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wliicli he incautioufly divulged. At the age of So, he re- 

 tained his mental powers in their full vigour ; but from this 

 time they bcjan to decay. He died March 17, 1782. 

 Nouv. Dia. HilL 



Bernouilli, John, L. L. D. brother of the preceding, 

 was born at Beifil, I^Iay 18, 1710, and died there, July 17, 

 1790. He wa"! prot'cffor of eloquence, and afterwards of 

 matliematics at Balil, and member of the academies ot Pans 

 and Berlin. 



Bernouilli, James, licentiate of law, member of the 

 phyfical fociety at Bafil, and correfpondciit of t!ie royal 

 academy of fcicnces at Turin, was the fon of John Ber- 

 nouiUi lall mentioned, and born at Bafd, Oilober 17, 1759. 

 His natural talents, for which he was dillinguifhed at 

 an early period, were improved by long ailiduous appli- 

 cation. On his return from Neufchatel, whither he was 

 fent to ftudy the French language, he was admitted to 

 the degree of mafter of arts, and devoted himlelf to the 

 fludy of the law. In 1780, he made the tour of feveral 

 rantoni of SwifTcrland, of which an account was publiflied 

 in the third volume of the colleAion of travels, publiihcd at 

 Berlin by John liernouilii. The ihidy of the law, however, 

 did not divert his hereditary inclination for the mathematics; 

 and in thefc fciences he made fuch rapid progrefs, that in 

 1780, he was thought qualified to fupply tlie place of his 

 uncle, whofe age and infirmities rendered him iucapiible of 

 continuing his leAures on experimental philofophy, though 

 he did not fiicceed him in tiie vacant chair of ])rofefl"or after 

 his death. He had alio experienced a fimilar difappoiiitment 

 in his views with regard to the chair ot eloquence in 17^0; 

 on which occafion he publiflied his " Thcfes on the Su- 

 blime." After thcfc difappointments, he determined to in- 

 dulge his talle for travelling, and accepted the office of fe- 

 cretary to count de Breuner, minifter of the imperial court 

 of Vienna to the republic of V'enice. He ilill retained his 

 attachment to the mathematical fciences, of which he exhi- 

 bited proofs to the public in the memoirs of the royal aca- 

 demy of fciences and belles lettrcs at Berlin, and in thofe 

 of the royal fociety of Turin ; and as he widied to occupy 

 a ilation in which he might make life of the knowledge he 

 had acquired, he was reconmiended by his countryman Mr. 

 Fufs to the princefs of Dafhkof; and by her intiuence he 

 was elecled adj'if.ct in the acidemy at Peterlluirgli, with a 

 falaiy of Ooo rubles, and the promife of being promoted in 

 the courfe of a year. Accordmgly, he quitted Venice in 

 1786, and removed to Peterlbuvgh. Here he applied with 

 unintcriritting activity to phyhcal m:itliematics, and was 

 •oon honourid with th^' title of ordinary academician. In 

 the iiittr>-al of about 2 years, he prefented eight memoirs, 

 which wen; infcrtcd in the fix n'A. volumes of the " Nova 

 Adta AcademiiT: Scientiarum Inperialis Petiopolitan;c ;" 

 which dilplay fivigular acutencfs in analytical calculations. 

 In I78lf, he was appointed one of the prnfefibrs, who in- 

 Jbuft the imperial corps of nobte land cadets, and to the 

 office of teactiiug algebra to the two SrR clalTes he devoted 

 himi'elf v.'ith great zeal and affidjity. In 1789, he married 

 the yoangeil daughter of Mr. John Albert Euler ; but be- 

 ing always of a weak and delicate conllitution, he was feixed 

 with a fit of the apoplexy wtiillt he v.'as bathing, on the 3d 

 of July in the fame year, which fpcedily terminated his lift-, in 

 the 29th year tf hi.- age, very much to the regret of thofe 

 who know and valued him on account of hi* fcientific talents, 

 and mode!i, amibble difpofition. Befides a variety of ma- 

 thematical and philoiophical pieces, v/hich were publilhed in 

 ♦he •' Nova Aiia, &c." " Rozier's Tournal;" "Mem. de 

 I'Acad. Roy ale, de Berlin, Ann. 1781;" " Men. des 

 Correfp. de I'Acisd. P.oyaie de Turin, Ann. 1784, 17S5;" 



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«' Nova Ada Helvetica, torn, i." and " Leipfick Magaz.&c. 

 Parti, 1786;" and fome diltinft trcatifes ; he alio tranf- 

 lated " Merian's Philofophieal Memoirs," from the French 

 into German, 2 vols. Nova Adta Acad. Sclent. Imper. 

 Petropol. vol. X. 



BERNOVITZKOE, in Geography, a town of Rudia, 

 in the gorernment of Sinolenlko ; 40 miles north of Smoleiiflc. 

 BERNSTADT, a town of Silefia, in the principaUty of 

 Oels, on the river Weyda. 



BERNSTEIN, a 'town of Germany, i^i the circle of 

 Upper Saxonv, and new mark of Brandenburg ; 4 miles 

 N. E. of Berllnchen.— Alfo, a town and caftle of Germany 

 in the circle of Bavaria ; 2 miles W. S. W. of Gravenau. 



BERNSTORF, John Hartwig Ernest, Count 

 Von, in liiograjt/jy, an eminent llatefman, wasj born at 

 Hanover, May 13, 1712, and poffefled dllUnguKhed talents, 

 which were cultivated by ftudy at the high fchool of Tubin- 

 gen, which he entered in 1727, and by travelhng through 

 various parts of Europe, under the learned Keyfler. Upon 

 paying a vifit to Denmark, Bernftorf was taken into the 

 icrvice of Chrillian VI. and employed in affairs of Hate from 

 the year 1732 till the year 1737. In 1742, he was envoy 

 to the diet of that year, and to the court of the emperor 

 Charles VII. and from the year 1744 to 1750, he was am- 

 baffador to France. In November 17^6, he received the 

 chamberlain's key ; in June 1746, he was made a knight of 

 the order of Dannebrog ; and in Oftober 1749. he was ap- 

 pointed a privy-counfcllor. After his recal from France, 

 in 1750, he formed an intimacy with the prince of Wales 

 at Hanover, who widied him to employ his talents in his 

 fervice ; but bv the death of the prince, in 1751, he was 

 releafed from his engagements ; and upon this event he was- 

 immediately introduced into the privy-council, and entered 

 on the (dhce of miniller for foreign affairs, and firll fecretary 

 of the German chancery, and in 1752, was adm.itted into, 

 the order of the elephant. To Bernltorf were owing the 

 conduCl and execution of thofe beneficial meafures which 

 dillinguiihed the reign of Frederick V. Upon a plan fug- 

 gefled by him, was ellablKlied, in 1753, the hofpital in Co- 

 penhagen, for the education of poor boys; and he was ap- 

 pointed prelideut and governor of this patriotic and ufeful 

 inditu'tion, to which he gave a donation of 4000 rix-doUars. 

 ]n 1754, he advlled the crown to purchafe from the Eafl- 

 India company all their poffeflions, privileges, and merchan- 

 di/e ; and by this acl he promoted the profperity of the 

 Danith Weft India iflands, which had fuffered from the ex- 

 chifive right of the company. He alfo dillinguiflied himfelf 

 by his activity and zeal in promoting the manufaft ures of the 

 kingdom, which the king eiitruiled to his management in 

 1752, and he thus contributed to encieafe the population,, 

 and to excite a fpirit of indullry and emulation. He con- 

 curred in the dcfigns that were formed for the abolition of 

 flavery in Denmark, by the extimflion of commons, and by 

 freeing the farmers from the burthen of perfonal fervice. 

 He was alfo one of the firfl perfons in Denmark who coun- 

 terafted the general prejudice againft inoculation for the 

 fniall-pox, and v.-ho cudeavoured to reconcile the people to- 

 the pradice. Bernllorf was likewife indefatigable in his ex- 

 ertions for promoting the inftruftion of the poor ; and he 

 projefted a fund for the encouragement and recoiiipence of- 

 meritorious, but poor, fchoolmafters ; nor was he lefs foli- 

 cltous to extend the benefits of education, fo as to furnilh a 

 fupply of co:npetent teachers, for which purpofe he propofed 

 to ciiablifh a feminary at Altona, in connection with the 

 orphan-houfe of that city ; but adverfe circumllaiices pre- 

 vented the completion of his defign. He alfo dillniguilhed 

 huTifelf by the pi-otedion which he afforded to fcieiice, and 

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