Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Bent, James" to "Bibirine" Volume 3, Slice 6

VOLUME III, SLICE VI

Chapter 175,287 wordsPublic domain

Bent, James to Bibirine

ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:

BENT, JAMES THEODORE BERRYER, ANTOINE PIERRE BENT BERSERKER BENTHAM, GEORGE BERT, PAUL BENTHAM, JEREMY BERTANI, AGOSTINO BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM BERTAT BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM CAVENDISH BERTAUT, JEAN BENTIVOGLIO, GIOVANNI BERTH BENTIVOGLIO, GUIDO BERTHELOT, MARCELLIN PIERRE EUGENE BENTLEY, RICHARD (scholar) BERTHIER, LOUIS ALEXANDRE BENTLEY, RICHARD (publisher) BERTHOLLET, CLAUDE LOUIS BENTON, THOMAS HART BERTHON, EDWARD LYON BENTON HARBOR BERTHOUD, FERDINAND BENUE BERTILLON, LOUIS ADOLPHE BEN VENUE BERTIN BENZALDEHYDE BERTINORO, OBADIAH BENZENE BERTINORO BENZIDINE BERTOLD BENZOIC ACID BERTOLD VON REGENSBURG BENZOIN (ketone-alcohol) BERTRAM, CHARLES BENZOIN (balsamic resin) BERTRAND, HENRI GRATIEN BENZOPHENONE BERTRICH BENZYL ALCOHOL BERULLE, PIERRE DE BEOTHUK BERVIE BEOTHY, ODON BERWICK, JAMES FITZJAMES BEOWULF BERWICKSHIRE BEQUEST BERWICK-UPON-TWEED BERAIN, JEAN BERYL BERANGER, PIERRE JEAN DE BERYLLIUM BERAR BERYLLONITE BERARD, JOSEPH FREDERIC BERZELIUS, JONS JAKOB BERAT BES BERAUN BESANCON BERBER BESANT, SIR WALTER BERBERA BESENVAL DE BRONSTATT, PIERRE VICTOR BERBERINE BESKOW, BERNHARD VON BERBERS BESNARD, PAUL ALBERT BERCEUSE BESOM BERCHEM, NICOLAAS BESSARABIA BERCHTA BESSARION, JOHANNES BERCHTESGADEN BESSBOROUGH, EARLS OF BERCK BESSEGES BERDICHEV BESSEL, FRIEDRICH WILHELM BERDYANSK BESSEL FUNCTION BEREA BESSEMER, SIR HENRY BEREKHIAH NAQDAN BESSEMER BERENGARIUS BESSIERES, JEAN BAPTISTE BERENGER, ALPHONSE THOMAS BESSUS BERENICE (princesses) BEST, WILLIAM THOMAS BERENICE (seaport of Egypt) BESTIA BERESFORD, LORD DE LA POER BESTUZHEV-RYUMIN, ALEXIUS PETROVICH BERESFORD, JOHN BESTUZHEV-RYUMIN, MIKHAIL PETROVICH BERESFORD, WILLIAM BERESFORD BET and BETTING BEREZINA BETAINE BEREZOV BETEL NUT BEREZOVSK BETHANY BERG BETHEL BERGAMASK BETHENCOURT, JEAN DE BERGAMO BETHESDA (Jerusalem) BERGAMOT, OIL OF BETHESDA (Wales) BERGEDORF BETH-HORON BERGEN BETHLEHEM (Palestine) BERGEN-OP-ZOOM BETHLEHEM (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) BERGERAC BETHLEHEMITES BERGHAUS, HEINRICH BETHLEN, GABRIEL BERGK, THEODOR BETHNAL GREEN BERGLER, STEPHAN BETHUNE {family) BERGMAN, TORBERN OLOF BETHUNE, CONON DE BERGSCHRUND BETHUNE (town of France) BERGUES BETROTHAL BERHAMPUR (Bengal, India) BETTERMENT BERHAMPUR (Madras, India) BETTERTON, THOMAS BERI-BERI BETTIA BERING, VITUS BETTINELLI, SAVERIO BERING ISLAND, SEA and STRAIT BETTWS Y COED BERING SEA ARBITRATION BETTY, WILLIAM HENRY WEST BERIOT, CHARLES AUGUSTE DE BETUL BERJA BETWA BERKA BEUDANT, FRANCOIS SULPICE BERKELEY (English family) BEUGNOT, JACQUES CLAUDE BERKELEY, GEORGE BEULE, CHARLES ERNEST BERKELEY, MILES JOSEPH BEURNONVILLE, PIERRE DE RUEL BERKELEY, SIR WILLIAM BEUST, FRIEDRICH FERDINAND VON BERKELEY (California, U.S.A.) BEUTHEN (Niederbeuthen) BERKELEY (town of England) BEUTHEN (Oberbeuthen) BERKHAMPSTEAD BEVEL BERKSHIRE, THOMAS HOWARD BEVERLEY, WILLIAM ROXBY BERKSHIRE BEVERLEY BERLAD BEVERLY BERLICHINGEN, GOETZ BEVIS OF HAMPTON BERLIN, ISAIAH BEWDLEY BERLIN (German city) BEWICK, THOMAS BERLIN (New Hampshire, U.S.A.) BEXHILL BERLIN (Ontario, Canada) BEXLEY, NICHOLAS VANSITTART BERLIN (carriage) BEXLEY BERLIOZ, HECTOR BEY BERM BEYBAZAR BERMONDSEY BEYLE, MARIE HENRI BERMUDAS BEYRICH, HEINRICH ERNST VON BERMUDEZ BEYSCHLAG, WILLIBALD BERN (Swiss canton) BEZA, THEODORE BERN (Swiss city) BEZANT BERNARD, SAINT BEZANTEE BERNARD OF CHARTRES BEZBORODKO, ALEKSANDER ANDREEVICH BERNARD, CHARLES DE BEZEL BERNARD, CLAUDE BEZIQUE BERNARD, JACQUES BEZWADA BERNARD, MOUNTAGUE BHAGALPUR BERNARD, SIMON BHAMO BERNARD, SIR THOMAS BHANDARA BERNARDIN OF SIENA, ST BHANG BERNAUER, AGNES BHARAHAT BERNAY BHARAL BERNAYS, JAKOB BHARATPUR BERNBURG BHATGAON BERNERS, JOHN BOURCHIER BHATTIANA BERNERS, JULIANA BHAU DAJI BERNHARD OF SAXE-WEIMAR BHAUNAGAR BERNHARDT, SARAH BHEESTY BERNHARDY, GOTTFRIED BHERA BERNI, FRANCESCO BHILS BERNICIA BHIMA BERNICIAN SERIES BHIWANI BERNINI, GIOVANNI LORENZO BHOPAL BERNIS, FRANCOIS PIERRE DE BHOPAWAR BERNKASTEL BHOR BERNOULLI BHUJ BERNSTEIN, AARON BHUTAN BERNSTORFF, ANDREAS PETER BIANCHINI, FRANCESCO BERNSTORFF, CHRISTIAN GUNTHER BIARRITZ BERNSTORFF, JOHANN HARTWIG ERNST BIAS (Sage of Greece) BEROSSUS BIAS (something oblique) BERRY, CHARLES ALBERT BIBACULUS, MARCUS FURIUS BERRY, CHARLES FERDINAND BIBER, HEINRICH JOHANN FRANZ VON BERRY, JOHN BIBERACH BERRY BIBIRINE

BENT, JAMES THEODORE (1852-1897), English traveller, was the son of James Bent of Baildon House, near Leeds, Yorkshire, where he was born on the 30th of March 1852. He was educated at Repton school and Wadham College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1875. In 1877 he married Mabel, daughter of R.W. Hall-Dare of Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford, and she became his companion in all his travels. He went abroad every year and became thoroughly acquainted with Italy and Greece. In 1879 he published a book on the republic of San Marino, entitled _A Freak of Freedom_, and was made a citizen of San Marino; in the following year appeared _Genoa: How the Republic Rose and Fell_, and in 1881 a _Life of Giuseppe Garibaldi_. He spent considerable time in the Aegean archipelago, of which he wrote in _The Cyclades: or Life among the Insular Greeks_ (1885). From this period Bent devoted himself particularly to archaeological research. The years 1885-1888 were given up to investigations in Asia Minor, his discoveries and conclusions being communicated to the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ and other magazines and reviews. In 1889 he undertook excavations in the Bahrein Islands of the Persian Gulf, and found evidence that they had been a primitive home of the Phoenician race. After an expedition in 1890 to Cilicia Trachea, where he obtained a valuable collection of inscriptions, Bent spent a year in South Africa, with the object, by investigation of some of the ruins in Mashonaland, of throwing light on the vexed question of their origin and on the early history of East Africa. He made the first detailed examination of the Great Zimbabwe. Bent described his work in _The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland_ (1892). In 1893 he investigated the ruins of Axum and other places in the north of Abyssinia, partially made known before by the researches of Henry Salt and others, and _The Sacred City of the Ethiopians_ (1893) gave an account of this expedition. Bent now visited at considerable risk the almost unknown Hadramut country (1893-1894), and during this and later journeys in southern Arabia he studied the ancient history of the country, its physical features and actual condition. On the Dhafar coast in 1894-1895 he visited ruins which he identified with the Abyssapolis of the frankincense merchants. In 1895-1896 he examined part of the African coast of the Red Sea, finding there the ruins of a very ancient gold-mine and traces of what he considered Sabean influence. While on another journey in South Arabia (1896-1897), Bent was seized with malarial fever, and died in London on the 5th of May 1897, a few days after his return. Mrs Bent, who had contributed by her skill as a photographer and in other ways to the success of her husband's journeys, published in 1900 _Southern Arabia, Soudan and Sakotra_, in which were given the results of their last expedition into that region. The conclusions at which Bent arrived as to the Semitic origin of the ruins in Mashonaland have not been accepted by archaeologists, but the value of his pioneer work is undeniable (see ZIMBABWE).

BENT. 1. (From "to bend"), primarily the result of bending; hence any inclination from the straight, as in curved objects like a hook or a bow; this survives in the modern phrase "to follow one's own bent," i.e. to pursue a certain course in a direction deviating from the normal, as also in such phrases as Chaucer's "Downward on a hill under a bent," indicating a hollow or declivity in the general configuration of the land. From the bending of a bow comes the idea of tension, as in Hamlet, "they fool me to the top of my bent," i.e. to the utmost of my capacity. 2. (From the O. Eng. _beonet_, a coarse, rushy grass growing in wet places; cf. the Ger. _Binse_, a reed), the name ("bent" or "bennet") popularly applied to several kinds of grass and surviving in the form "bent-grass."

BENTHAM, GEORGE (1800-1884), English botanist, was born at Stoke near Portsmouth on the 22nd of September 1800. His father, Sir Samuel Bentham (1757-1831), was the only brother of Jeremy Bentham, the publicist, and of scarcely inferior ability though in a different direction. Devoting himself in early life to the study of naval architecture, Sir Samuel went to Russia to visit the naval establishments in the Baltic and Black Seas. He was induced to enter the service of the empress Catherine II., built a flotilla of gunboats and defeated the Turkish fleet. For this he was made, in addition to other honours, colonel of a cavalry regiment. On the death of the empress he returned to England to be employed by the admiralty, and was sent (1805-1807) again to Russia to superintend the building of some ships for the British navy. He attained the rank, under the admiralty, of inspector-general of naval works. He introduced a multitude of improvements in naval organization, and it was largely through his recommendation that M.I. Brunel's block-making machinery was installed at Portsmouth.

George Bentham had neither a school nor a college education, but early acquired the power of giving sustained and concentrated attention to any subject that occupied him--one essential condition of the success he attained as perhaps the greatest systematic botanist of the 19th century. Another was his remarkable linguistic aptitude. At the age of six to seven he could converse in French, German and Russian, and he learnt Swedish during a short residence in Sweden when little older. At the close of the war with France, the Benthams made a long tour through that country, staying two years at Montauban, where Bentham studied Hebrew and mathematics in the Protestant Theological School. They eventually settled in the neighbourhood of Montpellier where Sir Samuel purchased a large estate.

The mode in which George Bentham was attracted to the botanical studies which became the occupation of his life is noteworthy; it was through the applicability to them of the logical methods which he had imbibed from his uncle's writings, and not from any special attraction to natural history pursuits. While studying at Angouleme a copy of A.P. de Candolle's _Flore francaise_ fell into his hands and he was struck with the analytical tables for identifying plants. He immediately proceeded to test their use on the first that presented itself. The result was successful and he continued to apply it to every plant he came across. A visit to London in 1823 brought him into contact with the brilliant circle of English botanists. In 1826, at the pressing invitation of his uncle, he agreed to act as his secretary, at the same time entering at Lincoln's Inn and reading for the bar. He was called in due time and in 1832 held his first and last brief. The same year Jeremy Bentham died, leaving his property to his nephew. His father's inheritance had fallen to him the previous year. He was now in a position of modest independence, and able to pursue undistractedly his favourite studies. For a time these were divided between botany, jurisprudence and logic, in addition to editing his father's professional papers. Bentham's first publication was his _Catalogue des plantes indigenes des Pyrenees et du Bas Languedoc_ (Paris, 1826), the result of a careful exploration of the Pyrenees in company with G.A. Walker Arnott (1799-1868), afterwards professor of botany in the university of Glasgow. It is interesting to notice that in it Bentham adopted the principle from which he never deviated, of citing nothing at second-hand. This was followed by articles on various legal subjects: on codification, in which he disagreed with his uncle, on the laws affecting larceny and on the law of real property. But the most remarkable production of this period was the _Outline of a New System of Logic, with a Critical Examination of Dr Whately's Elements of Logic_ (1827). In this the principle of the quantification of the predicate was first explicitly stated. This Stanley Jevons declared to be "undoubtedly the most fruitful discovery made in abstract logical science since the time of Aristotle." Before sixty copies had been sold the publisher became bankrupt and the stock went for wastepaper. The book passed into oblivion, and it was not till 1873 that Bentham's claims to priority were finally vindicated against those of Sir William Hamilton by Herbert Spencer. In 1836 he published his _Labiatarum genera et species_. In preparing this work he visited, between 1830-1834, every European herbarium, several more than once. The following winter was passed in Vienna, where he produced his _Commentationes de Leguminosarum generibus_, published in the annals of the Vienna Museum. In 1842 he removed to Pontrilas in Herefordshire. His chief occupation for some succeeding years was his contributions to the _Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis_, which was being carried on by his friend, A.P. deCandolle. In all these dealt with some 4730 species.

In 1854 he found the maintenance of a herbarium and library too great a tax on his means. He therefore offered them to the government on the understanding that they should form the foundation of such necessary aids to research in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. At the same time he contemplated the abandonment of botanical work. Fortunately, he yielded to the persuasion of Sir William Hooker, John Lindley and other scientific friends. In 1855 he took up his residence in London, and worked at Kew for five days a week, with a brief summer holiday, from this time onwards till the end of his life. As his friend Asa Gray wrote: "With such methodical habits, with freedom from professional or administrative functions, which consume the time of most botanists, with steady devotion to his chosen work, and with nearly all authentic material and needful appliances at hand or within reach, it is not so surprising that he should have undertaken and have so well accomplished such a vast amount of work, and he has the crowning merit and happy fortune of having completed all that he undertook." The government, in 1857, sanctioned a scheme for the preparation of a series of Floras or descriptions in the English language of the indigenous plants of British colonies and possessions. Bentham began with the _Flora Hongkongensis_ in 1861, which was the first comprehensive work on any part of the little-known flora of China. This was followed by the _Flora Australiensis_, in seven volumes (1863-1878), the first flora of any large continental area that had ever been finished. His greatest work was the _Genera Plantarum_, begun in 1862, and concluded in 1883 in collaboration with Sir Joseph Hooker, "the greater portion being," as Sir Joseph Hooker tells us, "the product of Bentham's indefatigable industry." As age gradually impaired his bodily powers, he seemed at last only to live for the completion of this monumental work.

When the last revise of the last sheet was returned to the printer, the stimulus was withdrawn, and his powers seemed suddenly to fail him. He began a brief autobiography, but the pen with which he had written his two greatest works broke in his hand in the middle of a page. He accepted the omen, laid aside the unfinished manuscript and patiently awaited the not distant end. He died on the both of September 1884, within a fortnight of his 84th birthday.

The scientific world received the _Genera Plantarum_ with as unanimous an assent as was accorded to the _Species Plantarum_ of Linnaeus. Bentham possessed, as Professor Daniel Oliver remarked, "an insight of so special a character as to deserve the name of genius, into the relative value of characters for practical systematic work, and as a consequence of this, a sure sifting of essentials from non-essentials in each respective grade." His preparation for his crowning work had been practically lifelong. There are few parts of the world upon the botany of which he did not touch. In the sequence and arrangement of the great families of flowering plants, different views from those of Bentham may be adopted. But Bentham paved the way by an intimate and exact statement of the structural facts and their accurate relationship, which is not likely to be improved. In method and style, in descriptive work, Bentham was a supreme master. This, to quote Professor Oliver again, is "manifest not only in its terseness, aptness and precision, but especially in the judicious selection of diagnostic marks, and in the instinctive estimate of probable range in variation, which long experience and innate genius for such work could alone inspire." (W. T. T.-D.)

BENTHAM, JEREMY (1748-1832), English philosopher and jurist, was born on the 15th of February 1748 in Red Lion Street, Houndsditch, London, in which neighbourhood his grandfather and father successively carried on business as attorneys. His father, who was a wealthy man and possessed at any rate a smattering of Greek, Latin and French, was thought to have demeaned himself by marrying the daughter of an Andover tradesman, who afterwards retired to a country house near Reading, where young Jeremy spent many happy days. The boy's talents justified the ambitious hopes which his parents entertained of his future. When three years old he read eagerly such works as Rapin's _History_ and began the study of Latin. A year or two later he learnt to play the violin and to speak French. At Westminster school he obtained a reputation for Greek and Latin verse writing; and he was only thirteen when he was matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, where his most important acquisition seems to have been a thorough acquaintance with Sanderson's logic. He became a B.A. in 1763, and in the same year entered at Lincoln's Inn, and took his seat as a student in the queen's bench, where he listened with rapture to the judgments of Lord Mansfield. He managed also to hear Blackstone's lectures at Oxford, but says that he immediately detected the fallacies which underlay the rounded periods of the future judge.

Bentham's family connexions would naturally have given him a fair start at the bar, but this was not the career for which he was preparing himself. He spent his time in making chemical experiments and in speculating upon legal abuses, rather than in reading Coke upon Littleton and the Reports. On being called to the bar he "found a cause or two at nurse for him, which he did his best to put to death," to the bitter disappointment of his father, who had confidently looked forward to seeing him upon the woolsack. The first fruits of Bentham's studies, the _Fragment on Government_, appeared in 1776. This masterly attack upon Blackstone's praises of the English constitution was variously attributed to Lord Mansfield, Lord Camden and Lord Ashburton. One important result of its publication was that, in 1781, Lord Shelburne (afterwards first marquess of Lansdowne) called upon its author in his chambers at Lincoln's Inn. Henceforth Bentham was a frequent guest at Bowood, where he saw the best society and where he met Miss Caroline Fox (daughter of the second Lord Holland), to whom he afterwards made a proposal of marriage. In 1785 Bentham started, by way of Italy and Constantinople, on a visit to his brother, Samuel Bentham, a naval engineer, holding the rank of colonel in the Russian service; and it was in Russia that he wrote his _Defence of Usury_. Disappointed after his return to England in 1788 in the hope which he had entertained, through a misapprehension of something said by Lord Lansdowne, of taking a personal part in the legislation of his country, he settled down to the yet higher task of discovering and teaching the principles upon which all sound legislation must proceed. The great work, upon which he had been engaged for many years, the _Principles of Morals and Legislation_, was published in 1789. His fame spread widely and rapidly. He was made a French citizen in 1792; and his advice was respectfully received in most of the states of Europe and America, with many of the leading men of which he maintained an active correspondence. In 1817 he became a bencher of Lincoln's Inn. His ambition was to be allowed to prepare a code of laws for his own or some foreign country. During nearly a quarter of a century he was engaged in negotiations with the government for the erection of a "Panopticon," for the central inspection of convicts; a plan suggested to him by a building designed by his brother Samuel, for the better supervision of his Russian shipwrights. This scheme, which it was alleged would render transportation unnecessary, was eventually abandoned, and Bentham received in 1813, in pursuance of an act of parliament, L23,000 by way of compensation. It was at a later period of his life that he propounded schemes for cutting canals through the isthmus of Suez and the isthmus of Panama. In 1823 he established the _Westminster Review_. Emboldened perhaps by the windfall of 1813, Bentham in the following year took a lease of Ford Abbey, a fine mansion with a deer-park, in Dorsetshire; but in 1818 returned to the house in Queen's Square Place which he had occupied since the death of his father in 1792. It was there that he died on the 6th of June 1832 in his eighty-fifth year. In accordance with his directions, his body was dissected in the presence of his friends, and the skeleton is still preserved in University College, London.

Bentham's life was a happy one of its kind. His constitution, weakly in childhood, strengthened with advancing years so as to allow him to get through an incredible amount of sedentary labour, while he retained to the last the fresh and cheerful temperament of a boy. An ample inherited fortune permitted him to pursue his studies undistracted by the necessity for earning a livelihood, and to maximize the results of his time and labour by the employment of amanuenses and secretaries. He was able to gather around him a group of congenial friends and pupils, such as the Mills, the Austins and Bowring, with whom he could discuss the problems upon which he was engaged, and by whom several of his books were practically rewritten from the mass of rough though orderly memoranda which the master had himself prepared. Thus, for instance, was the _Rationale of Judicial Evidence_ written out by J.S. Mill and the _Book of Fallacies_ by Bingham. The services which Dumont rendered in recasting as well as translating the works of Bentham were still more important.

The popular notion that Bentham was a morose visionary is far removed from fact. It is true that he looked upon general society as a waste of time and that he disliked poetry as "misrepresentation"; but he intensely enjoyed conversation, gave good dinners and delighted in music, in country sights and in making others happy. These features of Bentham's character are illustrated in the graphic account given by the American minister, Richard Rush, of an evening spent at his London house in the summer of the year 1818. "If Mr Bentham's character is peculiar," he says, "so is his place of residence. It was a kind of blind-alley, the end of which widened into a small, neat courtyard. There by itself stands Mr Bentham's house. Shrubbery graced its area and flowers its window-sills. It was like an oasis in the desert. Its name is the Hermitage. Mr Bentham received me with the simplicity of a philosopher. I should have taken him for seventy or upwards. Everything inside the house was orderly. The furniture seemed to have been unmoved since the days of his fathers, for I learned that it was a patrimony. A parlour, library and dining-room made up the suite of apartments. In each was a piano, the eccentric master of the whole being fond of music as the recreation of his literary hours. It is a unique, romantic-like homestead. Walking with him into the garden, I found it dark with the shade of ancient trees. They formed a barrier against all intrusion. The company was small but choice. Mr Brougham; Sir Samuel Romilly; Mr Mill, author of the well-known work on India; M. Dumont, the learned Genevan, once the associate of Mirabeau, were all who sat down to table. Mr Bentham did not talk much. He had a benevolence of manner suited to the philanthropy of his mind. He seemed to be thinking only of the convenience and pleasure of his guests, not as a rule of artificial breeding as from Chesterfield or Madame Genlis, but from innate feeling. Bold as are his opinions in his works, here he was wholly unobtrusive of theories that might not have commended the assent of all present. When he did converse it was in simple language, a contrast to his later writings, where an involved style and the use of new or universal words are drawbacks upon the speculations of a genius original and profound, but with the faults of solitude. Yet some of his earlier productions are distinguished by classical terseness."--(_Residence at the Court of London_, p. 286.) Bentham's love of flowers and music, of green foliage and shaded walks, comes clearly out in this pleasant picture of his home life and social surroundings.

Whether or no he can be said to have founded a school, his doctrines have become so far part of the common thought of the time, that there is hardly an educated man who does not accept as too clear for argument truths which were invisible till Bentham pointed them out. His sensitively honourable nature, which in early life had caused him to shrink from asserting his belief in Thirty-nine articles of faith which he had not examined, was shocked by the enormous abuses which confronted him on commencing the study of the law. He rebelled at hearing the system under which they flourished described as the perfection of human reason. But he was no merely destructive critic. He was determined to find a solid foundation for both morality and law, and to raise upon it an edifice, no stone of which should be laid except in accordance with the deductions of the severest logic. This foundation is "the greatest happiness of the greatest number," a formula adopted from Priestly or perhaps first from Beccaria. The phrase may, however, be found in writers of an earlier date than these, e.g. in Hutcheson's _Enquiry_, published in 1725. The pursuit of such happiness is taught by the "utilitarian" philosophy, an expression used by Bentham himself in 1802, and therefore not invented by J.S. Mill, as he supposed, in 1823. In order to ascertain what modes of action are most conducive to the end in view, and what motives are best fitted to produce them, Bentham was led to construct marvellously exhaustive, though somewhat mechanical, tables of motives. With all their elaboration, these tables are, however, defective, as omitting some of the highest and most influential springs of action. But most of Bentham's conclusions may be accepted without any formal profession of the utilitarian theory of morals. They are, indeed, merely the application of a rigorous common sense to the facts of society. That the proximate ends at which Bentham aimed are desirable hardly any one would deny, though the feasibility of the means by which he proposes to attain them may often be questioned, and much of the new nomenclature in which he thought fit to clothe his doctrines may be rejected as unnecessary. To be judged fairly, Bentham must be judged as a teacher of the principles of legislation. With the principles of private morals he really deals only so far as is necessary to enable the reader to appreciate the impulses which have to be controlled by law.

As a teacher of legislation he inquires of all institutions whether their utility justifies their existence. If not, he is prepared to suggest a new form of institution by which the needful service may be rendered. While thus engaged no topic is too large for his mental grasp, none too small for his notice; and, what is still rarer, every topic is seen in its due relation to the rest. English institutions had never before been thus comprehensively and dispassionately surveyed. Such improvements as had been necessitated were mere makeshifts, often made by stealth. The rude symmetry of the feudal system had been long ago destroyed by partial and unskilful adaptations to modern commercial life, effected at various dates and in accordance with various theories. The time had come for deliberate reconstruction, for inquiring whether the existence of many admitted evils was, as it was said to be, unavoidable; for proving that the needs of society may be classified and provided for by contrivances which shall not clash with one another because all shall be parts of a consistent whole. This task Bentham undertook, and he brought to it a mind absolutely free from professional or class feeling, or any other species of prejudice. He mapped out the whole subject, dividing and subdividing it in accordance with the principle of "dichotomy." Having reached his ultimate subdivisions he subjects each to the most thorough and ingenious discussion. His earlier writings exhibit a lively and easy style, which gives place in his later treatises to sentences which are awkward from their effort after unattainable accuracy, and from the newly-invented technical nomenclature in which they are expressed. Many of Bentham's phrases, such as "international," "utilitarian," "codification," are valuable additions to our language; but the majority of them, especially those of Greek derivation, have taken no root in it. His neology is one among many instances of his contempt for the past and his wish to be clear of all association with it. His was, indeed, a typically logical, as opposed to a historical, mind. For the history of institutions which, thanks largely to the writings of Sir Henry Maine, has become a new and interesting branch of science, Bentham cared nothing. Had he possessed such a knowledge of Roman law as is now not uncommon in England, he must doubtless have taken a different view of many subjects. The logical and historical methods can, however, seldom be combined without confusion; and it is perhaps fortunate that Bentham devoted his long life to showing how much may be done by pursuing the former method exclusively. His writings have been and remain a storehouse of instruction for statesmen, an armoury for legal reformers. "Pille par tout le monde," as Talleyrand said of him, "il est toujours riche." To trace the results of his teaching in England alone would be to write a history of the legislation of half a century. Upon the whole administrative machinery of government, upon criminal law and upon procedure, both criminal and civil, his influence has been most salutary; and the great legal revolution which in 1873 purported to accomplish the fusion of law and equity is not obscurely traceable to the same source. Those of Bentham's suggestions which have hitherto been carried out have affected the matter or contents of the law. The hopes which have been from time to time entertained, that his suggestions for the improvement of its form and expression were about to receive the attention which they deserved, have hitherto been disappointed. The services rendered by Bentham to the world would not, however, be exhausted even by the practical adoption of every one of his recommendations. There are no limits to the good results of his introduction of a true method of reasoning into the moral and political sciences.

Bentham's _Works_, together with an Introduction by J. Hill Burton, selections from his correspondence and a biography, were published by Dr Bowring, in eleven closely printed volumes (1838-1843). This edition does not include the _Deontology_, which, much rewritten, had been published by Bowring in 1834. Translations of the _Works_ or of separate treatises have appeared in most European languages. Large masses of Bentham's MSS., mostly unpublished, are preserved at University College, London (see T. Whittaker's _Report_, 1892, on these MSS., as newly catalogued and reclassified by him in 155 parcels); also in the British Museum (see E. Nys, _Etudes de droit international et de droit politique_, 1901, pp. 291-333). See farther on the life and writings of Bentham: J.H. Burton, _Benthamiana_ (1843); R. von Mohl, _Geschichte und Literatur der Staatswissenschaften_, bk. iii. (1858), pp. 595-635; R.K. Wilson, _History of Modern English Law_ (1875), pp. 133-170; J.S. Mill, _Dissertations_ (1859), vol. i. pp. 330-392; L. Stephen, _The English Utilitarians_ (1900), vol. i.; _A Fragment on Government_, edited by F.C. Montague (1891); _The Law Quarterly Review_ (1895), two articles on Bentham's influence in Spain; A.V. Dicey, _Law and Opinion in England_ (1905), pp. 125-209; C.M. Atkinson, _Jeremy Bentham_ (1905). (T. E. H.)

BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM (1774-1839), governor-general of India, was the second son of the 3rd duke of Portland and was born on the 14th of September 1774. He entered the army, rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and was present at Marengo. In 1803 he was nominated governor of Madras, where he quarrelled with the chief justice, Sir Henry Gwillim, and several members of his council. The sepoy mutiny at Vellore in 1807 led to his recall. His name was considered at this time for the post of governor-general, but Lord Minto was selected instead; and it was not until twenty years later that he succeeded Lord Amherst in that office. His governor-generalship (1827-1835) was notable for many reforms, chief among which were the suppression of the Thugs (q.v.), the abolition of suttee, and the making of the English language the basis of education in India. It was on this last subject that Lord Macaulay's famous minute was written. Lord William's administration was essentially peaceful, but progressive and successful. He died at Paris on the 17th of June 1839.

See Demetrius C. Boulger, _Lord William Bentinck_, in the "Rulers of India" series (1892).

BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM GEORGE FREDERICK CAVENDISH, better known as LORD GEORGE BENTINCK (1802-1848), British politician, was the second surviving son of the fourth duke of Portland, by Henrietta, sister of Viscountess Canning, and was born on the 27th of February 1802. He was educated at home until he obtained his commission as cornet in the 10th hussars at the age of seventeen. He practically retired from the army in 1822 and acted for some time as private secretary to his uncle George Canning. In 1828 he succeeded his uncle Lord William Bentinck as member for Lynn-Regis, and continued to represent that constituency during the remaining twenty years of his life. His failures as a speaker in parliament seem to have discouraged him from the attempt to acquire reputation as a politician, and till within three years of his death he was little known out of the sporting world. As one of the leaders on "the turf," however, he was distinguished by that integrity, judgment and indomitable determination which, when brought to bear upon weightier matters, quickly gave him a position of first-rate importance in the political world. On his first entrance into parliament he belonged to the moderate Whig party, and voted in favour of Catholic emancipation, as also for the Reform Bill, though he opposed some of its principal details. Soon after, however, he joined the ranks of the opposition, with whom he sided up to the important era of 1846. When, in that year, Sir Robert Peel openly declared in favour of free trade, the advocates of the corn-laws, then without a leader, after several ineffectual attempts at organization, discovered that Lord George Bentinck was the only man of position and family (for Disraeli's time was not yet come) around whom the several sections of the opposition could be brought to rally. His sudden elevation took the public by surprise; but he soon gave convincing evidence of powers so formidable that the Protectionist party under his leadership was at once stiffened into real importance. Towards Peel, in particular, his hostility was uncompromising. Believing, as he himself expressed it, that that statesman and his colleagues had "hounded to the death his illustrious relative" Canning, he combined with his political opposition a degree of personal animosity that gave additional force to his invective. On entering on his new position, he at once abandoned his connexion with the turf, disposed of his magnificent stud and devoted his whole energies to the laborious duties of a parliamentary leader. Apart from the question of the corn-laws, however, his politics were decidedly independent. In opposition to the rest of his party, he supported the bill for removing the Jewish disabilities, and was favourable to the scheme for the payment of the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland by the landowners. The result was that on December 23rd, 1847, he wrote a letter resigning the Protectionist leadership, though he still remained active in politics. But his positive abilities as a constructive statesman were not to be tested, for he died suddenly at Welbeck on the 21st of September 1848. It was to be left to Disraeli to bring the Conservative party into power, with Protection outside its programme.

See _Lord George Bentinck: a Political Biography_ (1851), by B. Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield).

BENTIVOGLIO, GIOVANNI (1443-1508), tyrant of Bologna, descended from a powerful family which exercised great influence in Bologna during the 15th century, was born after the murder of his father, then chief magistrate of the commune. In 1462 Giovanni contrived to make himself master of the city, although it was nominally a fief of the church under a papal legate. He ruled with a stern sway for nearly half a century, but the brilliance of his court, his encouragement of the fine arts and his decoration of the city with sumptuous edifices, to some extent compensated the Bolognese for the loss of their liberty. Cesare Borgia (q.v.) contemplated the subjugation of Bologna in 1500, when he was crushing the various despots of Romagna, but Bentivoglio was saved for the moment by French intervention. In 1502 he took part in the conspiracy against Cesare, but, when the latter obtained French assistance, he abandoned his fellow-conspirators and helped Borgia to overcome them. During the brief pontificate of Pius III., who succeeded Alexander VI. in 1503, Bentivoglio enjoyed a respite, but the new pope, Julius II., was determined to reduce all the former papal states to obedience. Having won Louis XII. of France to his side, he led an army against Bologna, excommunicated Bentivoglio and forced him to abandon the city (November 1506). The deposed tyrant took refuge with the French, whom he trusted more than the pope, and died at Milan in 1508.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--P. Litta, _Le Famiglie celebri Italiane_, vol, iii. (Milan, 1834); P. Villari, _Machiavelli_ (Eng. trans., London, 1892); M. Creighton, _History of the Papacy_ (London, 1897); A. von Reumont, _Geschichte der Stadt Rom_, vol. iii. (Berlin, 1868). (L. V.*)

BENTIVOGLIO, GUIDO (1579-1644), Italian cardinal, statesman and historian, was born at Ferrara in 1579. After studying at Padua, he went to reside at Rome, and was received with great favour by Pope Clement VIII., who made him his private chamberlain. The next pope, Paul V., created him archbishop of Rhodes in 1607, and appointed him as nuncio to Flanders and afterwards to France; on his return to Rome in 1621 he was created cardinal and entrusted by Louis XIII. with the management of French affairs at the papal court. He became the intimate friend of Pope Urban VIII., who appointed him to the suburban see of Palestrina in 1691. An able writer and skilful diplomatist, Bentivoglio was marked out as Urban's successor, but he died suddenly on the 7th of September 1644 at the opening of the conclave. Bentivoglio's principal works are:--_Della Guerra di Fiandria_ (best edition, Cologne, 1633-1639), translated into English by Henry, earl of Monmouth (London, 1654); _Relazioni di G. Bentivoglio in tempo delle sue Nunziature di Fiandria e di Francia_ (Cologne, 1630); _Lettere diplomatiche di Guido Bentivoglio_ (Brussels, 1631, frequently reprinted, best edition by L. Scarabelli, 2 vols., Turin, 1852). The complete edition of his works was published at Venice in 1668 in 4to. A selection of his letters has been adopted as a classic in the Italian schools.

BENTLEY, RICHARD (1662-1742), English scholar and critic, was born at Oulton near Wakefield, Yorkshire, on the 27th of January 1662. His grandfather had suffered in person and estate in the royalist cause, and the family were in consequence in reduced circumstances. Bentley's mother, the daughter of a stonemason in Oulton, was a woman of excellent understanding and some education, as she was able to give her son his first lessons in Latin. From the grammar school of Wakefield Richard Bentley passed to St John's College, Cambridge, being admitted subsizar in 1676. He afterwards obtained a scholarship and took the degree of B.A. in 1680 (M.A. 1683). He never succeeded to a fellowship, being appointed by his college, before he was twenty-one, headmaster of Spalding grammar school. In this post he did not remain long, being selected by Dr Edward Stillingfleet, dean of St Paul's, to be domestic tutor to his son. This appointment introduced Bentley at once to the society of the most eminent men of the day, threw open to him the best private library in England, and brought him into familiar intercourse with Dean Stillingfleet, a man of sound understanding, who had not shrunk from exploring some of the more solid and abstruse parts of ancient learning. The six years which he passed in Stillingfleet's family were employed, with the restless energy characteristic of the man, in exhausting the remains of the Greek and Latin writers, and laying up those stores of knowledge upon which he afterwards drew as circumstances required.

In 1689 Stillingfleet became bishop of Worcester, and Bentley's pupil went to reside at Oxford in Wadham College, accompanied by his tutor. Bentley's introductions and his own merits placed him at once on a footing of intimacy with the most distinguished scholars in the university, Dr John Mill, Humphrey Hody, Edward Bernard. Here he revelled in the MS. treasures of the Bodleian, Corpus and other college libraries. He projected and occupied himself with collections for vast literary schemes. Among these are specially mentioned a _corpus_ of the fragments of the Greek poets and an edition of the Greek lexicographers. But his first publication was in connexion with a writer of much inferior note. The Oxford (Sheldonian) press was about to bring out an edition (the _editio princeps_) from the unique MS. in the Bodleian of the Greek _Chronicle_ (a universal history down to A.D. 560) of John of Antioch (date uncertain, between 600 and 1000), called John Malalas or "John the Rhetor"; and the editor, Dr John Mill, principal of St Edmund Hall, had requested Bentley to look through the sheets and make any remarks on the text. This originated Bentley's _Epistola ad Millium_, which occupies less than one hundred pages at the end of the Oxford _Malalas_ (1691). This short tractate at once placed Bentley at the head of all living English scholars. The ease with which, by a stroke of the pen, he restores passages which had been left in hopeless corruption by the editors of the _Chronicle_, the certainty of the emendation and the command over the relevant material, are in a style totally different from the careful and laborious learning of Hody, Mill or E. Chilmead. To the small circle of classical students (lacking the great critical dictionaries of modern times) it was at once apparent that there had arisen in England a critic whose attainments were not to be measured by the ordinary academical standard, but whom these few pages had sufficed to place by the side of the great Grecians of a former age. Unfortunately this mastery over critical science was accompanied by a tone of self-assertion and presumptuous confidence which not only checked admiration, but was calculated to rouse enmity. Dr Monk, indeed, Bentley's biographer, charged him (in his first edition, 1830) with an indecorum of which he was not guilty. "In one place," writes Dr Monk, "he accosts Dr Mill as [Greek: o Ioannidion] (Johnny), an indecorum which neither the familiarity of friendship, nor the licence of a dead language, can justify towards the dignified head of a house." But the object of Bentley's apostrophe was not his correspondent Dr Mill, but his author John Malalas, whom in another place he playfully appeals to as "Syrisce." From this publication, however, dates the origin of those mixed feelings of admiration and repugnance which Bentley throughout his career continued to excite among his contemporaries.

In 1690 Bentley had taken deacon's orders in the Church. In 1692 he was nominated first Boyle lecturer, a nomination which was repeated in 1694. He was offered the appointment a third time in 1695 but declined it, being by that time involved in too many other undertakings. In the first series of lectures ("A Confutation of Atheism") he endeavours to present the Newtonian physics in a popular form, and to frame them (especially in opposition to Hobbes) into a proof of the existence of an intelligent Creator. He had some correspondence with Newton, then living in Trinity College, on the subject. The second series, preached in 1694, has not been published and is believed to be lost. Andrew Kippis, the editor of the _Biographia Britannica_, mentions MS. copies of them as in existence. Scarcely was Bentley in priest's orders before he was preferred to a prebendal stall in Worcester cathedral. In 1693 the keepership of the royal library becoming vacant, great efforts were made by his friends to obtain the place for Bentley, but through court interest the post was given to Mr Thynne. An arrangement, however, was made, by which the new librarian resigned in favour of Bentley, on condition that he received an annuity of L130 for life out of the salary, which only amounted to L200. To these preferments were added in 1695 a royal chaplaincy and the living of Hartlebury. In the same year Bentley was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1696 proceeded to the degree of D.D. The recognition of continental scholars came in the shape of a dedication, by Graevius, prefixed to a dissertation of Albert Rubens, _De Vita Flavii Mallii Theodori_, published at Utrecht in 1694.

While these distinctions were being accumulated upon Bentley, his energy was making itself felt in many and various directions. He had official apartments in St James's Palace, and his first care was the royal library. He made great efforts to retrieve this collection from the dilapidated condition into which it had been allowed to fall. He employed the mediation of the earl of Marlborough to beg the grant of some additional rooms in the palace for the books. The rooms were granted, but Marlborough characteristically kept them for himself. Bentley enforced the law against the publishers, and thus added to the library nearly 1000 volumes which they had neglected to deliver. He was commissioned by the university of Cambridge to obtain Greek and Latin founts for their classical books, and accordingly he had cast in Holland those beautiful types which appear in the Cambridge books of that date. He assisted Evelyn in his _Numismata_. All Bentley's literary appearances at this time were of this accidental character. We do not find him settling down to the steady execution of any of the great projects with which he had started. He designed, indeed, in 1694 an edition of Philostratus, but readily abandoned it to G. Olearius, (Ohlschlager), "to the joy," says F.A. Wolf, "of Olearius and of no one else." He supplied Graevius with collations of Cicero, and Joshua Barnes with a warning as to the spuriousness of the _Epistles of Euripides_, which was thrown away upon that blunderer, who printed the epistles and declared that no one could doubt their genuineness but a man _perfrictae frontis aut judicii imminuti_. Bentley supplied to Graevius's _Callimachus_ a masterly collection of the fragments with notes, published at Utrecht in 1697.

The _Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris_, the work on which Bentley's fame in great part rests, originated in the same casual way. William Wotton, being about to bring out in 1697 a second edition of his book on _Ancient and Modern Learning_, claimed of Bentley the fulfilment of an old promise to write a paper exposing the spuriousness of the _Epistles of Phalaris_. This paper was resented as an insult by the Christ Church editor of Phalaris, Charles Boyle, afterwards earl of Orrery, who in getting the MS. in the royal library collated for his edition (1695) had had a little quarrel with Bentley. Assisted by his college friends, particularly Atterbury, Boyle wrote a reply, "a tissue," says Dr Alexander Dyce (in his edition of Bentley's Works, 1836-1838), "of superficial learning, ingenious sophistry, dexterous malice and happy raillery." The reply was hailed by the public as crushing and went immediately into a second edition. It was incumbent on Bentley to rejoin. This he did (1699) in what Porson styles "that immortal dissertation," to which no answer was or could be given, although the truth of its conclusions was not immediately recognized. (See PHALARIS.)

In the year 1700 Bentley received that main preferment which, says De Quincey, "was at once his reward and his scourge for the rest of his life." The six commissioners of ecclesiastical patronage unanimously recommended Bentley to the crown for the mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge. This college, the most splendid foundation in the university of Cambridge, and in the scientific and literary reputation of its fellows the most eminent society in either university, had in 1700 greatly fallen from its high estate. It was not that it was more degraded than the other colleges, but its former lustre made the abuse of endowments in its case more conspicuous. The eclipse had taken place during the reaction which followed 1660, and was owing to causes which were not peculiar to Trinity, but which influenced the nation at large. The names of John Pearson and Isaac Barrow, and, greater than either, that of Newton, adorn the college annals of this period. But these were quite exceptional men. They had not inspired the rank and file of fellows of Trinity with any of their own love for learning or science. Indolent and easy-going clerics, without duties, without a pursuit or any consciousness of the obligation of endowments, they haunted the college for the pleasant life and the good things they found there, creating sinecure offices in each other's favour, jobbing the scholarships and making the audits mutually pleasant. Any excuse served for a banquet at the cost of "the house," and the celibacy imposed by the statutes was made as tolerable as the decorum of a respectable position permitted. To such a society Bentley came, obnoxious as a St John's man and an intruder, unwelcome as a man of learning whose interests lay outside the walls of the college. Bentley replied to their concealed dislike with open contempt, and proceeded to ride roughshod over their little arrangements. He inaugurated many beneficial reforms in college usages and discipline, executed extensive improvements in the buildings, and generally used his eminent station for the promotion of the interests of learning both in the college and in the university. But this energy was accompanied by a domineering temper, an overweening contempt for the feelings and even for the rights of others, and an unscrupulous use of means when a good end could be obtained. Bentley, at the summit of classical learning, disdained to associate with men whom he regarded as illiterate priests. He treated them with contumely, while he was diverting their income to public purposes. The continued drain upon their purses--on one occasion the whole dividend of the year was absorbed by the rebuilding of the chapel--was the grievance which at last roused the fellows to make a resolute stand. After ten years of stubborn but ineffectual resistance within the college, they had recourse in 1710 to the last remedy--an appeal to the visitor, the bishop of Ely (Dr Moore). Their petition is an ill-drawn invective, full of general complaints and not alleging any special delinquency. Bentley's reply (_The Present State of Trinity College, &c._, 1710) is in his most crushing style. The fellows amended their petition and put in a fresh charge, in which they articled fifty-four separate breaches of the statutes as having been committed by the master. Bentley, called upon to answer, demurred to the bishop of Ely's jurisdiction, alleging that the crown was visitor. He backed his application by a dedication of his _Horace_ to the lord treasurer (Harley). The crown lawyers decided the point against him; the case was heard (1714) and a sentence of ejection from the mastership ordered to be drawn up, but before it was executed the bishop of Ely died and the process lapsed. The feud, however, still went on in various forms. In 1718 Bentley was deprived by the university of his degrees, as a punishment for failing to appear in the vice-chancellor's court in a civil suit; and it was not till 1724 that the law compelled the university to restore them. In 1733 he was again brought to trial before the bishop of Ely (Dr Greene) by the fellows of Trinity and was sentenced to deprivation, but the college statutes required the sentence to be exercised by the vice-master (Dr Walker), who was Bentley's friend and refused to act. In vain were attempts made to compel the execution of the sentence, and though the feud was kept up till 1738 or 1740 (about thirty years in all) Bentley remained undisturbed.

During the period of his mastership, with the exception of the first two years, Bentley pursued his studies uninterruptedly, although the results in the shape of published works seem incommensurable. In 1709 he contributed a critical appendix to John Davies's edition of Cicero's _Tusculan Disputations_. In the following year he published his emendations on the _Plutus_ and _Nubes_ of Aristophanes, and on the fragments of Menander and Philemon. The last came out under the name of "Phileleutherus Lipsiensis," which he made use of two years later in his _Remarks on a late Discourse of Freethinking_, a reply to Anthony Collins the deist. For this he received the thanks of the university, in recognition of the service thereby rendered to the church and clergy. His _Horace_, long contemplated and in the end written in very great haste and brought out to propitiate public opinion at a critical period of the Trinity quarrel, appeared in 1711. In the preface he declared his intention of confining his attention to criticism and correction of the text, and ignoring exegesis. Some of his 700 or 800 emendations have been accepted, but the majority of them are now rejected as unnecessary and prosaic, although the learning and ingenuity shown in their support are remarkable. In 1716, in a letter to Dr Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, he announced his design of preparing a critical edition of the New Testament. During the next four years, assisted by J.J. Wetstein, an eminent biblical critic, who claimed to have been the first to suggest the idea to Bentley, he collected materials for the work, and in 1720 published _Proposals for a New Edition of the Greek Testament_, with specimens of the manner in which he intended to carry it out. He proposed, by comparing the text of the Vulgate with that of the oldest Greek MSS., to restore the Greek text as received by the church at the time of the council of Nice. A large number of subscribers to the work was obtained, but it was never completed. His _Terence_ (1726) is more important than his _Horace_, and it is upon this, next to the _Phalaris_, that his reputation mainly rests. Its chief value consists in the novel treatment of the metrical questions and their bearing on the emendation of the text. To the same year belong the _Fables_ of Phaedrus and the _Sententiae_ of Publius Syrus. The _Paradise Lost_ (1732), undertaken at the suggestion of Queen Caroline, is generally regarded as the most unsatisfactory of all his writings. It is marred by the same rashness in emendation and lack of poetical feeling as his Horace; but there is less excuse for him in this case, since the English text could not offer the same field for conjecture. He put forward the idea that Milton employed both an amanuensis and an editor, who were to be held responsible for the clerical errors, alterations and interpolations which Bentley professed to detect. It is uncertain whether this was a device on the part of Bentley to excuse his own numerous corrections, or whether he really believed in the existence of this editor. Of the contemplated edition of Homer nothing was published; all that remains of it consists of some manuscript and marginal notes in the possession of Trinity College. Their chief importance lies in the attempt to restore the metre by the insertion of the lost digamma. Among his minor works may be mentioned: the _Astronomica_ of Manilius (1739), for which he had been collecting materials since 1691; a letter on the Sigean inscription on a marble slab found in the Troad, now in the British Museum; notes on the _Theriaca_ of Nicander and on Lucan, published after his death by Cumberland; emendations of Plautus (in his copies of the editions by Pareus, Camerarius and Gronovius, edited by Schroder, 1880, and Sonnenschein, 1883). _Bentleii Critica Sacra_ (1862), edited by A.A. Ellis, contains the epistle to the Galatians (and excerpts), printed from an interleaved folio copy of the Greek and Latin Vulgate in Trinity College. A collection of his _Opuscula Philologica_ was published at Leipzig in 1781. The edition of his works by Dyce (1836-1838) is incomplete.

He had married in 1701 Joanna, daughter of Sir John Bernard of Brampton in Huntingdonshire. Their union lasted forty years. Mrs Bentley died in 1740, leaving a son, Richard, and two daughters, one of whom married in 1728 Mr Denison Cumberland, grandson of Richard Cumberland, bishop of Peterborough. Their son was Richard Cumberland, the dramatist. Surrounded by his grandchildren, Dr Bentley experienced the joint pressure of age and infirmity as lightly as is consistent with the lot of humanity. He continued to amuse himself with reading; and though nearly confined to his arm-chair, was able to enjoy the society of his friends and several rising scholars, J. Markland, John Taylor, his nephews Richard and Thomas Bentley, with whom he discussed classical subjects. He was accustomed to say that he should live to be eighty, adding that a life of that duration was long enough to read everything worth reading. He fulfilled his own prediction, dying of pleurisy on the 14th of July 1742. Though accused by his enemies of being grasping, he left not more than L5000 behind him. A few Greek MSS., brought from Mount Athos, he left to the college library; his books and papers to his nephew, Richard Bentley. Richard, who was a fellow of Trinity, at his death in 1786 left the papers to the college library. The books, containing in many cases valuable manuscript notes, were purchased by the British Museum.

Of his personal habits some anecdotes are related by his grandson, Richard Cumberland, in vol. i. of his _Memoirs_ (1807). The hat of formidable dimensions, which he always wore during reading to shade his eyes, and his preference of port to claret (which he said "would be port if it could") are traits embodied in Pope's caricature (_Dunciad_, b. 4), which bears in other respects little resemblance to the original. He did not take up the habit of smoking till he was seventy. He held the archdeaconry of Ely with two livings, but never obtained higher preference in the church. He was offered the (then poor) bishopric of Bristol but refused it, and being asked what preferment he would consider worth his acceptance, replied, "That which would leave him no reason to wish for a removal."

Bentley was the first, perhaps the only, Englishman who can be ranked with the great heroes of classical learning, although perhaps not a great classical scholar. Before him there were only John Selden, and, in a more restricted field, Thomas Gataker and Pearson. But Selden, a man of stupendous learning, wanted the freshness of original genius and confident mastery over the whole region of his knowledge. "Bentley inaugurated a new era of the art of criticism. He opened a new path. With him criticism attained its majority. Where scholars had hitherto offered suggestions and conjectures, Bentley, with unlimited control over the whole material of learning, gave decisions" (Mahly). The modern German school of philology does ungrudging homage to his genius. Bentley, says Bunsen, "was the founder of historical philology." And Jakob Bernays says of his corrections of the _Tristia_, "corruptions which had hitherto defied every attempt even of the mightiest, were removed by a touch of the fingers of this British Samson." The English school of Hellenists, by which the 18th century was distinguished, and which contains the names of R. Dawes, J. Markland, J. Taylor, J. Toup, T. Tyrwhitt, Richard Porson, P.P. Dobree, Thomas Kidd and J.H. Monk, was the creation of Bentley. And even the Dutch school of the same period, though the outcome of a native tradition, was in no small degree stimulated and directed by the example of Bentley, whose letters to the young Hemsterhuis on his edition of Julius Pollux produced so powerful an effect on him, that he became one of Bentley's most devoted admirers.

Bentley was a source of inspiration to a following generation of scholars. Himself, he sprang from the earth without forerunners, without antecedents. Self-taught, he created his own science. It was his misfortune that there was no contemporary gild of learning in England by which his power could be measured, and his eccentricities checked. In the _Phalaris_ controversy his academical adversaries had not sufficient knowledge to know how absolute their defeat was. Garth's couplet--

"So diamonds take a lustre from their foil, And to a Bentley 'tis we owe a Boyle"--

expressed the belief of the wits or literary world of the time. The attacks upon him by Pope, John Arbuthnot and others are evidence of their inability to appreciate his work. To them, textual criticism seemed mere pedantry and useless labour. It was not only that he had to live with inferiors, and to waste his energy in a struggle forced upon him by the necessities of his official position, but the wholesome stimulus of competition and the encouragement of a sympathetic circle were wanting. In a university where the instruction of youth or the religious controversy of the day were the only known occupations, Bentley was an isolated phenomenon, and we can hardly wonder that he should have flagged in his literary exertions after his appointment to the mastership of Trinity. All his vast acquisitions and all his original views seem to have been obtained before 1700. After this period he acquired little and made only spasmodic efforts--the _Horace_, the _Terence_ and the _Milton_. The prolonged mental concentration and mature meditation, which alone can produce a great work, were wanting to him.

F.A. Wolf, _Literarische Analekten_, i. (1816); Monk, _Life of Bentley_ (1830); J. Mahly, _Richard Bentley, eine Biographie_ (1868); R.C. Jebb, _Bentley_ ("English Men of Letters" series, 1882), where a list of authorities bearing on Bentley's life and work is given. For his letters see _Bentlei et doctorum virorum ad eum Epistolae_ (1807); _The Correspondence of Richard Bentley_, edited by C. Wordsworth (1842). See also J.E. Sandys, _History of Classical Scholarship_, ii. 401-410 (1908); and the _Bibliography of Bentley_, by A.T. Bartholomew and J.W. Clark (Cambridge, 1908).

BENTLEY, RICHARD (1794-1871), British publisher, was born in London in 1794. His father owned the _General Evening Post_ in conjunction with John Nichols, to whom Richard Bentley, on leaving St Paul's school, was apprenticed to learn the printing trade. With his brother SAMUEL (1785-1868), an antiquarian of some repute, he set up a printing establishment, but in 1829 he began business as a publisher in partnership with Henry Colburn in New Burlington Street. Colburn retired in 1832 and Bentley continued business on his own account. In 1837 he began _Bentley's Miscellany_, edited for the first three years of its existence by Charles Dickens, whose _Oliver Twist_, with Cruikshank's illustrations, appeared in its pages. Bentley and his son GEORGE (1828-1895), as Richard Bentley & Son, published works by R.H. Barham, Theodore Hook, Isaac D'Israeli, Judge Haliburton and others; also the "Library of Standard Novels" and the "Favourite Novel Library." In the latter series Mrs Henry Wood's _East Lynne_ appeared. In 1866 the firm took over the publication of _Temple Bar_, with which _Bentley's Miscellany_ was afterwards incorporated. Richard Bentley died on the 10th of September 1871. His son, George Bentley, and his grandson, Richard Bentley, junior, continued the business until it was absorbed (1898) by Macmillan & Co.

See also _R. Bentley & Son_ (Edinburgh, 1886), a history of the firm reprinted from _Le Livre_ (October, 1885).

BENTON, THOMAS HART (1782-1858), American statesman, was born at Hillsborough, Orange county, North Carolina, on the 14th of March 1782. His father, an Englishman of refinement and scholarship, died in 1790, leaving the boy under the influence of a very superior mother, from whom he received lessons in book learning, piety and temperance quite unusual in the frontier country. His home studies, facilitated by his father's fine library, were supplemented by a brief stay at the university of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) in 1799. The family removed, probably in this year, to a large tract of land which had been acquired by the father on the outskirts of the Indian country (at Benton Town, now Leipers Fork) near Franklin, Tennessee. The following years, during which Benton was at various times school teacher, farmer, lawyer and politician, were the distinctively formative period of his life. His intense democracy and many features of his boldly cast personality were perfectly representative of the border people among whom he lived; although his education, social standing and force of character placed him above his fellows. In 1809 he served a term as state senator. Between 1815 and 1817 he transferred his interests to St Louis, Missouri, and in 1820 was elected United States senator from the new state. His senatorial career of thirty years (1821-1851) was one of extreme prominence. A friendship early formed in Tennessee for Andrew Jackson was broken in 1813 by an armed fracas between the principals and their friends, but after the presidential election of 1824 Benton became a Jacksonian Democrat and Jackson's close friend, and as such was long the Democratic leader in the Senate, his power being greatest during Jackson's second term. He continued to be the administration's right-hand man under Van Buren, but gradually lost influence under Polk, with whom he finally broke both personally and politically.

The events of Benton's political life are associated primarily with three things: the second United States Bank, westward expansion and slavery. In the long struggles over the bank, the deposits and the "expunging resolution" (i.e. the resolution to expunge from the records of the Senate the vote of censure of President Jackson for his removal of the government deposits from the bank), Benton led the Jackson Democrats. His opposition to a national bank and insistence on the peculiar virtues of "hard money," whence his sobriquet of "Old Bullion," went back to his Tennessee days. In all that concerned the expansion of the country and the fortunes of the West no public man was more consistent or more influential than Benton, and none so clear of vision. Reared on the border, and representing a state long the farthermost outpost across the Mississippi in the Indian country, he held the ultra-American views of his section as regarded foreign relations generally, and the "manifest destiny" of expansion westward especially. It was quite natural that he should advocate the removal westward of the Indian tribes, should urge the encouragement of trade with Sante Fe (New Mexico), and should oppose the abandonment in the Spanish treaty of 1819 of American claims to Texas. He once thought the Rocky Mountains the proper western limit of the United States (1824), but this view he soon outgrew. He was the originator of the policy of homestead laws by which the public lands were used to promote the settlement of the west by home-seekers. No other man was so early and so long active for transcontinental railways. But Benton was not a land-grabber, whether in the interest of slavery or of mere jingoism. In the case of Oregon, for instance, he was firmly against joint occupation with Great Britain, but he was always for the boundary of 49 deg. and never joined in the campaign-jingo cry of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight." It was he who chiefly aided Polk in withdrawing from that untenable position. He despised pretexts and intrigues. Both in the case of Oregon and in that of Texas, though one of the earliest and most insistent of those who favoured their acquisition, yet in the face of southern and western sentiment he denounced the sordid and devious intrigues and politics connected with their acquisition, and kept clear of these. For the same reason he opposed the Mexican War, though not its prosecution once begun. In the Texas question slavery was prominent. Toward slavery Benton held a peculiarly creditable attitude. A southerner, he was a slaveholder; but he seems to have gradually learned that slavery was a curse to the South, for in 1844 he declared that he would not introduce it into Texas lands "where it was never known," and in 1849 proclaimed that his personal sentiments were "against the institution of slavery." In the long struggle over slavery in the territories, following 1845, he was for the extreme demands of neither section; not because he was timorous or a compromiser,--no man was less of either,--but because he stood unwaveringly for justice to both sections, never adopting exaggerated views that must or even could be compromised. The truth is that he was always a westerner before he was a southerner and a union man before all things else; he was no whit less national than Webster. Hence his distrust and finally hatred of Calhoun, dating from the nullification episode of 1832-1833. As the South under Calhoun's lead became increasingly sectional and aggressive, Benton increasingly lost sympathy with her. Though he despised political inaction Abolitionists, and hated their propaganda as inimical to the Union, he would not therefore close the national mails to Abolition literature, nor abridge the right of petition. No statesman was more prescient of the disunion tendencies of Calhoun's policies, and as early as 1844 he prophetically denounced the treason to the Union toward which the South was drifting. He would not drift with her for the sake of slavery, and this was his political undoing. In 1851 Missouri rejected him in his sixth candidacy for the Senate, after he had been an autocrat in her politics for thirty years. In 1852 he was elected to the House of Representatives, but his opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise caused his defeat in 1854. An unsuccessful campaign for the governorship of Missouri in 1856 ended his political career. He died at Washington on the 10th of April 1858.

Benton's entire career was eminently creditable, and he is, besides, one of the most picturesque figures in American political history. His political principles--whether as regarded lobbying, congressional jobbing, civil service or great issues of legislation and foreign affairs--were of the highest. He was so independent that he had great dislike for caucuses, and despised party platforms--although he never voted any but the Democratic ticket, even when his son-in-law, J.C. Fremont, was the Republican presidential candidate in 1856; nor would he accept instructions from the Missouri legislature. His career shows no truckling to self-interest, and on large issues he outgrew partisanship. Although palpably inferior to each of his great senatorial colleagues, Webster, Clay and Calhoun, in some gifts, yet if character, qualities and career be taken in the whole his were possibly the most creditable of all. Benton was austere, aggressive and vain; besides, he had a fatal deficiency of humour. Nevertheless he had great influence, which was a deserved tribute to his ability and high character. An indefatigable student, he treated all subjects capably, and especially in questions of his country's history and the exploration of the West had few equals--in the latter none. He acted always with uncalculating boldness, and defended his acts with extraordinary courage and persistence. Benton wrote a _Thirty Years' View ... of the American Government_ (2 vols., 1854-1856), characteristic of the author's personality; it is of great value for the history of his time. He also compiled an _Abridgment of the Debates of Congress_, 1789-1850 (16 vols., 1857-1861), likewise of great usefulness; and published a bitter review of the Dred Scott decision full of extremely valuable historical details--_Historical and Legal Examination of ... the Dred Scott Case_ (1857). All were written in the last eight years of his life and mostly in the last three.

The best biography is that by W.M. Meigs, _Life of Thomas Hart Benton_ (Philadelphia and London, 1904). See also Theodore Roosevelt's _Thomas Hart Benton_ (Boston, 1887), in the "American Statesmen" series, which admirably brings out Benton's significance as a western man; and Joseph M. Rogers's _Thomas Hart Benton_ (Philadelphia, 1905) in the "American Crisis" series.

BENTON HARBOR, a city of Berrien county, Michigan, U.S.A., on the Saint Joseph river, about 1 m. from Lake Michigan (with which it is connected by a ship canal), near the S.W. corner of the state, and 1 m. N.E. of St Joseph. Pop. (1890) 3692; (1900) 6562, of whom 795 were foreign-born; (1904) 6702; (1910) 9185. It is served by the Pere Marquette, the Michigan Central, and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis railways, by electric railways to St Joseph and Niles, Mich., and South Bend, Indiana, and for a part of the year by steamboat lines to Chicago and Milwaukee. One mile south-east of the city are a sanitarium and the Eastman mineral springs; within the city also there are springs and bath-houses. Near the city is a communistic religious community, the Israelite House of David, founded in 1903, the members believe that they are a part of the 144,000 elect (Revelation, vii, xiv) ultimately to be redeemed. Benton Harbor has a large trade in fruit (peaches, grapes, pears, cherries, strawberries, raspberries and apples) and other market garden produce raised in the vicinity. The city's manufactures include fruit baskets, preserved fruits, cider, vinegar, pickles, furniture, lumber and stationers' supplies, particularly material for the "loose-leaf ledger" system of accounting. Benton Harbor, which was known as Bronson Harbor until 1865, was incorporated as a village in 1869, was chartered as a city in 1891, and in 1903 received a new charter.

BENUE, a river of West Africa, the largest and most important affluent of the Niger (q.v.), which it joins after a course of over 800 m. in a general east to west direction from its source in the mountains of Adamawa. Through the Tuburi marshes there is a water connexion between the Benue (Niger) and Shari (Lake Chad) systems.

BEN VENUE, a mountain in south-west Perthshire, Scotland, 10 m. W. of Callander. Its principal peaks are 2393 and 2386 ft. high, and, owing to its position near the south-eastern shore of Loch Katrine, its imposing contour is one of the most familiar features in the scenery of the Trossachs, the mountain itself figuring prominently in _The Lady of the Lake_. On its northern base, close to the lake, Sir Walter Scott placed the Coir-nan-Uriskin, or "Goblin's Cave." Immediately to the south of the cave is the dell called Beal(ach)-nam-Bo, or "Cattle Pass," through which were driven to the refuge of the Trossachs the herds lifted by the Highland marauders in their excursions to the lands south of Loch Lomond. The pass, though comparatively unvisited, offers the grandest scenery in the district.

BENZALDEHYDE (oil of bitter almonds), C6H5CHO, the simplest representative of the aromatic aldehydes. It was first isolated in 1803 and was the subject of an important investigation by J. v. Liebigin 1837 (_Annalen_, 1837, 22, p. 1). It occurs naturally in the form of the glucoside amygdalin (C20H27NO11), which is present in bitter almonds, cherries, peaches and the leaves of the cherry laurel; and is obtained from this substance by hydrolysis with dilute acids:

C20H27NO11 + 2H2O = HCN + 2C6H12O6 + C6H5CHO.

It occurs free in bitter almonds, being formed by an enzyme decomposition of amygdalin (q.v.). It may also be prepared by oxidizing benzyl alcohol with concentrated nitric acid; by distilling a mixture of calcium benzoate and calcium formate; by the condensation of chlor-oxalic ester with benzene in the presence of aluminium chloride, the ester of the ketonic acid formed being then hydrolysed and the resulting acid distilled:

C6H6 + Cl.CO.COOC2H5 = C6H5CO.COOC2H5 + HCl, C6H5CO.COOH = C6H5CHO + CO2;

by the action of anhydrous hydrocyanic acid and hydrochloric acid on benzene, an aldime being formed as an intermediate product:

C6H6 + HCN + HCl = C6H5CH : NH.HCl, Benzaldine hydrochloride

C6H5CH : NH.HCl + H2O = NH4Cl + C6H5CHO;

and by the action of chromium oxychloride on toluene dissolved in carbon bisulphide (A. Etard, _Berichte_, 1884, 17, pp. 1462, 1700).

Technically it is prepared from toluene, by converting it into benzyl chloride, which is then heated with lead nitrate:

C6H5CH2Cl + Pb(NO3)2 = 2NO2 + PbCl.OH + C6H5CHO,

or, by conversion into benzal chloride, which is heated with milk of lime under pressure.

C6H5CHCl2 + CaO = CaCL2 + C6H5CHO.

E. Jacobsen has also obtained benzaldehyde by heating benzal chloride with glacial acetic acid:

C6H5CHCl2 + CH3COOH = CH3COCl + HCl + C6H5CHO.

Benzaldehyde is a colourless liquid smelling of bitter almonds. Its specific gravity is 1.0636 (0/0 deg. C.), and it boils at 179.1 deg. C. (751.3 mm). It is only slightly soluble in water, but is readily volatile in steam. It possesses all the characteristic properties of an aldehyde; being readily oxidized to benzoic acid; reducing solutions of silver salts; forming addition products with hydrogen, hydrocyanic acid and sodium bisulphite; and giving an oxime and a hydrazone. On the other hand, it differs from the aliphatic aldehydes in many respects; it does not form an addition product with ammonia but condenses to hydrobenzamide (C6H5CH)3N2; on shaking with alcoholic potash it undergoes simultaneous oxidation and reduction, giving benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol (S. Cannizzaro); and on warming with alcoholic potassium cyanide it condenses to benzoin (q.v.).

The oxidation of benzaldehyde to benzoic acid when exposed to air is not one of ordinary oxidation, for it has been observed in the case of many compounds that during such oxidation, as much oxygen is rendered "active" as is used up by the substance undergoing oxidation; thus if benzaldehyde is left for some time in contact with air, water and indigosulphonic acid, just as much oxygen is used up in oxidizing the indigo compound as in oxidizing the aldehyde. A. v. Baeyer and V. Villiger (_Berichte_, 1900, 33, pp. 858, 2480) have shown that benzoyl hydrogen peroxide C6H5.CO.O.OH is formed as an intermediate product and that this oxidizes the indigo compound, being itself reduced to benzoic acid; they have also shown that this peroxide is soluble in benzaldehyde with production of benzoic acid, and it must be assumed that the oxidation of benzaldehyde proceeds as shown in the equations:

C6H5CHO + O2 = C6H5.CO.O.OH, C6H5CO.O.OH + C6H5CHO = 2C6H5COOH.

Further see G. Bodlander, _Ahrens Sammlung_, 1899, iii. 470; W.P. Jorissen, _Zeit. fur phys. Chem._, 1897, 22, p. 56; C. Engler and W. Wild, _Berichte_, 1897, 30, p. 1669.

The oxime of benzaldehyde (C6H5CH:N.OH), formed by the addition of hydroxylamine to the aldehyde, exhibits a characteristic behaviour when hydrochloric acid gas is passed into its ethereal solution, a second modification being produced. The former (known as the [alpha] or benz-anti-aldoxime) melts at 34-35 deg. C.; the latter ([beta] or benz-syn-aldoxime) melts at 130 deg. C. and is slowly transformed into the [alpha] form. The difference between the two forms has been explained by A. Hantzsch and A. Werner (_Berichte_, 1890, 23, p. 11) by the assumption of the different spatial arrangement of the atoms (see STEREO-ISOMERISM). On account of the readiness with which it condenses with various compounds, benzaldehyde is an important synthetic reagent. With aniline it forms benzylidine aniline C6H5CH:N.C6H5, and with acetone, benzal acetone C6H5CH : CH.CO.CH3. Heated with anhydrous sodium acetate and acetic anhydride it gives cinnamic acid (q.v.); with ethyl bromide and sodium it forms triphenyl-carbinol (C6H5)3C.OH; with dimethylaniline and anhydrous zinc chloride it forms leuco-malachite green C6H5CH[C6H4N(CH3)2]2; and with dimethylaniline and concentrated hydrochloric acid it gives dimethylaminobenzhydrol, C6H5CH(OH)C6H4N(CH3)2. Heated with sulphur it forms benzoic acid and stilbene:

2C7H6O + S = C6H5COOH + C6H6CHS, 2C6H5CHS = 2S + C14H12.

Its addition compound with hydrocyanic acid gives mandelic acid C6H5CH(OH).COOH on hydrolysis; when heated with sodium succinate and acetic anhydride, phenyl-iso-crotonic acid C6H5CH : CH.CH2COOH is produced, which on boiling is converted into [alpha]-naphthol C10H7OH. It can also be used for the synthesis of pyridine derivatives, since A. Hantzsch has shown that aldehydes condense with aceto-acetic ester and ammonia to produce the homologues of pyridine, thus:

R R | | ROOC.CH2 CHO CH2.COOR ROOC.C-CH-C.COOR | + + | = || || + 3H2O. H3C.CO NH3 CO.CH3 H3C.C-NH-C.CH3

On nitration it yields chiefly meta-nitro-benzaldehyde, crystallizing in needles which melt at 58 deg. C. The ortho-compound may be obtained by oxidizing ortho-nitrocinnamic acid with alkaline potassium permanganate in the presence of benzene; or from ortho-nitrobenzyl chloride by condensing it with aniline, oxidizing the product so obtained to ortho-nitrobenzylidine aniline, and then hydrolysing this compound with an acid (_Farben fabrik d. Meister, Lucius und Bruning_). It crystallizes in yellowish needles, which are volatile in steam and melt at 46 deg. C. It is used in the artificial production of indigo (see _German Patent_ 19768).

Para-nitrobenzaldehyde crystallizes in prisms melting at 107 deg. C. and is prepared by the action of chromium oxychloride on para-nitrotoluene, or by oxidizing para-nitrocinnamic acid. By the reduction of ortho-nitrobenzaldehyde with ferrous sulphate and ammonia, ortho-aminobenzaldehyde is obtained. This compound condenses in alkaline solution with compounds containing the grouping -CH2-CO- to form quinoline (q.v.) or its derivatives; thus, with acetaldehyde it forms quinoline, and with acetone, [alpha]-methyl quinoline. With urea it gives quinazolone

CH /\ / \\N | | | | | CO , \/ \ / NH

and with mandelic nitrile and its homologues it forms oxazole derivatives (S.S. Minovici, _Berichte_, 1896, 29, p. 2097).

BENZENE, C6H6, a hydrocarbon discovered in 1825 by Faraday in the liquid produced in the compression of the illuminating gas obtained by distilling certain oils and fats. E. Mitscherlich prepared it in 1834 by distilling benzoic acid with lime; and in 1845 Hofmann discovered it in coal-tar. It was named "benzin" or "benzine" by Mitscherlich in 1833, but in the following year Liebig proposed "benzol" (the termination _ol_ being suggested by the Lat. _oleum_, oil); the form "benzene" was due to A.W. Hofmann. The word "benzine" is sometimes used in commerce for the coal-tar product, but also for the light petroleum better known as petroleum-benzine; a similar ambiguity is presented by the word "benzoline," which is applied to the same substances as the word "benzine." "Benzene" is the term used by English chemists, "benzol" is used in Germany, and "benzole" in France.

Benzene is manufactured from the low-boiling fractions of the coal-tar distillate (see COAL-TAR). The first successful fractionation of coal-tar naphtha was devised by C.B. Mansfield (1819-1855), who separated a benzol distilling below 100 deg. from a less volatile naphtha by using a simple dephlegmator. At first, the oil was manufactured principally for combustion in the Read-Holliday lamp and for dissolving rubber, but the development of the coal-tar colour industry occasioned a demand for benzols of definite purity. In the earlier stages 30%, 50% and 90% benzols were required, the 30% being mainly used for the manufacture of "aniline for red," and the 90% for "aniline for blue." (The term "30% benzol" means that 30% by volume distils below 100 deg.) A purer benzol was subsequently required for the manufacture of aniline black and other dye-stuffs. The process originally suggested by Mansfield is generally followed, the success of the operation being principally conditioned by the efficiency of the dephlegmator, in which various improvements have been made. The light oil fraction of the coal-tar distillate, which comes over below 140 deg. and consists principally of benzene, toluene and the xylenes, yields on fractionation (1) various volatile impurities such as carbon disulphide, (2) the benzene fraction boiling at about 80 deg. C., (3) the toluene fraction boiling at 100 deg., (4) the xylene fraction boiling at 140 deg. The fractions are agitated with strong sulphuric acid, and then washed with a caustic soda solution. The washed products are then refractionated. The toluene fraction requires a more thorough washing with sulphuric acid in order to eliminate the thiotolene, which is sulphonated much less readily than thiophene.

Benzene is a colourless, limpid, highly refracting liquid, having a pleasing and characteristic odour. It may be solidified to rhombic crystals which melt at 5.4 deg. C. (Mansfield obtained perfectly pure benzene by freezing a carefully fractionated sample.) It boils at 80.4 deg., and the vapour is highly inflammable, the flame being extremely smoky. Its specific gravity is 0.899 at 0 deg. C. It is very slightly soluble in water, more soluble in alcohol, and completely miscible with ether, acetic acid and carbon disulphide. It is an excellent solvent for gums, resins, fats, &c.; sulphur, phosphorus and iodine also dissolve in it. It sometimes separates with crystals of a solute as "benzene of crystallization," as for example with triphenylmethane, thio-p-tolyl urea, tropine, &c.

Benzene is of exceptional importance commercially on account of the many compounds derivable from it, which are exceedingly valuable in the arts. Chemically it is one of the most interesting substances known, since it is the parent of the enormous number of compounds styled the "aromatic" or "benzenoid" compounds. The constitution of the benzene ring, the isomerism of its derivatives, and their syntheses from aliphatic or open-chain compounds, are treated in the article CHEMISTRY. A summary of its chemical transformations may be given here, and reference should be made to the articles on the separate compounds for further details.

Passed through a red-hot tube, benzene vapour yields hydrogen, diphenyl, diphenylbenzenes and acetylene; the formation of the last compound is an instance of a reversible reaction, since Berthelot found that acetylene passed through a red-hot tube gave some benzene. Benzene is very stable to oxidants, in fact resistance to oxidation is a strong characteristic of the benzene ring. Manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid oxidize it to benzoic and o-phthalic acid; potassium chlorate and sulphuric acid breaks the ring; and ozone oxidizes it to the highly explosive white solid named ozo-benzene, C6H6O6. Hydriodic acid reduces it to hexamethylene (cyclo-hexane or hexa-hydro-benzene); chlorine and bromine form substitution and addition products, but the action is slow unless some carrier such as iodine, molybdenum chloride or ferric chloride for chlorine, and aluminium bromide for bromine, be present. It is readily nitrated to nitrobenzene, two, and even three nitro groups being introduced if some dehydrator such as concentrated sulphuric acid be present. Sulphuric acid gives a benzene sulphonic acid.

BENZIDINE (DIPARA-DIAMINO-DIPHENYL), NH2.C6H4.C6H4.NH2, a chemical base which may be prepared by the reduction of the corresponding dinitro-diphenyl, or by the reduction of azo-benzene with tin and hydrochloric acid. In this latter case hydrazo-benzene C6H5NH.NH.C6H5 is first formed and then undergoes a peculiar re-arrangement into benzidine (see H. Schmidt and G. Schultz, _Annalen_, 1881, 207, p. 320; O.N. Witt and Hans v. Helmont, _Berichte_, 1894, 27, p. 2352; P. Jacobson, _Berichte_, 1892, 25, p. 994). Benzidine crystallizes in plates (from water) which melt at 122 deg. C., and boil above 360 deg. C., and is characterized by the great insolubility of its sulphate. It is a di-acid base and forms salts with the mineral acids. It is readily brominated and nitrated; when the nitration is carried out in the presence of sulphuric acid, the nitro-groups take up the meta position with regard to the amino-groups. Benzidine finds commercial application since its tetrazo compound couples readily with amino-sulphonic acids, phenol carboxylic acids, and phenol and naphthol-sulphonic acids to produce substantive cotton dyes (see DYEING). Among such dyestuffs are chrysamine or flavophenine, obtained from salicylic acid and diazotized benzidine, and congo red obtained from sodium naphthionate and diazotized benzidine. On the constitution of benzidine see G. Schultz (_Annalen_, 1874, 174, p. 227).

_The Benzidine and Semidine Change._--Aromatic hydrazo compounds which contain free para positions are readily converted by the action of acids, acid chlorides and anhydrides into diphenyl derivatives; thus, as mentioned above, hydrazo-benzene is converted into benzidine, a small quantity of diphenylin being formed at the same time. The two products are separated by the different solubilities of their sulphates. This reaction is known as the _benzidine transformation_. If, however, one of the para positions in the hydrazo compound is substituted, then either diphenyl derivatives or azo compounds are formed, or what is known as the _semidine change_ takes place (P. Jacobson, _Berichte_, 1892, 25, p. 992; 1893, 26, p. 681; 1896, 29, p. 2680; _Annalen_, 1895, 287, p. 97; 1898, 303, p. 290). A para mono substituted hydrazo compound in the presence of a hydrochloric acid solution of stannous chloride gives either a para diphenyl derivative (the substituent group being eliminated), an ortho-semidine, a para-semidine, or a diphenyl base, whilst a decomposition with the formation of amines may also take place. The nature of the substituent exerts a specific influence on the reaction; thus with chlorine or bromine, ortho-semidines and the diphenyl bases are the chief products; the dimethylamino, -N(CH3)2, and acetamino, -NHCOCH3, groups give the diphenyl base and the para-semidine respectively. With a methyl group, the chief product is an ortho-semidine, whilst with a carboxyl group, the diphenyl derivative is the chief product. The ortho- and para- semidines can be readily distinguished by their behaviour with different reagents; thus with nitrous acid the ortho-semidines give azimido compounds, whilst the para-semidines give complex diazo derivatives; with formic or acetic acids the ortho-semidines give anhydro compounds of a basic character, the para-semidines give acyl products possessing no basic character. The carbon disulphide and salicylic aldehyde products have also been used as means of distinction, as has also the formation of the stilbazonium bases obtained by condensing ortho-semidines with benzil (O.N. Witt, _Berichte_, 1892, 25, p. 1017).

Structurally we have:--

__ __ __ __ __ __NH2 / \_NH.NH _/ \-->NH2 / \_/ \NH2 and NH2 / \_/ \ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ Hydrobenzene. Benzidine. Diphenylin. __ __ __ __ __ __ R/ \_NH.NH _/ \--> / \_NH_/ \or R/ \_NH_/ \NH2 \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ \__/ Ortho-semidine. Para-semidine.

__NH2__ or / \_/ \NH2. \__/ \__/ R

BENZOIC ACID, C7H6O2 or C6H5COOH, the simplest representative of the aromatic acids. It occurs naturally in some resins, especially in gum benzoin (from _Styrax benzoin_), in dragon's blood, and as a benzyl ester in Peru and Tolu balsams. It can be prepared by the oxidation of toluene, benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde and cinnamic acid; by the oxidation of benzene with manganese dioxide and concentrated sulphuric acid in the cold (L. Carius, _Ann_. 1868, 148, p. 51); by hydrolysis of benzonitrile or of hippuric acid; by the action of carbon dioxide on benzene in the presence of aluminium chloride (C. Friedel and J.M. Crafts, _Ann. chim. phys._ 1888 [6], 14, p. 441); by the action of carbon dioxide on monobrombenzene in the presence of sodium; by condensing benzene and carbonyl chloride in presence of aluminium chloride, the benzoyl chloride formed being subsequently hydrolysed; and similarly from benzene and chlorformamide:--

C6H6 + Cl.CONH2 = HCl + C6H5CONH2,

the benzamide being then hydrolysed. It may also be prepared by boiling benzyl chloride with dilute nitric acid (G. Lunge, _Berichte_, 1877, 10, p. 1275); by fusing sodium benzene sulphonate with sodium formate: C6H5SO3Na + HCO2Na = C6H5COONa + NaHSO3; by heating calcium phthalate with calcium hydroxide to 330 deg.-350 deg. C.; by heating benzotrichloride with water in a sealed tube, and from the hippuric acid which is found in the urine of the herbivorae. For this purpose the urine is concentrated and the hippuric acid precipitated by the addition of hydrochloric acid; it is then filtered and boiled for some time with concentrated hydrochloric acid, when it is hydrolysed into benzoic and amido-acetic acid. It is made commercially by boiling benzotrichloride (obtained from toluene) with milk of lime, the calcium benzoate so obtained being then decomposed by hydrochloric acid

2C6H5CCl3 + 4Ca(OH)2 = (C6H5COO)2Ca + 3CaCl2 + 4H2O.

Benzoic acid crystallizes in glistening leaflets (from water) which melt at 121.4 deg. C. and boil at 249.2 deg. C. (H. Kopp). Its specific heat is 0.1946. It sublimes readily and is volatile in steam. It is readily soluble in hot water and the ordinary organic solvents, but is only slightly soluble in cold water. When heated with lime, it is decomposed, benzene being formed; if its vapours are passed over heated zinc dust, it is converted into benzaldehyde (A. Baeyer, _Ann_. 1866, 140, p. 296). Distillation of its calcium salt gives benzophenone (q.v.) with small quantities of other substances, but if the calcium salt be mixed with calcium formate and the mixture distilled, benzaldehyde is produced. By the action of sodium amalgam on an aqueous solution of the acid, benzyl alcohol, tetrahydrobenzoic acid and hexahydrobenzoic acid are formed. The salts of benzoic acid are known as the benzoates and are mostly soluble in water. They are readily decomposed by mineral acids with the production of benzoic acid, and on addition of ferric chloride to their neutral solutions give a reddish-brown precipitate of ferric benzoate.

Benzoic anhydride, (C6H5CO)2O, is prepared by the action of benzoyl chloride on sodium benzoate, or by heating benzoyl chloride with anhydrous oxalic acid (R. Anschutz, _Ann_. 1884, 226, p. 15). It crystallizes in needles, melting at 42 deg.C., and boiling at 360 deg. C. It is insoluble in water but readily soluble in alcohol and ether.

Benzoyl chloride, C6H5COCl, is formed by distilling a mixture of phosphorus pentachloride and benzoic acid; by the action of chlorine on benzaldehyde, or by passing a stream of hydrochloric acid gas over a mixture of benzoic acid and phosphorus pentoxide heated to 200 deg. C. (C. Friedel, _Ber._ 1869, 2, p. 80). It is a colourless liquid of very unpleasant smell, which boils at 198 deg. C., and solidifies in a freezing mixture, the crystals obtained melting at -1 deg. C. It shows all the characteristic properties of an acid chloride.

Ethyl benzoate, C6H5COOC2H5, is best prepared by boiling benzoic acid and alcohol with a small quantity of sulphuric acid for some hours (E. Fischer and A. Speier, _Berichte_, 1896, 28, p. 3252). It is a colourless liquid of boiling point 213 deg. C.

_Benzamide_, C6H5CONH2, is prepared by the action of benzoyl chloride on ammonia or ammonium carbonate, or from ethyl benzoate and ammonia. It crystallizes (from water) in glistening leaflets which melt at 130 deg. C. and boil at 288 deg. C. Its silver salt behaves as if it were the salt of an imido benzoic acid, since it yields benzimido ethyl ether C6H5.C( : NH).OC2H5 with ethyl iodide (J. Tafel and C. Enoch, _Berichte_, 1890, 23, p. 1550).

Chlor-, brom-, iodo- and fluor-benzoic acids are known and can be obtained by oxidizing the corresponding halogen toluenes, or from the amido acids, or by substitution. Nitration of benzoic acid gives chiefly meta-nitro-benzoic acid. The ortho- and para-nitro-benzoic acids can be obtained by oxidizing ortho-and para-nitro-cinnamic acids. Ortho-amino-benzoic acid, C6H4.NH2.COOH (anthranilic acid), is closely related to indigo (q.v.).

Gum benzoin, which contains from 12 to 20% of benzoic acid, is used in medicine as the essential constituent of benzoated lard, _Adeps benzoatus_, which owes its antiseptic properties to benzoic acid; and in friar's balsam, _Tinctura benzoini composita_, which is an ancient and valuable medicament, still largely used for inhalation in cases of laryngitis, bronchitis and other inflammatory or actually septic conditions of the respiratory tract. It owes its value to the benzoic acid which it contains. A fluid drachm of friar's balsam may be added to a pint of water at a temperature of about 140 deg. F., and the resultant vapour may be inhaled from the spout of a kettle or from a special inhaler. Benzoic acid itself, ammonium benzoate and sodium benzoate are all administered internally in doses of from five to thirty grains. The ammonium salt is most often employed, owing to the stimulant character of the ammonium base. The acid itself is a powerful antiseptic. When administered internally, it causes the appearance of hippuric acid in the urine. This is due to its combination in the body with glycocoll. The combination probably occurs in the kidney. The hippuric acid in the urine acts as a stimulant and disinfectant to the urinary mucous membrane. Benzoic acid is also excreted by the bronchi and tends to disinfect and stimulate the bronchial mucous membrane. Hence the value of friar's balsam. The acid and its salts are antipyretic and were used in Germany instead of salicylates in rheumatic fever. But the most important fact is that ammonium benzoate is largely used--often in combination with urinary anodynes such as tincture of hyoscyamus--as a urinary antiseptic in cases of cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) and pyelitis (inflammation of the pelvis of the kidney).

BENZOIN, C6H5CHOH.CO.C6H5, a ketone-alcohol, which may be prepared by boiling an alcoholic solution of benzaldehyde with potassium cyanide; by reducing benzil (C6H5CO.CO.C6H5) with zinc and acetic acid; or by the oxidation of hydrobenzoin (C6H5.CHOH.CHOH.C6H5). It is a colourless, crystalline solid, readily soluble in alcohol and ether, melting at 137 deg. C. and boiling at 343-344 deg.C. On passing the vapour of benzoin over heated lead oxide, it is converted into benzil and benzophenone. Owing to the readiness with which it is oxidized, it acts as a reducing agent, giving a red precipitate of cuprous oxide with Fehling's solution in the cold. Chlorine and nitric acid oxidize it to benzil; chromic acid mixture and potassium permanganate, to benzoic acid and benzaldehyde. On heating with zinc dust, desoxy-benzoin (C6H5CO.CH2.C6H5) is obtained; sodium amalgam converts it into hydrobenzoin; and fuming hydriodic acid at 130 deg. C. gives dibenzyl (C6H5CH2.CH2.C6H5). By fusion with alkali it is converted into benzil; and with an alcoholic solution of benzaldehyde in presence of ammonia it forms amarine (triphenyl dihydro-glyoxaline). In the presence of sulphuric acid it condenses with nitriles to oxazoles (q.v.).

BENZOIN, or GUM BENJAMIN (supposed to be from Arab. _luban_, frankincense, the first syllable being dropped in Romanic as if it were the article), a balsamic resin obtained from _Styrax benzoin_, a tree of considerable size, native to Sumatra and Java, and from other species of _Styrax_. It is obtained by making incisions in the bark of the trees, and appears to be formed as the result of the wound, not to be secreted normally. There are several varieties of benzoin in commerce: (1) Siam benzoin, which apparently does not come from _Styrax benzoin_, is the finest and most aromatic, and occurs in the form of small "tears," rarely exceeding 2 in. in length by 1/2 in. in thickness, and of "blocks" made up of these tears agglomerated by a clear reddish-brown resin. The odour of Siam benzoin is partly due to the presence of vanillin, and the substance contains as much as 38% of benzoic acid but no cinnamic acid. (2) Sumatra benzoin occurs only in masses formed of dull red resin enclosing white tears. It contains about 20% of cinnamic acid in addition to 18 or even more of benzoic. (3) Palembang benzoin, an inferior variety, said to be obtained from _Styrax benzoin_ in Sumatra, consists of greyish translucent resinous masses, containing small white opaque tears. It does not appear to contain cinnamic acid. Large quantities of benzoin are used as incense. Its medicinal uses depend on the contained benzoic acid (q.v.).

BENZOPHENONE (DIPHENYL KETONE), C6H5.CO.C6H5, the simplest representative of the true aromatic ketones. It may be prepared by distilling calcium benzoate; by condensing benzene with benzoyl chloride in the presence of anhydrous aluminium chloride; by the action of mercury diphenyl on benzoyl chloride, or by oxidizing diphenylmethane with chromic acid. It is a dimorphous substance existing in two enantiotropic forms, one melting at 26 deg. C. and the other at 48 deg. C: (Th. Zmcke, _Berichte_, 1871, 4, p. 576). It boils at 306.1 deg. C., under a pressure of 760.32 mm. It is reduced by sodium amalgam to _benzhydrol_ or _diphenyl carbinol_ C6H5.CHOH.C6H5; a stronger reducing agent, such as hydriodic acid in the presence of amorphous phosphorus converts it into _diphenylmethane_ (C6H5)2-CH2. Potash fusion converts it into benzene and benzoic acid. With phenylhydrazine it forms a hydrazone, and with hydroxylamine an oxime, which exists in one form only; if, however, one of the phenyl groups in the oxime be substituted in any way then two stereo-isomeric oximes are produced (cf. STEREO-ISOMERISM); thus parachlorbenzophenone oxime exists in two different forms (V. Meyer and K.F. Auwers, _Berichte_, 1890, 23, p. 2403). Many derivatives are known, thus ortho-amino-benzophenone, melting at 106 deg. C., can be obtained by reduction of the corresponding nitro compound; it condenses under the influence of heated lead monoxide to an acridine derivative and with acetone in presence of caustic soda it gives a quinoline. _Tetramethyl-diamido-benzophenone_ or _Michler's ketone_, CO[C6H4N.(CH3)2]3, melting at 173 deg., is of technical importance, as by condensation with various substances it can be made to yield dye-stuffs. It is prepared by the action of carbonyl chloride on dimethyl aniline in the presence of aluminium chloride: COCl2 + 2C6H5N(CH3)2 = 2HCl + CO[C6H4N(CH3)2]2.

BENZYL ALCOHOL (PHENYL CARBINOL), C6H5CH2OH, occurs as a benzoic ester in Peru balsam, as cinnamic ester in Tolu balsam, as acetic ester in essential oil of jasmine, and also in storax. It may be synthetically prepared by the reduction of benzoyl chloride; by the action of nitrous acid on benzylamine; by boiling benzyl chloride with an aqueous solution of potassium carbonate, or by the so-called "Cannizzaro" reaction, in which benzaldehyde is shaken up with caustic potash, one half of the aldehyde being oxidized to benzoic acid, and the other half reduced to the alcohol. (_Berichte_, 1881, 14, p. 2394).

2C6H5CHO + KOH = C6H5COOK + C6H5CH2OH.

It is a colourless liquid, with a faint aromatic smell, and boils at 206 deg. C. On oxidation with nitric acid it is converted into benzaldehyde, whilst chromic acid oxidizes it to benzoic acid. Reduction by means of hydriodic acid and phosphorus at 140 deg. C. gives toluene, whilst on distillation with alcoholic potash, toluene and benzoic acid are formed.

BEOTHUK, a tribe of North American Indians formerly dwelling in the interior of Newfoundland. A certain mystery attaches to them, since investigation of the few words of their language which have survived suggests that they were of distinct stock. The name (of Micmac origin) is said to mean simply "red men." They were bitterly hostile to the French settlers, and were hunted down and killed off until 1820, when a few survivors made their escape into Labrador. The last of them is believed to have died in 1829.

BEOTHY, ODON (1796-1854), Hungarian deputy and orator, was born at Grosswardein, his father being a retired officer and deputy lord-lieutenant of the county of Bihar. At the age of sixteen he served in the war against Napoleon, and was present at the great battle of Leipzig. Like so many others of his compatriots, he picked up Liberal ideas abroad. He was sent to parliament by his county in 1826 and again in 1830, but did not become generally known till the session of 1832-1836, when along with Deak he, as a liberal Catholic, defended the Protestant point of view in "the mixed marriages question." He was also an energetic advocate of freedom of speech. After parliament rose he carried his principles to their logical conclusion by marrying a Protestant lady and, being denied a blessing on the occasion by an indignant bishop, publicly declared that he could very well dispense with such blessings. In 1841 he was elected deputy lord-lieutenant of his county to counteract the influence of the lord-lieutenant, Lajos Tisza, and powerfully promoted the popular cause by his eloquence and agitation. After 1843 the conservatives succeeded in excluding him both from parliament and from his official position in the county; but during the famous "March Days" (1848) he regained all his authority, becoming at the same time a commander of militia, a deputy and lord-lieutenant. At the first session of the Upper House (5th of July 1848), he moved that it should be radically reformed, and during the war of Independence he energetically served the Hungarian government as a civil commissioner and lord justice. Towards the end of the war he reappeared as a deputy at the Szeged diet, and on the flight of the government took refuge first with Richard Cobden in London and subsequently in Jersey, where he made the acquaintance of Victor Hugo. Thence he went to Hamburg, to meet his wife, and died there on the 7th of December 1854. Beothy was a man of extraordinary ability and character, and an excellent debater. He also exercised as much influence socially over his contemporaries as politically, owing to his unfailing tact and pleasant wit.

See Antal Csengery, _Hungarian Orators and Statesmen_ (Hung., Budapest, 1851). (R. N. B.)

BEOWULF. The epic of Beowulf, the most precious relic of Old English, and, indeed, of all early Germanic literature, has come down to us in a single MS., written about A.D. 1000, which contains also the Old English poem of Judith, and is bound up with other MSS. in a volume in the Cottonian collection now at the British Museum. The subject of the poem is the exploits of Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow and nephew of Hygelac, king of the "Geatas," i.e. the people, called in Scandinavian records Gautar, from whom a part of southern Sweden has received its present name Gotland.

_The Story._--The following is a brief outline of the story, which naturally divides itself into five parts.

1. Beowulf, with fourteen companions, sails to Denmark, to offer his help to Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose hall (called "Heorot") has for twelve years been rendered uninhabitable by the ravages of a devouring monster (apparently in gigantic human shape) called Grendel, a dweller in the waste, who used nightly to force an entrance and slaughter some of the inmates. Beowulf and his friends are feasted in the long-deserted Heorot. At night the Danes withdraw, leaving the strangers alone. When all but Beowulf are asleep, Grendel enters, the iron-barred doors having yielded in a moment to his hand. One of Beowulf's friends is killed; but Beowulf, unarmed, wrestles with the monster, and tears his arm from the shoulder. Grendel, though mortally wounded, breaks from the conqueror's grasp, and escapes from the hall. On the morrow, his bloodstained track is followed until it ends in a distant mere.

2. All fear being now removed, the Danish king and his followers pass the night in Heorot, Beowulf and his comrades being lodged elsewhere. The hall is invaded by Grendel's mother, who kills and carries off one of the Danish nobles. Beowulf proceeds to the mere, and, armed with sword and corslet, plunges into the water. In a vaulted chamber under the waves, he fights with Grendel's mother, and kills her. In the vault he finds the corpse of Grendel; he cuts off the head, and brings it back in triumph.

3. Richly rewarded by Hrothgar, Beowulf returns to his native land. He is welcomed by Hygelac. and relates to him the story of his adventures, with some details not contained in the former narrative. The king bestows on him lands and honours, and during the reigns of Hygelac and his son Heardred he is the greatest man in the kingdom. When Heardred is killed in battle with the Swedes, Beowulf becomes king in his stead.

4. After Beowulf has reigned prosperously for fifty years, his country is ravaged by a fiery dragon, which inhabits an ancient burial-mound, full of costly treasure. The royal hall itself is burned to the ground. The aged king resolves to fight, unaided, with the dragon. Accompanied by eleven chosen warriors, he journeys to the barrow. Bidding his companions retire to a distance, he takes up his position near the entrance to the mound--an arched opening whence issues a boiling stream. I The dragon hears Beowulf's shout of defiance, and rushes forth, breathing flames. The fight begins; Beowulf is all but overpowered, and the sight is so terrible that his men, all but one, seek safety in flight. The young Wiglaf, son of Weohstan, though yet untried in battle, cannot, even in obedience to his lord's prohibition, refrain from going to his help. With Wiglaf's aid, Beowulf slays the dragon, but not before he has received his own death-wound. Wiglaf enters the barrow, and returns to show the dying king the treasures that he has found there. With his last breath Beowulf names Wiglaf his successor, and ordains that his ashes shall be enshrined in a great mound, placed on a lofty cliff, so that it may be a mark for sailors far out at sea.

5. The news of Beowulf's dear-bought victory is carried to the army. Amid great lamentation, the hero's body is laid on the funeral pile and consumed. The treasures of the dragon's hoard are buried with his ashes; and when the great mound is finished, twelve of Beowulf's most famous warriors ride around it, celebrating the praises of the bravest, gentlest and most generous of kings.

_The Hero._--Those portions of the poem that are summarized above--that is to say, those which relate the career of the hero in progressive order--contain a lucid and well-constructed story, told with a vividness of imagination and a degree of narrative skill that may with little exaggeration be called Homeric. And yet it is probable that there are few readers of Beowulf who have not felt--and there are many who after repeated perusal continue to feel--that the general impression produced by it is that of a bewildering chaos. This effect is due to the multitude and the character of the episodes. In the first place, a very great part of what the poem tells about Beowulf himself is not presented in regular sequence, but by way of retrospective mention or narration. The extent of the material thus introduced out of course may be seen from the following abstract.

When seven years old the orphaned Beowulf was adopted by his grandfather king Hrethel, the father of Hygelac, and was regarded by him with as much affection as any of his own sons. In youth, although famed for his wonderful strength of grip, he was generally despised as sluggish and unwarlike. Yet even before his encounter with Grendel, he had won renown by his swimming contest with another youth named Breca, when after battling for seven days and nights with the waves, and slaying many sea-monsters, he came to land in the country of the Finns. In the disastrous invasion of the land of the Hetware, in which Hygelac was killed, Beowulf killed many of the enemy, amongst them a chieftain of the Hugas, named Daeghrefn, apparently the slayer of Hygelac. In the retreat he once more displayed his powers as a swimmer, carrying to his ship the armour of thirty slain enemies. When he reached his native land, the widowed queen offered him the kingdom, her son Heardred being too young to rule. Beowulf, out of loyalty, refused to be made king, and acted as the guardian of Heardred during his minority, and as his counsellor after he came to man's estate. By giving shelter to the fugitive Eadgils, a rebel against his uncle the king of the "Sweon" (the Swedes, dwelling to the north of the Gautar), Heardred brought on himself an invasion, in which he lost his life. When Beowulf became king, he supported the cause of Eadgils by force of arms; the king of the Swedes was killed, and his nephew placed on the throne.

_Historical Value._--Now, with one brilliant exception--the story of the swimming-match, which is felicitously introduced and finely told--these retrospective passages are brought in more or less awkwardly, interrupt inconveniently the course of the narrative, and are too condensed and allusive in style to make any strong poetic impression. Still, they do serve to complete the portraiture of the hero's character. There are, however, many other episodes that have nothing to do with Beowulf himself, but seem to have been inserted with a deliberate intention of making the poem into a sort of cyclopaedia of Germanic tradition. They include many particulars of what purports to be the history of the royal houses, not only of the Gautar and the Danes, but also of the Swedes, the continental Angles, the Ostrogoths, the Frisians and the Heathobeards, besides references to matters of unlocalized heroic story such as the exploits of Sigismund. The Saxons are not named, and the Franks appear only as a dreaded hostile power. Of Britain there is no mention; and though there are some distinctly Christian passages, they are so incongruous in tone with the rest of the poem that they must be regarded as interpolations. In general the extraneous episodes have no great appropriateness to their context, and have the appearance of being abridged versions of stories that had been related at length in poetry. Their confusing effect, for modern readers, is increased by a curiously irrelevant prologue. It begins by celebrating the ancient glories of the Danes, tells in allusive style the story of Scyld, the founder of the "Scylding" dynasty of Denmark, and praises the virtues of his son Beowulf. If this Danish Beowulf had been the hero of the poem, the opening would have been appropriate; but it seems strangely out of place as an introduction to the story of his namesake.

However detrimental these redundancies may be to the poetic beauty of the epic, they add enormously to its interest for students of Germanic history or legend. If the mass of traditions which it purports to contain be genuine, the poem is of unique importance as a source of knowledge respecting the early history of the peoples of northern Germany and Scandinavia. But the value to be assigned to _Beowulf_ in this respect can be determined only by ascertaining its probable date, origin and manner of composition. The criticism of the Old English epic has therefore for nearly a century been justly regarded as indispensable to the investigation of Germanic antiquities.

The starting-point of all _Beowulf_ criticism is the fact (discovered by N.F.S. Grundtvig in 1815) that one of the episodes of the poem belongs to authentic history. Gregory of Tours, who died in 594, relates that in the reign of Theodoric of Metz (511-534) the Danes invaded the kingdom, and carried off many captives and much plunder to their ships. Their king, whose name appears in the best MSS. as Chlochilaicus (other copies read Chrochilaicus, Hrodolaicus, &c.), remained on shore intending to follow afterwards, but was attacked by the Franks under Theodobert, son of Theodoric, and killed. The Franks then defeated the Danes in a naval battle, and recovered the booty. The date of these events is ascertained to have been between 512 and 520. An anonymous history written early in the eighth century (_Liber Hist. Francorum_, cap. 19) gives the name of the Danish king as Chochilaicus, and says that he was killed in the land of the Attoarii. Now it is related in _Beowulf_ that Hygelac met his death in fighting against the Franks and the Hetware (the Old English form of Attoarii). The forms of the Danish king's name given by the Frankish historians are corruptions of the name of which the primitive Germanic form was Hugilaikaz, and which by regular phonetic change became in Old English _Hygelac_, and in Old Norse Hugleikr. It is true that the invading king is said in the histories to have been a Dane, whereas the Hygelac of Beowulf belonged to the "Geatas" or Gautar. But a work called _Liber Monstrorum_,[1] preserved in two MSS. of the 10th century, cites as an example of extraordinary stature a certain "Huiglaucus, king of the Getae," who was killed by the Franks, and whose bones were preserved on an island at the mouth of the Rhine, and exhibited as a marvel. It is therefore evident that the personality of Hygelac, and the expedition in which, according to _Beowulf_, he died, belong not to the region of legend or poetic invention, but to that of historic fact.

This noteworthy result suggests the possibility that what the poem tells of Hygelac's near relatives, and of the events of his reign and that of his successor, is based on historic fact. There is really nothing to forbid the supposition; nor is there any unlikelihood in the view that the persons mentioned as belonging to the royal houses of the Danes and Swedes had a real existence. It can be proved, at any rate, that several of the names are derived from the native traditions of these two peoples. The Danish king Hrothgar and his brother Halga, the sons of Healf-dene, appear in the _Historia Danica_ of Saxo as Roe (the founder of Roskilde) and Helgo, the sons of Haldanus. The Swedish princes Eadgils, son of Ohthere, and Onela, who are mentioned in _Beowulf_, are in the Icelandic _Heimskringla_ called Adils son of Ottarr, and Ali; the correspondence of the names, according to the phonetic laws of Old English and Old Norse, being strictly normal. There are other points of contact between _Beowulf_ on the one hand and the Scandinavian records on the other, confirming the conclusion that the Old English poem contains much of the historical tradition of the Gautar, the Danes and the Swedes, in its purest accessible form.

Of the hero of the poem no mention has been found elsewhere. But the name (the Icelandic form of which is Bjolfr) is genuinely Scandinavian. It was borne by one of the early settlers in Iceland, and a monk named Biuulf is commemorated in the _Liber Vitae_ of the church of Durham. As the historical character of Hygelac has been proved, it is not unreasonable to accept the authority of the poem for the statement that his nephew Beowulf succeeded Heardred on the throne of the Gautar, and interfered in the dynastic quarrels of the Swedes. His swimming exploit among the Hetware, allowance being made for poetic exaggeration, fits remarkably well into the circumstances of the story told by Gregory of Tours; and perhaps his contest with Breca may have been an exaggeration of a real incident in his career; and even if it was originally related of some other hero, its attribution to the historical Beowulf may have been occasioned by his renown as a swimmer.

On the other hand, it would be absurd to imagine that the combats with Grendel and his mother and with the fiery dragon can be exaggerated representations of actual occurrences. These exploits belong to the domain of pure mythology. That they have been attributed to Beowulf in particular might seem to be adequately accounted for by the general tendency to connect mythical achievements with the name of any famous hero. There are, however, some facts that seem to point to a more definite explanation. The Danish king "Scyld Scefing," whose story is told in the opening lines of the poem, and his son Beowulf, are plainly identical with Sceldwea, son of Sceaf, and his son Beaw, who appear among the ancestors of Woden in the genealogy of the kings of Wessex given in the _Old English Chronicle_. The story of Scyld is related, with some details not found in _Beowulf_, by William of Malmesbury, and, less fully, by the 10th-century English historian Ethelwerd, though it is told not of Scyld himself, but of his father Sceaf. According to William's version, Sceaf was found, as an infant, alone in a boat without oars, which had drifted to the island of "Scandza." The child was asleep with his head on a _sheaf_, and from this circumstance he obtained his name. When he grew up he reigned over the Angles at "Slaswic." In _Beowulf_ the same story is told of Scyld, with the addition that when he died his body was placed in a ship, laden with rich treasure, which was sent out to sea unguided. It is clear that in the original form of the tradition the name of the foundling was Scyld or Sceldwea, and that his cognomen _Scefing_ (derived from _sceaf_, a sheaf) was misinterpreted as a patronymic. Sceaf, therefore, is no genuine personage of tradition, but merely an etymological figment.

The position of Sceldwea and Beaw (in Malmesbury's Latin called Sceldius and Beowius) in the genealogy as anterior to Woden would not of itself prove that they belong to divine mythology and not to heroic legend. But there are independent reasons for believing that they were originally gods or demi-gods. It is a reasonable conjecture that the tales of victories over Grendel and the fiery dragon belong properly to the myth of Beaw. If Beowulf, the champion of the Gautar, had already become a theme of epic song, the resemblance of name might easily suggest the idea of enriching his story by adding to it the achievements of Beaw. At the same time, the tradition that the hero of these adventures was a son of Scyld, who was identified (whether rightly or wrongly) with the eponymus of the Danish dynasty of the Scyldings, may well have prompted the supposition that they took place in Denmark. There is, as we shall see afterwards, some ground for believing that there were circulated in England two rival poetic versions of the story of the encounters with supernatural beings: the one referring them to Beowulf the Dane, while the other (represented by the existing poem) attached them to the legend of the son of Ecgtheow, but ingeniously contrived to do some justice to the alternative tradition by laying the scene of the Grendel incident at the court of a Scylding king.

As the name of Beaw appears in the genealogies of English kings, it seems likely that the traditions of his exploits may have been brought over by the Angles from their continental home. This supposition is confirmed by evidence that seems to show that the Grendel legend was popularly current in this country. In the schedules of boundaries appended to two Old English charters there occurs mention of pools called "Grendel's mere," one in Wiltshire and the other in Staffordshire. The charter that mentions the Wiltshire "Grendel's mere" speaks also of a place called _Beowan ham_ ("Beowa's home"), and another Wiltshire charter has a "Scyld's tree" among the landmarks enumerated. The notion that ancient burial mounds were liable to be inhabited by dragons was common in the Germanic world: there is perhaps a trace of it in the Derbyshire place-name Drakelow, which means "dragon's barrow."

While, however, it thus appears that the mythic part of the Beowulf story is a portion of primeval Angle tradition, there is no proof that it was originally peculiar to the Angles; and even if it was so, it may easily have passed from them into the poetic cycles of the related peoples. There are, indeed, some reasons for suspecting that the blending of the stories of the mythic Beaw and the historical Beowulf may have been the work of Scandinavian and not of English poets. Prof. G. Sarrazin has pointed out the striking resemblance between the Scandinavian legend of Bodvarr Biarki and that of the Beowulf of the poem. In each, a hero from Gautland slays a destructive monster at the court of a Danish king, and afterwards is found fighting on the side of Eadgils (Adils) in Sweden. This coincidence cannot well be due to mere chance; but its exact significance is doubtful. On the one hand, it is possible that the English epic, which unquestionably derived its historical elements from Scandinavian song, may be indebted to the same source for its general plan, including the blending of history and myth. On the other hand, considering the late date of the authority for the Scandinavian traditions, we cannot be sure that the latter may not owe some of their material to English minstrels. There are similar alternative possibilities with regard to the explanation of the striking resemblances which certain incidents of the adventures with Grendel and the dragon bear to incidents in the narratives of Saxo and the Icelandic sagas.

_Date and Origin._--It is now time to speak of the probable date and origin of the poem. The conjecture that most naturally presents itself to those who have made no special study of the question, is that an English epic treating of the deeds of a Scandinavian hero on Scandinavian ground must have been composed in the days of Norse or Danish dominion in England. This, however, is impossible. The forms under which Scandinavian names appear in the poem show clearly that these names must have entered English tradition not later than the beginning of the 7th century. It does not indeed follow that the extant poem is of so early a date; but its syntax is remarkably archaic in comparision with that of the Old English poetry of the 8th century. The hypothesis that _Beowulf_ is in whole or in part a translation from a Scandinavian original, although still maintained by some scholars, introduces more difficulties than it solves, and must be dismissed as untenable. The limits of this article do not permit us to state and criticize the many elaborate theories that have been proposed respecting the origin of the poem. All that can be done is to set forth the view that appears to us to be most free from objection. It may be premised that although the existing MS. is written in the West-Saxon dialect, the phenomena of the language indicate transcription from an Anglian (i.e. a Northumbrian or Mercian) original; and this conclusion is supported by the fact that while the poem contains one important episode relating to the Angles, the name of the Saxons does not occur in it at all.

In its original form, _Beowulf_ was a product of the time when poetry was composed not to be read, but to be recited in the halls of kings and nobles. Of course an entire epic could not be recited on a single occasion; nor can we suppose that it would be thought out from beginning to end before any part of it was presented to an audience. A singer who had pleased his hearers with a tale of adventure would be called on to tell them of earlier or later events in the career of the hero; and so the story would grow, until it included all that the poet knew from tradition, or could invent in harmony with it. That _Beowulf_ is concerned with the deeds of a foreign hero is less surprising than it seems at first sight. The minstrel of early Germanic times was required to be learned not only in the traditions of his own people, but also in those of the other peoples with whom they felt their kinship. He had a double task to perform. It was not enough that his songs should give pleasure; his patrons demanded that he should recount faithfully the history and genealogy both of their own line and of those other royal houses who shared with them the same divine ancestry, and who might be connected with them by ties of marriage or warlike alliance. Probably the singer was always himself an original poet; he might often be content to reproduce the songs that he had learned, but he was doubtless free to improve or expand them as he chose, provided that his inventions did not conflict with what was supposed to be historic truth. For all we know, the intercourse of the Angles with Scandinavia, which enabled their poets to obtain new knowledge of the legends of Danes, Gautar and Swedes, may not have ceased until their conversion to Christianity in the 7th century. And even after this event, whatever may have been the attitude of churchmen towards the old heathen poetry, the kings and warriors would be slow to lose their interest in the heroic tales that had delighted their ancestors. It is probable that down to the end of the 7th century, if not still later, the court poets of Northumbria and Mercia continued to celebrate the deeds of Beowulf and of many another hero of ancient days.

Although the heathen Angles had their own runic alphabet, it is unlikely that any poetry was written down until a generation had grown up trained in the use of the Latin letters learned from Christian missionaries. We cannot determine the date at which some book-learned man, interested in poetry, took down from the lips of a minstrel one of the stories that he had been accustomed to sing. It may have been before 700; much later it can hardly have been, for the old heathen poetry, though its existence might be threatened by the influence of the church, was still in vigorous life. The epic of Beowulf was not the only one that was reduced to writing: a fragment of the song about Finn, king of the Frisians, still survives, and possibly several other heroic poems were written down about the same time. As originally dictated, _Beowulf_ probably contained the story outlined at the beginning of this article, with the addition of one or two of the episodes relating to the hero himself--among them the legend of the swimming-match. This story had doubtless been told at greater length in verse, but its insertion in its present place is the work of a poet, not of a mere redactor. The other episodes were introduced by some later writer, who had heard recited, or perhaps had read, a multitude of the old heathen songs, the substance of which he piously sought to preserve from oblivion by weaving it in an abridged form, into the texture of the one great poem which he was transcribing. The Christian passages, which are poetically of no value, are evidently of literary origin, and may be of any date down to that of the extant MS. The curious passage which says that the subjects of Hrothgar sought deliverance from Grendel in prayer at the temple of the Devil, "because they knew not the true God," must surely have been substituted for a passage referring sympathetically to the worship of the ancient gods.

An interesting light on the history of the written text seems to be afforded by the phenomena of the existing MS. The poem is divided into numbered sections, the length of which was probably determined by the size of the pieces of parchment of which an earlier exemplar consisted. Now the first fifty-two lines, which are concerned with Scyld and his son Beowulf, stand outside this numbering. It may reasonably be inferred that there once existed a written text of the poem that did not include these lines. Their substance, however, is clearly ancient. Many difficulties will be obviated if we may suppose that this passage is the beginning of a different poem, the hero of which was not Beowulf the son of Ecgtheow, but his Danish namesake. It is true that Beowulf the Scylding is mentioned at the beginning of the first numbered section; but probably the opening lines of this section have undergone alteration in order to bring them into connexion with the prefixed matter.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The volume containing the _Beowulf_ MS. (then, as now, belonging to the Cottonian collection, and numbered "Vitellius A. xv.") was first described by Humphrey Wanley in 1705, in his catalogue of MSS., published as vol. iii. of G. Hickes's _Thesaurus Veterum Linguarum Septentrionalium_. In 1786 G.J. Thorkelin, an Icelander, made or procured two transcripts of the poem, which are still preserved in the Royal Library at Copenhagen, and are valuable for the criticism of the text, the MS. having subsequently become in places less legible. Thorkelin's edition (1815) is of merely historic interest. The first edition showing competent knowledge of the language was produced in 1833 by J.M. Kemble. Since then editions have been very numerous. The text of the poem was edited by C.W.M. Grein in his _Bibliothek der angelsachsischen Poesie_ (1857), and again separately in 1867. Autotypes of the MS. with transliteration by Julius Zupitza, were issued by the Early English Text Society in 1882. The new edition of Grein's _Bibliothek_, by R.P. Wulker, vol. i. (1883), contains a revised text with critical notes. The most serviceable separate editions are those of M. Heyne (7th ed., revised by A. Socin, 1903), A.J. Wyatt (with English notes and glossary, 1898), and F. Holthausen (vol. i., 1905).

Eleven English translations of the poem have been published (see C.B. Tinker, _The Translations of Beowulf_, 1903). Among these may be mentioned those of J.M. Garnett (6th ed., 1900), a literal rendering in a metre imitating that of the original; J. Earle (1892) in prose; W. Morris (1895) in imitative metre, and almost unintelligibly archaistic in diction; and C.B. Tinker (1902) in prose.

For the bibliography of the earlier literature on _Beowulf_, and a detailed exposition of the theories therein advocated, see R.P. Wulker, _Grundriss der angelsachsischen Litteratur_ (1882). The views of Karl Mullenhoff, which, though no longer tenable as a whole, have formed the basis of most of the subsequent criticism, may be best studied in his posthumous work, _Beovulf, Untersuchungen uber das angelsachsische Epos_ (1889). Much valuable matter may be found in B. ten Brink, _Beowulf, Untersuchungen_ (1888). The work of G. Sarrazin, _Beowulf-studien_ (1888), which advocates the strange theory that _Beowulf_ is a translation by Cynewulf of a poem by the Danish singer Starkadr, contains, amid much that is fanciful, not a little that deserves careful consideration. The many articles by E. Sievers and S. Bugge, in _Beitradge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Litteratur_ and other periodicals, are of the utmost importance for the textual criticism and interpretation of the poem. (H. Br.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Printed in Berger de Xivrey, _Traditions Teratologiques_ (1836), from a MS. in private hands. Another MS., now at Wolfenbuttel, reads "Hunglacus" for Huiglaucus, and (ungrammatically) "gentes" for _Getis_.

BEQUEST (from O. Eng. _becwethan_, to declare or express in words; cf. "quoth"), the disposition of property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal, and "devise" of real property. (See LEGACY; WILL OR TESTAMENT.)

BERAIN, JEAN (1638-1711), known as "the Elder," Belgian draughtsman and designer, painter and engraver of ornament, was born in 1638 or 1639 at Saint Mihiel (Meuse) and died in Paris on the 24th of January 1711. In 1674 he was appointed _dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet de Roi_, in succession to Gissey, whose pupil he is believed to have been. From 1677 onward he had apartments, near to those of Andre Charles Boulle (q.v.), for whom he made many designs, in the Louvre, where he died. After the death of Le Brun he was commissioned to compose and supervise the whole of the exterior decoration of the king's ships. Without possessing great originality he was inventive and industrious, and knew so well how to assimilate the work of those who had preceded him (especially Raffaelle's arabesques) and to adapt it to the taste of the time that his designs became the rage. He furnished designs for the decorations and costumes used in the opera performances, for court festivals, and for public solemnities such as funeral processions, and inspired the ornamentations of rooms and of furniture to such an extent that a French writer says that nothing was done during his later years which he had not designed, or at least which was not in his manner. He was, in fact, the oracle of taste and the supreme pontiff whose fiat was law in all matters of decoration. His numerous designs were for the most part engraved under his own superintendence, and a collection of them was published in Paris in 1711 by his son-in-law, Thuret, clockmaker to the king. There are three books, _Oeuvre de J. Berain, Ornements inventes par J. Berain_ and _Oeuvres de J. Berain contenant des ornements d'architecture_. His earliest known works show him as engraver--twelve plates in the collection of _Diverses pieces de serrurerie inventees par Hughes Brisville el gravees par Jean Berain_ (Paris, 1663), and in 1667 ten plates of designs for the use of gunsmiths. M. Guilmard in _Les Maitres ornemanistes_, gives a complete list of his published works.

His son JEAN BERAIN, "the Younger" (1678-1726), was born in Paris, where he also died. He was his father's pupil, and exercised the same official functions after his death. Thus he planned the funeral ceremonies at St Denis on the death of the dauphin, and afterwards made the designs for the obsequies of Louis XIV. He is perhaps best known as an engraver. He engraved eleven plates of the collection _Ornements de peinture et de sculpture qui sont dans la galerie d'Apollon au chasteau du Louvre, et dans le grand appartement du roy au palais des Tuileries_ (Paris, 1710), which have been wrongly attributed to his father, the _Mausolei du duc de Bourgogne_, and that of _Marie-Louise Gabrielle de Savoie, reine d'Espagne_ (1714), &c. His work is exceedingly difficult to distinguish from his father's, the similarity of style being remarkable.

CLAUDE BERAIN, brother of the elder Jean, was still living in 1726. He was engraver to the king, and executed a good number of plates of ornament and arabesque of various kinds, some of which are included in his more distinguished brother's works. (J. P. B.)

BERANGER, PIERRE JEAN DE (1780-1857), French song-writer, was born in Paris on the 19th of August 1780. The aristocratic _de_ was a piece of groundless vanity on the part of his father, who had assumed the name of Beranger de Mersix. He was descended in truth from a country innkeeper on the one side, and, on the other, from a tailor in the rue Montorgueil. Of education, in the narrower sense, he had but little. From the roof of his first school he beheld the capture of the Bastille, and this stirring memory was all that he acquired. Later on he passed some time in a school at Peronne, founded by one Bellenglise on the principles of Rousseau, where the boys were formed into clubs and regiments, and taught to play solemnly at politics and war. Beranger was president of the club, made speeches before such members of Convention as passed through Peronne, and drew up addresses to Tallien or Robespierre at Paris. In the meanwhile he learned neither Greek nor Latin--not even French, it would appear; for it was after he left school, from the printer Laisney, that he acquired the elements of grammar. His true education was of another sort. In his childhood, shy, sickly and skilful with his hands, as he sat at home alone to carve cherry stones, he was already forming for himself those habits of retirement and patient elaboration which influenced the whole tenor of his life and the character of all that he wrote. At Peronne he learned of his good aunt to be a stout republican; and from the doorstep of her inn, on quiet evenings, he would listen to the thunder of the guns before Valenciennes, and fortify himself in his passionate love of France and distaste for all things foreign. Although he could never read Horace save in a translation, he had been educated on _Telemaque_, Racine and the dramas of Voltaire, and taught, from a child, in the tradition of all that is highest and most correct in French.

After serving his aunt for some time in the capacity of waiter, and passing some time also in the printing-office of one Laisney, he was taken to Paris by his father. Here he saw much low speculation, and many low royalist intrigues. In 1802, in consequence of a distressing quarrel, he left his father and began life for himself in the garret of his ever memorable song. For two years he did literary hackwork, when he could get it, and wrote pastorals, epics and all manner of ambitious failures. At the end of that period (1804) he wrote to Lucien Bonaparte, enclosing some of these attempts. He was then in bad health, and in the last state of misery. His watch was pledged. His wardrobe consisted of one pair of boots, one greatcoat, one pair of trousers with a hole in the knee, and "three bad shirts which a friendly hand wearied itself in endeavouring to mend." The friendly hand was that of Judith Frere, with whom he had been already more or less acquainted since 1796, and who continued to be his faithful companion until her death, three months before his own, in 1857. She must not be confounded with the Lisette of the songs; the pieces addressed to her (_La Bonne Vieille, Maudit printemps_, &c.) are in a very different vein. Lucien Bonaparte interested himself in the young poet, transferred to him his own pension of 1000 francs from the Institute, and set him to work on a _Death of Nero_. Five years later, through the same patronage, although indirectly, Beranger became a clerk in the university at a salary of another thousand.

Meanwhile he had written many songs for convivial occasions, and "to console himself under all misfortunes"; some, according to M. Boiteau, had been already published by his father, but he set no great store on them himself; and it was only in 1812, while watching by the sick-bed of a friend, that it occurred to him to write down the best he could remember. Next year he was elected to the _Caveau Moderne_, and his reputation as a song-writer began to spread. Manuscript copies of _Les Gueux, Le Senateur_, above all, of _Le Roi d'Yvetot_, a satire against Napoleon, whom he was to magnify so much in the sequel, passed from hand to hand with acclamation. It was thus that all his best works went abroad; one man sang them to another over all the land of France. He was the only poet of modern times who could altogether have dispensed with printing.

His first collection escaped censure. "We must pardon many things to the author of _Le Roi d'Yvetot_," said Louis XVIII. The second (1821) was more daring. The apathy of the Liberal camp, he says, had convinced him of the need for some bugle call of awakening. This publication lost him his situation in the university, and subjected him to a trial, a fine of 500 francs and an imprisonment of three months. Imprisonment was a small affair for Beranger. At Sainte Pelagie he occupied a room (it had just been quitted by Paul Louis Courier), warm, well furnished, and preferable in every way to his own poor lodging, where the water froze on winter nights. He adds, on the occasion of his second imprisonment, that he found a certain charm in this quiet, claustral existence, with its regular hours and long evenings alone over the fire. This second imprisonment of nine months, together with a fine and expenses amounting to 1100 francs, followed on the appearance of his fourth collection. The government proposed through Laffitte that, if he would submit to judgment without appearing or making defences, he should only be condemned in the smallest penalty. But his public spirit made him refuse the proposal; and he would not even ask permission to pass his term of imprisonment in a _Maison de sante_, although his health was more than usually feeble at the time. "When you have taken your stand in a contest with government, it seems to me," he wrote, "ridiculous to complain of the blows it inflicts on you, and impolitic to furnish it with any occasion of generosity." His first thought in La Force was to alleviate the condition of the other prisoners.

In the revolution of July he took no inconsiderable part. Copies of his song, _Le Vieux Drapeau_, were served out to the insurgent crowd. He had been for long the intimate friend and adviser of the leading men; and during the decisive week his counsels went a good way towards shaping the ultimate result. "As for the republic, that dream of my whole life," he wrote in 1831, "I did not wish it should be given to us a second time unripe." Louis Philippe, hearing how much the song-writer had done towards his elevation, expressed a wish to see and speak with him; but Beranger refused to present himself at court, and used his favour only to ask a place for a friend, and a pension for Rouget de l'Isle, author of the famous _Marseillaise_, who was now old and poor, and whom he had been already succouring for five years.

In 1848, in spite of every possible expression of his reluctance, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly, and that by so large a number of votes (204,471) that he felt himself obliged to accept the seat. Not long afterwards, and with great difficulty, he obtained leave to resign. This was the last public event of Beranger's life. He continued to polish his songs in retirement, visited by nearly all the famous men of France. He numbered among his friends Chateaubriand, Thiers, Jacques Laffitte, Michelet, Lamennais, Mignet. Nothing could exceed the amiability of his private character; so poor a man has rarely been so rich in good actions; he was always ready to receive help from his friends when he was in need, and always forward to help others. His correspondence is full of wisdom and kindness, with a smack of Montaigne, and now and then a vein of pleasantry that will remind the English reader of Charles Lamb. He occupied some of his leisure in preparing his own memoirs, and a certain treatise on _Social and Political Morality_, intended for the people, a work he had much at heart, but judged at last to be beyond his strength. He died on the 16th July 1857. It was feared that his funeral would be the signal for some political disturbance; but the government took immediate measures, and all went quietly. The streets of Paris were lined with soldiers and full of townsfolk, silent and uncovered. From time to time cries arose:--"_Honneur, honneur a Beranger!_"

The songs of Beranger would scarcely be called songs in England. They are elaborate, written in a clear and sparkling style, full of wit and incision. It is not so much for any lyrical flow as for the happy turn of the phrase that they claim superiority. Whether the subject be gay or serious, light or passionate, the medium remains untroubled. The special merits of the songs are merits to be looked for rather in English prose than in English verse. He worked deliberately, never wrote more than fifteen songs a year and often less, and was so fastidious that he has not preserved a quarter of what he finished. "I am a good little bit of a poet," he says himself, "clever in the craft, and a conscientious worker to whom old airs and a modest choice of subjects (_le coin ou je me suis confine_) have brought some success." Nevertheless, he makes a figure of importance in literary history. When he first began to cultivate the _chanson_, this minor form lay under some contempt, and was restricted to slight subjects and a humorous guise of treatment. Gradually he filled these little chiselled toys of verbal perfection with ever more and more of sentiment. From a date comparatively early he had determined to sing for the people. It was for this reason that he fled, as far as possible, the houses of his influential friends and came back gladly to the garret and the street corner. Thus it was, also, that he came to acknowledge obligations to Emile Debraux, who had often stood between him and the masses as interpreter, and given him the key-note of the popular humour. Now, he had observed in the songs of sailors, and all who labour, a prevailing tone of sadness; and so, as he grew more masterful in this sort of expression, he sought more and more after what is deep, serious and constant in the thoughts of common men. The evolution was slow; and we can see in his own works examples of every stage, from that of witty indifference in fifty pieces of the first collection, to that of grave and even tragic feeling in _Les Souvenirs du peuple_ or _Le Vieux Vagabond_. And this innovation involved another, which was as a sort of prelude to the great romantic movement. For the _chanson_, as he says himself, opened up to him a path in which his genius could develop itself at ease; he escaped, by this literary postern, from strict academical requirements, and had at his disposal the whole dictionary, four-fifths of which, according to La Harpe, were forbidden to the use of more regular and pretentious poetry. If he still kept some of the old vocabulary, some of the old imagery, he was yet accustoming people to hear moving subjects treated in a manner more free and simple than heretofore; so that his was a sort of conservative reform, preceding the violent revolution of Victor Hugo and his army of uncompromising romantics. He seems himself to have had glimmerings of some such idea; but he withheld his full approval from the new movement on two grounds:--first, because the romantic school misused somewhat brutally the delicate organism of the French language; and second, as he wrote to Sainte-Beuve in 1832, because they adopted the motto of "Art for art," and set no object of public usefulness before them as they wrote. For himself (and this is the third point of importance) he had a strong sense of political responsibility. Public interest took a far higher place in his estimation than any private passion or favour. He had little toleration for those erotic poets who sing their own loves and not the common sorrows of mankind, "who forget," to quote his own words, "forget beside their mistress those who labour before the Lord." Hence it is that so many of his pieces are political, and so many, in the later times at least, inspired with a socialistic spirit of indignation and revolt. It is by this socialism that he becomes truly modern and touches hands with Burns.

AUTHORITIES.--_Ma biographie_ (his own memoirs) (1858); _Vie de Beranger_, by Paul Boiteau (1861); _Correspondance de Beranger_, edited by Paul Boiteau (4 vols., 1860); _Beranger et Lamennais_, by Napoleon Peyrat (1857); _Quarante-cinq lettres de Beranger publiees par Madame Louise Colet_ (almost worthless) (1857); _Beranger, ses amis, ses ennemis et ses critiques_, by A. Arnould (2 vols., 1864); J. Janin, _Beranger et son temps_ (2 vols., 1866); also Sainte-Beuve's _Portraits contemporains_, vol. i.; J. Carson, _Beranger et la legende napoleonienne_ (1897) A bibliography of Beranger's works was published by Jules Brivois in 1876. (R. L. S.)

BERAR, known also as the HYDERABAD ASSIGNED DISTRICTS, formerly a province administered on behalf of the nizam of Hyderabad by the British government, but since the 1st of October 1903 under the administration of the commissioner-general for the Central Provinces (q.v.). The origin of the name Berar is not known, but may perhaps be a corruption of Vidarbha, the name of a kingdom in the Deccan of which, in the period of the Mahabharata, Berar probably formed part. The history of Berar belongs generally to that of the Deccan, the country falling in turn under the sway of the various dynasties which successively ruled in southern India, the first authentic records showing it to have been part of the Andhra or Satavahana empire. On the final fall of the Chalukyas in the 12th century, Berar came under the sway of the Yadavas of Deogiri, and remained in their possession till the Mussulman invasions at the end of the 13th century. On the establishment of the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan (1348) Berar was constituted one of the four provinces into which their kingdom was divided, being governed by great nobles, with a separate army. The perils of this system becoming apparent, the province was divided (1478 or 1479) into two separate governments, named after their capitals Gawil and Mahur. The Bahmani dynasty was, however, already tottering to its fall; and in 1490 Imad-ul-Mulk, governor of Gawil, who had formerly held all Berar, proclaimed his independence and proceeded to annex Mahur to his new kingdom. Imad-ul-Mulk was by birth a Kanarese Hindu, but had been captured as a boy in one of the expeditions against Vijayanagar and reared as a Mussulman. He died in 1504 and his direct descendants held the sultanate of Berar until 1561, when Burhan Imad Shah was deposed by his minister Tufal Khan, who assumed the kingship. This gave a pretext for the intervention of Murtaza Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar, who in 1572 invaded Berar, imprisoned and put to death Tufal Khan, his son Shams-ul-Mulk, and the ex-king Burhan, and annexed Berar to his own dominions. In 1595 Sultan Murad, son of the emperor Akbar, besieged Ahmednagar, and was bought off by the formal cession of Berar.

Murad, founding the city of Shahpur, fixed his seat at Berar, and after his death in 1598, and the conquest of the Deccan by Akbar, the province was united with Ahmednagar and Khandesh under the emperor's fifth son, Daniyal (d. 1605), as governor. After Akbar's death (1605) Berar once more became independent under the Abyssinian Malik Ambar (d. 1626), but in the first year of Shah Jahan's reign it was again brought under the sway of the Mogul empire. Towards the close of the 17th century the province began to be overrun by the Mahrattas, and in 1718 the Delhi government formally recognized their right to levy blackmail (_chauth_) on the unhappy population. In 1724 the Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah established the independent line of the nizams of Hyderabad, and thenceforth the latter claimed to be _de jure_ sovereigns of Berar, with exception of certain districts (Mehkar, Umarkhed, &c.) ceded to the peshwa in 1760 and 1795. The claim was contested by the Bhonsla rajas, and for more than half a century the miserable country was ground between the upper and the nether millstone.

This condition of things was ended by Wellesley's victories at Assaye and Argaon (1803), which forced the Bhonsla raja to cede his territories west of the Wardha, Gawilgarh and Narnala. By the partition treaty of Hyderabad (1804) these ceded territories in Berar were transferred to the nizam, together with some tracts about Sindkhed and Jalna which had been held by Sindhia. By a treaty of 1822, which extinguished the Mahratta right to levy _chauth_, the Wardha river was fixed as the eastern boundary of Berar, the Melghat and adjoining districts in the plains being assigned to the nizam in exchange for the districts east of the Wardha held by the peshwa.

Though Berar was no longer oppressed by its Mahratta taskmasters nor harried by Pindari and Bhil raiders, it remained long a prey to the turbulent elements let loose by the sudden cessation of the wars. From time to time bands of soldiery, whom the government was powerless to control, scoured the country, and rebellion succeeded rebellion till 1859, when the last fight against open rebels took place at Chichamba near Risod. Meanwhile the misery of the country was increased by the reckless raising of loans by the nizam's government and the pledging of the revenues to a succession of great farmers-general. At last the British government had to intervene effectively, and in 1853 a new treaty was signed with the nizam, under which the Hyderabad contingent was to be maintained by the British government, while for the pay of this force and in satisfaction of other claims, certain districts were "assigned" to the East India Company. It was these "Hyderabad Assigned Districts" which were popularly supposed to form the province of Berar, though they coincided in extent neither with the Berar of the nizams nor with the old Mogul province. In 1860, by a new treaty which modified in the nizam's favour that of 1853, it was agreed that Berar should be held in trust by the British government for the purposes specified in the treaty of 1853.

Under British control Berar rapidly recovered its prosperity. Thousands of cultivators who had emigrated across the Wardha to the peshwa's dominions, in order to escape the ruinous fiscal system of the nizam's government, now returned; the American Civil War gave an immense stimulus to the cotton trade; the laying of a line of railway across the province provided yet further employment, and the people rapidly became prosperous and contented.

See _Imperial Gazetteer of India_ (Oxford, 1908), and authorities there quoted.

BERARD, JOSEPH FREDERIC (1789-1828), French physician and philosopher, was born at Montpellier. Educated at the medical school of that town, he afterwards went to Paris, where he was employed in connexion with the _Dictionnaire des sciences medicales_. He returned in 1816, and published a work, _Doctrine medicale de l'ecole de Montpellier_ (1819), which is indispensable to a proper understanding of the principles of the Vitalistic school. In 1823 he was called to a chair of medicine at Paris, which he held for three years; he was then nominated professor of hygiene at Montpellier. His health gave way under his labours, and he died in 1828. His most important book is his _Doctrines des rapports du physique et du moral_ (Paris, 1823). He held that consciousness or internal perception reveals to us the existence of an immaterial, thinking, feeling and willing subject, the self or soul. Alongside of this there is the vital force, the nutritive power, which uses the physical frame as its organ. The soul and the principle of life are in constant reciprocal action, and the first owes to the second, not the formation of its faculties, but the conditions under which they are evolved. He showed himself unable to understand the points of view of those whom he criticized, and yet his own theories, midway between vitalism and animism, are entirely destitute of originality.

To the _Esprit des doctrines medicales de Montpellier_, published posthumously (Paris, 1830), the editor, H. Petiot, prefixed an account of his life and works; see also Damiron, _Phil. en France au XIX^e siecle_ (Paris, 1834); C.J. Tissot, _Anthropologie generale_ (1843).

BERAT (Slav. _Byelgorod_; Turk. _Arnaut-Beligradi_), the capital of a sanjak in the vilayet of Iannina, southern Albania, Turkey; on the river Ergene, Ergeni or Osum, a left-hand tributary of the Semeni. Pop. (1900) about 15,000. Berat is a fortified town, situated in a fertile valley, which produces wine, olive-oil, fruit and grain. It is the see of an Orthodox metropolitan, and the inhabitants, of whom two-thirds are Albanian and the remainder principally Greek, are equally divided in religion between Christianity and Islam.

BERAUN (Czech _Beroun_), a town of Bohemia, Austria, 27 m. S.W. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 9693, mostly Czech. It is situated at the confluence of the Beraun with the Litawa river, and is the seat of important textile industry, sugar-refining, corn-milling and brewing. Lime-kilns and the manufacture of cement, and smelting and iron works are carried on in the environs. Beraun is a place of immemorial antiquity. It was originally called _na Brode_ (by the ford), and received the name of Bern, Berun or Verona in the 13th century, when it obtained the privileges of a city from the emperor Charles IV., who was specially attached to the place, calling it "Verona mea." Under his patronage the town rapidly prospered. In 1421 Zizka stormed the town, which later on was retaken and devastated by the troops of Duke Leopold, bishop of Passau. During the Thirty Years' War it was sacked by the Imperialists, the Saxons and the Swedes in turn; and in the first Silesian war the same fate befell it at the hands of the French and Bavarians.

BERBER, a town and mudiria (province) of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The town is on the right bank of the Nile, 1140 ft. above sea-level, in 18 deg. 1' N., 33 deg. 59' E., and 214 m. by rail N.W. of Khartum. Pop. about 6000. Berber derived its importance from being the starting-point of the caravan route, 242 m. long, across the Nubian desert to the Red Sea at Suakin, a distance covered in seven to twelve days. It was also one of the principal stopping-places between Cairo and Khartum. The caravan route to the Red Sea was superseded in 1906 by a railway, which leaves the Wadi Halfa-Khartum line at the mouth of the Atbara. Berber thus lost the Red Sea trade. It remains the centre and market-place for the produce of the Nile valley for a considerable distance. East of the town is an immense plain, which, if irrigated, would yield abundant crops.

Berber, or El Mekerif, is a town of considerable antiquity. Before its conquest by the Egyptians in 1820 its ruler owed allegiance to the kings of Sennar. It was captured by the Mahdists on the 26th of May 1884, and was re-occupied by the Anglo-Egyptian army on the 6th of September 1897. It was the capital of the mudiria until 1905, in which year the headquarters of the province were transferred to Ed Damer, a town near the confluence of the Nile and Atbara. At the northern end of the mudiria is Abu Hamed (q.v.), important as a railway junction for Dongola mudiria. The best-known of the tribes inhabiting the province are the Hassania, Jaalin, Bisharin and Kimilab. During the Mahdia most of these tribes suffered severely at the hands of the dervishes. In 1904 the total population of the province was estimated at 83,000. It has since considerably increased. The riverain population is largely engaged in agriculture, the chief crops cultivated being durra, barley, wheat and cotton.

BERBERA, chief town and principal port of the British Somaliland protectorate, North-East Africa, 155 m. S. of Aden, in 10 deg. 26' N., 45 deg. 4' E. Berbera stands at the head of a deep inlet which forms the only completely sheltered haven on the south side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the residence of the commissioner of the protectorate and the headquarters of the Somaliland battalion of the King's African Rifles. The harbour is eleven to thirteen fathoms deep at the entrance (indicated by a lighthouse), decreasing to five fathoms near the shore. Ocean-going steamers find ample accommodation. There are two piers and numerous warehouses. The town is built in two divisions--the native town to the east, the new town, laid out by the Egyptians (1875-1877), to the west. The majority of the better-class houses are of rubble, one-storeyed and flat-roofed. The public buildings include the fort, hospital and barracks. There are a Roman Catholic mission-house and convent and a government school. The affairs of the town are administered by a municipality. The water-supply is brought to the town by an aqueduct from the hills some 8 m. distant. The bulk of the inhabitants are Somali, who have abandoned a nomadic life and adopted largely the ways of the Arab and Indian traders. The permanent population is under 10,000; but from October to April the population rises to 30,000 or more by the arrival of caravans from Ogaden and Dolbahanta. The traders bring with them tents on the backs of camels and these are pitched near the native town. Their merchandise consists of sheep and goats, gum and resin, skins and ostrich feathers. The trade is almost entirely with Aden, of which Berbera may be considered a commercial dependency. The value of the goods brought in yearly by caravan exceeds on the average L100,000. The total trade of the port for the five years 1901-1902 to 1905-1906 averaged over L200,000 a year. The chief articles of import are cotton goods (European white longcloth and American grey shirting), rice and jowari, flour, dates, sugar and tobacco (the last from Rotterdam). Berbera is said to have been founded by the Ptolemies among the _Barbari_ of the adjacent coast lands. It fell subsequently into the possession of Arabs and was included in the Mahommedan state of Adel. At the time of the visit to the town of R.F. Burton and J.H. Speke (1854) it was governed by its own sheiks. In 1870 it was claimed by the khedive Ismail, but was not permanently occupied by Egypt until 1875. In 1884 it passed into the possession of Great Britain (see SOMALILAND, S 2, _History_).

BERBERINE, C20H17NO4, an alkaloid occurring together with the alkaloids oxyacanthine C18H19NO3, berbamine C18H19NO3, hydrastine C21H21NO6, and canadine C20H21NO4, in _Berberis vulgaris_; it also occurs in other plants, _Berberis aristata, B. aquifolium, Hydrastis canadensis_, &c. It is a yellow, crystalline solid, insoluble in ether and chloroform, soluble in 4-1/2 parts of water at 21 deg., and moderately soluble in alcohol. It is a monacid base; the hydrochloride, C20H17NO4.HCl, is insoluble in cold alcohol, ether and chloroform, and soluble in 500 parts of water; the acid sulphate, C20H17NO4.H2SO4 dissolves in about 100 parts of water. Canadine is a tetrahydroberberine.

Its constitution was worked out by W.H. Perkin (_J.C.S._, 1889, 55, p. 63; 1890, 57, p. 991). This followed from a study of the decomposition products, there being obtained hemipinic acid (CH3O)2C6H2(COOH)2, and a substance which proved to be [omega]-amino-ethyl-piperonyl carboxylic acid, CH2O2:C6H2.COOH.CH2.CH2NH2. His formula was modified by Gadamer (_Abs. J.C.S._, 1902, 1, p. 555), who made the free base an aldehyde, but the salts of an _iso_-quinolinium type. This formula, which necessitates the presence of two asymmetric carbon atoms in an alkyl tetrahydroberberine, has been accepted by M. Freund and F. Mayer (_Abs. J.C.S._, 1907, 1, p. 632), who showed that two racemic propyl tetrahydroberberines are produced when propyl dihydroberberine is reduced.

BERBERS,

Ethnology.

the name under which are included the various branches of the indigenous "Libyan" race of North Africa. Since the dawn of history the Berbers have occupied the tract between the Mediterranean and the Sahara from Egypt to the Atlantic. The origin of the name is doubtful. Some believe it to be derived from the word [Greek: barbaroi] (barbarians), employed first by the Greeks and later by the Romans. Others attribute the first use of the term to the Arab conquerors. However this may be, tribal titles, _Barabara_ and _Beraberata_, appear in Egyptian inscriptions of 1700 and 1300 B.C., and the Berbers were probably intimately related with the Egyptians in very early times. Thus the true ethnical name may have become confused with _Barbari_, the designation naturally used by classical conquerors. To the Egyptians they were known as "Lebu," "Mashuasha," "Tamahu," "Tehennu" and "Kahaka"; a long list of names is found in Herodotus, and the Romans called them Numidae, Gaetuli and Mauri, terms which have been derived respectively from the Greek [Greek: nomades] (nomads), the name Gued'oula, of a great Berber tribe, and the Hebrew _mahur_ (western). To speak of more modern times there can be enumerated the Zouaoua and Jebalia (Tripoli and Tunisia); the Chauwia, Kabyles and Beni-Mzab (Algeria); the Shluh (Chlouah), Amazigh and Berbers (Morocco); the Tuareg, Arnoshagh, Sorgu, &c. (Sahara). These tribes have many sub-tribes, each with a distinctive name. Among the Azgar, an important division of the Tuareg, one of the noble or free tribes, styled Aouraghen, is said to descend from a tribe named Avrigha. The Avrigha, or Afrigha, in ancient times occupied the coast lands near Carthage, and some scholars derive the word Africa from their name (see AFRICA, ROMAN). In regard to the ethnic relations of the Berbers there has been much dispute. The antiquity of their type is evidenced by the monuments of Egypt, where their ancestors are pictured with the same comparatively blond features which many of them still display. The aborigines of the Canary Islands, the Guanches, would seem almost certainly, from the remains of their language, to have been Berbers. But the problem of the actual origin of the Berber race has not yet been solved. Perhaps the most satisfactory theory is that of Sergi, who includes the Berbers in the "Mediterranean Race." General L.L.C. Faidherbe regards them as indigenous Libyans mingled with a fair-skinned people of European origin. Dr Franz Pruner-Bey, Henri Duveyrier and Prof. Flinders Petrie maintain that they are closely related to the ancient Egyptians. Connexion has been traced between the early Libyan race and the Cro-Magnon and other early European races and, later, the Basque peoples, Iberians, Picts, Celts and Gauls. The megalithic monuments of Iberia and Celtic Europe have their counterparts in northern Africa, and it is suggested that these were all erected by the same race, by whatever name they be known, Berbers and Libyans in Africa, Iberians in Spain, Celts, Gauls and Picts in France and Britain.

Characteristics.

In spite of a history of foreign conquest--Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Vandal, Arab and French--the Berber physical type and the Berber temperament and nationality have persisted since the stone age. The numerous invasions have naturally introduced a certain amount of foreign blood among the tribes fringing the Mediterranean, but those farther inland have preserved their racial purity to a surprising degree. Though considerable individual differences of type may be found in every village, the Berbers are distinctively a "white" race, and the majority would, if clad in European costume, pass unchallenged as Europeans. Dark hair and brown or hazel eyes are the rule; blue-eyed blonds are found, but their frequency has been considerably overstated. The invaders who have most affected the Berber race are the Arabs, but the two races, with a common religion, often a common government, with the same tribal groupings, have failed to amalgamate to any great extent. This fact has been emphasized by Dr R.G. Latham, who writes: "All that is not Arabic in the kingdom of Morocco, all that is not Arabic in the French provinces of Algeria, and all that is not Arabic in Tunis, Tripoli and Fezzan, is Berber." The explanation lies in a profound distinction of character. The Arab is a herdsman and a nomad; the Berber is an agriculturist and a townsman. The Arab has built his social structure on the Koran, which inculcates absolutism, aristocracy, theocracy; the Berber, despite his nominal Mahommedanism, is a democrat, with his _Jemaa_ or "Witangemot" and his _Kanum_ or unwritten code, the Magna Carta of the individual's liberty as opposed to the community's good. The _Kanum_ forbids no sort of exercise of individual will, so long as it is not inimical to the right or rights of other individuals. The Arabizing of the Berbers is indeed limited to little beyond the conversion of the latter to Islam. The Arab, transported to a soil which does not always suit him, so far from thriving, tends to disappear, whereas the Berber becomes more and more aggressive, and yearly increases in numbers. At present he forms at least three-fifths of the population in Algeria, and in Morocco the proportion is greater. The difference between the Berber and the Arab of the Barbary States is summed up by Dr Randall MacIver in the following words:--"The Berber gives the impression of being, as he is, the descendant of men who have lived in sturdy independence, self-governing and self-reliant. The Arab is the degenerate offspring of a race which only from its history and past records can claim any title to respect. Cringing, venal, avaricious, dishonest, the Arab combines all the faults of a vicious nature with those which a degraded religion inculcates or encourages. The Berber, on the other hand, is straightforward, honest, by no means averse to money-making, but not unscrupulous in the methods which he employs to this end, intelligent in a degree to which the ordinary Arab never approaches, and trustworthy as no Arab can be."

Government.

The Berber's village is his state, and the government is vested in an assembly, the _Jemaa_, formed of all males old enough to observe the fast of Ramadan. By them are determined all matters of peace or war, legislation, taxation and justice. The executive officer is the _Amin_, a kind of mayor, elected from some influential family in which the dignity is often in practice hereditary. He owes his position to the good-will of his fellows, receives no remuneration, and resigns as soon as he loses the confidence of the people. By him are appointed certain _Temman_ (sing. _Tamen_) who act as overseers, though without executive powers, in the various quarters of the village. The poorest Berber has as great a voice in affairs as the richest. The undue power of the _Jemaa_ is checked by vendetta and a sort of lynch law, and by the formation of parties (_sofs_), within or without the assembly, for trade, political and other purposes. The Berbers are a warlike people who have never been completely subjugated. Every boy as soon as he reaches sixteen is brought into the _Jemaa_ and given weapons which he carries till he is sixty. Though each village is absolutely independent as far as its internal affairs are concerned, two or more are often connected by administrative ties to form an _Arsh_ or tribe. A number of these tribes form a _Thakebilt_ or confederation, which is an extremely loose organization. An exception to this form of government is constituted by the Tuareg, whose organization, owing to their peculiar circumstances of life, is monarchical. Wars are declared by special messengers; the exchange of sticks or guns renders an armistice inviolable. In some tribes a tablet, on which is inscribed the name of every man fit to bear arms, is placed in the mosque. The Berbers, though Mahommedans, do not often observe the prescribed ablutions; they break their fast at Ramadan; and eat wild boar's flesh and drink fig brandy. On the other hand, saints, both male and female, are paid more reverence by Berbers than by Arabs. Around their tombs their descendants settle, and thus sacred villages, often of considerable size, spring up. Almost every village, too, has its saint or prophet, and disputes as to their relative sanctity and powers cause fierce feuds. The hereditary caste known as Marabouts are frequently in open opposition to the absolute authority of the _Jemaa_. They are possessed of certain privileges, such as exemption from the chief taxes and the duty of bearing arms. They, however, often take a foremost part in tribal administration, and are frequently called upon to perform the office of arbitrators in questions of disputed policy, &c. In the _Jemaa_, too, the Marabout at times takes the place of honour and keeps order. The Berbers, if irreligious, are very superstitious, never leaving their homes without exorcizing evil spirits, and have a good and evil interpretation for every day of the week. Many Berbers still retain certain Christian and Jewish usages, relics of the pre-Islamitic days in North Africa, but of their primitive religion there is no trace. They are seldom good scholars, but those under French rule take all the advantage they can of the schools instituted by the government. Their social tendencies are distinctly communistic; property is often owned by the family in common, and a man can call upon the services of his fellow villagers for certain purposes, as the building of a house. Provision for the poor is often made by the community.

Customs.

The dress of the Berbers was formerly made of home-woven cloth, and the manufacture of woollen stuffs has always been one of the chief occupations of their women. The men wear a tunic reaching to the knees, the women a longer garment. For work the men use a leather apron, and in the cold season and in travelling a burnous, usually a family heirloom, old and ragged; the women, in winter, throw a coloured cloth over their shoulders. The men's hair is cut short but their beards are allowed to grow. In some districts there are peculiar customs, such as the wearing of small silver nose-rings, seen in El-Jofra. The Berbers' weapons are those of the Arab: the long straight sword, the slightly curved and highly ornamented dagger, and the long gun. Berbers are not great town-builders. Their villages, however, are often of substantial appearance: with houses of untrimmed stones, occasionally with two storeys, built on hills, and invariably defended by a bank, a stone wall or a hedge. Sometimes their homes are mere huts of turf, or of clay tiles, with mortar made from lime and clay or cow-dung. The sloping roof is covered with reeds, straw or stones. The living room is on the right, the cattle-stall on the left. The dwelling is surrounded by a garden or small field of grain. The second storey is not added till a son marries. In the villages of the western Atlas the greater part of the upper storey consists of a sort of rough verandah. In this mountain district the natives spend the winter in vaults beneath the houses, and, for the sake of warmth, the tenements are built very close. Agriculture, which is carried on even in the mountain districts by means of laboriously constructed terraces, is antiquated in its methods. The plough, often replaced on the steeper slopes by the hoe, is similar to that depicted in ancient Egyptian drawings, and hand irrigation is usual. A sickle, toothed like a saw, is used for reaping. Corn is trodden by oxen, and kept in osier baskets narrowing to the top, or clay granaries. The staple crop is barley, but wheat, lentils, vetches, flax and gourds are also cultivated. Tobacco, maize and potatoes have been introduced; and the aloe and prickly pear, called in Morocco the Christian fig, are also found. The Kabyles understand grafting, have fine orchards and grow vines. The Beni-Abbas tribe in the Algerian Atlas is famed for its walnuts, and many tribes keep bees, chiefly for the commercial value of the wax. The Berber diet largely consists of cucumbers, gourds, water-melons and onions, and a small artichoke (_Cynara humilis_) which grows wild. At the beginning and end of their meal they drink a strongly sweetened liquid made from green tea and mint. Tea-drinking probably became a habit in Morocco about the beginning of the 19th century; coffee came by way of Algiers. At feasts the food is served on large earthenware dishes with high basket-work covers, like bee-skeps but twice as high.

Industries.

The Berbers have many industries. They mine and work iron, lead and copper. They have olive presses and flour mills, and their own millstone quarries, even travelling into Arab districts to build mills for the Arabs. They make lime, tiles, woodwork for the houses, domestic utensils and agricultural implements. They weave and dye several kinds of cloth, tan and dress leather and manufacture oil and soap. Without the assistance of the wheel the women produce a variety of pottery utensils, often of very graceful design, and decorated with patterns in red and black. Whole tribes, such as the Beni-Sliman, are occupied in the iron trade; the Beni-Abbas made firearms before the French conquest, and even cannon are said to have been made by boring. Before it was proscribed by the French, the manufacture of gunpowder was general. The native jewellers make excellent ornaments in silver, coral and enamel. In some places wood-carving has been brought to considerable perfection; and native artists know how to engrave on metal both by etching and the burin. In its collective industry the Berber race is far superior to the Arab. The Berbers are keen traders too, and, after the harvest, hawk small goods, travelling great distances.

Women.

A Berber woman has in many ways a better position than her Arab sister. True, her birth is regarded as an event of no moment, while that of a boy is celebrated by great rejoicings, and his mother acquires the right to wear on her forehead the _tafzint_, a mark which only the women who have borne an heir can assume. Her husband buys and can dismiss her at will. She has most of the hard work to do, and is little better than a servant. When she is old and past work, especially if she has not been the mother of a male child, she is often abandoned. But she has a voice in public affairs; she has laws to protect her, manages the household and goes unveiled; she has a right to the money she earns; she can inherit under wills, and bequeath property, though to avoid the alienation of real property, succession to it is denied her. But most characteristic of her social position is the Berber woman's right to enter into a sacred bond or agreement, represented by the giving of the _anaya_. This is some symbolic object, stick or what not, which passes between the parties to a contract, the obligations under which, if not fulfilled by the contracting parties during their lives, become hereditary. Female saints, too, are held in high honour; and the Berber pays his wife the compliment of monogamy. The Kabyle women have stood side by side with their husbands in battle. Among many Berber tribes the law of inheritance is such that the eldest daughter's son succeeds. South of Morocco proper, Gerhard Rohlfs, who travelled extensively in the region (c. 1861-1867), states that a Berber religious corporation, the _Savia Kartas_, was ruled over by a woman, the chief's wife. The Berbers consult their women in many matters, and only one woman is really held in low esteem. She, curiously, is the _kuata_ or "go-between," even though her services are only employed in the respectable task of arranging marriages. Berber women are intelligent and hard-working, and, when young, very pretty and graceful. The Berbers, unlike the Arabs, do not admire fat women. Among the Kabyles the adulteress is put to death, as are those women who have illegitimate children, the latter suffering with their mothers.

Language.

Though Arabic has to a considerable extent displaced the Berber language, the latter is still spoken by millions of people from Egypt to the Atlantic and from the Mediterranean to the Sudan. It is spoken nowhere else, though, as has been said, place-names in the Canary Islands and other remains of the aboriginal language there prove it to have been the native tongue. Although the Berber tongue shows a certain affinity with Semitic in the construction both of its words and sentences Berber is quite distinct from the Semitic languages; and a remarkable fact is that in spite of the enormous space over which the dialects are spread and the thousands of years that some of the Berber peoples have been isolated from the rest, these dialects show but slight differences from the long-extinct Hamitic speech from which all are derived. Whatever these dialects be called, the Kabyle, the Shilha, the Zenati, the Tuareg or Tamashek, the Berber language is still essentially one, and the similarity between the forms current in Morocco, Algeria, the Sahara and the far-distant oasis of Siwa is much more marked than between the Norse and English in the sub-Aryan Teutonic group. The Berbers have, moreover, a writing of their own, peculiar and little used or known, the antiquity of which is proved by monuments and inscriptions ranging over the whole of North Africa.

The various spoken dialects, though apparently very unlike each other, are not more dissimilar than are Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian, and their differences are doubtless attributable to the lack of a literary standard. Even where different words are used, there is evidence of a common stem from which the various branches have sprung. The great difficulty of satisfactory comparison arises from the fact that few of the Beber dialects possess any writings. The _Tawahhid_ (The Unity of God), said to have been written in Moroccan Berber and believed to be the oldest African work in existence, except Egyptian and Ethiopic, was the work of the Muwahhadi leader, Ibn Tumart the Mahdi, at a time when the officials of the Kairawan mosque were dismissed because they could not speak Berber. Most of the writings found, however, have been in the form of inscriptions, chiefly on ornaments. A collection of the various signs of the alphabet has shown thirty-two letters, four more than Arabic. De Slane, in his notes on the Berber historian Ibn Khaldun, shows the following points of similarity to the Semitic class:--its tri-literal roots, the inflections of the verb, the formation of derived verbs, the genders of the second and third persons, the pronominal affixes, the aoristic style of tense, the whole and broken plurals and the construction of the phrase. Among the peculiar grammatical features of Berber may be mentioned two numbers (no dual), two genders and six cases, and verbs with one, two, three and four radicals, and imperative and aorist tense only. As might be expected the Berber tongue is most common in Morocco and the western Sahara--the regions where Arab dominion was least exercised. When Arabic is mentioned as the language of Morocco it is seldom realized how small a proportion of its inhabitants use it as their mother tongue. Berber is the real language of Morocco, Arabic that of its creed and government.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--General A. Hanoteau and A. Letourneux, _La Kabylie et les coutumes kabyles_ (3 vols., Paris, 1872-1873); D. Randall-MacIver and Antony Wilkin, _Libyan Notes_ (London, 1901); Antony Wilkin, _Among the Berbers of Algeria_ (London, 1900); G. Sergi, _The Mediterranean Race_ (London, 1901), and _Africa, Antropologia della Stirpe Comitica_ (Turin, 1897); Henri Duveyrier, _Exploration du Sahara_ (1864), _Les Progres de la geographie en Algerie_ (1867-1871), _Bull. de la Soc. Khediviale de Geog_. (1876); E. Renan, "La Societe Berbere," _Revue des deux mondes_, vol. for 1873; M.G. Olivier, "Recherches sur l'origine des Berberes," _Bull. de l'Acad. d'Hippone_ (1867-1868); F.G. Rohlfs, _Reise durch Marokko_ (1869); _Quer durch Afrika_ (1874-1875); General Faidherbe, _Collection complete des inscriptions numidiques (lybiques)_ (1870), and _Les Dolmens d'Afrique_ (1873); H.M. Flinders Petrie in _The Academy_, 20th of April 1895; Jules Lionel, _Races berberes_ (1894); Sir H.H. Johnston, "A Journey through the Tunisian Sahara," _Geog. Journal_, vol. xi., 1898; De Slane's translation of Ibn Khaldun, _Hist, des Berberes_ (Algiers, 1852); W.Z. Ripley, _Races of Europe_ (London, 1900); Dr Malbot, "Les Chaouias" in _L'Anthropologie_, 1897 (p. 14); General Faidherbe and Dr Paul Topinard, _Instructions sur l'anthropologie de l'Algerie_ (Paris, 1874); E.T. Hamy, _La Necropole berbere d'Henchir el-'Assel_ (Paris, 1896), and _Cites et necropoles berberes de l'Enfida (Tunisie moyenne) (ib._ 1904).

Berber dictionaries:--_Venture de Paradis_ (Paris, 1844); Brosselard (_ib._ 1844); Delaporte (_ib._ 1844, by order of minister of war); J.B. Creusat, _Essai de dictionnaire francais-kabyle_ (Algiers, 1873); A. Hanoteau, _Essai de grammaire de la langue tamachek, &c._ (Paris, 1860); Minutoli, _Siwah Dialect_ (Berlin, 1827).

Folklore, &c.:--J. Riviere, _Recueil de contes populaires de la Kabylie_ (1882); R. Basset, _Contes populaires berberes_ (1887); P. le Blanc de Prebois, _Essai de contes kabyles, avec traduction en francais_ (Batna, 1897); H. Stumine, _Marchen der Berbern van Tamazratt in Sudtunisien_ (Leipzig, 1900).

BERCEUSE (Fr. for a "lullaby," from _berceau_, a cradle), a cradle-song, the German _Wiegenlied_, a musical composition with a quiet rocking accompaniment.

BERCHEM (or BERGHEM), NICOLAAS (1620-1683), Dutch painter, was born at Haarlem. He received instruction from his father (Pieter Claasz van Haarlem) and from the painters Van Goyen, Jan Wils and Weenix. It is not known why he called himself Berchem (or Berighem, and other variants). His pictures, of which he produced an immense number, were in great demand, as were also his etchings and drawings. His landscapes are highly esteemed; and many of them have been finely engraved by John Visscher. His finest pictures are at the Amsterdam Museum and at the Hermitage, St Petersburg.

BERCHTA (English Bertha), a fairy in South German mythology. She was at first a benevolent spirit, the counterpart of Hulda in North German myth. Later her character changed and she came to be regarded as a witch. In Pagan times Berchta had the rank of a minor deity.

BERCHTESGADEN, a town of Germany, beautifully situated on the south-eastern confines of the kingdom of Bavaria, 1700 ft. above the sea on the southern declivity of the Untersberg, 6 m. S.S.E. from Reichenhall by rail. Pop. (1900) 10,046. It is celebrated for its extensive mines of rock-salt, which were worked as early as 1174. The town contains three old churches, of which the early Gothic abbey church with its Romanesque cloister is most notable, and some good houses. Apart from the salt-mines, its industries include toys and other small articles of wood, horn and ivory, for which the place has long been famous. The district of Berchtesgaden was formerly an independent spiritual principality, founded in 1100 and secularized in 1803. The abbey is now a royal castle, and in the neighbourhood a hunting-lodge was built by King Maximilian II. in 1852.

BERCK, a bathing resort of northern France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, 25 m. S. of Boulogne by rail. Pop. (1906) 7638. It comprises two parts--Berck-Ville, 1-1/2 m. from the shore, and Berck-Plage, the latter with a fine sandy beach. There are two children's hospitals, the climate proving peculiarly beneficial in the treatment of scrofulous affections. About 150 boats are employed in the fisheries, and herrings form the staple of an active trade. Boat-building and fish-curing are carried on.

BERDICHEV, a town of W. Russia, in the government of Kiev, 116 m. S.W. of Kiev by rail and not far from the borders of Volhynia. The cathedral of the Assumption, finished in 1832, is the principal place of worship. The fortified Carmelite monastery, founded in 1627, was captured and plundered by Chmielnicki, chief of the Zaporogian Cossacks, in 1647, and disestablished in 1864. An extensive trade is carried on in peltry, silk goods, iron and wooden wares, salt fish, grain, cattle and horses. Four fairs are held yearly, the most important being on the 12th of June and the 15th of August. The numerous minor industries include the manufacture of tobacco, soap, candles, oil, bricks and leather. Pop. (1867) 52,563; (1897) 53,728, Jews forming about 80%. In the treaty of demarcation between the Lithuanians and the Poles in 1546 Berdichev was assigned to the former. In 1768 Pulaski, leader of the confederacy of Bar, fled, after the capture of that city, to Berdichev, and there maintained himself during a siege of twenty-five days. The town belongs to the Radziwill family.

BERDYANSK, a seaport town of Russia, in the government of Taurida, on the north coast of the Sea of Azov, in 46 deg. 45' N. lat. and 36 deg. 40' E. long. The principal industries are in bricks and tiles, tallow and macaroni. The roads are protected from every wind except the south, which occasions a heavy surf; but against this a mole was constructed in 1863. The chief articles of export are cereals, flour, wool, hemp, skins and fish; and the imports include hardwares, fruits, oil and petroleum. In the immediate neighbourhood are salt-lagoons. Pop. (1867) 12,223; (1900) 29,168.

BEREA, a town of Madison county, Kentucky, U.S.A., 131 m. by rail S. of Cincinnati. Pop. (1900) 762. Berea is served by the Louisville & Nashville railway. It is pleasantly situated on the border between the Blue Grass and the Mountain regions. The town is widely known as the seat of Berea College, which has done an important work among the mountaineers of Kentucky and of Tennessee. The college has about 70 acres of ground (and about 4000 acres of mountain land for forestry study), with a large recitation hall, a library, a chapel (seating 1400 persons), a science hall, an industrial hall, a brick-making plant, a woodwork building, a printing building, a tabernacle for commencement exercises and other buildings. In 1908 Berea had 65 instructors and 1150 students; and it paid the tuition of 141 negro students in Fisk University (Nashville, Tennessee) and in other institutions. The school out of which Berea College has developed was founded in the anti-slavery interests in 1855. An attempt was made to procure for it a college charter in 1859, but the slavery interests caused it to be closed before the end of that year and it was not reopened until 1865, the charter having then been obtained, as Berea College. Negroes as well as whites were admitted until 1904, when education of the two races at the same institution was prohibited by an act of the state legislature (upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908). This act did not, however, prohibit an institution from maintaining separate schools for the two races, provided these schools were at least 25 m. apart, and a separate school for the negroes was at once projected by Berea.

BEREKHIAH NAQDAN, Jewish fabulist, author of a collection of _Fox Fables_, written in Hebrew. As his title implies (Naqdan=punctuator of the Biblical text), Berekhiah was also a grammarian. He further wrote an ethical treatise and was the author of various translations. His date is disputed. Most authorities place him in the 13th century, but J. Jacobs has identified him with Benedictus le Puncteur, an English Jew of the 12th century.

BERENGARIUS [BERENGAR] (d. 1088), medieval theologian, was born at Tours early in the 11th century; he was educated in the famous school of Fulbert of Chartres, but even in early life seems to have exhibited great independence of judgment. Appointed superintendent of the cathedral school of his native city, he taught with such success as to attract pupils from all parts of France, and powerfully contributed to diffuse an interest in the study of logic and metaphysics, and to introduce that dialectic development of theology which is designated the scholastic. The earliest of his writings of which we have any record is an _Exhortatory Discourse_ to the hermits of his district, written at their own request and for their spiritual edification. It shows a clear discernment of the dangers of the ascetic life, and a deep insight into the significance of the Augustinian doctrine of grace. Sometime before 1040 Berengar was made archdeacon of Angers. It was shortly after this that rumours began to spread of his holding heretical views regarding the sacrament of the eucharist. He had submitted the doctrine of transubstantiation (already generally received both by priests and people, although in the west it had been first unequivocally taught and reduced to a regular theory by Paschasius Radbert in 831) to an independent examination, and had come to the conclusion that it was contrary to reason, unwarranted by Scripture, and inconsistent with the teaching of men like Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine. He did not conceal this conviction from his scholars and friends, and through them the report spread widely that he denied the common doctrine respecting the eucharist. His early friend and school companion, Adelmann, archdeacon of Liege, wrote to him letters of expostulation on the subject of this report in 1046 and 1048; and a bishop, Hugo of Langres, wrote (about 1049) a refutation of the views which he had himself heard Berengar express in conversation. Berengar's belief was not shaken by their arguments and exhortations, and hearing that Lanfranc, the most celebrated theologian of that age, strongly approved the doctrine of Paschasius and condemned that of "Scotus" (really Ratramnus), he wrote to him a letter expressing his surprise and urging him to reconsider the question. The letter, arriving at Bec when Lanfranc was absent at Rome (1050), was sent after him, but was opened before it reached him, and Lanfranc, fearing the scandal, brought it under the notice of Pope Leo IX. Because of it Berengar was condemned as a heretic without being heard, by a synod at Rome and another at Vercelli, both held in 1050. His enemies in France cast him into prison; but the bishop of Angers and other powerful friends, of whom he had a considerable number, had sufficient influence to procure his release. At the council of Tours (1054) he found a protector in the papal legate, the famous Hildebrand, who, satisfied himself with the fact that Berengar did not deny the real presence of Christ in the sacramental elements, succeeded in persuading the assembly to be content with a general confession from him that the bread and wine, after consecration, were the body and blood of the Lord, without requiring him to define how. Trusting in Hildebrand's support, and in the justice of his own cause, he presented himself at the synod of Rome in 1059, but found himself surrounded by zealots, who forced him by the fear of death to signify his acceptance of the doctrine "that the bread and wine, after consecration, are not merely a sacrament, but the true body and the true blood of Christ, and that this body is touched and broken by the hands of the priests, and ground by the teeth of the faithful, not merely in a sacramental but in a real manner." He had no sooner done so than he bitterly repented his weakness; and acting, as he himself says, on the principle that "to take an oath which never ought to have been taken is to estrange one's self from God, but to retract what one has wrongfully sworn to, is to return back to God," when he got safe again into France he attacked the transubstantiation theory more vehemently than ever. He continued for about sixteen years to disseminate his views by writing and teaching, without being directly interfered with by either his civil or ecclesiastical superiors, greatly to the scandal of the multitude and of the zealots, in whose eyes Berengar was "ille apostolus Satanae," and the academy of Tours the "Babylon nostri temporis." An attempt was made at the council of Poitiers in 1076 to allay the agitation caused by the controversy, but it failed, and Berengar narrowly escaped death in a tumult. Hildebrand, now pope as Gregory VII., next summoned him to Rome, and, in a synod held there in 1078, tried once more to obtain a declaration of his orthodoxy by means of a confession of faith drawn up in general terms; but even this strong-minded and strong-willed pontiff was at length forced to yield to the demands of the multitude and its leaders; and in another synod at Rome (1079), finding that he was only endangering his own position and reputation, he turned unexpectedly upon Berengar and commanded him to confess that he had erred in not teaching a change _as to substantial reality_ of the sacramental bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. "Then," says Berengar, "confounded by the sudden madness of the pope, and because God in punishment for my sins did not give me a steadfast heart, I threw myself on the ground, and confessed with impious voice that I had erred, fearing the pope would instantly pronounce against me the sentence of condemnation, and, as a necessary consequence, that the populace would hurry me to the worst of deaths." He was kindly dismissed by the pope not long after, with a letter recommending him to the protection of the bishops of Tours and Angers, and another pronouncing anathema on all who should do him any injury or call him a heretic. He returned home overwhelmed with shame and bowed down with sorrow for having a second time been guilty of a great impiety. He immediately recalled his forced confession, and besought all Christian men "to pray for him, so that his tears might secure the pity of the Almighty." He now saw, however, that the spirit of the age was against him, and hopelessly given over to the belief of what he had combated as a delusion. He withdrew, therefore, into solitude, and passed the rest of his life in retirement and prayer on the island of St Come near Tours. He died there in 1088.

Berengar left behind him a considerable number of followers. All those who in the middle ages denied the substantial presence of the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist were commonly designated Berengarians. They differed, of course, in many respects, even in regard to the nature of the supper. Berengar's own views on the subject may be thus summed up:--1. That bread and wine should become flesh and blood and yet not lose the properties of bread and wine was, he held, contradictory to reason, and therefore irreconcilable with the truthfulness of God. 2. He admitted a change (_conversio_) of the bread and wine into the body of Christ, in the sense that to those who receive them they are transformed by grace into higher powers and influences--into the true, the intellectual or spiritual body of Christ. The unbelieving receive the external sign or _sacramentum_; but the believing receive in addition, although invisibly, the reality represented by the sign, the _res sacramenti_. 3. He rejected the notion that the sacrament of the altar was a constantly renewed sacrifice, and held it to be merely a commemoration of the one sacrifice of Christ. 4. He dwelt strongly on the importance of men looking away from the externals of the sacrament to the spirit of love and piety. The transubstantiation doctrine seemed to him full of evil, from its tendency to lead men to overvalue what was sensuous and transitory. 5. He rejected with indignation the miraculous stories told to confirm the doctrine of transubstantiation. 6. Reason and Scripture seemed to him the only grounds on which a true doctrine of the Lord's supper could be rested. He attached little importance to mere ecclesiastical tradition or authority, and none to the voice of majorities, even when sanctioned by the decree of a pope. In this, as in other respects, he was a precursor of Protestantism.

The opinions of Berengar are to be ascertained from the works written in refutation of them by Adelmann, Lanfranc, Guitmund, &c.; from the fragments of the _De sacr. coena adv. Lanfr. liber_, edited by Staudlin (1820-1829); and from the _Liber posterior_, edited by A.F. and F.T. Vischer (1834). See the collection of texts by Sudendorf (1850); the _Church Histories_ of Gieseler, ii. 396-411 (Eng. trans.), and Neander, vi. 221-260 (Eng. trans.); A. Harnack's _History of Dogma_, Haureau's _Histoire de la philosophie scolastique_, i. 225-238; Hermann Reuter, _Geschichte der religiosen Aufklarung des Mittelalters_, vol. i. (Berlin, 1875); L. Schwabe, _Studien zur Geschichte des Zweilen Abendmahlstreits_ (1887); and W. Broecking, "Bruno von Angers und Berengar von Tours," in _Deutsche Zeitichrift fur Geschichtewissenschaft_ (vol. xii., 1895).

BERENGER, ALPHONSE MARIE MARCELLIN THOMAS (1785-1866), known as Berenger de la Drome, French lawyer and politician, son of a deputy of the third estate of Dauphine to the Constituent Assembly, was born at Valence on the 31st of May 1785. He entered the magistracy and became _procureur general_ at Grenoble, but resigned this office on the restoration of the Bourbons. He now devoted himself mainly to the study of criminal law, and in 1818 published _La Justice criminelle en France_, in which with great courage he attacked the special tribunals, provosts' courts or military commissions which were the main instruments of the Reaction, and advocated a return to the old common law and trial by jury. The book had a considerable effect in discrediting the reactionary policy of the government; but it was not until 1828, when Berenger was elected to the chamber, that he had an opportunity of exercising a personal influence on affairs as a member of the group known as that of constitutional opposition. His courage, as well as his moderation, was again displayed during the revolution of 1830, when, as president of the parliamentary commission for the trial of the ministers of Charles X., he braved the fury of the mob and secured a sentence of imprisonment in place of the death penalty for which they clamoured.

His position in the chamber was now one of much influence, and he had a large share in the modelling of the new constitution, though his effort to secure a hereditary peerage failed. Above all he was instrumental in framing the new criminal code, based on more humanitarian principles, which was issued in 1835. It was due to him that, in 1832, the right, so important in actual French practice, was given to juries to find "extenuating circumstances" in cases when guilt involved the death penalty. In 1831 he had been made a member of the court of appeal (_cour de cassation_), and the same year was nominated a member of the academy of moral and political sciences. He was raised to the peerage in 1839. This dignity he lost owing to the revolution of 1848; and as a politician his career now ended. As a judge, however, his activity continued. He was president of the high courts of Bourges and Versailles in 1840. Having been appointed president of one of the chambers of the court of cassation, he devoted himself entirely to judicial work until his retirement, under the age limit, on the 31st of May 1860. He now withdrew to his native town, and occupied himself with his favourite work of reform of criminal law. In 1833 he had shared in the foundation of a society for the reclamation of young criminals, in which he continued to be actively interested to the end. In 1851 and 1852, on the commission of the academy of moral sciences, he had travelled in France and England for the purpose of examining and comparing the penal systems in the two countries. The result was published in 1855 under the title _La Repression penale, comparaison du systeme penitentiaire en France et en Angleterre._ He died on the 15th of May 1866.

His son, RENE BERENGER (1830- ), continued the work of his father, and at the outbreak of the revolution of 1870 was _avocat general_ of Lyons. He served as a volunteer in the Franco-German War, being wounded at Nuits on the 28th of December. Returned to the National Assembly by the department of Drome, he was for a few days in 1873 minister of public works under Thiers. He then entered the senate, of which he was vice-president from 1894 to 1897. He founded in 1871 a society for the reclamation of discharged prisoners, and presided over various bodies formed to secure improvement of the public morals. He succeeded Charles Lucas in 1890 at the Academy of Moral and Political Science.

BERENICE, or BERNICE, the Macedonian forms of the Greek Pherenice, the name of (A) five Egyptian and (B) two Jewish princesses.

(A) 1. BERENICE, daughter of Lagus, wife of an obscure Macedonian soldier and subsequently of Ptolemy Soter, with whose bride Eurydice she came to Egypt as a lady-in-waiting. Her son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, was recognized as heir over the heads of Eurydice's children. So great was her ability and her influence that Pyrrhus of Epirus gave the name Berenicis to a new city. Her son Philadelphus decreed divine honours to her on her death. (See Theocritus, _Idylls_ xv. and xvii.)

2. BERENICE, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, wife of Antiochus Theos of Syria, who, according to agreement with Ptolemy (249), had divorced his wife Laodice and transferred the succession to Berenice's children. On Ptolemy's death, Antiochus repudiated Berenice and took back Laodice, who, however, at once poisoned him and murdered Berenice and her son. The prophecy in Daniel xi. 6 seq. refers to these events.

3. BERENICE, the daughter of Magas, king of Cyrene, and the wife of Ptolemy III. Euergetes. During her husband's absence on an expedition to Syria, she dedicated her hair to Venus for his safe return, and placed it in the temple of the goddess at Zephyrium. The hair having by some unknown means disappeared, Conon of Samos, the mathematician and astronomer, explained the phenomenon in courtly phrase, by saying that it had been carried to the heavens and placed among the stars. The name _Coma Berenices_, applied to a constellation, commemorates this incident. Callimachus celebrated the transformation in a poem, of which only a few lines remain, but there is a fine translation of it by Catullus. Soon after her husband's death (221 B.C.) she was murdered at the instigation of her son Ptolemy IV., with whom she was probably associated in the government.

4. BERENICE, also called CLEOPATRA, daughter of Ptolemy X., married as her second husband Alexander II., grandson of Ptolemy VII. He murdered her three weeks afterwards.

5. BERENICE, daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, eldest sister of the great Cleopatra. The Alexandrines placed her on the throne in succession to her father (58 B.C.). She married Seleucus Cybiosactes, but soon caused him to be slain, and married Archelaus, who had been made king of Comana in Pontus (or in Cappadocia) by Pompey. Auletes was restored and put both Berenice and Archelaus to death in 55 B.C.

(B) 1. BERENICE, daughter of Salome, sister of Herod I., and wife of her cousin Aristobulus, who was assassinated in 6 B.C. Their relations had been unhappy and she was accused of complicity in his murder. By Aristobulus she was the mother of Herod Agrippa I. Her second husband, Theudion, uncle on the mother's side of Antipater, son of Herod I., having been put to death for conspiring against Herod, she married Archelaus. Subsequently she went to Rome and enjoyed the favour of the imperial household.

2. BERENICE, daughter of Agrippa I., king of Judaea, and born probably about A.D. 28. She was first married to Marcus, son of the alabarch[1] Alexander of Alexandria. On his early death she was married to her father's brother, Herod of Chalcis, after whose death (A.D. 48) she lived for some years with her brother, Agrippa II. Her third husband was Polemon, king of Cilicia, but she soon deserted him, and returned to Agrippa, with whom she was living in 60 when Paul appeared before him at Caesarea (Acts xxvi.). During the devastation of Judaea by the Romans, she fascinated Titus, whom along with Agrippa she followed to Rome as his promised wife (A.D. 75). When he became emperor (A.D. 79) he dismissed her finally, though reluctantly, to her own country. Her influence had been exercised vainly on behalf of the Jews in A.D. 66, but the burning of her palace alienated her sympathies. For her influence see Juvenal, _Satires_, vi., and Tacitus, _Hist._ ii. 2.

FOOTNOTE:

[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.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Stanhope, _Life of Pitt_, ii, 301.

BERESFORD, WILLIAM CARR BERESFORD, VISCOUNT (1768-1854), British general and Portuguese marshal, illegitimate son of the first marquess of Waterford, was born on the 2nd of October 1768. He entered the British army in 1785, and while in Nova Scotia with his regiment in the following year lost the sight of one eye by a shooting accident. He first distinguished himself at Toulon in 1793, receiving two years later the command of the 88th regiment (Connaught Rangers). In 1799 his regiment was ordered to India, and a few months later Beresford left with Sir David Baird's expedition for Egypt, and was placed in command of the first brigade which led the march from Kosseir across the desert. When, on the evacuation of Egypt in 1803, he returned home, his reputation was established. In 1805 he accompanied Sir David Baird to South Africa, and was present at the capture of Cape Town and the surrender of the colony. From South Africa he was despatched to South America. He had little difficulty in capturing Buenos Aires with only a couple of regiments. But this force was wholly insufficient to hold the colony. Under the leadership of a French _emigre_, the chevalier de Timers, the colonists attacked Beresford, and at the end of three days' hard fighting he was compelled to capitulate. After six months' imprisonment he escaped, and reached England in 1807, and at the end of that year he was sent to Madeira, occupying the island in the name of the king of Portugal. After six months in Madeira as governor and commander-in-chief, during which he learnt Portuguese and obtained an insight into the Portuguese character, he was ordered to join Sir Arthur Wellesley's army in Portugal. He was first employed as commandant in Lisbon, but accompanied Sir John Moore on the advance into Spain, and took a conspicuous part in the battle of Corunna (see PENINSULAR WAR). In February 1809 Beresford was given the task of reorganizing the Portuguese army. In this task, by systematic weeding-out of inefficient officers and men, he succeeded beyond expectation. By the summer of 1810 he had so far improved the _moral_ and discipline of the force that Wellington brigaded some of the Portuguese regiments with English ones, and at Busaco Portuguese and English fought side by side. Beresford's services in this battle were rewarded by the British government with a knighthood of the Bath and by the Portuguese with a peerage.

In the spring of 1811 Wellington was compelled to detach Beresford from the Portuguese service. The latter was next in seniority to General (Lord) Hill who had gone home on sick leave, and on him, therefore, the command of Hill's corps now devolved. Unfortunately Beresford never really gained the confidence of his new troops. At Campo Mayor his light cavalry brigade got out of hand, and a regiment of dragoons was practically annihilated. He invested Badajoz with insufficient forces, and on the advance of Soult he was compelled to raise the siege and offer battle at Albuera. His personal courage was even more than usually conspicuous, but to the initiative of a junior staff officer, Colonel (afterwards Viscount) Hardinge, rather than to Beresford's own generalship, was the hardly-won victory to be attributed. Beresford then went back to his work of reorganizing the Portuguese army. He was present at the siege of Badajoz and at the battle of Salamanca, where he was severely wounded (1812). In 1813 he was present at the battle of Vittoria, and at the battles of the Pyrenees, while at the battle of the Nivelle, the Nive and Orthez he commanded the British centre, and later he led a corps at the battle of Toulouse. At the close of the Peninsular War he was created Baron Beresford of Albuera and Cappoquin, with a pension of L2000 a year, to be continued to his two successors.

In 1819 the revolution in Portugal led to the dismissal of the British officers in the Portuguese service. Beresford therefore left Portugal and placed the question of the arrears of pay of his army before the king at Rio Janeiro. On his return the new Portuguese government refused to allow him to land, and he accordingly left for home. On arriving in England he turned his attention to politics, and strongly supported the duke of Wellington in the House of Lords. In 1823 his barony was made a viscounty, and when the duke of Wellington formed his first cabinet in 1828 he gave Beresford the office of master-general of the ordnance. In 1830 Beresford retired from politics, and for some time subsequently he was occupied in a heated controversy with William Napier, the historian of the Peninsular War, who had severely criticised his tactics at Albuera. On this subject Wellington's opinion of Beresford is to the point. The duke had no illusions as to his being a great general, but he thought very highly of his powers of organization, and he went so far as to declare, during the Peninsular War, that, in the event of his own death, he would on this ground recommend Beresford to succeed him. The last years of Beresford's life were spent at Bedgebury, Kent, where he had purchased a country estate. He died on the 8th of January 1854.

BEREZINA, a river of Russia, in the government of Minsk, forming a tributary of the Dnieper. It rises in the marshes of Borizov and flows south, inclining to east, for 350 m. (250 m. navigable), for the most part through low-lying but well-wooded country. As a navigable river, and forming a portion of the canal system which unites the Black Sea with the Baltic, it is of importance for commerce, but is subject to severe floods. It was just above Borizov that Napoleon's army forced the passage of the Berezina, with enormous losses, on the 26th-28th of November 1812, during the retreat from Moscow.

BEREZOV. a town of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Tobolsk, 700 m. N. of the city of that name, situated on three hills on the left bank of the Sosva, 26 m. above its mouth in the Ob, in 63 deg. 55' N. lat. and 65 deg. 7' E. long. It has more than once suffered from conflagrations--for example, in 1710 and 1808. Prince Menshikov, the favourite of Peter the Great and Catherine I., died here an exile, in 1729. In 1730 his enemy and rival, Prince Dolgoruki, was interned here with his family; and in 1742 General Ostermann was sent to Berezov with his wife and died there in 1747. The yearly mean temperature is 25 deg. Fahr., the maximum cold being 4.7 deg. It has a cathedral, near which lie buried Mary Menshikov, once betrothed to the tsar Peter II., and some of the Dolgorukis. There is some trade in furs, mammoth bones, dried and salted fish. Pop. (1897) 1073.

BEREZOVSK, a village of east Russia, in the government of Perm, on the eastern slope of the Urals, 8 m. N.E. of Ekaterinburg. It is the centre of an important gold-mining region (5 m. by 2-1/2) of the same name. The mines have been known since 1747. The inhabitants also manufacture boots, cut stone and carry on cabinet-making.

BERG (_Ducatus Montensis_), a former duchy of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine, bounded N. by the duchy of Cleves, E. by the countship of La Marck and the duchy of Westphalia, and S. and W. by the bishopric of Cologne. Its area was about 1120 sq. m. The district was raised in 1108 to the rank of a countship, but did not become a duchy till 1380, after it had passed into the possession of the Julich family. In 1423 the duchy of Julich fell to Adolf of Berg, and in 1437 the countship of Ravensberg was united to the duchies. The male line of the dukes of Julich-Berg-Ravensberg became extinct in 1511, and the duchy passed by marriage to John III. (d. 1539), duke of Cleves and count of La Marck, whose male line became extinct with the death of John William, bishop of Munster, in 1609. Of the latter's four sisters, the eldest (Marie Eleonore) was married to Albert Frederick, duke of Prussia, the second (Anna) to Philip Louis, count palatine of Neuburg, the third (Magdalena) to John, count palatine of Zweibrucken, and the fourth (Sybille) to Charles of Habsburg, margrave of Burgau. The question of the succession led to a prolonged contest, which was one of the causes of the Thirty Years' War. It was settled in 1614 by a partition, under which Berg, with Julich, was assigned to the count palatine of Neuburg, in whose line it remained till 1742, when it passed to the Sultzbach branch of the house of Wittelsbach. On the death of Charles Theodore, the last of this line, in 1799, Julich and Berg fell to Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrucken (Maximilian I. of Bavaria), who ceded the duchies in 1806 to Napoleon. Berg was bestowed by Napoleon, along with the duchy of Cleves and other possessions, on Joachim Murat, who bore the title of grand-duke of Berg; and after Murat's elevation to the throne of Naples, it was transferred to Louis, the son of the king of Holland. By the congress of Vienna in 1815 it was made over to Prussia.

See B. Schonneshofer, _Geschichte des Bergischen Landes_ (Elberfeld, 1895); Stokvis, _Manuel d'histoire, &c._ vol. iii. (Leiden, 1890-1893); and R. Gocke, _Das Grossherzogtum Berg unter Joachim Murat, Napoleon I^er und Louis Napoleon, 1806-1813_ (Cologne, 1877).

BERGAMASK, or BERGOMASK (from the town of Bergamo in North Italy), a clumsy rustic dance (cf. Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night's Dream_, v. 360) copied from the natives of Bergamo, reputed to be very awkward in their manners.

BERGAMO (anc. _Bergomum_), a city and episcopal see of Lombardy, Italy, capital of the province of Bergamo, situated at the foot of the Alps, at the junction of the Brembo and Serio, 33-1/2 m. N.E. of Milan by rail, and 26 m. direct. Pop. (1901) town, 25,425; commune, 46,861. The town consists of two distinct parts, the older Citta Alta, upon a hill 1200 ft. above sea-level, strongly fortified by the Venetians, and the new town (Citta Bassa) below, the two being connected by a funicular railway. The most interesting building of the former is the fine Romanesque church of S. Maria Maggiore, founded in 1137 and completed in 1355, with a baroque interior and some interesting works of art. Adjoining it to the north is the Cappella Colleoni, with a richly sculptured polychrome facade, and a modernized interior, containing the fine tombs of Bartolommeo Colleoni (c. 1400-1475), a native of Bergamo, and his daughter Medea. The work was executed in 1470-1476 by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, who was also employed at the Certosa di Pavia. The market-place (now Piazza Garibaldi) contains the Gothic Palazzo Vecchio or Broletto; close by are the cathedral (1614) and a small baptistery of 1340, rebuilt in 1898. The lower town contains an important picture-gallery, consisting of three collections of works of north Italian masters, one of which was bequeathed in 1891 by the art critic Giovanni Morelli. Bergamo has fine modern buildings and numerous silk and cotton factories. It also has a considerable cattle market, though its yearly Fiera di S. Alessandro (the patron saint) has lost some of its importance. Railways radiate from it to Lecco, Ponte della Selva, Usmate (for Monza or Seregno), Treviglio (on the main line from Milan to Verona and Venice) and (via Rovato) to Brescia, and steam tramways to Treviglio, Sarnico and Soncino.

The ancient Bergomum was the centre of the tribe of the Orobii; it became, after their subjection to Rome, a Roman municipality with a considerable territory, and after its destruction by Attila, became the capital of a Lombard duchy. From 1264 to 1428 it was under Milan, but then became Venetian, and remained so until 1797. Remains of the Roman city are not visible above ground, but various discoveries made are recorded by G. Mantovani in _Not. Scav_., 1890, 25. (T. As.)

BERGAMOT, OIL OF, an essential oil obtained from the rind of the fruit of the Citrus bergamia. The bergamot is a small tree with leaves and flowers like the bitter orange, and a round fruit nearly 3 in. in diameter, having a thin lemon-yellow smooth rind. The tree is cultivated in southern Calabria, whence the entire supply of bergamot oil is drawn. Machinery is mostly used to express the oil from the fruit, which is gathered in November and December. The oil, which on standing deposits a stearoptene, bergamot camphor or bergaptene, is a limpid greenish-yellow fluid of a specific gravity of 0.882 to 0.886, and its powerful but pleasant odour is mainly due to the presence of linalyl acetate, or _bergamiol_, which can be artificially prepared by heating linalol with acetic anhydride. The chief use of bergamot oil is in perfumery. The word apparently is derived from the Italian town Bergamo. The name Bergamot, for a variety of pear, is an entirely different word, supposed to be a corruption of the Turkish _beg-armudi_ ( = prince's pear; cf. Ger. _Furstenbirn_).

BERGEDORF, a town of Germany, in the territory of Hamburg, on the river Bille, 10 m. by rail E. by S. from the city. Pop. (1900) 23,728. It produces vegetables and fruit for the Hamburg markets, and carries on tanning, glass manufacture, brewing and brick-making. It received civic rights in 1275, belonged to Lubeck and Hamburg conjointly from 1420 to 1868, and in the latter year was purchased by Hamburg. The surrounding district, exceptionally fertile marshland, is known as Die Vierlande, being divided into four parishes, whence the name is derived.

BERGEN, a city and seaport of Norway, forming a separate county (_amt_), on the west coast, in lat. 60 deg. 23' N. (about that of the Shetland Islands). Pop. (1900) 72,179. It lies at the head of the broad Byfjord, and partly on a rocky promontory (Nordnaes) between the fine harbour (Vaagen) and the Puddefjord. Its situation is very beautiful, the moist climate (mean annual rainfall, 74 in.) fostering on the steep surrounding hills a vegetation unusually luxuriant for the latitude. Behind the town lie the greater and lesser Lungegaard Lakes, so that the site is in effect a peninsula. The harbour is crowded with picturesque timber-ships and fishing-smacks, and is bordered by quays. The principal street is Strandgaden, on the Nordnaes, parallel with the harbour, communicating inland with the _torv_ or marketplace, which fronts the harbour and contains the fish and fruit market. The portion of the city on the mainland rises in an amphitheatre. The houses, of wood or stucco, are painted in warm reds and yellows. On the banks of the lesser Lungegaard Lake is the small town park, and above the greater lake the pleasant Nygaards park, with an aquarium adjoining. Among the principal buildings are the cathedral (rebuilt in the 16th century), and several other churches, among which the Mariae Kirke with its Romanesque nave is the earliest; a hospital, diocesan college, naval academy, school of design and a theatre. An observatory and biological station are maintained. The museums are of great interest. The Vestlandske fishery and industrial museum also contains a picture gallery, and exhibition of the Bergen Art Union (_Kunstforening_). The Bergen museum contains antiquities and a natural history collection. The Hanseatic museum is housed in a carefully-preserved _gaard_, or store-house and offices of the Hanseatic League of German merchants, who inhabited the German quarter (Tydskenbryggen) and were established here in great strength from 1445 to 1558 (when the Norwegians began to find their presence irksome), and brought much prosperity to the city in that period. The Bergenhus and Fredriksberg forts defend the north and south entries of the harbour respectively. The first was originally built in the 13th century by King Haakon Haakonsson, and subsequently enlarged; and still bears marks of an English attack when a Dutch fleet was driven to shelter here in 1665. Near it are remains of another old fort, the Sverresborg. Electric trams ply in the principal streets.

Bergen is the birthplace of the poets Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754) and Johan Welhaven (1807-1873), of Johan Dahl the painter (1788-1857), of Ole Bull (1810-1880) and Edvard Grieg the musicians. There are statues to Holberg and Bull, and also to Christie, president of the Storthing (parliament) in 1815 and 1818.

Bergen ranks first of the Norwegian ship-owning centres, having risen to this position from fifth in 1879. The trade, however, is exceeded by that of Christiania. The staple export trade is in fish and their products: other exports are butter, copper ore and hides. The principal imports are coal, machinery, salt, grain and provisions. The manufactures are not extensive, but the preparation of fish products, shipbuilding, weaving and distillery, with manufactures of paper, pottery, tobacco and ropes are carried on. Bergen is an important centre of the extensive tourist traffic of Norway. Regular steamers serve the port from Hull and Newcastle (about 40 hours), from Hamburg, and from all the Norwegian coast towns. Many local steamers penetrate the fjords, touching at every village and _gaard_. Bergen is the nearest port to the famous Hardanger Fjord, and is the starting-point of a remarkable railway which runs through many tunnels and fine scenery towards Vossevangen or Voss. In 1896 a beginning was made with the continuation of this line through the mountains to connect with Christiania. In the first 50 m. from Voss the line ascends 4080 ft., passing through a tunnel 5796 yds. long.

Bergen (formerly Bjorgvin) was founded by King Olaf Kyrre in 1070-1075, and rapidly grew to importance, the Byfjord becoming the scene of several important engagements in the civil wars of subsequent centuries. The famous Hansa merchants maintained a failing position here till 1764. The town suffered frequently from fire, as in 1702 and 1855, and the broad open spaces (_Almenninge_) which interrupt the streets are intended as a safeguard against the spread of flames.

See Y. Nielsen, _Bergen fra die aldste tider indtil nutiden_ (Christiania, 1877); H. Jager, _Bergen og Bergenserne_ (Bergen, 1889).

BERGEN-OP-ZOOM, a town in the province of North Brabant, Holland, situated on both sides of the small river Zoom, near its confluence with the East Scheldt, 38-1/2 m. by rail E. by N. of Flushing. It is connected by steam tramway with Antwerp (20 m. S.) and with the islands of Tholen and Duiveland to the north-west. Pop. (1900) 13,663. The houses are well built, the market-places and squares handsome and spacious. It possesses a port and an arsenal, and contains a fine town hall, with portraits of the ancient margraves of Bergen-op-Zoom, a Latin school, and an academy of design and architecture. The remains of the old castle of the margraves have been converted into barracks. The tower is still standing and is remarkable for its increase in size as it rises, which causes it to rock in a strong wind. The church contains a monument to Lord Edward Bruce, killed in a duel with Sir Edward Sackville, afterwards earl of Dorset, in 1613. There are numerous tile-works and potteries of fine ware; and a considerable trade is carried on in anchovies and oysters caught in the Scheldt. A large sugar-beet industry has also sprung up here in modern times.

Bergen-op-Zoom is a very old town, but little is known of its early history beyond the fact that it was taken by the Normans in 880. In the 13th century it became the seat of Count Gerhard of Wesemael, who surrounded it with walls and built a castle. By the end of the 15th century it had become one of the most prosperous towns of Holland, on account of its fisheries and its cloth-trade. In 1576 the town joined the United Netherlands, and was shortly afterwards fortified. In 1588 it was successfully defended against the duke of Parma by an English and Dutch garrison commanded by Colonel Morgan, and in 1605 it was suddenly attacked by Du Terail. In 1622 the Spaniards, under Spinola, made another attempt to take the town, but were forced to abandon the enterprise after a siege of ten weeks and the loss of 1200 men. Towards the end of the 17th century the fortifications were greatly strengthened by Coehoorn, and in 1725 they were further extended. In 1747, however, the town was taken by the French, under Marshal Lowendahl, who surprised it by means of a subterranean passage. Restored at the end of the war, it was again taken by the French under Pichegru in 1795. The English, under Sir Thomas Graham, afterwards Lord Lynedoch, in March 1814 made an attempt to take it by a _coup de main_, but were driven back with great loss by the French, who surrendered the place, however, by the treaty of peace in the following May.

The lordship of Bergen-op-Zoom appears, after the definite union of the Low Countries with the Empire in 924, as an hereditary fief of the Empire, and the succession of its lords may be traced from Henry (1098-1125), who also held Breda. In 1533 it was raised to a margraviate by the emperor Charles V., and was held by various families until in 1799 it passed, through the Sultzbach branch of the Wittelsbachs, to the royal house of Bavaria, by whom it was renounced in favour of the Batavian republic in 1801.

BERGERAC, a town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Dordogne, on the right bank of the Dordogne, 60 m. E. of Bordeaux on the railway to Cahors. Pop. (1906) town, 10,545; commune, 15,623. The river is rendered navigable by a large dam and crossed by a fine bridge which leads to the suburb of La Madeleine. Apart from a few old houses in the older quarter by the river, the town contains no monuments of antiquarian interest. There is a handsome modern church built in the middle of the 19th century. Bergerac is the seat of a sub-prefect and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce and a communal college. Wine of fine quality is grown in the district and is the chief source of the commerce of the town, which is mainly carried on with Libourne and Bordeaux. There is trade in grain, truffles, chestnuts, brandy and in the salmon of the Dordogne. The town has flour-mills, iron-works, tanneries, distilleries and nursery-gardens, and it has manufactures of casks and of vinegar. There are quarries of millstone in the vicinity. In the 16th century Bergerac was a very flourishing and populous place, but most of its inhabitants having embraced Calvinism it suffered greatly during the religious wars and by the revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685). It was in 1577 the scene of the signing of the sixth peace between the Catholics and Protestants. Its fortifications and citadel were demolished by Louis XIII. in 1621.

BERGHAUS, HEINRICH (1797-1884), German geographer, was born at Kleve on the 3rd of May 1797. He was trained as a surveyor, and after volunteering for active service under General Tauenzien in 1813, joined the staff of the Prussian trigonometrical survey in 1816. He carried on a geographical school at Potsdam in company with Heinrich Lange, August Petermann, and others, and long held the professorship of applied mathematics at the Bauakademie. But he is most famous in connexion with his cartographical work. His greatest achievement was the _Physikalischer Atlas_ (Gotha, 1838-1848), in which work, as in others, his nephew HERMANN BERGHAUS (1828-1890) was associated with him. He had also a share in the re-issue of the great _Stieler Handatlas_ (originally produced by Adolf Stieler in 1817-1823). and in the production of other atlases. His written works were numerous and important, including _Allgemeine Lander- und Volkerkunde_ (Stuttgart, 1837-1840), _Grundriss der Geographie in funf Buckern_ (Berlin, 1842), _Die Volker des Erdballs_ (Leipzig, 1845-1847), _Was man van der Erde weiss_ (Berlin, 1856-1860), and various large works on Germany. In 1863 he published _Briefwechsel mit Alexander van Humboldt_ (Leipzig). He died at Stettin on the 17th of February 1884.

BERGK, THEODOR (1812-1881), German philologist, was born at Leipzig on the 22nd of May 1812. After studying at the university of his native town, where he profited by the instruction of G. Hermann, he was appointed in 1835 to the lectureship in Latin at the orphan school at Halle. After holding posts at Neustrelitz, Berlin and Cassel, he succeeded (1842) K.F. Hermann as professor of classical literature at Marburg. In 1852 he went to Freiburg, and in 1857 returned to Halle. In 1868 he resigned his professorship, and settled down to study and literary work in Bonn. He died on the 20th of July 1881, at Ragatz in Switzerland, where he had gone for the benefit of his health. Bergk's literary activity was very great, but his reputation mainly rests upon his work in connexion with Greek literature and the Greek lyric poets. His _Poetae Lyrici Graeci_ (1843. 5th ed. 1900, &c.), and _Griechische Litteraturgeschichte_ (1872-1887, completed by G. Hinrichs and R. Peppmuller) are standard works. He also edited Anacreon (1834), the fragments of Aristophanes (1840), Aristophanes (3rd ed., 1872), Sophocles (and ed., 1868), a lyric anthology (4th ed., 1890). Among his other works may be mentioned: _Augusti Rerum a se gestarum Index_ (1873); _Inschriften romischer Schleudergeschosse_ (1876); _Zur Geschichte und Topographie der Rheinlande in romischer Zeit_ (1882); _Beitrage zur romischen Chronologie_ (1884).

His _Kleine philologische Schriften_ have been edited by Peppmuller (1884-1886), and contain, in addition to a complete list of his writings, a sketch of his life. See Sandys, _Hist. of Class. Schol_ iii. 146 (1908).

BERGLER, STEPHAN, German classical scholar, was born about 1680 at Kronstadt in Transylvania. The date of his death is uncertain. After studying at Leipzig, he went to Amsterdam, where he edited Homer and the _Onomasticon_ of Julius Pollux for Wetzstein the publisher. Subsequently, at Hamburg, he assisted the great bibliographer J.A. Fabricius in the production of his _Bibliotheca Graeca_ and his edition of Sextus Empiricus. He finally found a permanent post in Bucharest as secretary to the prince of Walachia, Alexander Mavrocordato, whose work [Greek: Peri ton kathaekonton] (_De Officiis_) he had previously translated for Fritzsch, the Leipzig bookseller, by whom he had been employed as proof-reader and literary hack. In the prince's library Bergler discovered the introduction and the first three chapters of Eusebius's _Demonstratio Evangelica_. He died in Bucharest, and was buried at his patron's expense. According to another account, Bergler, finding himself without means, drifted to Constantinople, where he came to an untoward end (c. 1740). He is said to have become a convert to Islam; this report was probably a mistake for the undisputed fact that he embraced Roman Catholicism. Bergler led a wild and irregular life, and offended his friends and made many enemies by his dissipated habits and cynical disposition. In addition to writing numerous articles for the Leipzig _Acta Eruditorum_, Bergler edited the editio princeps of the Byzantine historiographer Genesius (1733), and the letters of Alciphron (1715), in which seventy-five hitherto unpublished letters were for the first time included.

BERGMAN, TORBERN OLOF (1735-1784), Swedish chemist and naturalist, was born at Katrineberg, Vestergotland, Sweden, on the 20th of March 1735. At the age of seventeen he entered the university of Upsala. His father wished him to read either law or divinity, while he himself was anxious to study mathematics and natural science; in the effort to please both himself and his father he overworked himself and injured his health. During a period of enforced abstinence from study, he amused himself with field botany and entomology, to such good purpose that he was able to send Linnaeus specimens of several new kinds of insects, and in 1756 he succeeded in proving that, contrary to the opinion of that naturalist, _Coccus aquaticus_ was really the ovum of a kind of leech. In 1758, having returned to Upsala, he graduated there, and soon afterwards began to teach mathematics and physics at the university, publishing papers on the rainbow, the aurora, the pyroelectric phenomena of tourmaline, &c. In 1767 Johann Gottschalck Wallerius (1709-1785) having resigned the chair of chemistry and mineralogy, Bergman determined to become a candidate, though he had paid no particular attention to chemistry. As evidence of his attainments he produced a memoir on the manufacture of alum, but his pretensions were strongly opposed, and it was only through the influence of Gustavus III., then crown prince and chancellor of the university, that he gained the appointment, which he held till the end of his life. He died at Medevi on Lake Vetter on the 8th of July 1784. Bergman's most important chemical paper is his _Essay on Elective Attractions_ (1775), a study of chemical affinity. In methods of chemical analysis, both by the blowpipe and in the wet way, he effected many improvements, and he made considerable contributions to mineralogical and geological chemistry, and to crystallography. He also made observations of the transit of Venus in 1761, and published a _Physical Description of the Earth_ in 1766.

His works were collected and printed in 6 vols. as _Opuscula Physica et Chemica_ in 1779-1790, and were translated into French, German and English.

BERGSCHRUND (Ger. _Berg_, mountain; _Schrund_, cleft or crevice), a gaping crack in the upper part of a snowfield or glacier, near the rock wall, caused by the glacier moving bodily away from the mountain-side as the mass settles downwards. The crack is roughly parallel to the rock-face of the upper edge of the glacier basin, and extends downwards to the solid rock beneath the glacier where at the bottom of this huge crevasse there are blocks of ice, and large pieces of rock torn off by the lower portion of the glacier from the rock wall and floor.

BERGUES, a town of northern France, in the department of Nord, at the junction of the canal of the Colme with canals to Dunkirk and Furnes (in Belgium), 5 m. S.S.E. of Dunkirk by rail. Pop. (1906) 4499. The town has a belfry, the finest in French Flanders, dating from the middle of the 16th century and restored in the 19th century. The church of St Martin is a brick building of the 17th century in the Gothic style with a modern facade. The town hall, dating from the latter half of the 19th century, contains a municipal library and an interesting collection of pictures. The industries of the town include brewing and malting, and the manufacture of brushes and oil.

BERHAMPUR, a town of British India, the headquarters of Murshidabad district, in Bengal, situated on the left bank of the river Bhagirathi, 5 m. below Murshidabad city. Pop. (1901) 24,397. Berhampur was fixed upon after the battle of Plassey as the site of the chief military station for Bengal; and a huge square of brick barracks was erected in 1767, at a cost of L300,000. Here was committed the first overt act of the mutiny, on the 25th of February 1857. No troops are now stationed here, and the barracks have been utilized for a jail, a lunatic asylum and other civic buildings. A college, founded by government in 1853, was made over in 1888 to a local committee, being mainly supported by the munificence of the rani Svarnamayi. In the municipality of Berhampur is included the remnant of the once important, but now utterly decayed city of Cossimbazar (q.v.).

BERHAMPUR, a town of British India, in the presidency of Madras. Pop. (1901) 25,729. It is the headquarters of Ganjam district, and is situated about 9 m. from the sea. It is a station on the East Coast railway, which connects Calcutta with Madras. Berhampur had a military cantonment, sometimes distinguished as Baupur, containing a wing of a native regiment; but the troops have been transferred elsewhere. There is some weaving of silk cloth, and export trade in sugar. The college, originally founded by government, is now maintained by the raja of Kallikota. Silk-weaving and sugar-manufacture are carried on.

BERI-BERI, a tropical disease of the greatest antiquity, and known to the Chinese from an extremely remote period. It gradually dropped out of sight of European practice, until an epidemic in Brazil in 1863, and the opening up of Japan, where it prevailed extensively, and the investigations into the disease in Borneo, brought it again into notice. The researches of Scheube and Balz in Japan, and of Pekelharing and Winkler in the Dutch Indies, led to its description as a form of peripheral neuritis (see also NEUROPATHOLOGY). The geographical distribution of beri-beri is between 45 deg. N. and 35 deg. S. It occurs in Japan, Korea and on the Chinese coast south of Shanghai; in Manila, Tongking, Cochin China, Burma, Singapore, Malacca, Java and the neighbouring islands; also in Ceylon, Mauritius, Madagascar and the east coast of Africa. In the Western hemisphere it is found in Cuba, Panama, Venezuela and South America. It has been carried in ships to Australia and to England. Sir P. Manson has "known it originate in the port of London in the crews of ships which had been in harbour for several months," and he suggests that when peripheral neuritis occurs in epidemic form it is probably beri-beric.

The cause is believed by many authorities to be an infective agent of a parasitic nature, but attempts to identify it have not been entirely successful. It is "not obviously communicable from person to person" (Manson), but may be carried from place to place. It clings to particular localities, buildings and ships, in which it has a great tendency to occur; for instance, it is apt to break out again and again on certain vessels trading to the East. It haunts low-lying districts along the coast, and the banks of rivers. Moisture and high temperature are required to develop its activity, which is further favoured by bad ventilation, overcrowding and underfeeding. Another strongly supported hypothesis is that it is caused by unwholesome diet. The experience of the Japanese navy points strongly in this direction. Beri-beri was constantly prevalent among the sailors until 1884, when the dietary was changed. A striking and progressive diminution at once set in, and continued until the disease wholly disappeared. Major Ronald Ross suggested that beri-beri was really arsenical poisoning. A natural surmise is that it is due to some fungoid growth affecting grain, such as rice, maize or some other food stuff commonly used in the localities where beri-beri is prevalent, and among sailors. The conditions under which their food is kept on board certain ships might explain the tendency of the disease to haunt particular vessels. Dr Charles Hose is the principal advocate of this theory. Having had much experience of beri-beri in Sarawak, he associates it with the eating of mouldy rice, a germ in the fungus constituting the poison. But Dr Hose's views as to rice have been strongly opposed by Dr Hamilton Wright and others.

The most susceptible age is from 15 to 40. Children under 15 and persons over 50 or 60 are rarely attacked. Men are more liable than women. Race has no influence. Previous attacks powerfully predispose.

The symptoms are mainly those of peripheral neuritis with special implication of the phrenic and the pneumogastric nerves. There is usually a premonitory stage, in which the patient is languid, easily tired, depressed, and complains of numbness, stiffness and cramps in the legs; the ankles are oedematous and the face is puffy. After this, pronounced symptoms set in rapidly, the patient suddenly loses power in the legs and is hardly able to walk or stand; this paresis is accompanied by partial anaesthesia, and by burning or tingling sensations in the feet, legs and arms; the finger-tips are numb, the calf muscles tender. These symptoms increase, the oedema becomes general, the paralysis more marked; breathlessness and palpitation come on in paroxysms; the urine is greatly diminished. There is no fever, unless it is of an incidental character, and no brain symptoms arise. The patient may remain in this condition for several days or weeks, when the symptoms begin to subside. On the disappearance of the oedema the muscles of the leg are found to be atrophied. Recovery is very slow, but appears to be certain when once begun. When death occurs it is usually from syncope through over-distension of the heart. The mortality varies greatly, from 2 to 50% of the cases. The disease is said to be extremely fatal among the Malays. After death there is found to be serious infiltration into all the tissues, and often haemorrhages into the muscles and nerves, but the most important lesion is degeneration of the peripheral nerves. The cerebrospinal centres are not affected, and the degeneration of the nerve-fibres is more marked the farther they are from the point of origin. The implication of the phrenic and pneumogastric nerves, and of the cardiac plexus, accounts for the breathlessness, palpitation and heart failure; that of the vaso-motor system for the oedema and diminution of urine, and that of the spinal nerves for the loss of power, the impairment and perversion of sensation. According as these nerves are variously affected the symptoms will be modified, some being more prominent in one case and some in another.

AUTHORITIES.--See Sir Patrick Manson, _Tropical Diseases_ (new ed., 1907), for a critical discussion of the subject, see _The Times_ of 28th October 1905; a full bibliography is given by Manson in Allbutt and Rolleston's _System of Medicine_ (1907).

BERING (BEHRING), VITUS (1680-1741), Danish navigator, was born in 1680 at Horsens. In 1703 he entered the Russian navy, and served in the Swedish war. A series of explorations of the north coast of Asia, the outcome of a far-reaching plan devised by Peter the Great, led up to Bering's first voyage to Kamchatka. In 1725, under the auspices of the Russian government, he went overland to Okhotsk, crossed to Kamchatka, and built the ship "Gabriel." In her he pushed northward in 1728, until he could no longer observe any extension of the land to the north, or its appearance to the east. In the following year he made an abortive search for land eastward, and in 1730 returned to St Petersburg. He was subsequently commissioned to a further expedition, and in 1740 established the settlement of Petropavlosk in Kamchatka; and built two vessels, the "St Peter" and "St Paul," in which in 1741 he led an expedition towards America. A storm separated the ships, but Bering sighted the southern coast of Alaska, and a landing was made at Kayak Island or in the vicinity. Bering was forced by adverse conditions to return quickly, and discovered some of the Aleutian Islands on his way back. He was afflicted with scurvy, and became too ill to command his ships, which were at last driven to refuge on an uninhabited island in the south-west of Bering Sea, where Bering himself and many of his company died. This island bears his name. Bering died on the 19th of December 1741. It was long before the value of his work was recognized; but Captain Cook was able to prove his accuracy as an observer.

See G.F. Muller, _Sammlung russischer Geschichten_, vol. iii. (St Petersburg, 1758); P. Lauridsen, _Bering og de Russishe Opdagelsesrejser_ (Copenhagen, 1885).

BERING ISLAND, SEA and STRAIT. These take their name from the explorer Vitus Bering. The island (also called Avatcha), which was the scene of his death, lies in the south-western part of the sea, off the coast of Kamchatka, being one of the Commander or Komandor group, belonging to Russia. It is 69 m. long and 28 m. in extreme breadth; the area is 615 sq. m. The extreme elevation is about 300 ft. The smaller Copper Island lies near. The islands are treeless, and the climate is severe, but there is a population of about 650. Bering Sea is the northward continuation of the Pacific Ocean, from which it is demarcated by the long chain of the Aleutian Islands. It is bounded on the east by Alaska, and on the west by the Siberian and Kamchatkan coast. Its area is estimated at 870,000 sq. m. In the north and east it has numerous islands (St Lawrence, St Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribiloff group) and is shallow; in the south-west it reaches depths over 2000 fathoms. The seal-fisheries are important (see BERING SEA ARBITRATION). The sea is connected with the Arctic Ocean northward by Bering Strait, at the narrowest part of which East Cape (Deshnev) in Asia approaches within about 56 m. of Cape Prince of Wales on the American shore. North and south of these points the coasts on both sides rapidly diverge. They are steep and rocky, and considerably indented. The extreme depth of the strait approaches 50 fathoms, and it contains two small islands known as the Diomede Islands. These granite domes, lacking a harbour, lie about a mile apart, and the boundary line between the possessions of Russia and the United States passes between them. They are occupied by a small tribe of about 80 Eskimo, who have from early times plied the trade of middlemen between Asia and America. They call the western island Nunarbook and the eastern Ignalook. Haze and fogs greatly prevail in the strait, which is never free of ice.

The earliest names associated with the exploration of Bering Strait are those of Russians seeking to extend their trading facilities. Isai Ignatiev made a voyage eastward from the Kolyma river in 1646, and Simon Dezhnev in 1648 followed his route and prolonged it, rounding the East or Dezhnev Cape, and entering the strait. The post of Anadyrsk was founded on the river Anadyr, and overland communications were gradually opened up. A Russian named Popov first learnt a rumour of the existence of islands east of Cape Dezhnev, and of the proximity of America, and presently there followed the explorations of Vitus Bering. In 1731 the navigator Michael Gvosdev was driven by storm from a point north of Cape Dezhnev to within sight of the Alaskan coast, which he followed for two days. Under Bering on his last voyage (1741) was Commander Chirikov of the "St Paul," and after being separated from his leader during foggy weather this officer reached the Alaskan coast and explored a considerable stretch of it. Lieutenant Waxel and William Steller, a naturalist, left at the head of Bering's party after his death, by their researches laid the foundation of the important fur trade of these waters. The Aleutian Islands gradually became known in the pursuit of this trade, through Michael Novidiskov (1745) and his successors, and it was not until Captain James Cook, working from the south, explored the sea and strait in 1778 that the tide of discovery set farther northward.

BERING SEA ARBITRATION. The important fishery dispute between Great Britain and the United States, which was closed by this arbitration, arose in the following circumstances.

In the year 1867 the United States government had purchased from Russia all her territorial rights in Alaska and the adjacent islands. The boundary between the two powers, as laid down by the treaty for purchase, was a line drawn from the middle of Bering Strait south-west to a point midway between the Aleutian and Komandorski Islands dividing Bering Sea into two parts, of which the larger was on the American side of this line. This portion included the Pribiloff Islands, which are the principal breeding-grounds of the seals frequenting those seas. By certain acts of congress, passed between 1868 and 1873, the killing of seals was prohibited upon the islands of the Pribiloff group and in "the waters adjacent thereto" except upon certain specified conditions. No definition of the meaning of the words "adjacent waters" was given in the act. In 1870 the exclusive rights of killing seals upon these islands was leased by the United States to the Alaska Commercial Company, upon conditions limiting the numbers to be taken annually, and otherwise providing for their protection. As early as 1872 the operations of foreign sealers attracted the attention of the United States government, but any precautions then taken seem to have been directed against the capture of seals on their way through the passages between the Aleutian Islands, and no claim to jurisdiction beyond the three-mile limit appears to have been put forward. On the 12th of March 1881, however, the acting secretary of the United States treasury, in answer to a letter asking for an interpretation of the words "waters adjacent thereto" in the acts of 1868 and 1873, stated that all the waters east of the boundary line were considered to be within the waters of Alaska territory. In March 1886 this letter was communicated to the San Francisco customs by Mr Daniel Manning, secretary of the treasury, for publication. In the same summer three British sealers, the "Carolena," "Onward" and "Thornton," were captured by an American revenue cutter 60 m. from land. They were condemned by the district judge on the express ground that they had been sealing within the limits of Alaska territory. Diplomatic representations followed, and an order for release was issued, but in 1887 further captures were made and were judicially supported upon the same grounds. The respective positions taken up by the two governments in the controversy which ensued may be thus indicated. The United States claimed as a matter of right an exclusive jurisdiction over the sealing industry in Bering Sea; they also contended that the protection of the fur seal was, upon grounds both of morality and interest, an international duty, and should be secured by international arrangement. The British government repudiated the claim of right, but were willing to negotiate upon the question of international regulation. Between 1887 and 1890 negotiations were carried on between Russia, Great Britain and the United States with a view to a joint convention. Unfortunately the parties were unable to agree as to the principles upon which regulation should be based. The negotiations were wrecked upon the question of pelagic sealing. The only seal nurseries were upon the Pribiloff Islands, which belonged to the United States, and the Komandorski group, which belonged to Russia. Consequently to prohibit pelagic sealing would have been to exclude Canada from the industry. The United States, nevertheless, insisted that such prohibition was indispensable on the grounds--(1) that pelagic sealing involved the destruction of breeding stock, because it was practically impossible to distinguish between the male and female seal when in the water; (2) that it was unnecessarily wasteful, inasmuch as a large proportion of the seals so killed were lost. On the other hand, it was contended by Great Britain that in all known cases the extermination of seals had been the result of operations upon land, and had never been caused by sealing exclusively pelagic. The negotiations came to nothing, and the United States fell back upon their claim of right. In June 1890 it was reported that certain American revenue cutters had been ordered to proceed to Bering Sea. Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British ambassador at Washington, having failed to obtain an assurance that British vessels would not be interfered with, laid a formal protest before the United States government.

Thereupon followed a diplomatic controversy, in the course of which the United States developed the contentions which were afterwards laid before the tribunal of arbitration. The claim that Bering Sea was _mare clausum_ was abandoned, but it was asserted that Russia had formerly exercised therein rights of exclusive jurisdiction which had passed to the United States, and they relied _inter alia_ upon the ukase of 1821, by which foreign vessels had been forbidden to approach within 100 Italian miles of the coasts of Russian America. It was pointed out by Great Britain that this ukase had been the subject of protest both by Great Britain and the United States, and that by treaties similar in their terms, made between Russia and each of the protesting powers, Russia had agreed that their subjects should not be troubled or molested in navigating or fishing in any part of the Pacific Ocean. The American answer was that the Pacific Ocean did not include Bering Sea. They also claimed an interest in the fur seals, involving the right to protect them outside the three-mile limit. In August 1890 Lord Salisbury proposed that the question at issue should be submitted to arbitration. This was ultimately assented to by the secretary of state, James Gillespie Blaine, on the understanding that certain specific points, which he indicated, should be laid before the arbitrators. On the 29th of February 1892 a definitive treaty was signed at Washington. Each power was to name two arbitrators, and the president of the French Republic, the king of Italy, the king of Norway and Sweden were each to name one. The points submitted were as follows:--(1) What exclusive jurisdiction in the sea now known as Bering Sea, and what exclusive rights in the seal fisheries therein, did Russia assert and exercise prior to and up to the time of the cession of Alaska to the United States? (2) How far were her claims of jurisdiction as to the seal fisheries recognized and conceded by Great Britain? (3) Was the body of water now known as Bering Sea included in the phrase "Pacific Ocean," as used in the treaty of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia, and what rights, if any, in Bering Sea were held exclusively exercised by Russia after the said treaty? (4) Did not all the rights of Russia as to jurisdiction and as to the seal fisheries in Bering Sea east of the water boundary, in the treaty between the United States and Russia of the 30th of March 1867, pass unimpaired to the United States under that treaty? (5) Had the United States any and what right of protection over, or property in, the fur seals frequenting the islands of Bering Sea when such seals are found outside the three-mile limit? In the event of a determination in favour of Great Britain the arbitrators were to determine what concurrent regulations were necessary for the preservation of the seals, and a joint commission was to be appointed by the two powers to assist them in the investigation of the facts of seal life. The question of damages was reserved for further discussion, but either party was to be at liberty to submit any question of fact to the arbitrators, and to ask for a finding thereon. The tribunal was to sit at Paris. The treaty was approved by the Senate on the 29th of March 1892, and ratified by the president on the 22nd of April.

The United States appointed as arbitrator Mr John M. Harlan, a justice of the Supreme Court, and Mr John T. Morgan, a member of the Senate. The British arbitrators were Lord Hannen and Sir John Thompson. The neutral arbitrators were the baron de Courcel, the marquis Visconti Venosta, and Mr Gregers Gram, appointed respectively by the president of the French Republic, the king of Italy, and the king of Norway and Sweden. The sittings of the tribunal began in February and ended in August 1893. The main interest of the proceedings lies in the second of the two claims put forward on behalf of the United States. This claim cannot easily be stated in language of precision; it is indicated rather than formulated in the last of the five points specially submitted by the treaty. But its general character may be gathered from the arguments addressed to the tribunal. It was suggested that the seals had some of the characteristics of the domestic animals, and could therefore be the subject of something in the nature of a right of property. They were so far amenable to human control that it was possible to take their increase without destroying the stock. Sealing upon land was legitimate sealing; the United States being the owners of the land, the industry was a trust vested in them for the benefit of mankind. On the other hand, pelagic sealing, being a method of promiscuous slaughter, was illegitimate; it was _contra bonos mores_ and analogous to piracy. Consequently the United States claimed a right to restrain such practices, both as proprietors of the seals and as proprietors and trustees of the legitimate industry. It is obvious that such a right was a novelty hitherto unrecognized by any system of law. Mr J.C. Carter, therefore, as counsel for the United States, submitted a theory of international jurisprudence which was equally novel. He argued that the determination of the tribunal must be grounded upon "the principles of right," that "by the rule or principle of right was meant a moral rule dictated by the general standard of justice upon which civilized nations are agreed, that this international standard of justice is but another name for international law, that the particular recognized rules were but cases of the application of a more general rule, and that where the particular rules were silent the general rule applied." The practical result of giving effect to this contention would be that an international tribunal could make new law and apply it retrospectively. Mr Carter's contention was successfully combated by Sir Charles Russell, the leading counsel for Great Britain.

The award, which was signed and published on the 15th of August 1893, was in favour of Great Britain on all points. The question of damages, which had been reserved, was ultimately settled by a mixed commission appointed by the two powers in February 1896, the total amount awarded to the British sealers being $473,151.26. (M. H. C.)

BERIOT, CHARLES AUGUSTE DE (1802-1870), Belgian violinist and composer. Although not definitely a pupil of Viotti or Baillot he was much influenced by both. He was very successful in his concert tours, and held appointments at the courts of Belgium and France. From 1843 to 1852 he was violin professor at the Brussels conservatoire. Then his eyesight began to fail, and in 1858 he became blind. His compositions are still often played, and are good, clean displays of technique.

BERJA, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Almeria; on the south-eastern slope of the Sierra de Gador, 10 m. N.E. of Adra by road. Pop. (1900) 13,224. Despite the lack of a railway Berja has a considerable trade. Lead is obtained among the mountains, and the more sheltered valleys produce grain, wine, oil, fruit and esparto grass. These, with the paper, linen and cotton goods manufactured locally in small quantities, are exported from Adra.

BERKA, a town and watering-place of Germany, in the grand-duchy of Saxe-Weimar, on the Ilm and the Weimar-Kranichfeld railway, 8 m. S. of Weimar. Pop. 2300. It has sulphur baths, which are largely frequented in the summer. Berka was once celebrated for its Cistercian nunnery, founded in 1251. Two m. down the Ilm is the curious castle of Burgfarth, partly hewn out of the solid rock.

BERKELEY, the name of an ancient English family remarkable for its long tenure of the feudal castle built by the water of Severn upon the lands from which the family takes its name. It traces an undoubted descent from Robert (d. 1170) son of Harding. Old pedigree-makers from the 14th century onward have made of Harding a younger son of a king of Denmark and a companion of the Conqueror, while modern historians assert his identity with one Harding who, although an English thane, is recorded by Domesday Book in 1086 as a great landowner in Somerset. This Harding the thane was son of Elnod or Alnod, who is recognized as Eadnoth the Staller, slain in beating off the sons of Harold when they attacked his county. But if Harding the Berkeley ancestor be the Harding who, as the queen's butler, witnesses King Edward's Waltham charter of 1062, his dates seem strangely apart from those of Robert his son, dead a hundred and eight years later. Of Robert fitz Harding we know that he was a Bristol man whose wealth and importance were probably increased by the trade of the port. A partisan of Henry, son of the empress, that prince before his accession to the throne granted him, by his charter at Bristol in the earlier half of 1153, the Gloucestershire manor of Bitton, and a hundred librates of land in the manor of Berkeley, Henry agreeing to strengthen the castle of Berkeley, which was evidently already in Robert's hands. In his rhymed chronicle Robert of Gloucester tells how--

"A bourgois at Bristowe--Robert Harding Vor gret tresour and richesse--so wel was mid the king That he gat him and is eirs--the noble baronie That so riche is of Berkele--mid al the seignorie."

Later in the same year the duke of Normandy granted to Robert fitz Harding Berkeley manor and the appurtenant district called "Berkelaihernesse," to hold in fee by the service of one knight or at a rent of 100 s. Being at Berkeley, the duke confirmed to Robert a grant of Bedminster made by Robert, earl of Gloucester, and in the first year of his reign as king of England he confirmed his own earlier grant of the Berkeley manor. About this time Robert, who had founded St Augustine's Priory in Bristol, gave to the Black Canons there the five churches in Berkeley and Berkeley Herness. In their priory church he was buried in 1170, Berkeley descending to his son and heir Maurice.

Berkeley had already given a surname to an earlier family sprung from Roger, its Domesday tenant, whose descendants seem to have been ousted by the partisan of the Angevin. But if there had been a feud between the families it was ended by a double alliance, a covenant having been made at Bristol about November 1153 in the presence of Henry, duke of Normandy, whereby Maurice, son of Robert fitz Harding, was to marry the daughter of Roger of Berkeley, Roger's own son Roger marrying the daughter of Robert. In his certificate of 1166 Robert tells the king that, although he owes the service of five knights for Berkeley, Roger of Berkeley still holds certain lands of the honour for which he does no service to Robert. This elder line of Berkeley survived for more than two centuries on their lands of Dursley and Cubberley, but after his father's death Maurice, son of Robert, is styled Maurice of Berkeley. Robert of Berkeley, the eldest son of Maurice, paid in 1190 the vast sum of L1000 for livery of his great inheritance, but, rising with the rebellious barons against King John, his castle was taken into the king's hands. Seizin, however, was granted in 1220 to Thomas his brother and heir, but the estate was again forfeit in the next generation for a new defection, although the wind of the royal displeasure was tempered by the fact that Isabel de Creoun, wife of Maurice, lord of Berkeley, was the king's near kinswoman. Thomas, son of Maurice, was allowed to succeed his father in the lands, and, having a writ of summons to parliament in 1295, he is reckoned the first hereditary baron of the line.

Even in the age of chivalry the lords of Berkeley were notable warriors. Thomas, who as a lad had ridden on the barons' side at Evesham, followed the king's wars for half a century of his long life, flying his banner at Falkirk and at Bannockburn, in which fight he was taken by the Scots. His seal of arms is among those attached to the famous letter of remonstrance addressed by the barons of England to Pope Boniface VIII. Maurice, his son, joined the confederation against the two Despensers, and lay in prison at Wallingford until his death in 1326, the queen's party gaining the upper hand too late to release him. But as the queen passed by Berkeley on her way to seize Bristol, she gave back the castle, which had been kept by the younger Despenser, to Thomas, the prisoner's heir, who, with Sir John Mautravers, soon received in his hold the deposed king brought thither secretly. The chroniclers agree that Thomas of Berkeley had no part in the murder of the king, whom he treated kindly. It was when Thomas was away from the castle that Mautravers and Gournay made an end of their charge. Through the providence of this Thomas the Berkeley estates were saved to the male line of his house, a fine levied in the twenty-third year of Edward III. so settling them. Thomas of Berkeley fought at Crecy and Calais, bringing six knights and thirty-two squires to the siege in his train, with thirty mounted archers and two hundred men on foot. His son and heir-apparent, Maurice of Berkeley, was the hero of a misadventure recorded by Froissart, who tells how a young English knight, displaying his banner for the first time on the day of Poitiers, rode after a flying Picard squire, by whom he was grievously wounded and held to ransom. Froissart errs in describing this knight as Thomas lord of Berkeley, for the covenant made in 1360 for the release of Maurice is still among the Berkeley muniments, the ransom being stated at L1080.

Being by his mother a nephew of Roger Mortimer, earl of March, the paramour of Queen Isabel, Maurice Berkeley married Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh Despenser, the younger of Edward II.'s favourites and the intruder in Berkeley Castle. With his son and heir Thomas of Berkeley, one of the commissioners of parliament for the deposing of Richard II. and a warden of the Welsh marches who harried Owen of Glendower, the direct male line of Robert fitz Harding failed, and but for the settlement of the estates Berkeley would have passed from the family. On this Thomas's death in 1417 Elizabeth, his daughter and heir, and her husband, Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, the famous traveller, statesman and jouster, seized Berkeley Castle. Earl and countess only withdrew after James Berkeley, the nephew and heir male, had livery of his lands by the purchased aid of Humphrey of Gloucester. But the Beauchamps returned more than once to vain attacks on the stout walls of Berkeley, and a quarrel of two generations ended with the pitched battle of Nibley Green. Fought between the retainers of William, Lord Berkeley, son of James, and those who followed Thomas Talbot, Viscount Lisle, grandson of the illustrious Talbot and great-grandson of the countess of Warwick, this was the last private battle on English ground between two feudal lords. Young Lisle was shot under the beaver by an arrow, and the feud ended with his death, all claims of his widow being settled with an annuity of L100. Bitter as was the long quarrel, it kept the Berkeleys from casting their interest into the Wars of the Roses, in which most of their fellows of the ancient baronage sank and disappeared.

The victorious Lord Berkeley, whose children died young, was on ill terms with his next brother, and made havoc of the great Berkeley estates by grants to the Crown and the royal house, for which he was rewarded with certain empty titles. Edward IV. gave him a viscount's patent in 1481, and Richard III. created him earl of Nottingham in 1483. His complacence extending to the new dynasty, Henry VII. made him earl marshal in 1485 and marquess of Berkeley in 1487. For this last patent he, by a settlement following a recovery suffered, gave the king and his heirs male Berkeley Castle and all that remained to him of his ancestors' lands, enjoying for his two remaining years a bare life interest. At his death in 1491 the king took possession, bringing his queen with him on a visit to Berkeley.

Here follows a curious chapter of the history of the Berkeley peerage. When Thomas, Lord Berkeley, died in 1417, it might have been presumed that his dignity would descend to his heir, the countess of Warwick. Nevertheless, his nephew and heir male was summoned as a baron from 1421, apparently by reason of his tenure of the castle and its lands. When the marquess of Berkeley was dead without surviving issue, the castle having passed to the crown, Maurice, the brother and heir, had no summons. Yet this Maurice's son, another Maurice, had a summons as a baron, although not "with the room in the parliament chamber that the lords of Berkeley had of old time." The old precedence was restored when Thomas, brother and heir of this baron, was summoned. This Thomas, who had a command at Flodden, held his ancestors' castle as constable for the king. A final remainder under the marquess's settlement brought back castle and lands on the failure in 1553 of the heirs male of the body of Henry VII., and Henry, Lord Berkeley, had special livery of them in his minority. Yet although seized of the castle he took a lower seat in the parliament house than did his grandfather who was not so seized, being given place after Abergavenny, Audley and Strange.

By these things we may see that peerage law in old time rested upon the pleasure of the sovereign and upon no ascertained and unvarying custom. Of the power behind that pleasure this Henry, Lord Berkeley, had one sharp reminder. He was, like most of his line, a keen sportsman, and, returning to Berkeley to find that a royal visit had made great slaughter among his deer, he showed his resentment by disparking Berkeley Park. Thereat Queen Elizabeth sent him a warning in round Tudor fashion. Let him beware, she wrote, for the earl of Leicester coveted the castle by the Severn.

At the Restoration, George, Lord Berkeley, who had been one of the commissioners to invite Charles II.'s return from the Hague, petitioned for a higher place in parliament, claiming a barony by right of tenure before 1295, but his claim was silenced by his advancement on September 11, 1679, to be viscount of Dursley and earl of Berkeley. James, the 3rd earl, an active sea captain who was all but lost in company with Sir Cloudesley Shovel, became knight of the Garter and lord high admiral and commander-in-chief in the Channel, he and his house being loyal supporters of the Hanoverian dynasty.

The last and most curious chapter of the history of the Berkeley honours was opened by Frederick Augustus, the 5th earl of Berkeley (1745-1810). This peer married at Lambeth, on the 16th of May 1796, one Mary Cole, the daughter of a small tradesman at Wotton-under-Edge, with whom he had already lived for several years, several children having been born to them. In order to legitimatize the issue born before the marriage, the earl in 1801 made declaration of an earlier marriage contracted privately at Berkeley in 1785. On his death in 1811 the validity of this alleged marriage was tested by the committee of privileges of the House of Lords, and it was shown without doubt that the evidence for it, a parish register entry, was a forgery.

Under the will of his father, Colonel William Berkeley, the eldest illegitimate son, had the castle and estates, and on the failure of his claim to the earldom he demanded a writ of summons as a baron by reason of his tenure of the castle. No judgment was given in the matter, the king in council having declared in 1669 that baronies by tenure were "not in being and so not fit to be revived." But Colonel Berkeley's political influence afterwards procured him (1831) a peerage as Lord Segrave of Berkeley, and ten years later an earldom with the title of Fitzhardinge. He died without issue in 1857. His brother, Sir Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley, who succeeded to Berkeley under the terms of the 5th earl's will, revived the claims, and was likewise given a new barony (1861) as Lord Fitzhardinge, a title in which he was succeeded by two of his sons, the 3rd baron (b. 1830) being in 1909 owner of the Berkeley and Cranford estates. The earldom of Berkeley was never assumed by the eldest legitimate son of the 5th earl, and was in 1909 enjoyed by Randal Thomas Mowbray Berkeley, 8th earl, grandson of admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley, second son of the 4th earl. In 1893 Mrs Milman (d. 1899), daughter and heir of Thomas Moreton Fitzhardinge Berkeley, 6th earl _de jure_, was declared by letters patent under the great seal to have succeeded to the ancient barony of Berkeley created by the writ of 1421; and she was succeeded by her daughter.

Many branches have been thrown out by this family during its many centuries of existence. Of these the most important descended from Maurice of Berkeley, the baron who died in Wallingford hold in 1326. His second son Maurice was ancestor of the Berkeleys of Stoke Giffard, whose descendant, Norborne Berkeley, claimed the barony of Botetourt and had a summons in 1764, dying without issue in 1770. Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton, a cadet of Stoke Giffard, was forefather of the Viscounts Fitzhardinge, the Lords Berkeley of Stratton (1658-1773) and the earls of Falmouth, all extinct, the Berkeleys of Stratton bequeathing their great London estate, including Berkeley Square and Stratton Street, to the main line. Edward Berkeley of Pylle in Somerset, head of a cadet line of the Bruton family, married Philippa Speke, whose mother was Joan, daughter of Sir John Portman of Orchard Portman, baronet. His grandson William, on succeeding to the Orchard Portman and Bryanston estates, took the additional name of Portman, and from him come the Viscounts Portman of Bryanston (1873). From James, Lord Berkeley, who died in 1463, descended Rowland Berkeley, a clothier of Worcester, who bought the estates of Spetchley. Rowland's second son, Sir Robert Berkeley, the king's bench justice who supported the imposition of ship-money, was ancestor of the Berkeleys of Spetchley, now the only branch of the house among untitled squires.

See John Smyth's _Lives of the Berkeleys_, compiled c. 1618, edited by Sir John Maclean (1883-1885); J.H. Round's introduction to the Somerset Domesday, V.C.H. series; G.E. C(okayne)'s _Complete Peerage_; Jeayes's _Descriptive Catalogue of the Charters and Muniments at Berkeley Castle_ (1892); _Dictionary of National Biography_; _Transactions of Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society_, 3 vols., viii., xlv., _et passim_; _The Red Book of the Exchequer_, Chronicles of Roger of Wendover, Matthew Paris, Adam of Murimuth, Robert of Gloucester, Henry of Huntingdon, &c. (Rolls Series); British Museum Charters, &c. (O. Ba.)

BERKELEY, GEORGE (1685-1753), Irish bishop and philosopher, the eldest son of William Berkeley (an officer of customs who had, it seems, come to Ireland in the suite of Lord Berkeley of Stratton, lord lieutenant, 1670-1672, to whom he was related), was born on the 12th of March 1685, in a cottage near Dysert Castle, Thomastown, Ireland. He passed from the school at Kilkenny to Trinity College, Dublin (1700), where, owing to the peculiar subtlety of his mind and his determination to accept no doctrine on the evidence of authority or convention, he left the beaten track of study and was regarded by some as a dunce, by others as a genius. During his career at Dublin the works of Descartes and Newton were superseding the older text-books, and the doctrines of Locke's _Essay_ were eagerly discussed. Thus he "entered on an atmosphere which was beginning to be charged with the elements of reaction against traditional scholasticism in physics and in metaphysics" (A.C. Fraser). He became a fellow in 1707. His interest in philosophy led him to take a prominent share in the foundation of a society for discussing the new doctrines, and is further shown by his _Common Place Book_, one of the most valuable autobiographical records in existence, which throws much light on the growth of his ideas, and enables us to understand the significance of his early writings. We find here the consciousness of creative thought focused in a new principle which is to revolutionize speculative science. There is no sign of any intimate knowledge of ancient or scholastic thought; to the doctrines of Spinoza, Leibnitz, Malebranche, Norris, the attitude is one of indifference or lack of appreciation, but the influence of Descartes and specially of Locke is evident throughout. The new principle (nowhere in the _Common Place Book_ explicitly stated) may be expressed in the proposition that no existence is conceivable--and therefore possible--which is not either conscious spirit or the ideas (i.e. objects) of which such spirit is conscious. In the language of a later period this principle may be expressed as the absolute synthesis of subject and object; no object exists apart from Mind. Mind is, therefore, prior both in thought and in existence, if for the moment we assume the popular distinction. Berkeley thus diverted philosophy from its beaten track of discussion as to the meaning of matter, substance, cause, and preferred to ask first whether these have any significance apart from the conscious spirit. In the pursuit of this inquiry he rashly invaded other departments of science, and much of the _Common Place Book_ is occupied with a polemic, as vigorous as it is ignorant, against the fundamental conceptions of the infinitesimal calculus.

In 1707 Berkeley published two short mathematical tracts; in 1709, in his _New Theory of Vision_, he applied his new principle for the first time, and in the following year stated it fully in the _Principles of Human Knowledge_. In these works he attacked the existing theories of externality which to the unphilosophical mind is proved by visual evidence. He maintained that visual consciousness is merely a system of arbitrary signs which symbolize for us certain actual or possible tactual experience--in other words a purely conventional language.

The contents of the visual and the tactual consciousness have no element in common. The visible and visual signs are definitely connected with tactual experiences, and the association between them, which has grown up in our minds through custom or habit, rests upon, or is guaranteed by, the constant conjunction of the two by the will of the Universal Mind. But this synthesis is not brought forward prominently by Berkeley. It was evident that a similar analysis might have been applied to tactual consciousness which does not give externality in its deepest significance any more than the visual; but with deliberate purpose Berkeley at first drew out only one side of his argument. In the _Principles of Human Knowledge_, externality in its ultimate sense as independence of all mind is considered. Matter, as an abstract, unperceived substance or cause, is shown to be impossible, an unreal conception; true substance is affirmed to be conscious spirit, true causality the free activity of such a spirit, while physical substantiality and causality are held to be merely arbitrary, though constant, relations among phenomena connected subjectively by suggestion or association, objectively in the Universal Mind. In ultimate analysis, then, nature is conscious experience, and forms the sign or symbol of a divine, universal intelligence and will.

In 1711 Berkeley delivered his _Discourse on Passive Obedience_, in which he deduces moral rules from the intention of God to promote the general happiness, thus working out a theological utilitarianism, which may be compared with the later expositions of Austin and J.S. Mill. From 1707 he had been engaged as college tutor; in 1712 he paid a short visit to England, and in April 1713 he was presented by Swift at court. His abilities, his courtesy and his upright character made him a universal favourite. While in London he published his _Dialogues_ (1713), a more popular exposition of his new theory; for exquisite facility of style these are among the finest philosophical writings in the English language. In November he became chaplain to Lord Peterborough, whom he accompanied on the continent, returning in August 1714. He travelled again in 1715-1720 as tutor to the only son of Dr St George Ashe (?1658-1718, bishop successively of Cloyne, Clogher and Derry). In 1721, during the disturbed state of social relations consequent on the bursting of the South Sea bubble he published an _Essay towards preventing the Ruin of Great Britain_, which shows the intense interest he took in practical affairs. In the same year he returned to Ireland as chaplain to the duke of Grafton, and was made divinity lecturer and university preacher. In 1722 he was appointed to the deanery of Dromore, a post which seems to have entailed no duties, as we find him holding the offices of Hebrew lecturer and senior proctor at the university. The following year Miss Vanhomrigh, Swift's Vanessa, left him half her property. It would appear that he had only met her once at dinner. In 1724 he was nominated to the rich deanery of Derry, but had hardly been appointed before he was using every effort to resign it in order to devote himself to his scheme of founding a college in the Bermudas, and extending its benefits to the Americans. With infinite exertion he succeeded in obtaining from government a promise of L20,000, and after four years spent in preparation, sailed in September 1728, accompanied by some friends and by his wife, daughter of Judge Forster, whom he had married in the preceding month. Three years of quiet retirement and study were spent in Rhode Island, but it gradually became apparent that government would never hand over the promised grant, and Berkeley was compelled to give up his cherished plan. Soon after his return he published the fruits of his studies in _Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher_ (1733), a finely written work in the form of dialogue, critically examining the various forms of free-thinking in the age, and bringing forward in antithesis to them his own theory, which shows all nature to be the language of God. In 1734 he was raised to the bishopric of Cloyne. The same year, in his _Analyst_, he attacked the higher mathematics as leading to freethinking; this involved him in a hot controversy. The _Querist_, a practical work in the form of questions on what would now be called social or economical philosophy, appeared in three parts, 1735, 1736, 1737. In 1744 was published the _Siris_, partly occasioned by the controversy as to the efficacy of tar-water in cases of small-pox, but rising far above the circumstance from which it took its rise, and revealing hidden depths in the Berkeleian metaphysics. In 1751 his eldest son died, and in 1752 he removed with his family to Oxford for the sake of his son George, who was studying there. He died suddenly in the midst of his family on the 14th of January 1753, and was buried in Christ Church, Oxford.

In the philosophies of Descartes and Locke a large share of attention had been directed to the idea of matter, which was held to be the abstract, unperceived background of real experience, and was supposed to give rise to our ideas of external things through its action on the sentient mind. Knowledge being limited to the ideas produced could never extend to the unperceived matter, or substance, or cause which produced them, and it became a problem for speculative science to determine the grounds for the very belief in its existence. Philosophy seemed about to end in scepticism or in materialism. Now Berkeley put this whole problem in a new light by pointing out a preliminary question. Before we deduce results from such abstract ideas as cause, substance, matter, we must ask what in reality do these mean--what is the actual content of consciousness which corresponds to these words? Do not all these ideas, when held to represent something which exists absolutely apart from all knowledge of it, involve a contradiction? In putting this question, not less than in answering it, consists Berkeley's originality as a philosopher. The essence of the answer is that the universe is inconceivable apart from mind--that existence, as such, denotes conscious spirits and the objects of consciousness. Matter and external things, in so far as they are thought to have an existence beyond the circle of consciousness, are impossible, inconceivable. External things are things known to us in immediate perception. To this conclusion Berkeley seems, in the first place, to have been led by the train of reflection that naturally conducts to subjective or egoistic idealism. It is impossible to overstep the limits of self-consciousness; whatever words I use, whatever notions I have, must refer to and find their meaning in facts of consciousness. But this is by no means the whole or even the principal part of Berkeley's philosophy; it is essentially a theory of causality, and this is brought out gradually under the pressure of difficulties in the first solution of the early problem. To merely subjective idealism, sense percepts differ from ideas of imagination in degree, not in kind; both belong to the individual mind. To Berkeley, however, the difference is fundamental; sense ideas are not due to our own activity; they must therefore be produced by some other will-by the divine intelligence. Sense experience is thus the constant action upon our minds of supreme active intellect, and is not the consequence of dead inert matter. It might appear, therefore, that sensible things had an objective existence in the mind of God; that an idea so soon as it passes out of our consciousness passes into that of God. This is an interpretation, frequently and not without some justice, put upon Berkeley's own expression. But it is not a satisfactory account of his theory. Berkeley is compelled to see that an immediate perception is not a _thing_, and that what we consider permanent or substantial is not a sensation but a group of qualities, which in ultimate analysis means sensations either immediately felt or such as our experience has taught us would be felt in conjunction with these. Our belief in the reality of a thing may therefore be said to mean assurance that this association in our minds between actual and possible sensations is somehow guaranteed. Further, Berkeley's own theory would never permit him to speak of possible sensations, meaning by that the ideas of sensations called up to our minds by present experience. He could never have held that these afforded any explanation of the permanent existence of real objects. His theory is quite distinct from this, which really amounts to nothing more than subjective idealism. External things are produced by the will of the divine intelligence; they are caused, and caused in a regular order; there exists in the divine mind archetypes, of which sense experience may be said to be the realization in our finite minds. Our belief in the permanence of something which corresponds to the association in our minds of actual and possible sensations means belief in the orderliness of nature; and _that_ is merely assurance that the universe is pervaded and regulated by mind. Physical science is occupied in endeavouring to decipher the divine ideas which find realization in our limited experience, in trying to interpret the divine language of which natural things are the words and letters, and in striving to bring human conceptions into harmony with the divine thoughts. Instead, therefore, of fate or necessity, or matter, or the unknown, a living, active mind is looked upon as the centre and spring of the universe, and this is the essence of the Berkeleian metaphysics.

The deeper aspects of Berkeley's new thought have been almost universally neglected or misunderstood. Of his spiritual empiricism one side only has been accepted by later thinkers, and looked upon as the whole. The subjective mechanism of association which with Berkeley is but part of the true explanation, and is dependent on the objective realization in the divine mind, has been received as in itself a satisfactory theory. _Suni Cogitationes_ has been regarded by thinkers who profess themselves Berkeleians as the one proposition warranted by consciousness; the empiricism of his philosophy has been eagerly welcomed, while the spiritual intuition, without which the whole is to Berkeley meaningless, has been cast aside. For this he is himself in no small measure to blame. The deeper spiritual intuition, present from the first, was only brought into clear relief in order to meet difficulties in the earlier statements, and the extension of the intuition itself beyond the limits of our own consciousness, which completely removes his position from mere subjectivism, rests on foundations uncritically assumed, and at first sight irreconcilable with certain positions of his system. The necessity and universality of the judgments of causality and substantiality are taken for granted; and there is no investigation of the place held by these notions in the mental constitution. The relation between the divine mind and finite intelligence, at first thought as that of agent and recipient, is complicated and obscure when the necessity for explaining the permanence of real things comes forward. The divine archetypes, according to which sensible experience is regulated and in which it finds its real objectivity, are different in kind from mere sense ideas, and the question then arises whether in these we have not again the "things as they are," which Berkeley at first so contemptuously dismissed. He leaves it undetermined whether or not our knowledge of sense things, which is never entirely presentative, involves some reference to this objective course of nature or thought of the divine mind. And if so, what is the nature of the notions necessarily implied in the simplest knowledge of a _thing_, as distinct from mere sense feeling? That in knowing objects certain thoughts are implied which are not presentations or their copies is at times dimly seen by Berkeley himself; but he was content to propound a question with regard to those notions, and to look upon them as merely Locke's ideas of relation. Such ideas of relation are in truth the stumbling-block in Locke's philosophy, and Berkeley's empiricism is equally far from accounting for them.

With all these defects, however, Berkeley's new conception marks a distinct stage of progress in human thought. His true place in the history of speculation may be seen from the simple observation that the difficulties or obscurities in his scheme are really the points on which later philosophy has turned. He once for all lifted the problem of metaphysics to a higher level, and, in conjunction with his successor, Hume, determined the form into which later metaphysical questions have been thrown.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The standard edition of Berkeley's works is that of A. Campbell Eraser in 4 vols. (i.-iii. _Works_; iv. _Life_, _Letters and Dissertation_) published by the Clarendon Press (1871); this edition, revised throughout and largely re-written, was re-published by the same author (1901). Another complete edition edited by G. Sampson, with a biographical sketch by A.J. Balfour, and a useful bibliographical summary, appeared in 1897-1898. Prof. Fraser also published an excellent volume of selections (5th ed., 1899), and a short general account in a volume on Berkeley in the _Blackwood Philos. Class._ For Berkeley's theory of vision see manuals of psychology (e.g. G.F. Stout, Wm. James); for his ethical views H. Sidgwick, _Hist, of Ethics_ (5th ed., 1902); A. Bain, _Mental and Moral Science_ (1872). See also Sir L. Stephen, _English Thought in the 18th Century_ (3rd ed., 1902); J.S. Mill's _Dissertations_, vols. ii. and iv.; T. Huxley, _Critiques and Addresses_, pp. 320 seq.; G.S. Fullerton, _System of Metaphysics_ (New York, 1904); John Watson, _Outline of Philos._ (New York, 1898); J. McCosh, _Locke's Theory of Knowledge_ (1884); T. Lorenz, _Ein Beitrag zur Lebensgeschichte G. Berkeleys_ (1900) and _Weitere Beitrage z. Leb. G.B.'s_ (1901); histories of modern philosophy generally. (R. Ad.; J. M. M.)

BERKELEY, MILES JOSEPH (1803-1889), English botanist, was born on the 1st of April 1803, at Biggin Hall, Northamptonshire, and educated at Rugby and Christ's College, Cambridge, of which he became an honorary fellow. Taking holy orders, he became incumbent of Apethorpe in 1837, and vicar of Sibbertoft, near Market Harborough, in 1868. He acquired an enthusiastic love of cryptogamic botany in his early years, and soon was recognized as the leading British authority on fungi and plant pathology. He was especially famous as a systematist in mycology, some 6000 species of fungi being credited to him, but his _Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany_, published in 1857, and his papers on "Vegetable Pathology" in the _Gardener's Chronicle_ in 1854 and onwards, show that he had a very broad grasp of the whole domain of physiology and morphology as understood in those days. Moreover, it should be pointed out that Berkeley began his work as a field naturalist and collector, his earliest objects of study having been the mollusca and other branches of zoology, as testified by his papers in the _Zoological Journal_ and the _Magazine of Natural History_, between 1828 and 1836. As a microscopist he was an assiduous and accurate worker, as is shown by his numerous drawings of the smaller algae and fungi, and his admirable dissections of mosses and hepaticae. His investigations on the potato murrain, caused by _Phytophthora infestans_, on the grape mildew, to which he gave the name _Oidium Tuckeri_, and on the pathogenic fungi of wheat rust, hop mildew, and various diseases of cabbage, pears, coffee, onions, tomatoes, &c., were important in results bearing on the life-history of these pests, at a time when very little was known of such matters, and must always be considered in any historical account of the remarkable advances in the biology of these organisms which were made between 1850 and 1880; and when it is remembered that this work was done without any of the modern appliances or training of a properly equipped laboratory, the real significance of Berkeley's pioneer work becomes apparent. It is as the founder of British mycology, however, that his name will live in the history of botany, and his most important work is contained in the account of native British fungi in Sir W. Hooker's _British Flora_ (1836), in his _Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany_ (1857), and in his _Outlines of British Fungology_ (1860). His magnificent herbarium at Kew, which contains over 9000 specimens, and is enriched by numerous notes and sketches, forms one of the most important type series in the world. Berkeley died at Sibbertoft on the 30th of July 1889. He was a man of refined and courteous bearing, an accomplished classical student, with the simple and modest habits that befit a man of true learning.

A list of his publications will be found in the _Catalogue of Scientific Papers_ of the Royal Society, and sketches of his life in _Proc. Roy. Soc._, 1890, 47, 9, by Sir Joseph Hooker, and _Annals of Botany_, 1897, 11, by Sir W.T. Thiselton-Dyer. (H. M. W.)

BERKELEY, SIR WILLIAM (c. 1608-1677), British colonial governor in America, was born in or near London, England, about 1608, the youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley, an original member of the London Company of 1606, and brother of John, first Lord Berkeley of Stratton, one of the proprietors of the Carolinas. He graduated at Oxford in 1629, and in 1632 was appointed one of the royal commissioners for Canada, in which office he won the personal favour of Charles I., who appointed him a gentleman of the privy chamber. During this period he tried his hand at literary work, producing among other things a tragi-comedy entitled _The Lost Lady_ (1638). In August 1641 he was appointed governor of Virginia, but did not take up his duties until the following year. His first term as governor, during which he seems to have been extremely popular with the majority of the colonists, was notable principally for his religious intolerance and his expulsion of the Puritans, who were in a great minority. During the Civil War in England he remained loyal to the king, and offered an asylum in Virginia to Charles II. and the loyalists. On the arrival of a parliamentary fleet in 1652, however, he retired from office and spent the following years quietly on his plantation. On the death, in 1660, of Samuel Matthews, the last parliamentary governor, he was chosen governor by the Virginia assembly, and was soon recommissioned by Charles II. His natural arrogance and tyranny seems to have increased with years, and the second period of his governorship was a stormy one. Serious frontier warfare with the Indians was followed (1676) by Bacon's Rebellion (see VIRGINIA), brought on by Berkeley's misrule, and during its course all his worst traits became evident. His cruelty and barbarity in punishing the rebels did not meet with the approval of Charles II., who is said to have remarked that "the old fool has put to death more people in that naked country than I did here for the murder of my father." Berkeley was called to England in 1677 ostensibly to report on the condition of affairs in the colony, and a lieutenant-governor (Herbert Jeffreys) was put in his place. Berkeley sailed in May, but died soon after his arrival, at Twickenham, and was buried there on the 13th of July 1677. In addition to the play mentioned he wrote _A Discourse and View of Virginia_ (London, 1663).

BERKELEY, a city of Alameda county, California, U.S.A., on the E. shore of San Francisco Bay, named after Bishop Berkeley on account of his line "Westward the course of empire takes its way." Pop. (1890) 5101; (1900) 13,214, of whom 3216 were foreign-born; (1910) 40,434. It is served by the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe railway systems, both transcontinental; and is connected by electric lines (and ferry) with San Francisco, and by five electric lines with Oakland. Its attractive situation and pleasant outlooks have made it a favourite residential suburb of San Francisco, which lies at a distance of 7 m. across the bay. Berkeley is the seat of the California state university (see CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF), opened in 1873; the inter-related Berkeley Bible Seminary (1896, Disciples of Christ); Pacific Theological Seminary (established in 1866 at Oakland, in 1901 at Berkeley, Congregational); Seminary of the Pacific Coast Baptist Theological Union, and Unitarian Theological School--all associated with the University of California; and the state institution for the deaf, dumb and blind. The site of Berkeley was a farming region until its selection for the home of the university. Berkeley was incorporated as a town in 1878.

BERKELEY, a market town of Gloucestershire, England, near the river Severn, in that portion of its valley known as the Vale of Berkeley, on a branch from the Midland railway. Pop. (1901) 774. It is pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence, in a rich pastoral vale to which it gives name, celebrated for its dairies, producing the famous cheese known as "double Gloucester." The town has a handsome church (Early English and Decorated), a grammar school, and some trade in coal, timber, malt and cheese. Berkeley was the birthplace of Dr Edward Jenner (1749), who is buried in the church. Berkeley Castle, on an eminence south-east of the town, is one of the noblest baronial castles existing in England, and one of the few inhabited. The Berkeley Ship Canal connects Gloucester with docks at Sharpness, avoiding the difficult navigation of the upper part of the Severn estuary.

The manor of Berkeley gives its name to the noble family of Berkeley (q.v.). According to tradition, a nunnery to which the manor belonged existed here before the Conquest, and Earl Godwin, by bringing about its dissolution, obtained the manor. All that is certainly known, however, is that in Domesday the manor is assigned to one Roger, who took his surname from it. His descendants seem to have been ousted from their possessions during the 12th century by Robert fitz Harding, an Angevin partisan, who already held the castle when, in 1153, Henry, duke of Normandy (who became King Henry II. in the following year), granted him the manor. Under an agreement made in the same year, Maurice, son of Robert fitz Harding, married a daughter of Roger of Berkeley. Their descendants styled themselves of Berkeley, and in 1200 the town was confirmed to Robert of Berkeley with toll, soc, sac, &c., and a market on whatever day of the week he chose to hold it. This charter was confirmed to Thomas, Lord Berkeley, in 1330, and in 1395-1396 Lord Berkeley received a grant of another fair on the vigil and day of Holyrood. The descendants of the Berkeley family still hold the manor and town. Berkeley Castle was the scene of the death of Edward II. The king was at first entrusted to the care of Lord Berkeley, who, being considered too lenient, was obliged to give up his prisoner and castle to Sir John Mautravers and Thomas Gournay. The town has no charter, but is mentioned as a borough in 1284-1285. It was governed by a mayor and twelve aldermen, but by 1864 their privileges had become merely nominal, and the corporation was dissolved in 1885 under the Municipal Corporations Act. Berkeley was formerly noted for the manufacture of clothing, but the trade had decreased by the 16th century, for Leland, writing about 1520, says "the town of Berkeley is no great thing.... It hath very much occupied and yet somewhat doth clothing."

See John Fisher, _History of Berkeley_ (1864).

BERKHAMPSTEAD (GREAT BERKHAMPSTEAD), a market town in the Watford parliamentary division of Hertfordshire, England, 28 m. N.W. from London by the London & North-Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 5140. It lies pleasantly in the narrow well-wooded valley of the Bulbourne, and is close to the Grand Junction canal. The church of St Peter, a large cruciform structure, exhibits all the Gothic styles, and earlier fragments are traceable. There are several brasses of interest. The poet William Cowper was born in the rectory in 1731. The large grammar school is a foundation of 1541. Straw-plaiting and the manufacture of small wooden wares are the principal industries, and there are large chemical works. Of the castle earthworks and fragments of walls remain. The name of the town is Great Berkhampstead (or Berkhamsted), in distinction from Little Berkhampstead near Hatfield in this county.

Berkhampstead (Beorhhamstede, Berchehamstede) was undoubtedly of some importance in Saxon times since there were fifty-two burgesses there at the time of the Conquest. In 1156 Henry II. granted the men and merchants of the town the same laws and customs as they had in the time of Edward the Confessor, and that they should be quit of toll throughout England, Normandy, Aquitaine and Anjou. Berkhampstead rose to importance with its castle, which is said to have been built by Robert, count of Mortain, and when the castle fell into ruin after 1496 the town also began to decay. In 1618, however, the burgesses received an incorporation charter; but after the civil wars the corporate body began to fail through poverty, and in the 18th century had ceased to exist. The burgesses returned two members to parliament in 1320 and again in 1338 and 1341, but were never represented again. Before the 13th century the burgesses held a weekly market on Sunday and a yearly fair on St James's day, but in 1218 Henry III. altered the market day to Monday. Roofing tiles were manufactured in Berkhampstead as early as the 13th century, and in Elizabeth's reign the making of malt was the chief industry.

BERKSHIRE, THOMAS HOWARD, 1ST EARL OF (1587-1669), 2nd son of Thomas Howard, 1st earl of Suffolk and of Catherine, daughter of Sir Henry Knevet, Kt., widow of Richard Rich, was baptized on the 8th of October 1587. He succeeded to his mother's estate of Charlton in Wiltshire, was created K.B. in 1605, became master of the horse to Prince Charles, and was created Lord Howard of Charlton and Viscount Andover in 1622, K.G. in 1625, and earl of Berkshire in 1626. In 1634 he was chosen high steward of the university of Oxford. He was a commissioner for negotiating the treaty of Ripon in 1640, and accompanied the king to York in 1642. While attempting to execute the king's commission of array in Oxfordshire in August he was taken prisoner by Hampden at Watlington and imprisoned in the Tower, but after being censured by the Lords was liberated in September. In 1643 he was made governor of the prince of Wales, a post for which he was in no way fitted, and in which he showed himself factious and obstructive. He accompanied the prince to Scilly and to Jersey, but on the latter's departure for France went to Holland. At the Restoration he was made a privy councillor and received rewards. He died on the 16th of July 1669, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. According to Clarendon "his affection for the crown was good; his interest and reputation less than anything but his understanding." He married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of William, earl of Exeter, by whom he had nine sons and four daughters. Of these Charles succeeded him as 2nd earl of Berkshire; Thomas succeeded the latter; and Philip was ancestor of John, 15th earl of Suffolk and 8th earl of Berkshire, and so of the later earls of Suffolk and Berkshire.

BERKSHIRE [abbreviated _Berks_, pronounced _Barkshire_], a southern county of England, bounded N. by Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, E. by Surrey, S. by Hampshire, W. by Wiltshire, and N.W. for a short distance by Gloucestershire. Its area is 721.9 sq. m. Its entire northern boundary is formed by the river Thames, in the basin of which practically the whole county is included. In the north-west a narrow and broken line of hills, pierced in the west by the Cole stream, which here forms the county boundary, extends past Faringdon and culminates in a height over 500 ft. at Cumnor Hurst, which, with Wytham Hill, fills a deep northward bend of the Thames, and overlooks the city of Oxford from the west. The range separates the Thames valley from the Vale of White Horse which is traversed by the small river Ock, and bounded on the south by a line of hills known as the White Horse Hills or Berkshire Downs, richly wooded along their base, and rising sharply to bare rounded summits. In White Horse Hill on the western confines of the county a height of 856 ft. is reached. The line of these hills is continued north-eastward by the Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire, but a division between the two is made by the Thames in a narrow valley or gap at Goring. Southward the Downs are scored with deep narrow valleys, the chief of which are those of the Lambourn and the Pang. The last stream runs eastward directly to the Thames; but the Lambourn and others join the Kennet, which drains a beautiful sylvan valley to the Thames at Reading. Another line of downs closely confines the vale of Kennet on the south from Newbury upwards, and although the greater part of these does not fall within the county, their highest point, Inkpen Beacon (1011 ft.), does so. The Enborne stream, rising here, and flowing parallel to the Kennet until turning north to join it, is for a considerable distance the county boundary. Between Reading and Windsor the Thames makes a northward bend, past Henley and Marlow, in the form of three sides of a square. Within the bend slight hills border the river, but south of these, and in the Loddon valley south of Reading, the county is low and flat. In the south-east of the county, however, there is a high sandy plateau, forming part of Bagshot Heath, over 400 ft. in elevation, and extending into Surrey. Fir-woods are characteristic of this district, and northward towards the Thames extends the royal park of Windsor, which is magnificently timbered. The proportion to the total area of the county which is under woods is, however, by no means so great as in the adjacent counties of Surrey and Hampshire. There is fine trout-fishing in the Kennet and some of its feeders.

_Geology._--The dominant feature of the county, the Chiltern and White Horse Hills, owes its form to the Chalk, which spreads from Ashbury and Hungerford on the west to Henley and Maidenhead on the east. In the northern face of the escarpment we find the Lower Chalk with a hard bed, the Totternhoe Stone; on the southern slope lies the Chalk-with-Flints. At Kintbury it is quarried for the manufacture of whiting. At the foot of the Chalk escarpment is the Upper Greensand with a narrow crop towards the west which is broken up into patches eastwards. Looking northward from the Chalk hills, the low-lying ground is occupied successively by the Gault Clay, the Kimmeridge Clay, and finally by the Oxford Clay, which extends beyond the Thames into Oxfordshire. This low-lying tract is relieved by an elevated ridge of Corallian beds, between the Kimmeridge Clay and the Gault. It extends from near Faringdon past Abingdon to Cumnor and Wytham Hill. At Faringdon there are some interesting gravels of Lower Greensand age, full of the fossil remains of sponges. South of the Chalk, the county is occupied by Eocene rocks, mottled clays, well exposed in the brickfields about Reading, and hence called the Reading beds. At Finchampstead, Sunninghill and Ascot, these deposits are overlaid by the more sandy beds of the Bagshot series. Between the two last named formations is a broad outcrop of London Clay. Numerous outliers of Eocene rest on the Chalk beyond the main line of boundary. The Chalk of Inkpen Beacon is brought up to the south side of the Tertiary rocks by a synclinal fold; similarly, an anticline has brought up the small patch of Chalk in Windsor Park. Clay-with-Flints lies in patches and holes on the chalk, and flint gravels occur high up on either side of the Thames. Fairly thick beds of peat are found in the alluvium of the Kennet at Newbury.

_Industries._--About seven-ninths of the total area is under cultivation; a large proportion of this being in permanent pasture, as much attention is paid to dairy-farming. Butter and cheese are largely produced, and the making of condensed milk is a branch of the industry. Many sheep are pastured on the Downs, important sheep-markets being held at the small town of East or Market Ilsley; and an excellent breed of pigs is named after the county. The parts about Faringdon are specially noted for them. Oats are the principal grain crop; although a considerable acreage is under wheat. Turnips and swedes are largely cultivated, and apples and cherries are grown. Besides the royal castle of Windsor, fine county seats are especially numerous.

The only manufacturing centre of first importance is Reading, which is principally famous for its biscuit factories. The manufacture of clothing and carpets is carried on at Abingdon; but a woollen industry introduced into the county as early as the Tudor period is long extinct. Engineering works and paper mills are established at various places; and boat-building is carried on at Reading and other riverside stations. There are extensive seed warehouses and testing grounds near Reading; and the Kennet and Windsor ales are in high repute. Whiting is manufactured from chalk at Kintbury on the Kennet.

_Communications._--Communications are provided principally by the Great Western railway, the main line of which crosses the county from east to west by Maidenhead, Reading and Didcot. A branch line serves the Kennet valley from Reading; and the northern line of the company leaves the main line at Didcot, a branch from it serving Abingdon. The Basingstoke branch runs south from Reading, and lines serve Wallingford from Cholsey, and Faringdon from Uffington. Communication with the south of England is maintained by a joint line of the South Western and South Eastern & Chatham companies terminating at Reading, and there are branches of the Great Western and South Western systems to Windsor. The Lambourn valley light railway runs north-west to Lambourn from Newbury. Wide water-communications are afforded by the Thames, and the Kennet is in part canalized, to form the eastern portion of the Kennet and Avon canal system, connecting with the Bristol Avon above Bath.

_Population and Administration._--The area of the ancient county is 462,208 acres; with a population in 1891 of 239,138, and in 1901 of 256,509. The area of the administrative county is 462,367 acres. The county contains twenty hundreds. The municipal boroughs are Abingdon (pop. 6480), Maidenhead (12,980), Newbury (11,061), Reading, the county town and a county borough (72,217), Wallingford (2808), Windsor or New Windsor (14,130), Wokingham (3551). Wantage (3766) is an urban district. Among lesser towns may be mentioned Faringdon in the north-west (2900), Hungerford on the Kennet (2906), and Lambourn in the valley of that name (2071), the villages of Bray (2978), Cookham (3874) and Tilehurst (2545), which, like others on the banks of the Thames, have grown into residential towns; and Sandhurst (2386). The county is in the Oxford circuit, and assizes are held at Reading. It has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into twelve petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Abingdon, Newbury, Maidenhead, Reading, Wallingford and Windsor have separate commissions of the peace, and Abingdon, Newbury, Reading and Windsor have separate courts of quarter sessions. There are 198 civil parishes. Berkshire forms an archdeaconry in the diocese of Oxford; a small portion, however, falls within the diocese of Salisbury. There are 202 ecclesiastical parishes or districts, wholly or in part within the county. There are three parliamentary divisions, Northern or Abingdon, Southern or Newbury, and Eastern or Wokingham, each returning one member; while the parliamentary borough of Reading returns one member, and parts of the borough of Oxford and Windsor are included in the county. There are several important educational establishments in the county. Radley College near Abingdon, Wellington College near Sandhurst, and Bradfield College, at the village of that name, 8 m. west of Reading, are among the more important modern public schools for boys. Bradfield College was founded in 1850, and is well known for the realistic performances of classical Greek plays presented by the scholars in an open theatre designed for the purpose. Abingdon and Reading schools rank among the lesser public schools. At Reading is a university extension college, and in the south-east of the county is the Sandhurst Royal Military College.

_History._--During the Heptarchy Berkshire formed part of the kingdom of Wessex, and interesting relics of Saxon occupation have been discovered in various parts of the county. Of these the most remarkable are the burial grounds at Long Wittenham and Frilford, and there is evidence that the Lambourn valley was occupied in early Saxon times. The cinerary urns found in Berkshire undoubtedly contain the ashes of the Anglians who came south under Penda in the 7th century. The fortification called Cherbury Castle, not far from Denchworth, is said to have been first made up by Canute.

At the time of the Norman invasion Berkshire formed part of the earldom of Harold, and supported him stanchly at the battle of Hastings. This loyalty was punished by very sweeping confiscations, and at the time of the Domesday survey no estates of any importance were in the hands of Englishmen. When Alfred divided the country into shires, this county received the name of Berrocscir, as Asser says, "from the wood of Berroc, where the box-tree grows most plentifully."[1] At the time of the survey it comprised twenty-two hundreds; at the present day there are only twenty, of which eleven retain their ancient names. Many parishes have been transferred from one hundred to another, but the actual boundary of the county is practically unchanged. Part of the parishes of Shilton and Langford formed detached portions of the shire, until included in Oxfordshire in the reign of William IV. Portions of Combe and Shalbourne parishes have also been restored to Hampshire and Wiltshire respectively, while the Wiltshire portion of Hungerford has been transferred to Berkshire. The county was originally included in the see of Winchester, but in A.D. 909 it was removed to the newly-formed see of "Wiltshire," afterwards united with Sherborne. In 1075 the seat of the bishopric was removed to Salisbury, and in 1836 by an order in council Berkshire was transferred to the diocese of Oxford. The archdeaconry is of very early origin and is co-extensive with the county. Formerly it comprised four rural deaneries, but the number has lately been increased to nine. Much of the early history of the county is recorded in the _Chronicles_ of the abbey of Abingdon, which at the time of the survey was second only to the crown in the extent and number of its possessions. The abbot also exercised considerable judicial and administrative powers, and his court was endowed with the privileges of the hundred court and was freed from liability to interference by the sheriff. Berkshire and Oxfordshire had a common sheriff until the reign of Elizabeth, and the shire court was held at Grauntpont. The assizes were formerly held at Reading, Abingdon and Newbury, but are now held entirely at Reading.

At the time of the Domesday survey the chief lay-proprietor was Henry de Ferrers, ancestor of the earls of Derby, but it is remarkable that none of the great Berkshire estates has remained with the same family long. Thomas Fuller quaintly observes that "the lands of Berkshire are very skittish and apt to cast their owners." The De la Poles succeeded to large estates by a marriage with the heiress of Thomas Chaucer, son of the poet, but the family became extinct in the male line, and the estates were alienated. The same fate befell the estates of the Achards, the Fitzwarrens and later the families of Norris and Befils.

The natural advantages of this county have always encouraged agricultural rather than commercial pursuits. The soil is especially adapted for sheep-farming, and numerous documents testify to the importance and prosperity of the wool-trade in the 12th century. At first this trade was confined to the export of the raw material, but the reign of Edward III. saw the introduction of the clothing industry, for which the county afterwards became famous. This trade began to decline in the 17th century, and in 1641 the Berkshire clothiers complained of the deadness of their trade and the difficulty of getting ready money, attributing the same to delay in the execution of justice. The malting industry and the timber trade also flourished in the county until the 19th century. Agriculturally considered, the Vale of the White Horse is especially productive, and Camden speaks of the great crops of barley grown in the district.

Owing to its proximity to London, Berkshire has from early times been the scene of frequent military operations. The earliest recorded historical fact relating to the county is the occupation of the district between Wallingford and Ashbury by Offa in 758. In the 9th and 10th centuries the county was greatly impoverished by the ravages of the Danes, and in 871 the invaders were defeated by Aethelwulf at Englefield and again at Reading. During the disorders of Stephen's reign Wallingford was garrisoned for Matilda and was the scene of the final treaty in 1153. Meetings took place between John and his barons in 1213 at Wallingford and at Reading, and in 1216 Windsor was besieged by the barons. At the opening of the civil war of the 17th century, the sheriff, on behalf of the inhabitants of Berkshire, petitioned that the county might be put in a posture of defence, and here the royalists had some of their strongest garrisons. Reading endured a ten days' siege by the parliamentary forces in 1643, and Wallingford did not surrender until 1646. Newbury was the site of two battles in 1643 and 1644.

In 1295, Berkshire returned two members to parliament for the county and two for the borough of Reading. Later the boroughs of Newbury, Wallingford, Windsor and Abingdon secured representation, and from 1557 until the Reform Act of 1832 the county was represented by a total of ten members. By this act Abingdon and Wallingford were each deprived of a member, but the county returned three members instead of two. Since the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the county has returned three members for three divisions, and Windsor and Reading return one member each, the remaining boroughs having lost representation.

_Antiquities._--The remains of two great Benedictine monasteries at Abingdon and Reading are scanty. The ecclesiastical architecture of the county is not remarkable, excepting a few individual churches. Thus for Norman work the churches of Shellingford and Cholsey may be noted, together with the very small chapel, of early date, at Upton near Didcot. The church of Blewbury in the same locality is in the main transitional Norman, and retains some of its original vaulting. Of Early English churches there are several good examples, notably at Uffington, with its unusual angular-headed windows, Buckland near Faringdon, and Wantage. The tower of St Helen's, Abingdon, well illustrates this period. The cruciform church of Shottesbrooke, with its central spire, is a beautiful and almost unaltered Decorated building; and St George's chapel in Windsor Castle is a superb specimen of Perpendicular work. Apart from Windsor, Berkshire retains no remarkable medieval castles or mansions.

AUTHORITIES.--Chief of the older works are: Elias Ashmole. _Antiquities of Berkshire_ (3 vols., 1719, 2nd ed., London, 1723; 3rd ed., Reading, 1736); D. and S. Lysons, _Magna Britannia_, vol. i. Other works are: Marshall, _Topographical and Statistical Details of the County of Berkshire_ (London, 1830); Earl of Carnarvon, _Archaeology of Berkshire_ (London, 1859); C. King, _History of Berkshire_ (London, 1887); Lowsley, _Glossary of Berkshire Words_ (London, 1888), and _Index to Wills in the Court of the Archdeacon of Berkshire, 1508-1652_ (Oxford, 1893); _Victoria County History, Berkshire_. See also _The Berks Archaeological Society's Quarterly Journal_, and _Berkshire Notes and Queries_.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The derivation from Bibroci, a British tribe in the time of Caesar, which probably inhabited Surrey or Middlesex, seems philologically impossible.

BERLAD, the capital of the department of Tutova, Rumania, on the river Berlad, which waters the high plains of Eastern Moldavia. Pop. (1900) 24,484, about one-fourth of whom are Jews. At Berlad the railway from Jassy diverges, one branch skirting the river Sereth, the other skirting the Pruth; both reunite at Galatz. Among a maze of narrow and winding streets Berlad possesses a few good modern buildings, including a fine hospital, administered by the St Spiridion Foundation of Jassy. Berlad has manufactures of soap and candles, and some trade in timber and farm-produce, while the annual horse-fairs are visited by dealers from all parts of the country. In the vicinity are traces of a Roman camp.

BERLICHINGEN, GOETZ or GOTTFRIED VON (1480-1562), German knight, was born at the castle of Jagsthausen now in Wurttemberg. In 1497 he entered the service of Frederick IV., margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and in 1498 fought for the emperor Maximilian I. in Burgundy, Lorraine and Brabant, and next year in Switzerland. About 1500 he raised a company of freelances, and at their head took part in various private wars. In 1505, whilst assisting Albert IV., duke of Bavaria, at the siege of Landshut, his right hand was shot away, and an iron one was substituted which is still shown at Jagsthausen. In spite of this "Goetz with the iron hand" continued his feuds, their motive being mainly booty and ransom. In 1512 an attack near Forchheim on some merchants returning from the great fair at Leipzig, caused him to be put under the ban of the empire by Maximilian, and he was only released from this in 1514 upon a promise to pay 14,000 gulden. In 1516 he made a raid into Hesse and captured Philip IV., count of Waldeck, whom he compelled to pay a ransom of 8400 gold gulden, and in 1518 was again placed under the ban. He fought for Ulrich I., duke of Wurttemberg, when he was attacked by the Swabian League in 1519, and after a spirited resistance was compelled, through want of ammunition and provisions, to surrender the town of Mockmuhl. In violation of the terms of the capitulation he was held prisoner, and handed over to the citizens of Heilbronn, but owing to the efforts of Sickingen and Georg von Frundsberg was released in 1522, upon paying 2000 gulden, and swearing not to take vengeance on the League. When the Peasants' War broke out in 1525 Goetz was compelled by the rebels of the Odenwald district to act as their leader. He accepted the position, according to his own account, partly because he had no choice, partly in the hope of curbing the excesses of the insurgents; but, finding himself in this respect powerless, after a month of nominal leadership, he took the first opportunity of escaping to his castle. For his part in the rebellion he was called to account before the diet of Speier, and on the 17th of October 1526 was acquitted by the imperial chamber. In spite of this the Swabian League seized the opportunity of paying off old scores against him. Lured to Augsburg, under promise of safe conduct, to clear himself of the charges made against him on behalf of the League, he was there treacherously seized on the 28th of November 1528, and kept a close prisoner for two years. In 1530 he was liberated on repeating his oath of 1522, and undertaking not to leave the neighbourhood of his castle of Hornberg on the Neckar. He appears to have remained there quietly until 1540 when the emperor Charles V. released him from his oath. In 1542 he fought against the Turks in Hungary, and in 1544 accompanied Charles when he invaded France. He returned to Hornberg, where he passed his time until his death on the 23rd of July 1562. He was twice married and left three daughters and seven sons. The counts von Berlichingen-Rossach, of Helmstadt near Heidelberg, one of the two surviving branches of the family, are his descendants. The other branch, that of the Freiherrn von Berlichingen-Jagsthausen, is descended from Goetz's brother Hans. "Goetz von Berlichingen" is the title of Goethe's play, which, published in 1773, marked an epoch in the history of German drama (see GOETHE).

See R. Pallmann, _Der historische Goetz von Berlichingen_ (Berlin, 1894); F.W.G. Graf von Berlichingen-Rossach, _Geschichte des Ritters Goetz von Berlichingen und seiner Familie_ (Leipzig, 1861). Goetz's _Autobiography_, valuable as a record of his times, was first published by Pistorius at Nuremberg (1731), and again at Halle (1886).

BERLIN, ISAIAH (1725-1799), an eminent rabbi of Breslau; he was the author of acute notes on the Talmud which had their influence in advancing the critical study of that work.

BERLIN, the largest city of the German empire, the capital of the kingdom of Prussia. It is the principal residence of the German emperor and king of Prussia, the seat of the imperial parliament (_Reichstag_) and the Prussian diet (_Landtag_) and of the state offices of the empire, except of the supreme court of justice (_Reichsgericht_), which is fixed at Leipzig. It lies in a flat, sandy plain, 110 ft. above sea-level, on both banks of the navigable Spree, which intersects it from S.E. to N.W. The highest elevation in the immediate neighbourhood is the Kreuzberg (200 ft.), a hill in the southern suburb of Schoneberg, which commands a fine view of the city. The situation of Berlin, midway between the Elbe and the Oder, with which rivers it is connected by a web of waterways, at the crossing of the main roads from Silesia and Poland to the North Sea ports and from Saxony, Bohemia and Thuringia to the Baltic, made it in medieval days a place of considerable commercial importance. In modern times the great network of railways, of which it is the centre and which mainly follow the lines of the old roads, further established its position. Almost equidistant from the remotest frontiers of Prussia, from north to south, and from east to west, 180 m. from Hamburg and 84 from Stettin, its situation, so far from being prejudicial to its growth and prosperity, as was formerly often asserted, has been, in fact, the principal determining factor in its rapid rise to the position of the greatest industrial and commercial city on the continent of Europe. In point of wealth and population it ranks immediately after London and Paris.

The boundaries of the city have not been essentially extended since 1860, and though large and important suburbs have crept up and practically merged with it, its administrative area remains unchanged. It occupies about 29 sq. m., and has a length from E. to W. of 6 and a breadth from N. to S. of 5-1/2 m., contains nearly 1000 streets, has 87 squares and open spaces, 73 bridges and a population (1905) of 2,033,900 (including a garrison of about 22,000). If, however, the outer police district, known as "Greater Berlin," embracing an area of about 10 m. radius from the centre, be included, the population amounts to about 3-1/4 millions.

Berlin is essentially a modern city, the quaint two-storied houses, which formerly characterized it, having given place to palatial business blocks, which somewhat dwarf the streets and squares, which once had an air of stately spaciousness. The bustle of the modern commercial city has superseded the austere dignity of the old Prussian capital. Thus the stranger entering it for the first time will find little to remind him of its past history. The oldest part of Berlin, the city and Alt-Kolln, built along the arms of the Spree, is, together with that portion of the town lying immediately west, the centre of business activity. The west end and the south-west are the residential quarters, the north-west is largely occupied by academic, scientific and military institutions, the north is the seat of machinery works, the north-east of the woollen manufactures, the east and south-east of the dyeing, furniture and metal industries, while in the south are great barracks and railway works.

In 1870 Berlin was practically bounded on the south by the Landwehr Canal, but it has since extended far beyond, and the Tempelhofer Feld, where military reviews are held, then practically in the country, is now surrounded by a dense belt of houses. The Landwehr Canal, leaving the Spree near the Schlesische Tor (gate), and rejoining it at Charlottenburg, after a course of 6 m., adds not a little to the charm of the southern and western districts, being flanked by fine boulevards and crossed by many handsome bridges. The object of this canal was to relieve the congestion of the water traffic in the heart of Berlin. It was superseded, however, in its turn by a new broad and deep canal opened in 1906, lying from 3 to 4 m. farther south. This, the Teltow Canal, leaves the Spree above Berlin at Kopenick, and running south of Rixdorf, Sudende and Gross-Lichterfelde, enters the Havel at Teltow. This important engineering work was planned not only to afford a more convenient waterway between the upper Spree and the Havel (and thus to the Elbe), but was to remove from the city to its banks and vicinity those factories of which the noxious gases and other poisonous emanations were regarded as dangerous to the health of the community. A dislocation of the manufacturing factors has therefore been in progress, which with the creation of a "trans Tiberim" (as in ancient Rome) is, in many respects, altering the character and aspect of the metropolis.

The effect upon Berlin of the successful issue of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was electrical. The old Prussian capital girded itself at once to fulfil its new role. The concentration upon the city of a large garrison flushed with victory, and eager to emulate the vanquished foe in works of peace, and vie with them in luxury, was an incentive to Berliners to put forth all their energy. Besides the military, a tremendous immigration of civilian officials took place as the result of the new conditions, and, as accommodation was not readily available, rents rose to an enormous figure. Doubts were often expressed whether the capital would be able to bear the burden of empire, so enormous was the influx of new citizens. It is due to the magnificent services of the municipal council that the city was enabled to assimilate the hosts of newcomers, and it is to its indefatigable exertions that Berlin has in point of organization become the model city of Europe. In no other has public money been expended with such enlightened discretion, and in no other has the municipal system kept pace with such rapid growth and displayed greater resource in emergencies. In 1870 the sanitary conditions of Berlin were the worst of any city of Europe. It needed a Virchow to open the eyes of the municipality to the terrible waste of life such a state of things entailed. But open sewers, public pumps, cobble-paved roads, open market-places and overcrowded subterranean dwellings are now abolished. The city is excellently drained, well-paved, well-lighted and furnished with an abundant supply of filtered water, while the cellar dwellings have given place to light and airy tenements, and Berlin justly claims to rank among the cleanest and healthiest capitals in Europe. The year 1878 marks a fresh starting-point in the development of the city. In that year Berlin was the meeting-place of the congress which bears its name. The recognition of Germany as a leading factor in the world's counsels had been given, and the people of Berlin could indulge in the task of embellishing the capital in a manner befitting its position. From this time forward, state, municipal and private enterprise have worked hand in hand to make the capital cosmopolitan. The position it has at length attained is due not alone to the enterprise of its citizens and the municipality. The brilliancy of the court and the triumph of the sense of unity in the German nation over the particularism of the smaller German states have conduced more than all else to bring about this result. It has become the chief pleasure town of Germany; and though the standard of morality, owing to the enormous influx of people bent on amusement, has become lower, yet there is so much healthy, strenuous activity in intellectual life and commercial rivalry as to entitle it, despite many moral deficiencies, to be regarded as the centre of life and learning in Germany. Dr A. Shadwell (_Industrial Efficiency_, London, 1906) describes it as representing "the most complete application of science, order and method of public life," adding "it is a marvel of civic administration, the most modern and most perfectly organized city that there is."

_Streets._--The social and official life of the capital centres round Unter den Linden, which runs from the royal palace to the Brandenburger Tor. This street, one of the finest and most spacious in Europe, nearly a mile in length, its double avenue divided by a favourite promenade, planted with lime trees, presents Berlin life in all its varying aspects. Many historical events have taken place in this famous boulevard, notably the entry of the troops in 1871, and the funeral pageant of the emperor Willaim I. South of Unter den Linden lies the Friedrichstadt, with its parallel lines of straight streets, including the Behren-strasse--(the seat of finance)--the Wilhelm-strasse, with the palace of the imperial chancellor, the British embassy, and many government offices--the official quarter of the capital--and the busy Leipziger-strasse, running from the Potsdamer-platz to the Donhoff-platz. This great artery and Unter den Linden are crossed at right angles by the Friedrich-strasse, 2 m. long, flanked by attractive shops and restaurants, among them the beer palaces of the great breweries. In the city proper, the Konig-strasse and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-strasse, the latter a continuation of Unter den Linden, are the chief streets; while in the fashionable south-west quarter Viktoria-strasse, Bellevue-strasse, Potsdamer-strasse and Kurfursten-strasse and the Kurfurstendamm are the most imposing. Among the most important public squares are the Opern-platz, around or near which stand the opera house, the royal library, the university and the armoury; the Gendarmen-markt, with the royal theatre in its centre, the Schloss-platz; the Lustgarten, between the north side of the royal palace, the cathedral and the old and new museums; the Pariser-platz with the French embassy, at the Brandenburg Gate; the Konigs-platz, with the column of Victory, the Reichstagsgebaude and the Bismarck and Moltke monuments; the Wilhelms-platz; the circular Belle-Alliance-platz, with a column commemorating the battle of Waterloo; and, in the western district, the spacious Lutzow-platz.

_Bridges._--Of the numerous bridges, the most remarkable are the Schloss-brucke, built after designs by Schinkel in 1822-1824, with eight colossal figures of white marble, representing ideal stages in a warrior's life, the work of Drake, Albert Wolff and other eminent sculptors; the Kurfursten--or Lange-brucke, built 1692-1695, and restored in 1895, with an equestrian statue of the great elector, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-brucke (1886-1889) connecting the Lustgarten with the Kaiser-Wilhelm-strasse in the inner town. In the modern residential quarter are the Potsdamer-Viktoria-brucke, which carries the traffic from two converging streets into the outer Potsdamer-strasse, and the Herkules-brucke connecting the Lutzow-platz with the Tiergarten. The first three cross the Spree and the last two the Landwehr Canal.

_Churches._--Berlin, until the last half of the 10th century, was in respect of its churches probably the poorest of the capitals of Christendom, and the number of worshippers on an average Sunday was then less than 2% of the population. The city now contains over a hundred places of worship, of which ten are Roman Catholic, and nine Jewish synagogues. Of the older Evangelical churches but four date from medieval days, and of them only the Marien-kirche, with a tomb of Field marshal O.C. von Sparr (1605-1665), and the Nikolai-kirche are particularly noteworthy. Of a later date, though of no great pretensions to architectural merit, are the Petri-kirche with a lofty spire, the Franzosische-kirche and the Neue-kirche with dome-capped towers, on the Gendarmen-markt, and the round, Roman Catholic St Hedwigs--kirche behind the Opera-house. The Garrison church in the centre of the city, which was erected in 1722 and contained numerous historical trophies, was destroyed by fire in 1908. Of modern erections the new cathedral (_Dom_), on the Spree, which replaces the old building pulled down in 1853, stands first. It is a clumsy, though somewhat imposing edifice of sandstone in Italian Renaissance style, and has a dome rising, with the lantern, to a height of 380 ft. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtnis-kirche (in the suburb Charlottenburg) with a lofty spire, the Dankes-kirche (in commemoration of the emperor William I.'s escape from the hand of the assassin, Nobiling, in 1878) in Wedding, and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedachtnis-kirche on a grassy knoll in the north of the Tiergarten are also worthy of notice. In the Monbijou Park, on the north bank of the Spree, is the pretty English church of St George. The main Jewish synagogue, a fine building in oriental style, erected in 1866, stands in a commanding position in the Oranienburger-strasse and is remarkable for its stained glass. Berlin was a walled city until 1867-1868. Of the former nineteen city gates only one remains, the Brandenburg Gate (1789-1793), an imitation of the Propylaea at Athens. It is 201 ft. broad and nearly 65 ft. high, and is supported by twelve Doric columns, each 44 ft. in height, and surmounted by a car of victory (Auriga), which, taken by Napoleon to Paris in 1807, was brought back by the Prussians in 1814. The gate has been enlarged by two lateral colonnades, each supported by sixteen columns.

_Public Buildings._--In secular buildings Berlin is very rich. Entering the city at the Potsdam Gate, traversing a few hundred yards of the Leipziger-strasse, turning into Wilhelm-strasse, and following it to Unter den Linden, then beginning at the Brandenburg Gate and proceeding down Unter den Linden to its end, one passes, among other buildings, the following, many of them of great architectural merit--the admiralty, the ministry of commerce, the ministry of war, the ministry of public works, the palace of Prince Frederick Leopold, the palace of the imperial chancellor, the foreign office, the ministry of justice, the residences of the ministers of the interior and of public worship, the French and the Russian embassies, the arcade, the palace of the emperor William I., the university, the royal library, the opera, the armoury, the palace of the emperor Frederick III., the Schloss-brucke, the royal palace, the old and new museums and the national gallery. At a short distance from this line are the new town-hall, the mint, the imperial bank and the royal theatre. Berlin differs from all other great capitals in this respect that with the exception of the royal palace, which dates from the 16th century, all its public buildings are modern. This palace, standing in the very heart of the city, is a huge quadrangular building, with four courts, and is surmounted by a dome 220 ft. high. It contains more than 600 rooms and halls; among the latter the Weisse-saal used for great court pageants, the halls of the chapters of the Black and the Red Eagle orders, a picture gallery and a chapel. The first floor overlooking the Schloss-platz is the Berlin residence of the emperor, and that square is embellished by a huge fountain (Neptuns-brunnen) by R. Begas. Facing the west portal is the monument to the emperor William I., and before the north gate, opening upon the Lustgarten, are the famous bronze groups, the "horse-tamers" by Clodt, the gift of the emperor Nicholas I. of Russia. The establishment of the imperial government in Berlin naturally brought with it the erection of a large number of public buildings, and the great prosperity of the country, as well as the enhanced national feeling, has enabled them to be built on a scale of splendour befitting the capital of an empire. First in importance is the Reichstagsgebaude (see ARCHITECTURE, plate ix. fig. 47), in which the federal council (_Bundesrat_) and the imperial parliament (_Reichstag_) hold their sittings. A special feature is the library, which is exceedingly rich in works on constitutional law. A new house has also been built for the Prussian parliament (_Landtag_) in the Albrecht-strasse. Other new official buildings are the patent office on the site of the old ministry of the interior; the new ministry of posts (with post museum) at the corner of the Mauer-strasse and Leipziger-strasse; the central criminal court in Moabit; the courts of first instance on the Alexander-platz; the ministry of police, and the _Reichsversicherungsamt_, the centre for the great system of state insurance. In addition to these, many buildings have been restored and enlarged, chief among them being the armoury (_Zeughaus_), the war office and the ministry of public works, while the royal mews (_Marstall_) has been entirely rebuilt with an imposing facade.

Among the public monuments comes first, in excellence, Ranch's celebrated statue of Frederick the Great, which stands in Unter den Linden opposite the palace of the emperor William I.; and in size the monument to the emperor William I. (by R. Begas), erected opposite the west portal of the royal palace. The space for the site was gained by pulling down the old houses composing the Schlossfreiheit and damming the Spree. The monument, which cost L200,000, is surmounted by an equestrian statue of the emperor in a martial cloak, his right hand resting on a field marshal's baton, reining in his charger, which is led by a female genius of peace. The high pedestal on which these figures stand is surrounded by an Ionic colonnade. The equestrian statue of the great elector on the Lange-brucke has been already mentioned. In the Lustgarten is a statue of Frederick William III., by Wolff; in the Tiergarten, Drake's marble monument to the same ruler; and in the mausoleum in the park in Charlottenburg he and his queen, Louisa, are sculptured in marble by Rauch. Here also lie the emperor William I. and the empress Augusta under marble effigies by Encke. A second group of monuments on the Wilhelms-platz commemorates the generals of the Seven Years' War; and a third in the neighbourhood of the opera-house the generals who fought against Napoleon I. On the Kreuzberg a Gothic monument in bronze was erected by Frederick William III. to commemorate the victories of 1813-1815; and in the centre of the Konigs-platz stands a lofty column in honour of the triumphs of 1864, 1866 and 1870-1871, surmounted by a gilded figure of Victory. Literature, science and art are represented in different parts of the city by statues and busts of Rauch, Schinkel, Thaer, Beuth, Schadow, Winckelmann, Schiller, Hegel and Jahn. On the Konigs-platz between the column of Victory and the Reichstagsgebaude, and immediately facing the western facade of the latter, is the bronze statue of Bismarck, unveiled in 1901, a figure 20 ft. in height standing on a granite base. From the south side of the Konigs-platz crossing the Tiergarten and intersecting the avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to Charlottenburg runs the broad Sieges-allee adorned by thirty-two groups of marble statuary representing famous rulers of the house of Hohenzollern, the gift of the emperor William II. to the city. The Tiergarten, the beautiful west-end park with its thickets of dense undergrowth and winding lanes and lakes has lost somewhat of its sylvan character owing to building encroachments on the north side and the laying out of new rides and drives. It has, in addition to those above enumerated, statues of Queen Louisa, Goethe and Lessing.

_Communications._--Berlin is the centre of the North German network of railways. No fewer than twelve main lines concentrate upon it. Internal communication is provided for by the Ringbahn, or outer circle, which was opened in 1871, and by a well-devised system connects the termini of the various main lines. The through traffic coming from east and west is carried by the Stadtbahn, or city railway, which also connects with and forms an integral part of the outer circle. This line runs through the heart of the city, and was originally a private enterprise. Owing, however, to the failure of the company, the work was taken in hand by the state, and the line opened in 1878. It has four tracks--two for the main-line through traffic, and two for local and suburban service, and is carried at a height of about 20 ft. above the streets. Its length is 12 m., the total cost 3-3/4 millions sterling. The chief stations are Zoologischer Garten, Friedrich-strasse, Alexander-platz and Schlesischer Bahnhof. Lying apart from the system are the Lehrter Bahnhof for Hamburg and Bremen, the Stettiner for Baltic ports, and the Gorlitzer, Anhalter and Potsdamer termini for traffic to the south, of which the last two are fine specimens of railway architecture. Internal communication is also provided for by an excellent system of electric tram-lines, by an overhead electric railway running from the Zoologischer Garten to the Schlesische Tor with a branch to the Potsdam railway station, and by an underground railway laid at a shallow depth under the Leipziger-strasse. Most of the cabs (victorias and broughams) have fare-indicators. Steamboats ply above and below the city.

_Industry, Trade and Commerce._--It is in respect of its manufacture and trade that Berlin has attained its present high pitch of economic prosperity. More than 50% of its working population are engaged in industry, which embraces almost all branches, of which new ones have lately sprung into existence, whilst most of the older have taken a new lease of life. The old wool industry, for example, has become much extended, and now embraces products such as shawls, carpets, hosiery, &c. Its silk manufactures, formerly so important, have, however, gradually gone back. It is particularly in the working of iron, steel and cloth, and in the by-products of these, that Berlin excels. The manufacture of machinery and steam-engines shows an enormous development. No fewer than 100 large firms, many of them of world-wide reputation, are engaged in this branch alone. Among the chief articles of manufacture and production are railway plant, sewing machines, bicycles, steel pens, chronometers, electric and electric-telegraph plant, bronze, chemicals, soap, lamps, linoleum, china, pianofortes, furniture, gloves, buttons, artificial flowers and ladies' mantles, the last of an annual value exceeding L5,000,000. It has extensive breweries and vies in the amount of the output of this production with Munich. Berlin is also the great centre and the chief market for speculation in corn and other cereals which reach it by water from Poland, Austria and South Russia, while in commerce in spirits it rivals Hamburg. It is also a large publishing centre, and has become a serious rival to Leipzig in this regard.

The Borse, where 4000 persons daily do business, is the chief market in Germany for stocks and shares, and its dealings are of great influence upon the gold market of the world. Numerous banks of world-wide reputation, doing an extensive international business, have their seats in Berlin, chief among them, in addition to the Reichs-bank, being the Berliner Kassen-Verein, the Diskonto-Gesellschaft, the Deutsche Bank, and the Boden-Kredit Bank.

_Learning and Art._--Berlin is becoming the centre of the intellectual life of the nation. The Friedrich Wilhelm University, although young in point of foundation, has long outstripped its great rival Leipzig in numbers, and can point with pride to the fact that its teaching staff has yielded to none in the number of illustrious names. It was founded in 1810, when Prussia had lost her celebrated university of Halle, which Napoleon had included in his newly created kingdom of Westphalia. It was as a weapon of war, as well as a nursery of learning, that Frederick William III. and the great men who are associated with its origin, called it into existence. Wilhelm von Humboldt was at that time at the head of the educational department of the kingdom, and men like Fichte and Schleiermacher worked on the popular mind. Within the first ten years of its existence it counted among its professors such names as Neander, Savigny, Eichhorn, Bockh, Bekker, Hegel, Raumer, Niebuhr and Buttmann. Later followed men like Hengstenberg, Homeyer, Bethmann-Hollweg, Puchta, Stahl and Heffter; Schelling, Trendelenburg, Bopp, the brothers Grimm, Zumpt, Carl Richter; later still, Twesten and Dorner, Gneist and Hinschius; Langenbeck, Bardeleben, Virchow, Du-Bois Reymond; von Ranke, Curtius, Lipsius, Hofmann the chemist, Kiepert the geographer; Helmholtz, van't Hoff, Koch, E. Fischer, Waldeyer and von Bergmann among scientists and surgeons; Mommsen, Treitschke and Sybel among historians, Harnack among theologians, Brunner among jurists. Taking ordinary, honorary, extraordinary professors and licensed lecturers (_Privat-docenten_) together, its professorial strength consisted, in 1904-1905, of 23 teachers in the faculty of theology, 32 in that of law, 175 in that of medicine and 227 in that of philosophy--altogether 457. The number of matriculated students during the same period was 7154, as against 5488 in the preceding summer term. The number of matriculated students is usually greater in winter than in summer; the reason of the disproportion being that in the summer university towns having pleasant surroundings, such as Bonn, Heidelberg, Kiel and Jena, are more frequented. Berlin is essentially a Prussian university--of students from non-German states, Russia sends most, then the United States of America, while Great Britain is credited with comparatively few. It is, however, in the ugly palace of Prince Henry of Prussia, which was given for the purpose in the days of Prussian poverty and distress, that the university is still housed, and although some internal rearrangement has been effected, no substantial alterations have been made to meet the ever-increasing demand for lecture-room accommodation. The garden towards Unter den Linden is adorned by a bronze statue of Helmholtz; the marble statues of Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, which were formerly placed on either side of the gate, have been removed to the adjacent garden. Technical education is provided in the magnificent buildings erected at a cost of L100,000 in Charlottenburg, which are equipped with all the apparatus for the teaching of science. Among other institutions of university rank and affiliated to it are the school of mines, the agricultural college, the veterinary college, the new seminary for oriental languages, and the high school for music. The geodetic institute has been removed to Potsdam. The university is, moreover, rich in institutions for the promotion of medical and chemical science, for the most part housed in buildings belonging to the governing body. There should also be mentioned the Royal Academy of Sciences, founded in 1700. The name of Leibnitz is associated with its foundation, and it was raised to the rank of a royal academy by Frederick the Great in 1743. The Royal Academy of Arts is under the immediate protection of the king, and is governed by a director and senate. There is also an academy of vocal music.

_Schools._--Berlin possesses fifteen _Gymnasia_ (classical schools, for the highest branches of the learned professions), of which four are under the direct supervision of the provincial authorities and have the prefix _koniglich_ (royal), while the remaining eleven are municipal and under the control of the civic authorities. They are attended by about 7000 scholars, of whom a fourth are Jews. There are also eight _Real-gymnasia_ (or "modern" schools), numerous _Real-schulen_ (commercial schools), public high schools for girls, and commodious and excellently organized elementary schools.

_Museums._--The buildings of the royal museum are divided into the old and new museums. The former is an imposing edifice situated on the north-east side of the Lustgarten, facing the royal palace. It was built in the reign of Frederick William III. from designs by Schinkel. Its portico supported by eighteen colossal Ionic columns is reached by a wide flight of steps. The back and side walls of the portico are covered with frescoes, from designs by Schinkel, representing the world's progress from chaos to organic and developed life. The sides of the flight of steps support equestrian bronze groups of the Amazon by Kiss, and the Lion-slayer by Albert Wolff. Under the portico are monuments of the sculptors Rauch and Schadow, the architect Schinkel, and the art critic Winckelmann. The interior consists of a souterrain, and of a first floor, entered from the portico through bronze doors, after designs by Stiller, weighing 7-1/2 tons, and executed at a cost of L3600. This floor consists of a rotunda, and of halls and cabinets of sculpture. The second floor, which formerly contained the national gallery of paintings, is occupied by a collection of northern antiquities and by the Schliemann treasures.

The new museum, connected with the old museum by a covered corridor, is, in its internal arrangements and decorations, one of the finest structures in the capital. The lowest of its three floors contains the Egyptian museum; on the first floor plaster casts of ancient, medieval and modern sculpture are found, while the second contains a cabinet of engravings. On the walls of the grand marble staircase, which rises to the full height of the building, Kaulbach's cyclus of stereochromic pictures is painted, representing the six great epochs of human progress, from the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel and the dispersion of the nations to the Reformation.

The national gallery, a fine building surrounded by a Corinthian colonnade and lying between the royal museums and the Spree, contains a number of modern German paintings. Behind these buildings, again, is the Pergamum museum, which houses a unique collection, the result of the excavations at Pergamum. Still farther away, on a triangular plot of land enclosed by the two arms of the Spree and the metropolitan railway, stands the Kaiser Friedrich museum (1904). This edifice, in the Italian baroque style, surmounted by a dome, possesses but little architectural merit, and its position is so confined that great ingenuity had to be employed in its internal arrangements to meet the demands of space, but its collection of pictures is one of the finest in Europe. Hither were removed, from the old and new museums, the national gallery of pictures, the statuary of the Christian epoch and the numismatic collection. The gallery of paintings, on the first floor, is distributed into the separate schools of Germany, Italy, Flanders and Holland, while another of the central rooms embraces those of Spain, France and England. The collection, which in 1874 contained 1300 paintings, was then enriched by the purchase by the Prussian government for L51,000 of the Suermondt collection which, rich in pictures of the Dutch and Flemish schools, contained also a few by Spanish, Italian and French masters. The gallery as a whole has been happily arranged, and there are few great painters of whom it does not contain one or more examples. The Kunst-gewerbe museum, at the corner of the Koniggratzer-strasse and Albrecht-strasse, contains valuable specimens of applied art.

_Theatres._--In nothing has the importance of Berlin become more conspicuous than in theatrical affairs. In addition to the old-established Opernhaus and Schauspielhaus, which are supported by the state, numerous private playhouses have been erected, notably the Lessing and the Deutsches theatres, and it is in these that the modern works by Wildenbruch, Sudermann, and Hauptmann have been produced, and it may be said that it is in Berlin that the modern school of German drama has its home. In music Berlin is not able to vie with Leipzig, Dresden or Munich, yet it is well represented by the Conservatorium, with which the name of Joachim is connected, while the more modern school is represented by Xaver Scharwenka.

_Government, Administration and Politics._--On the 1st of April 1881 Berlin was divided off from the province of Brandenburg and since forms a separate administrative district. But the chief presidency (_Oberprasidium_), the Consistory, the provincial school-board, and the board of health of the province of Brandenburg remain tribunals of last instance to which appeals lie from Berlin. The government is partly semi-military (police) and partly municipal. The ministry of police (a branch of the home office) consists of six departments: (1) general; (2) trade; (3) building; (4) criminal; (5) passports; (6) markets. It controls the fire brigade, has the general inspection over all strangers, and is responsible for public order. The civil authority (_Magistrat_) consists of a chief mayor (_Oberburgermeister_), a mayor (_Burgermeister_), and a city council (_Stadtrat_). The _Oberburgermeister_, who is _ex officio_ a member of the Prussian Upper House, and the _Burgermeister_ are elected by the common council (_Stadtverordnetenversammlung_) of 144 members, i.e. three delegates chosen by manhood suffrage for each ward of the city; but the election is subject to the veto of the king without reason given. The _Stadtrat_ consists of 32 members, of whom 15 are paid officials (including 2 syndics, 2 councillors for building, and 2 for education), while 17 serve gratuitously. For general work the _Magistrat_ and the _Stadtverordnetenversammlung_ coalesce, and committees are appointed for various purposes out of the whole body, these being usually presided over by members of the _Magistrat_. Their jurisdiction extends to water-supply, the drainage, lighting and cleaning of the streets, the care of the poor, hospitals and schools. Politically the city is divided into six Reichstag and four Landtag constituencies, returning six and nine members respectively, and it must be noted that in the case of the Landtag the allocation of seats dated from 1860, so that the city, in proportion to its population, was in 1908 much under-represented. It should have had twenty-five members instead of nine.

_Population._--The stupendous growth of the population of Berlin during the last century is best illustrated by the following figures. In 1816 it contained 197,717 inhabitants; in 1849, 431,566; in 1871, 826,341; in 1880, 1,122,330; 1890, 1,578,794, and in 1905, 2,033,900. The birth-rate is about 30, and the death-rate 20 per 1000 inhabitants a year. Illegitimate births amount to about 15% of the whole. According to religion, about 84% are Protestants, 10% Roman Catholics and 5% Jews, but owing to the great number of Jews who for social and other reasons ostensibly embrace the Christian faith, these last figures do not actually represent the number of Jews by descent living in the city.

_Environs._--Marvellous as has been the transformation in the city itself, no less surprising results have been effected since 1875 in the surroundings of Berlin. On the east, north and west, the city is surrounded at a distance of some 5 m. from its centre by a thick belt of pine woods, the Jungfernheide, the Spandauer Forst, and the Grunewald, the last named stretching away in a south-westerly direction as far as Potsdam, and fringing the beautiful chain of Havel lakes. These forests enjoyed until quite recent times an unenviable notoriety as the camping-ground and lurking-place of footpads and other disorderly characters. After the opening of the circular railway in 1871, private enterprise set to work to develop these districts, and a "villa colony" was built at the edge of the Grunewald between the station West-end and the Spandauer Bock. From these beginnings, owing mainly to the expansion of the important suburb of Charlottenburg, has resulted a complete transformation of the eastern part of the Grunewald into a picturesque and delightful villa suburb, which is connected by railway, steam-tramway and a magnificent boulevard--the Kurfurstendamm--with the city. Nowadays the little fishing villages on the shores of the lakes, notably the Wannsee, cater for the recreation of the Berliners, while palatial summer residences of wealthy merchants occupy the most prominent sites. Suburban Berlin may be said to extend practically to Potsdam.

_Traffic._--The public streets have a total length of about 350 m., and a large staff of workmen is regularly employed in maintaining and cleaning the public roads and parks. The force is well controlled, and the work of cleaning and removing snow after a heavy fall is thoroughly and efficiently carried out. The less important thoroughfares are mostly paved with the so-called Vienna paving, granite bricks of medium size, while the principal streets, and especially those upon which the traffic is heavy, have either asphalt or wood paving.

_Water-Supply and Drainage._--The water-supply is mainly derived from works on the Muggel and Tegeler lakes, the river water being carefully filtered through sand. The drainage system is elaborate, and has stood the test of time. The city is divided into twelve radial systems, each with a pumping station, and the drainage is forced through five mains to eighteen sewage farms, each of which is under careful sanitary supervision, in respect both of the persons employed thereon, and the products, mainly milk, passing thence to the city for human consumption. Only in a few isolated cases has any contamination been traced to fever or other zymotic germs. In this connexion it is worth noting that the infectious diseases hospital has a separate system of drainage which is carefully disinfected, and not allowed to be employed for the purposes of manure.

_Hospitals._--In no other city of the world is the hospital organization so well appointed as in Berlin, or are the sick poor tended with greater solicitude. State, municipal and private charity here again join hands in the prompt relief of sickness and cases of urgency. The municipal hospitals are six in number, the largest of which is the Virchow hospital, situate in Moabit and opened in 1906. It is arranged on the pavilion system, contains 2000 beds, and is one of the most splendidly equipped hospitals in the world. The cost amounted to L900,000. Next comes that of Friedrichshain, also built on the pavilion system, while the state controls six (not including the prison infirmaries) of which the world-renowned Charite in the Luisen-strasse is the principal. The hospitals of the nursing sisters (Diakonissen Anstalten) number 8, while there are 60 registered private hospitals under the superintendence of responsible doctors and under the inspection of government.

_Charities._--Berlin is also very richly endowed with charitable institutions for the relief of pauperism and distress. In addition to the municipal support of the poor-houses there are large funds derived from bequests for the relief of the necessitous and deserving poor; while night shelters and people's kitchens have been organized on an extensive scale for the temporary relief of the indigent unemployed. For the former several of the arches of the city railway have been utilized, and correspond in internal arrangement to like shelters instituted by the Salvation Army in London and various other cities.

_Markets._--Open market-places in Berlin are things of the past, and their place has been taken by airy and commodious market halls. Of these, 14 in number, the central market, close to the Alexander-platz station of the city railway with which it is connected by an admirable service of lifts for the rapid unloading of goods, is the finest. It has a ground area of about 17,000 sq. yds., and is fitted with more than 2000 stalls. The other markets are conveniently situated at various accessible places within the city, and the careful police supervision to which they are subjected, both in the matter of general cleanliness, and in the careful examination of all articles of food exposed for sale, has tended to the general health and comfort of the population.

The central cattle market and slaughter-houses for the inspection and supply of the fresh meat consumed in the metropolis occupy an extensive area in the north-east of the city on the Ringbahn, upon which a station has been erected for the accommodation of meat trains and passengers attending the market. The inspection is rigorously carried out, and only carcases which have been stamped as having been certified good are permitted to be taken away for human consumption.

_History._--The etymology of the word "Berlin" is doubtful. Some derive it from Celtic roots--_ber_, small, short, and _lyn_, a lake; others regard it as a Wend word, meaning a free, open place; others, again, refer it to the word _werl_, a river island. Another authority derives it from the German word _Bruhl_, a marshy district, and the Slavonic termination _in_; thus Bruhl, by the regular transmutation Buhrl (compare Ger. _bren_-nen and Eng. burn), Burhlin. More recent research, however, seems to have established the derivation from _Wehr_, dam.

Similar obscurity rests on the origin of the city. The hypotheses which carried it back to the early years of the Christian era have been wholly abandoned. Even the margrave Albert the Bear (d. 1170) is no longer unquestionably regarded as its founder, and the tendency of opinion now is to date its origin from the time of his great-grandsons, Otto III. and John I. When first alluded to, what is now Berlin was spoken of as two towns, Kolln and Berlin. The first authentic document concerning the former is from the year 1237, concerning the latter from the year 1244, and it is with these dates that the trustworthy history of the city begins. In 1307 the first attempt was made to combine the councils of Kolln and Berlin, but the experiment was abandoned four years later, and the two towns continued their separate existence till 1432, when the establishment of a common council for both led to disturbances of which the outcome was that Frederick II. the Iron in 1442 abolished this arrangement, seriously curtailed the privileges of both towns, and began the building of a castle at Kolln. A feud between the elector and the Berliners ended in the defeat of the latter, who in 1448 were forced to accept the constitution of 1442. From this time Berlin became and continued to be the residence of the Hohenzollerns, the elector John Cicero (1486-1499) being the first to establish a permanent court inside the walls. It was not, however, until the time of King Frederick William I. that the sovereigns ceased to date their official acts from Kolln. In 1539, under the elector Joachim II., Berlin embraced the Lutheran religion. Henceforth the history of Berlin was intimately bound up with the house of Hohenzollern. The conversion of the elector John Sigismund in 1613 to the Reformed (Calvinist) faith was hotly resented by the Berliners and led to bloody riots in the city. The Thirty Years' War all but ruined the city, the population of which sank from some 14,000 in 1600 to less than 8000 in 1650. It was restored and the foundations of its modern splendour were laid by the Great Elector, by the time of whose death (1688) the population had risen to some 20,000. During this period several suburbs had begun to grow up, Friedrichswerder in 1667 and the Dorotheenstadt, so named in 1676 after the electress Dorothea its founder. In 1688 Frederick III. (afterwards King Frederick I.) began the Friedrichstadt, completed by Frederick William I. Under Frederick I., who did much to embellish the city as the royal _Residenzsiadt_, the separate administrations of the quarters of Berlin, Kolln, Friedrichstadt, Friedrichswerder and Dorotheenstadt were combined, and the separate names were absorbed in that of Berlin. The fortifications begun in 1658 were finally demolished under Frederick the Great in 1745, and the Neue Friedrich-strasse, the Alexander-strasse and the Wall-strasse were laid out on their site.

Twice during the Seven Years' War Berlin was attacked by the enemy: in 1757 by the Austrians, who penetrated into the suburbs and levied a heavy contribution, and in 1760 by the Russians, who bombarded the city, penetrated into it, and only retired on payment of a ransom of 1,500,000 thalers (L225,000). After the disastrous campaign of Jena, Berlin suffered much during the French occupation (24th October 1806 to 1st December 1808). In spite of these misfortunes, however, the progress of the city was steady. In 1809 the present municipal government was instituted. In 1810 the university was founded. After the alliance of Prussia and Russia in 1812 Berlin was again occupied by the French, but in March 1813 they were finally driven out. The period following the close of the war saw great activity in building, especially in the erection of many noble monuments and public buildings, e.g. those by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The most notable event in the history of Berlin during the 19th century, prior to the Franco-German War, was the March revolution of 1848 (see GERMANY: _History_, and FREDERICK WILLIAM IV., king of Prussia). The effect of the war of 1870-71 on the growth of Berlin has been sufficiently indicated already.

AUTHORITIES.--For the history of Berlin see the publications of the "Verein fur die Geschichte Berlins"; the _Berlinische Chronik nebst Urkundenbuch_, and the periodicals _Der Bar_ (1875, &c.) and _Mitteilungen_ (1884, &c.). Of histories may be mentioned A. Streckfuss, _500 Jahre Berliner Geschichte_ (new ed. by Fernbach, 1900); _Berlin im 19ten Jahrhundert_ (4 vols., 1867-1869), and _Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Berlin_ (1904-1905); Fidiein, _Historisch-diplomatische Beitrage zur Geschichte der Stadt Berlin_ (5 vols., 1837-1842); Brockhaus, _Konversations-Lexikon_ (1904); Meyer, _Konversations-Lexikon_ (1904); Baedeker, _Fuhrer durch Berlin_; Woeri, _Fuhrer durch Berlin_; J. Pollard, _The Corporation of Berlin_ (Edinburgh, 1893); A. Shaclwell, _Industrial Efficiency_ (London, 1906); _Berliner Jahrbuch fur Handel und Industrie_ (1905); and O. Schwebel, _Geschichte der Stadt Berlin_ (Berlin, 1888). (P. A. A.)

BERLIN, CONGRESS AND TREATY OF. The events that led up to the assembling of the congress of Berlin, the outcome of which was the treaty of the 13th of July 1878, are described elsewhere (see EUROPE: _History_; TURKEY: _History_; RUSSO-TURKISH WAR). Here it must suffice to say that the terms of the treaty of San Stefano (3rd March 1878), by which the Russo-Turkish War had been brought to a conclusion, seemed to those of the other powers who were most interested scarcely less fatal to the Ottoman dominion than that Russian occupation of Constantinople which Great Britain had risked a war to prevent. By this instrument Bulgaria was to become a practically independent state, under the nominal suzerainty of the sultan, bounded by the Danube, the Black Sea, the Aegean and Albania, and cutting off the latter from the remnant of Rumelia which, with Constantinople, was to be left to the Turks. At the same time the other Christian principalities, Servia and Montenegro, were largely increased in size and their independence definitively recognized; and the proposals of the powers with regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina, communicated to the Ottoman plenipotentiaries at the first sitting of the conference of Constantinople (23rd December 1876), were to be immediately executed. These provisions seemed to make Russia permanently arbiter of the fate of the Balkan peninsula, the more so since the vast war indemnity of 1,400,000,000 roubles exacted in the treaty promised to cripple the resources of the Ottoman government for years to come.

The two powers whose interests were most immediately threatened by the terms of the peace were Austria and Great Britain. The former especially, refusing to be bribed by the Russian offer of Bosnia and Herzegovina, saw herself cut off from all chance of expansion in the Balkan peninsula and threatened with the establishment there of the paramount power of Russia, a peril it had been her traditional policy to avert. On the 5th of February, accordingly, Count Andrassy issued a circular note, addressed to the signatory powers of the treaty of Paris of 1856 and the London protocol of 1871, suggesting a congress for the purpose of establishing "the agreement of Europe on the modifications which it may become necessary to introduce into the above-mentioned treaties" in view of the preliminaries of peace signed by Russia and Turkey. This appeal to the sanctity of international engagements, traditional in the diplomatic armoury of Austria, and strengthened by so recent a precedent as that of 1871, met with an immediate response. On the 1st of April Lord Salisbury had already addressed a circular note to the British embassies refusing on behalf of the British government to recognize any arrangements made in the peace preliminaries, calculated to modify European treaties, "unless they were made the subject of a formal agreement among the parties to the treaty of Paris," and quoting the "essential principle of the law of nations" promulgated in the London protocol. By Great Britain therefore the Austrian proposal was at once accepted. Germany was very willing to fall in with the views of her Austrian ally and share in a council in which, having no immediate interests of her own, Bismarck could win new laurels in his role of "honest broker." In these circumstances Russia could not but accept the principle of a congress. She tried, however, to limit the scope of its powers by suggesting the exclusion of certain clauses of the treaty from its reference, and pointed out (circular of Prince Gorchakov, April 9th) that Russia had not been the first nor the only Power to violate the treaties in question. The answer of Lord Beaconsfield was to mobilize the militia and bring Indian troops to the Mediterranean; and finally Russia, finding that the diplomatic support which she had expected from Bismarck failed her, consented to submit the whole treaty without reserve to the congress.

On the 3rd of June Count Munster, in the name of the German government, issued the formal invitation to the congress. The congress met, under the presidency of Prince Bismarck, at Berlin on the 13th of June. Great Britain was represented by Lord Beaconsfield, Lord Salisbury and Lord Odo Russell, ambassador at Berlin; Germany by Prince Bismarck, Baron Ernst von Bulow and Prince Chlodwig von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst, ambassador at Paris; Austria by Count Andrassy, Count Louis Karolyi and Baron Heinrich Karl von Haymerle, ambassador at Rome; France by William H. Waddington, the Comte de Saint-Vallier, ambassador at Berlin, and Felix Hippolyte Desprez, director of political affairs in the department for foreign affairs; Russia by the chancellor, Prince Gorchakov, Count Peter Shuvalov, ambassador to the court of St James's, and Paul d'Oubril, ambassador at Berlin; Turkey by Alexander Catheodory Pasha, minister of public works, All Pasha, _mushir_ of the Ottoman armies, and Sadullah Bey, ambassador at Berlin. The bases of the conferences had, of course, been settled beforehand, and the final act of the congress was signed by the plenipotentiaries mentioned above exactly a month after the opening of the congress, on the 13th of July.

The treaty of Berlin consists in all of sixty-four articles, of which it will be sufficient to note those which have had a special bearing on subsequent international developments. So far as they affect the territorial boundaries fixed by the treaties of Paris and San Stefano it will be sufficient to refer to the sketch map in the article EUROPE: _History_. By Art. I. Bulgaria was "constituted an autonomous and tributary principality under the suzerainty of H.I.M. the Sultan"; it was to have "a Christian government and a national militia," Art. II. fixed the boundaries of the new state and provided for their delimitation by a European commission, which was "to take into consideration the necessity for H.I.M. the Sultan to be able to defend the Balkan frontiers of Eastern Rumelia." Arts. III. to XII. provide for the election of a prince for Bulgaria, the machinery for settling the new constitution, the adjustment of the relations of the new Bulgarian government to the Ottoman empire and its subjects (including the question of tribute, the amount of which was, according to Art. XII., to be settled by agreement of the signatory powers "at the close of the first year of the working of the new organization"). By Art. X. Bulgaria, so far as it was concerned, was to take the place of the Sublime Porte in the engagements which the latter had contracted, as well towards Austria-Hungary as towards the Rustchuck-Varna Railway Company, for working the railway of European Turkey in respect to the completion and connexion, as well as the working of the railways situated in its territory.

By Art. XIII. a province was formed south of the Balkans which was to take the name of "Eastern Rumelia," and was to remain "under the direct military and political control of H.I.M. the Sultan, under conditions of administrative autonomy." It was to have a Christian governor-general. Arts. XIV. to XXIII. define the frontiers and organization of the new province, questions arising out of the Russian occupation, and the rights of the sultan. Of the latter it is to be noted that the sultan retained the right of fortifying and occupying the Balkan passes (Art. XV.) and all his rights and obligations over the railways (Art. XXI.).

Art. XXV., which the events of 1908 afterwards brought into special prominence, runs as follows: "The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary. The government of Austria-Hungary, not desiring to undertake the administration of the sanjak of Novi-Bazar, ... the Ottoman administration will continue to exercise its functions there. Nevertheless, in order to assure the maintenance of the new political state of affairs, as well as freedom and security of communications, Austria-Hungary reserves the right of keeping garrisons and having military and commercial roads in the whole of this part of the ancient vilayet of Bosnia."

By Art. XXVI. the independence of Montenegro was definitively recognized, and by Art. XVIII. she received certain accessions of territory, including a strip of coast on the Adriatic, but under conditions which tended to place her under the tutelage of Austria-Hungary. Thus, by Art. XXIX. she was to have neither ships of war nor a war flag, the port of Antivari and all Montenegrin waters were to be closed to the war-ships of all nations; the fortifications between the lake and the coast were to be razed; the administration of the maritime and sanitary police at Antivari and along the Montenegrin littoral was to be carried on by Austria-Hungary "by means of light coast-guard boats"; Montenegro was to adopt the maritime code in force in Dalmatia, while the Montenegrin merchant flag was to be under Austro-Hungarian consular protection. Finally, Montenegro was to "come to an understanding with Austria-Hungary on the right to construct and keep up across the new Montenegrin territory a road and a railway."

By Art. XXXIV. the independence of Servia was recognized, subject to conditions (as to religious liberty, &c.) set forth in Art. XXXV. Art. XXXVI. defined the new boundaries.

By Art. XLIII. the independence of Rumania, already proclaimed by the prince (May 22/June 3 1877), was recognized. Subsequent articles define the conditions and the boundaries.

Arts. LII. to LVII. deal with the question of the free navigation of the Danube. All fortifications between the mouths and the Iron Gates were to be razed, and no vessels of war, save those of light tonnage in the service of the river police and the customs, were to navigate the river below the Iron Gates (Art. LII.). The Danube commission, on which Rumania was to be represented, was maintained in its functions (Art. LIII.) and provision made for the further prolongation of its powers (Art. LIV.).

Art. LVIII. cedes to Russia the territories of Ardahan, Kars and Batoum, in Asiatic Turkey. By Art. LIX. "H.M. the emperor of Russia declares that it is his intention to constitute Batoum a free port, essentially commercial."

By Art. LXI. "the Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out, without further delay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by the Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and Kurds." It was to keep the powers informed periodically of "the steps taken to this effect."

Art. LXII. made provision for the securing religious liberty in the Ottoman dominions.

Finally, Art. LXIII. declares that "the treaty of Paris of 30th March 1856, as well as the treaty of London of 13th March 1871, are maintained in all such of their provisions as are not abrogated or modified by the preceding stipulations."

For the full text of the treaty in the English translation see E. Hertslet, _Map of Europe by Treaty_, vol. iv. p. 2759 (No. 530); for the French original see _State Papers_, vol. lxix. p. 749. (W. A. P.)

BERLIN, a city of Coos county, New Hampshire, U.S.A., on the Androscoggin river, in the N. part of the state, about 98 m. N.W. of Portland, Maine. Pop. (1890) 3729; (1900) 8886, of whom 4643 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 11,780. The area of the city in 1906 was 57.81 sq. m. Berlin is served by the Grand Trunk and Boston & Maine railways. It is situated in the heart of the White Mountains and 16 m. from the base of Mt. Washington. Berlin Falls, on the picturesque Androscoggin river, furnishes an immense water-power, the development of which for manufacturing purposes accounts for the rapid growth of the city. The forests of northern New England and of the province of Quebec supply the raw material for the extensive saw-mills and planing-mills, the pulp- and paper-mills, and the sulphite fibre mills, said to be the largest in existence. In 1905 the city's factory products were valued at $5,989,119, of which 78.5% was the value of the paper and wood pulp manufactured. Berlin was first settled in 1821, was incorporated as a township in 1829, and was chartered as a city in 1897.

BERLIN, a city and port of entry, Ontario, Canada, and capital of Waterloo county, 58 m. W. of Toronto, on the Grand Trunk railway. It is the centre of a prosperous farming and manufacturing district, inhabited chiefly by German immigrants and their descendants. An electric railway connects it with the town of Waterloo (pop. 4100) 2 m. to the north, which has important flour and woollen mills and distilleries. Berlin is a flourishing manufacturing town, and contains a beet sugar refinery, automobile, leather, furniture, shirt and collar, felt, glove, button and rubber factories. Pop. (1881) 4054; (1901) 9747.

BERLIN, a four-wheeled carriage with a separate hooded seat behind, detached from the body of the vehicle; so called from having been first used in Berlin. It was designed about 1670, by a Piedmontese architect in the service of the elector of Brandenburg. It was used as a travelling carriage, and Swift refers to it in his advice to authors "who scribble in a berlin." As an adjective, the word is used to indicate a special kind of goods, originally made in Berlin, of which the best known is Berlin wool. A Berlin warehouse is a shop for the sale of wools and fancy goods (cf. Italian warehouse). The spelling "berlin" is also used by Sir Walter Scott for the "birlinn," a large Gaelic rowing-boat.

BERLIOZ, HECTOR (1803-1869), French musical composer, was born on the 11th of December 1803 at Cote-Saint-Andre, a small town near Grenoble, in the department of Isere. His father, Louis Berlioz, was a physician of repute, and by his desire Hector for some time devoted himself to the study of medicine. At the same time he had music lessons, and, in secret, perused numerous theoretical works on counterpoint and harmony, with little profit it seems, till the hearing and subsequent careful analysis of one of Haydn's quartets opened a new vista to his unguided aspirations. A similar work written by Berlioz in imitation of Haydn's masterpiece was favorably received by his friends. From Paris, where he had been sent to complete his medical studies, he at last made known to his father the unalterable decision of devoting himself entirely to art, the answer to which confession was the withdrawal of all further pecuniary assistance. In order to support life Berlioz had to accept the humble engagement of a singer in the chorus of the Gymnase theatre. Soon, however, he became reconciled to his father and entered the Conservatoire, where he studied composition under Reicha and Lesueur. His first important composition was an opera called _Les Francs-Juges_, of which, however, only the overture remains extant. In 1825 he left the Conservatoire, and began a course of self-education, founded chiefly on the works of Beethoven, Gluck, Weber and other German masters. About this period Berlioz saw for the first time the talented Irish actress Henrietta Smithson, who was then charming Paris by her impersonations of Ophelia, Juliet and other Shakespearean characters. The enthusiastic young composer became deeply enamoured of her at first sight, and tried, for a long time in vain, to gain the love or even the attention of his idol. To an incident of this wild and persevering courtship Berlioz's first symphonic work, _Episode de la vie d'un artiste_, owes its origin. By the advice of his friends Berlioz once more entered the Conservatoire, where, after several unsuccessful attempts, his cantata _Sardanapalus_ gained him the first prize for foreign travel (1830), in spite of the strong personal antagonism of one of the umpires. During a stay in Italy Berlioz composed an overture to _King Lear_, and _Le Retour a la vie_--a sort of symphony, with intervening poetical declamation between the single movements, called by the composer a melologue, and written in continuation of the _Episode de la vie d'un artiste_, along with which work it was performed at the Paris Conservatoire in 1832. Paganini on that occasion spoke to Berlioz the memorable words: "Vous commencez par ou les autres ont fini." Miss Smithson, who also was present on the occasion, consented to become the wife of her ardent lover in 1833. The marriage was a tempestuous mistake. In 1840 he separated from his wife, who died in 1854. Six months later Berlioz married Mademoiselle Recio. His second wife did not live very long, nor was there much that was edifying in this marriage. Between the date of his first marriage and 1840 came out his dramatic symphonies _Harold en Italie_, _Funebre et triomphale_, and _Romeo et Juliette_; his opera _Benvenuto Cellini_ (1837); his _Requiem_, and other works. In the course of time Berlioz won his due share of the distinctions generally awarded to artistic merit, such as the ribbon of the Legion of Honour and the membership of the Institute. But these distinctions he owed, perhaps, less to a genuine admiration of his compositions than to his successes abroad and his influential position as the musical critic of the _Journal des Debats_ (a position which he held from 1838 to 1864, and which he never used or abused to push his own works). In 1842 Berlioz went for the first time to Germany, where he was hailed with welcome by the leading musicians of the younger generation, Robert Schumann foremost amongst them. The latter paved the way for the French composer's success by a comprehensive analysis of the _Episode_ in his musical journal, the _Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik_. In 1846 he produced his magnificent cantata _La Damnation de Faust_. Berlioz gave successful concerts at Leipzig and other German cities, and repeated his visit on various later occasions--in 1852 by invitation of Liszt, to conduct his opera, _Benvenuto Cellini_ (hissed off the stage in Paris), at Weimar; and in 1855 to produce his oratorio-trilogy, _L'Enfance du Christ_, in the same city. This latter work had been previously performed at Paris, where Berlioz mystified the critics by pretending to have found the last chorus amongst the manuscript scores of a composer of the 17th century, Pierre Ducre by name. In 1855 his _Te Deum_ was written for the opening of the Paris exhibition. Berlioz also made journeys to Vienna (1866) and St Petersburg (1867), where his works were received with great enthusiasm. In 1861 he produced his work _Beatrice et Benedict_, and in 1863 _Les Troyens_. He died in Paris on the 8th of March 1869.

It is not only as a composer that the life of Berlioz is full of interest, although in this respect his achievement is singularly significant for the comprehension of the modern spirit in music. But it is as the symbol of French romanticism in the whole domain of aesthetic perception that his pre-eminence has come to be recognized. His _Memoires_ (begun in London in 1848 and finished in 1865) illustrate this romantic spirit at its highest elevation as well as at its lowest depths. Victor Hugo was a romantic, Musset was a romantic, but Berlioz was romanticism itself. As a boy he is in despair over the despair of Dido, and his breath is taken away at Virgil's "Quaesivit coelo lucem ingemuitque reperta." At the age of twelve he is in love with "Estelle," whom he meets fifty years afterwards. The scene is described by himself (1865) with minute fidelity--a scene which Flaubert must have known by heart when he wrote its parallel in the novel _L'Education sentimentale_. The romance of this meeting between the man--old, isolated, unspeakably sad, with the halo of public fame burning round him--and the woman--old also, a mother, a widow, whose beauty he had worshipped when she was eighteen--is striking. In a frame of chastened melancholy and joy at the sight of Estelle, Berlioz goes to dine with Patti and her family. Patti, on the threshold of her career, pets Berlioz with such uncontrollable affection, that as the composer wrote a description of his feelings he was overwhelmed at the bitterness of fate. What would he not have given for Estelle to show him such affection! Patti seemed to him like a marvellous bird with diamond wings flitting round his head, resting on his shoulder, plucking his hair and singing her most joyous songs to the accompaniment of beating wings. "I was enchanted but not moved. The fact is that the young, beautiful, dazzling, famous virtuoso who at the age of twenty-two has already seen musical Europe and America at her feet, does not win the power of love in me; and the aged woman, sad, obscure, ignorant of art, possesses my soul as she did in the days gone by, as she will do until my last day." If this episode touches the sublime, it may be urged with almost equal truth that his description of the exhumation of his two wives and their reburial in a single tomb touches the ridiculous. And yet the scene is described with a perception of all the detail which would call for the highest praise in a novelist. Perhaps some parallel between the splendid and the ridiculous in this singular figure may be seen in the comparison of Nadar's caricature with Charpentier's portrait of the composer.

The profound admiration of Berlioz for Shakespeare, which rose at moments to such a pitch of folly that he set Shakespeare in the place of God and worshipped him, cannot be explained simply on the ground that Henrietta Smithson was a great Shakespearean actress. Unquestionably the great figures in English literature had a profound attraction for him, and while the romantic spirit is obvious in his selections from Byron and Scott, it can also be traced in the quality of his enthusiasm for Shakespeare. It is in his music more than in his literary attitude, however, that is disclosed something in addition to the pure romance of Schumann--something that places him nearer in kind to Wagner, who recognized in him a composer from whose works he might learn something useful for the cultivation of his own ideals. As a youth the power of Beethoven's symphonies made a deep impression on Berlioz, and what has been described as the "poetical idea" in Beethoven's creations ran riot in the young medical student's mind. He thus became one of the most ardent and enlightened originators of what is now known as "programme music." Technically he was a brilliant musical colourist, often extravagant, but with the extravagant emotionalism of genius. He was a master of the orchestra; indeed, his treatment of the orchestra and his invention of unprecedented effects of _timbre_ give him a solitary position in musical history; he had an extraordinary gift for the use of the various instruments, and himself propounded a new ideal for the force to be employed, on an enormous scale.

His literary works include the _Traite d'instrumentation_ (1844); _Voyage musical en Allemagne et en Italie_ (1845); _Les Soirees d'orchestre_ (1853); _Les Grotesques de la musique_ (1859); _A travers chant_ (1862); _Memoires_ (1870); _Lettres intimes_ (1882). For a full list of his musical works, Grove's _Dictionary_ should be consulted.

The new critical edition of the complete musical works (published by Breitkopf and Hartel) is in ten series. I. Symphonies: _Fantastique_, Op. 14; _Funebre et triomphale_, Op. 15, for military band and chorus; _Harold en Italie_, Op. 16, with viola solo; _Romeo et Juliette_, with chorus and soli. II. Overtures (ten, including the five belonging to larger works). III. Smaller instrumental works, of which only the Funeral March for _Hamlet_ is important. IV. Sacred music: the _Grande Messe des morts_, Op. 5; the _Te Deum_, Op. 22; _L'Enfance du Christ_, Op. 25, and four smaller pieces, V. Secular cantatas, including _Hunt scenes de Faust_, Op. I; _Lelio, ou le retour a la vie_, Op. 146 (sequel to _Symphonie fantastique_), and _La Damnation de Faust_, Op. 24. VI. Songs and lyric choruses with orchestra, two vols. VII. Songs and lyric choruses with pianoforte, 2 vols. including arrangements of the orchestral songs. VIII. Operas: _Benvenuto Cellini_; _Les Troyens_ (five acts in two parts, _La Prise de Troie_ and _Les Troyens a Carthage_); Recitatives for the dialogue in Weber's _Freischutz_. IX. Arrangements, including the well-known orchestral version of Weber's _Invitation a la danse_. X. Fragments and new discoveries.

Adolphe Julien's biography of Berlioz (1888) first gave a careful account of the details of his life. See also the books by R. Pohl (1884), P. Galibert (1890), E. Hippeau (1890), G. Noufflard (1885), L. Mesnard (1888), Louise Pohl (1900), and D. Bernard (trans. by H.M. Dunstan, 1882). An illuminating essay on Berlioz is in Filson Young's _Mastersingers_ (1902). See also the essay in W.H. Hadow's _Studies in Modern Music_ (1st series, 1908). Berlioz's _Traite d'instrumentation_ has been translated into German and brought up to date by Richard Strauss (Peters' edition [1906]).

BERM (probably a variant of "brim"), a narrow ledge of ground, generally the level banks of a river. In parts of Egypt the whole area reached by the Nile is included in the berm. Thus of the lands near Berber, Mr C. Dupuis writes (in Sir William Garstin's _Report on the Upper Nile_, 1904), "In most places there is a well-defined alluvial berm of recent formation and varying width, up to perhaps a couple of kilometres." In military phraseology the berm is the space of ground between the base of a rampart and the ditch.

BERMONDSEY, a south-eastern metropolitan borough of London, England, bounded N. and E. by the Thames, S.E. by Deptford, S.W. by Camberwell, and W. by Southwark. Pop. (1901) 130,760. It is a district of poor streets, inhabited by a labouring population employed in leather and other factories, and in the Surrey Commercial Docks and the wharves bordering the river. The parish of Rotherhithe or Redriff has long been associated with a seafaring population. A tunnel connecting it with the opposite shore of the river was opened in June 1908. The neighbouring Thames Tunnel was opened in 1843, but, as the tolls were insufficient to maintain it, was sold to the East London Railway Company in 1865. The Herold Institute, a branch of the Borough Polytechnic, Southwark, is devoted to instruction in connexion with the leather trade. Southwark Park in the centre of the borough is 63 acres in extent. Bermondsey is in the parliamentary borough of Southwark, including the whole of Rotherhithe and part of the Bermondsey division. The borough council consists of a mayor, 9 aldermen, and 54 councillors. Area 1499.6 acres.

The name appears in Domesday, the suffix designating the former insular, marshy character of the district; while the prefix is generally taken to indicate the name of a Saxon overlord, Beormund. Bermondsey was in favour with the Norman kings as a place of residence, and there was a palace here, perhaps from pre-Norman times. A Cluniac monastery was founded in 1082, and Bermondsey Cross became a favoured place of pilgrimage. The foundation was erected into an abbey in 1399, and Abbey Road recalls its site. Similarly, Spa Road points to the existence of a popular spring and pleasure grounds, maintained for some years at the close of the 18th century. Jacob Street marks Jacob's Island, the scene of the death of Bill Sikes in Dickens's _Oliver Twist_. Tooley Street, leading east from Southwark by London Bridge railway station, is well known in connexion with the story of three tailors of Tooley Street, who addressed a petition to parliament opening with the comprehensive expression "We, the people of England." The name is a corruption of St Olave, or Olaf, the Christian king of Norway, who in 994 attacked London by way of the river, and broke down London Bridge.

See E.T. Clarke, _Bermondsey, its Historic Memories_ (1901).

BERMUDAS, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, forming a British colony, in 32 deg. 15' N. and 64 deg. 50' W., about 580 m. E. by S. from Cape Hatteras on the American coast. The group, consisting of small islands and reefs (which mark the extreme northern range of the coral-building polyps), is of oval form, measuring 22 m. from N.E. to S.W., the area being 20 sq. m. The largest of the islands is Great Bermuda, or the Main Island, 14 m. long and about a mile in average width, enclosing on the east Harrington or Little Sound, and on the west the Great Sound, which is thickly studded with islets, and protected on the north by the islands of Watford, Boaz, Ireland and Somerset. The remaining members of the group, St George, Paget, Smith, St David, Cooper, Nonsuch, &c., lie N.E. of the Main Island, and form a semicircle round Castle Harbour. The fringing islands which encircle the islands, especially on the north and west, leave a few deep passages wide enough to admit the largest vessels.

_Geology._--The Bermudas consist of aeolian limestones (cf. BAHAMAS) which in some of the larger islands form irregular hills attaining a height of some 200-250 ft. These limestones are composed chiefly of comminuted shells drifted and deposited by the wind, and they are very irregularly stratified, as is usually the case with wind-blown deposits. Where fresh the rock is soft, but where it has been exposed to the action of the sea it is covered by a hard crust and often loses all trace of stratification. The surface is frequently irregularly honeycombed. Even the reefs are not wholly formed of coral. They are ridges of aeolian limestone plastered over by a thin layer of corals and other calcareous organisms. The very remarkable "serpuline atolls" are covered by a solid crust made of the convoluted tubes of serpulae and _Vermetus_, together with barnacles, mussels, nullipores, corallines and some true incrusting corals. They probably rest upon a foundation of aeolian rock. The Bermudas were formerly much more extensive than at present, and they may possibly stand upon the summit of a hidden volcano. There are evidences of small oscillations of levels, but no proofs of great elevation or depression.

_Soil, Climate, &c._--The surface soil is a curious kind of red earth, which is also found in ochre-like strata throughout the limestone. It is generally mixed with vegetable matter and coral sand. There is a total want of streams and wells of fresh water, and the inhabitants are dependent on the rain, which they collect and preserve in tanks. The climate is mild and healthy, although serious epidemics of yellow fever and typhus have occurred. The maximum reading of the thermometer is about 87 deg. F. and its minimum 49 deg., the mean annual temperature being 70 deg. The islands attract a large number of visitors annually from America. Vegetation is very rapid, and the soil is clad in a mantle of almost perpetual green. The principal kind of tree is the so-called "Bermudas cedar," really a species of juniper, which furnishes timber for small vessels. The shores are fringed with the mangrove; the prickly pear grows luxuriantly in the most barren districts; and wherever the ground is left to itself the sage bush springs up profusely. The citron, sour orange, lemon and lime grow wild; but the apple and peach do not come to perfection. The loquat, an introduction from China, thrives admirably. The mild climate assists the growth of esculent plants and roots; and a considerable trade is carried on with New York, principally in onions, early potatoes, tomatoes, and beetroot, together with lily bulbs, cut flowers and some arrowroot. Medicinal plants, as the castor-oil plant and aloe, come to perfection without culture; and coffee, indigo, cotton and tobacco are also of spontaneous growth. Few oxen or sheep are reared in the colony, meat, as well as bread and most vegetables, being imported from America. The indigenous mammals are very few, and the only reptiles are a small lizard and the green turtle. Birds, however, especially aquatic species, are very numerous. Insects are comparatively few, but ants swarm destructively in the heat of the year. Fish are plentiful round the coasts, and the whale-fishery was once an important industry, but the fisheries as a whole have not been developed.

_Towns, and Administration._--There are two towns in the Bermudas: St George, on the island of that name, founded in 1794 and incorporated in 1797; and Hamilton, on the Main Island, founded in 1790 and incorporated in 1793. St George was the capital till the senate and courts of justice were removed by Sir James Cockburn to Hamilton, which being centrally situated, is more convenient. Hamilton, which is situated on the inner part of the Great Sound, had a population in 1901 of 2246, that of St George being 985. In Ireland Island is situated the royal dockyard and naval establishment. The harbour of St George's has space enough to accommodate a vast fleet; yet, till deepened by blasting, the entrance was so narrow as to render it almost useless. The Bermudas became an important naval and coaling station in 1869, when a large iron dry dock was towed across the Atlantic and placed in a secure position in St George, while, owing to their important strategic position in mid-Atlantic, the British government maintains a strong garrison. The Bermudas are a British crown colony, with a governor resident at Hamilton, who is assisted by an executive council of 6 members appointed by the crown, a legislative council of 9 similarly appointed, and a representative assembly of 36 members, of whom four are returned by each of nine parishes. The currency of the colony, which had formerly twelve shillings to the pound sterling, was assimilated to that of England in 1842. The English language is universal. The colony is ecclesiastically attached to the bishopric of Newfoundland. In 1847 an educational board was established, and there are numerous schools; attendance is compulsory, but none of the schools is free. Government scholarships enable youths to be educated for competition in the Rhodes scholarships to Oxford University. The revenue of the islands shows a fairly regular increase during the last years of the 19th century and the first of the 20th, as from L37,830 in 1895 to L63,457 in 1904; expenditure is normally rather less than revenue. In the year last named imports were valued at L589,979 and exports at L130,305, the annual averages since 1895 being about L426,300 and L112,500 respectively. The population shows a steady increase, as from 13,948 in 1881 to 17,535 in 1901; 6383 were whites and 11,152 coloured in the latter year.

_History._--The discovery of the Bermudas resulted from the shipwreck of Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard (whose name they now bear), when on a voyage from Spain to Cuba with a cargo of hogs, early in the 16th century. Henry May, an Englishman, suffered the same fate in 1593; and lastly, Sir George Somers shared the destiny of the two preceding navigators in 1609. Sir George, from whom the islands took the alternative name of Somers, was the first who established a settlement upon them, but he died before he had fully accomplished his design. In 1612 the Bermudas were granted to an offshoot of the Virginia Company, which consisted of 120 persons, 60 of whom, under the command of Henry More, proceeded to the islands. The first source of colonial wealth was the growing of tobacco, but the curing industry ceased early in the 18th century. In 1726 Bishop George Berkeley chose the Bermudas as the seat of his projected missionary establishment. The first newspaper, the _Bermuda Gazette_, was published in 1784.

See Godet, _Bermuda, its History, Geology, Climate, &c_. (London, 1860); Lefroy, _Discovery and Settlement of the Bermudas_ (London, 1877-1879); A. Heilprin, _Bermuda Islands_ (Philadelphia, 1889); Stark, _Bermuda Guide_ (London, 1898); Cole, _Bermuda ... Bibliography_ (Boston, 1907); and for geology see also A. Agassiz, "Visit to the Bermudas in March 1894," _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard_, vol. xxvi. No. 2, 1895; A.E. Verrill, "Notes on the Geology of the Bermudas," _Amer. Journ. Sci._ ser. 4, vol. ix. (1900), pp. 313-340; "The Bermuda Islands; Their Scenery, &c.," _Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts and Sci._ vol. xi. pt. 2 (1901-1902).

BERMUDEZ, a N.E. state of Venezuela, between the Caribbean Sea and the Orinoco river, bounded E. by the gulf of Paria and the Delta-Amacuro territory, and W. by the states of Guarico and Miranda. Pop. (est. 1905) 364,158. It was created in 1881 by the union of the states of Barcelona, Cumana and Maturin, dissolved in 1901 into its three original states, and reorganized in 1904 with a slight modification of territory. The state includes the oldest settlements in Venezuela, and was once very prosperous, producing cattle and exporting hides, but wars and political disorders have partly destroyed its industries and impeded their development. Its principal productions are coffee, sugar, and cacao, and--less important--cotton, tobacco, cocoanuts, timber, indigo and dyewoods. Its more important towns are the capital, Barcelona, Maturin (pop. 14,473), capital of a district of the same name, and Cumana (10,000), on the gulf of Cariaco, founded in 1520 and one of the oldest towns of the continent.

BERN (Fr. _Berne_), after the Grisons, the largest of the Swiss cantons, but by far the most populous, though politically Bern ranks after that of Zurich. It extends right across Switzerland from beyond the Jura to the snow-clad ranges that separate Bern from the Valais. Its total area is 2641.9 sq. m., of which 2081 sq. m. are classed as "productive" (including 591 sq. m. of forests, and 2.1 m. of vineyards), while of the remainder 111.3 sq. m. are occupied by glaciers (the Valais and the Grisons alone surpass it in this respect). It is mainly watered by the river Aar (q.v.), with its affluents, the Kander (left), the Saane or Sarine (left) and the Emme (right); the Aar forms the two lakes of Brienz and Thun (q.v.). The great extent of this canton accounts for the different character of the regions therein comprised. Three are usually distinguished:--(1) The _Oberland_ or Highlands, which is that best known to travellers, for it includes the snowy Alps of the Bernese Oberland (culminating in the Finsteraarhorn, 14,026 ft., and the Jungfrau, 13,669 ft.), as well as the famous summer resorts of Grindelwald, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, Meiringen, Kandersteg, Adelboden, Thun and the fine pastoral valley of the Simme. (2) The _Mittelland_ or Midlands, comprising the valley of the Aar below Thun, and that of the Emme, thus taking in the outliers of the high Alps and the open country on every side of the town of Bern. (3) The _Seeland_ (Lakeland) and the Jura, extending from Bienne and its lake across the Jura to Porrentruy in the plains and to the upper course of the Birs. The Oberland and Mittelland form the "old" canton, the Jura having only been acquired in 1815, and differing from the rest of the canton by reason of its French-speaking and Romanist inhabitants.

In 1900 the total population of the canton was 589,433, of whom 483,388 were German-speaking, 97,789 French-speaking, and 7167 Italian-speaking; while there were 506,699 Protestants, 80,489 Romanists (including the Old Catholics), and 1543 Jews. The capital is Bern (q.v.), while the other important towns are Bienne (q.v.), Burgdorf (q.v.), Delemont or Delsberg (5053 inhabitants), Porrentruy or Pruntrut (6959 inhabitants), Thun (q.v.), and Langenthal (4799 inhabitants). There is a university (founded in 1834) in the town of Bern, as well as institutions for higher education in the principal towns. The canton is divided into 30 administrative districts, and contains 507 communes (the highest number in Switzerland). From 1803 to 1814 the canton was one of the six "Directorial" cantons of the Confederation. The existing cantonal constitution dates from 1893, but in 1906 the direct popular election of the executive of 9 members (hitherto named by the legislature) was introduced. The legislature or _Grossrath_ is elected for four years (like the executive), in the proportion of 1 member to every 2500 (or fraction over 1250) of the resident population. The _obligatory Referendum_ obtains in the case of all laws, and of decrees relating to an expenditure of over half a million francs, while 12,000 citizens have the right of _initiative_ in the case of legislative projects, and 15,000 may demand the revision of the cantonal constitution. The 2 members sent by the canton to the federal _Standerath_ are elected by the _Grossrath_, while the 29 members sent to the federal _Nationalrath_ are chosen by a popular vote. In the Alpine portions of the canton the breeding of cattle (those of the Simme valley are particularly famous) is the chief industry; next come the elaborate arrangements for summer travellers (the _Fremdenindustrie_). It is reckoned that there are 2430 "Alps" or mountain pastures in the canton, of which 1474 are in the Oberland, 627 in the Jura, and 280 in the Emme valley; they can maintain 95,478 cows and are of the estimated value of 46-1/2 million francs. The cheese of the Emme valley is locally much esteemed. Other industries in the Alpine region are wood-carving (at Brienz) and wine manufacture (on the shores of the lakes of Bienne and of Thun). The Mittelland is the agricultural portion of the canton. Watchmaking is the principal industry of the Jura, Bienne and St Imier being the chief centres of this industry. Iron mines are also worked in the Jura, while the Heimberg potteries, near Thun, produce a locally famous ware, and there are both quarries of building stone and tile factories. The canton is well supplied with railway lines, the broad gauge lines being 228 m. in length, and the narrow gauge lines 157-1/2 m.--in all 385-1/2 m. Among these are many funicular cog-wheel lines, climbing up to considerable heights, so up to Murren (5368 ft.), over the Wengern Alp (6772 ft.), up to the Schynige Platte (6463 ft.), and many others still in the state of projects. All these are in the Oberland where, too, is the so-called Jungfrau railway, which in 1906 attained a point (the Eismeer station) in the south wall of the Eiger (13,042 ft.) that was 10,371 ft. in height, the loftiest railway station in Switzerland.

The canton of Bern is composed of the various districts which the town of Bern acquired by conquest or by purchase in the course of time. The more important, with dates of acquisition, are the following:--Laupen (1324), Hasli and Meiringen (1334), Thun and Burgdorf (1384), Unterseen and the Upper Simme valley (1386), Frutigen, &c. (1400), Lower Simme valley (1439-1449), Interlaken, with Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Brienz (1528, on the suppression of the Austin Canons of Interlaken), Saanen or Gessenay (1555), Koniz (1729), and the Bernese Jura with Bienne (1815, from the bishopric of Basel). But certain regions previously won were lost in 1798--Aargau (1415), Aigle and Grandson (1475), Vaud (1536), and the Pays d'En-Haut or Chateau d'Oex (1555). From 1798 to 1802 the Oberland formed a separate canton (capital, Thun) of the Helvetic Republic. (W. A. B. C.)

BERN (Fr. _Berne_), the capital of the Swiss canton of the same name, and, by a Federal law of 1848, the political capital of the Swiss confederation. It is most picturesquely situated on a high bluff or peninsula, round the base of which flows the river Aar, thus completely cutting off the old town, save to the west. Five lofty bridges have been thrown over the Aar, the two most modern being the Kirchfeld and Kornhaus bridges which have greatly contributed to create new residential quarters near the old town. Within the town the arcades (or _Lauben_) on either side of the main street, and the numerous elaborately ornamented fountains attract the eye, as well as the two remaining towers that formerly stood on the old walls but are now in the centre of the town; the _Zeilglockenthurm_ (famous for its singular 16th-century clock, with its mechanical contrivances, set in motion when the hour strikes) and the _Kaficthurm_. The principal medieval building in Bern is the (now Protestant) Munster, begun in 1421 though not completed till 1573. The tower, rising conspicuously above the town, has recently been well restored, but the church was never a cathedral church (as is often stated), for there has never yet been a bishop of Bern. The federal Houses of Parliament (_Bundeshaus_) were much enlarged in 1888-1892, the older portions dating from 1852-1857, and also contain the offices of the federal executive and administration. The town-hall dates from 1406, while some of the houses belonging to the old gilds contain much of interest. The town library (with which that of the university was incorporated in 1905) contains a vast store of MSS. and rare printed books, but should be carefully distinguished from the national Swiss library, which, with the building for the federal archives, is built in the new Kirchfeld quarter. There are a number of museums; the historical (archaeological and medieval), the natural history (in which the skin of Barry, the famous St Bernard dog, is preserved), the art (mainly modern Swiss pictures), and the Alpine (in which are collections of all kinds relating to the Swiss Alps). Bern possesses a university (founded in 1834) and two admirably organized hospitals. The old fortifications (_Schanzen_) have been converted into promenades, which command wonderful views of the snowy Alps of the Bernese Oberland. Just across the Nydeck bridge is the famous bear pit in which live bears are kept, as they are supposed to have given the name to the town; certainly a bear is shown on the earliest known town seal (1224), while live bears have been maintained at the charges of the town since 1513. There is comparatively little industrial activity in the town, the importance of which is mainly political, though of late years it has been selected as the seat of various international associations (postal, telegraph, railway, copyright, &c.). The climate is severe, as the town is much exposed to cold winds blowing from the snowy Alps. In point of population it is exceeded in Switzerland by Zurich, Basel and Geneva, though the number of inhabitants has risen from 27,558 in 1850 and 43,197 in 1880 to 64,227 in 1900. In 1900, 59,698 inhabitants were German-speaking; while 57,144 were Protestants, 6087 Romanists (including Old Catholics) and 655 Jews. The height of the town above the sea-level is 1788 ft.

The ancient castle of Nydeck, at the eastern end of the peninsula, guarded the passage over the Aar, and it was probably its existence that induced Berchtold V., duke of Zaringen, to found Bern in 1191 as a military post on the frontier between the Alamannians (German-speaking) and the Burgundians (French-speaking). Thrice the walls which protected the town were moved westwards, about 1250, in 1346 and in 1622, though even at the last-named date the town only stretched a little way to the west of (or beyond) the present railway station. After the extinction of the Zaringen dynasty (1218) Bern became a free imperial city, but it had to fight hard for its independence, which was finally secured by the victories of Dornbuhl (1298) over Fribourg and the Habsburgs, and of Laupen (1339) over the neighbouring Burgundian nobles. In the second battle Bern received help from the three forest cantons with which it had become allied in 1323, while in 1353 it entered the Swiss confederation as its eighth member. It soon took the lead in the confederation, though always aiming at enlarging its own borders, even at great risks (see the article on the canton). In 1528 Bern accepted the religious reformation, and henceforth became one of its chief champions in Switzerland. In the 17th century the number of families by which high offices of state could be held was diminished, so that in 1605 there were 152 thus qualified, but in 1691 only 104, while towards the end of the 18th century there were only 69 such families. Meanwhile the rule of the town was extending over more and more territory, so that finally it governed 52 bailiwicks (acquired between 1324 and 1729), the Bernese patricians being thus extremely powerful and forming an oligarchy that administered affairs like a benevolent and well-ordered despotism. In 1723 Major Davel, at Lausanne, and in 1749 Henzi, in Bern itself, tried to break down this monopoly, but in each case paid the penalty of failure on the scaffold. The whole system was swept away by the French in 1798, and though partially revived in 1815, came to an end in 1831, since which time Bern has been in the van of political progress. From 1815 to 1848 it shared with Zurich and Lucerne the supreme rule (which shifted from one to the other every two years) in the Swiss confederation, while in 1848 a federal law made Bern the sole political capital, where the federal government is permanently fixed and where the ministers of foreign powers reside.

AUTHORITIES.--_Die Alp- und Weidewirthschaft im Kant. Bern_ (Bern, 1903); _Archiv d. hist. Vereins d. Kant. Bern_, from 1848, and _Blatter fur bernische Geschichte_, from 1905; _Bernische Biographien_ (Bern, 1898-1906); E. Friedli, _Barndutsch als Spiegel bernischen Volkstums_. vol. i. (_Lutzelfluh_, Bern, 1905), and vol. ii. (Grindelwald, Bern, 1908); _Festschrift zur 7ten Sakularfeier d. Grundung Berns_, 1191 (Bern, 1891); _Fontes Rerum Bernensium_ (to 1378), (9 vols., Bern, 1883-1908); K. Geiser, _Geschichte d. bernischen Verfassung_, 1191-1471 (Bern, 1888); B. Haller, _Bern in seinen Rathsmanualen_, 1465-1565 (3 vols., Bern, 1900-1902); E.F. and W.F. von Mulinen, _Beitrage zur Heimathskunde d. Kantons Bern, deulschen Theils_ (3 vols., Bern, 1879-1894); W.F. von Mulinen, _Berns Geschichte_, 1191-1891 (Bern, 1891); E. von Rodt, _Bernische Stadtgeschichte_ (Bern, 1888), and 6 finely illustrated vols. on Bern in the 13th to 19th centuries (Bern, 1898-1907); L.S. von Tscharner, _Rechtsgeschichte des Obersimmenthales bis zum Jahre 1798_ (Bern, 1908); E. von Wattenwyl, _Geschichte d. Stadt u. Landschaft Bern_ (to 1400), (2 vols.); Schaffhausen and Bern (1867-1872); F.E. Welti, _Die Rechtsquellen d. Kant. Bern_, vol. i. (Aarau, 1902); Gertrud Zuricher, _Kinderspiel u. Kinderlied im Kant. Bern_ (Zurich, 1902). (W. A. B. C.)

BERNARD, SAINT (1090-1153), abbot of Clairvaux one of the most illustrious preachers and monks of the middle ages, was born at Fontaines, near Dijon, in France. His father, a knight named Tecelin, perished on crusade; and his mother Aleth, a daughter of the noble house of Mon-Bar, and a woman distinguished for her piety, died while Bernard was yet a boy. The lad was constitutionally unfitted for the career of arms, and his own disposition, as well as his mother's early influence, directed him to the church. His desire to enter a monastery was opposed by his relations, who sent him to study at Chalons in order to qualify for high ecclesiastical preferment. Bernard's resolution to become a monk was not, however, shaken, and when he at last definitely decided to join the community which Robert of Molesmes had founded at Citeaux in 1198, he carried with him his brothers and many of his relations and friends. The little community of reformed Benedictines, which was to produce so profound an influence on Western monachism (see CISTERCIANS and MONASTICISM) and had seemed on the point of extinction for lack of novices, gained a sudden new life through this accession of some thirty young men of the best families of the neighbourhood. Others followed their example; and the community grew so rapidly that it was soon able to send off offshoots. One of these daughter monasteries, Clairvaux, was founded in 1115, in a wild valley branching from that of the Aube, on land given by Count Hugh of Troyes, and of this Bernard was appointed abbot.

By the new constitution of the Cistercians Clairvaux became the chief monastery of the five branches into which the order was divided under the supreme direction of the abbot of Citeaux. Though nominally subject to Citeaux, however, Clairvaux soon became the most important Cistercian house, owing to the fame and influence of Bernard.[1] His saintly character, his self-mortification--of so severe a character that his friend, William of Champeaux, bishop of Chalons, thought it right to remonstrate with him--and above all, his marvellous power as a preacher, soon made him famous, and drew crowds of pilgrims to Clairvaux. His miracles were noised abroad, and sick folk were brought from near and far to be healed by his touch. Before long the abbot, who had intended to devote his life to the work of his monastery, was drawn into the affairs of the great world. When in 1124 Pope Honorius II. mounted the chair of St Peter, Bernard was already reckoned among the greatest of French churchmen; he now shared in the most important ecclesiastical discussions, and papal legates sought his counsel. Thus in 1128 he was invited by Cardinal Matthew of Albano to the synod of Troyes, where he was instrumental in obtaining the recognition of the new order of Knights Templars, the rules of which he is said to have drawn up; and in the following year, at the synod of Chalons-sur-Marne, he ended the crisis arising out of certain charges brought against Henry, bishop of Verdun, by persuading the bishop to resign. The European importance of Bernard, however, began with the death of Pope Honorius II. (1130) and the disputed election that followed. In the synod convoked by Louis the Fat at Etampes in April 1130 Bernard successfully asserted the claims of Innocent II. against those of Anacletus II., and from this moment became the most influential supporter of his cause. He threw himself into the contest with characteristic ardour. While Rome itself was held by Anacletus, France, England, Spain and Germany declared for Innocent, who, though banished from Rome, was--in Bernard's phrase--"accepted by the world." The pope travelled from place to place, with the powerful abbot of Clairvaux at his side; he stayed at Clairvaux itself, humble still, so far as its buildings were concerned; and he went with Bernard to parley with the emperor Lothair III. at Liege.

In 1133, the year of the emperor's first expedition to Rome, Bernard was in Italy persuading the Genoese to make peace with the men of Pisa, since the pope had need of both. He accompanied Innocent to Rome, successfully resisting the proposal to reopen negotiations with Anacletus, who held the castle of Sant' Angelo and, with the support of Roger of Sicily, was too strong to be subdued by force. Lothair, though crowned by Innocent in St Peter's, could do nothing to establish him in the Holy See so long as his own power was sapped by his quarrel with the house of Hohenstaufen. Again Bernard came to the rescue; in the spring of 1135 he was at Bamberg successfully persuading Frederick of Hohenstaufen to submit to the emperor. In June he was back in Italy, taking a leading part in the council of Pisa, by which Anacletus was excommunicated. In northern Italy the effect of his personality and of his preaching was immense; Milan itself, of all the Lombard cities most jealous of the imperial claims, surrendered to his eloquence, submitted to Lothair and to Innocent, and tried to force Bernard against his will into the vacant see of St Ambrose. In 1137, the year of Lothair's last journey to Rome, Bernard was back in Italy again; at Monte Cassino, setting the affairs of the monastery in order, at Salerno, trying in vain to induce Roger of Sicily to declare against Anacletus, in Rome itself, agitating with success against the antipope. Anacletus died on the 25th of January 1138; on the 13th of March the cardinal Gregory was elected his successor, assuming the name of Victor. Bernard's crowning triumph in the long contest was the abdication of the new antipope, the result of his personal influence. The schism of the church was healed, and the abbot of Clairvaux was free to return to the peace of his monastery.

Clairvaux itself had meanwhile (1135-1136) been transformed outwardly--in spite of the reluctance of Bernard, who preferred the rough simplicity of the original buildings--into a more suitable seat for an influence that overshadowed that of Rome itself. How great this influence was is shown by the outcome of Bernard's contest with Abelard (q.v.). In intellectual and dialectical power the abbot was no match for the great schoolman; yet at Sens in 1141 Abelard feared to face him, and when he appealed to Rome Bernard's word was enough to secure his condemnation.

One result of Bernard's fame was the marvellous growth of the Cistercian order. Between 1130 and 1145 no less than ninety-three monasteries in connexion with Clairvaux were either founded or affiliated from other rules, three being established in England and one in Ireland. In 1145 a Cistercian monk, once a member of the community of Clairvaux--another Bernard, abbot of Aquae Silviae near Rome, was elected pope as Eugenius III. This was a triumph for the order; to the world it was a triumph for Bernard, who complained that all who had suits to press at Rome applied to him, as though he himself had mounted the chair of St Peter (_Ep_. 239).

Having healed the schism within the church, Bernard was next called upon to attack the enemy without. Languedoc especially had become a hotbed of heresy, and at this time the preaching of Henry of Lausanne (q.v.) was drawing thousands from the orthodox faith. In June 1145, at the invitation of Cardinal Alberic of Ostia, Bernard travelled in the south, and by his preaching did something to stem the flood of heresy for a while. Far more important, however, was his activity in the following year, when, in obedience to the pope's command, he preached a crusade. The effect of his eloquence was extraordinary. At the great meeting at Vezelay, on the 21st of March, as the result of his sermon, King Louis VII. of France and his queen, Eleanor of Guienne, took the cross, together with a host of all classes, so numerous that the stock of crosses was soon exhausted; Bernard next travelled through northern France, Flanders and the Rhine provinces, everywhere rousing the wildest enthusiasm; and at Spires on Christmas day he succeeded in persuading Conrad, king of the Romans, to join the crusade.

The lamentable outcome of the movement (see CRUSADES) was a hard blow to Bernard, who found it difficult to understand this manifestation of the hidden counsels of God, but ascribed it to the sins of the crusaders (_Ep_. 288; _de Consid_. ii. 1). The news of the disasters to the crusading host first reached Bernard at Clairvaux, where Pope Eugenius, driven from Rome by the revolution associated with the name of Arnold of Brescia, was his guest. Bernard had in March and April 1148 accompanied the pope to the council of Reims, where he led the attack on certain propositions of the scholastic theologian Gilbert de la Porree (q.v.). From whatever cause--whether the growing jealousy of the cardinals, or the loss of prestige owing to the rumoured failure of the crusade, the success of which he had so confidently predicted--Bernard's influence, hitherto so ruinous to those suspected of heterodoxy, on this occasion failed of its full effect. On the news of the full extent of the disaster that had overtaken the crusaders, an effort was made to retrieve it by organizing another expedition. At the invitation of Suger, abbot of St Denis, now the virtual ruler of France, Bernard attended the meeting of Chartres convened for this purpose, where he himself was elected to conduct the new crusade, the choice being confirmed by the pope. He was saved from this task, for which he was physically and constitutionally unfit, by the intervention of the Cistercian abbots, who forbade him to undertake it.

Bernard was now ageing, broken by his austerities and by ceaseless work, and saddened by the loss of several of his early friends. But his intellectual energy remained undimmed. He continued to take an active interest in ecclesiastical affairs, and his last work, the _De Consideratione_, shows no sign of failing power. He died on the 20th of August 1153.

The greatness of St Bernard lay not in the qualities of his intellect, but of his character. Intellectually he was the child of his age, inferior to those subtle minds whom the world, fired by his contagious zeal, conspired to crush. Morally he was their superior; and in this moral superiority lay the secret of his power. The age recognized in him the embodiment of its ideal: that of medieval monasticism at its highest development. The world had no meaning for him save as a place of banishment and trial, in which men are but "strangers and pilgrims" (Serm. i., Epiph. n. 1; Serm. vii., Lent. n. 1); the way of grace, back to the lost inheritance, had been marked out once for all, and the function of theology was but to maintain the landmarks inherited from the past. With the subtleties of the schools he had no sympathy, and the dialectics of the schoolmen quavered into silence before his terrible invective. Yet, within the limits of his mental horizon, Bernard's vision was clear enough. His very life proves with what merciless logic he followed out the principles of the Christian faith as he conceived it; and it is impossible to say that he conceived it amiss. For all his overmastering zeal he was by nature neither a bigot nor a persecutor. Even when he was preaching the crusade he interfered at Mainz to stop the persecution of the Jews, stirred up by the monk Radulf. As for heretics, "the little foxes that spoil the vines," these "should be taken, not by force of arms, but by force of argument," though, if any heretic refused to be thus taken, he considered "that he should be driven away, or even a restraint put upon his liberty, rather than that he should be allowed to spoil the vines" (Serm. lxiv.). He was evidently troubled by the mob violence which made the heretics "martyrs to their unbelief." He approved the zeal of the people, but could not advise the imitation of their action, "because faith is to be produced by persuasion, not imposed by force"; adding, however, in the true spirit of his age and of his church, "it would without doubt be better that they should be coerced by the sword than that they should be allowed to draw away many other persons into their error." Finally, oblivious of the precedent of the Pharisees, he ascribes the steadfastness of these "dogs" in facing death to the power of the devil (Serm. lxvi. on Canticles ii. 15).

This is Bernard at his worst. At his best--and, fortunately, this is what is mainly characteristic of the man and his writings--he displays a nobility of nature, a wise charity and tenderness in his dealings with others, and a genuine humility, with no touch of servility, that make him one of the most complete exponents of the Christian life. His broadly Christian character is, indeed, witnessed to by the enduring quality of his influence. The author of the _Imitatio_ drew inspiration from his writings; the reformers saw in him a medieval champion of their favourite doctrine of the supremacy of the divine grace; his works, down to the present day, have been reprinted in countless editions. This is perhaps due to the fact that the chief fountain of his own inspiration was the Bible. He was saturated in its language and in its spirit; and though he read it, as might be expected, uncritically, and interpreted its plain meanings allegorically--as the fashion of the day was--it saved him from the grosser aberrations of medieval Catholicism. He accepted the teaching of the church as to the reverence due to our Lady and the saints, and on feast-days and festivals these receive their due meed in his sermons; but in his letters and sermons their names are at other times seldom invoked. They were overshadowed completely in his mind by his idea of the grace of God and the moral splendour of Christ; "from Him do the Saints derive the odour of sanctity; from Him also do they shine as lights" (_Ep._ 464).

The cause of Bernard's extraordinary popular success as a preacher can only imperfectly be judged by the sermons that survive. These were all delivered in Latin, evidently to congregations more or less on his own intellectual level. Like his letters, they are full of quotations from and reference to the Bible, and they have all the qualities likely to appeal to men of culture at all times. "Bernard," wrote Erasmus in his _Art of Preaching_, "is an eloquent preacher, much more by nature than by art; he is full of charm and vivacity and knows how to reach and move the affections." The same is true of the letters and to an even more striking degree. They are written on a large variety of subjects, great and small, to people of the most diverse stations and types; and they help us to understand the adaptable nature of the man, which enabled him to appeal as successfully to the unlearned as to the learned.

Bernard's works fall into three categories:--(1) _Letters_, of which over five hundred have been preserved, of great interest and value for the history of the period. (2) _Treatises_: (a) dogmatic and polemical, _De gratia el libero arbitrio_, written about 1127, and following closely the lines laid down by St Augustine; _De baptismo aliisque quaestionibus ad mag. Hugonem de S. Victore; Contra quaedam capitala errorum Abaelardi ad Innocentem II._ (in justification of the action of the synod of Sens); (b) ascetic and mystical, _De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae_, his first work, written perhaps about 1121; _De diligendo Deo_ (about 1126); _De conversione ad clericos_, an address to candidates for the priesthood; _De Consideratione_, Bernard's last work, written about 1148 at the pope's request for the edification and guidance of Eugenius III.; (c) about monasticism, _Apologia ad Guilelmum_, written about 1127 to William, abbot of St Thierry; _De laude novae militiae ad milites templi_ (c. 1132-1136); _De precepto et dispensatione_, an answer to various questions on monastic conduct and discipline addressed to him by the monks of St Peter at Chartres (some time before 1143); (d) on ecclesiastical government, _De moribus et officio episcoporum_, written about 1126 for Henry, bishop of Sens; the _De Consideratione_ mentioned above; (e) a biography, _De vita et rebus gestis S. Malachiae, Hiberniae episcopi_, written at the request of the Irish abbot Congan and with the aid of materials supplied by him; it is of importance for the ecclesiastical history of Ireland in the 12th century; (f) sermons--divided into _Sermones de tempore; de sanctis; de diversis_; and eighty-six sermons, _in Cantica Canticorum_, an allegorical and mystical exposition of the Song of Solomon; (g) hymns. Many hymns ascribed to Bernard survive, e.g. _Jesu dulcis memoria, Jesus rex admirabilis. Jesu decus angelicum, Salve caput cruentatum_. Of these the three first are included in the Roman breviary. Many have been translated and are used in Protestant churches.

St Bernard's works were first published in anything like a complete edition at Paris in 1508, under the title _Seraphica melliflui devotique doctoris S. Bernardi scripta_, edited by Andre Bocard; the first really critical and complete edition is that of Dom J. Mabillon _Sancti Bernardi opp. &c._ (Paris, 1667, improved and enlarged in 1690, and again, by Massuet and Texier, in 1719), reprinted by J.P. Migne, _Patrolog. lat._ (Paris, 1859). There is an English translation of Mabillon's edition, including, however, only the letters and the sermons on the Song of Songs, with the biographical and other prefaces, by Samuel J. Eales (4 vols., London, 1889-1895). See further Leopold Janauschek, _Bibliographia Bernardina_ (Vienna, 1891), which includes 2761 entries, including 120 works wrongly ascribed to Bernard.

AUTHORITIES.--The principal source for the life of St Bernard is the _Vita Prima_, compiled, in six books, by various contemporary writers: