French Legion of Honour. He was knighted in 1914, and received a grant of
L100,000 in Aug., 1919, when he was created an earl. He was elected Lord
Rector of Edinburgh University in 1917.
BEAUCAIRE (b[=o]-k[=a]r), a small commercial city of Southern France,
department Gard, on the Rhone opposite Tarascon, with which it communicates
by a fine suspension-bridge. It is chiefly famous for its great fair
(founded in 1217), held yearly from the 21st to the 28th July. Pop. 8488.
BEAUCHAMP (b[=o]-shaen), Alphonse de, French historian and publicist, born
at Mon[)a]co 1767, died at Paris 1832. Under the Directory he had the
surveillance of the press, a position which supplied him with materials for
his _History of La Vendee_. He contributed to the _Moniteur_ and the
_Gazette de France_. Among his chief works are the _History of the Conquest
of Peru_, the _History of Brazil_, and the _Life of Louis XVIII_. The
_Memoires de Fouche_ is also with good reason ascribed to him.
BEAUFORT, (b[=o]'fort), Henry, cardinal, natural son of John of Gaunt and
half-brother of Henry IV, King of England, born 1377, died 1447; was made
Bishop of Lincoln, whence he was translated to Winchester. He repeatedly
filled the office of Lord Chancellor, and took part in all the most
important political movements of his times.
BEAUFORT SCALE. See _Wind Scale_; _Navigation_.
BEAUFORT WEST, a town of Cape Province, capital of the division of that
name, 339 miles by railway north-east of Cape Town, well built and well
supplied with water, though in a district with a small rainfall, and
chiefly yielding wool. It is a popular health resort. Pop. 4530.
BEAUGENCY (b[=o]-zh[.a][n.]-s[=e]), an ancient town, France, department
Loiret, on the Loire, of some historical interest. General Chanzy was
defeated there by the Grand-Duke of Mecklenburg, 7th-8th Dec., 1870. Pop.
3532.
BEAUHARNAIS (b[=o]-[.a]r-n[=a]), Alexandre, Viscount, was born in 1760 in
Martinique. He married Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, who was afterwards
the wife of Napoleon. At the breaking out of the French Revolution he was
chosen a member of the National Assembly, of which he was for some time
president. In 1792 he was general of the army of the Rhine. He was falsely
accused of having promoted the surrender of Mainz, and was sentenced to
death 23rd July, 1794.
BEAUHARNAIS, Eugene de, Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince of Eichstaedt, and
Viceroy of Italy during the reign of Napoleon, was born 1781, died at
Munich 1824. He was the son of Alexandre Beauharnais and Josephine,
afterwards wife of Napoleon and Empress of France. After his father's death
he joined Hoche in La Vendee, and subsequently studied for a time in Paris.
He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt in 1798, rose rapidly in the army, was
appointed Viceroy of Italy in 1805, and married a daughter of the King of
Bavaria in 1806. He administered the government of Italy with great
prudence and moderation, and was much beloved by his subjects. In the
Russian campaign he commanded the third _corps d'armee_, and greatly
distinguished himself. To him and to Ney France was mainly indebted for the
preservation of the remains of her army during the retreat from Moscow.
After the battle of Luetzen of 2nd May, 1813, where, by surrounding the
right wing of the enemy, he decided the fate of the day, he went to Italy,
which he defended against the Austrians until the deposition of Napoleon.
After the fall of Napoleon he concluded an armistice, by which he delivered
Lombardy and all Upper Italy to the Austrians. He then went immediately to
Paris, and thence to his father-in-law at Munich, where he afterwards
resided.--His sister, Hortense Eugenie, Queen of Holland, was born in 1783,
died in 1837. She became Queen of Holland by marrying Louis Bonaparte, and
after Louis's abdication of the throne she lived apart from him. She wrote
several excellent songs, and composed some deservedly popular airs, among
others the well-known _Partant pour la Syrie_. Napoleon III was her third
and youngest son.
BEAULY (b[=u]'li), a small seaport of Scotland, Inverness-shire, near the
mouth of the River Beauly, which enters the Beauly Firth, a sea loch
branching off from Inverness Firth, with interesting ruins of an old
priory. Pop. 882.
BEAUMARCHAIS (b[=o]-maer-sh[=a]), Pierre Augustin Caron de, a French wit
and dramatist, was born at Paris in 1732, died 1799. He was the son of a
watchmaker named Caron, whose trade he practised for a time. He early gave
striking proofs of his mechanical and also of his musical talents; attained
proficiency as a player on the guitar and harp, and was appointed
harp-master to the daughters of Louis XV. By a rich marriage (after which
he added 'de Beaumarchais' to his name) he laid the foundation of the
immense wealth which he afterwards accumulated by his speculations, and
which was also increased by a second marriage. In the meantime he occupied
himself with literature, and published two dramas--_Eugenie_ in 1767 and
_Les Deux Amis_ in 1770. He first really distinguished himself by his
_Memoires_ (Paris, 1774), or statements in connection with a lawsuit, which
by their wit, satire, and liveliness entertained all France. The _Barber of
Seville_ (1775) and the _Marriage of Figaro_ (1784) have given him a
permanent reputation. His last work was _Mes Six Epoques_, in which he
relates the dangers to which he was exposed in the revolution. He lost
about a million livres by his edition of the works of Voltaire (1785), and
still more at the end of 1792 by his attempt to provide the French army
with 60,000 muskets. He was a singular instance of versatility of talent,
being at once an artist, politician, projector, merchant, and
dramatist.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. de Lomenie, _Beaumarchais et son temps_
(English translation by H. S. Edwards); Gudin de la Brenellerie, _Histoire
de Beaumarchais_.
BEAUMARIS (b[=o]-ma'ris), a seaport town, North Wales, Isle of Anglesey, on
the Menai Strait. It is a favourite watering-place, and contains the
remains of a castle built by Edward I about 1295. Pop. (1921), 1839.
BEAUMONT, a city of the United States, in Eastern Texas, in a region rich
in cotton, timber, and petroleum, and an important railway centre. Pop.
28,851.
BEAUMONT (b[=o]'mont), Francis, and FLETCHER, John, two eminent English
dramatic writers, contemporaries of Shakespeare, and the most famous of
literary partners. The former, son of a common-pleas judge, was born at
Grace-Dieu, in Leicestershire, in 1584, died in 1616, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. At the age of sixteen he published a translation, in
verse, of Ovid's _Fable of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus_, and before
nineteen became the friend of Ben Jonson. With Fletcher also he was early
on terms of friendship. He married Ursula, daughter of Henry Isley of
Sundridge, in Kent, by whom he left two daughters.--_John Fletcher_ was
born at Rye, Sussex, in 1579. His father was successively Dean of
Peterborough, Bishop of Bristol, Worcester, and London. _The Woman Hater_,
produced in 1606-7, is the earliest work known to exist in which he had a
hand. It does not appear that he was ever married. He died in London of the
plague, Aug., 1625, and was buried at St. Saviour's, Southwark. The
friendship of Beaumont and Fletcher, like their literary partnership, was
singularly close; they lived in the same house, and are said to have even
had their clothes in common. The works that pass under their names consist
of over fifty plays, a masque, and some minor poems. It is believed that
all the minor poems except one were written by Beaumont. After the death of
Beaumont, Fletcher continued to write plays alone or with other dramatists.
It is now difficult, if not indeed impossible, to determine with certainty
the respective shares of the two poets in the plays passing under their
names. According to the testimony of some of their contemporaries, Beaumont
possessed the deeper and more thoughtful genius, Fletcher the gayer and
more idyllic. _Four Plays in One_, _Wit at Several Weapons_, _Thierry and
Theodoret_, _Maid's Tragedy_, _Philaster_, _King and no King_, _Knight of
the Burning Pestle_, _Cupid's Revenge_, _Little French Lawyer_, _Scornful
Lady_, _Coxcomb_, and _Laws of Candy_ have been assigned to Beaumont and
Fletcher conjointly. To Beaumont alone--_The Masque of the Inner Temple and
Gray's Inn_. To Fletcher alone--_The Faithful Shepherdess_, _Woman Hater_,
_Loyal Subject_, _Mad Lover_, _Valentinian_, _Double Marriage_, _Humorous
Lieutenant_, _Island Princess_, _Pilgrim_, _Wild-goose Chase_, _Spanish
Curate_, _Beggar's Bush_, _Rule a Wife and Have a Wife_, _Fair Maid of the
Inn_, &c. To Fletcher and Rowley--_Queen of Corinth_, _Maid of the Mill_,
and _Bloody Brother_. To Fletcher and Massinger--_False One_ and _Very
Woman_. To Fletcher and Shirley--_Noble Gentleman_, _Night-walker_, and
_Love's Pilgrimage_. To Fletcher and Shakespeare--_Two Noble
Kinsmen_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. C. Macaulay, _Francis Beaumont, a Critical
Study_; Sir A. W. Ward, _History of English Dramatic Literature_ (vol. ii).
BEAUMONT, Sir George, born of an ancient family in Leicestershire in 1753,
died 1827. He possessed considerable skill as a landscape-painter, but was
noted more especially as a munificent patron of the arts. The establishment
of the National Gallery was mainly owing to his exertions. He was a friend
of Wordsworth, who dedicated to him the 1815 edition of his Poems.
BEAUMONT, Sir John, born 1582, died 1627, brother of Francis Beaumont the
dramatist; was author of _Bosworth Field_, an historical poem, and various
sacred and other poems. A poem in eight books, called _The Crown of
Thorns_, has been lost.
BEAUMONT, Joseph, D.D., born 1615, died 1699; descended from an old
Leicestershire family. In 1663 he became master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
He wrote _Psyche, or Love's Mystery_, a poem once very popular, and an
attack on Henry More's _Mystery of Godliness_, for which he received the
thanks of the university.
BEAUMONT, William, M.D., an American surgeon, born 1785, died 1853. His
experiments on digestion with the Canadian St. Martin, who lived for years
after receiving a gunshot wound in the stomach which left an aperture of
about two inches in diameter, were of great importance to physiological
science.
BEAUMONT-HAMEL, village of France, department Somme, the scene of fierce
fighting in 1918. See _Somme, Battles of the_.
BEAUNE (b[=o]n), a town, France, department Cote d'Or, 23 miles S.S.W. of
Dijon, well built, with handsome church, public library, museum, &c., and a
trade in the fine Burgundy and other wines of the district. Pop. 13,409.
BEAUNE (b[=o]n), Florimond, a distinguished mathematician and friend of
Descartes, born at Blois 1601, died at the same place 1652. He may be
regarded as the originator of the integral calculus.
BEAUREGARD (b[=o]'r[.e]-g[.a]rd), Pierre Gustavus Toutant, a general of the
Confederate troops in the American Civil War, born in 1818 near New
Orleans. He studied at the military academy, West Point, and left it as
artillery lieutenant in 1838. He served in the Mexican War, and on the
outbreak of the Civil War joined the Confederates. He commanded at the
bombardment of Fort Sumter, gained the battle of Bull Run, lost that of
Shiloh, assisted in the defence of Charleston, and aided Lee in that of
Richmond. He was the author of _Principles and Maxims of the Art of War_
(1863). He died in 1893.
BEAUSOBRE (b[=o]-s[=o]-br), Isaac, born in 1659 at Niort, in France, died
at Berlin 1738. In 1683 he became Protestant minister of
Chatillon-sur-Indre, but was compelled by persecution to go into exile in
1685. In 1694 he became minister to French Protestants at Berlin. He
enjoyed much of the favour both of Frederick William I and of the Crown
Prince, afterwards Frederick the Great, and died in 1738. His most
remarkable work is the _Histoire Critique de Manichee et du Manicheisme_
(1734).
BEAUVAIS (b[=o]-v[=a]; ancient, _Bellovacum_), a town, France, capital of
the department of Oise, at the confluence of the Avelon with the Therain,
43 miles north of Paris, poorly built, but with some fine edifices, the
choir of the uncompleted cathedral being one of the finest specimens of
Gothic architecture in France. In 1472 Beauvais resisted an army of 80,000
Burgundians under Charles the Bold. On this occasion the women particularly
distinguished themselves, and one of them, Jeanne Laine, called La
Hachette, seeing a soldier planting a standard on the wall, seized it and
hurled him to the ground. The banner is preserved in the town hall, and an
annual procession of young girls commemorates the deed. Manufactures:
tapestry and carpets, trimmings, woollen cloth, cottons, &c. Pop. 20,250.
[Illustration: Beavers (_Castor fiber_)]
BEAVER, the largest rodent quadruped now existing in the northern
hemisphere, about 2 feet in length exclusive of the tail, genus Castor (_C.
fiber_), is now found in considerable numbers only in North America, living
in colonies, but occurring solitary in Central Europe and Asia. It has
short ears, a blunt nose, small fore-feet, large webbed hind-feet, with a
flat ovate tail covered with scales on its upper surface. It is valued for
its fur, which used to be largely employed in the manufacture of hats, but
for which silk is now for the most part substituted, and for an odoriferous
secretion named castor, at one time in high repute, and still largely used
in some parts of the world as an antispasmodic medicine. The food of the
beaver consists of the bark of trees, leaves, roots, and berries. Their
favourite haunts are rivers and lakes which are bordered by forests. In
winter they live in houses, which are 3 to 4 feet high, are built on the
water's edge, and, being substantial structures with the entrance under
water, afford them protection from wolves and other wild animals. These
dwellings are called beaver 'lodges', and accommodate a single family. They
also live in burrows. They can gnaw through large trees with their strong
teeth, this being done partly to obtain food, partly to get materials for
houses or dam-building. When they find a stream not sufficiently deep for
their purpose, they throw across it a dam constructed with great ingenuity
of wood, stones, and mud. Beavers were fairly numerous in Britain in very
early times, at least in Scotland and Wales. Their existence has been
recorded in Wales till the thirteenth century, and in Scotland to a later
date, but they are now extinct in Britain. A colony was some years ago
introduced into the Island of Bute, but they died out again.--BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Harting, _British Animals Extinct within Historic Times_; E. A. Mills, _In
Beaver World_; A. A. R. Dugmore, _The Romance of the Beaver_.
BEAVER (from Fr. _baviere_, a child's bib, from _bave_, saliva), the
movable face-guard of a helmet, so fitted on as to be raised and lowered at
pleasure.
BEAVER FALLS, a town of the United States, Pennsylvania, on Beaver River,
30 miles north-west of Pittsburg, in the coal and natural-gas region. Pop.
12,191.
BEAVER-RAT (_Hydromys chrysogaster_), a Tasmanian rodent quadruped,
inhabiting the banks both of salt and fresh waters. They are admirable
swimmers and divers, and exceedingly shy.
BEBEE'RU. See _Greenheart_.
BEBEL (b[=a]'bl), Ferdinand August, German Socialist, born in 1840, died in
1913. He became a master turner in Leipzig, was elected to the Reichstag or
Diet of the new German Empire in 1871, in which he was prominent until his
death. He opposed the leadership of Prussia in Germany and the
establishment of the empire, and showed himself favourable to the Paris
Commune and the International. Found guilty of treasonable practices, he
was condemned to two years' imprisonment in a fortress in 1872, with six
months' ordinary imprisonment for insulting the Kaiser. His influence kept
on increasing as leader of the Social Democrats in Germany and in the
German Parliament, where he spoke strongly against militarism and the
emperor's naval policy. His works include _Die Frau und der Socialismus_
(Woman and Socialism), in which he went so far as to attack marriage as an
institution; _Die Socialdemokratic und das allgemeine wahlrecht_; _Fuer
Volkswehr gegen Militarismus_; _Aus meinem Leben_; &c.
BEC, a celebrated abbey of France, in Normandy, near Brionne, founded in
the eleventh century, now represented only by some ruins. Lanfranc and
Anselm were both connected with this abbey.
BECCAFI'CO, a European bird (_Sylvia hortensis_), the garden-warbler. These
birds are much esteemed as dainties in the autumn, when they have fattened
on figs and grapes.
BECCAFU'MI, Domen'ico, Italian painter, born near Sienna in the latter half
of the fifteenth century, enriched the churches of Sienna with many noble
frescoes and other paintings. He drew and coloured well, and possessed
strong inventive powers. He died at Sienna in 1551, and was buried in its
cathedral.
BECCARIA (bek-[.a]-r[=e]'[.a]), Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di, Italian
economist and writer on penal laws, born 1738, died 1794. He is principally
known from his treatise, _On Crimes and Punishments_, which was speedily
translated into various languages, and to which many of the reforms in the
penal codes of the principal European nations are traceable. He became
professor of political economy at Milan, where he died.
BECCARIA (bek-[.a]-r[=e]'[.a]), Giovanni Battista, an Italian natural
philosopher, born 1716, died 1781; was appointed professor of experimental
physics at Turin, 1748; author of a treatise on _Natural and Artificial
Electricity_, _Letters on Electricity_, &c. He contributed several articles
to the _Transactions of the Royal Society of London_, and was commissioned
in 1759 to measure an arc of the meridian in the neighbourhood of Turin.
BECCLES (bek'lz), a municipal borough in Suffolk, England, 33 miles N.N.E.
from Ipswich, on the right bank of the Waveney; has a fine church of the
fourteenth century, and a good trade coastwise. Pop. (1921), 7077.
BECELAERE, town of Belgium, province of West Flanders. It was the scene of
fighting in the third battle of Ypres (1917), and in the battle of Flanders
(1918).
BECERRA (be-ther'[.a]), Gaspar, Spanish painter and sculptor, born 1520,
died 1570. He studied under Michel Angelo at Rome, and is credited with the
chief share in the establishment of the fine arts in Spain.
BECHE (b[=a]sh), Sir Henry de Ia, an English geologist, born 1796, died
1855. He founded the geological survey of Great Britain, which was soon
undertaken by the Government, De la Beche being appointed director-general.
He also founded the Jermyn Street Museum of Economic or Practical Geology,
and the School of Mines. His principal works are: _Geology of Jamaica_,
_Classification of European Rocks_, _Geological Manual_, _Researches in
Theoretical Geology_, _Geology of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset_, &c.
BECHE-DE-MER (b[=a]sh-d[=e]-m[=a]r). See _Trepang_.
BECHER (be_h_'er), Johann Joachim, German chemist, born in 1625 or 1635,
died in London 1682. He became a professor at Mainz; was elected a member
of the Imperial Council at Vienna, 1660, but fell into disgrace and
subsequently resided in various parts of Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden,
and Great Britain. His chief work, _Physica Subterranea_, containing many
of the fanciful theories of the alchemists, was published in 1669, and
enlarged in 1681. Among his other works are _Laboratorium portabile_ and
_Alphabetum minerale_.
BECHSTEIN (be_h_'st[=i]n), Johann Matthaeus, German naturalist, born in
1757, died in 1822. He wrote a popular _Natural History of Germany_, and
various works on forestry, in which subject his labours were highly
valuable. In Britain he is best known by a treatise on cage birds.
BECHUANAS, or BETCHUANAS (bech-wan'az), a widely-spread race of people
inhabiting the central region of South Africa north of Cape Province. They
belong to the great Kaffir stem, and are divided into tribal sections. They
live chiefly by husbandry and cattle-rearing, and they work with some skill
in iron, copper, ivory, and skins. They were led to seek British protection
owing to the encroachments of the Boers. The southern portion of their
territory was first placed under British protection in 1885, and
subsequently the whole Bechuana country up to the Zambezi was annexed. In
1895 the southern portion (then a Crown colony) was united to the Cape
Colony; the remainder is still a protectorate partly under native chiefs.
The head-quarters of the British administration are at Mafeking in the Cape
Province. Bechuanaland Protectorate comprises the territory lying between
the Molopo River on the south and the Zambezi on the north, and extending
from the Transvaal Province and Matabeleland on the east to South-West
Africa; area, 275,000 sq. miles; pop. 125,350, of whom about 1700 are
Europeans. It is generally flat or slightly undulating, and is essentially
a grass country, the grasses being nutritious and standing drought well.
Surface water is scarce, but there is underground water, besides swampy
lakes such as Ngami. Some parts are wooded and well watered. Gold, coal,
and copper have been found. There is railway connection both with south and
north.--Cf. G. W. Stow, _The Native Races of South Africa_.
BECK CASE, THE, a celebrated case of mistaken identity, which involved a
grave miscarriage of justice. Adolf Beck, a Swede, had been sentenced in
1890 to seven years' penal servitude for a series of mean frauds committed
against some women, and in 1904 he was again convicted and sentenced for a
similar offence. Soon after his second trial a Jew named John Smith, who
had been convicted of fraudulency in 1877, was arrested for similar frauds
committed while Beck was in custody. The resemblance between the two men
was remarkable, and it was eventually discovered that Beck was entirely
innocent. He received two King's pardons, and the sum of L5000 from the
Home Office as compensation. A commission which considered the case drew
attention in its report to the carelessness of the police in identifying
Beck with Smith, though the latter was a Jew; and stated that further legal
training was desirable for the subordinate officials in the Home Office.
Beck died in poverty in 1909. Cf. J. Kempster, _Perversion of Justice as
exhibited in the Beck Case_.
BECKENHAM, a suburban locality on the south of London, in West Kent, now
forming an urban district, lying south of Sydenham. Pop. 33,350.
BECK'ER, Wilhelm Adolf, German archaeologist, born at Dresden 1796, died at
Meissen 1846. In 1828 he became a teacher at Meissen, in 1837 was appointed
extraordinary professor of classical archaeology at Leipzig, and in 1842
ordinary professor. Best-known works: _Gallus, or Roman Scenes of the Time
of Augustus_; and _Charicles, or Illustrations of the Life of the Ancient
Greeks_, which wonderfully reproduce the social life of old Rome and
Greece.