BED 



BED 



the Ifraelites, from a tradition, that is ftill kept up by the 

 Arabs, of their having pafTid through it. It is alio called 

 " Baidcah," he fays, from the m-ut and unlieard-of miracle, 

 that was wrouirht near it, by dividing the Red fia, and de- 

 Aroying in it Pharaoh, his chariots, and horfcmen. Bruce 

 obfcrve:., that Dr. Shaw, by intci-preting " Badeah" as the 

 " valley of the miracle," forces an etymology, becaufe there 

 was yet no miracle wrought, nor was there ever any in the 

 valley. But " Badeah," he fays, means " barren," and 

 " ttninhabited ;" fuch a-s we may imagine a valley between 

 ftony mountains, a deftrt valley. 'J'o his tranllation of 

 " Jlbbcl Attakah," as the " mountain of deliverance," 

 Bruce objefts, that fo far were the Ifiaclitcs from being de- 

 livered, on their arrival at this mountain, that they were then 

 in the greateft diftrefs and danger. Attakah means, accord- 

 ing to this traveller, to " arrive," or " come up with ;" 

 either becaufe they arrived within fight of the Red lea ; or 

 it might more probably derive its name from the arrival of 

 Pharaoh, or his coming in fight of the Ifraelites, when en- 

 camped between Migdol and the Red lea. .Shaw's Travels, 

 p. 3C2. Brucc's Travels in Abyrfinia, vol.i. p. 232, &c. 



A late writer obl'erves, that this hypolhefis of the padage 

 of the IlVaelites at Bedea, has been given up by our bell 

 modern critics ; and the " Sinus Heroopolitunus," or gulf 

 of Suez, pitched upon as the fcene of aftion. The idea was 

 firft fuggefted bv Le Clcrc, and fincc adopted and defended 

 bv Michaelis, Niebuhr, and almollall the Gorman comment- 

 ators. Mr. Biyant, however (Obf. on the Plagues of F.gypt, 

 p. S7^-^) ftill contends for Bedea, and calls the arguments of 

 Kiebuhr prejudices and mifconccptions. The writer, to 

 whom we now refer, who excludes from this event every 

 thinf that was miraculous, contends for the pafs at Sue/, 

 or not far from Suez, wliere, he fays, at tliis day there are 

 (hallows fordable at low water, and which might, in former 

 times, have been frequently dry. Geddes's Critical Remarks, 

 \ol.i. p.22j. See Suez. 



BEDEC, a town of France, in the department of the 

 TUe and Vilaine, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrifl 

 of Montfort, one league N. of Montfort. 



BEDEGUAR, in the Miiifna MetUcii, the name of a fun- 

 gus, orgall, growing upon the rofe jdant (rolafilvellris), which 

 belongs to the clals of altringents, as it is poneiTed of and 

 celebrated for its aftringent power ; but it has hardly yet got 

 a place in our difptnfatories, and we are (]\iitc unacquainted 

 with its powers. CuUen's Mat. Med. vol. ii. \i. 7,G. 



BEDEL, or Bedf.o, B(iy, in Cro^raphy, lits in the gulf of 

 the river of St. Lawrence, on the fouth-welt coal! of the 

 liland of St. John's, in North America, and is fituated S. by 

 E. from Esrmont bay, on the fame coaft of the ifland. 



BEDELL, William, in Bii/^ruphy, an eminent prelate 

 of the Englifti church in Ireland, was born at Black Notley 

 in EfTeic in 1570; and being defigned for the church, was 

 educated at Emanuel college in the univerfity of Cambridge. 

 Having been chofen fellow of his college in 1593, and taken 

 his degree of bachelor of divinity in 151)9, he removed to 

 .St. Edmundfburv in Suffolk, where he continued in high 

 eflimation fir his attention to the duties of his profeflion till 

 he accompanied fir Henrv Wofton to Venice, as his chap- 

 lain. Here he became intimately acquainted with father 

 Pavil Sarpi, who taught him the Italian language, into which 

 he tranflated the Englifh common prayer book ; and in re- 

 turn for the favour conferred upon him by father Paul, he 

 drew up an Englidi grammar for his ufe, and allirttd him in 

 his ftudic!, Durintj his ftay at Venice, he availed himfelf of 

 the affiftance of Rabbi I^eo, in acquiring the knowledge of 

 the Hebrew language, and of Rabbinical learning ; and by 

 his means he had an opportunity of purchafing a very fair 



MS. of the Old Teilament, which cod, it is faid, its weight 

 in fdver, and which he prefented to Emanuel college. He 

 alio formed an acquaintance with Antonio de Douiinis, arch- 

 bifhop of Spalato, and comm\inicatcd to him feveral correc- 

 tions of his book " De Republica Ecclefiallica," afterwards 

 printed in London. Upon his leaving Venice, after a re- 

 iidence of eight years, he received from lather Paul, as token'v 

 of his elleem and friendlhip, his piclure, and feveral valuable 

 books, together with a MS. copy of his famous hillory of 

 the council of Trent, his hillorics of the Interdiel and In- 

 quifitioii, and a colleftion ot letters. At Edrntinddniry, 

 where he fettled upon lii» return to England, he emploved 

 himfelf in tranflating the hillories oi the Interdidt and Inqui- 

 fiti()n,and the two lall books of the hillory of the council of 

 Trent into Latin, the two firft having been tranflated by fir 

 Adam Newton. In 1615, Bedell was prclented by fir John 

 Jermyn to the living of Horingflieath, in the fee of Nor- 

 wich ; but having Icruples about paying the fees of induc- 

 tion, which he regarded as a ipccies ot liniony, he declined 

 acccptini> it ; however, he was alterwards admitted without 

 fees, and lived in this parifli for twelve years unnoticed. To 

 fuch a degree, fiidetd, was he difregardcd, tliat when Diodati, 

 a famous divine of Geneva, came to England, he difcovtrcd 

 his jilace of abode by mere accident. Bedell was introduced 

 by Diodati to Morton bifhop ot Durham, as the efteemed 

 friend of fatlicr Paul, and was treated bv him with peculiar 

 refpeft. In his oblcure retreat he evinced his talents by the 

 publication of fome letters which had pafRd between hint 

 and James Wadelworth, formcilv his fellow-collegian, but 

 fince become a convert to popery, and a penfioner of the in- 

 quifition at Seville, concerning the authority of the churtb 

 of Rome. Thefe lelteis were dedicated, to king Charles L 

 then prince of Wales, in 1624. In this work there was a 

 paflage which juilified rcfillance to tyrannical princes. 

 Whilll the author lived, the paflage efcapcd auiniadverlion ; 

 before the trcatife was iei>riiitcd in iC'^';, in order to be bound 

 up with bidiop Ijurnet's life of Bedell, it could not obtai'rf 

 the licence of fir Roger I'Eftrange, till fome words were in- 

 troduced which made the patTage appear like a reference to 

 arguments that were ufed by others. In 1627^, Bedell was. 

 elefted provolt of Trinity college, Dublin, which he was con- 

 flraincd to accept by the king's fpecial command. Upon 

 his return to England, for the purpofe of taking over his 

 family, he had ferious thoughts of refigning his poll ; but he 

 was perluaded to retain it by an encouraging letter from the 

 primate, l^lher. He then engaged in the difcharge of the 

 duties of his ftation with vi?-our and adtivitv, and was emi- 

 nently ufcful in compofing divifions among the fellows, ella- 

 blifluiig dilcipline, and promoting religion by weekly fcrmons 

 on the chnreli catechilm, which he formed into learned lec- 

 tures of divinity and morals. I-n this cmplovm.ent he con- 

 tinued about two years, when, by the intcrett of fir Thomas 

 Jermyn, and tlie application ofbifliop Laud, lie was advanced 

 to tlie ices of Kilmore and Ardagh. He was confecratcd at 

 Drogheda in September 1629, being then in the 59th year 

 of his age. In this new ilation he had to encounter many 

 difficulties ; but he determined to adopt plans of reformation,' 

 and to correct the abufes and diforders that had prevailed to 

 a very great det;ree in his dioceie. In order to fecurc fuc- 

 cefs in his laudable deugn, and the more efiettually to abolifh 

 pluralities, he fet an example of moderation by fcparatinr 

 the fee of Ardagh from that of Kilmore, though he had been 

 at a confiderable expence in recovering fome of its revenues ; 

 thefe fees, however, have been fince re-united, and have fo 

 continued. After the compromife if a difpute, which had 

 occurred between him and lord Wentworth, afterwards lord 

 Strafford, who was appointed lord deputy of Irelaud in 1633, 



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