B E A 



375 



B E A 



Beaune, only place in Wales where the right of election is 

 Beausobre. confined to the c -poration. The government of the 

 * town is entrusted to the mayor, two bailiffs, and the 



capital burgesses, whose number is limited to twenty- 

 one ; to the number of ordinary burgesses no limits 

 are set. Beaumaris is distant 254f miles N. W. from 

 London. Population 1576. N. Lat. 53 14', W. 

 Long. 4 15'. 



The bay of Beaumaris is a very fine bason, in 

 which ships can ride safely at anchor, in six or seven 

 fathoms water, even at ebb tide. Between Aber and 

 Beaumaris, the distance is four miles broad, though 

 the sea, at low water, fills a channel of not more than 

 one mile. The remainder is one bed of sand ; and the 

 roots of oak trees, found at a considerable distance 

 from the present shores, sufficiently prove that the 

 se_a has here made great encroachments, and that these 

 beds were formerly soil quite free from water. See 

 Mr Pennant's Tour in Wales. Bingley's Tour round 

 North Wales, (ft) 



BEAUNE, the second town in the department of 

 the Cote D'Or, situated at the foot of a hill on the 

 river Bourgeoise. The town, which is of an oval 

 form, and stands on calcareous ground, has handsome 

 houses and wide streets, and is well situated for inland 

 trade. The new gate is a specimen of good archi- 

 tecture. The church of St Peter is a handsome 

 building ; but the most beautiful and magnificent 

 edifice is the hospital, which was founded in 1443 

 by Nicolas Rollin, chancellor to Philip duke of Bur- 

 gundy. The castle of Beaune is now in ruins. An 

 account of the curious quarrel between the inhabitants 

 of this town and the celebrated wit Piron, will be 

 found in Millin's Travels through the Southern De- 

 partments of France in 1804 and 1805, chap. x. 

 Population 8344. (J) 



BEAUSOBRE, Isaac de, an eminent French 

 protestant divine, was born at Niort in Swisserland, 

 on the 8th of March 1659. Little is known of his 

 ancestors, but that they were originally from Pro- 

 vence, and had taken refuge in Swisserland from the 

 massacre of St Bartholomew. From his tenderest 

 years Beausobre displayed a magnanimous superiority 

 to the feelings of avarice and ambition. He might 

 have entered upon life with the fairest prospects of opu- 

 lence and honours ; for a cousin-gcrman of his father, 

 who was nearly related to Madame de Maintenon, 

 strongly urged him to study law, that he might present 

 him to that lady, and thus ensure his future fortune. 

 But Beausobre, who had still more exalted views, re- 

 sisted all his solicitations, and resolved to devote him- 

 self to the sacred ministry. After studying divinity 

 at the college of Saumur, he was ordained^t the age 

 of 22 years, and appointed to the charge of a protes- 

 tant congregation in some part of France. He had 

 not been above three years in that office, when a vio- 

 lent persecution arose against the protestants, and his 

 church was ordered to be shut up. With a zeal, na- 

 tural to his age, but extremely imprudent, he opposed 

 the orders of the court, and broke the royal seal, 

 which had been affixed to the door of his church. 

 Being condemned to make amende honorable for this 

 offence, he was forced to conceal himself, till he had 

 an opportunity of leaving France. 



His first intention was to seek an asylum in England, 



but particular circumstances afterwards determined Beausobre. 

 him to go to Holland. There he became known to 

 the Princess of Orange, who could well appreciate his 

 merits, and thought herself fortunate in getting him 

 appointed chaplain to her daughter, the Princess of 

 Anhalt Dessau. In this capacity he repaired to Des- 

 sau in 1686. The happiness which he enjoyed in this 

 retreat, made him ample amends for the loss of his 

 countiy. The Princess of Anhalt, a lady of great 

 accomplishments, honoured him with the fullest con- 

 fidence ; and he was enabled to pursue his studies 

 without disquiet or interruption. It was here he 

 published his first work, entitled, A Defence of the 

 Doctrine of the Reformed, occasioned by the circum- 

 stance of a prince of the house of Saxony having 

 changed his religion. It was printed at Magdeburg in 

 1693, and though the typography was extremely bad 

 and incorrect, the book was very favourably received. 

 Next year, (1694, J he was induced, by the advan- 

 tages which the French refugees enjoyed in Bran. 

 denburg, and the facilities which Berlin afforded for 

 study, and for the education of a family, to repair 

 to that city, in which he continued to reside during 

 the remainder of his life. At first he was enrolled 

 among the number of ordinary pastors, who minister- 

 ed in the parishes granted by the court to the refugees. 

 But his talents soon raised him to higher employ- 

 ments. He was made chaplain to their majesties, 

 counsellor of the royal consistory, director of the 

 French house, inspector of the French college ; and, 

 a year before his death, was appointed superintendant 

 of the French churches in Berlin, and of the towns 

 comprehended in that diocese. While he discharged 

 with the highest honour to himself the duties of these 

 several offices, he at the same time pursued his stu- 

 dies with unwearied assiduity. The first work which 

 he undertook, was a History of the Reformation, 

 which occupied him for upwards of forty years. He 

 left it in manuscript ready for the press, and it was 

 published at Berlin in 1784 and 1785. This work, 

 of which the principal object is to trace the origin 

 and progress of Lutheranism, contains some very cu- 

 rious details relative to the diffusion of protestant 

 principles in France and Swisserland, and the charac- 

 ters and writings of those who were most active in 

 opposing or defending the reformed religion. He, 

 was employed, along with his colleague L'Enfant, by 

 the court of Berlin, in translating the New Testa- 

 ment into French. St Paul's Epistles fell to the share 

 of Beausobre, and the work, which was published in 

 171S, with an ample preface and notes, was very fa- 

 vourably received. He was one of the principal mem- 

 bers of the Anonymous Society in Berlin, and had 

 the direction of the Bibliotheque Germ'aniipie till his 

 death. To that journal he contributed several papers. 

 While engaged in composing the History of the Re,- 

 formation, he was led into a digression on the His- 

 tory o/Mancheus and Manicheism, which, swelling 

 far beyond the bounds within which he originally 

 intended to confine it, was published as a separate 

 work in two volumes 4to. This is by far the most 

 elaborate and esteemed of his writings ; and has drawn 

 forth the warm commendations of Gibbon and Lard- 

 ner, who were of all men the best qualified to judge 

 of its merits. 



