[1] Alabarch or Arabarch (Gr. [Greek: alabarchys], or [Greek:
arabarchys]), the name of the head magistrate of the Jews in
Alexandria under the Ptolemaic and Roman rules.
BERENICE, an ancient seaport of Egypt, on the west coast of the Red Sea,
in 23 deg. 56' N., 35 deg. 34' E. Built at the head of a gulf, the _Sinus
Immundus_, or Foul Bay, of Strabo, it was sheltered on the north by Ras
Benas (_Lepte Extrema_). The port is now nearly filled up, has a
sand-bar at its entrance and can be reached only by small craft. Most
important of the ruins is a temple; the remnants of its sculptures and
inscriptions preserve the name of Tiberius and the figures of many
deities, including a goddess of the emerald mines. Berenice was founded
by Ptolemy II. (285-247 B.C.) in order to shorten the dangerous Red Sea
voyages, and was named in honour of his mother. For four or five
centuries it became the entrepot of trade between India, Arabia and
Upper Egypt. From it a road, provided with watering stations, leads
north-west across the desert to the Nile at Coptos. In the neighbourhood
of Berenice are the emerald mines of Zabara and Saket.
BERESFORD, LORD CHARLES WILLIAM DE LA POER (1846- ), British admiral,
second son of the 4th marquess of Waterford, was born in Ireland, and
entered the "Britannia" as a naval cadet in 1859. He became lieutenant
in 1868, and commander in 1875. In 1874 he was returned to parliament as
Conservative M.P. for Waterford, retaining his seat till 1880, and he
was already known in this period as a gallant officer, with a special
interest in naval administration. In 1875-1876 he accompanied the then
prince of Wales on his visit to India as naval A.D.C.; from 1878 to 1881
he was commander of the royal yacht "Osborne." He was in command of the
gunboat "Condor" in the Mediterranean when the Egyptian crisis of 1882
occurred; and he became a popular hero in England in connexion with the
bombardment of Alexandria (July 11), when he took his ship close in to
the forts and engaged them with such conspicuous gallantry that the
admiral ordered a special signal "Well done, Condor!" He was promoted
captain for his services, and, after taking an active part in the
re-establishment of order in Alexandria, he served again in Egypt on
Lord Wolseley's staff in the expedition of 1884-85, commanding the naval
brigade at Abu Klea, Abu Kru and Metemmeh, and, with the river steamer
"Safieh," rescuing Sir C. Wilson and his party, who had been wrecked on
returning from Khartum (Feb. 4, 1885). In November 1885 he was again
returned to parliament as member for East Marylebone (re-elected 1886),
and in Lord Salisbury's ministry of 1886 he was appointed a lord of the
admiralty. The press agitation in favour of a stronger navy was now in
full swing, and it was well known that in Lord Charles Beresford it had
an active supporter; but very little impression was made on the
government, and in 1888 he resigned his office on this question, a
dramatic step which had considerable effect. In the House of Commons he
advocated an expenditure of twenty millions sterling on the fleet, and
the passing of the Naval Defence Act in 1889 was largely due to his
action. At the end of 1889 he became captain of the cruiser "Undaunted"
in the Mediterranean, and when this ship was paid off in 1893 he was
appointed in command of the steam reserve at Chatham, a post he held for
three years. In 1897 he became rear-admiral, and again entered
parliament, winning a by-election at York; he retained his seat till
1900, but was mainly occupied during these years by a mission to China
on behalf of the Associated Chambers of Commerce; he published his book
_The Break-up of China_ in 1899. In 1902 he was returned to parliament
for Woolwich, but resigned on his appointment to command the Channel
squadron (1903-1905); in 1905 he was given the command of the
Mediterranean fleet, and from 1906 to 1909 was commander-in-chief of the
Channel fleet; in 1906 he became a full admiral. At sea he had always
shown himself a remarkable disciplinarian, possessed of great influence
over his men, and his reputation as one who would, if necessary, prove a
great fighting commander was second to none; and, even when serving
afloat and therefore unable to speak direct to the public, he was in the
forefront of the campaign for increased naval efficiency. During the
administration (1903-1910) of Sir John Fisher (see FISHER, BARON) as
first sea lord of the admiralty it was notorious that considerable
friction existed between them, and both in the navy and in public a
great deal of party-spirit was engendered in the discussion of their
opposing views. When Lord Charles Beresford's term expired as
commander-in-chief in March 1909 he was finally "unmuzzled," and the
attack which for some years his supporters had made against Sir J.
Fisher's administration came to a head at a moment coinciding with the
new shipbuilding crisis occasioned by the revelations as to the increase
of the German fleet. He himself came forward with proposals for a large
increase in the navy and a reorganization of the administrative system,
his first step being a demand for an inquiry, to which the government
promptly assented (May) in the shape of a small Committee under the
prime minister. Its report (August), however, gave him no satisfaction,
and he proceeded with his public campaign, bitterly attacking the
ministerial policy. In January 1910, at the general election, he was
returned as Conservative M.P. for Portsmouth; but meanwhile Sir John
Fisher's term of office came to an end, and in his successor, Admiral
Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson (b. 1842), the navy obtained a first sea lord
who commanded universal confidence.
BERESFORD, JOHN (1738-1805), Irish statesman, was a younger son of Sir
Marcus Beresford, who, having married Catherine, sole heiress of James
Power, 3rd earl of Tyrone, was created earl of Tyrone in 1746. After the
death of the earl in 1763, Beresford's mother successfully asserted her
claim _suo jure_ to the barony of La Poer. John Beresford, born on the
14th of March 1738, thus inherited powerful family connexions. He was
educated at Trinity College, Dublin, was called to the Irish bar, and
entered the Irish parliament as member for Waterford in 1760. His
industry, added to the influence of his family, procured his admission
to the privy council in 1768, and his appointment as one of the
commissioners of revenue two years later. In 1780 he became first
commissioner of revenue, a position which gave him powerful influence in
the Irish administration. He introduced some useful reforms in the
machinery of taxation; and he was the author of many improvements in the
architecture of the public buildings and streets of Dublin. He was first
brought into conflict with Grattan and the popular party, in 1784, by
his support of the proposal that the Irish parliament in return for the
removal of restrictions on Irish trade should be bound to adopt the
English navigation laws. In 1786 he was sworn a member of the English
privy council, and the power which he wielded in Ireland through his
numerous dependants and connexions grew to be so extensive that a few
years later he was spoken of as the "king of Ireland." He was a vehement
opponent of the increasing demand for relief of the Roman Catholics; and
when it became known that Lord Fitzwilliam was to succeed Lord
Westmorland as lord lieutenant in 1795 for the purpose of carrying out a
conciliatory policy, Beresford expressed strong hostility to the
appointment. One of Fitzwilliam's first acts was to dismiss Beresford
from his employment but with permission to retain his entire official
salary for life, and with the assurance that no other member of his
family would be removed. Beresford immediately exerted all his influence
with his friends in England, to whom he described himself as an injured
and persecuted man; he appealed to Pitt, and went in person to London to
lay his complaint before the English ministers. There is little doubt
that the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam (q.v.), which was followed by such
momentous consequences in the history of Ireland, was, as the viceroy
himself believed, mainly due to Beresford's dismissal. There had been a
misunderstanding on the point between Pitt and Fitzwilliam. The latter,
whose veracity was unimpeachable, asserted that previous to his coming
to Ireland he had informed the prime minister of his intention to
dismiss Beresford, and that Pitt had raised no objection. Pitt denied
all recollection of any such communication, and on the contrary
described the dismissal as "an open breach of the most solemn
promise."[1] In a letter to Lord Carlisle, justifying his action,
Fitzwilliam mentioned that malversation had been imputed to Beresford.
Beresford sent a challenge to Fitzwilliam, but the combatants were
interrupted on the field and Fitzwilliam then made an apology.
When Lord Camden replaced Fitzwilliam in the viceroyalty in March 1795,
Beresford resumed his former position. On the eve of the rebellion in
1798 his letters to Lord Auckland gave an alarming description of the
condition of Ireland, and he counselled strong measures of repression.
When first consulted by Pitt on the question of the union Beresford
appears to have disliked the idea; but he soon became reconciled to the
policy and warmly supported it. After the union Beresford continued to
represent Waterford in the imperial parliament, and he remained in
office till 1802, taking an active part in settling the financial
relations between Ireland and Great Britain. He died near Londonderry on
the 5th of November 1805. John Beresford was twice married: in 1760 to a
foreign lady, Constantia Ligondes, who died in 1772; and, secondly, in
1774 to Barbara Montgomery, a celebrated beauty who figures in Sir
Joshua Reynolds's picture of "The Graces." He had large families by both
marriages. His son, John Claudius, kept a riding school in Dublin, which
acquired an evil reputation as the chief scene of the floggings by which
evidence was extorted of the conspiracy which came to a head in 1798. He
took a prominent part in the Irish House of Commons, where he
unsuccessfully moved the reduction of the proposed Irish contribution to
the imperial exchequer in the debates on the Act of Union, of which,
unlike his father, he was to the last an ardent opponent.
See _Correspondence of the Right Hon. John Beresford_, edited by W.
Beresford (2 vols., London, 1854); Edward Wakefield, _An Account of
Ireland_ (2 vols., London, 1812); Earl Stanhope, _Life of William
Pitt_ (4 vols., London, 1861); W.E.H. Lecky, _History of Ireland in
the Eighteenth Century_, vols. iii., iv., v. (5 vols., London, 1892).
(R. J. M.)