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R !: I ) TO 11 D BK DO U I N S. 



greatest blemish in his character is his cruel execu- 

 tion (if the maid of Orleans, in 14:U. Hi- survived 

 tins event about fmir years, ami living in 1435 at 

 Rouen, was buried in the cathedral ot 'that city. The 

 duke deM-rscs nutice ;I!M> lor liis patronage of the 

 arts. A curious monument of his taste still exists 

 the lied ford Missal, a book made for him ami his 

 duchess. This rich volume is eleven inches lone, 

 seven und u half broad, and two and a half thick, 

 Ixiiind in crimsc.n velvet, with yold clasps, on which 

 Hre engraved the arms of Hurley, Cavendish, and 

 llollis, tjuarlcrly. It is embellished with fifty-nine 

 large miniature jtaintings, with more than a thousand 

 of a small size; and among them are to be seen 

 M-\i-i-.d jiortniits of persons of eminence. It was 

 purchased by Edward Marley, earl of Oxford, from 

 lady \Vorsley, great- grand-daughter to \\ . Seymour, 

 second ilukr ni .snmtTNei, who figured iii the reign of 

 Charles 1. ; and descended from lord Oxford to his 

 daughter, the duchess of 1'ortland. In the year 

 1 78(i, when the collection of the duchess was brought 

 to sale, it was purchased by a Mr Edwards for 215 

 guineas, and was sold again at the sale of the collec- 

 tion of that gentleman, in the year 1815, when it 

 brought 6S7. l.x, and came into the possession of 

 the duke of Marlborough. On coming to the ham- 

 mer once more, it has excited strongly the attention 

 of book-collectors and antiquaries, and realized the 

 unprecedented sum of 1100, being knocked down 

 at that price (June, 1833), to Mr Cod mm. the 

 London bookseller, acting, as is asserted, for Sir 

 John Tobyn, of Liverpool. In an historical point 

 of view, it is interesting on account of its pictorial 

 embellishments ; some of which have been en- 

 graved by Vertue, for his portraits to illustrate the 

 nistory of England. For the antiquarian and the 

 student of the fine arts, it is one of the most inter- 

 esting monuments of that age. Gough, the anti- 

 quarian, published a work in 8vo, describing the 

 Bedford Missal. Mr Dilxiin, in his Bibliomania, p. 

 253, gives an account of it. 



BEDFORD ; the county- town of Bedfordshire, to 

 which it gives name, situated on both banks of 

 the Oiise ; twenty-two miles S. E. of Northamp- 

 ton, fifty N. of London ; Ion. 27' W. ; lat. 52" 8' 

 N. It contains five churches, three on the north and 

 two on the south side of the river, three independent 

 meeting-houses, and a free grammar school liberally 

 endowed. The principal manufacture is lace. It is 

 a place of considerable trade, which is much assisted 

 by the river, navigable to Lynn, and is the only 

 market-town of the county. The soil about it is 

 fertile, particularly in excellent wheat. Population, 

 in 1831,6959. 



BEDFORD LEX-EL ; a large tract of land in England, 

 in the counties of Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hun- 

 tingdon, Northampton, and Lincoln, formerly full of 

 fens and marshes, and, in rainy seasons, for the most 

 part under water ; but drained, at the expense of 

 400,000, by the noble family of Russell, earls and 

 dukes of Bedford, and others ; by which means 

 100,000 acres of good land have been brought into 

 use. 



BKDFORTISHIRE ; an inland county of England, 

 bounded on the N. by Northamptonshire and Hun- 

 tingdonshire ; on the W. by Buckinghamshire ; on 

 the S, by Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire ; and 

 on the E. by Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. Its 

 limits are devious and irregular, the only natural 

 boundaries being the river Ouse for a short distance 

 on the east and west, and a small rivulet on the 

 south-west. The face of the country is pleasingly 

 diversified with a gentle alternation of hill and valley, 

 few of the' former being high, or of the latter exten- 

 sive. The agriculturaFproduce of Bedfordshire con- 



sists principally of wheat, Imrley, green crops, vege- 

 tables, and butter. The proportion of woodland 

 was formerly very great, and several fine woods still 

 remain, the timber of which is occasionally felled 

 and conveyed by the river Ouse to the sea coast. 

 The principal rivers are the Ouse, the Ivel, and the 

 Lea. The course of the Ouse, which receives a 

 great many smaller streams, is remarkably slow ; 

 and after heavy rains it is subject to great overflows, 

 the occasional mischief of which is compensated by 

 the increase of fertility which follows them. Much 

 corn and other produce of the county is conveyed by 

 the Ouse to the port of Lynn. The Ivel rises in 

 Hertfordshire, and passing by Baldock aud Hi p al.-s- 

 wade, where it becomes navigable, falls into the. 

 ( Mise at Tempsford. The Lea rises near Luton in 

 this county, and soon after enters Hertfordshire at 

 Hide-Mill. The Grand Junction canal touches on 

 the county near Leighton-Bunard ; but the chief 

 part of the articles raised for the London markets 

 reach the metropolis by land carriage. The principal 

 mineral products of Bedfordshire are, limestone, 

 coarse marble, coal (sparingly), and fullers' earth, 

 which last article abounds more especially in the 

 neighbourhood of Woburn. At the time of the 

 Roman invasion, this part of the country was inha- 

 bited by the British tribe called Catteuchlani, or 

 Cassii, whose chief, Cassibelaunus, was chosen to 

 command the united force of the Britons against 

 Julius Caesar. Under the Romans it formed a part 

 of the province of Flavia Cassariensis, and during the 

 Saxon heptarchy was included in the kingdom of 

 Mercia. It is at present divided into the nine hun- 

 dreds of Barford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flitt, Mans- 

 head, Redburn, Stodden, Willey, and Wixham-Trce. 

 It possesses one borough, that of Bedford, and the 

 market-towns (several of them very small) of Ampt- 

 hill, Biggleswade, Dunstable, Harold, Leighton, 

 Buzzard, Luton, Pottar, Toddington, and Woburn. 

 The assizes are held at Bedford. The influential 

 families in this county are those of Russell, Osborn, 

 Pym, St John, Fox, and Whitbread. It returns four 

 members to parliament, two for the county, and two 

 for the borough. Various remains of Roman, Saxon, 

 and Norman antiquities have been from time to time 

 discovered in this county. Population in 1831, 95,383. 

 BEDOUINS, or BEDOWEENS (that is, inhabitants of the 

 desert) ; a numerous Mohammedan race, which 

 dwells in the deserts of Arabia, Egypt, and Northern 

 Africa. It is still doubtful whether they belong to 

 the same race with the Arabs, or differ from them in 

 their descent, as they do in their manner of living. 

 The Bedouins live at a distance from cities and vil- 

 lages, in families, under sheiks, or in tribes, under 

 emirs. Their dwellings are tents, huts, caverns, ana 

 ruins. With their herds and beasts of burden, which 

 carry their little property, they wander in quest of 

 fresh water and pasture. They are all good horse- 

 men, and are generally fond of hunting. The peace- 

 ful tribes exchange horses (which they raise with 

 great care) and fat cattle, for arms and cloth, with 

 the neighbouring nations. Other hordes are such 

 open robbers, that it is dangerous to travel through 

 their country without a guard or a passport, which 

 the different chiefs sell. They not only plunder, 

 but murder, even when the travelers offer no resis- 

 tance. Notwithstanding this barbarous custom, the 

 Bedouins hold the rights of hospitality sacred ; and 

 the most defenceless enemy is sure of their protec- 

 tion, if they have once allowed him shelter. But 

 the Bedouin considers every one his enemy who is 

 not his brother, kinsman, or ally. Always careful of 

 liis own safety, he attacks no caravan or camp with- 

 out being sure of his superiority. To superior num- 

 bers, and a bold resistance, he yields, and saves 



