo a slight sketch of these subgenera, and so 
endeavour to convey to the reader the place which the 
blind-worm is supposed to occupy in this graduated scale. 
In the first of theso subgenera, Pseudopus of Merrem (the 
Scheltopusifts, see Sciieltopusik), the tympanum or drum 
of the ear is visible externally ; on each side of the vent 
there is a small prominence, which is the rudiment of a 
femur (thigh-bone), and this bone is attached to a true pel- 
vis hidden beneath the skin. The anterior extremities arc 
scarcely marked by an external fold hard to be seen, and 
there is no humerus (arm-bone) within. One of the lungs 
is one-fourth part less than the other. 

The second subgenus, Ophisaurus (snake-lizard) of Dau- 
din, has many points of rescmblnnce with the Schcllopu- 
siks, hut thcro is no appearance of posterior extremities or 
limbs. The tympanum, however, is still visible, and the 
scales leave a' fold on each side of the trunk. The small 
lung is about one-third of the size of the large one. [See 
Opiusaurus.] 

In the third subgenus (Anguis of Cuvicr), under which 
the blind- worm is arranged, not only is there no appearance 
of any limbs externally, but even the tympanum is hidden 
under the skin ; the maxillary teeth are compressed nnd 
hooked, but thcro arc no palate teeth. The body is enve- 
loped in small imbricated scales, and there is no fold at tho 
side. One of the lungs is less than the other by one-half. 
Such arc the characters of the Orrets properly so called. 

These three subgenera have still an imperfect pelvis*, a 

• Meckel U of opinion thai the imperfect pelvis which Cnvier attribute* to 
Anfuis fragilii U a poMerior extremity and nut a rudimentary pelvis ; nnd Dr. 
Ma\rr, who saw ttie pre]** ration in the Mu«eum at Paris, evidently agrees 
with Meckel, Indeed Mayer makes Anguis the first gmnt of his Cryptopoda, a 
family of Ojdthliani having the rudimcuti of a fool concealed under tbf iklu. 



B L I 



529 



B L 1 



small sternum, or breast-bone, a shoulder-blade and a cla- 
vicle (collar-bone) hidden under the skin. 

But these bones are absent in the fourth subgenus, 
Acontias (Javclin-Snakc) of Cuvier : for though this sub- 
genus resembles the others in the structure of the head and 
of tbe eyelicls, there is neither breast-bone, nor shoulder- 
bone, nor pelvis, but the anterior ribs are united one to the 
other beneath the trunk by cartilaginous prolongations. 
Cuvier states that he observed one moderate-sized lung 
and one very small one. The teeth are small and conical, 
and Cuvier tbinks that he has perceived some on the palate. 
{See Javelin-Snake.] 

To return to our blind-worm, which belongs to the third 
of tbese subgenera, and is common throughout Europe. Its 
length varies from about eleven inches to somewhat more 
than a foot, and instances have been given of its attaining 
more than double that length. The eyes are small (whence 
one of its names), and the irides are red. The head is 
small, the teeth are minute and numerous, the neck is 
slender, and thence the body enlarges, continuing of equal 
bulk to the tip of the tail, which ends bluntly, and is as long 
as the trunk, or body part. The scales are very smooth, 
shining, of a silvered yellow on the upper parts, and dusky 
beneath : the sides are of a somewhat reddisb east. Down 
the back extend three black lines, whieh change with age 
into different series of black specks, and at length disappear. 
The general colour of the back may be described as cine- 
reous, with somewhat of a metallic lustre, and marked with 
very fine lines of minute black specks. The dusky belly 
and the reddish sides are marked like the back. 

The blind-worm feeds on earth-worms, insects, &e. ; and 
the slowness of its motion has obtained for it another of its 
names. Though perfectly innocuous, it has the character of 
possessing the most deadly venom, and is persecuted accord- 
ingly. Pennant quotes Dr. Borlase as assisting this idle 
and groundless notion, by mentioning a variety of this serpent 
with a pointed tail, and adding, that he had been informed 
that a man lost his life by the bite of one in Oxfordshire. 
Now, if the serpent that bit the man in Oxfordshire had a 
pointed tail, it could not have been a blind-worm ; and if the 
story of the death be true, he most probably lost his life by 
the bite of a black or dusky viper, as Pennant suggests. 
[See Viper.] The country people still hold this harmless 
reptile in utter abhorrence, and wage an exterminating war 
against it : but the reader may be assured that the ' blind- 
worm's sting' exists only in imagination. The animal is 
very brittle. Laurcnti and others assert that, when captured, 
it throws itself into such rigidity tbat it sometimes breaks 
in two. A smart blow with a switch divides it ; and from 
this fragility Linmeus gave it the specifie name which it 
still retains. Cuvier is of opinion that the Anguis eryx of 
Linnaeus is only a young blind-worm, which bas the dorsal 
lines well marked, and that the Anguis clivicus, which 
Daudin makes an Eryx, is nothing more than an old blind- 
worm with a tmneated tail. The Blind-worm or Slow* 
worm of the old English authors, is the Long Cripple of the 
Cornish, according to Borlase, Ormsla and Koppar-Orm of 
the Fauna Suecica, L* Orvet of Lac^pcde, Blindtschleiche of 
the Germans, Anguis fragilu of Linnams. It brings forth 
its young alive, and it is said twice a year, in the seasons 
of spring and autumn. • y 

The. author of the article on the Ophidians in Griffith's 
Cuvier, where much valuable information is to be found, 
says that * by the aid of its muzzle it excavates holes in the 
earth three or four feet in depth, and eonduits describing 
different eircuits and having several issues/ The same 
author mentions its concealment of itself during rain and 
the season of frost, and says that it does not cast its old 
skin until towards the month of July. The general opinion 
is (and we think it well founded) that the blind-worm is the 
Cmcilia of the Latins, and the Tv<p\u>ip and rufXivog of the 
ontient Greeks, names given ir allusion to its supposed 
blindness, and that it .was sometimes called KuxpiaQ on ac- 
count of its assumed deafness. Belon considers it to be the 
serpent eallcd T&phloti, Tephliti, and Tephlini by the mo- 
dern Greeks. Columella (de Re Rustica, 6. e. 17), following 
the opinion of its deleterious nature, says that its 1 poison is 
fatal to oxen, and that the cure is the flesh of storks, because 
they devour this serpent. Upon the principle, we suppose, of 
counteracting one poison by the application of another, a The- 
riaca, or poison-antidote, made from the harmless blind-worms 
(cwciliis) and the Theriacal water was used as a sudorifie 
against the pestilence, But enough of these absurdities. 



BLISTER, a term used to express a bladder or vesicle 
raised upon the skin by the application of some external 
irritating substance, and also to denote the external applica- 
tion itself by whieh this effect is produced. The term vesi- 
catory is also frequently given to the external application. 
The substance usually employed as a vesicatory is the powder 
of the Spanish fly. [SccCanthaiudes.] The powder of thA 
cantharides is mixed with lard and wax* so as to produce a 
plaster of tolerably firm consistence, which is spread on 
leather and applied to the part for the space generally of 
from ten to twelve hours. The first effect of the appli- 
cation of the blister-plaster to the external skin is to 
produce a sense of tingling and heat ; tbis is followed by 
redness, commonly attended with pain, and subsequently 
there takes place an elevation of the cuticle into a vesicle 
or bladder, which contains a fluid resembling the serum of 
the blood. . On the evacuation of this fluid the redness con- 
tinues for some time ; the serum gradually thickens; and at 
last is changed into a whitish curdly substance under which 
new cuticle is formed, though occasionally the serum is 
converted into proper purulent matter, the blistered part 
successively contracting, until the whole wound is healed; 

The effect of the application of a blister is the production 
of a true inflammation over the whole surfaee of the skin 
with which the plaster is in eontaet. The effusion of a 
serous fluid from the excited eapillary vessels of the skin is 
one of the ordinary phenomena of inflammation. The 
formation of the bladder or vesiele is occasioned simply by 
the elevation of the euticle from tbe true skin, by the fluid 
poured out from the eutaneous capillary vessels. The in-* 
flammation induced by the blister is the effect of a powerful 
stimulus applied to the eutaneous blood-vessels and nerves; 

Tho extent of the inflammation is usually eonfined to 
the surface in actual eontaet with the blister; it is. com- 
paratively rare that any degree of irritation is commu- 
nicated to the general system ; and yet the relief afforded 
is often so great, that the effect appears disproportion ed to 
the eause, a small external inflammation mitigating or 
removing an extensive and severe internal inflammation. 
Mueh discussion has taken place as to the principle on 
which this relief is afforded, and tbe real mode in which 
the blister produces the benefit observed to result from 
it is not clearly understood. It is certain that the ehief 
benefit results in the state of what is termed local inflamma- 
tion, that is, when the inflammatory action is confined to a 
single organ or to a part of an organ. In order to under- 
stand the true nature of the ehange effected in the part re- 
lieved, it is obviously necessary to understand the true na- 
ture of inflammation. [See Inflammation.] It may be 
hero stated that in inflammation artificially induced with 
a view of observing the phenomena that take place in this 
process, the blood-vessels of the part inflamed are seen to 
enlarge and to become preternaturally distended with 
blood, while the motion of the blood in such vessels is either- 
very much retarded or ceases altogether. The knowledge 
of this fact enables us to understand, in some measure, the 
aetion of a blister. Tbe application of a powerful stimulus, 
such as that caused by the Spanish fly, in the neighbour* 
hood of vessels relaxed and over-distended with blood, re- 
lieves sueh vessels by depriving them of a portion of their, 
blood, and by consequently removing the state of ovcr-dis- 
tention. For the stimulus applied to the skin determines a 
large quantity of blood to the cutaneous vessels under the 
influence of the vesicatory ; this blood is derived from the 
blood-vessels of the parts in the immediate neighbourhood 
of the vesicated skin — from the blood-vessels of the inflamed 
part among the rest ; and the blood-vessels of the inflamed 
part being relieved from the preternatural quantity of blood 
that distended them, return to their healthy action. 

Another reason has also been assigned for the relief 
afforded by the application of blisters. It is observed that 
when a morbid action exists in any part of the body-, it may 
sometimes be removed by exciting a morbid action of a 
different kind in the same or in a neighbouring part. It is 
assumed that two morbid aetions of different kinds cannot go 
on in the same part at the same time ; hence the surgeon and 
physician, when they observe diseased action going on in a 
particular part of the body, induce, as near to that part as 
possible, another action of a different kind, frequently with 
the effect of lessening or altogether stopping the. former, 
morbid action. Now one of the instruments most commonly 
employed to excite this new action is tho blister, and th© 
excitement of such action, on the principle .just stated, i» 



No. 271- 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



Voi.IV.-3Y 



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530 



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conceived to be one mode in which the blister, as a general 
remedy, proves beneficial. 

Bui whatever bo their modo of operation, the fact is cer- 
tain that hlistcrs often prove moro extensively benoficial 
than could havo been anticipated from the limited surface 
on which they act, and from tho very slight dischargo they 
induce. Though, as already stated, they aro most bene- 
ficial when tho inflammation is seatod in a particular organ 
or in part of an organ, yet they aro by no means without 
advantage in cases in which tho system is generally and 
deeply involved; but then hencfit can only be ohtaincd 
from them after bleeding, purging, and other cvacuants 
havo lessened or subdued the general action of tho system. 
In this case they often complete and render permanent the 
benefit derived from the preceding remedies. 

For tho reason already assigned, they are most commonly 
employed (after remedies that act powerfully on tho general 
system) in pneumonia (iuflammation of the lung) ; in gas- 
tritis (inflammation of tho stomach) ; in hepatitis (inflam- 
mation of the liver) ; in phrciiitis (inflammation of the 
brain), and so on : hut thcro are diseases of tho nervous 
system in which they arc decidedly useful, as in spasmodic 
affections attended with pain hut without inflammation ; in 
the paroxysms of angina pectoris and of spasmodic asthma; 
in epilepsy, catalepsy, hysteria, paralysis, &c. 

Benefit is sometimes derived from tho application of blis- 
ters through their immediate and direct action as stimulants, 
ehicfly in full hahits, in which languor is tho consequence 
of ovcr-distcntion. In theso eases they excite the whole 
system, and produce an exhilarating effect. A gentleman 
once highly distinguished at the bar, and of brilliant con- 
vivial powers, always applied a hlistcr when he wished to 
shine in either sphere, and the effect was produced as soon 
as the warmth in the part began. Many persons, even 
though they feel acutely the pain produced hy hlistcrs, de- 
clare that the relief from tho previous languor counter- 
balances all their sufferings. 

The application of a blister is sometimes successfully 
employed as a means of directly lessening pain. The ex- 
citement of one pain diminishes another : hence the relief 
afforded in tooth-ache and other painful affections. Al- 
though in general blisters reh'eve moro pain than they give, 
yet in somo irritahlo skins and in somo irrilahlc states of 
tho system, they produce occasionally extreme excitement 
and suffering. By the previous employment of the appro- 
priate remedies for soothing the irritable stale of the system, 
tho beneficial effect of blisters may be ohtaincd even in 
constitutions thus predisposed to irritation from tho operation 
of this remedy, which constantly produces good or had 
effects just as its application is well or ill timed. Ono pain- 
ful affection occasionally induced (strangury) is effectually 
relieved by an anodyne injection thrown into tho rectum, 
consisting of four or six ounces of thin tepid gruel, with 
thirty or forty drops of laudanum. 

BLISTER-BEETLE. [Sec Cantharis.] 

BLOCK (German, BTocke; Dutch, Blohken; Swedish, 
Skejf/pa- block ; French, Poulie ; Italian, Bozelli; Spanish, 
Motones; Portuguese, Moutoes; Russ, Bloki), an instru- 
ment genorally made of wood, but sometimes of iron. It is 
chiefly employed in the rigging of ships to givo facility to 
tha raising or lowering of the masts, yards, and sails, and 
for such other purposes as require and admit of the applica- 
tion of the pulley — a block, as used on board of ships, being 
simply a pulley in the greater uart of its modifications. 
Ono description of blocks, to which the name of dead-eyes 
has been given, is not a pulley, being tin provided with 
sheaves. These dead-eyes aro used for setting up and 
fastening the shrouds and other standing rigging of the 
ship, whilo sheaved blocks aro used for tho running rigging. 
Tho moro usual form of blocks of hoth descriptions is that 
of an oval spheroid, flattened at opposito sides. Dead-eyes 
arc mado out of ono piece of wood, pierced with the requisite 
number of holes, through which the standing rigging is 
passed; and single-sheaved blocks aro mado up of three 
distinct parts, viz., tho shell, tho sheave, and tho pin which 
sorves as an axis round which tho sheavo revolves. Somo 
blocks aro mado with two, and othors with three, and even 
four sheaves, which all revolve on tho samo pin or axis, and 
consequently parallel to each other, in separate chambers 
formeu for that purpose in tho shell of tho block. 

Tho construction of blocks would seem to be a very simple 
operation, such as any man accustomed to work in wood 
could perform with facility and accuracy $ but this in practice 



is not found to be the case, as the parts must be fashioned 
and fitted together with the greatest possiblo accuracy, ill 
order to insuro their easy working when put together— a 
eircumstaneo of considerable importance in the management 
of a ship. For this reason, block-making has long formed 
a substantive branch of manufacture, and is carried on either 
by itself, or in conjunction only with mast-making. 

The vast number of hlocks constantly required fdr tho 
uso of tho English navy and the mcrcantilo marino of this 
country may he understood from the fact, that upwards of 
1400 blocks of all sorts aro needed for fitting one ship of 74 
guns, while for smaller vessels, although the sizes may be 
different, the number will not materially vary from what is 
hero stated. It was therefore long a matter of considerable 
moment to devise means for simplifying tho modo of manu- 
facture, and thus diminishing the cost. In tho year 1781 a 
largo manufactory was established on tho river Itcbcn at 
Southampton by Mr. Taylor, who had secured a patent for 
an improved method of making sheaves, and who further 
adapted machinery for cutting the limber and shaping tho 
shells of the blocks. Mr. Taylor so far succeeded, that ho 
was enabled for somo timo to supply all tho blocks required 
for the uso of the navy. A few years after tho expiration of 
his patent, machinery was introduced into tho dock-yard at" 
Portsmouth, and the government undertook the manufacture 
for the navy, with the douhle object of economy as to tho 
cost, and of being independent of any individual for the supply 
of an article of first necessity for the equipment of ships. 

Ahout this time (1801) Mr. Brunei succeeded in com- 
pleting a perfect working model for constructing both tho 
shells and sheaves of blocks. This model being suhmittcd 
to the inspection of tho Lords of the Admiralty, the inven- 
tion was at once adopted by government, and Mr. Brunei 
was engaged to superintend the construction of tho requisite 
machinery upon a scale sufficiently large for making blocks 
to supply the whole naval service of the country. Tho 
completion of this machinery occupied nearly six years, and 
was not brought into full operation until Septcmhcr, 1603, 
since which timo it has heen found to work without re- 
quiring any alteration, and is attended only by workmen 
of the ordinary description. 

The machinery in the Portsmouth Dock-yard is put in 
motion by a steam-engine of thirty- two horse power, tho 
work performed by which consists of various laborious pro- 
cesses in addition to moving tho block-machinery. Hf 
means of this latter, the shells and sheaves of blocks aro 
cut of all tho requisite sizes, and finished with a degree 
of precision which is found in itself to be of great ad- 
vantage, sinco tho shell or the sheave of any one block, of a 
given size, will fit, and may be at once adapted to any other 
sheave or shell, of the same size, without requiring any ad- 
justment. It is found that with this machinery ten men 
can perform the work that previously required one hundred 
and ten men for its completion, and can oasily finish, within 
tho year, 140,000 hlocks of various sorts and sizes, the value 
of the work performed being not less than 50,000/. 

As a reward for his ingenuity, and for hi3 services during 
six years in superintending tho construction of tho ma- 
chinery, Mr. Brunei received from government 20,000/., a 
sum exceedingly moderate when it is considered that tho 
annual saving to the puhlic hy means of his invention 
amounted every year, during the continuanco of the war, lo 
a sum at least equal to tho whole compensation. 

Tho great importance, in a national point of view, of this 
invention, Is such, that, in order to gutrrd against tbo con- 
sequences of any accident happening to the machinery at 
Portsmouth , during a time when the fitting of a fleet might ho 
in progress, duplicate machinery has heen constructed in tho 
Dock-yard at Chatham, and is kept in constant readiness 
for action, although hitherto it has not been wanted. 

BLOCKADE, LAW OF. Whenever a war takes plaee, 
it affects in various ways all states which havo any con- 
nexion with the belligerent powers. A principal part ac- 
cordingly of the science of international law is that which 
respects tho rights of such neutral states. For obvious 
reasons this is also tho most intricate part of tho subject. 
There is hero a general rule, namely, that the neutral ought 
not to bo at all interfered with, conflicting with a great 
variety of exceptions, derived from what is conceived to bo 
tho right of each of tho belligerents to prosecute the ob- 
ject of annoying its enemy, even though (within certain 
limits) it inflicts injury upon a third party. In the first 
place thcro is to be settled the question of what theso limits 



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531 



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are. It evidently would not do to 'say that the belligerent 
shall not be justified in doing anything which may in any 
way inconvenience a neutral power; for such a principle 
would go nigh to tie up the hands of the belligerent alto- 
gether, inasmueh as almost any hostile act whatever might in 
this way he construed into an injury by neutral states. They 
might complain, for instance, that tbey suffered an incon- 
venience, when a belligerent power seized upon the ships of 
its enemy that were On their way to supply other countries 
with the ordinary articles of commerce. On the other hand, 
there is a manifest expediency in restricting the exercise of 
the rights of war, for the sake of the protection of neutrals, 
to as great an extent as is compatible with the effectual 
pursuit of the end for which war is waged. Accordingly it 
has been commonly laid down, tbat belligerents are not to 
do anything whieh shall bave a greater tendency to incom- 
mode neutrals than to benefit themselves. It is evident 
however that this is a very vague rule, the application of 
which must give rise to many questions. 

It is by this rule that publicists have endeavoured to de- 
termine tbe extent to which the right of blockade may pro- 
perly he carried, and the manner in which it ought to be 
exercised. Wc ean only notice the principal conclusions to 
which they have come, which indeed, so far as they are 
generally admitted, are nothing more than a set of rules 
fashioned on positive international morality (that is, so 
much of positive morality as states in general agree in re- 
cognizing) by judicial decision. Accordingly perhaps the 
most eomplete exposition of the modern doctrine of blockade 
may be collected from the admirable judgments delivered 
during the eourse of the last war by Sir William Scott (now 
Lord Stowell), while presiding over the High Court of Ad- 
miralty, which have been ably reported hy Dr. Edwards and 
Sir Charles Robinson. A very convenient compendium of 
the law, principally derived from this source, has been given 
hy Mr. Joseph Cbitty in his work entitled A Practical Trea- 
tise on the Law of Nations, 8vo. Lond. 1812. The various 
pamphlets and puhlished speeches of Lord Erskine, Mr. Ste- 
phen, Mr. Brougham, Mr. Alexander Baring, Lord Sheffield, 
and others, which appeared in the course of the controversy 
respecting the Orders in Council, may also be consulted with 
advantage. To these may be added various articles in 
volumes xi. xii. xiv. and xix. of the Edinburgh Review, 
particularly one in volume xix. pp. 290-3 1 7, headed Disputes 
with America, written immediately hefore the breaking out 
of the last war with tbat country, j 

The first and the essential circumstance necessary to 
make a good blockade is, that there be actually stationed at 
the place a sufficient force to prevent tbe entry or exit of 
vessels. Sir William Scott has said (case of the Vrow Ju- 
dith, Jan. 1 7, 1799), ' a blockade is a sort of circumvallation 
round a place by which all foreign connexion and corre- 
spondence is, as far as human power can effect it, to be en- 
tirely cut off.' Such a check as this, it is evident, is abso- 
lutely necessary to prevent the greatest abuse of the right 
of blockade. Tbe benefit accrning to a belligerent from 
blockading its enemy's ports, by which it claims the pri- 
vilege of seizing any vessel that attempts to touch or has 
actually touched at such ports, and the inconvenience 
thercbv indicted upon neutrals, would both, without such a 
provision, be absolutely unlimited. In point of fact, belli- 
gerents have frequently affected, in tbeir declarations of 
blockade, to overstep the houndaries thus set to the exercise 
of tbe right. France, as Mr. Brougham has shown in his 
speech delivered before the House of Commons, 1st April, 
1808, in support of the petitions of London, Liverpool, and 
other towns, against the orders in council, has repeatedly 
done so both since and previous to tbe Revolution. She did 
so in 173.9, and in 1756, and also in 1796, in 1797, and in 
1800. But in none of these instances were her pretended 
hlockadcs either suhmitted to by neutrals, or even to any 
- considerable extent. attempted to be enforced by herself. 
There can be no doubt that no prize court would now con- 
demn a vessel captured for the alleged violation of any such 
mere nominal blockade. It has however been decided 
that the blockade is good although the ships stationed at 
the place may have been for a short time removed to a little 
distance by a sudden change of wind, or any similar cause. 

The second, and only other circumstance necessary to 
constitute a blockade which the prize-courts will recognize, 
is, that the party violating it shall be proved to have been 
aware of its existence. ' It is at all times most convenient,' 
Sir William Scott has said in one of his judgments (see case 



of the Rolla in Robinson's Reports), * that the blockade 
should be declared in a public and distinct manner.' There 
ought to be a formal notification from the blockading power 
to all other countries. Nevertheless this is not absolutely 
required, and a neutral will not he permitted with impunity 
to violate a blockade of which the master of the vessel may 
reasonably be presumed to be aware from tbe mere notoriety 
of the fact. Sir William Scott however has said that, 
whereas when a notification has been formally given, the 
mere act of sailing with a contingent destination to enter 
the blockaded port if the blockade shall he found to be 
raised, will constitute the offence of violation, it might be 
different in the case of a blockade existing de facto only. 

With regard to neutral vessels lying at the place where 
the blockade commences, the rule is, that they may retire 
freely after the notification of the blockade, taking with 
them the cargoes with which they may be already laden ; 
hut they must not take in any new cargo. 

The offence of violation is effected either by going into the 
place blockaded, or by coming out of it with a cargo taken 
in after the commencement of the blockade. But vessels 
must not even approach the place with the evident intention 
of entering if they can effect their object. It would even 
appear that a vessel will render itself liable to seizure and 
condemnation if it can be proved to have set sail with that 
intention. In such eases however it must be always diffi- 
cult for tbe captors to make out a satisfactory case. 

After a ship has once violated a blockade, it is considered 
that the offence is not purged, in ordinary circumstances, 
until she shall have returned to the port from which she 
originally set out ; that is to say, she may be seized at any 
moment up to the termination of her homeward voyage. If 
the blockade however has heen raised before the capture, 
the offence is held to be no longer punishable, and a judg- 
ment of restitution will bo pronounced. 

Tbe effect of a violation of blockade to the offending party 
when captured, is the condemnation usually of both the 
ship and the cargo. If however it can be shown that the 
parties to whom the cargo helongs were not implicated in the 
offence committed by the master of the ship, the cargo will be 
restored. It has sometimes, on the contrary, happened that 
the owners of the cargo have been found to be the only 
guilty parties, in which case the judgment has been for the 
condemnation of the cargo, and the restitution of tbe ship. 

If a place, as generally happens in the case of maritime 
blockades, be blockaded by sea only, a neutral may earry 
on commerce with it by inland communications. The 
neutral vessel may enter a neighbouring port not included 
in the blockade with goods destined to be carried thence 
over land into the blockaded place. 

When a place has once been notified to be hlockadcd, a. 
counter notice should always be given hy the blockading 
power when the blockade has ceased. The observance of 
this formality is obviously conducive to the general con- 
venience, but there are of course no means of punishing a 
belligerent for its neglect. 

In this country a blockade is ordered and declared by the 
king in council. It is held however that a commander of a 
king's ship on a station so distant as to preclude the go- 
vernment at home from interfering with the expedition ne- 
cessary to meet the change of circumstances, may have au- 
thority delegated to him to extend or vary tbe blockade on 
the line of coast on which he is stationed. But the courts 
will not recognize a blockade altered in this manner within 
the limits of Europe. It appears to be necessary for the 
sake of the public convenience that the power of declaring 
a blockade should, as far as possible, be exercised only hy 
the sovereign power in a state; but it would perhaps be 
going too far to insist that it should in no circumstances be 
delegated to a subordinate authority. This would seem 
to be something very like interfering with the internal ar- 
rangements of States. 

Some very important questions connected with the law of 
blockade were brought into discussion in the course of the 
late war by the Berlin decree of Bonaparte and the orders 
of the British king in council. 

The Berlin decree, which was issued on the 21st of Nov. 
1806, declared the whole of the British islands in a state of 
blockade, and all vessels, of whatever country, trading to 
them liable to be captured by the ships of France. It also 
shut out all British vessels and produce both from France 
and from all the other countries then subject to the au- 
thority of the French emperor. By a subsequent decree, 

3 Y2 



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532 



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isiued soon after in aid of this, all neutral vessels wero re- 
quired to carry what were called letters or certificates of 
origin, that is, attestations from tlio French consuls of the 
ports from which they had set out, that no part of their cargo 
was British. This was tho revival of an expedient which 
had been first resorted to by tho Directory in I79G. 

There can bo no question as to the invalidity of this 
blockade, according to tho recognized principles of tho law 
of nations: the essential circumstance of a good blockade, 
namely, tho presence of a force sufficient to maintain it, was 
here entirely wanting. And it is proper also to state that a 
certain representation of the nature of tho decree, much in- 
sisted upon by some of the writers and pamphleteers in the 
eourso of the subsequent discussions, with the view of miti- 
gating its absurdity and violence, that is to say, that it was 
never attempted to* be enforced, is now well known not to 
have been strictly correct. Many vessels of neutrals were 
actually captured", and condemned by the French courts, in 
conformity with it, during tho first "few months which fol- 
lowed its promulgation. 

The first step in resistance to tho Berlin decree was taken 
by Great Britain on the 7th of January, 1807, while tho 
Whig ministry of which Mr. Fox had been the head was 
still in oflice, by an order in council subjecting to seizure 
all neutral vessels trading from one hostile port in Europe 
to another with property belonging to an enemy. This 
order however is said to havo been extensively evaded ; 
while, at the same time, new eflbrts began to be made by 
the French emperor to enforce the Berlin decree. It is ad- 
mitted that in the course of the months of September and 
October, 1807, several neutral vessels were captured for 
violation of that decree ; that a considerable alarm was ex- 
cited among the mercantile classes in this country by these 
acts of violeuce ; that the premium of insurance rose ; and 
that some suspension of trade took place. (See Edin. Rev. 
vol. xiv. p. 442, &e.) It is contended by the supporters of 
the British orders in council, that the effect of the Berlin 
decree upon the commerce of this country during the 
months of August, September, and October in particular, 
was most severely felt. (Sec Mr. Stephen's Speech.) 

In these circumstances the British government, at the 
head of which Mr. Perceval now was, issued farther orders 
in council, dated the 1 1th and 21st November," 1807. These 
new orders declared France and all its tributary states to be 
in a state of blockade, and all vessels subject to seizure 
which were either found to have certificates of origin on 
board, or which should attempt to trade with any of the 
parts of the world thus blockaded. All neutral vessels, in- 
tended for France or any other hostile 'country, were or- 
dered in all cases to touch" first at some British port, and to 
pay custom dues there, after which they were, in certain 
cases, to be allowed to depart to their destination. In all 
cases, in like manner, vessels clearing out from a hostile 
port were, before proceeding farther on theirvoyage, to touch 
at a British pjrt. 

The predicament in which neutral countries were placed 
by this war of edicts was sufficiently embarrassing. The 
effect of the recent British orders in council is thus distinctly 
stated by a writer in the Edinburgh Review, vol. xii. p. 229 : 
• Taken in combination with the Berlin decree, they interdict 
the whole foreign trade of all neutral nations ; they prohibit 
everything which that decree had allowed; and they enjoin 
those very things which are there made a ground of confis- 
cation.' 

By a subsequent decrco, issued by Bonaparte from Milan 
on the 27ih of December, 1807, the British dominions in 
all quarters of the world wero declared to be in a state of 
blockade, and all countries were prohibited fronv trading 
with each other in any articles produced or manufactured 
in the part* of the earth thus put under a ban. Various 
additional orders in' council wero also promulgated from 
time to time, in explanation or slight modification of those 
last mentioned. 

It is asserted by tne opponents of this policy of the British 
government, that the result was a diminution in the course 
of the following year of the foroign trade of this country to the 
extent of fourteen millions sterling. It is even contended 
that, but for some counteracting causes which happened to 
operate at the same time, the falling off would have been 
nearly twice a« great, (See Edin. Rev. vol. xiv. p. 442, &e.) 

The prinripal branch of trado affected was that with 
America, which was at this tiino tho only great neutral 
power in existence; and which in that capacity had, pre- 



vious to the Berlin decree,* been an annual purchaser of 
British manufactures to a largo amount, partly for home 
consumption, but to a much larger extent for the supply of 
the Continent. Both tho Americans, therefore, and the 
various parties in this country interested in this export trade, 
exclaimed loudly against the edicts of tho two belligerent 
powers. It appears that the American go^ernment, on ap- 
plication to that of France, obtained an assurance, which 
was deemed satisfactory, though not in an ofiicial form, that 
tho Berlin decree would not be put in force against American 
vessels ; but when this was urged as a sufficient reason for 
the revocation of the English orders in council, the English 
government refused to pay any attention to it, maintainiug 
that America should insist upon a public renunciation of the 
obnoxious French decree. 

The subject was brought before parliament in Marcli, 
1808, by motions made in both houses asserting the illegality 
of the orders in council. On the 1st of April the merchants 
of London, Liverpool, and other towns, who had petitioned 
for the repeal of the orders, on the ground of thoir injurious 
operation upon the commercial interests of the country, Mere 
heard at the bar by their counsel, Mr. Brougham, whose 
speech, as has been already mentioned, was afterwards pub- 
lished. The result was, that ministers consented to the 
institution of an inquiry into the effect of the orders, in the 
course of which many witnesses were brought forward both 
by the petitioners and by the ministers in support of thoir 
respective views. But no immediate result followed, either 
from this inquiry, or from a motion made in the Houacof 
Commons on the Gth of March, 1809, by Mr. Whi thread, 
declaratory of the expediency of acquiescing in the proposi- 
tions made by the government of the United States. 

On the 26th of April however a new order in council was 
issued, which, it was contended by tho opponents of the 
policy hitherto pursued, did in fact amount to an abandon- 
ment of the whole principle of that policy. On the pretext 
that the state of circumstances, so far as the Continent was 
concerned, had undergone a complete change by the insur- 
rection of the Spaniards, tho blockade, which had formerly 
extended to all the countries under the authority of France, 
was now confined to France itself, to Holland, to part of 
Germany, and to the north of Italy ; and the order which 
condemned vessels for having certificates of origin on board 
wab- rescinded.- On the other band, the interdict against 
trading with the blockaded ports was apparently made more 
strict and severe by the revocation of tho liberty formerly 
given, in certain cases, to neutral vessels to sail for an 
enemy's port after having first touched at one in Great 
Britain. Upon this point however some important modifica- 
tions were made by subsequent orders. A system was intro- 
duced of licensing certain vessels to proceed to hostilo ports 
after having first touched and paid custom-dues at a British 
port ; and this was eventually carried so far, that at last the 
number of such licences granted is said to havo exceeded 
16,000. 

The position however in which America was still placed 
was such as almost to force her to go to war either with 
England or Franco. In this state of things, in tho spring 
of 1812 a vigorous effort was again made by the opposition 
in parliament to obtain the entire removal of the orders iu 
council. In the Lords, a motion was mado by the Marquis of 
Lansdowne on the 28th of February for a select committee 
of inquiry into the effect of the orders, but was negatived 
by a majority of 135 to 71. On the 3rd of March a similar 
motion mado in tho Commons by Mr. Brougham was also 
rejected by a majority of 21G to 144. On the 3rd of April 
however an order of the prince regent in council appeared 
in tho ' Gazette/ revoking entirely tho former orders in so 
far as regarded America, but only on the condition that tho 
government of the United States should also revoke an 
order by which it had some time previously excluded British 
armed vessels from its ports, whilo it admitted thoso of 
France. This conditional revocation being still considered 
unsatisfactory, Lord Stanley, on the 28th of April, moved 
in tho Commons for a committee of inquiry into the subject 
generally, and tho discussion ended by ministers giving their 
assent to tho motion. • Many witnesses were in consequence 
examined, both by this committee and bv another of tho 
Lords, which sat at tho same time, having been obtained on 
the 6th of May on the motion of Earl Fitzwilliain. When tho 
examinations had been brought to a close, Mr. Brougham, 
on tho 16th of June, moved in the commons, that the 
crown should be addressed to recall or suspcud tho orders 



BLO 



533 



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unconditionally. At the termination of this discussion 
ministers intimated that they were prepared to concede the 
question : and accordingly, on tbe 23rd of the same month, 
an unconditional suspension of the orders, in so far as 
America was concerned, appeared in the ' Gazette/ By 
this time however the government of the United States had 
declared war, on the ground, as is well known, not only of 
the orders in council, but of other alleged acts of injustice 
on the part of the British government. 

The policy of the British government in issuing the 
orders in council of November, 1807, was maintained by its 
opponents to be wrong, on the double ground that it Was 
both inexpedient and not warranted by the principles of the 
law of nations. On this latter head it was argued that no 
violation of international law by one belligerent power could 
'ustify the other in pursuing a similar course. 

The question, like all others connected with the law of 
blockade, appears to be one which must be determined 
chiefly by a reference to the rights of neutral powers, as re- 
gulated by the principle already stated, namely, that no 
neutral power shall be annoyed or incommoded by any war- 
like operation, which shall not have a greater tendency to 
benefit the belligerent than to injure the neutral. In this 
case the benefit which the British government professed to 
expect from its retaliatory policy, whieh was the excitement 
of a spirit of resistance to the original Freneh decree both in 
neutral countries and among the people of France them- 
selves, was extremely problematical from the first, and 
turned out eventually to be wholly delusive. On the other 
hand, the injury to neutrals \.\is certain and of large amount, 
tending in fact to intcrdiet an J, as far as possible, to put a stop 
to the entire peaceful commercial intercourse of the world. 

The orders in council were sometimes defended, for want 
of better reasons, on a very peenliar ground, namely, on that 
of the pecuniary advantage which the country derived from 
the eaptures made under them, from the increase of port 
dues whieh they occasioned, and from the revenue obtained 
by the licensing system. 

In resting the justification of the orders in eouneil upon 
the ground of their expediency, their defenders of course con- 
tended that they were essential to the effective prosecution of 
the war, and that we wore therefore justified in disregarding 
the injury which they might -indirectly inflict upon neutrals. 
It was anticipated, as we have observed above, in the first 
place, that the pressure of their operation would excite both 
the American government, and even the inhabitants of 
France themselves, and of the various countries of Europe 
subject to the French emperor, to insist upon the revocation 
of the Berlin decree. But the effect anticipated was not 
produce^. Neither the people of France, nor of any other 
portion of Bonaparte's empire, rose or threatened to rise in 
insurrection on aceount of the stoppage of trade occasioned 
by the edicts of the two belligerent powers ; and Ameriea 
went to war, not with France, but with us, choosing to re- 
serve the assertion of her elaiins for wrongs suffered under 
the Berlin decree to another opportunity, while she deter- 
mined to resist our orders in council by force of arms. But 
secondly, it was contended that the policy adopted by the 
drders in eouneil was neeessary to save our commerce from 
what would otherwise have been the ruinous effects of the 
Berlin decree. This argument, also, if its validity is to bo 
tried by the faets as they actually fell out, will scarcely ap- 
pear to be well founded. The preponderance of the evi- 
dence collected in the course of the successive inquiries 
which took place was decidedly in favour of the representa- 
tions made by the opponents of the orders, who maintained 
that, instead of having proved any protection or support to 
our foreign trade, they had most seriously embarrassed and 
curtailed it. The authors of the orders' themselves must 
indeed be considered to have coine over to this view of the 
matter, when they consented, as they at length did, to their 
entire repeal/* 

In the actual circumstances of the present case, the con- 
venient Interposition of America, by means of which British 
manufactured . goods were still enabled to find their way in 
large quantities to the continent in spite of the Berlin decree, 
would seem to have been the last thing at which the go- 
vernment of this country should have taken umbrage, or 
which it should have attempted to put down. As the French 
ruler found it expedient to tolerate this interposition, in open 
disregard of his decree, it surely was no business of ours to 
set ourselves to cut off a channel of exit for our merchandise, 
go fortunately left open when nearly every. other was shut. 



BLOCKADE. This consists in surroandtng a fortified 
place by a cordon of troops, in order to prevent supplies of 
provisions or warlike stores from entering, and to compel the 
garrison to surrender from famine or the failure of their am- 
munition. The generality of the anticnt sieges were block- 
ades, and two of the most memorable in Grecian history 
were those of Platasa and Pydna. The former lasted two 
years, and is remarkable for being the first of which any 
connected details have been given. Pydna, in which city 
Olympias had taken refuge, was closely invested by Cas- 
sander both by sea and land, and did not surrender till tbe 
garrison had suffered the utmost extremity of famine. 

When fortresses are situated on rocky eminences, whose 
sides are steep by nature, or can be made so by human 
labour ; when they are approachable only by narrow passes, 
and the surrounding country is unfavourable for the execu- 
tion of the works required in carrying on a regular siege, 
their reduction is most conveniently effected by a blockade, 
because they can be masked by a corps of troops not so nu- 
merous as to diminish materially the strength of the army 
in the field ; and their garrisons, being necessarily small, are: 
unable to attempt any serious enterprise. 

In Europe however nearly, all the old fortresses of this 
kind have been sufi'ered to go to ruin, the smallness of their 
garrisons rendering them wholly useless ; and therefore, 
since the end of the seventeenth century, blockades have 
been much less frequent than they were before that timc- 
During the continuance of the war which was carried 
on by the Germans and Venetians against the Turks, and 
which ended with the peace cfCarlowitz in 1698, several 
places were taken from the Turks after having been long 
invested; it was thus that, in Hungary, the fort of Agria 
and the towns of Mongatz and Great \Varadin were taken 
by the Imperialists, and that in the Morea, the Venetian 
general obtained possession of Napoli di Malvasia. 

Fortified towns may be blockaded when means are want- 
ing to execute trenches and ricoohetting batteries; and when 
besides the place is known to be incompletely furnished 
with the hesessary stores, and to contain a numerous popu- 
lation within its walls. In such circumstances it may rea- 
sonably be expected that the place will in time be surren- 
dered, particularly if it be the seat of an extensive commerce, 
or if the inhabitants should be disaffected to their guvern- 
ment. The loss occasioned by the stoppage of the usual 
channels of trade, the discomfort arising from being confined 
within the fortifications ; and ehiefly, the distress brought 
on by the scarcity, and consequently the high price of the 
necessaries of life, never fail to produce dissatisfaction and 
even tumults among the eitizens ; and in the end the com- 
mander of the place is generally compelled by elamour, or- 
induced by solicitation, to comply with the wishes of the 
people and to deliver up his charge to the enemy. 

In the establishment of a blockade, the outposts of thet 
garrison^ are first driven as near as possible to the place, and 
bodies of troops consisting of one or more companies, or 
even battalions, are disposed in convenient situations before 
all the accessible fronts : these are also strengthened at in- 
tervals by redoubts containing artillery, and if the place is 
on the sea-eoast, a naval armament watches it on that side. 
Corps of cavalry and infantry are made to occupy any vil- 
lages on the several roads by which it may be attempted to 
throw supplies into the place ; advanced posts also, each 
consisting of a few men, watch the town closely, and main- 
tain the communications between the different divisions of 
the blockading eorps, by which means any movement of tho 
garrison may be immediately discovered. 

The blockading corps should also be supported by a re- 
serve,, established at a greater distance from the place ; and 
in the event of a convoy approaching with succours for the 
garrison, the commander of the blockading army sends for- 
ward one or more battalions from those posts which lie 
nearest to the road by which the convoy is to arrive. These 
engago the convoy and prevent it from entering the place, 
while other troops from the neighbouring posts oppose those 
of the garrison, if the latter should make a sortie in order to 
favour the operations of the succouring corps. 

On the other hand, in order to counteract as much as 
possible the efforts of the enemy, all persons who cannot be 
rendered serviceable in the defence, or who cannot lay in a 
sufficient supply of provisions for their support during the 
probable continuance of the blockade, are sent out of the 
town; the necessary quantities of provisions and military 
stores are provided, and secured in casemates or shell-proof 



s 



B LO 



534 



B LO 



Windages, if a bombardment is apprehended, and tlio con- 
sumption of every articlo is carefully ecoromized. The 
garrison should keep the field os leng as possible, disputing 
with tho enemy every spot which ho may endeavour to 
occupy, and destroying every thing which may afford him 
eovcr: sorties should be made whenever a hope of success 
presents itsolf without risking the loss of many men, and 
every other means should be taken as long as possible to 
prevent the enemy from establishing his posts, or forming 
redoubts about the place. 

In 1 757 the King of Prussia blockaded Prague, a po- 
pulous city, and garrisoned by 60,000 soldiers ; tbe invest- 
ment continued six weeks, during which time all the ave- 
nues were occupied and several engagements took place* 
Tho history of the lato Peninsular War affords however 
one of tho best examples of reducing a fortified town by a 
blockade, in that which the Duke, then the Marquis, of Wel- 
lington, caused to bo established about Pampeluna in 1813. 
This town had a garrison consisting of more than 4000 
men, while tho British army could spare neither troops nor 
artillery sufiicicnt to ensure its surrender by a siege. Nino 
strong redoubts, each capable of containing a garrison of 
200 or 300 men, with some field-pieces, were constructed on 
commanding heights, at from 1200 to 1500 yards from the 
place, and served to ropel every sortie from thence, while 
the rest of the blockading force was quartered in the neigh- 
bouring villages, or bivouacked beyond the range of the 
artillery of the fortress. Buildings near tho latter were 
barricaded and formed strong advanced posts; the roads 
were blocked up as usual, and small field-works eovered 
the guards of tne army. Tho blockade continued three 
months ; and when Marshal Soult advaneed to the relief of 
the town, notwithstanding that the British troops in concen- 
trating themselves to oppose him were necessarily drawn 
away from the posts which they oecupied, yet the precau- 
tions used were such, that no communication could take 
place between the garrison and the French army, though 
tbe latter was almost within sight of the ramparts. 

(See Lalleraand, Traiti des Operations Secondares de la 
Guerre ; Jomini, Traiti des grandes Operations Militaires ; 
Colonel Sir J. T. Jones, Journal* qf Sieges in Spain,) 

BLOCKHOUSE (also written BLOCKHAUS), among 
military edifices is, as tho name implies, a building con- 
structed chiefly of timber ; if alone, it constitutes an inde- 
pendent fort ; if formed in the interior of a field-work, it 
becomes a retrenchment or reduit, and serves to protect the 
defenders from the inclemency of tho weather when the 
work is occupied during a considerable time, or to prolong 
the defence when the work is attacked; and, after it is 
taken, to enable tbe garrison to obtain a capitulation. 

When the blockhouse is to be employed only as a re- 
trenchment, its plan is generally a simplo rectangle, and its 
walls consist of a single row of piles, placed upright in the 
ground ; these are pierced with loop-holes, at the distance 
of three feet from each other, in order that the building may 
be defended by a fire of musketry from within. Tbe roof is 
formed by laying timbers horizontally across the inclosed 
area, and covering them with fascines and earth. The 
covering materials, when the work is intended to be bomb- 
proof, must bo at least four feet thick, sinee the shells fired 
from field-howitzers penctrato into earth nearly to that 
depth. The entrances, when formed in the walls, arc pro- 
tected by inclined blindages, or by palisades, planted close 
together in their front, and pierced with loop-holes; but 
occasionally the entrances are in the roof, and aecess to them 
is then obtained by means of ladders. 

The interior breadth of tho building may be about eighteen 
feet, in order to allow a passage between the two rows of 
bedsteads: these are placed with their heads to tho sido 
walls, and serve as stages on which the men may stand to 
firo through the loop-holes when the latter aro much ele- 
vated aliove tho floor. 

Ucduits of this kind are nearly indispensable in situations 
commanded hy heights, when consequently the interior of 
the prindpal work is so subject to the plunging fires of tho 
enemy, that the defenders could not othcrwiso find shelter, 
and then thcsido-walls should be thick enough to resist a fire 
of artillery. In other circumstances it would be advisable 



that the parapets of tho principal work should conceal the 
rcdnit from the view of tho enemy ; for which purpose the 
roof of tho latter should bo kept as low as possible ; and, in 
this case, in order to afford sufiicicnt height in the interior, 
which should not be less thau eight feet, it may bo necessary 
to sink tho floor below tho level of tho natural ground. 

In a mountainous country the blockhouse possesses great 
advantages over an ordinary field-fort, inasmuch as the in- 
terior of the latter would be incessantly ploughed up by the 
fire of artillery directed into it by the enemy from the sur- 
rounding heights. Here then the blockhouse may with pro- 
priety be constructed as an independent work ; its plan may 
have re-entering angles, or bo in the form of a cross, in 
order to allow the faces to be defended by Hanking fires of 
musketry from within ; and the walls may he thick enough 
to resist the shot from nine-poundcr guns. For this purpose 
they must be made by planting parallel to each other, at 
the distance of three or four feet, two rows of strong piles, 
those in eaeh row being close together* and the interval 
between the rows being filled with earth up to the height of 
the loop-holes, which should now be immediately under the 
roof of the building. Tho roof must bo made shell-proof as 
before ; but it has been recommended, when the work is not 
overlooked by the enemy, and when its breadth will permit, 
to have the piles forming the side-walls long enough to rise 
above the roof, and, either alone, or with a mass of earth 
behind them, to serve as a parapet. 

To prevent the enemy from setting fire to the blockhouse, 
it should be surrounded by a ditch ; part of the earth ob- 
tained from thence should be raised against the building as 
high as tho loop-holes, in order to strengthen it exteriorly, 
and the rest may be thrown beyond the eounterscarp, to 
form there what is called a reverse glacis. 

Any area inclosed for the purposes of defence by piles or 
palisades, or by logs of timber horizontally disposed, but 
without a roof, and defended by loop-holes and machicola- 
tions, is sometimes called a bloekhouse; more generally, 
however, such constructions aro called stockades, under 
which word they will be described. 

(See Bousmard, Fssai General de Fortification ; Dufour, 
Manorial pour les Travaux de Guerre; Macauley, Captain 
J. S., Treatise on Field Fortification.) 
BLOCKING-COURSE. [See Entablature.] 
BLOEMA ART, ABRAHAM, an historical painter, was 
born at Goreum in 1567, but resided principally at Utrecht 
His father practisod architecture and sculpture. Ho pos- 
sessed originality and feeling, but was a eoraplcte mannerist, 
making nature subservient to his own peculiar style. Some 
accounts say that he never travelled; but others, perhaps of 
better authority, state that he spent at least above ten years 
at Paris. Still his advantages from travelling were not 
great, and this circumstance must have conduced to keep his 
genius cramped, and have prevented his acquiring a correct 
taste. Thus he has painted historical pictures in which the 
figures aro as large as life, whieh shows that he had the am- 
bition of doing something great ; but the costume is still 
Dutch, no matter what the subject may be. This orror has 
indeed been committed by other painters, both before and 
sinee his time, in the highest departments of the art ; though 
certainly it is a more unfortunate blunder in Holland than in 
Italy. He acquired however considerable skill in the prac- 
tice of his art. Besides historical pictures he also executed 
some landscapes, which havo been admired, and he was not 
a stranger to the etching needle. His works have remained 
almost entirely in his native country, and are ehicfly at Am- 
sterdam. There are pictures of his in somo of the churches 
at Brussels and Meehlin. He died in 1647, aeconling to 
somo accounts, but others say 1657. There are engravings 
of his works very spiritedly executed by Bolswert. 

Abraham left four sons, two painters and two engravers ; 
according to other accounts, only three sons. Cornelius, tho 
eldest, was an engraver, and is said to have introduced certain 
improvements in the practice of his art, giving a softer edge 
to his shadows than bis predecessors. The accounts of Bloc- 
inaart and his sons are exceedingly confused and contra- 
dictory. In some particulars we have followed I Jet Leven 
der aoorlucht. Nedcrland. en eenige IJoogduitsche Schil- 
ders t See., door K. Van Mander; J. de Jongh's cd. 1764. M 



End of Volumk the Fourth. 



William Clowki mU.Sowj, SUmToriUlrctt.