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OBITUARIES, FOREIGN. (BARBIER BESANT.) 



then returned to Italy, where with Count Salim- 

 beni he drew up the code of regulations for the 

 colony which w r ere entrusted to him to put into 

 operation in the following year. He entered on 

 his duties as civil governor on March 30, 1892, 

 and his administration was so successful that 

 after his report was received, in November, 1893, 

 he was proposed for Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 in the Cabinet that Zanardelli undertook to form 

 in 1894, and was only excluded because it was 

 not thought wise, out of consideration to Aus- 

 tria, to appoint an Irredentist of Austrian birth. 

 He achieved important military successes both 

 against the dervishes and against the Abyssini- 

 ans, occupying Kassala on July 17, 1894, and 

 twice defeating Ras Mangascia in January, 1895. 

 For these services he was promoted lieutenant- 

 general. In March, 1896, he occupied Adigrat, 

 pentrated Tigre, and in October of that year won 

 a battle at Debra Ailat, took possession of Ma- 

 kalle and Amba Alagi, and occupied the whole 

 of that Abyssinian province. His forces were 

 scattered far from their base, and the Shoan army 

 of the Negus Menelek threatened his flanks. He 

 marched from Massowah with reenforcements, 

 formed a junction with Arimondi's beaten troops, 

 and then sat down. In December, 1895, Major 

 Toselli's detachment was beaten at Amba Alagi, 

 and in January, 1896, Makalle had to capitulate. 

 The Government then decided to supersede Gen. 

 Baratieri, but the order was to be kept secret 

 until Gen. J3aldissera arrived to take command. 

 He is believed to have learned or to have divined 

 what was impending. At any rate, after a long 

 period of inactivity, he advanced his army by 

 quick marches through a rugged country, intend- 

 ing to strike a decisive blow before his successor 

 could arrive. The three columns could not keep 

 in touch. On March 1 he came upon King Mene- 

 lek's main army encamped before Adowa, and 

 decided to attack at once, expecting to win the 

 day by surprise and sudden dash. The result 

 was disastrous. The Abyssinians took up the at- 

 tack, surrounded the Italians, and at the end of 

 the fight 250 officers and 7,000 men were killed, 

 wounded, or prisoners in the hands of the enemy. 

 Gen. Baratieri's military career was ended, and 

 Italy's ambitious colonial dream gave place to 

 bitter disappointment and dismay. He was ac- 

 quitted by a court-martial, but retired in August, 

 1896, broken in health from his African experi- 

 ences. In 1897 he published a book entitled 

 Memorie d'Africa, explaining and defending his 

 actions. 



Barbier, Paul Jules, a French dramatist, 

 born in Paris, March 8, 1825; died in January, 

 1901. He produced his first play, L'Ombre de 

 Moliere, at the Comedie Frangaise in January, 

 1847. This was followed the next April by Un 

 Poete, a five-act drama in verse. Later plays of 

 Barbier's are Amour et Bergerie (1848); Andre" 

 Chenier (1849); Bon gre, Mai gre (1849); Les 

 Amoureaux sans le Savoir (1850); Graziella 

 (1849); Un Drame de Famille (1849); Jenny 

 1'Ouvriere (1850); Les Derniers Adieux (1851); 

 Les Contes d'Hoffmann (1851); Les Marionettes 

 du Docteur (1852) ; Le Memorial de Sainte-Helene 

 (1852); Le Maitre de la Maison (1866); Cora, 

 ou 1'Esclavage (1866); La Loterie du Manage 

 (1866); Maxwel (1867). In collaboration with 

 Carre, Labiche, and others he produced many 

 dramas for the Parisian theaters, and he sup- 

 plied the librettos of such well-known operas as 

 Les Noces de Figaro, Le Pardon de Ploermel, 

 Gounod's Faust, Mignon, Les Joyeuses Commeres 

 de Windsor, and others. He also wrote several 

 volumes of verse: Le Franc- tireur: Chants de 



Guerre (1871); The Sheaf (1882); Plays in 

 Verse (1879); Faded Flowers (1890). 



Bennett, Alexander Hughes, a Scottish 

 physician, born in 1847; died in London, Nov. 1, 

 1901. He was the son of an Edinburgh professor, 

 and obtained his education in Edinburgh, Lon- 

 don, and Paris. He was admitted to the Royal 

 College of Physicians in London in 1871, his spe- 

 cialty being the treatment of epilepsy and paral- 

 ysis, upon which subjects he had written much. 

 For many years he had been head physician in 

 the Regent's Park Epileptic Hospital, in London. 

 His published \vorks include Practical Treatise 

 on Electro-Diagnosis in Diseases of the Nervous 

 System (1882); Illustrations of the Superficial 

 Nerves and Muscles, with their Motor Points; 

 A Statistical Inquiry into the Nature and Treat- 

 ment of Epilepsy (1884); Spastic Paralysis; 

 Muscular Hypertonicity in Paralysis; and An Ex- 

 perimental Inquiry into the Physiological Actions 

 of Theine. 



Benoit, Pierre, a Belgian composer, born in 

 Harlebeke, Aug. 17, 1834; died in Antwerp, 

 March 18, 1901. He won the Roman prize at the 

 Brussels Conservatory in 1857, became director 

 of an orchestra in Paris in 1861, composed reli- 

 gious and chamber music, and, under the influ- 

 ence of the Flemish literary movement, founded 

 a Flemish school of music which was exemplified 

 in oratorios and cantatas entitled Lucifer, De 

 Schelde, Oorlog. Le Rhin, Onze Vader, and Ru- 

 bens, and the operas Charlotte Corday and Karel 

 van Gelderland. He was director of the School 

 of Music at Antwerp from 1867. 



Besant, Sir Walter, an English novelist, born 

 at Portsmouth, England, Aug. 14, 1836; died in 

 London, June 9, 1901. He was educated at 

 King's College, London, and Christ's College, 

 Cambridge, and 

 from 1861 to 1867 

 was a professor in 

 the Royal College 

 on the island of 

 Mauritius. On his 

 return to London 

 he formed a liter- 

 ary partnership 

 with James Rice 

 (1844-'82). The 

 most popular of 

 their collabora- 

 tions is The Gold- 

 en Butterfly. It 

 seems probable 

 that the lighter 

 and more amusing 

 portions of their 

 fictions were the 

 work of Rice, and 

 it is not unlikely 

 that the motive 

 was Rice's also. 



Taking Besant's known work into consideration, 

 it does not entitle him to a place within the first, 

 or even the second class of novelists, although it 

 has many merits and is always entertaining. 

 Besant did not take himself with undue serious- 

 ness, however, and the establishment of the Peo- 

 ple's Palace in 1886, an enterprise directly trace- 

 able to the Palace of Delight outlined in his 

 All Sorts and Conditions of Men, presumably 

 afforded him more satisfaction than contempla- 

 tion of his literary popularity. He esteemed 

 Dorothy Forster his best novel, but among the 

 most popular appear to have been All Sorts and 

 Conditions of Men and Children of Gibeon. He 

 was a stanch, if not invariably a wise, champion 



