[1] Other places named "Yspytty" are Y. Cynfyn and Y. Ystwyth. For
the name Yspytty, cf. Bale's _King John_, 2125: "So many masendeens
(_maisons Dieu_), hospytals and _spyttle_ howses."
BETTY, WILLIAM HENRY WEST (1791-1874), English actor, known as "the
young Roscius," was born on the 13th of September 1791 at Shrewsbury. He
first appeared on the stage at Belfast before he was twelve years old,
as Osman in Aaron Hill's _Zara_, an English version of Voltaire's
_Zaire_. His success was immediate, and he shortly afterwards appeared
in Dublin, where it is said that in three hours of study he committed
the part of Hamlet to memory. His precocious talents aroused great
enthusiasm in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and he was favourably compared with
some of the greatest tragedians. In 1804 he first appeared at Covent
Garden, when the troops had to be called out to preserve order, so great
was the crush to obtain admittance. At Drury Lane the house was
similarly packed, and he played for the then unprecedented salary of
over 75 guineas a night. He was a great success socially, George III.
himself presenting him to the queen, and Pitt upon one occasion
adjourning the House of Commons that members might be in time for his
performance. But this enthusiasm gradually subsided, and in 1808 he made
his final appearance as a boy actor, and entered Christ's College,
Cambridge. He re-appeared four years later, but the public would have
none of him, and he retired to the enjoyment of the large fortune which
he had amassed as a prodigy. He died on the 24th of August 1874. His son
Henry Betty (1819-1897) was also an actor.
BETUL, a town and district of British India, in the Nerbudda division of
the Central Provinces. In 1901 the population of the town was 4739. The
administrative headquarters of the district have been transferred to the
town of Badnur (q.v.), 3 m. north.
The district of BETUL has an area of 3826 sq. m. In 1901 the population
was 285,363, showing a decrease of 12% in the decade, due to the results
of famine. The mean elevation above the sea is about 2000 ft. The
country is essentially a highland tract, divided naturally into three
distinct portions, differing in their superficial aspects, the character
of their soil and their geological formation. The northern part of the
district forms an irregular plain of the sandstone formation. It is a
well-wooded tract, in many places stretching out in charming glades like
an English park, but it has a very sparse population and little
cultivated land. In the extreme north a line of hills rises abruptly out
of the great plain of the Nerbudda valley. The central tract alone
possesses a rich soil, well watered by the Machna and Sampna rivers,
almost entirely cultivated and studded with villages. To the south lies
a rolling plateau of basaltic formation (with the sacred town of Multai,
and the springs of the river Tapti at its highest point), extending over
the whole of the southern face of the district, and finally merging into
the wild and broken line of the Ghats, which lead down to the plains.
This tract consists of a succession of stony ridges of trap rock,
enclosing valleys or basins of fertile soil, to which cultivation is for
the most part confined, except where the shallow soil on the tops of the
hills has been turned to account. The principal crops are wheat, millet,
other food-grains, pulse, oil-seeds, and a little sugar-cane and cotton.
A large part of the area is covered with forests, which yield teak and
other timber. The only manufacture is cotton cloth. A railway is
projected from Itarsi through the district to Berar. Good roads are few;
and none of the rivers is navigable. This district suffered very
severely from the famine of 1896-1897, in 1897 the death-rate being as
high as 73 per 1000. It suffered again in 1900, when in May the number
of persons relieved rose to one-third of the total population.
Little is known of the early history of the district except that it must
have been the centre of the first of the four ancient Gond kingdoms of
Kherla, Deogarh, Mandla and Chanda. According to Ferishta, the Persian
historian, these kingdoms engrossed in 1398 all the hills of Gondwana
and adjacent countries, and were of great wealth and power. About the
year 1418 Sultan Husain Shah of Malwa invaded Kherla, and reduced it to
a dependency. Nine years later the raja rebelled, but although with the
help of the Bahmani kings of the Deccan he managed for a time to assert
his independence, he was finally subdued and deprived of his
territories. In 1467 Kherla was seized by the Bahmani king, but was
afterwards restored to Malwa. A century later the kingdom of Malwa
became incorporated into the dominions of the emperor of Delhi. In 1703
a Mussulman convert of the Gond tribe held the country, and in 1743
Raghoji Bhonsla, the Mahratta ruler of Berar, annexed it to his
dominions. The Mahrattas in the year 1818 ceded this district to the
East India Company as payment for a contingent, and by the treaty of
1826 it was formally incorporated with the British possessions.
Detachments of British troops were stationed at Multai, Betul and
Shahpur to cut off the retreat of Apa Sahib, the Mahratta general, and a
military force was quartered at Betul until June 1862. The ruined city
of Kherla formed the seat of government under the Gonds and preceding
rulers, and hence the district was, until the time of its annexation to
the British dominions, known as the "Kherla Sarkar." The town of Multai
contains an artificial tank, from the centre of which the Tapti is said
to take its rise: hence the reputed sanctity of the spot, and the
accumulation of temples in its honour.
The climate of Betul is fairly healthy. Its height above the plains and
the neighbourhood of extensive forests moderate the heat, and render the
temperature pleasant throughout the greater part of the year. During the
cold season the thermometer at night falls below the freezing point;
little or no hot wind is felt before the end of April, and even then it
ceases after sunset. The nights in the hot season are comparatively cool
and pleasant. During the monsoon the climate is very damp, and at times
even cold and raw, thick clouds and mist enveloping the sky for many
days together. The average annual rainfall is 40 in. In the denser
jungles malaria prevails for months after the cessation of the rains,
but the Gonds do not appear to suffer much from its effects. Travellers
and strangers who venture into these jungles run the risk of fever of a
severe type at almost all seasons of the year.
BETWA, a river of India, which rises in the native state of Bhopal in
Malwa, and after a course of 360 m., for the most part in a
north-easterly direction, falls into the Jumna at Hamirpur. A weir is
thrown across the Betwa about 15 m. from Jhansi town, whence a canal 168
m. long takes off, irrigating 106,000 acres of the Jalaun district;
similar works have been carried out elsewhere on the river.
BEUDANT, FRANCOIS SULPICE (1787-1850), French mineralogist and
geologist, was born at Paris on the 5th of September 1787. He was
educated at the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Normale, and in 1811 was
appointed professor of mathematics at the lycee of Avignon. Thence he
was called, in 1813, to the lycee of Marseilles to fill the post of
professor of physics. In the following year the royal mineralogical
cabinet was committed to his charge to be conveyed into England, and
from that time his attention was directed principally towards geology
and cognate sciences. In 1817 he published a paper on the phenomena of
crystallization, treating especially of the variety of forms assumed by
the same mineral substance. In 1818 he undertook, at the expense of the
French government, a geological journey through Hungary, and the results
of his researches, _Voyage mineralogique et geologique en Hongrie_, 3
vols. 4to, with atlas, published in 1822, established for him a European
reputation. In 1820 he was appointed to the professorship of mineralogy
in the Paris faculty of sciences, and afterwards became
inspector-general of the university. He subsequently published treatises
on physics and on mineralogy and geology, and died on the 10th of
December 1850.
BEUGNOT, JACQUES CLAUDE, COUNT (1761-1835), French politician, was born
at Bar-sur-Aube. A magistrate under the old regime, he was elected
deputy to the Legislative Assembly (1791), then to the Convention. He
was involved in the proscription of the Girondists and imprisoned until
the 9th Thermidor. He next entered into relations with the family of
Bonaparte, and in 1799, after the 18th Brumaire, again entered politics,
becoming successively prefect of the lower Seine, councillor of state,
and finance minister to Jerome Bonaparte, king of Westphalia. In 1808
Beugnot, who had meanwhile been appointed administrator of the duchy of
Berg-Cleves, received the cross of officer of the Legion of Honour with
the title of count. He returned to France in 1813, after the battle of
Leipzig, and was made prefect of the department of Nord. In 1814 he was
a member of the provisional government as minister of the interior; and
by Louis XVIII. he was named director-general of police and afterwards
minister of marine. He followed Louis to Ghent during the Hundred Days,
and became one of his confidants. He contributed to draw up Louis's
charter, and in his memoirs boasted of having furnished the text of the
proclamation addressed by the king to the French people before his
return to France; but it is known now that it was another text that was
adopted. Lacking the support of the ultra-royalists, he was given the
title of minister of state without portfolio, which was equivalent to a
retirement. Elected deputy, he attached himself to the moderate party,
and defended the liberty of the press. In 1831 Louis Philippe made him a
peer of France and director-general of manufactures and commerce. He
died on the 24th of June 1835.
His son, AUGUSTE ARTHUR BEUGNOT (1797-1865), was an historian and
scholar, who published an _Essai sur les institutions de Saint Louis_
(1821), _Histoire de la destruction du paganisme en occident_ (2 vols.,
1885), and edited the _Olim_ of the parlement of Paris, the _Assizes of
Jerusalem_, and the _Coutumes de Beauvoisis_ of Philippe de Beaumanoir.
He was a member of the chamber of peers under Louis Philippe, and
opposed Villemain's plan for freedom of education. After 1848 he
maintained the same role, acting as reporter of the _loi Falloux_. He
retired from public life after the _coup d'etat_ of Napoleon III., and
died on the 15th of March 1865.
The _Memoires_ of J.C. Beugnot were published by his grandson, Count
Albert Beugnot (2nd ed., Paris, 1868); see H. Wallon, _Eloges
academiques_ (1882); and E. Dejean, _Un Prefet du Consulat: J.C.
Beugnot_ (Paris, 1907).
BEULE, CHARLES ERNEST (1826-1874), French archaeologist and politician,
was born at Saumur on the 29th of June 1826. He was educated at the
Ecole Normale, and after having held the professorship of rhetoric at
Moulins for a year, was sent to Athens in 1851 as one of the professors
in the Ecole Francaise there. He had the good fortune to discover the
propylaea of the Acropolis, and his work, _L'Acropole d'Athenes_ (2nd
ed., 1863), was published by order of the minister of public
instruction. On his return to France, promotion and distinctions
followed rapidly upon his first successes. He was made doctor of
letters, chevalier of the Legion of Honour, professor of archaeology at
the Bibliotheque Imperiale, member of the Academie des Inscriptions et
Belles-Lettres and perpetual secretary of the Academie des Beaux-Arts.
He took great interest in political affairs, with which the last few
years of his life were entirely occupied. Elected a member of the
National Assembly in 1871, he zealously supported the Orleanist party.
In May-November 1873 he was minister of the interior in the Broglie
ministry. He died by his own hand on the 4th of April 1874. His other
important works are: _Etudes sur le Peloponnese_ (2nd ed., 1875); _Les
Monnaies d'Athenes_ (1858); _L'Architecture au siecle de Pisistrate_
(1860); _Fouilles a Carthage_ (1861). Beule was also the author of
high-class popular works on artistic and historical subjects: _Histoire
de l'art grec avant Pericles_ (2nd ed., 1870); _Le Proces des Cesars_
(1867-1870, in four parts; _Auguste, sa famille et ses amis; Tibere et
l'heritage d'Auguste; Le Sang de Germanicus; Titus et sa dynastie_).
See Ideville, _Monsieur Beule, Souvenirs personnels_ (1874).
BEURNONVILLE, PIERRE DE RUEL, MARQUIS DE (1752-1821), French general.
After service in the colonies, he married a wealthy Creole, and
returning to France purchased the post of lieutenant of the Swiss guard
of the count of Provence. During the Revolution he was named
lieutenant-general, and took an active part in the battles of Valmy and
Jemmapes. Minister of war in February 1793, he denounced his old
commander, C.F. Dumouriez, to the Convention, and was one of the four
deputies sent to watch him. Given over by him to the Austrians on the
3rd of April 1793, Beurnonville was not exchanged until November 1795.
He entered the service again, commanded the armies of the
Sambre-et-Meuse and of the North, and was appointed inspector of
infantry of the army of England in 1798. In 1800 he was sent as
ambassador to Berlin, in 1802 to Madrid. Napoleon made him a senator and
count of the empire. In 1814 he was a member of the provisional
government organized after the abdication of Napoleon, and was created a
peer of France. During the Hundred Days he followed Louis XVIII. to
Ghent, and after the second restoration was made marquis and marshal of
France.
See A. Chaquet, _Les Guerres de la Revolution_ (Paris, 1886).
BEUST, FRIEDRICH FERDINAND VON (1809-1886), Austrian statesman, was
descended from a noble family which had originally sprung from the Mark
of Brandenburg, and of which one branch had been for over 300 years
settled in Saxony. He was born on the 13th of January 1809 in Dresden,
where his father held office at the Saxon court. After studying at
Leipzig and Gottingen he entered the Saxon public service; in 1836 he
was made secretary of legation at Berlin, and afterwards held
appointments at Paris, Munich and London. In March 1848 he was summoned
to Dresden to take the office of foreign minister, but in consequence of
the outbreak of the revolution was not appointed. In May he was
appointed Saxon envoy at Berlin, and in February 1849 was again summoned
to Dresden, and this time appointed minister of foreign affairs, an
office which he continued to hold till 1866. In addition to this he held
the ministry of education and public worship from 1849 to 1853; that of
internal affairs in 1853, and in the same year was appointed
minister-president. From the time that he entered the ministry he was,
however, the leading member of it, and he was chiefly responsible for
the events of 1849. By his advice the king refused to accept the
constitution proclaimed by the Frankfort parliament, a policy which led
to the outbreak of revolution in Dresden, which was suppressed after
four days' fighting by Prussian troops, for whose assistance Beust had
asked. On Beust fell also the chief responsibility for governing the
country after order was restored, and he was the author of the so-called
_coup d'etat_ of June 1850 by which the new constitution was overthrown.
The vigour he showed in repressing all resistance to the government,
especially that of the university, and in reorganizing the police, made
him one of the most unpopular men among the Liberals, and his name
became synonymous with the worst form of reaction, but it is not clear
that the attacks on him were justified. After this he was chiefly
occupied with foreign affairs, and he soon became one of the most
conspicuous figures in German politics. He was the leader of that party
which hoped to maintain the independence of the smaller states, and was
the opponent of all attempts on the part of Prussia to attract them into
a separate union; in 1849-1850 he had been obliged to join the "three
kings' union" of Prussia, Hanover and Saxony, but he was careful to keep
open a loophole for withdrawal, of which he speedily availed himself. In
the crisis of 1851 Saxony was on the side of Austria, and he supported
the restoration of the diet of the confederation. In 1854 he took part
in the Bamberg conferences, in which the smaller German states claimed
the right to direct their own policy independent of that of Austria or
of Prussia, and he was the leading supporter of the idea of the _Trias_,
i.e. that the smaller states should form a closer union among themselves
against the preponderance of the great monarchies. In 1863 he came
forward as a warm supporter of the claims of the prince of Augustenburg
to Schleswig-Holstein (see SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION); he was the
leader of the party in the German diet which refused to recognize the
settlement of the Danish question effected in 1852 by the treaty of
London, and in 1864 he was appointed representative of the diet at the
congress of London. He was thus thrown into opposition to the policy of
Bismarck, and he was exposed to violent attacks in the Prussian press as
a "particularist," i.e. a supporter of the independence of the smaller
states. The expulsion of the Saxon troops from Rendsburg nearly led to a
conflict with Prussia. Beust was accused of having brought about the war
of 1866, but the responsibility for this must rest with Bismarck. On the
outbreak of war Beust accompanied the king to Prague, and thence to
Vienna, where they were received by the emperor with the news of
Koniggratz. Beust undertook a mission to Paris to procure the help of
Napoleon. When the terms of peace were discussed he resigned, for
Bismarck refused to negotiate with him.
After the victory of Prussia there was no place for Beust in Germany,
and his public career seemed to be closed, but he quite unexpectedly
received an invitation from the emperor of Austria to become his foreign
minister. It was a bold decision, for Beust was not only a stranger to
Austria, but also a Protestant; but the choice of the emperor justified
itself. Beust threw himself into his new position with great energy; it
was owing to him that the negotiations with Hungary were brought to a
successful issue. When difficulties came he went himself to Budapest,
and acted directly with the Hungarian leaders. In 1867 he also held the
position of Austrian minister-president, and he carried through the
measures by which parliamentary government was restored. He also carried
on the negotiations with the pope concerning the repeal of the
concordat, and in this matter also did much by a liberal policy to
relieve Austria from the pressure of institutions which had checked the
development of the country. In 1868, after giving up his post as
minister-president, he was appointed chancellor of the empire, and
received the title of count. His conduct of foreign affairs, especially
in the matter of the Balkan States and Crete, successfully maintained
the position of the empire. In 1869 he accompanied the emperor on his
expedition to the East. He was still to some extent influenced by the
anti-Prussian feeling he had brought from Saxony. He maintained a close
understanding with France, and there can be little doubt that he would
have welcomed an opportunity in his new position of another struggle
with his old rival Bismarck. In 1867, however, he helped to bring the
affair of Luxemburg to a peaceful termination. In 1870 he did not
disguise his sympathy for France, and the failure of all attempts to
bring about an intervention of the powers, joined to the action of
Russia in denouncing the treaty of Paris, was the occasion of his
celebrated saying that he was nowhere able to find Europe. After the war
was over he completely accepted the new organization of Germany.
As early as December 1870 he had opened a correspondence with Bismarck
with a view to establishing a good understanding with Germany. Bismarck
accepted his advances with alacrity, and the new _entente_, which Beust
announced to the Austro-Hungarian delegations in July 1871, was sealed
in August by a friendly meeting of the two old rivals and enemies at
Gastein.
In 1871 Beust interfered at the last moment, together with Andrassy, to
prevent the emperor accepting the federalist plans of Hohenwart. He was
successful, but at the same time he was dismissed from office. The
precise cause for this is not known, and no reason was given him. At his
own request he was appointed Austrian ambassador at London; in 1878 he
was transferred to Paris; in 1882 he retired from public life. He died
at his villa at Altenberg, near Vienna, on the 24th of October 1886,
leaving two sons, both of whom entered the Austrian diplomatic service.
His wife, a Bavarian lady, survived him only a few weeks. His elder
brother Friedrich Konstantin (1806-1891), who was at the head of the
Saxon department for mines, was the author of several works on mining
and geology, a subject in which other members of the family had
distinguished themselves.
Beust was in many ways a diplomatist of the old school. He had great
social gifts and personal graces; he was proud of his proficiency in the
lighter arts of composing waltzes and _vers de societe_. His chief fault
was vanity, but it was an amiable weakness. It was more vanity than
rancour which made him glad to appear even in later years as the great
opponent of Bismarck; and if he cared too much for popularity, and was
very sensitive to neglect, the saying attributed to Bismarck, that if
his vanity were taken away there would be nothing left, is very unjust.
He was apt to look more to the form than the substance, and attached too
much importance to the verbal victory of a well-written despatch; but
when the opportunity was given him he showed higher qualities. In the
crisis of 1849 he displayed considerable courage, and never lost his
judgment even in personal danger. If he was defeated in his German
policy, it must be remembered that Bismarck held all the good cards, and
in 1866 Saxony was the only one of the smaller states which entered on
the war with an army properly equipped and ready at the moment. That he
was no mere reactionary the whole course of his government in Saxony,
and still more in Austria, shows. His Austrian policy has been much
criticized, on the ground that in establishing the system of dualism he
gave too much to Hungary, and did not really understand Austrian
affairs; and the Austro-Hungarian crisis during the early years of the
present century has given point to this view. Yet it remains the fact
that in a crisis of extraordinary difficulty he carried to a successful
conclusion a policy which, even if it was not the best imaginable, was
probably the best attainable in the circumstances.
Beust was the author of reminiscences: _Aus drei
Viertel-Jahrhunderten_ (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1887; English trans.
edited by Baron H. de Worms); and he also wrote a shorter work,
_Erinnerungen zu Erinnerungen_ (Leipzig, 1881), in answer to attacks
made on him by his former colleague, Herr v. Frieseri, in his
reminiscences. See also Ebeling, _F.F. Graf v. Beust_ (Leipzig, 1876),
a full and careful account of his political career, especially up to
1866; _Diplomatic Sketches: No. 1, Count Beust_, by Outsider (Baron
Carl v. Malortie); Flathe, _Geschichte van Sachsen_, vol. iii. (Gotha,
1877); Friesen, _Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben_ (Dresden, 1880).
(J. W. He.)
BEUTHEN, or NIEDERBEUTHEN, a town of Germany, in the north of Prussian
Silesia, on the Oder, the capital of the mediatized principality of
Carolath-Beuthen. Pop. (1900) 3164. The chief industries of the place
are straw-plaiting, boat-building, and the manufacture of pottery; and a
considerable traffic is carried on by means of the river.
BEUTHEN, or OBERBEUTHEN, a town of Germany, in the extreme south-east of
Prussian Silesia, on the railway between Breslau and Cracow, 121 m. S.E.
of the former. Pop. (1905) 60,078. It is the centre of the mining
district of Upper Silesia, and its population is mainly engaged in such
operations and in iron and zinc smelting. Beuthen is an old town, and
was formerly the capital of the Bohemian duchy of Beuthen, which in 1620
was ultimately granted, as a free lordship of the Empire, to Lazarus,
Baron Henckel von Donnersmarck, by the emperor Ferdinand II., and parts
of which, now mediatized, are held by two branches of the counts Henckel
von Donnersmarck.
BEVEL (from an O. Fr. word, cf. mod. _biveau_, a joiner's instrument),
the inclination of one surface of a solid body to another; also, any
angle other than a right angle, and particularly, in joinery, the angle
to which a piece of timber has to be cut. The mechanic's instrument
known as a bevel consists of a rule with two arms so jointed as to be
adjustable to any angle. In heraldry, a bevel is an angular break in a
line. Bevelment, as a term of crystallography, means the replacement of
an edge of a crystal by two planes equally inclined to the adjacent
planes. As an architectural term "bevel" is a sloped or canted edge
given to a sill or horizontal course of stone, but is more frequently
applied to the canted edges worked round the projecting bands of masonry
which for decorative purposes are employed on the quoins of walls or
windows and in some cases, with vertical joints, cover the whole wall.
When the outer face of the stone band is left rough so that it forms
what is known as rusticated masonry, the description would be bevelled
and rusticated. The term is sometimes applied to the splaying of the
edges of a window on the outside, but the wide expansion made inside in
order to admit more light is known as a splay.
BEVERLEY, WILLIAM ROXBY (1814?-1889), English artist and scene-painter,
was born at Richmond, Surrey, about 1814, the son of William Roxby, an
actor-manager who had assumed the name of Beverley. His four brothers
and his sister all entered the theatrical profession, and Beverley soon
became both actor and scene-painter. In 1831 his father and his brothers
took over the old Durham circuit, and he joined them to play heavy
comedy for several seasons, besides painting scenery. His work was first
seen in 1831 in London, for the pantomime _Baron Munchausen_ at the
Victoria theatre, which was being managed by his brother Henry. He was
appointed scenic director for the Covent Garden operas in 1853. In 1854
he entered the service of the Drury Lane theatre under the management of
E.T. Smith, and for thirty years continued to produce wonderful scenes
for the pantomimes, besides working for Covent Garden and a number of
other theatres. In 1851 he executed part of a great diorama of Jerusalem
and the Holy Land, and produced dioramic views of the ascent of Mont
Blanc, exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, and in 1884 a
panorama of the Lakes of Killarney. He was a frequent exhibitor of sea
pictures at the Royal Academy from 1865 to 1880. In 1884 failing
eyesight put an end to his painting. He died in comparative poverty at
Hampstead on the 17th of May 1889. He was the last of the old school of
one surface painters, and famed for the wonderful atmospheric effects he
was able to produce. Although he was skilled in all the mechanical
devices of the stage, and painted in 1881 scenery for _Michael Strogoff_
at the Adelphi, in which for the first time in England the still life of
the stage was placed in harmony with the background, he was strongly
opposed to the new school of scene-builders.
BEVERLEY, a market town and municipal borough in the Holderness
parliamentary division of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 8 m.
N.N.W. of Hull by a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1901)
13,183. It lies in a level country east of the line of slight elevations
known as the Wolds, near the river Hull, and has communication by canal
with Hull. The church of St John the Evangelist, commonly called
Beverley Minster, is a magnificent building, exceeding in size and
splendour some of the English cathedrals. A monastery was founded here
by John of Beverley (c. 640-721), a native of the East Riding, who was
bishop successively of Hexham and of York, and was canonized in 1037. A
college of secular canons followed in the 10th century, the provostship
of which subsequently became an office of high dignity, and was held by
Thomas Becket, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. Of the existing
building, the easternmost bay of the nave, the transepts with east and
west aisles, the choir with aisles and short transepts, and the Lady
chapel, are Early English, a superb example of the finest development of
that style. The remainder of the nave is Decorated, excepting the
westernmost bay which is Perpendicular, as is the ornate west front with
its graceful flanking towers. The north porch is also a beautiful
example of this style. The most noteworthy details within the church are
the exquisite Early English staircase which led to the chapter house (no
longer remaining), and the Percy tomb, a remarkable example of Decorated
work, commemorating Eleanor, wife of Henry Percy (d. 1328). The church
of St Mary is a cruciform building with central tower, almost entirely
of Decorated and Perpendicular work. Though overshadowed by the presence
of the minster, it is yet a very fine example of its styles, its most
noteworthy features being the tower and the west front. Beverley was
walled, and one gate of the 15th century remains; there are also some
picturesque old houses. The industries are tanning, iron-founding,
brewing and the manufacture of chemicals; and there is a large
agricultural trade. Beverley is the seat of a suffragan bishop in the
diocese of York. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and
18 councillors, and has an area of 2404 acres, including a large extent
of common pasture land.
Beverley (Beverlac) is said to be on the site of a British settlement.
Evidently a church had existed there before 704, since in that year it
was restored by St John of Beverley, who also founded a monastery
there and was himself buried in the church. In the devastation of the
north of England which followed the Conquest, Beverley is said to have
escaped by a miracle attributed to St John; the Norman leader, while
about to enter and pillage the church, fell from his horse dead, and
the king, thinking this a sign that the town was under the protection
of heaven, exempted it from pillage. From the time of St John of
Beverley until the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor and town
of Beverley belonged to the archbishopric of York, and is said to have
been held under a charter of liberties supposed to have been granted
by King Aethelstan in 925. This charter, besides other privileges, is
said to have granted sanctuary in Beverley, and the "leuga" over which
this privilege extended was afterwards shown to include the whole
town. Confirmations of Aethelstan's charter were granted by Edward the
Confessor and other succeeding kings. In the reign of Henry I.,
Thurstan, archbishop of York, gave the burgesses their first charter,
which is one of the earliest granted to any town in England. In it he
granted them the same privileges as the citizens of York, among these
being a gild merchant and freedom from toll throughout the whole of
Yorkshire, with right to take it at all the markets and fairs in their
town except at the three principal fairs, the toll of which belonged
to the archbishop. In 1200 King John granted the town a new charter,
for which the burgesses had to pay 500 marks. Other charters generally
confirming the first were granted to the town by most of the early
kings. The incorporation charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1573
was confirmed by Charles I. in 1629 and Charles II. in 1663, and
renewed by James II. on his accession. Parliamentary representation by
two members began in the reign of Edward I., but lapsed, until the
corporation charter of 1573, from which date it continued until the
Reform Act of 1867. In 1554-1555 Queen Mary granted the three fairs on
the feasts of St John the Confessor, the Translation of St John and
the Nativity of St John the Baptist, together with the weekly markets
on Wednesday and Saturday, which had been held by the archbishops of
York by traditional grant of Edward the Confessor to the burgesses of
the town. Cloth-weaving was one of the chief industries of Beverley;
it is mentioned and appears to have been important as early as 1315.
See _Victoria County History--Yorkshire_; G. Poulson, _Beverlac;
Antiquities and History of Beverley and of the Provostry, &c., of St
John's_ (2 vols., 1829); G. Oliver, D.D., _History and Antiquities of
Beverley, &c_. (1829).
BEVERLY, a seaboard city of Essex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,
situated on the N. shore of Massachusetts Bay, opposite Salem. It is 18
m. from Boston on the Boston & Maine railway. Pop. (1890) 10,821; (1900)
13,884, of whom 2814 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 18,650. The land
area of the city is about 15 sq. m. The surface is the typical glacial
topography, with a few low, rocky hills, less than 100 ft. in height.
There are beautiful drives through well-wooded districts, studded with
handsome summer houses. In the city are a public library, the Beverly
hospital, the New England industrial school for deaf mutes (organized,
1876; incorporated, 1870), and the Beverly historical society (1891),
which owns a large colonial house, in which there is a valuable
historical collection. The city has an excellent public school system.
There are a number of manufacturing establishments; in 1905 the total
factory product of the city was valued at $4,101,168, boots and shoes
accounting for more than one-half of the total. Leather and shoe
machinery also are important manufactures; and the main plant of the
United Shoe Machinery Corporation is located here. Market gardening is a
considerable industry, and large quantities of vegetables are raised
under glass for the Boston markets. Fishing is an industry no longer of
much importance. Beverly is connected by a regular line of oil-steamers
with Port Arthur, Texas, and is the main distributing point for the
Texas oil fields. The first settlement within the limits of Beverly was
made by Roger Conant in 1626. The town was a part of Salem until 1668,
when it was incorporated as a separate township; in 1894 it was
chartered as a city. In 1788 there was established here the first cotton
mill to be successfully operated in the United States. The manufacture
of Britannia ware was begun in 1812. George Cabot lived for many years
in Beverly, which he represented in the provincial congress (1779);
Nathan Dane (1752-1835) was also a resident; and it was the birthplace
of Wilson Flagg (1805-1884), the author of _Studies in the Field and
Forest_ (1857), _The Woods and By-Ways of New England_ (1872), _The
Birds and Seasons of New England_ (1875), and _A Year with the Birds_
(1881). It was also the birthplace and early home of Lucy Larcom
(1826-1893), and the scene of much of her _Story of a New England
Girlhood_ (Boston, 1889).
BEVIS OF HAMPTON, the name of an English metrical romance. Bevis is the
son of Guy, count of Hampton (Southampton) and his young wife, a
daughter of the king of Scotland. The countess asks a former suitor,
Doon or Devoun, emperor of Almaine (Germany), to send an army to murder
Guy in the forest. The plot is successful, and she marries Doon. When
threatened with future vengeance by her ten-year-old son, she determines
to make away with him also, but he is saved from death by a faithful
tutor, is sold to heathen pirates, and reaches the court of King Hermin,
whose realm is variously placed in Egypt and Armenia (Armorica). The
exploits of Bevis, his love for the king's daughter Josiane, his mission
to King Bradmond of Damascus with a sealed letter demanding his own
death, his imprisonment, his final vengeance on his stepfather are
related in detail. After succeeding to his inheritance he is, however,
driven into exile and separated from Josiane, to whom he is reunited
only after each of them has contracted, in form only, a second union.
The story also relates the hero's death and the fortunes of his two
sons.
The oldest extant version appears to be _Boeve de Haumtone_, an
Anglo-Norman text which dates from the first half of the 13th century.
The English metrical romance, _Sir Beues of Hamtoun_, is founded on some
French original varying slightly from those which have been preserved.
The oldest MS. dates from the beginning of the 14th century. The French
_chanson de geste_, _Beuve d'Hanstone_, was followed by numerous prose
versions. The printed editions of the story were most numerous in Italy,
where _Bovo d'Antona_ was the subject of more than one poem, and the
tale was interpolated in the _Reali di Francia_, the Italian compilation
of Carolingian legend. Although the English version that we possess is
based on a French original, it seems probable that the legend took shape
on English soil in the 10th century, and that it originated with the
Danish invaders. Doon may be identified with the emperor Otto the Great,
who was the contemporary of the English king Edgar of the story. R.
Zenker (_Boeve-Amlethus_, Berlin and Leipzig, 1904) establishes a close
parallel between Bevis and the Hamlet legend as related by Saxo
Grammaticus in the _Historia Danica_. Among the more obvious
coincidences which point to a common source are the vengeance taken on a
stepfather for a father's death, the letter bearing his own
death-warrant which is entrusted to the hero, and his double
marriage.[1] The motive of the feigned madness is, however, lacking in
Bevis. The princess who is Josiane's rival is less ferocious than the
Hermuthruda of the Hamlet legend, but she threatens Bevis with death if
he refuses her. Both seem to be modelled on the type of Thyrdo of the
Beowulf legend. A fanciful etymology connecting Bevis (Boeve) with Beowa
(Beowulf), on the ground that both were dragon slayers, is inadmissible.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_The Romance of Sir Beues of Hamtoun_, edited from six
MSS. and the edition (without date) of Richard Pynson, by E. Kolbing
(Early Eng. Text Soc., 1885-1886-1894); A. Stimming, "Der
anglonormannische Boeve de Haumtone," in H. Suchier's _Bibl. Norm_.
vol. vii. (Halle, 1899); the Welsh version, with a translation, is
given by R. Williams, _Selections of the Hengwrt MSS_. (vol. ii.,
London, 1892); the old Norse version by G. Cederschiold, _Fornsogur
Sudhrlanda_ (Lund, 1884); A. Wesselofsky, "Zum russischen Bovo
d'Antona" (in _Archiv fur slav. Phil_. vol. viii., 1885); for the
early printed editions of the romance in English, French and Italian
see G. Brunet, _Manuel du libraire_, _s.vv._ Bevis, Beufues and Buovo.