BERMUDA 



697 



BERNARD 



Juliet; his opera, The Trojans, and his cele- 

 brated Te Deum are now considered master- 

 pieces, though the composer was little appre- 

 ciated in his own day. 



BERMUDA or SOMERS ISLANDS, a group 

 of about 350 islands and islets in the Atlantic 

 Ocean, midway between the West Indies and 

 the North American coast. By steamer they 

 are forty-eight hours distant from New York 



THE FORM OF THE BERMUDAS 

 Hamilton, the capital, and sailing distances to 

 New York and Europe. 



City. Twenty -of the group are inhabited, 

 forming one of the most important of British 

 possessions in the Atlantic. They are the most 

 northerly islands in the world entirely of coral 

 formation, and unlike other coral islands they 

 contain hills and ridges which rise to a height 

 of nearly 300 feet. The largest islands are 

 Bermuda, named after Juan Bermudez, who 

 discovered the group in 1515, Saint George, 

 Ireland and Somerset. The total area is 12,000 

 acres, of which Bermuda contains 9,000 acres. 



The climate is especially pleasant and health- 

 ful. In winter frost is unknown, and the 

 temperature seldom falls below 50 F. The 

 sharp contrast between summer and winter on 

 the mainland is here entirely absent, for in 

 summer the heat is seldom greater than 87 F., 

 and delightfully cooling breezes blow from the 

 sea. The Bermudas have long been regarded 

 as almost an ideal health resort, and are visited 

 both summer and winter by great numbers of 

 Americans and Englishmen. The scenery is 

 magnificent and many enjoyable drives may be 

 taken, but so conservative are the people that 

 no automobiles are allowed on any of the 

 islands. 



Ireland Island is an important British naval 

 station, forming the winter headquarters of the 

 North Atlantic fleet. A garrison of 2,500 men 



is permanently maintained. The capital, Ham- 

 ilton, on Bermuda, with a population of 2,627, 

 is described elsewhere in these volumes. The 

 islands were first settled in 1609 by Sir George 

 Somers, supported by a number of colcfnists 

 from Virginia. They are now administered by 

 a governor, assisted by two councils of ap- 

 pointed members and an assembly of thirty-six 

 members elected by the people. Population 

 . in 1913, 19,935, of whom 7,060 were whites. 



BERN, burn, the capital of the Swiss canton 

 of Bern, and since 1848 the capital of the 

 republic of Switzerland. Its name is taken 

 from the German word Bdren, meaning bears, 

 and was adopted, according to legend, because 

 many bears were killed on the day the city 

 was founded. In consequence of this tradition 

 the bear is almost a sacred animal in Bern, 

 and the municipality keeps a Bears' Den, on 

 the right bank of the Aar, in which a number 

 of fat, brown bears are always on view. Bears 

 in wood and stone are everywhere to be seen 

 throughout the city as ornaments on founda- 

 tions and buildings. 



Bern is nearly 1,800' feet above sea level, and 

 is surrounded on three sides by the river Aar. 

 No other city in Switzerland excels it in 

 beauty, and it is among the most regularly- 

 built towns in Europe. Its fountains, its ar- 

 cade-covered walks, its fine bridges and quaint 

 old shops are a joy to the tourist. Among the 

 public buildings are the great Gothic cathedral, 

 built between 1421 and 1502; the Church of 

 the Holy Spirit; the Federal-council buildings, 

 or Parliament house, commanding a splendid 

 view of the Alps; the university; the town 

 house, a Gothic edifice of the fifteenth century, 

 and the mint. Bern has an academy and an 

 excellent public library. The manufactures are 

 woolens, linens, silk stuffs, stockings, watches, 

 clocks and toys. The city was founded in 1191, 

 became a free city of the empire in 1218 and 

 in 1353 entered the Swiss Confederacy. Popu- 

 lation in 1910, 85,264. See SWITZERLAND, sub- 

 head History. ' 



BERNARD, bur' nard or burnahrd', SAINT 

 * (1091-1153), one of the most influential Roman 

 Catholics of the Middle Ages, whose life and 

 character, to the people of his own day, were 

 the expression of their highest ideals. He was 

 born in Burgundy, France, and at the age of 

 twenty-two became a monk of the Cistercian 

 Order. Soon after, he founded the famous 

 Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux, becoming 

 its first abbot, and it was to him that the Order 

 owed its wonderful growth and influence. 



