The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 7 out of 53
effecting many beneficent reforms. Macaulay held office under him. He
returned to England in 1835, became member for Glasgow in 1837, and died
before he made any mark on home politics (1774-1839).
BENTINCK, WILLIAM, a distinguished statesman, first Earl of
Portland, born in Holland; a favourite, friend, and adviser of William
III., whom he accompanied to England, and who bestowed on him for his
services great honours and large domains, which provoked ill-will against
him; retired to Holland, after the king died in his arms, but returned
afterwards (1648-1709).
BENTIVOGLIO, an Italian family of princely rank, long supreme in
Bologna; B., Guido, cardinal, though a disciple of Galileo, was one of
the Inquisitors-General who signed his condemnation (1579-1641).
BENTLEY, RICHARD, scholar and philologist, born in Yorkshire; from
the first devoted to ancient, especially classical, learning; rose to
eminence as an authority on literary criticism, his "Dissertation upon
the Epistles of Phalaris," which he proved to be a forgery, commending
him to the regard and esteem of all the scholars of Europe, a work which
may be said to have inaugurated a new era in literary historical
criticism (1662-1742).
BENUE, an affluent of the Niger, 300 m. long, falling into it 230 m.
up, described by Dr. Barth and explored by Dr. Baikic, and offers great
facilities for the prosecution of commerce.
BENVOLIO, a cantankerous, disputatious gentleman in "Romeo and
Juliet."
BENYOW`SKY, COUNT, a Hungarian, fought with the Poles against
Russia; taken prisoner; was exiled to Kamchatka; escaped with the
governor's daughter; came to France; sent out to Madagascar; was elected
king by the natives over them; fell in battle against the French
(1741-1786).
BENZENE, a substance compounded of carbon and hydrogen, obtained by
destructive distillation from coal-tar and other organic bodies, used as
a substitute for turpentine and for dissolving grease.
BENZOIN, a fragrant concrete resinous juice flowing from a
styrax-tree of Sumatra, used as a cosmetic, and burned as incense.
BEOWULF, a very old Anglo-Saxon romance consisting of 6356 short
alliterative lines, and the oldest extant in the language, recording the
exploits of a mythical hero of the name, who wrestled Hercules-wise, at
the cost of his life, with first a formidable monster, and then a dragon
that had to be exterminated or tamed into submission before the race he
belonged to could live with safety on the soil.
BERANGER, PIERRE JEAN DE, a celebrated French song-writer, born at
Paris, of the lower section of the middle class, and the first of his
countrymen who in that department rose to the high level of a true lyric
poet; his first struggles with fortune were a failure, but Lucien
Bonaparte took him up, and under his patronage a career was opened up for
him; in 1815 appeared as an author, and the sensation created was
immense, for the songs were not mere personal effusions, but in stirring
accord with, and contributed to influence, the great passion of the
nation at the time; was, as a Republican--which brought him into trouble
with the Bourbons--a great admirer of Napoleon as an incarnation of the
national spirit, and contributed not a little to the elevation of his
nephew to the throne, though he declined all patronage at his hands,
refusing all honours and appointments; has been compared to Burns, but he
lacked both the fire and the humour of the Scottish poet. "His poetical
works," says Professor Saintsbury, "consist entirely of chansons
political, amatory, bacchanalian, satirical, philosophical after a
fashion, and of almost every other complexion that the song can possibly
take" (1780-1859).
BERAR` (896), one of the central provinces of India, E. of Bombay;
it occupies a fertile, well-watered valley, and yields large quantities
of grain, and especially cotton.
BERAT, FREDERIC, a French poet and composer, author of a great
number of popular songs (1800-1853).
BERBER, native language spoken in the mountainous parts of Barbary.
BERBER (8), a town in Nubia, on the Nile, occupied by the English;
starting-point of caravans for the Red Sea; railway was begun to Suakim,
but abandoned.
BER`BERAH, the seaport of Somaliland, under Britain, with an annual
fair that brings together at times as many as 30,000 people.
BERBERS (3,000), a race aboriginal to Barbary and N. Africa, of a
proud and unruly temper; though different from the Arab race, are of the
same religion.
BERBICE, the eastern division of British Guiana; produces sugar,
cocoa, and timber.
BERBRUGGER, a French archaeologist and philologist; wrote on Algiers,
its history and monuments (1801-1869).
BERCHTA, a German Hulda, but of severer type. See BERTHA.
BERCY, a commune on the right bank of the Seine, outside Paris,
included in it since 1860; is the great mart for wines and brandies.
BERE`ANS, a sect formed by John Barclay in 1778, who regard the
Bible as the one exclusive revelation of God.
BERENGER, or BERENGA`RIUS, OF TOURS, a distinguished
theologian, born at Tours; held an ecclesiastical office there, and was
made afterwards archdeacon of Angers; ventured to deny the doctrine of
transubstantiation, a denial for which he was condemned by successive
councils of the Church, and which he was compelled more than once
publicly to retract, though he so often and openly recalled his
retractation that the pope, notwithstanding the opposition of the
orthodox, deemed it prudent at length to let him alone. After this he
ceased to trouble the Church, and retired to an island on the Loire,
where he gave himself up to quiet meditation and prayer (998-1088).
BERENGER I., king of Italy, grandson of Louis the Debonnaire, an
able general; provoked the jealousy of the nobles, who dreaded the
abridgment of their rights, which led to his assassination at their hands
in 934. B. II., king of Italy, grandson of the preceding, was
dethroned twice by the Emperor Otho, who sent him a prisoner to Bamberg,
where he died, 966.
BERENGER, THOMAS, a French criminalist and magistrate (1785-1866).
BERENI`CE, a Jewish widow, daughter of Herod Agrippa, with whom
Titus was fascinated, and whom he would have taken to wife, had not the
Roman populace protested, from their Anti-Jewish prejudice, against it.
The name was a common one among Egyptian as well as Jewish princesses.
BERESFORD, WILLIAM CARR, VISCOUNT, an English general, natural son
of the first Marquis of Waterford; distinguished himself in many a
military enterprise, and particularly in the Peninsular war, for which he
was made a peer; he was a member of the Wellington administration, and
master-general of the ordnance (1770-1854).
BERESI`NA, a Russian river, affluent of the Dnieper, into which it
falls after a course of 350 m.; it is serviceable as a water conveyance
for large rafts of timber to the open sea, and is memorable for the
disastrous passage of the French in their retreat from Moscow in 1812.
BEREZOV`, a town in Siberia, in the government of Tobolsk; a place
of banishment.
BERG, DUCHY OF, on right bank of the Rhine, between Duesseldorf and
Cologne, now part of Prussia; Murat was grand-duke of it by Napoleon's
appointment.
BER`GAMO (42), a Lombard town, in a province of the same name, and
34 m. NE. of Milan, with a large annual fair in August, the largest in
Italy; has grindstone quarries in the neighbourhood.
BERGASSE, French jurisconsult, born at Lyons; celebrated for his
quarrel with Beaumarchais; author of an "Essay on Property" (1750-1832).
BERGEN (52), the old capital of Norway, on a fjord of the name, open
to the Gulf Stream, and never frozen; the town, consisting of wooden
houses, is built on a slope on which the streets reach down to the sea,
and has a picturesque appearance; the trade, which is considerable, is in
fish and fish products; manufactures gloves, porcelain, leather, etc.;
the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral.
BERGEN-OP-ZOOM (11), a town in N. Brabant, once a strong place, and
much coveted and frequently contested for by reason of its commanding
situation; has a large trade in anchovies.
BER`GENROTH, GUSTAV ADOLPH, historian, born in Prussia; held a State
office, but was dismissed and exiled because of his sympathy with the
revolutionary movement of 1848; came to England to collect materials for
a history of the Tudors; examined in Simancas, in Spain, under great
privations, papers on the period in the public archives; made of these a
collection and published it in 1862-68, under the title of "Calendar of
Letters, Despatches, &c., relating to Negotiations between England and
Spain" (1813-1869).
BERGERAC (11), a manufacturing town in France, 60 m. E. of Bordeaux,
celebrated for its wines; it was a Huguenot centre, and suffered greatly
in consequence.
BERGERAC, SAVINIEN CYRANO DE, an eccentric man with comic power, a
Gascon by birth; wrote a tragedy and a comedy; his best work a fiction
entitled "Histoire Comique des Etats et Empires de la Lune et du Soleil";
fought no end of duels in vindication, it is said, of his preposterously
large nose (1619-1655).
BERGHAUS, HEINRICH, a geographer of note, born at Cleves; served in
both the French and Prussian armies as an engineer, and was professor of
mathematics at Berlin; his "Physical Atlas" is well known (1797-1884).
BERGHEM, a celebrated landscape-painter of the Dutch school, born at
Haarlem (1624-1683).
BERGMAN, TORBERN OLOF, a Swedish chemist, studied under Linnaeus, and
became professor of Chemistry at Upsala; discovered oxalic acid; was the
first to arrange and classify minerals on a chemical basis (1735-1784).
BERI, a town in the Punjab, 40 m. NW. of Delhi, in a trading centre.
BERKELEY, a town in Gloucestershire, famous for its cattle.
BERKELEY, GEORGE, bishop of Cloyne, born in Kilkenny; a
philanthropic man, who conducted in a self-sacrificing spirit practical
schemes for the good of humanity, which failed, but the interest in whom
has for long centred, and still centres, in his philosophic teaching, his
own interest in which was that it contributed to clear up our idea of God
and consolidate our faith in Him, and it is known in philosophy as
Idealism; only it must be understood, his idealism is not, as it was
absurdly conceived to be, a denial of the existence of matter, but is an
assertion of the doctrine that the universe, with every particular in it,
_as man sees it and knows it_, is not the creation of matter but the
creation of mind, and a reflex of the Eternal Reason that creates and
dwells in both it and him; for as Dr. Stirling says, "the object can only
be known in the subject, and therefore is subjective, and if subjective,
ideal." The outer, as regards our knowledge of it, is within; such is
Berkeley's fundamental philosophical principle, and it is a principle
radical to the whole recent philosophy of Europe (1684-1753).
BERKSHIRE (238), a midland county of England, with a fertile,
well-cultivated soil on a chalk bottom, in the upper valley of the
Thames, one of the smallest but most beautiful counties in the country.
In the E. part of it is Windsor Forest, and in the SE. Bagshot Heath. It
is famous for its breed of pigs.
BERLICHINGEN, GOETZ VON, surnamed "The Iron Hand," a brave but
turbulent noble of Germany, of the 15th and 16th centuries, the story of
whose life was dramatised by Goethe, "to save," as he said, "the memory
of a brave man from darkness," and which was translated from the German
by Sir Walter Scott.
BERLIN` (1,579), capital of Prussia and of the German empire; stands
on the Spree, in a flat sandy plain, 177 m. by rail SE. of Hamburg. The
royal and imperial palaces, the great library, the university, national
gallery and museums, and the arsenal are all near the centre of the city.
There are schools of science, art, agriculture, and mining; technical and
military academies; a cathedral and some old churches; zoological and
botanical gardens. Its position between the Baltic and North Seas, the
Spree, the numerous canals and railways which converge on it, render it a
most important commercial centre; its staple trade is in grain, cattle,
spirits, and wool. Manufactures are extensive and very varied; the chief
are woollens, machinery, bronze ware, drapery goods, and beer.
BERLIN DECREE, a decree of Napoleon of Nov. 21, 1806, declaring
Britain in a state of blockade, and vessels trading with it liable to
capture.
BERLIOZ, HECTOR, a celebrated musical composer and critic, born near
Grenoble, in the dep. of Isere, France; sent to study medicine in Paris;
abandoned it for music, to which he devoted his life. His best known
works are the "Symphonie Fantastique," "Romeo and Juliet," and the
"Damnation of Faust"; with the "Symphonie," which he produced while he
was yet but a student at the Conservatoire in Paris, Paganini was so
struck that he presented him with 20,000 francs (1803-1869).
BER`MONDSEY, a busy SE. suburb of London, on the S. bank of the
Thames.
BERMOO`THES, the Bermudas.
BERMU`DAS (15), a group of 400 coral islands (five inhabited) in
mid-Atlantic, 677 m. SE. of New York; have a delightful, temperate
climate, and are a popular health resort for Americans. They produce a
fine arrowroot, and export onions. They are held by Britain as a valuable
naval station, and are provided with docks and fortifications.
BERNADOTTE, JEAN BAPTISTE JULES, a marshal of France, born at Pau;
rose from the ranks; distinguished himself in the wars of the Revolution
and the Empire, though between him and Napoleon there was constant
distrust; adopted by Charles XIII., king of Sweden; joined the Allies as
a naturalised Swede in the war against France in alliance with Russia;
became king of Sweden himself under the title of Charles XIV., to the
material welfare, as it proved, of his adopted country (1764-1844).
BERNARD, CLAUDE, a distinguished French physiologist, born at St.
Julien; he studied at Paris; was Majendie's assistant and successor in
the College of France; discovered that the function of the pancreas is
the digestion of ingested fats, that of the liver the transformation into
sugar of certain elements in the blood, and that there are nervous
centres in the body which act independently of the great cerebro-spinal
centre (1813-1878).
BERNARD, ST., abbot of Clairvaux, born at Fontaines, in Burgundy;
pronounced one of the grandest figures in the church militant; studied in
Paris, entered the monastery of Citeaux, founded in 1115 a monastery at
Clairvaux, in Champagne; drew around him disciples who rose to eminence
as soldiers of the cross; prepared the statutes for the Knights-Templar;
defeated Abelard in public debate, and procured his condemnation; founded
160 monasteries; awoke Europe to a second crusade; dealt death-blows all
round to no end of heretics, and declined all honours to himself, content
if he could only awake some divine passion in other men; represented in
art as accompanied by a white dog, or as contemplating an apparition of
the Virgin and the Child, or as bearing the implements of Christ's
passion (1091-1174). Festival, Aug. 20.
BERNARD, SIMON, a French engineer, born at Dole; distinguished as
such in the service of Napoleon, and for vast engineering works executed
in the United States, in the construction of canals and forts
(1779-1839).
BERNARD OF MENTHON, an ecclesiastic, founder of the monasteries of
the Great and the Little St. Bernard, in the passage of the Alps
(923-1008). Festival, June 15.
BERNARD OF MORLAIX, a monk of Cluny, of the 11th century; wrote a
poem entitled "De Contemptu Mundi," translated by Dr. Neale, including
"Jerusalem the Golden."
BERNARDIN DE SAINT-PIERRE, commonly called Saint-Pierre simply, a
celebrated French writer, born at Havre; author of "Paul and Virginia,"
written on the eve of the Revolution, called by Carlyle "the swan-song of
old dying France," (1739-1814).
BERNARDINE, ST., OF SIENA, born at Massa Carrara, in Italy, of noble
family; founder of the Observantines, a branch, and restoration on strict
lines, of the Franciscan order; established 300 monasteries of the said
branch; his works, written in a mystical vein, fill five folio vols.
(1380-1444).
BERNAUER, AGNES, wife of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria, whom his father,
displeased at the marriage, had convicted of sorcery and drowned in the
Danube.
BERNE (47), a fine Swiss town on the Aar, which almost surrounds it,
in a populous canton of the same name; since 1848 the capital of the
Swiss Confederation; commands a magnificent view of the Bernese Alps; a
busy trading and manufacturing city.
BERNERS, JOHN BOUCHIER, LORD, writer or translator of romance; was
Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1516, and governor of Calais from 1520;
translated Froissart's "Huon of Bordeaux," &c.
BERNERS, JULIANA, writer on hunting and hawking; lived in the 14th
century; said to have been prioress of a nunnery.
BERNESE ALPS, a chain in the Middle Alps, of which the eastern half
is called the Bernese Oberland; form the watershed between the Aar and
the Rhone.
BERNHARD, DUKE OF WEIMAR, a great German general; distinguished
himself on the Protestant side in the Thirty Years' war; fought under the
standard of Gustavus Adolphus; held command of the left wing at the
battle of Luetzen, and completed the victory after the fall of Gustavus;
died at Neuburg, as alleged, without sufficient proof, by poison
(1604-1639).
BERNHARDT, SARAH, a dramatic artiste, born in Paris; of Jewish
descent, but baptized as a Christian; distinguished specially as a
tragedienne; of abilities qualifying her to shine in other departments of
the profession and of art, of which she has given proof; _b_. 1844.
BERNI, FRANCESCO, an Italian poet, born in Tuscany, who excelled in
the burlesque, to whom the Italian as a literary language owes much;
remodelled Boiardo's "Orlando Innamorato" in a style surpassing that of
the original.
BERNIER, a French physician and traveller, born at Angers; physician
for 12 years to Aurungzebe, the Great Mogul; published "Travels," a work
full of interest, and a model of exactitude (1625-1688).
BERNIER, THE ABBE, born in Mayenne, France; one of the principal
authors of the Concordat; promoted afterwards to be Bishop of Orleans
(1762-1806).
BERNI`NA, a mountain in the Swiss canton of Grisons, 13,290 ft.
high, remarkable for its extensive glaciers.
BERNINI, GIOVANNI LORENZO, an Italian painter, sculptor, and
architect, born at Naples; produced his "Apollo and Daphne" at eighteen,
his masterpiece; was architect to the Pope, and designed the colonnade of
St. Peter's; he died wealthy (1598-1680).
BERNOUIL`LI, name of a Swiss family of mathematicians, born at
Basel, though of Dutch origin--JAMES, JOHN, and DANIEL, of
whom John is the most celebrated; was professor first at St. Petersburg
and then at Basel; discovered the exponential calculus and the method of
integrating rational fractions, as well as the line of swiftest descent
(1667-1748).
BERNSTORFF, COUNT, a celebrated statesman, diplomatist, and
philanthropist of Denmark; called the Danish Oracle by Frederick the
Great; founded an Agricultural Society and an hospital at Copenhagen, and
obtained the emancipation of the serfs (1711-1772).
BERNSTORFF, COUNT, a nephew of the preceding; also statesman and
diplomatist (1712-1772).
BERNSTORFF, PIERRE, Danish minister, son of the preceding, a
guardian of civil and political liberty (1735-1797).
BERO`SUS, a priest of the temple of Belus in Babylon, who, 3rd
century B.C., translated into Greek certain records of Babylonish
history, valuable fragments of which are preserved by Josephus and
Eusebius; these have been collected and published by W. Richter, in
Germany.
BERRI, an ancient province of France, forms dep. of Indre and Cher,
which became crown property in 1100 under Philippe I., and a duchy in
1630, giving title to a succession of French princes.
BERRI, DUC DE, second son of Charles X. and father of Count de
Chambord, a benevolent man; assassinated by a fanatic, Louvel, as he was
leaving the Opera House (1778-1820).
BERRI, DUCHESSE DE, dowager of preceding, distinguished herself by
her futile efforts to restore the Bourbon dynasty in the reign of Louis
Philippe (1798-1890).
BERRYER, PIERRE ANTOINE, an eminent French barrister, born at Paris;
a red-hot Legitimist, which brought him into trouble; was member of the
National Assembly of 1848; inimical to the Second Empire, and openly
protested against the _coup d'etat_ (1790-1868).
BER`SERKER, a Norse warrior who went into battle unharnessed, whence
his name (which means bare of sark or shirt of mail), and is said to have
been inspired with such fury as to render him invulnerable and
irresistible.
BERT, PAUL, a French physiologist and statesman, born at Auxerre;
was professor of Physiology at Paris; took to politics after the fall of
the Empire; Minister of Public Instruction under Gambetta; sent governor
to Tonquin; died of fever soon after; wrote a science primer for children
entitled "La Premiere Annee d'Enseignement Scientifique" (1833-1886).
BERTHA, goddess in the S. German mythology, of the spinning-wheel
principally, and of the household as dependent on it, in behalf of which
and its economical management she is often harsh to idle spinners; at her
festival thrift is the rule.
BERTHA, ST., a British princess, wife of Ethelbert, king of Kent;
converted him to Christianity.
BERTHE "au Grand Pied" (i. e. Long Foot), wife of Pepin the Short,
and mother of Charlemagne, so called from her club foot.
BERTHELIER, a Swiss patriot, an uncompromising enemy of the Duke of
Savoy in his ambition to lord it over Geneva.
BERTHELOT, PIERRE EUGENE, a French chemist, born at Paris; professor
in the College of France; distinguished for his researches in organic
chemistry, and his attempt to produce organic compounds; the dyeing trade
owes much to his discoveries in the extraction of dyes from coal-tar; he
laid the foundation of thermo-chemistry; _b_. 1827.
BERTHIER, ALEXANDRE, prince of Wagram and marshal of France, born at
Versailles; served with Lafayette in the American war, and rose to
distinction in the Revolution; became head of Napoleon's staff, and his
companion in all his expeditions; swore fealty to the Bourbons at the
restoration of 1814; on Napoleon's return retired with his family to
Bamberg; threw himself from a window, maddened at the sight of Russian
troops marching past to the French frontier (1753-1815).
BERTHOLLET, COUNT, a famous chemist, native of Savoy, to whom we owe
the discovery of the bleaching properties of chlorine, the employment of
carbon in purifying water, &c., and many improvements in the
manufactures; became a senator and officer of the Legion of Honour under
Napoleon; attached himself to the Bourbons on their return, and was
created a peer (1744-1822).
BERTHOUD, a celebrated clockmaker, native of Switzerland; settled in
Paris; invented the marine chronometer to determine the longitude at sea
(1727-1807).
BERTIN "l'Aine," or the Elder, a French journalist, born at Paris;
founder and editor of the _Journal des Debats_, which he started in 1799;
friend of Chateaubriand (1766-1841).
BERTIN, PIERRE, introduced stenography into France, invented by
Taylor in England (1751-1819).
BERTIN, ROSE, milliner to Marie Antoinette, famed for her devotion
to her.
BERTINAZZI, a celebrated actor, born at Turin, long a favourite in
Paris (1710-1788).
BERTRAND and RATON, two personages in La Fontaine's fable of
the Monkey and the Cat, of whom R. cracks the nut and B. eats it.
BER`TRAND, HENRI GRATIEN, COMTE, a French general, and faithful
adherent of Napoleon, accompanied him in all his campaigns, to and from
Elba, as well as in his exile at St. Helena; conducted his remains back
to France in 1840 (1770-1844).
BERTRAND DE MOLLEVILLE, Minister of Marine under Louis XVI.; a fiery
partisan of royalty, surnamed the _enfant terrible_ of the monarchy
(1744-1818).
BERTON, PIERRE, French composer of operas (1726-1780). Henri, his
son, composed operas; wrote a treatise on harmony (1761-1844).
BERULLE, CARDINAL, born at Troyes; founder of the order of
Carmelites, and of the Congregation of the Oratory (1576-1629).
BERWICK, JAMES FITZ-JAMES, DUKE OF, a natural son of James II., a
naturalised Frenchman; defended the rights of his father; was present
with him at the battle of the Boyne; distinguished himself in Spain,
where he gained the victory of Almanza; was made marshal of France; fell
at the siege of Philippsburg; left "Memoirs" (1670-1734).
BERWICK, NORTH, a place on the S. shore of the Forth, in
Haddingtonshire; a summer resort, specially for the golfing links.
BERWICK-ON-TWEED (13), a town on the Scotch side of the Tweed, at
its mouth, reckoned since 1835 in Northumberland, though at one time
treated as a separate county; of interest from its connection with the
Border wars, during which it frequently changed hands, till in 1482 the
English became masters of it.
BERWICKSHIRE (32), a fertile Scottish county between the
Lammermoors, inclusive, and the Tweed; is divided into the Merse, a
richly fertile plain in the S., the Lammermoors, hilly and pastoral,
dividing the Merse from Mid and East Lothian, and Lauderdale, of hill and
dale, along the banks of the Leader; Greenlaw the county town.
BERZE`LIUS, JOHAN JAKOB, Baron, a celebrated Swedish chemist, one of
the creators of modern chemistry; instituted the chemical notation by
symbols based on the notion of equivalents; determined the equivalents of
a great number of simple bodies, such as cerium and silenium; discovered
silenium, and shared with Davy the honour of propounding the
electro-chemical theory; he ranks next to Linnaeus as a man of science in
Sweden (1779-1848).
BESANCON (57), capital of the dep. of Doubs, in France; a very
strong place; fortified by Vauban; abounds in relics of Roman and
mediaeval times; watchmaking a staple industry, employing some 15,000 of
the inhabitants; manufactures also porcelain and carpets.
BESANT, MRS. ANNIE, _nee_ WOOD, born in London; of Irish
descent; married to an English clergyman, from whom she was legally
separated; took a keen interest in social questions and secularism;
drifted into theosophy, of which she is now an active propagandist; is an
interesting woman, and has an interesting address as a lecturer; _b_.
1847.
BESANT, SIR WALTER, a man of letters, born at Portsmouth; eminent
chiefly as a novelist of a healthily realistic type; wrote a number of
novels jointly with James Rice, and is the author of "French Humourists,"
as well as short stories; champion of the cause of Authors _versus_
Publishers, and is chairman of the committee; _b_. 1838.
BESENVAL, BARON, a Swiss, commandant of Paris under Louis XVI.; a
royalist stunned into a state of helpless dismay at the first outbreak of
the Revolution in Paris; could do nothing in the face of it but run for
his life (1722-1791).
BESIKA BAY, a bay on the Asiatic coast, near the mouth of the
Dardanelles.
BESME, a Bohemian in the pay of the Duke of Guise; assassinated
Coligny, and was himself killed by Berteauville, a Protestant gentleman,
in 1571.
BESS, GOOD QUEEN, a familiar name of Queen Elizabeth.
BESSARA`BIA (1,688), a government in the SW. of Russia, between the
Dniester and the Pruth; a cattle-breeding province; exports cattle, wool,
and tallow.
BESSAR`ION, JOHN, cardinal, native of Trebizond; contributed by his
zeal in Greek literature to the fall of scholasticism and the revival of
letters; tried hard to unite the Churches of the East and the West;
joined the latter, and was made cardinal; too much of a Grecian to
recommend himself to the popehood, to which he was twice over nearly
elevated (1395-1472).
BESSEL, FRIEDRICH WILHELM, a Prussian astronomer of prominent
ability, born at Minden; professor of Mathematics at Koenigsberg, and
director of the Observatory; discovered--what was a great
achievement--the parallax of the fixed star 61 Cygne; his greatest work,
"Fundamenta Astronomiae," on which he spent 10 years, a marvel, like all
he did, of patient toil and painstaking accuracy (1784-1846).
BESSEMER, SIR HENRY, civil engineer and inventor, born at Charlton,
Herts; of his many inventions the chief is the process, named after him,
of converting pig-iron into steel at once by blowing a blast of air
through the iron while in fusion till everything extraneous is expelled,
and only a definite quantity of carbon is left in combination, a process
which has revolutionised the iron and steel trade all over the world,
leading, as has been calculated, to the production of thirty times as
much steel as before and at one-fifth of the cost per ton (1813-1898).
BESSEMER PROCESS. See BESSEMER.
BESSIERES, JEAN BAPTISTE, DUKE OF ISTRIA, marshal of France,
born at Languedoc, of humble parentage; rose from the ranks; a friend and
one of the ablest officers of Napoleon, and much esteemed by him;
distinguished himself in the Italian campaign, in Egypt, and at Marengo;
was shot at Luetzen the day before the battle (1768-1813).
BESSUS, a satrap of Bactria under Darius, who assassinated his
master after the battle of Arbela, but was delivered over by Alexander to
Darius's brother, by whom he was put to death, 328 B.C.
BESTIARY, a name given to a class of books treating of animals,
viewed allegorically.
BETHANY, village on E. of the Mount of Olives, abode of Lazarus and
his sisters.
BETHEL (i. e. house of God), a place 11 m. N. of Jerusalem, scene
of Jacob's dream, and famous in the history of the patriarchs.
BETHENCOURT, a Norman baron, in 1425 discovered and conquered the
Canaries, and held them as a fief of the crown of Castile.
BETHLEHEM (3), a village 6 m. S. of Jerusalem, the birthplace of
Jesus Christ and King David, with a convent containing the Church of the
Nativity; near it is the grotto where St. Jerome translated the Bible
into Latin.
BETHLEN-GABOR, prince of Transylvania, assumed the title of king of
Hungary; assisted Bohemia in the Thirty Years' war (1580-1629).
BETHNAL GREEN (129), an eastern suburb of London, a parliamentary
borough, a poor district, and scene of benevolent enterprises.
BETTERTON, THOMAS, born at Westminster, a tragic actor, and as such
an interpreter of Shakespeare on, it is believed, the traditional lines.
BETTINA, the Countess of Arnim, a passionate admirer of Goethe.
BETTY, W. HENRY, a boy actor, known as the Infant Roscius; amassed a
fortune; lived afterwards retired (1791-1874).
BEULE, a French statesman and archaeologist; superintended
excavations on the Acropolis of Athens; held office under Macmahon
(1826-1874).
BEUST, COUNT VON, a German statesman, born at Dresden; Minister for
Foreign Affairs in Saxony; of strong conservative leanings, friendly to
Austria; became Chancellor of the Austro-Hungarian empire; adopted a
liberal policy; sympathised with France in the Franco-German war;
resigned office in 1871; left "Memoirs" (1809-1886).
BEUTHEN (36), a manufacturing town in Prussian Silesia, in the
centre of a mining district.
BEVERLEY (12), a Yorkshire manufacturing town, 8 m. NW. of Hull,
with a Gothic minster, which contains the tombs of the Percys.
BEVERLEY, JOHN, a learned man, tutor to the Venerable Bede,
archbishop of York, and founder of a college for secular priests at
Beverley; was one of the most learned men of his time; _d_. 721.
BEVIS OF SOUTHAMPTON, or HAMPTON, SIR, a famous knight of
English mediaeval romance, a man of gigantic stature, whose marvellous
feats are recorded in Drayton's "Polyolbion."
BEWICK, THOMAS, a distinguished wood-engraver, born in
Northumberland, apprenticed to the trade in Newcastle; showed his art
first in woodcuts for his "History of Quadrupeds," the success of which
led to the publication of his "History of British Birds," in which he
established his reputation both as a naturalist, in the truest sense, and
an artist (1753-1828).
BEWICK, WILLIAM, a great wood-engraver; did a cartoon from the Elgin
Marbles for Goethe (1795-1866).
BEYLE, MARIE HENRI, French critic and novelist, usually known by his
pseudonym "De Stendal," born at Grenoble; wrote in criticism "De
l'Amour," and in fiction "La Chartreuse de Parme" and "Le Rouge et le
Noir"; an ambitious writer and a cynical (1788-1842).
BEYPUR, a port in the Madras presidency, a railway terminus, with
coal and iron in the neighbourhood.
BEYROUT (200), the most nourishing commercial city on the coast of
Syria, and the port of Damascus, from which it is distant 55 m.; a very
ancient place.
BEZA, THEODORE, a French Protestant theologian, born in Burgundy, of
good birth; professor of Greek at Lausanne; deputed from Germany to
intercede for the Huguenots in France, persuaded the king of Navarre to
favour the Protestants; settled in Geneva, became the friend and
successor of Calvin; wrote a book, "De Hereticis a Civili Magistratu
Puniendis," in which he justified the burning of Servetus, and a "History
of the Reformed Churches" in France; died at 86 (1519-1605).
BEZANTS, Byzantine gold coins of varying weight and value,
introduced by the Crusaders into England, where they were current till
the time of Edward III.
BEZIERS (42), a manufacturing town in the dep. of Herault, 49 m. SW.
of Montpellier; manufactures silk fabrics and confectionary.
BHAGALPUR` (69), a town in Bengal, on the right bank of the Ganges,
265 m. NW. of Calcutta.
BHAGAVAD GITA, (i. e. Song of Krishna), a poem introduced into the
Mahabharata, divided into three sections, and each section into six
chapters, called Upanishads; being a series of mystical lectures
addressed by Krishna to his royal pupil Arjuna on the eve of a battle,
from which he shrunk, as it was with his own kindred; the whole conceived
from the point of view or belief, calculated to allay the scruples of
Arjuna, which regards the extinction of existence as absorption in the
Deity.
BHAMO` (6), a town in Burmah, the chief centre of trade with China,
conducted mainly by Chinese, and a military station, only 40 m. from the
Chinese frontier.
BHARTPUR` (68), a town in Rajputana, in a native state of the name;
yielding wheat, maize, cotton, sugar, with quarries of building stone; 30
m. W. of Agra; carries on an industry in the manufacture of chowries.
BHARTRIHARI, Indian author of apothegms, who appears to have lived
in the 11th century B.C., and to have been of royal rank.
BHILS, a rude pro-Aryan race of Central India, still untrained to
settled life; number 750,000.
BHOD-PA, name given to the aborigines of Thibet, and applied by the
Hindus to all the Thibetan peoples.
BHOPAL` (952), a well-governed native state in Central India, under
British protection, with a capital city (70) of the same name; under a
government that has been always friendly to Britain.
BHUTAN (20), an independent state in the Eastern Himalayas, with
magnificent scenery; subsidised by Britain; has a government like that of
Thibet; religion the same, though the people are at a low stage of
civilisation; the country exports horses, musk, and salt.
BIAF`RA, BIGHT OF, a large bay in the Gulf of Guinea, in W. Africa;
includes several islands, and receives into it the waters of the Calabar
rivers.
BIARD, AUGUSTE FRANCOIS, French _genre_ painter, born at Lyons;
journeyed round the world, sketching by the way; was successful in
rendering burlesque groups (1800-1882).
BIARRITZ, a bathing-place on the Bay of Biscay, 6 m. SW. of Bayonne;
became a place of fashionable resort by the visits of the Empress
Eugenie.
BIAS, one of the seven wise men of Greece, born at Priene, in Ionia;
lived in the 6th century B.C.; many wise sayings are ascribed to him;
was distinguished for his indifference to possessions, which moth and
rust can corrupt, and thieves break through and steal.
BIBLE, THE (i. e. the Book _par excellence_, and not so much a
book as a library of books), a collection of sacred writings divided into
two parts, the Old Testament and the New; the Old, written in Hebrew,
comprehending three groups of books, the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and
the Hagiographa, bearing on the religion, the history, the institutions,
and the manners of the Jews; and the New, written in Greek, comprehending
the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles. The Old
Testament was translated into Greek at Alexandria by 72 Jews, 280 B.C.,
and is known as the Septuagint; and the whole book, Old and New, was
translated into Latin in a grotto near Bethlehem by St. Jerome, A.D.
385-404, and is known as the Vulgate, after which the two came to be
regarded by the Church as of equal divine authority and as sections of
one book. It may be permitted to note that the Bible is written
throughout, not in a speculative or a scientific, but a spiritual
interest, and that its final aim is to guide men in the way of life. The
spirit in which it is composed is the spirit of conviction; its essence,
both in the root of it and the fruit of it, is faith, and that primarily
in a moral power above, and ultimately a moral principle within, both
equally divine. The one principle of the book is that loyalty to the
divine commands is the one foundation of all well-being, individual and
social.
BIBLIA PAUPERUM (i. e. Bible of the Poor), a book consisting of
some 50 leaves, with pictures of scenes in the Life of Christ, and
explanatory inscriptions, printed, from wooden blocks, in the 15th
century, and before the invention of printing by movable types.
BIBULUS, a colleague of Julius Caesar; a mere cipher, a _faineant_.
BICETRE, a hospital, originally a Carthusian monastery, in the S.
side of Paris, with a commanding view of the Seine and the city; since
used for old soldiers, and now for confirmed lunatics.
BICHAT, MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER, an eminent French anatomist and
physiologist; physician to the Hotel-Dieu, Paris; one of the first to
resolve the structure of the human body into, as "Sartor" has it,
"cellular, vascular, and muscular tissues;" his great work "Anatomie
Generale appliquee a la Physiologie et a la Medecine"; died at 31
(1771-1802).
BICKERSTAFF, ISAAC, an Irish dramatist of 18th century, whose name
was adopted as a _nom de plume_ by Swift and Steele.
BICKERSTETH, EDWARD, English clergyman; author of several
evangelical works, and one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance
(1786-1850).
BICKERTON, SIR RICHARD, vice-admiral, served in several naval
engagements, and died commander-in-chief at Plymouth in 1792.
BIDDERY WARE, ware of tin, copper, lead, and zinc, made at Bidar, in
India.
BIDDING PRAYER, an exhortation to prayer in some special reference,
followed by the Lord's Prayer, in which the congregation joins.
BIDDLE, JOHN, a Socinian writer in the time of Charles I. and the
Commonwealth; much persecuted for his belief, and was imprisoned, but
released by Cromwell; regarded as the founder of English Unitarianism;
author of a "Confession of Faith concerning the Holy Trinity"
(1615-1662).
BIDPAI, or PILPAI, the presumed author of a collection of Hindu
fables of ancient date, in extensive circulation over the East, and
widely translated.
BIELA'S COMET, a comet discovered by Biela, an Austrian officer, in
1826; appears, sometimes unobserved, every six years.
BIELEFELD (39), a manufacturing town in Westphalia, with a large
trade in linen, and the centre of the trade.
BIELU`KA, with its twin peaks, highest of the Altai Mountains,
11,100 ft.
BIENNE, LAKE OF, in the Swiss canton of Berne; the Aar is led into
it when in flood, so as to prevent inundation below; on the shores of it
are remains of lake-dwellings, and an island in it, St. Pierre, the
retreat of Rousseau in 1765.
BIFROeST, a bridge in the Norse mythology stretching from heaven to
earth, of firm solidity and exquisite workmanship, represented in the
rainbow, of which the colours are the reflections of the precious stones.
BIGELOW, ERASTUS BRIGHAM, American inventor of weaving machines,
born in Massachusetts (1814-1879).
BIG-ENDIANS, a name given to the Catholics, as Little-endians is the
name given to the Protestants, in the imaginary kingdom of Lilliput, of
which the former are regarded as heretics by the latter because they
break their eggs at the big end.
BIGGAR, a town in Lanarkshire, birthplace of Dr. John Brown and of
the Gladstone ancestry.
BIGLOW, imaginary author of poems in the Yankee dialect, written by
James Russell Lowell.
BIJAPUR`, city in the presidency of Bombay, once the capital of an
extensive kingdom, now deserted, but with remains of its former
greatness.
BILBA`O (50), capital of the Basque prov. of Biscay, in Spain; a
commercial city of ancient date, famous at one time for its steel,
specially in Queen Elizabeth's time, when a rapier was called a "bilbo."
BILDERDIJK, WILLEM, Dutch poet, born at Amsterdam (1756-1831).
BILE, a fluid secreted from the blood by the liver to aid in
digestion, the secretion of which is most active after food.
BILLAUD-VARENNES, JEAN NICOLAS, "a grim, resolute, unrepentant"
member of the Jacobin Club; egged on the mob during the September
massacres in the name of liberty; was president of the Convention;
assisted at the fall of Robespierre, but could not avert his own; was
deported to Surinam, and content to die there rather than return to
France, which Bonaparte made him free to do; died at Port-au-Prince
(1756-1819).
BILLAUT, ADAM, the carpenter poet, called "Maitre Adam," born at
Nevers, and designated "Virgile au Rabot" (a carpenter's plane); _d_.
1662.
BILLINGS, ROBERT WILLIAM, architect, born in London; delineator of
old historical buildings; his great work "Baronial and Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Scotland," richly illustrated; was engaged in the
restoration of old buildings, as well as delineating them (1813-1874).
BILLINGSGATE, a fish-market in London, below London Bridge; also a
name given to low, coarse language indulged in there.
BILLINGTON, ELIZABETH, _nee_ WEICHSEL, a celebrated singer,
born in London, of German descent; kept up her celebrity to the last;
died at Venice in 1817.
BILNEY, THOMAS, martyr, born in Norfolk, a priest who adopted the
reformed doctrine; was twice arraigned, and released on promise not to
preach, but could not refrain, and was at last burned as a heretic in
1531.
BILOCATION, the power or state, ascribed to certain of the saints,
of appearing in two places at the same time.
BIMETALLISM, the employment of two metals (gold and silver) in the
currency of a country as legal tender at a fixed relative value, the
ratio usually proposed being 1 to 151/2.
BIMINI, a fabulous island with a fountain possessed of the virtue of
restoring youth.
BINET, a French litterateur, translator of Horace and Virgil
(1732-1812).
BINGEN, a manufacturing and trading town on the left bank of the
Rhine, in Grand-Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, opposite which is the tower
associated with the myth of Bishop Hatto.
BINGHAM, JOSEPH, an English divine, born at Wakefield; author of
"Origines Ecclesiasticae," a laborious and learned work; lost his all in
the South-Sea Scheme and died (1668-1723).
BIOGENESIS, name of the theory that derives life from life, and
opposed to ABIOGENESIS (q. v.).
BIOLOGY, the science of animal life in a purely physical reference,
or of life in organised bodies generally, including that of plants, in
its varied forms and through its successive stages.
BION, a Greek pastoral poet of 3rd century B.C., born at Smyrna; a
contemporary of Theocritus; settled in Sicily; was poisoned, it is said,
by a rival; little of his poetry survives.
BIOT, JEAN BAPTISTE, an eminent French mathematician, astronomer,
and physicist, born at Paris; professor of Physics in the College of
France; took part in measuring an arc of the meridian along with Arago;
made observations on the polarisation of light, and contributed numerous
memoirs to scientific journals; wrote works on astronomy (1774-1862).
BIRAGUE, RENE DE, cardinal and chancellor of France, born at Milan;
charged, especially by contemporary historians, as the chief instigator
of the St. Bartholomew Massacre (1507-1583).
BIRCH, SAMUEL, archaeologist and Egyptologist, born in London; keeper
of Oriental antiquities in the British Museum; had an extensive knowledge
of Egyptology, wrote largely, and contributed articles on that and
kindred archaeological subjects (1813-1885).
BIRCH, THOMAS, antiquary, born in London; wrote a history of the
Royal Society (1705-1765).
BIRCH-PFEIFFER, CHARLOTTE, actress, born in Stuttgart; acted in
Berlin; wrote dramas (1800-1868).
BIRD, EDWARD, an English _genre_ painter, born in Wolverhampton,
settled in Bristol; among his works are the "Choristers Rehearsing," the
"Field of Chevy Chase," and the "Day after the Battle," pronounced his
masterpiece (1772-1819).
BIRD, GOLDING, M.D., a great authority in kidney disease, of which
he himself died (1815-1854).
BIRD, WILLIAM, a musician in the time of Elizabeth, composed
madrigals; "Non Nobis, Domine," is ascribed to him (1563-1623).
BIRD'S NEST, the nest of a species of swift, formed from a marine
plant that has been first digested by a bird, and esteemed a great luxury
by the Chinese.
BIREN, DUKE OF COURLAND, son of a peasant, favourite of the Russian
Empress Anne; held the reins of government even after her death; ruled
with great cruelty; was banished to Siberia, but recalled, and had his
honours restored to him, which in six years after he relinquished in
favour of his eldest son (1687-1772).
BIRKBECK, GEORGE, M.D., a Yorkshireman, a zealous promoter all over
the country of mechanics' institutes, was founder of the London
Institute, in consociation with Brougham and others interested in the
diffusion of useful knowledge (1776-1841).
BIRKENHEAD (100), in Cheshire, on the Mersey, opposite Liverpool and
a suburb of it; a town of rapid growth, due to the vicinity of Liverpool;
has large shipbuilding-yards and docks.
BIRKENHEAD, SIR JOHN, a political writer, several times imprisoned
during the Commonwealth for his obtrusive royalism (1615-1679).
BIRMINGHAM (478), in the NW. of Warwickshire, 112 m. NW. of London
by rail; is the chief town of the Midlands, and celebrated all over the
world for its metal ware. All kinds of engines and machinery, fine gold,
silver, copper, and brass ware, cutlery and ammunition are made here;
steel pens, buttons, nails, and screws are specialties. It is a
picturesque town with many fine buildings, libraries, art gallery and
museums, educational institutions, a cathedral, and a great town-hall,
where the triennial musical festival is held. Of this town Burne-Jones
was a native, and Priestley, George Dawson, and Dale were dissenting
ministers.
BIRNAM, a hill near Dunkeld, in Perthshire; contains part of a
forest mentioned in "Macbeth."
BIRON, a madcap lord in "Love's Labour's Lost."
BIRON, BARON DE, marshal of France, born at Perigord; served bravely
under Henry IV.; though a Catholic, favoured the Huguenots; narrowly
escaped at the Massacre of St. Bartholomew; was killed at the siege of
Epernay; carried a note-book with him everywhere, and so observant was he
that it passed into proverb, "You will find it in Biron's note-book"
(1524-1592).
BIRON, DUC DE, son of the preceding; served also bravely under Henry
IV.; but being a man of no principle and discontented with the reward he
got for his services, intrigued with the Duke of Savoy and with Spain
against Henry; was arrested and sent to the Bastille, where, after trial,
he was beheaded (1562-1602).
BISCAY, BAY OF, a bay in the Atlantic, extending from Cape Ortegal,
in Spain, to Cape Finisterre, in France, and 400 m. broad, of depth
varying from 20 to 200 fathoms, and, under SW. winds particularly, one of
the stormiest of seas.
BISCHOF, KARL GUSTAV, chemist, born at Nueremberg, professor at Bonn;
experimented on the inflammable power of gas (1792-1870).
BISCHOFF, THEODOR LUDWIG WILHELM, distinguished biologist, born at
Hanover; made a special study of embryology; was professor of Anatomy at
Heidelberg, of Physiology at Giessen, and of both at Muenich (1807-1882).
BISHOP, originally an overseer of souls, eventually an overseer of
churches, especially of a district, and conceived of by High-Churchmen as
representing the apostles and deriving his powers by transmission from
them.
BISHOP, SIR HENRY ROWLEY, an English composer, born in London,
composer and director of music in Covent Garden Theatre for 14 years;
produced 60 pieces, of which "Guy Mannering," "The Miller and his Men,"
are still in favour; was for a brief space professor of Music in
Edinburgh University, and eventually held a similar chair in Oxford
(1786-1855).
BISHOP OF HIPPO, St. Augustine, as once in office there.
BISHOP-AUCKLAND (10), a market-town 9 m. SW. of Durham, where the
bishop of Durham has his residence, a palatial structure; it has
coal-mines close by; manufactures machinery and cotton goods.
BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO (188), an archipelago formerly called New
Britain, NE. of New Guinea; under the protectorate of Germany.
BISMARCK-SCHOeNHAUSEN, EDUARD LEOPOLD, PRINCE VON, born at
Schoenhausen; woke up into civil life by the events of 1848; took a bold
stand against revolutionary ideas and measures; conceived the idea of
freeing the several States of Germany from foreign control, and welding
them into one under the crown of Prussia. Summoned in 1862 by King
William to be his political adviser, his influence was at first
distrusted, but the annexation of Sleswig-Holstein by force of arms in
1863 raised him into general favour. His next feat, the humiliation of
Austria at Koeniggraetz in 1866, and the consequent erection of a German
Confederation, with Prussia at its head, made him the idol of the nation.
His treatment of Napoleon III. provoked the latter into a declaration of
war, and to an advance on the part of the French against Berlin. To the
surprise of nearly all Europe, the Germans proved to be a nation of
soldiers, marshalled as army never was before, and beat the French
ignominiously back from the Rhine. Count Bismarck had the satisfaction of
seeing the power of France, that still threatened, as well as that of
Austria, helpless at his feet, the German empire restored under a
Hohenzollern king, and himself installed as chancellor of the monarch he
had served so well. Nothing he did after this--though he reformed the
coinage, codified the law, established protection, increased the army,
and repressed Socialism--equalled this great feat, and for this a
grateful nation must ever honour his name. If he ceased to be chancellor
of Germany on the accession of William II., it was because the young king
felt he would have a freer hand with a minister more likely to be under
his control (1815-1898).
BISSA`GOS, a group of some 20 volcanic islands off the coast of
Senegambia, with a large negro population; yield tropical products, and
belong now to Portugal.
BISSEN, a Danish sculptor, born in Sleswig; a pupil of Thorwaldsen;
intrusted by him to finish a statue he left unfinished at his death; he
produced some fine works, but his best known are his "Cupid Sharpening
his Arrow" and "Atalanta Hunting" (1798-1868).
BITHUR, a town on the right bank of the Ganges, 12 m. above
Cawnpore, where Nana Sahib lived, and concocted the conspiracy which
developed into the mutiny of 1857.
BITHYNIA, a country in the NW. of Asia Minor, anciently so called;
the people of it were of Thracian origin.
BITLIS (25), a high-lying town in Asiatic Turkey, 62 m. W. of Van;
stands in a valley 8470 ft. above, the sea-level, with a population of
Mohammedans and Armenians.
BITUMEN, an inflammable mineral substance, presumably of vegetable
origin, called Naphtha when liquid and light-coloured, Petroleum when
less fluid and darker, Maltha when viscid, and Asphalt when solid.
BITZIUS, a Swiss author, composed stories of Swiss life under the
_nom de plume_ of Jeremias Gotthelf, fascinating from their charming
simplicity and truth; he is much admired by Ruskin; was by profession a
Protestant pastor, the duties of which he continued to discharge till his
death (1797-1854).
BIZERTA (10), a seaport of Tunis, northernmost town in Africa, 38 m.
NW. of the capital, with an excellent harbour.
BIZET, GEORGES, an operatic composer, born at Paris; his greatest
work "Carmen"; died of heart-disease shortly after its appearance
(1838-1875).
BJOeRNSEN, a Norwegian author, born at Kvikne; composed tales,
dramas, and lyrics, all of distinguished merit and imbued with a
patriotic spirit; his best play "Sigurd the Bastard"; an active and
zealous promoter of liberalism, sometimes extreme, both in religion and
politics; his writings are numerous, and they rank high; his songs being
highly appreciated by his countrymen; _b_. 1832.
BLACK, JOSEPH, a celebrated chemist, born at Bordeaux, of Scotch
parents; the discoverer of what has been called latent heat, but what is
really transformed energy; professor of Chemistry, first in Glasgow, then
in Edinburgh, where his lectures were very popular; his discoveries in
chemistry were fruitful in results (1728-1799).
BLACK, WILLIAM, novelist, born in Glasgow; started life as a
journalist in connection with the _Morning Star_; has written several
novels, over 30 in number, about the West Highlands of Scotland, rich in
picturesque description; the best known and most admired, "A Daughter of
Heth," the "Madcap Violet," "Macleod of Dare," "The Strange Adventures of
a Phaeton," and "A Princess of Thule." "But when are you going to write a
book, Mr. Black?" said Carlyle to him one day (1841-1898).
BLACK ART, name given to the presumed power of evoking evil spirits.
BLACK ASSIZE, a plague at Oxford in 1557, which carried off 300
victims; caught at the assize from the prisoners under trial.
BLACK DEATH, a name given to a succession of fatal epidemics that
devastated the world from China to Ireland in the 14th century, believed
to be the same as the Oriental plague, though attended with peculiar
symptoms; the most serious was that of 1348, which, as is reckoned,
stripped England alone of one-third of its inhabitants.
BLACK FOREST (488), a wooded mountain chain 4000 ft. high (so called
from the black pines that cover it), which runs parallel with the Rhine,
and E. of it, through Wuertemberg and Baden, from the Swiss frontier to
Carlsruhe; is remarkable for its picturesque scenery and its mineral
wealth; it possesses many health resorts, as Baden-Baden and Wildbad,
where are mineral springs; silver, copper, cobalt, lead, and iron are
wrought in many places; the women and children of the region make
articles of woodwork, such as wooden clocks, &c.
BLACK FRIARS, monks of the Dominican order; name of a district in
London where they had a monastery.
BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA, a confined apartment 13 ft. square, into
which 146 English prisoners were crammed by the orders of Surajah Dowia
on the 19th June 1756; their sufferings were excruciating, and only 23
survived till morning.
BLACK LANDS, lands in the heart of Russia, extending between the
Carpathians and the Urals, constituting one-third of the soil, and
consisting of a layer of black earth or vegetable mould, of from 3 to 20
ft. in thickness, and a chief source, from its exhaustless fertility, of
the wealth of the country.
BLACK MONDAY, Easter Monday in 1351, remarkable for the extreme
darkness that prevailed, and an intense cold, under which many died.
BLACK PRINCE, Prince of Wales, son of Edward III., so called, it is
said, from the colour of his armour; distinguished himself at Crecy,
gained the battle of Poitiers, but involved his country in further
hostilities with France; returned to England, broken in health, to die
(1330-1376).
BLACK ROD, GENTLEMAN USHER OF, an official of the House of Lords,
whose badge of office is a black rod surmounted by a gold lion; summons
the Commons to the House, guards the privileges of the House, &c.
BLACK SATURDAY, name given in Scotland to Saturday, 4th August 1621;
a stormy day of great darkness, regarded as a judgment of Heaven against
Acts then passed in the Scottish Parliament tending to establish
Episcopacy.
BLACK SEA, or EUXINE, an inland sea, lying between Europe and
Asia, twice the size of Britain, being 700 m. in greatest length and 400
m. in greatest breadth; communicates in the N. with the Sea of Azov, and
in the SW., through the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the
Dardanelles, with the Mediterranean. It washes the shores of Turkey,
Rumelia, Bulgaria, Russia, and Asia Minor; receives the waters of the
Danube, Dneister, Bug, and Don, from Europe, and the Kizil-Irmak and
Sakaria from Asia--three times as much as is received by the
Mediterranean. It has but one island, Adassi, off the mouths of the
Danube; no reefs or shoals; hence in summer navigation is very safe. In
winter it is harassed by severe storms. Among the chief ports are Odessa,
Kherson, Batoum, Trebizond, and Sinope; the first two are ice-bound in
January and February. For three centuries the Turks excluded all other
nations from its waters; but the Russians (1774), Austrians (1784),
French and English (1802) secured trading rights. Russia and Turkey keep
fleets in it, but other warships are excluded. Its waters are fresher
than those of the ocean, and it has no noticeable tides.
BLACK WATCH, two Highland regiments, the 42nd and 73rd, so called
from the dark colour of the tartan; raised originally for the
preservation of the peace in the Highlands.
BLACKBURN (120), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, 21 m. NW. of
Manchester, a centre of the cotton industry, and the greatest in the
world; is the birthplace of Hargreaves, the inventor of the
spinning-jenny.
BLACKHEATH, a common 7 m. SE. of London, once a favourite haunt of
highwaymen, now a place of holiday resort for Londoners; for long
provided the only golfing-course in England.
BLACKIE, JOHN STUART, a man of versatile gifts and warm human
sympathies, born in Glasgow; bred to the bar, but devoted to literary
pursuits; studied German; executed a metrical translation of Goethe's
"Faust," Part I.; filled the chair of Humanity in Aberdeen, and
afterwards that of Greek in Edinburgh; was a zealous educational
reformer; took an active interest in everything affecting the welfare and
honour of Scotland; founded a Celtic Chair in Edinburgh University; spoke
much and wrote much in his day on manifold subjects; AEschylus, and
Homer's "Iliad" in verse; among his works, which are numerous,
"Self-Culture" is the most likely to survive him longest (1809-1895).
BLACKLOCK, THOMAS, a clergyman, born in Annan, blind from early
infancy; after occupying a charge for two years, set up as a teacher in
Edinburgh; was influential in inducing Burns to abandon his intention to
emigrate, and may be credited, therefore, with saving for his country and
humanity at large one of the most gifted of his country's sons
(1721-1791).
BLACKMORE, RICHARD DODDRIDGE, novelist, born in Berks; bred to the
bar; has written several novels, the best known "Lorna Doone," which,
though coldly received at first, became highly popular; he is pronounced
unrivalled in his day as a writer of rustic comedy; _b_. 1825.
BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD, physician, born in Wilts; the most
voluminous of poetasters, published four long worthless poems, besides
essays and psalms, &c., and made himself the butt of all the wits of the
period; _d_. 1729.
BLACKPOOL (23), a watering-place on the coast of Lancashire, 18 m.
NW. of Preston, sometimes called the "Brighton of the North."
BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM, an eminent jurist and judge, born in
London, the son of a silk-mercer; was fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford,
and in 1746 called to the bar; became first Vinerian professor of Law at
Oxford; had Jeremy Bentham for one of his pupils; author of the
well-known "Commentaries on the Laws of England," an authority on the
subject and a work that has appeared in many editions (1723-1780).
BLACKWELL, ALEXANDER, adventurer, born in Aberdeen; studied
medicine; took to printing; thrown into prison for debt; was supported by
his wife; on his release went to Sweden, was patronised by the king;
convicted of conspiracy, and beheaded in 1747.
BLACKWELL, ELIZABETH, a lady doctor, born in Bristol, and the first
to hold a medical diploma in the United States; graduated in 1849; was
admitted into the Maternity Hospital in Paris, and to St. Bartholomew's
in London, and has since distinguished herself as a social reformer; _b_.
1821.
BLACKWOOD, SIR HENRY, British admiral, much trusted by Nelson;
distinguished at Aboukir Bay and Trafalgar; was present at Nelson's
death; held subsequently high naval positions (1770-1832).
BLACKWOOD, WILLIAM, born in Edinburgh, originator of _Blackwood's
Magazine_; originally a bookseller; started _Maga_, as it was called, in
1817, his principal literary advisers being Professor Wilson and
Lockhart; conducted it as editor till his death (1776-1834). JOHN,
his third son, his successor, no less distinguished in the cause of
literature (1818-1879).
BLAEU, WILLEM JANZSOON, Dutch cartographer, born at Alkmaar; his
terrestrial and celestial globes have been admired for their excellence
and accuracy (1571-1638). His son JAN edited a valuable atlas called
"Atlas Major," in 11 volumes; _d_. 1673.
BLAINVILLE, HENRI MARIE, a French naturalist; devoted himself to
medicine; became assistant to Cuvier; succeeded him as professor of
Comparative Anatomy; wrote largely on natural science, and particularly
on subjects connected with his appointment as a professor (1777-1850).
BLAIR, HUGH, clergyman, born in Edinburgh; held in succession
several charges in Scotland, and became professor of Rhetoric in
Edinburgh University; author of "Lectures on Rhetoric" and "Sermons,"
which latter are of the nature of moral essays rather than sermons, were
much esteemed at one time for their polished style, and procured him a
pension of L200 from the king; he was a man of great critical acumen, and
the celebrated Schleiermacher did not think it beneath him to translate
some of them into German (1718-1800).
BLAIR, ROBERT, author of "The Grave," a thoughtful and cultured man,
born in Edinburgh; minister of Athelstaneford, where he was succeeded by
Home, the author of "Douglas." His poem has the merit of having been
illustrated by William Blake (1699-1743).
BLAKE, ROBERT, the great English admiral and "Sea King," born at
Bridgewater; successful as a soldier under the Commonwealth, before he
tried seamanship; took first to sea in pursuit of Prince Rupert and the
royalist fleet, which he destroyed; beat the Dutch under Van Tromp de
Ruyter and De Witt; sailed under the great guns of Tunis into the
harbour, where he fired a fleet of Turkish pirates; and finally, his
greatest feat, annihilated a Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay under the
shadow of the Peak of Teneriffe, "one of the fiercest actions ever fought
on land or water" (1598-1657).
BLAKE, WILLIAM, poet, painter, and engraver, born in London, where,
with rare intervals, he spent his life a mystic from his very boyhood;
apprenticed to an engraver, whom he assisted with his drawings; started
on original lines of his own as illustrator of books and a painter;
devoted his leisure to poetry; wrote "Songs of Innocence," "Marriage of
Heaven and Hell," "Gates of Paradise," and "Songs of Experience"; was an
intensely religious man of deep spiritual insight, most vivid feeling and
imagination; illustrated Young's "Night Thoughts," Blair's "Grave," and
the "Book of Job." He was a man of stainless character but eccentric
habits, and had for wife an angel, Catherine Boucher (1757-1828).
BLANC, CHARLES, a French art critic, brother of Louis Blanc
(1813-1882).
BLANC, JEAN JOSEPH LOUIS, a French Socialist, born at Madrid;
started as a journalist, founded the _Revue du Progres_, and published
separately in 1840 "Organisation of Labour," which had already appeared
in the _Revue_, a work which gained the favour of the working-classes;
was member of the Provisional Government of 1848, and eventually of the
National Assembly; threatened with impeachment, fled to England; returned
to France on the fall of the Empire, and was elected to the Chamber of
Deputies in 1871; wrote an "elaborate and well-written" "History of the
French Revolution"; died at Cannes (1811-1882).
BLANC, MONT, the highest mountain in Europe, 15,780 ft., almost
entirely within France; sends numerous glaciers down its slopes, the Mer
de Glace the chief.
BLANCHARD, FRANCOIS, a celebrated French aeronaut, inventor of the
parachute; he fell from his balloon and was killed at the Hague
(1738-1809).
BLANCHARD, LAMAN, a prolific periodical and play writer, born at
Yarmouth; a man of a singularly buoyant spirit, crushed by calamities;
died by suicide (1803-1845).
BLANCHE OF CASTILE, wife of Louis VIII. of France and mother of St.
Louis; regent of France during the minority of her son and during his
absence in crusade; governed with great discretion and firmness; died of
grief over the long absence of her son and his rumoured intention to stay
in the Holy Land (1186-1252).
BLANCHET, THE ABBE, French litterateur; author of "Apologues and
Tales," much esteemed (1707-1784).
BLANDRATA, GIORGIO, Piedmontese physician, who for his religious
opinions was compelled to take refuge, first in Poland, then in
Transylvania, where he sowed the seeds of Unitarianism (1515-1590).
BLANQUI, ADOLPHE, a celebrated French publicist and economist, born
at Nice; a disciple of J. B. Say, and a free-trader; his principal work,
"History of Political Economy in Europe" (1798-1854).
BLANQUI, LOUIS AUGUSTE, a brother of the preceding, a French
republican of extreme views and violent procedure; would appear to have
posed as a martyr; spent nearly half his life in prison (1805-1881).
BLARNEY-STONE, a stone in Castle Blarney, Cork, of difficult access,
which is said to endow whoso kisses it with a fair-spoken tongue, hence
the application of the word.
BLASIUS, ST., bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia; the patron of
wool-combers; suffered martyrdom in 316.
BLASPHEMY, defined by Ruskin as the opposite of euphemy, and as
wishing ill to anything, culminating in wishing ill to God, as the height
of "ill-manners."
BLATANT BEAST, Spenser's name for the ignorant, slanderous, clamour
of the mob.
BLAVATSKY, MME., a theosophist, born in Russia; a great authority on
theosophy, the doctrines of which she professed she derived from the
fountain-head in Thibet (1813-1891).
BLEEK, FRIEDRICH, eminent German Biblical exegete and critic of the
Schleiermacher school, born in Holstein; professor at Bonn; his chief
work, "Commentary on the Hebrews," a great work; others are Introductions
to the Old and to the New Testaments (1793-1859).
BLEEK, WM., son of preceding, a philologist; accompanied Colenso to
Natal; author of "Comparative Grammar of the S. African Languages"
(1827-1875).
BLEFUSCU, an island separated from Lilliput by a strait 800 yards
wide, inhabited by pigmies; understood to represent France.
BLENHEIM, a village in Bavaria, near Augsburg; famous for
Marlborough's victory in 1704, and giving name to it.
BLENHEIM PARK, near Woodstock, Oxford, the gift, with the Woodstock
estate, of the country to the Duke of Marlborough, for his military
services in the Spanish Succession war.
BLESSINGTON, COUNTESS OF, an Irish lady celebrated for her beauty
and wit; figured much in intellectual circles in London; had her salon at
Kensington; was on intimate terms with Byron, and published
"Conversations with Byron," and wrote several novels; being extravagant,
fell into debt, and had to flee the country (1789-1849).
BLICHER, STEEN STEENSEN, Danish poet of rural life (1782-1848).
BLIGH, WM., a naval officer; served under Captain Cook; commanded
the _Bounty_ at Tahiti, when his crew mutinied under his harsh treatment,
and set him adrift, with 18 others, in an open boat, in which, after
incredible privations, he arrived in England; was afterwards governor of
N.S. Wales, but dismissed for his rigorous and arbitrary conduct
(1753-1817).
BLIMBER, MRS. CORNELIA, a prim school-matron in "Dombey & Son."
BLIND, KARL, revolutionist and journalist, born at Mannheim; took
part in the risings of 1848, and sentenced to prison in consequence of a
pamphlet he wrote entitled "German Hunger and German Princes," but
rescued by the mob; found refuge in England, where he interested himself
in democratic movements, and cultivated his literary as well as his
political proclivities by contributing to magazines, and otherwise; _b_.
1826.
BLIND HARRY, a wandering Scottish minstrel of the 15th century;
composed in verse "The Life of that Noble Champion of Scotland, Sir
William Wallace."
BLINKERT DUNE, a dune near Haarlem, 197 ft. above the sea-level.
BLOCH, MARCUS ELIESER, a naturalist, born at Anspach, of Jewish
descent; his "Ichthyology" is a magnificent national work, produced at
the expense of the wealthiest princes of Germany (1723-1799).
BLOEMAERT, a family of Flemish painters and engravers in 16th and
17th centuries.
BLOIS, capital of the deps. of Loire and Cher, France, on the Loire,
35 m. S. of Orleans; a favourite residence of Francis I. and Charles IX.,
and the scene of events of interest in the history of France.
BLOMEFLELD, FRANCIS, a clergyman, born at Norfolk; author of
"Topographical History of the County of Norfolk" (1705-1751).
BLOMFIELD, bishop of London, born at Bury St. Edmunds; Greek
scholar; active in the Church extension of his diocese (1785-1857).
BLONDEL, a troubadour of the 12th century; a favourite of Richard
Coeur de Lion, who, it is said, discovered the place of Richard's
imprisonment in Austria by singing the first part of a love-song which
Richard and he had composed together, and by the voice of Richard in
responding to the strain.
BLONDIN, CHARLES, an acrobat and rope-dancer, born at St. Omer,
France; celebrated for his feats in crossing Niagara Falls on the
tight-rope; _b_. 1824.
BLOOD, THOMAS, COLONEL, an Irish desperado, noted for his daring
attempts against the life of the Duke of Ormonde, and for carrying off
the regalia in the Tower; unaccountably pardoned by Charles II., and
received afterwards into royal favour with a pension of L500 per annum.
He was afterwards charged with conspiracy, and committed to the King's
Bench, and released.
BLOODY ASSIZES, the judicial massacres and cruel injustices
perpetrated by Judge Jeffreys during Circuit in 1685.
BLOODY BONES, a hobgoblin feared by children.
BLOODY STATUTE, statute of Henry VIII. making it a crime involving
the heaviest penalties to question any of the fundamental doctrines of
the Romish Church.
BLOOMFLELD, ROBERT, an English poet, born in Suffolk, by trade a
shoemaker; author of the "Farmer's Boy," a highly popular production,
translated into French and Italian; spent his last days in ill-health
struggling with poverty, which brought on dejection of mind (1766-1823).
BLOUNT, CHARLES, a deist, born in London; assailant of revealed
religion; was involved in all the controversies of the time; died by his
own hand (1654-1693).
BLOWPIPE, a contrivance by which a current of air is driven through
a flame, and the flame directed upon some fusible substance to fuse or
vitrify it.
BLUeCHER, Prussian field-marshal, familiarly named "Marshal
Forwards," born at Rostock; served first in the Swedish army, then in the
Prussian; distinguished as a leader of cavalry, and met with varying
fortune; at the age of 70 commanded the centre of the Allied Army in
1813; distinguished himself at Luetzen and Leipzig; pursued the French
across the Rhine; pressed forward to Paris at the time of Napoleon's
abdication; defeated by Napoleon at Ligny, 16th June 1815; arrived on the
field of Waterloo just as the French were preparing to make their last
charge, and contributed to decide the fate of the day (1742-1819).
BLUE MOUNTAINS, a range of thickly wooded mountains traversing
Jamaica from E. to W., from 5000 to 7000 ft. in height; also a chain of
mountains in New South Wales of two parallel ranges, with a deep chasm
between, and full of gloomy ravines and beetling precipices, the highest
4100 ft.
BLUE NOSE, a nickname given to an inhabitant of Nova Scotia or New
Brunswick.
BLUEBEARD, a wealthy seigneur, the owner of a castle; marries a
beautiful woman, and leaves her in charge of the keys of the apartments
in his absence, with injunctions not to unlock any of the doors, an
injunction which she fails to respect, and finds to her horror the
remains of his former wives locked up in one of them; her disobedience is
discovered, and she is to prepare for death, but is rescued, as she lies
with her head on the block, by the timely arrival of her brothers, who at
once despatch the husband to his merited doom.
BLUE-BOOKS, Parliamentary documents bound in _blue_ paper, as the
corresponding documents in France are in _yellow_; they have been
published regularly since the beginning of the 18th century, those of a
single session now forming a collection of some 60 folio volumes.
BLUE-COAT SCHOOL, a name given to Christ's Hospital, London, founded
in the reign of Edward VI., from the blue coats worn by the boys.
BLUE-GOWN, in Scotland a beggar, a bedesman of the king, who wore a
blue gown, the gift of the king, and had his license to beg.
BLUE-STOCKING, a female pedant or _femme savante_, a name derived
from a learned coterie, formed in the 15th century, at Venice, who wore
blue stockings as a badge.
BLUFF HAL, or HARRY, Henry VIII. of England.
BLUM, a German politician, born at Cologne; tried by court-martial
and shot for abetting a political movement in Vienna in 1848, a
proceeding which created a wide-spread sensation at the time all over
Europe; _b_. 1807.
BLUMENBACH, JOHANN FRIEDRICH, a distinguished German naturalist and
ethnologist, born at Gotha; studied at Jena; became professor at
Goettingen, an office he filled for 60 years; his works gave a great
impulse to scientific research in all directions; the chief were
"Institutiones Physiologicae," "Manual of Natural History," "Manual of
Comparative Anatomy and Physiology"; he made craniology a special study;
was a great advocate for religious liberty (1752-1840).
BLUMENTHAL, LEONARD VON, field-marshal in the Prussian army;
distinguished in the wars with Denmark, Austria, and France; an eminent
strategist; _b_. 1810.
BLUMI`NE, the siren that Calypsowise in "Sartor" seduced
Teufelsdroeckh at the commencement of his career, but who opened his eyes
to see that it is not in sentiment, however fine, that the soul's
cravings can find satisfaction.
BLUNT, JOHN HENRY, D.D., born at Chelsea; wrote largely on
theological and ecclesiastical subjects (1823-1884).
BLUNTSCHLI, JOHANN KASPAR, a distinguished jurist, born at Zurich;
an authority in international law; a liberal conservative both in Church
and State; founder and president of the Protestant Union called the
_Protestantenverein_ (1808-1881).
BOABDIL, or ABU-ABDALLAH, surnamed "The Unfortunate," the last
Moorish king of Granada, from 1481 to 1492; expelled from his throne by
Ferdinand of Castile and Aragon; as he rode off he halted on a hill
called "The Last Sigh of the Moor," and wept as he looked back on the
Alhambra, while his mother added to his bitterness with the cutting
sarcasm, "Weep as a woman for a throne you have not been able to defend
as a man"; died shortly after in Africa, recklessly throwing away his
life on a field of battle.
BOADICE`A, a British heroine, queen of the Iceni, who occupied
Norfolk and Suffolk; roused by indignity done to her and her people by
the Romans, gathered round her an army, who, with a murderous onslaught,
attacked their settlements and destroyed them; but being attacked and
defeated in turn by Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor, she put, in
her despair, an end to her life by poison, A.D. 61. Cowper made her the
theme of one of his poems.
BOANERGES (i. e. Sons of Thunder), applied by Christ to the sons
of Zebedee for the vehemence of their zeal.
BOAZ and JACHIN, two pillars of brass at the entrance of
Solomon's Temple, signifying respectively strength and stability.
BOB`ADIL, CAPTAIN, a braggadocio in Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his
Humour."
BOBECHE, a French theatrical clown, under the Empire and the
Restoration, son of an upholsterer of the St. Antoine faubourg, the type
of the merry-andrew at country fairs.
BOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI, the celebrated Italian _raconteur_, born near
Florence; showed early a passion for literature; sent by his father to
Naples to pursue a mercantile career; gave himself up to story-telling in
prose and verse; fell in love with Maria, a beautiful woman, daughter of
the king, styled by him Fiammetta, for whom he wrote several of his
works, and his great work, the "Decameron"; early formed a lifelong
friendship with Petrarch, along with whom he contributed to the revival
and study of classic literature; lectured on Dante in Florence;
Petrarch's death deeply affected him, and he died the year after
(1313-1375).
BOCCHERINI, LUIGI, a celebrated Italian musical composer, born at
Lucca; was associated with Manfredi, the violinist; his works were
numerous; appears to have lived in poverty and obscurity (1740-1805).
BOCHART, SAMUEL, a Protestant divine, born at Rouen; pastor at Caen;
a geographer and an Orientalist; wrote a treatise on sacred geography;
celebrated for a nine-days' discussion with the Jesuit Verin (1599-1667).
BODE, JOHANN ELERT, an astronomer, born at Hamburg; was professor of
Astronomy and director of Observatory at Berlin; produced a number of
astronomical works, one of his best, "An Introduction to the Knowledge of
the Starry Heavens;" gave name to the law of the planetary distances,
called Bode's Law, although it was observed by Kepler long before his day
(1747-1826).
BODEL, a celebrated troubadour of the 13th century, born at Arras.
BODENSEE, another name for the Lake of Constance, well called the
filter of the Rhine.
BODIN, JEAN, a publicist and diplomatist, born at Angers; author of
"The Republic," in six books, published at first in French and then in
Latin, which summed up all the political philosophy of his time, and
contributed to prepare the way for subsequent speculations; was the
precursor of Hobbes and Montesquieu (1530-1596).
BODLEIAN LIBRARY, the university library of Oxford, founded, or
rather restored, by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1593; enlarged from time to time
by bequests, often munificent. It possesses 400,000 printed volumes and
30,000 MSS.
BODLEY, SIR THOMAS, born at Exeter; employed on embassies by
Elizabeth on the Continent, where he collected a number of valuable
books; bequeathed them and his fortune to the university library of
Oxford, named after him (1545-1613).
BODMER, JOHANN JACOB, a distinguished Swiss critic, born near
Zurich; the first, by study of the masters in literature of Greece and
Rome, France, England, and Italy, to wake up Germany to a sense of its
poverty in that line, and who aided, along with others, in the
inauguration of a new era, which he did more by his republication of the
Minnesingers and part of the "Nibelungen Lied" than by his advocacy
(1698-1783).
BODMIN (5), the county town of Cornwall, supersedes Truro as
capital; an important agricultural centre; has large annual fairs for
cattle, horses, and sheep.
BODONI, an Italian printer; settled at Parma, where his press was
set up in the ducal palace, whence issued magnificent editions of the
classics, Horace, Virgil, Tacitus, Tasso, and, last of all, Homer. He was
often tempted to Rome, but he refused to quit Parma and the patronage of
the ducal house there (1740-1813).
BOeDTCHER, LUDWIG, a Danish lyric poet, born at Copenhagen; lived
chiefly in Italy (1793-1874).
BOECE, HECTOR, a humanist and Scottish historian, born at Dundee;
professor of Philosophy at Paris; friend of Erasmus; was principal of
university at Aberdeen; wrote "History of Bishops of Mortlach and
Aberdeen," and "History of Scotland" in excellent Latin (1465-1536).
BOECKH, PHILIP AUGUST, classical antiquary, born at Carlsruhe;
professor of Ancient Literature in Berlin; a classic of the first rank,
and a contributor on a large scale to all departments of Greek classical
learning; was an eminently learned man, and an authority in different
departments of learning (1785-1867).
BOEHM, SIR JOSEPH EDGAR, sculptor, born in Vienna, of Hungarian
parentage; settled in England; executed a colossal statue of the Queen at
Windsor, a seated statue of Carlyle on the Thames Embankment, a statue of
Bunyan at Bedford, &c.; patronised by the Queen and royal family; buried
in St. Paul's by the Queen's desire (1785-1869).
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