BED 



BED 



pallet-bed all niglit, and to wait on the king wlien he ents 

 in private. Their i'lilary is loool. per annum. Tlie fird of 

 llicfe is called groom of the Stole. There are alfo twelve 

 grooms of the bed-chamber. 



BED-MOULDING, in ArchhePMre, is a term ufcd by 

 workmen to exprcls thofe members of a cornice which lie 

 below the corona. A bed-moulding ufually confills of thefe 

 four members, an ogee, a lill, a large boultine, and another 

 lift under the coronet, 



BED A, or Bcnv. diftinguidied b}- the epithet Venera- 

 He, in Biogriiphy, a learned monk of the eighth century, and 

 one of the belt writers of his time, was born in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Wcremoutb, in the bifliopric of Durham, in 

 672 or 673. At the age of fuven years he was brought to 

 the monallery of St. Peter, founded near the place of his 

 nativity about two years after he was born ; and the care of 

 his education was entrufted with abbot Benedict, his fnc- 

 ctflur Ceoltrid, and John of Beverly, for twelve years. En- 

 dowed witli an excellent genius, and dilUnguifiitd bv afii- 

 duous application, his progrefs in various branehei of learn- 

 ing, during this period, was very confidcrable. At the 

 clofe of it, or when he had attained the age of 19 rears, he 

 was ordained a deacon by the lall mentioned preceptor, then 

 bifhop rf Hexham, and aftei wards archbifliop of York. 

 About this time he fecms to have removed from the monaf- 

 tcry of St. Peter's at Weremouth, where he was educated, to 

 that of St. Paul's at Jarrow, near the mouth of the river 

 Tyne, founded, as the former had been, by the abbot Be- 

 nedift. Here he was employed in the profecution of his 

 own ihidies, and in aiding thofc of others who reforted to 

 this monaftery for inftruclion. His whole life, which he 

 fpcnt in this retreat, was devoted, as he himfclf informs us, 

 to the exercifes of devotion in the church, and to thofe of 

 teaching, reading, and writing. At the age of -^o, A.D. 

 702, be was ordained priell by the fame perfon from whom 

 he had received deacon's orders. Although he lived in re- 

 tirement, the fame of his learning and character foou fpread 

 over Europe ; fo that pope Sergius addrefied a lett^-T to abbot 

 Ceolfrid, in which he urged him to fend Btdc to Rome. The 

 death of the pope, which probably happened loon after this 

 letter was written, prevented Bede from leaving his own 

 country ; nor indeed does it appear, w ith fufficient evidence, 

 that he ever quitted Northumberland, though fome have faid 

 that he viiked the univerfity founded at Grantcheflt r or Cam- 

 bridge, and tliis faft they allege as a proof of the antiquity 

 of this univeriitv. Within the walls of the monaftery, in 

 vhich he chofc to refide, he was indefatigable in the acqui- 

 sition of knowledge, and in the communication of it to 

 others. It appears from his numerous works on a variety 

 of fubjefts, that his knowledge comprehended every kind of 

 literature and feience tliat was known at the period in which 

 he lived ; and from other collateral evidence of unqueftion- 

 able authority, that he was juilly entitled to the appellations 

 of " the wife Saxon," and of "Venerable Bede," conferred 

 on him by bis contemporaries, and uniformly retained by 

 pofterity. From his never having accepted any prctcrmeut 

 above the humble rank of an. unbeneficed pritft, we may in- 

 fer his fingular moderation ; his letter, addreftcd to his inti- 

 mate friend, the learned Egbert, arehbiihop of York, and 

 containing excellent advice, the refidt of long experience, 

 evinces the purity of his morals and the liberality of his feu- 

 timents ; and as he was never canonized as a fa'nt, and the 

 legends of the time record no miracle performed by him, we 

 may reafinably conclude, that enthufiafm and the Ipirit of 

 his order formed no part of his character. He appears in- 

 deed, as one of his biographers fnms up hi^ account of him, 

 " to have poflefted the rare aflociation of learning with mo. 

 Vol. IV. 



defty, of devotion with liberality, and of high reputation 5Jt th« 

 church with voluntary and honourable poverty." 



The largeft and moft popular of Bede's works is hfs hif- 

 tor\ of the church, intitied, " EccIefiafticE Hiftorisc Gen- 

 tis Anglorum libri quirque," and firft publidied in 7;^!, the 

 year to which he continued his hiftory of Chriftianity fronv 

 its firft introduflion into Britain. In coUefting materiah 

 for this hiftory, he confulted feveral chronicles of tlie Eng- 

 lifli kings before his time ; he kept up a correfpondencc ui 

 the feveral kingdoms of the heptarchy, and he had recourfc 

 to various records and archives preferved in feveral monafte- 

 ries ; and his hillory has been regarded as containing the 

 moft authentic and comprchenfive account of the early ftate 

 of Chriftianity in this country. The famous Milton, indeed, 

 has objefted to this hiftory, tliat it is deficient viith regard 

 to the civil affairs of the country, which are mentioned very 

 curforily, and which form rather a calendar of dares, thait 

 a regular hiftory ; but if it be dulv confidered, that his ob- 

 jecl was the ftate of the church, and not the fecular tranf- 

 aflions of the geriod which his hiftory comprehends, this ob- 

 jeftion muft appear to be urtjed againft it without fufficient 

 rcafun. Milton himlclf confcfted, that he travelled with 

 much worfc guides after he parted with Beda. Th.e charge 

 that has been alleged againft him, of partiality to the Saxons 

 in preference to the Britons, fecms to be Itfs exceptionable. 

 But the chief objeftion to which his hillory is liable, is the 

 diffufe account which he introduced of legendary miracle? 

 and of other trivial and ablurd circumftances, extrad^ed 

 without fufficient dilcrimination and with apparent credulity 

 from the chronicles to which he had accefs ; and yet, when 

 we recoUeft the period in which he lived, and confider, that 

 the principal tranlaclions of the church upon record coufifted 

 of fuch fooleries and impoftures, we may admit fome apo- 

 logy for a writer who wiftitd to approve himfelf a faithful 

 hiilorian. Without adverting to the cenfures of M. du Pin, 

 which extend to the ftyle and fubicfts of Bede's works in 

 general, and which arc amply ftated and fatisfactorily obvi- 

 ated in the Eiog. Brit, it may not be improper to mention 

 the objcClion urged by father Pezron againft the chronology 

 of Btde. This lather, who has taken great pains, after 

 Ifaac Voffius and father Morin, to fupport the chronology 

 of the Septuagint, infomis us, that Bede was the firft who 

 endeavoured, in the weftern church, to maintain the ftiorter 

 chronology of the Hebrew text ; and archbifhop Uftier, in 

 his " Sacred Chrotiology," obferves, that Bede was confi- 

 dered as an heretic on account of this innovation. However, 

 his compiitation was afterwards received, and fcarcely any- 

 other was admitted in the weft till the three learned men 

 abovt'-mentiontd appeared in defence of the contrary opinion. 

 If Bede, therefore, was fingular in being an advocate for 

 the Hebrew chronology, this Angularity afi^ords evidence of 

 his learning, penetration, and good fenfe. Tlie author's 

 ecelefiailical hiftory is written in ealy, though not very ele- 

 gant Eatin ; and as to the faults in his ftyle, which fome, 

 and particularly Du Pin, have cenfured, they will not ap. 

 pear to be very great, if compared with contemporary 

 writers ; and to compare him wilh others is certainly urjuft. 

 Of the Latin original of this Hiftory there have been feveral 

 editions with notes and commentaries ; particularly at Ant- 

 werp in 1550, at Heidelberg in 1587, at Cologne in 

 1601, at Cambridge in 1644, at Paris in i68t, and at Cam- 

 bridge in 1722. A Saxon verfion attributed to king -Vl, 

 fred, with learned notes by Abraliam Wiieeloc, was printed 

 at Cambridge in 1644; 3"*^ -"^ Englidi traiifiation by Dr. 

 Stapleton was printed at Antwerp in 1 joj. The dcfign of 

 the latter tranflatiun %vas to fupport the popifti rehgion, and 

 of courfe il is not deemed verv faithful ; but the hiftory of 

 N ' Btde, 



