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in 47 12' N. lat., and 1 0' W. long. Beauprcau is on the 

 right bank of the liltle river Evre, a tributary of the Loire, 

 which falls into that river on its left or south bank, and is 

 situated in a rich soil. It is a place of considerable trade : 

 there are several manufactories of linens and handkerchiefs, 

 of flannels, and other woollen fabrics. There are also dye- 

 houses and tan-yards. The population in 1832 was 3207 

 for the whole commune. 



Prior to the Revolution there were two parish churches, 

 and a third, a collegiate church ; but the revenues of the 

 latter were small, and its clergy far from numerous. The 

 territory of Beaupreuu gave successively the title of baron, 

 marquis, and duke, to its possessors. 



The arrondissement of Beaupreau comprehends 560 square 

 miles, or 358,400 acres; and had in 1832 a population of 

 10-1.947. 



BEAUSOBRE, ISAAC, was born in 1659 at Niort, in 

 the province of Poitou. His ancestors had emigrated from 

 France on account of their being Protestants, at the time 

 of the St. Bartholomew, but returned afterwards in conse- 

 quence of the edict of Nantes. Young Beausobre studied 

 at Saumur, was afterwards ordained, and took charge of the 

 Protestant church of ChaliUon sur Indre, in Tourainc. 

 When Louis XIV. renewed the persecution against the 

 Protestants, by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 

 1 68-3, the church of Chatillon was closed, and the gates 

 sealed by the King's officers. Beausobre broke the seals, 

 and preached as usual on the Sunday, in consequence of 

 which he was obliged to take refuge in Holland. From 

 Holland he went to Dessau, in 1686, as chaplain to the 

 Princess of Anhalt Dessau. His first work was Defense de 

 la Doctrine des Reformcs, Magdeburg, 1693. In 1694 

 he removed to Berlin, and took charge of one of the 

 French Protestant churches in that capital. He was after- 

 wards made chaplain to the court, inspector of the French 

 college, &c. He enjoyed the favour of the King, Frederic 

 William I., whose son, the Crown Prince, afterwards the 

 Great Frederic, also conceived great regard for him. 

 Beausobre passed the remaining forty-six years of his life at 

 Berlin, where he died in June, 1738, much regretted, both 

 on account of his personal character and his extensive learn- 

 ing. Ho wrote numerous works, the principal of which is 

 his Hittain critique de Maniciiee ei dti Manicheisme, 2 vols. 

 4 to. 1731 U. The first part of this work is historical. 

 The author derives his account of Manes, or Mani, from 

 Syrian, Persian, and Arabic authorities, and exhibits the 

 great discrepancy existing between their narratives and those 

 of the Greek and Latin writers. He characterizes the 

 history of Manes, which is attributed to Archelaus Bishop 

 of Cascar or Carcar, in Mesopotamia, as a romance pub- 

 lished 60 years after Manes' death. (Acta Disputationis 

 Arrhflui Jiptscopi Mesopotamia! et Manetis Heresiarchee, 

 in Zuccagni s Monumenta Ecclesi<e, Rome, 1698.) The 

 second part treats of the doctrines, rites, church discipline, 

 and morals of the Manicheans. Beausobre discards many 

 absurdities attributed to that sect, and refutes many odious 

 charges brought against it. He exposes and examines im- 

 partially their real tenets, their practices, and their supersti- 

 ii .ii-;. The work is full of varied and interesting erudition. 

 The second volume was edited by Formey after Beausobre's 

 death, with a short biography of the author by the editor. 

 Beausobre intended to add a third volume, relative to the 

 modern sects which have been accused of Manicheism. 

 He undertook, with L'Enfant, a French version of the 

 New Testament from the Greek text, which contains a 

 long and valuable introduction, and numerous explanatory 

 notes: " vols. 8vo. Amsterdam, 1718, reprinted in 1741. 

 The introduction was translated into English, London, 1726, 

 and is used in some colleges in the English Universities. 

 He also began a history of the Reformation on a very large 

 scale, which he left in an imperfect state. It was published 

 at Berlin in 17SJ, in 4 vols. 8vo. In conjunction with other 

 literary men, he began the journal and review called Bib- 

 li'ttheque Germanique, the first volume of which appeared 

 in 17 JO, and which was carried to the fiftieth volume. 

 Buausobre continued to the last to be one of the principal 

 contributor', and wrote nearly half of each volume. This 

 work was chiefly engrossed by notices of works of German 

 writers, and also of writers of the northern kingdoms, Den- 

 mark, Sweden, Poland, &c. The chief object was to make 

 these writers known to the rest of Europe through the me- 

 dium of the French language, in which the journal was 

 written. A sequel to thU work was begun after Beauscbrc's 



death by Mr. Formey, under the title of Kouvelle Biblio- 

 theque Germanique. Beausobre wrote also Pemarquei 

 critiques et philologiques sur le nouveau Testament 

 published after his death at la Hayc (the Hague), 2 \-o\$ 

 4to. His Sermons, in 4 vols. 8vo., are considered worth 

 to be placed by the side of the Sermons of Saurin. Beau 

 sabre left several other works in MS., complete and in- 

 complete, especially on the various sects of the dark ages, 

 the Paulicians, the Albigenses, &c. 



BEAUSSE, or BEAUCE, or, as it is written in some 

 very old maps, BEAULSE, a district in the former province 

 of Orleannois in France. As this district never formed a 

 distinct jurisdiction, either civil or ecclesiastical, its limits 

 are very vague and undetermined. It included, at any rate, 

 the territories of Chartrain, Dunois, and Vendomois (Expillv, 

 Dictionnaire des Gattles) ; and according to other authori- 

 ties it included also portions of Orleannois Proper, and 

 Giitinois, and even of Hurepoix and Mantois, which were in 

 the He de France. It extended from about 25 miles south 

 of Paris, on one side to the Loire, and on the other to the 

 Canal de Briare. (Dictionnaire Universal de la France, 

 edie Methodique.) The country consists of an 



elevated plain, or table-land, marked in some maps as the 

 Plateau d'Orlcans, in which not a mountain is seen ; and 

 though it lies between two of the principal rivers of France 

 (the Seine and the Loire), yet the running waters are very 

 few. From the scarcity of springs and streams, the inha- 

 bitants are obliged to have tanks and pools to preserve 

 the rain water. They have also some wells, which the ele- 

 vation of the surface obliges them to rflake very deep, hut 

 the water is not good. Notwithstanding the want of water, 

 the country is however so productive in wheat, that it has 

 acquired the title of the granary of Paris. (Piganiol de la 

 Force.) A great quantity of slieep are also fed here ; and the 

 shepherds were formerly in high repute among the simple 

 peasantry for knowledge which was really neither within 

 their possession nor their reach. Mutton and wheat appear 

 to be the only products of the district of any consequence. 

 There are no vines or woods to any extent. 



Chartres, the principal city in this district, contained 

 in 1832 13,576 inhabitants in the town, or 14,439 in tho 

 whole commune. The other chief places are Chiiteaudun, 

 formerly capital of Dunois (population 6461), and Vendumo 

 (population 6590 for the town, or 7771 for the whole com- 

 mune), capital of the Vendomois. [See CHARTKES, CHA- 

 TKAUDUN, and VENDUMI.] 



The name Beauce, in a more restricted application, is 

 given to the district of Chartrain. The Latin form of it is 

 Belsia, or Belsa, and it occurs in the writings of Fortunatus, 

 an author of the latter part of the sixth century. 



BEAUTY is that quality in visible objects in consequence 

 of which their colours and forms are agreeable to the human 

 mind. The word beauty (as Mr. D. Stewart observes, 

 Essay on Beauty, c. ii.) was first applied to objects percep- 

 tible by the sight; and, by an easy transition, it has been 

 extended to objects perceptible by the hearing ; as when 

 we speak of beautiful music, a beautiful tune, voice, &c. 

 The instances of words which properly signify an impression 

 on one sense being used to signify an impression on another 

 sense are very numerous : thus we sometimes pass from the 

 sight to the touch, as when we speak of lightness or heavi- 

 ness of form and of colour ; from the touch to the hearing, 

 as a sharp, piercing, thrilling, penetrating, or heavy sound ; 

 from the touch to the smell, as a pungent smell ; from the 

 touch to the sight, as harsh and soft colouring ; from the 

 hearing to the sight, as monotony of colour, tone of a picture, 

 harmony of colours ; from the taste to tho sight, as mellow 

 colouring ; from the taste to the hearing, as sweet music. 



This proneness to transfer words from one object of sense 

 to another does not, however (as Mr. Stewart remarks), ex- 

 plain why the word beauty should be extended only to 

 agreeable sounds, and not to agreeable tastes or oduurs. 

 That, however, there is a closer affinity between the percep- 

 tions of sight and hearing than between those of sight and 

 any other sense, it is not difficult to perceive ; and the fact 

 is satisfactorily traced by the same writer to the following 

 causes : 1. The picturesque effect which custom, in many 

 instances, gives to sounds; as when a tune calls up the 

 image of a person's home or the haunts of his childhood. 

 2. The expressive power of sounds, as in the case of the 

 human voice, when the expression of the countenance cor- 

 responds with the tones of the voice and the meaning of 

 the words which it utters. 3. Tho significant power of 



NO. 219. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPEDIA.] 



VOL. IV.-Q 



