French school, born at Paris in 1756, studied his art under George Wille, and may be considered his most eminent pupil. The works of B. are among the best of the French school, but are not numerous. The most celebrated of them is the full length figure of Louis XVI, after a picture of Callot. The copies are very rare and dear, because the plate was broken to pieces in the revolutionary tumults of 1793. The exactness of his drawing, the firmness and brilliancy of his touch, the purity and correctness of his design, and the happiness with which he transferred to his plate the beauties of the original, give a high character to his productions. He died in 1822.

BERWICK, James Fitz-James, duke of, commanded the armies of England, France and Spain, was a peer of England and France, as well as a grandee of Spain, and was knighted by the sovereign of each of these countries. He was the natural son of the duke of York, afterwards king James II, and Arabella Churchill, sister of the duke of Marlborough; was born in 1670, and first went by the name of Fitz-James. He received his education in France, and served his first campaigns in Hungary, under Charles duke of Lorraine, general of Leopold I. A short time after, the English revolution broke out. B. followed his father in the expedition against Ireland, and was wounded in a battle in 1689. He afterwards served under Luxemburg, in Flanders; in 1702 and 1703, under the duke of Burgundy; then under marshal Villeroi; and was naturalized in France. In 1706, he was made marshal of France, and was sent to Spain, where he gained the battle of Almanza, which rendered king Philip V again master of Valencia. In 1718 and 1719, however, he was obliged to serve against Philip V, who, from gratitude to the marshal, had taken a son of his into his service. On his entrance into the Spanish dominions, he wrote to his son, the duke of Liria, admonishing him to do his duty to his sovereign. At the siege of Philipsburg, in 1734, his life was terminated by a cannon ball.

BERWICK-UPON-TWEED (anciently Tuesis); a town of England, on the north or Scotch side of the Tweed, within half a mile of its confluence with the German ocean. It is a county of itself, regularly fortified with walls, bastions and ditches; 54 miles S. E. Edinburgh, 335 N. W. London; lon. 2° W.; lat. 55° 47' N.; pop. 7746. It exports corn, pork, eggs and salmon. The town has been, of late,

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much improved, and the streets are well paved. The bridge over the Tweed is 1164 feet long, and contains 6 arches. The barracks can accommodate 600 men. B. sends two members to parliament, and has markets on Wednesday and Saturday. It was formerly the chief town in the county of Berwick, and the theatre of many sanguinary conflicts between the English and Scottish armies. Both nations considering it a fortress of great importance, the town and its neighborhood were a constant scene of bloodshed. ter repeated sieges, it was finally ceded to England in the year 1502; and, by a treaty between Edward VI and Mary queen of Scotland, it was declared to be a free town, independent of both states. Upon the death of Elizabeth, in 1603, James VI of Scotland was proclaimed at B. king of England, France and Ireland; and when that monarch entered into his new dominions, the constituted authorities of the town received him with every demonstration of joy and respect. In return, the king confirmed all their ancient charters, adding many privileges, which still remain peculiar to the town and its liberties. The peculiar privileges of B., and the circumstance that it was once independent of England and Scotland, are the occasion why it was formerly the custom to extend the provisions of English statutes to B. by name. The statute 20 Geo. II, c. 42, provides, that, where England only is mentioned in an act of parliament, the same shall be deemed to comprehend the dominion of Wales and the town of B.

BERYL, OF EMERALD; a well-known species in mineralogy, sometimes massive in its structure, though commonly found crystallized in regular, six-sided prisms, often deeply striated longitudinally, and terminated at one or both extremities by a rough, imperfect plane, or, more rarely, by a very flat, six-sided pyramid, of which the summit is replaced. Its crystals are of various dimensions, being from half an inch to upwards of a foot in length, and from a quarter of an inch to 10 inches in diameter. The larger crystals, however, are inferior to the smaller, in regard to those qualities for which this species is esteemed. The lustre of the beryl is vitreous; its color, green, passing into blue, yellow and white. The brightest of these colors is emerald green, which, as it is rarely known to pass insensibly into the paler hues, has been made the basis of a distinct species in those specimens in which it occurs under the name of emerald. This distinction of species is not

considered, at present, as well founded; and the beryl and emerald are looked upon as identical by most mineralogists. It is translucent or transparent, and its hardness enables it to scratch quartz. Its specific gravity is from 2.6 to 2.7. It is composed of silex, 68.35; alumine, 17.60; glucine, 13.13; oxyde of iron, .72, with a trace of lime and oxyde of chrome. The beryl is widely diffused. It belongs to the primitive rocks, and is embedded in veins of quartz and feldspar, which traverse granite and mica slate. It is also found in great abundance in a compact ferruginous clay in Daouria, and in fractured crystals and rolled masses in secondary deposits, where it is not supposed to have had its origin. Some of the most remarkable localities of beryl are found in Siberia, Limoges in France, and in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire in the U. States. The deep-green variety, emerald, so much valued as a gem, comes from Peru and Upper Egypt: a few fine crystals have also been obtained from granite veins at Topsham in Maine.

BERZELIUS, James; born at Linkioping, in East Gothland, in 1779. As early as 1796, he began the study of medicine and the natural sciences, particularly chemistry, for the prosecution of which he has since made some scientific journeys. He is, at present, professor of chemistry and pharmacy, secretary of the royal academy of sciences at Stockholm, &c. Charles XIV (Bernadotte) has made him a nobleman. He has done much towards establishing the electro-chemical system, which at present prevails, and according to which no chemical process can take place without the intervention of electricity. He has enriched chemistry, which, in our times, has become a perfectly new science, by the most important discoveries and profound works. In particular, he has distinguished himself by researches into the laws of definite proportions, discovered by Richter, and has proved himself one of the best chemical analysts. His system of mineralogy is founded on his chemical principles. Most of his works have been translated into English and French.

BESANÇON (in old German, Bisanz); lon. 6° 3′ E.; lat. 47° 14′ N.; 48 miles from Paris; a large, old, well-built city, much fortified by Louis XIV; was transferred, by the peace of Nimwegen, with FrancheCompte to France; at present, is the chief place of the sixth military division; has 29,000 inhabitants, and is situated in the department Doubs. There is an arch

bishop in B., under whom are the bishops of Autun, Metz, Nancy, Strasburg and Dijon. The academy of sciences at B. was established in 1752: there is also here an academy of fine arts, a school for artillery, one for watch-makers, containing 200 pupils and a fine library, besides several museums, a botanical garden, an agricultural society, &c. B. is a great manufacturing place. It was called, in ancient times, Visontium, and was a fortified place as early as the time of Cæsar, who drove from hence the Sequani. Here also he conquered Ariovistus. Several streets have still the old Roman names. The ruins of a triumphal arch are yet to be seen. The river Doubs divides the city into two parts, the upper and lower. B. contains 3300 houses, 8 churches, 8 hospitals, a citadel, &c. The former univer sity was changed, in 1801, into a lyceum. It is the chief place of an arrondissement, which contains 93,211 inhabitants.

BESSARABIA; since the peace of Bucharest, in 1812, between Turkey and Russia, a Russian province, between 45° and 48° N. lat., and ‍28° and 31° E. lon.; containing about 8800 square miles (according to some accounts, more than double this amount), with 315,000 inhabitants; situated on the Black sea, between the northern arm of the Danube, the Pruth and the Dniester B. is a plain country, fertile in grain, but is mostly used for the pasturage of sheep and horses. Most of the inhabitants are Walachians, Gipsies and Tartars. The capital is Chotzym, a fortress. Bender, Ismail, Ackerman and Kilia Nova are also fortresses. Kischenau, the seat of a Greek bishop, has a large nursery of trees. The population has been much increased by colonists from Poland, Germany, France, &c. These amount already to 8300, mostly Lutherans. A considerable number of troops are kept in B. to protect the frontiers. Many mechanics are thus drawn there to supply the wants of the army.

BESSEL, Frederic William; considered by many the best astronomical observer of the present age; has been professor of astronomy in Königsberg since 1810; was born in Minden, July 22, 1784; entered, at the age of 15 years, one of the first commercial houses in Bremen. The maritime intercourse of that place with foreign countries excited in him an inclination for geography, and afterwards for the science of navigation, and induced him to attempɩ the acquisition of mathematical knowledge from books. He soon passed to astronomy, and, as his days were other

wise occupied, he devoted his nights to these labors. An astronomical work which he wrote procured him the acquaintance of Olbers (q. v.), who, from that time, became his adviser. In 1806, he joined Scröter at Lilienthal, with recommendations from Olbers, and was employed for four years as inspector of the instruments belonging to the university of Göttingen. From thence he was invited to Königsberg, where he built, in 1812 13, the observatory, which is a monument of the scientific enterprise of the north of Germany, since it was erected when Prussia was almost exhausted by war, and Königsberg was situated on the great theatre of Napoleon's operations against Russia. The observations, uninterruptedly continued at this observatory, are contained in 5 vols., folio. The observatory of Königsberg was, till 1819, provided with English instruments, when the ministry supplied it with the means of procuring new instruments, made by Reichenbach (q. v.), of the best workmanship. Besides these observations and separate treatises, B. published, in his work on the comet of 1807, a theory of the disturbances of these celestial bodies, and Fundamenta Astronomiæ pro an. 1755-a work in which he has reduced Bradley's observations, and given their results. He treats also of the various subjects connected with these observations, namely, the instruments used and the corrections to be made in them. For the present period, B. has endeavored, by his own observations and a strict criticism of methods and instruments, to attain the necessary certainty. Of his Astronomical Observations at the Observatory of Königsberg, the 10th No., from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1824, appeared at Königsberg, 1826.

BETEL is the leaf of a climbing East Indian plant (piper-betel), which belongs to the same tribe as pepper, and, in shape and appearance, is not much unlike ivy, but is more tender, and full of juice. There is an almost incredible consumption of betel throughout India, and other parts of the East. The inhabitants chew it almost incessantly, and in such quantity that their lips become quite red, and their teeth black—a color greatly preferred by them to the whiteness which the Europeans so much affect. They carry it, in little white boxes, about their persons, and present it to each other, by way of compliment and civility, in the same manner as Europeans do snuff. This is done by the women as well as by the men; and it would be considered an offence, if those 8

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to whom it is offered should refuse to ac cept of and chew it. The leaves are sometimes used alone, but much more commonly when covered with a kind of lime made of sea-shell, and wrapped round slices of the areca nut, the fruit of the areca palm, of the size of a small egg, and resembling a nutmeg deprived of its husk.

BETHANIA, or BETHANY; a village at the foot of mount Olivet, on the west side, about two miles east of Jerusalem, where Lazarus dwelt, and was raised from the dead, and where the ascension of Christ is related to have taken place. The house and grave of Lazarus and the house of Mary Magdalene are still shown to curious travellers. The name of B. was sometimes extended to the whole tract from the village itself to Bethphage.

BETHESDA; a pool in Judea, the name of which signifies house of mercy. In the five halls or porticos near it many patients lay waiting, according to the account of John (ch. v), for the moving of the waters, to bathe in it. According to the opinion of the Jews, an angel descended, at a certain time, into the pool, and troubled the water, and whoever first entered the water, after this agitation, was cured. This pool seems to have been composed of a red-colored mineral water, which received its healing power from the red earth at the bottom. If the healing fountain, after having been obstructed for a time, began to bubble up anew, and the patient made use of it before the motion ceased, it healed his disease.-To lie at the pool of Bethesda, is used proverbially, in Germany, in speaking of the theological candidates who are waiting for a benefice.

BETHLEHEM; the birth-place of David and Christ; a village, formerly a town, in Palestine, a part of Syria, in the pachalic of Damascus, five miles from Jerusalem, at the foot of a hill covered with vines and olive-trees, which, however, is not the mount of Olives mentioned in the Bible. An aqueduct conveys water from the hill to the village. It has 300 houses, and 2400 Greek and Armenian inhabitants, who make wooden rosaries and crucifixes, inlaid with mother of pearl, for pilgrims; also excellent white wine. In a rich grotto, furnished with silver and crystal lamps, under the choir of the church of a convent in this village, a trough of marble is shown, which is said to be the manger in which Jesus was laid after his birth. There are three convents there, for Catholics, Greeks and Ar menians. The greatest ornament of the place is the stately church erected by the

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empress Helena over the place where Christ is said to have been born, and bearing her name. It is built in the form of a cross, and the top commands a fine view over the surrounding country. Several spots mentioned in the Bible are shown there.

BETHLEHEM. There are many places in the U. States with this name. One of the most important is the borough and post-town in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the Lehigh, 12 miles S. W. Easton, 54 N. N. W. Philadelphia. Population in 1810, 1436; in 1820, 1860. It is pleasantly situated, regularly laid out, built chiefly of stone, and inhabited wholly by Moravians, who have a bishop there. B. contains two academies, one for young ladies, and another for boys.

Betrothment, in law; a mutual promise or compact between two parties, by which they bind themselves to marry. The word imports giving one's troth, i. e., true faith or promise. Betrothment amounts to the same with what is called, by civilians and canonists, sponsalia or espousals, sometimes desponsation, and, by the French, fiançailles. Betrothment is either solemn (made in the face of the church), or private (made before witnesses out of the church). According to the Roman law, betrothment ought to be made by a stipulation, i. e., a contract, in which one binds himself, by an answer to a question put to him, to the fulfilment of a contract. As betrothments are contracts, they are subject to the same rules as other contracts; for instance, that they are valid only between persons whose capacity to contract is recognised by law; and the use of fraud, violence or intimidation vitiates the contract. The consent of both parties, of course, is required. This may be expressed either verbally, or by writing, or by action. In Germany, the consent of the parents is always necessary, if the parties are under age, not yet sui juris. But if the parents withhold their consent unreasonably, the permission of the judge is allowed to sanction the contract. If the opinions of the parents are diverse, the law gives effect to that of the father. Some provincial laws require the consent of the relations, and the presence of witnesses. Betrothments contracted thus, according to law, are called sponsalia publica; others are called sponsalia clandestina. The latter are, in some places, utterly invalid; in others, only punishable. By the common German law, however, they are valid in every case m which consummation or consecration

by the priest has taken place. The parents, in these cases, are not allowed to apply for a dissolution of the contract, nor can they refuse their consent, except for highly important reasons. Public betrothment induces the obligation to marry. In case of refusal to complete the contract by marriage, the injured party is allowed an action at law to compel its performance; but, since unhappy marriages are among the greatest misfortunes, the means of compulsion applied by the law are never great, amounting only to a small fine, or a short imprisonment. If circumstances take place which, if happening before the betrothment, would have necessarily prevented it, the party affected by them is allowed to recede from the engagement, and the modern laws allow only an action for damages. In Germany, betrothment generally takes place in a small company of relations and friends. In Russia, it was once binding and indissoluble, like marriage, but is now a mere form accompanying the marriage ceremony.

BETTERMENT is a term used, in some of the U. States, to signify the improvements made on lands by the occupant, in building, fencing, draining, &c.; and the statutes of some of the U. States provide, that where a purchaser comes into possession under what he supposes to be a good title, and the land is afterwards recovered against him by virtue of a better title, in case he or those under whom he claims have been in possession of it a certain number of years, he shall be entitled to claim against the owner who so recovers possession of the land, the value of the improvements or betterments. This is a very equitable provision of the laws in states where, as in many parts of the U. States, titles are not fully established and confirmed by a long period of possession, and where, in newly-settled territories, the improvements may, in a few years, amount to more than the original value of the land.

BETTERTON, Thomas, a celebrated actor in the reign of Charles II, was born in Westminster, in 1635, and excelled in Shakspeare's characters of Hamlet, Othello, Brutus and Hotspur. In 1635, he opened a new play-house in Lincoln'sinn-fields, but did not succeed. He died in 1710, and was buried in Westminster abbey. He wrote the Woman made a Justice, a comedy; the Amorous Widow, or the Wanton Wife; Diocletian, a dramatic opera, &c. The Unjust Judge, or Appius and Virginia, a tragedy, was

written originally by Mr. John Webster, and altered by B.

BETTINELLI, Saverio, an Italian author, born at Mantua, in 1718, studied there and at Bologna, under the Jesuits; entered, in 1736, the novitiate of this order, and aught, from 1739 to 44, belles-lettres at Brescia, where he made himself known by some poems composed for the use of schools. In Bologna, where he studied theology, he continued to cultivate his poetical talents, and wrote for the theatre of the college his tragedy of Jonathan. In 1751, he was intrusted with the direction of the college of nobles at Parma. After having remained there eight years, he travelled in France and Germany, and returned to Verona, where he remained till 1767, engaged in preaching and instruction. After the suppression of the Jesuits, in 1773, he returned to his native city, where he resumed his literary labors with renewed zeal. He published several works, among which some were intended for ladies; as, his Correspondence between two Ladies, his Letters to Lesbia on Epigrams, and likewise his Twenty-four Dialogues on Love. He began, in 1799, a complete edition of his works (Venice, 1801, 12 vols. 12mo.) He preserved the cheerfulness and serenity of his spirit to the age of 90 years, and died in 1808, with the composure of a pnilosopher, and the devotion of a Christian. Besides his works already mentioned, we cite his Dell' Entusiasmo delle belle Arti, Risorgimento negli Studj, nelle Arti e ne' Costumi dopo il Mille (3 vols.), a superficial work, which is, however, not destitute of new and just views. The Lettere dieci di Virgilio agli Arcadi attracted great attention. The ideas expressed in this work of the two great names of Italian poetry, particularly of Dante, involved him in many contests. His Poesie (3 vols.) contain 7 poemetti, 16 letters in blank verse, sonnets, canzoni, &c. Although this collection does not show any great poetical power, yet it is always elegant and ingenious. It is preceded by a treatise on Italian poetry.

BEY, among the Turks, signifies a governor of a town, seaport or small district. The Turks write the word beg. (q. v.) (See also Beglerbeg.)

BEZA (properly, de Beze), Theodore; next to Calvin, the most distinguished for genius and influence among the preachers of the Calvinistic church in the 16th century. Born of a noble family at Vezelay, in Burgundy, June 24, 1519; educated in Orleans,

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under Melchior Volmar, a German philolo ger devoted to the reformation; and early familiar with the ancient classical literature, he became known, at the age of 20 years, as a Latin poet, by his petulant and witty Juvenilia (a collection of poems of which he was afterwards ashamed). In 1539, he was made a licentiate of law, and, in the same year, invited by his family to Paris He received from his uncle the reversion of his valuable abbey Froidmond, and lived on the income of two benefices and the property which he had inherited from a brother. His habits, at this time, were dissipated. His handsome figure, his talents, and his connexion with the most distinguished families, opened to him the most splendid prospects. But a clandestine marriage, in 1543, recalled him from his excesses, and a dangerous illness confirmed the intention, which he had formed at Orleans, of devoting himself to the service of the reformed church; so that, after his recovery, he forsook all the advantages of his situation in Paris, and repaired, with his wife, to Geneva, in 1547. Soon after, he accepted a professorship of the Greek language at Lausanne. During the 10 years of his continuance in this office, he wrote a tragi-comic drama, in French,—the Sacrifice of Abraham,— which was received with much approbation; delivered lectures (which were numerously attended) on the Epistle to the Romans and the Epistles of Peter (which served as the basis of his Latin translation of the New Testament, of which he afterwards published several editions, always with improvements); finished Marot's translation of the Psalms in French verse; and obtained to such a degree the confidence of the Swiss Calvinists, that he was sent, in 1558, on an embassy to the Protestant princes of Germany, to obtain their intercession at the French court for the release of the Huguenots imprisoned in Paris. In the following year, he went to Geneva as a preacher, and, soon after, became a professor of theology, and the most active assistant of Calvin, to whom he had already recommended himself by several works (on the punishment of heretics by the magistrate, the vindication of the burning of Servetus, and some violent controversial writings on the doctrine of predestination and the communion, against Castalio, Westphal and Hesshuss). His talents for negotiation were now often put in requisition by the Calvinists. He was sent to the court of Anthony, king of Navarre, at Nerac, to obtain the toleration of the French Hu