406 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY >F FACTS 



the government granted a charter, and promised a grant 

 in aid. Berkeley set out for the Bermudas, but the 

 money not being forthcoming, the scheme had to be 

 abandoned. In 1733, he was made Bishop of Cloyne, 

 when he retired to Oxford. His last publication was a 

 treatise on "The Virtues of Tar \\ater." Died, 17.V<. 



Berlioz, Hector (bair'le-o), a French composer, was 

 born at La Cote St. Andre", 1803, and died in 1869. 

 His best productions are the symphonies "Harold " and 

 "Romeo and Juliet." 



Bernaclotte. Jean Kaptistc Jules, a marshal of 

 France, under Napoleon I., born in 1764, was elected 

 King of Sweden and Norway on the death of Charles 

 XIII.. assumed the throne under the title of Charles 

 John XIV., and in 1S13 commanded the united armies 

 of Germany against Napoleon. Died in 1844, after a 

 wise and prosperous reign. 



Bernard, St., born in 1091 of noble Burgundian. 

 birth; was educated at Paris University. He entered 

 rcian monastery at Citeaux, and there acquired 

 a high reputation as a preacher. At the head of a band 

 of monks he was sent to found a new monastery, which 

 lished at Clairvaux, and from which his fame 

 and influence spread far and wide. Kings, popes, and 

 nobles all appealed to him for advice on the weightiest 

 matters, and accepted his decisions. He procured the 

 condemnation of several heterodox writers, including 

 Abelard and Arnold of Brescia. His great work was 

 the preaching of a new crusade in France and Germany. 

 He excited the greatest enthusiasm, and prophesied the 

 triumph of the expedition. But it failed notably, and 

 Bernard died soon afterwards (1153). He was canon- 

 ized in 1174, and bears the title of "The Last of the 

 Fathers." 



Bernardin de St. Pierre (der-sant-pe-are) Jacques 

 Henri, the admired author of "Paul and Virginia," 

 "Studies of Nature," etc., was born at Havre in 1737. 

 He became professor of morals at the normal school, 

 and a member of the institute, and died in 1814. 



Bernhardt < Bernard), Rosine Sarah, French tragic 

 actress, was born in Paris, October 22, 1846, of Jewish 

 parents, but, by the will of her father, educated in a 

 convent at Versailles and at the Paris Conservatoire, 

 Appeared at the Theatre Francais in 1862 as " Iphig^nie," 

 but without success. In 1867 at the Oddon, in the role 

 of the queen, in Victor Hugo's "Ruy Bias," she gained 

 her first striking success. The war of 1870-71 inter- 

 rupted her career, and she became, for a while, a nurse. 

 She then won a position in the Theatre Francais, the 

 troupe of which she accompanied in 1879 to London, 

 where her triumphs have been repeated in succeeding 

 years, and where she married a M. d'Amala. She was 

 left a widow in 1889. She broke her contract with the 

 Francais in 1880, and has since been touring, with great 

 tclat in America, and in all the principal countries of 

 Europe. She now directs a theater of her own in Paris. 

 She is also a painter and sculptor. Her "Memoirs" 

 were published by Heinemann in 1907. 



Bernini (ber-ne'-ne), Giovanni Lorenzo, known as 

 the Cavaliere Bernini, was born in Naples in 1598. He 

 was eminent as a painter, an architect, and a sculptor; 

 and his merit entitled him to the rewards which he had 

 the good fortune to receive from Louis XIV. His 

 Apollo and Daphne, produced from a single block, 

 when he was but 18 years of age, was considered a mas- 

 terpiece, but his finest works are found in the colon- 

 nade at Rome. He died in 1680. 



Bernouilli (ber'-nool-ye), James, a celebrated mathe- 

 matician, was born in Basil in 1654. He died in 1705. 

 John Bernouilli, brother to James, and not less cele- 

 brated as a mathematician, was born in Basil in 1667. 

 He died in 1748. Nicholas Bernouilli was born at Basil 

 in 1687. He became a professor of mathematics at 

 Berlin. He died in 1759. Daniel Bernouilli, son of 

 John, was born in Groningen in 1700. He studied 

 mathematics, and became a professor of anatomy and 

 botany. He died in 1782. John Bernouilli, brother of 

 the last-named, born in Basil in 1710, was a professor 

 of eloquence and mathematics. He died in 1790. 

 James Bernouilli, his son, a licentiate at law, was 

 born in Basil in 1759. Though a lawyer by profes- 

 sion, he studied mathematics with success. He died 

 in 1789. 



Berosus (be-ro'-sus), an eminent historian, born in 

 Babylon, was a priest in the temple of Belus, and flour- 

 ished in the time of Alexander the Great, and in that 

 of several of his successors. His writings are said to 

 have strongly corroborated various parts of Scripture. 



Berthier (bare'-te-d), Alexander, Prince of Neuf- 

 chatel and Wagram, a distinguished French general. 

 He received his titles from Buonaparte in acknowledg- 

 ment of his great services, for though he won no battle 

 himself, he largely contributed towards the gaining of 



many. On the return of Louis XVIII., Berthier sent 

 in In- adhesion, and was made captain of the guards of 

 the restored monarch. When Napoleon reappeared. 

 having escaped t rom Elba, Berthier withdrew to Bam- 

 berg with his family, where he terminated his existence 

 by throwing himself from a window, it was supposed, 

 in a tit of apoplexy, in June, 1815. 



Her/.clius, Johann Jakob, born in 1779. Swedish 

 chemist, was professor for many years at Stockholm 

 rniversity, and acquired a great reputation by his 

 memoirs and his invaluable work in chemical analysis 

 and mineralogy. Diet!, 1848. 



IJessemer, Sir Henry, civil engineer and inventor, 

 born at Charlton, Herts., m 1S13; of his many inventi9ns 

 the chief is the process, named after him, of converting 

 pig-iron into steel at once by blowing a blast of air 

 through the iron while in fusion till everything extra- 

 neous is expelled, and only a definite quantity of carbon 

 is left in combination, a process which has revolutionized 

 the iron and steel trade all over the world, leading, as 

 has been calculated, to the production of thirty times 

 as much steel as before and at one-fifth of the cost per 

 ton. Died. 1898. 



Bessey, Charles Edwin, professor of botany in 

 University of Nebraska since 1884; born on a farm, in 

 Milton, Wayne County, O., May 21, 1845; graduate 

 d'.. ;-'c.) of Michigan Agricultural College, 1869; studied 

 with Dr. Asa Gray at Harvard, 1872-73 and 1875-76; 

 married, on December 25, 1873, Lucy Athearn, West 

 Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Professor of botany 

 in Iowa Agricultural College, 1870-84 (acting president. 

 1882); acting chancellor of University of Nebraska, 

 1888-91 and 1899-1900. Botanical editor of "American 

 Naturalist" (Philadelphia), 1880-97; of "Science" 

 (New York), since 1897; of Johnson's Cyclopedia since 

 1893. Author: "Geography of Iowa," "Botany for 

 High Schools and Colleges," "The Essentials of Botany," 

 "Elementary Botanical Exercises," "Elementary Bot- 

 any," ",1'lant Migration Studies," also many scientific 

 papers and reviews. Edited McNab's "Morphology, 

 Physiology, and Classification of Plants." 



Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah, was born on a farm in 

 Highland county, Ohio, October 6, 1862; his father and 

 brothers were soldiers in the Union Army; was gradu- 

 ated at De Pauw University, Greencastle, Ind., in 1885; 

 was admitted to the bar in 1886, and has since then 

 devoted himself to his profession; was married, first, to 

 Miss Katherine M. Langsdale, in 1887, who died in 

 1900; second, in 1907, to Katherine Eddy, of Chicago; 

 was elected to the Senate of the United States in 1899. 

 for the term beginning March 4 following; was reflected 

 in 1905. He is the author of "The Russian Advance," 

 "The Young Man and the World," and has been a fre- 

 quent magazine contributor. 



Bewick, Thomas, born in 1753; English engraver, 

 entered into partnership with a Newcastle wood en- 

 grayer, Ralph Beilby, with whom he published his 

 "History of Quadrupeds," which proved an immense 

 success. After some more fine work, he produced "The 

 History of British Birds," and later, " yEsop's Fables," 

 the two best examples of his art. Died, 1828. 



Bichat (be'shii), Marie Francois Xavier, born in 

 1771; physiologist and anatomist, was adopted by 

 Dessault, whose works he edited, and after his death 

 devoted himself to research in anatomy and surgery 

 with such incessant industry as to undermine his consti- 

 tution. He left numerous works of the highest value. 

 Died. 1802. 



Hid die, John, born in 1615; religious controver- 

 sialist, known as "the father of the English Unitarians"; 

 was sent to prison for heresy, and his book was ordered 

 by the House of Commons to be burnt. In 1648, for 

 the publication of his "Confession of Faith," he was 

 condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted; 

 and he was released in 1651, only to be again imprisoned 

 by order of the House of Commons. Cromwell subse- 

 quently banished him to the Scilly Isles, but in 1662 he 

 returned to London, and was again sent to prison, 

 where he died (1662). 



Bierce, Ambrose, author, journalist; born in Ohio. 

 1842; served as line officer during Civil War; brevet ted 

 major for distinguished services; went to California, 

 1866; went to London, 1872, contributing to " Fun" 

 fables purporting to be translations from Zambri, the 

 Parsee (published in volume, "Cobwebs from an Empty 

 Skull," 1874); returned to California and contributed 

 to "Overland Monthly," edited "Argonaut" and 

 "Wasp" ; for many years contributed " Prattle " columns 

 in San Francisco "Examiner." Author: " Cobwebs from an 

 Km ply Skull," "The Monk and the Hangman's Daugh- 

 te'r "(with Dr. A. Danziger), "Black Beetles in Amber," 

 "Can Such Things Be?" "In the Midst of Life" (former 



