Chapter 17

1Other places named “Yspytty” are Y. Cynfyn and Y. Ystwyth. For the name Yspytty, cf. Bale’sKing John, 2125: “So many masendeens (maisons Dieu), hospytals andspyttlehowses.”

BETTY, WILLIAM HENRY WEST(1791-1874), English actor, known as “the young Roscius,” was born on the 13th of September 1791 at Shrewsbury. He first appeared on the stage at Belfast before he was twelve years old, as Osman in Aaron Hill’sZara, an English version of Voltaire’sZaire. His success was immediate, and he shortly afterwards appeared in Dublin, where it is said that in three hours of study he committed thepart of Hamlet to memory. His precocious talents aroused great enthusiasm in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and he was favourably compared with some of the greatest tragedians. In 1804 he first appeared at Covent Garden, when the troops had to be called out to preserve order, so great was the crush to obtain admittance. At Drury Lane the house was similarly packed, and he played for the then unprecedented salary of over 75 guineas a night. He was a great success socially, George III. himself presenting him to the queen, and Pitt upon one occasion adjourning the House of Commons that members might be in time for his performance. But this enthusiasm gradually subsided, and in 1808 he made his final appearance as a boy actor, and entered Christ’s College, Cambridge. He re-appeared four years later, but the public would have none of him, and he retired to the enjoyment of the large fortune which he had amassed as a prodigy. He died on the 24th of August 1874. His son Henry Betty (1819-1897) was also an actor.

BETUL,a town and district of British India, in the Nerbudda division of the Central Provinces. In 1901 the population of the town was 4739. The administrative headquarters of the district have been transferred to the town of Badnur (q.v.), 3 m. north.

The district ofBetulhas an area of 3826 sq. m. In 1901 the population was 285,363, showing a decrease of 12% in the decade, due to the results of famine. The mean elevation above the sea is about 2000 ft. The country is essentially a highland tract, divided naturally into three distinct portions, differing in their superficial aspects, the character of their soil and their geological formation. The northern part of the district forms an irregular plain of the sandstone formation. It is a well-wooded tract, in many places stretching out in charming glades like an English park, but it has a very sparse population and little cultivated land. In the extreme north a line of hills rises abruptly out of the great plain of the Nerbudda valley. The central tract alone possesses a rich soil, well watered by the Machna and Sampna rivers, almost entirely cultivated and studded with villages. To the south lies a rolling plateau of basaltic formation (with the sacred town of Multai, and the springs of the river Tapti at its highest point), extending over the whole of the southern face of the district, and finally merging into the wild and broken line of the Ghats, which lead down to the plains. This tract consists of a succession of stony ridges of trap rock, enclosing valleys or basins of fertile soil, to which cultivation is for the most part confined, except where the shallow soil on the tops of the hills has been turned to account. The principal crops are wheat, millet, other food-grains, pulse, oil-seeds, and a little sugar-cane and cotton. A large part of the area is covered with forests, which yield teak and other timber. The only manufacture is cotton cloth. A railway is projected from Itarsi through the district to Berar. Good roads are few; and none of the rivers is navigable. This district suffered very severely from the famine of 1896-1897, in 1897 the death-rate being as high as 73 per 1000. It suffered again in 1900, when in May the number of persons relieved rose to one-third of the total population.

Little is known of the early history of the district except that it must have been the centre of the first of the four ancient Gond kingdoms of Kherla, Deogarh, Mandla and Chanda. According to Ferishta, the Persian historian, these kingdoms engrossed in 1398 all the hills of Gondwana and adjacent countries, and were of great wealth and power. About the year 1418 Sultan Husain Shah of Malwa invaded Kherla, and reduced it to a dependency. Nine years later the raja rebelled, but although with the help of the Bahmani kings of the Deccan he managed for a time to assert his independence, he was finally subdued and deprived of his territories. In 1467 Kherla was seized by the Bahmani king, but was afterwards restored to Malwa. A century later the kingdom of Malwa became incorporated into the dominions of the emperor of Delhi. In 1703 a Mussulman convert of the Gond tribe held the country, and in 1743 Raghoji Bhonsla, the Mahratta ruler of Berar, annexed it to his dominions. The Mahrattas in the year 1818 ceded this district to the East India Company as payment for a contingent, and by the treaty of 1826 it was formally incorporated with the British possessions. Detachments of British troops were stationed at Multai, Betul and Shahpur to cut off the retreat of Apa Sahib, the Mahratta general, and a military force was quartered at Betul until June 1862. The ruined city of Kherla formed the seat of government under the Gonds and preceding rulers, and hence the district was, until the time of its annexation to the British dominions, known as the “Kherla Sarkar.” The town of Multai contains an artificial tank, from the centre of which the Tapti is said to take its rise: hence the reputed sanctity of the spot, and the accumulation of temples in its honour.

The climate of Betul is fairly healthy. Its height above the plains and the neighbourhood of extensive forests moderate the heat, and render the temperature pleasant throughout the greater part of the year. During the cold season the thermometer at night falls below the freezing point; little or no hot wind is felt before the end of April, and even then it ceases after sunset. The nights in the hot season are comparatively cool and pleasant. During the monsoon the climate is very damp, and at times even cold and raw, thick clouds and mist enveloping the sky for many days together. The average annual rainfall is 40 in. In the denser jungles malaria prevails for months after the cessation of the rains, but the Gonds do not appear to suffer much from its effects. Travellers and strangers who venture into these jungles run the risk of fever of a severe type at almost all seasons of the year.

BETWA,a river of India, which rises in the native state of Bhopal in Malwa, and after a course of 360 m., for the most part in a north-easterly direction, falls into the Jumna at Hamirpur. A weir is thrown across the Betwa about 15 m. from Jhansi town, whence a canal 168 m. long takes off, irrigating 106,000 acres of the Jalaun district; similar works have been carried out elsewhere on the river.

BEUDANT, FRANÇOIS SULPICE(1787-1850), French mineralogist and geologist, was born at Paris on the 5th of September 1787. He was educated at the École Polytechnique and École Normale, and in 1811 was appointed professor of mathematics at the lycée of Avignon. Thence he was called, in 1813, to the lycée of Marseilles to fill the post of professor of physics. In the following year the royal mineralogical cabinet was committed to his charge to be conveyed into England, and from that time his attention was directed principally towards geology and cognate sciences. In 1817 he published a paper on the phenomena of crystallization, treating especially of the variety of forms assumed by the same mineral substance. In 1818 he undertook, at the expense of the French government, a geological journey through Hungary, and the results of his researches,Voyage minéralogique et géologique en Hongrie, 3 vols. 4to, with atlas, published in 1822, established for him a European reputation. In 1820 he was appointed to the professorship of mineralogy in the Paris faculty of sciences, and afterwards became inspector-general of the university. He subsequently published treatises on physics and on mineralogy and geology, and died on the 10th of December 1850.

BEUGNOT, JACQUES CLAUDE,Count(1761-1835), French politician, was born at Bar-sur-Aube. A magistrate under the old régime, he was elected deputy to the Legislative Assembly (1791), then to the Convention. He was involved in the proscription of the Girondists and imprisoned until the 9th Thermidor. He next entered into relations with the family of Bonaparte, and in 1799, after the 18th Brumaire, again entered politics, becoming successively prefect of the lower Seine, councillor of state, and finance minister to Jerome Bonaparte, king of Westphalia. In 1808 Beugnot, who had meanwhile been appointed administrator of the duchy of Berg-Cleves, received the cross of officer of the Legion of Honour with the title of count. He returned to France in 1813, after the battle of Leipzig, and was made prefect of the department of Nord. In 1814 he was a member of the provisional government as minister of the interior; and by Louis XVIII. he was named director-general of police and afterwards minister of marine. He followed Louis to Ghent during the Hundred Days, and becameone of his confidants. He contributed to draw up Louis’s charter, and in his memoirs boasted of having furnished the text of the proclamation addressed by the king to the French people before his return to France; but it is known now that it was another text that was adopted. Lacking the support of the ultra-royalists, he was given the title of minister of state without portfolio, which was equivalent to a retirement. Elected deputy, he attached himself to the moderate party, and defended the liberty of the press. In 1831 Louis Philippe made him a peer of France and director-general of manufactures and commerce. He died on the 24th of June 1835.

His son,Auguste Arthur Beugnot(1797-1865), was an historian and scholar, who published anEssai sur les institutions de Saint Louis(1821),Histoire de la destruction du paganisme en occident(2 vols., 1885), and edited theOlimof the parlement of Paris, theAssizes of Jerusalem, and theCoutumes de Beauvoisisof Philippe de Beaumanoir. He was a member of the chamber of peers under Louis Philippe, and opposed Villemain’s plan for freedom of education. After 1848 he maintained the same rôle, acting as reporter of theloi Falloux. He retired from public life after thecoup d’étatof Napoleon III., and died on the 15th of March 1865.

TheMémoiresof J.C. Beugnot were published by his grandson, Count Albert Beugnot (2nd ed., Paris, 1868); see H. Wallon,Éloges académiques(1882); and E. Dejean,Un Préfet du Consulat: J.C. Beugnot(Paris, 1907).

BEULÉ, CHARLES ERNEST(1826-1874), French archaeologist and politician, was born at Saumur on the 29th of June 1826. He was educated at the École Normale, and after having held the professorship of rhetoric at Moulins for a year, was sent to Athens in 1851 as one of the professors in the École Française there. He had the good fortune to discover the propylaea of the Acropolis, and his work,L’Acropole d’Athènes(2nd ed., 1863), was published by order of the minister of public instruction. On his return to France, promotion and distinctions followed rapidly upon his first successes. He was made doctor of letters, chevalier of the Legion of Honour, professor of archaeology at the Bibliothèque Impériale, member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and perpetual secretary of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He took great interest in political affairs, with which the last few years of his life were entirely occupied. Elected a member of the National Assembly in 1871, he zealously supported the Orleanist party. In May-November 1873 he was minister of the interior in the Broglie ministry. He died by his own hand on the 4th of April 1874. His other important works are:Études sur le Péloponnèse(2nd ed., 1875);Les Monnaies d’Athènes(1858);L’Architecture au siècle de Pisistrate(1860);Fouilles à Carthage(1861). Beulé was also the author of high-class popular works on artistic and historical subjects:Histoire de l’art grec avant Périclès(2nd ed., 1870);Le Procès des Césars(1867-1870, in four parts;Auguste, sa famille et ses amis;Tibère et l’héritage d’Auguste;Le Sang de Germanicus;Titus et sa dynastie).

See Ideville,Monsieur Beulé, Souvenirs personnels(1874).

BEURNONVILLE, PIERRE DE RUEL,Marquis de(1752-1821), French general. After service in the colonies, he married a wealthy Creole, and returning to France purchased the post of lieutenant of the Swiss guard of the count of Provence. During the Revolution he was named lieutenant-general, and took an active part in the battles of Valmy and Jemmapes. Minister of war in February 1793, he denounced his old commander, C.F. Dumouriez, to the Convention, and was one of the four deputies sent to watch him. Given over by him to the Austrians on the 3rd of April 1793, Beurnonville was not exchanged until November 1795. He entered the service again, commanded the armies of the Sambre-et-Meuse and of the North, and was appointed inspector of infantry of the army of England in 1798. In 1800 he was sent as ambassador to Berlin, in 1802 to Madrid. Napoleon made him a senator and count of the empire. In 1814 he was a member of the provisional government organized after the abdication of Napoleon, and was created a peer of France. During the Hundred Days he followed Louis XVIII. to Ghent, and after the second restoration was made marquis and marshal of France.

See A. Chaquet,Les Guerres de la Révolution(Paris, 1886).

BEUST, FRIEDRICH FERDINAND VON(1809-1886), Austrian statesman, was descended from a noble family which had originally sprung from the Mark of Brandenburg, and of which one branch had been for over 300 years settled in Saxony. He was born on the 13th of January 1809 in Dresden, where his father held office at the Saxon court. After studying at Leipzig and Göttingen he entered the Saxon public service; in 1836 he was made secretary of legation at Berlin, and afterwards held appointments at Paris, Munich and London. In March 1848 he was summoned to Dresden to take the office of foreign minister, but in consequence of the outbreak of the revolution was not appointed. In May he was appointed Saxon envoy at Berlin, and in February 1849 was again summoned to Dresden, and this time appointed minister of foreign affairs, an office which he continued to hold till 1866. In addition to this he held the ministry of education and public worship from 1849 to 1853; that of internal affairs in 1853, and in the same year was appointed minister-president. From the time that he entered the ministry he was, however, the leading member of it, and he was chiefly responsible for the events of 1849. By his advice the king refused to accept the constitution proclaimed by the Frankfort parliament, a policy which led to the outbreak of revolution in Dresden, which was suppressed after four days’ fighting by Prussian troops, for whose assistance Beust had asked. On Beust fell also the chief responsibility for governing the country after order was restored, and he was the author of the so-calledcoup d’étatof June 1850 by which the new constitution was overthrown. The vigour he showed in repressing all resistance to the government, especially that of the university, and in reorganizing the police, made him one of the most unpopular men among the Liberals, and his name became synonymous with the worst form of reaction, but it is not clear that the attacks on him were justified. After this he was chiefly occupied with foreign affairs, and he soon became one of the most conspicuous figures in German politics. He was the leader of that party which hoped to maintain the independence of the smaller states, and was the opponent of all attempts on the part of Prussia to attract them into a separate union; in 1849-1850 he had been obliged to join the “three kings’ union” of Prussia, Hanover and Saxony, but he was careful to keep open a loophole for withdrawal, of which he speedily availed himself. In the crisis of 1851 Saxony was on the side of Austria, and he supported the restoration of the diet of the confederation. In 1854 he took part in the Bamberg conferences, in which the smaller German states claimed the right to direct their own policy independent of that of Austria or of Prussia, and he was the leading supporter of the idea of theTrias,i.e.that the smaller states should form a closer union among themselves against the preponderance of the great monarchies. In 1863 he came forward as a warm supporter of the claims of the prince of Augustenburg to Schleswig-Holstein (seeSchleswig-Holstein Question); he was the leader of the party in the German diet which refused to recognize the settlement of the Danish question effected in 1852 by the treaty of London, and in 1864 he was appointed representative of the diet at the congress of London. He was thus thrown into opposition to the policy of Bismarck, and he was exposed to violent attacks in the Prussian press as a “particularist,”i.e.a supporter of the independence of the smaller states. The expulsion of the Saxon troops from Rendsburg nearly led to a conflict with Prussia. Beust was accused of having brought about the war of 1866, but the responsibility for this must rest with Bismarck. On the outbreak of war Beust accompanied the king to Prague, and thence to Vienna, where they were received by the emperor with the news of Königgrätz. Beust undertook a mission to Paris to procure the help of Napoleon. When the terms of peace were discussed he resigned, for Bismarck refused to negotiate with him.

After the victory of Prussia there was no place for Beust inGermany, and his public career seemed to be closed, but he quite unexpectedly received an invitation from the emperor of Austria to become his foreign minister. It was a bold decision, for Beust was not only a stranger to Austria, but also a Protestant; but the choice of the emperor justified itself. Beust threw himself into his new position with great energy; it was owing to him that the negotiations with Hungary were brought to a successful issue. When difficulties came he went himself to Budapest, and acted directly with the Hungarian leaders. In 1867 he also held the position of Austrian minister-president, and he carried through the measures by which parliamentary government was restored. He also carried on the negotiations with the pope concerning the repeal of the concordat, and in this matter also did much by a liberal policy to relieve Austria from the pressure of institutions which had checked the development of the country. In 1868, after giving up his post as minister-president, he was appointed chancellor of the empire, and received the title of count. His conduct of foreign affairs, especially in the matter of the Balkan States and Crete, successfully maintained the position of the empire. In 1869 he accompanied the emperor on his expedition to the East. He was still to some extent influenced by the anti-Prussian feeling he had brought from Saxony. He maintained a close understanding with France, and there can be little doubt that he would have welcomed an opportunity in his new position of another struggle with his old rival Bismarck. In 1867, however, he helped to bring the affair of Luxemburg to a peaceful termination. In 1870 he did not disguise his sympathy for France, and the failure of all attempts to bring about an intervention of the powers, joined to the action of Russia in denouncing the treaty of Paris, was the occasion of his celebrated saying that he was nowhere able to find Europe. After the war was over he completely accepted the new organization of Germany.

As early as December 1870 he had opened a correspondence with Bismarck with a view to establishing a good understanding with Germany. Bismarck accepted his advances with alacrity, and the newentente, which Beust announced to the Austro-Hungarian delegations in July 1871, was sealed in August by a friendly meeting of the two old rivals and enemies at Gastein.

In 1871 Beust interfered at the last moment, together with Andrássy, to prevent the emperor accepting the federalist plans of Hohenwart. He was successful, but at the same time he was dismissed from office. The precise cause for this is not known, and no reason was given him. At his own request he was appointed Austrian ambassador at London; in 1878 he was transferred to Paris; in 1882 he retired from public life. He died at his villa at Altenberg, near Vienna, on the 24th of October 1886, leaving two sons, both of whom entered the Austrian diplomatic service. His wife, a Bavarian lady, survived him only a few weeks. His elder brother Friedrich Konstantin (1806-1891), who was at the head of the Saxon department for mines, was the author of several works on mining and geology, a subject in which other members of the family had distinguished themselves.

Beust was in many ways a diplomatist of the old school. He had great social gifts and personal graces; he was proud of his proficiency in the lighter arts of composing waltzes andvers de société. His chief fault was vanity, but it was an amiable weakness. It was more vanity than rancour which made him glad to appear even in later years as the great opponent of Bismarck; and if he cared too much for popularity, and was very sensitive to neglect, the saying attributed to Bismarck, that if his vanity were taken away there would be nothing left, is very unjust. He was apt to look more to the form than the substance, and attached too much importance to the verbal victory of a well-written despatch; but when the opportunity was given him he showed higher qualities. In the crisis of 1849 he displayed considerable courage, and never lost his judgment even in personal danger. If he was defeated in his German policy, it must be remembered that Bismarck held all the good cards, and in 1866 Saxony was the only one of the smaller states which entered on the war with an army properly equipped and ready at the moment. That he was no mere reactionary the whole course of his government in Saxony, and still more in Austria, shows. His Austrian policy has been much criticized, on the ground that in establishing the system of dualism he gave too much to Hungary, and did not really understand Austrian affairs; and the Austro-Hungarian crisis during the early years of the present century has given point to this view. Yet it remains the fact that in a crisis of extraordinary difficulty he carried to a successful conclusion a policy which, even if it was not the best imaginable, was probably the best attainable in the circumstances.

Beust was the author of reminiscences:Aus drei Viertel-Jahrhunderten(2 vols., Stuttgart, 1887; English trans. edited by Baron H. de Worms); and he also wrote a shorter work,Erinnerungen zu Erinnerungen(Leipzig, 1881), in answer to attacks made on him by his former colleague, Herr v. Frieseri, in his reminiscences. See also Ebeling,F.F. Graf v. Beust(Leipzig, 1876), a full and careful account of his political career, especially up to 1866;Diplomatic Sketches: No. 1, Count Beust, by Outsider (Baron Carl v. Malortie); Flathe,Geschichte van Sachsen, vol. iii. (Gotha, 1877); Friesen,Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben(Dresden, 1880).

(J. W. He.)

BEUTHEN,orNiederbeuthen, a town of Germany, in the north of Prussian Silesia, on the Oder, the capital of the mediatized principality of Carolath-Beuthen. Pop. (1900) 3164. The chief industries of the place are straw-plaiting, boat-building, and the manufacture of pottery; and a considerable traffic is carried on by means of the river.

BEUTHEN,orOberbeuthen, a town of Germany, in the extreme south-east of Prussian Silesia, on the railway between Breslau and Cracow, 121 m. S.E. of the former. Pop. (1905) 60,078. It is the centre of the mining district of Upper Silesia, and its population is mainly engaged in such operations and in iron and zinc smelting. Beuthen is an old town, and was formerly the capital of the Bohemian duchy of Beuthen, which in 1620 was ultimately granted, as a free lordship of the Empire, to Lazarus, Baron Henckel von Donnersmarck, by the emperor Ferdinand II., and parts of which, now mediatized, are held by two branches of the counts Henckel von Donnersmarck.

BEVEL(from an O. Fr. word, cf. mod.biveau, a joiner’s instrument), the inclination of one surface of a solid body to another; also, any angle other than a right angle, and particularly, in joinery, the angle to which a piece of timber has to be cut. The mechanic’s instrument known as a bevel consists of a rule with two arms so jointed as to be adjustable to any angle. In heraldry, a bevel is an angular break in a line. Bevelment, as a term of crystallography, means the replacement of an edge of a crystal by two planes equally inclined to the adjacent planes. As an architectural term “bevel” is a sloped or canted edge given to a sill or horizontal course of stone, but is more frequently applied to the canted edges worked round the projecting bands of masonry which for decorative purposes are employed on the quoins of walls or windows and in some cases, with vertical joints, cover the whole wall. When the outer face of the stone band is left rough so that it forms what is known as rusticated masonry, the description would be bevelled and rusticated. The term is sometimes applied to the splaying of the edges of a window on the outside, but the wide expansion made inside in order to admit more light is known as a splay.

BEVERLEY, WILLIAM ROXBY(1814?-1889), English artist and scene-painter, was born at Richmond, Surrey, about 1814, the son of William Roxby, an actor-manager who had assumed the name of Beverley. His four brothers and his sister all entered the theatrical profession, and Beverley soon became both actor and scene-painter. In 1831 his father and his brothers took over the old Durham circuit, and he joined them to play heavy comedy for several seasons, besides painting scenery. His work was first seen in 1831 in London, for the pantomimeBaron Munchausenat the Victoria theatre, which was being managed by his brother Henry. He was appointed scenic director for the Covent Garden operas in 1853. In 1854 he entered the service of the Drury Lane theatre under the management of E.T. Smith, and for thirty years continued to producewonderful scenes for the pantomimes, besides working for Covent Garden and a number of other theatres. In 1851 he executed part of a great diorama of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and produced dioramic views of the ascent of Mont Blanc, exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, and in 1884 a panorama of the Lakes of Killarney. He was a frequent exhibitor of sea pictures at the Royal Academy from 1865 to 1880. In 1884 failing eyesight put an end to his painting. He died in comparative poverty at Hampstead on the 17th of May 1889. He was the last of the old school of one surface painters, and famed for the wonderful atmospheric effects he was able to produce. Although he was skilled in all the mechanical devices of the stage, and painted in 1881 scenery forMichael Strogoffat the Adelphi, in which for the first time in England the still life of the stage was placed in harmony with the background, he was strongly opposed to the new school of scene-builders.

BEVERLEY,a market town and municipal borough in the Holderness parliamentary division of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 8 m. N.N.W. of Hull by a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 13,183. It lies in a level country east of the line of slight elevations known as the Wolds, near the river Hull, and has communication by canal with Hull. The church of St John the Evangelist, commonly called Beverley Minster, is a magnificent building, exceeding in size and splendour some of the English cathedrals. A monastery was founded here by John of Beverley (c.640-721), a native of the East Riding, who was bishop successively of Hexham and of York, and was canonized in 1037. A college of secular canons followed in the 10th century, the provostship of which subsequently became an office of high dignity, and was held by Thomas Becket, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. Of the existing building, the easternmost bay of the nave, the transepts with east and west aisles, the choir with aisles and short transepts, and the Lady chapel, are Early English, a superb example of the finest development of that style. The remainder of the nave is Decorated, excepting the westernmost bay which is Perpendicular, as is the ornate west front with its graceful flanking towers. The north porch is also a beautiful example of this style. The most noteworthy details within the church are the exquisite Early English staircase which led to the chapter house (no longer remaining), and the Percy tomb, a remarkable example of Decorated work, commemorating Eleanor, wife of Henry Percy (d. 1328). The church of St Mary is a cruciform building with central tower, almost entirely of Decorated and Perpendicular work. Though overshadowed by the presence of the minster, it is yet a very fine example of its styles, its most noteworthy features being the tower and the west front. Beverley was walled, and one gate of the 15th century remains; there are also some picturesque old houses. The industries are tanning, iron-founding, brewing and the manufacture of chemicals; and there is a large agricultural trade. Beverley is the seat of a suffragan bishop in the diocese of York. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, and has an area of 2404 acres, including a large extent of common pasture land.

Beverley (Beverlac) is said to be on the site of a British settlement. Evidently a church had existed there before 704, since in that year it was restored by St John of Beverley, who also founded a monastery there and was himself buried in the church. In the devastation of the north of England which followed the Conquest, Beverley is said to have escaped by a miracle attributed to St John; the Norman leader, while about to enter and pillage the church, fell from his horse dead, and the king, thinking this a sign that the town was under the protection of heaven, exempted it from pillage. From the time of St John of Beverley until the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor and town of Beverley belonged to the archbishopric of York, and is said to have been held under a charter of liberties supposed to have been granted by King Æthelstan in 925. This charter, besides other privileges, is said to have granted sanctuary in Beverley, and the “leuga” over which this privilege extended was afterwards shown to include the whole town. Confirmations of Æthelstan’s charter were granted by Edward the Confessor and other succeeding kings. In the reign of Henry I., Thurstan, archbishop of York, gave the burgesses their first charter, which is one of the earliest granted to any town in England. In it he granted them the same privileges as the citizens of York, among these being a gild merchant and freedom from toll throughout the whole of Yorkshire, with right to take it at all the markets and fairs in their town except at the three principal fairs, the toll of which belonged to the archbishop. In 1200 King John granted the town a new charter, for which the burgesses had to pay 500 marks. Other charters generally confirming the first were granted to the town by most of the early kings. The incorporation charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1573 was confirmed by Charles I. in 1629 and Charles II. in 1663, and renewed by James II. on his accession. Parliamentary representation by two members began in the reign of Edward I., but lapsed, until the corporation charter of 1573, from which date it continued until the Reform Act of 1867. In 1554-1555 Queen Mary granted the three fairs on the feasts of St John the Confessor, the Translation of St John and the Nativity of St John the Baptist, together with the weekly markets on Wednesday and Saturday, which had been held by the archbishops of York by traditional grant of Edward the Confessor to the burgesses of the town. Cloth-weaving was one of the chief industries of Beverley; it is mentioned and appears to have been important as early as 1315.SeeVictoria County History—Yorkshire; G. Poulson,Beverlac; Antiquities and History of Beverley and of the Provostry, &c., of St John’s(2 vols., 1829); G. Oliver, D.D.,History and Antiquities of Beverley, &c. (1829).

SeeVictoria County History—Yorkshire; G. Poulson,Beverlac; Antiquities and History of Beverley and of the Provostry, &c., of St John’s(2 vols., 1829); G. Oliver, D.D.,History and Antiquities of Beverley, &c. (1829).

BEVERLY,a seaboard city of Essex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., situated on the N. shore of Massachusetts Bay, opposite Salem. It is 18 m. from Boston on the Boston & Maine railway. Pop. (1890) 10,821; (1900) 13,884, of whom 2814 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 18,650. The land area of the city is about 15 sq. m. The surface is the typical glacial topography, with a few low, rocky hills, less than 100 ft. in height. There are beautiful drives through well-wooded districts, studded with handsome summer houses. In the city are a public library, the Beverly hospital, the New England industrial school for deaf mutes (organized, 1876; incorporated, 1870), and the Beverly historical society (1891), which owns a large colonial house, in which there is a valuable historical collection. The city has an excellent public school system. There are a number of manufacturing establishments; in 1905 the total factory product of the city was valued at $4,101,168, boots and shoes accounting for more than one-half of the total. Leather and shoe machinery also are important manufactures; and the main plant of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation is located here. Market gardening is a considerable industry, and large quantities of vegetables are raised under glass for the Boston markets. Fishing is an industry no longer of much importance. Beverly is connected by a regular line of oil-steamers with Port Arthur, Texas, and is the main distributing point for the Texas oil fields. The first settlement within the limits of Beverly was made by Roger Conant in 1626. The town was a part of Salem until 1668, when it was incorporated as a separate township; in 1894 it was chartered as a city. In 1788 there was established here the first cotton mill to be successfully operated in the United States. The manufacture of Britannia ware was begun in 1812. George Cabot lived for many years in Beverly, which he represented in the provincial congress (1779); Nathan Dane (1752-1835) was also a resident; and it was the birthplace of Wilson Flagg (1805-1884), the author ofStudies in the Field and Forest(1857),The Woods and By-Ways of New England(1872),The Birds and Seasons of New England(1875), andA Year with the Birds(1881). It was also the birthplace and early home of Lucy Larcom (1826-1893), and the scene of much of herStory of a New England Girlhood(Boston, 1889).

BEVIS OF HAMPTON,the name of an English metrical romance. Bevis is the son of Guy, count of Hampton (Southampton) and his young wife, a daughter of the king of Scotland. The countess asks a former suitor, Doon or Devoun, emperor of Almaine (Germany), to send an army to murder Guy in the forest. The plot is successful, and she marries Doon. When threatened with future vengeance by her ten-year-old son, she determines to make away with him also, but he is saved from death by a faithful tutor, is sold to heathen pirates, and reaches the court of King Hermin, whose realm is variously placed in Egypt and Armenia (Armorica). The exploits of Bevis, his love for the king’s daughter Josiane, his mission to King Bradmond of Damascus with a sealed letter demanding his own death, hisimprisonment, his final vengeance on his stepfather are related in detail. After succeeding to his inheritance he is, however, driven into exile and separated from Josiane, to whom he is reunited only after each of them has contracted, in form only, a second union. The story also relates the hero’s death and the fortunes of his two sons.

The oldest extant version appears to beBoeve de Haumtone, an Anglo-Norman text which dates from the first half of the 13th century. The English metrical romance,Sir Beues of Hamtoun, is founded on some French original varying slightly from those which have been preserved. The oldest MS. dates from the beginning of the 14th century. The Frenchchanson de geste,Beuve d’Hanstone, was followed by numerous prose versions. The printed editions of the story were most numerous in Italy, whereBovo d’Antonawas the subject of more than one poem, and the tale was interpolated in theReali di Francia, the Italian compilation of Carolingian legend. Although the English version that we possess is based on a French original, it seems probable that the legend took shape on English soil in the 10th century, and that it originated with the Danish invaders. Doon may be identified with the emperor Otto the Great, who was the contemporary of the English king Edgar of the story. R. Zenker (Boeve-Amlethus, Berlin and Leipzig, 1904) establishes a close parallel between Bevis and the Hamlet legend as related by Saxo Grammaticus in theHistoria Danica. Among the more obvious coincidences which point to a common source are the vengeance taken on a stepfather for a father’s death, the letter bearing his own death-warrant which is entrusted to the hero, and his double marriage.1The motive of the feigned madness is, however, lacking in Bevis. The princess who is Josiane’s rival is less ferocious than the Hermuthruda of the Hamlet legend, but she threatens Bevis with death if he refuses her. Both seem to be modelled on the type of Thyrdo of the Beowulf legend. A fanciful etymology connecting Bevis (Boeve) with Béowa (Béowulf), on the ground that both were dragon slayers, is inadmissible.

Bibliography.—The Romance of Sir Beues of Hamtoun, edited from six MSS. and the edition (without date) of Richard Pynson, by E. Kölbing (Early Eng. Text Soc., 1885-1886-1894); A. Stimming, “Der anglonormannische Boeve de Haumtone,” in H. Suchier’sBibl. Norm. vol. vii. (Halle, 1899); the Welsh version, with a translation, is given by R. Williams,Selections of the Hengwrt MSS. (vol. ii., London, 1892); the old Norse version by G. Cederschiöld,Fornsogur Sudhrlanda(Lund, 1884); A. Wesselofsky, “Zum russischen Bovo d’Antona” (inArchiv für slav. Phil. vol. viii., 1885); for the early printed editions of the romance in English, French and Italian see G. Brunet,Manuel du libraire,s.vv.Bevis, Beufues and Buovo.

1On double marriage in early romance see G. Paris, “La Légende du mari aux deux femmes,” inLa Poésie du moyen âge(2nd series, Paris, 1895); and A. Nutt, “The Lai of Eliduc,” &c, inFolk-Lore, vol. iii. (1892).

BEWDLEY,a market town and municipal borough in the Bewdley parliamentary division of Worcestershire, England; 137 m. N.W. by W. from London and 17¼ N. by W. from Worcester by rail. Pop. (1901) 2866. The Worcester-Shrewsbury line of the Great Western is here joined by lines east from Birmingham and west from Tenbury. Bewdley is pleasantly situated on the sloping right bank of the Severn, on the eastern border of the forest of Wyre. A bridge by Telford (1797) crosses the river. A free grammar school, founded in 1591, was re-founded by James I. in 1606, and possesses a large library bequeathed in 1812. The town manufactures combs and horn goods, brass and iron wares, leather, malt, bricks and ropes. The town is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 2105 acres.

Bewdley (i.e.Beaulieu) is probably referred to in the Domesday survey as “another Ribbesford,” and was held by the king. The manor, then calledBellus Locusor Beaulieu on account of its beautiful situation, was afterwards granted to the Mortimers, in whose family it continued until it was merged in the crown on the accession of Edward IV. It is from this time that Bewdley dates its importance. Through its situation on the Severn it was connected with the sea, and in 1250 a bridge, the only one between it and Worcester, was built across the river and added greatly to the commerce of the town. From Edward IV. Bewdley received its charter in 1472, and there appears to be no evidence that it was a borough before this time. Other charters were granted in 1605, 1685 and 1708. By James I.’s charter the burgesses sent one member to parliament, and continued to do so until 1885. A fair and a market on Wednesday were granted by Edward III. in 1373 to his grand-daughter Philippa, wife of Edmund Mortimer, and confirmed to Richard, duke of York, by Henry VI. Edward IV. also granted the burgesses a market on Saturdays, and three fairs, which were confirmed to them by Henry VII. Coal-mines were worked in Bewdley as early as 1669, and the town was formerly noted for making caps.

BEWICK, THOMAS(1753-1828), English wood-engraver, was born at Cherryburn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, in August 1753. His father rented a small colliery at Mickleybank, and sent his son to school at Mickley. He proved a poor scholar, but showed, at a very early age, a remarkable talent for drawing. He had no tuition in the art, and no models save natural objects. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Mr Beilby, an engraver in Newcastle. In his office Bewick engraved on wood for Dr Hutton a series of diagrams illustrating a treatise on mensuration. He seems thereafter to have devoted himself entirely to engraving on wood, and in 1775 he received a premium from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures for a woodcut of the “Huntsman and the Old Hound.” In 1784 appeared hisSelect Fables, the engravings in which, though far surpassed by his later productions, were incomparably superior to anything that had yet been done in that line. TheQuadrupedsappeared in 1790, and his great achievement, that with which his name is inseparably associated, theBritish Birds, was published from 1797-1804. Bewick, from his intimate knowledge of the habits of animals acquired during his constant excursions into the country, was thoroughly qualified to do justice to his great task. Of his other productions the engravings for Goldsmith’sTravellerandDeserted Village, for Parnell’sHermit, for Somerville’sChase, and for the collection ofFables of Aesop and Others, may be specially mentioned. Bewick was for many years in partnership with his former master, and in later life had numerous pupils, several of whom gained distinction as engravers. He died on the 8th of November 1828.

His autobiography,Memoirs of Thomas Bewick, by Himself, appeared in 1862.

BEXHILL,a municipal borough and watering-place in the Rye parliamentary division of Sussex, England, 62 m. S.E. by S. from London, on the London, Brighton & South Coast, and the South-Eastern & Chatham railways. Pop. (1891) 5206; (1901) 12,213. The ancient village, with the Norman and Early English church of St Peter, lies inland on the slope of the low hills fringing the coast, but the watering-place on the shore has developed very rapidly since about 1884, owing to the exertions of Earl De la Warr, who owns most of the property. It has a marine parade, pier, golf links, and the usual appointments of a seaside resort, while the climate is bracing and the neighbouring country pleasant. Bexhill was incorporated in 1902, the corporation consisting of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 8013 acres.

BEXLEY, NICHOLAS VANSITTART,Baron(1766-1851), English politician, was the fifth son of Henry Vansittart (d. 1770), governor of Bengal, and was born in London on the 29th of April 1766. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he took his degree in 1787, and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1791. He began his public career by writing pamphlets in defence of the administration of William Pitt, especially on its financial side, and in May 1796 became member of parliament for Hastings, retaining his seat until July 1802, when he was returned for Old Sarum. In February 1801 he was sent on a diplomatic errand to Copenhagen, and shortly after his return was appointed joint secretary to the treasury, a position which he retained until the resignation of Addington’s ministry in April 1804. Owing to the influence of his friend, Ernest, duke of Cumberland, he became secretary for Ireland under Pitt in January 1805, resigning his office in the following September. With Addington, now Viscount Sidmouth, he joined the government of Fox and Grenville as secretary to the treasury in February 1806, leaving office with Sidmouth just before the fall of the ministry in March1807. During these and the next few years Vansittart’s reputation as a financier was gradually rising. In 1809 he proposed and carried without opposition in the House of Commons thirty-eight resolutions on financial questions, and only his loyalty to Sidmouth prevented him from joining the cabinet of Spencer Perceval as chancellor of the exchequer in October 1809. He opposed an early resumption of cash payments in 1811, and became chancellor of the exchequer when the earl of Liverpool succeeded Perceval in May 1812. Having forsaken Old Sarum, he had represented Helston from November 1806 to June 1812; and after being member for East Grinstead for a few weeks, was returned for Harwich in October 1812.

When Vansittart became chancellor of the exchequer the country was burdened with heavy taxation and an enormous debt. Nevertheless, the continuance of the war compelled him to increase the custom duties and other taxes, and in 1813 he introduced a complicated scheme for dealing with the sinking fund. In 1816, after the conclusion of peace, a large decrease in taxation was generally desired, and there was a loud outcry when the chancellor proposed only to reduce, not to abolish, the property or income tax. The abolition of this tax, however, was carried in parliament, and Vansittart was also obliged to remit the extra tax on malt, meeting a large deficiency principally by borrowing. He devoted considerable attention to effecting real or supposed economies with regard to the national debt. He carried an elaborate scheme for handing over the payment of naval and military pensions to contractors, who would be paid a fixed annual sum for forty-five years; but no one was found willing to undertake this contract, although a modified plan on the same lines was afterwards adopted. Vansittart became very unpopular in the country, and he resigned his office in December 1822. His system of finance was severely criticized by Huskisson, Tierney, Brougham, Hume and Ricardo. On his resignation Liverpool offered Vansittart the post of chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. Accepting this offer in February 1823, he was created Baron Bexley in March, and granted a pension of £3000 a year. He resigned in January 1828. In the House of Lords Bexley took very little part in public business, although he introduced the Spitalfields weavers bill in 1823, and voted for the removal of Roman Catholic disabilities in 1824. He took a good deal of interest in the British and Foreign Bible Mission, the Church Missionary Society and kindred bodies, and assisted to found King’s College, London. He died at Foot’s Cray, Kent, on the 8th of February 1851. His wife, whom he married in July 1806, was Isabella (d. 1810), daughter of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and as he had no issue the title became extinct on his death. There are nine volumes of Vansittart’s papers in the British Museum.

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