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BERSARII, Jn Writers of the Mullk Jge, a kind of 

 hunters, or fporlfmen, who purfued wild beads in forcfts and 

 chafes. The word fcems derivtd from the barbarous Latin 

 ba-fare, " to flioot with a bow." On which principle it 

 (liould properly denote archers only, or bowmen. Or it 

 might be derived from lerfn, the " fence or pales of a park." 

 In which view, it Ihoiild primarily import thofe who hunt 

 or poach in parks or torefts. 



Hincmar fpeaks of a kind of inferior officers in the court 

 of Charlemagne, under the denomination uf lerfarii, vellrarii, 

 and be-verarii. Spelman takes the firll to denote thofe who 

 hunted the wolf ; the fecond, thofe who had the fuperin- 

 tendency of the hounds for that ufe ; and the third, thofe 

 who hunted the beaver. 



BERSCHETZ, or Berscheszh, in Geography, a little 

 town of Carniola, feated on a high rock near the Adriatic 

 fea, and containing a fmall harbour. In this place is pro- 

 duced a thick and fweet wine, of a black red colour. 



BERSELLO, or Brisello, a town of Italy, in the 

 duchy of Modena, feated on the I'o. It was taken by 

 the imperial troops under prince Eugene in 1702, and 

 by the French under the duke of Vendome in the follow- 

 ing year. The emperor Otlso died here, after his defeat 

 by the army of Vitelliu?. The town is fmall, but fortified; 

 27 miles north-well of Moden?.. N. lat. 44° ^^'. E. long. 

 10° 30'. 



BERSHEK, a mountain of Perfia, on the north-weft 

 fide of the lake of Zurra, noted for a fire-temple, the re- 

 fort of the Guebres. 



BERSIMA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Afia, in 

 Jilefopotamia, feated on the left bank of the Euphrates, 

 fouth-weft of Niccphorium. 



BERSKOl, in Geography, a town of Siberia, 20 miles 

 north-eaft of KoHvan. 



BERSTADTj a fmall town of Moravia, in the circle 

 of Olmutz. 



BERT. See Br:t. 



BERTAUT, John, in Biography, an early French poet 

 of reputation, was born either at Caen, or at Conde, in 

 Perche, in 1J52 ; and being known at court by his wit, was 

 appointed firll almoner to Catherine de Medicis, private fe- 

 cretary and reader to Henry III. and was much efteemed 

 by Kenry IV, in whofe converuon he was eminently inllru- 

 mental. In 1594, he was made abbot of Aulnai, and, in 

 i6c6, bilhop of Seez. After hi? advancement to this fee. 

 Lis conduit was irreproachable, though fome blame attached 

 to him, becaufc, inltead of lupprefTuig the free poems of his 

 vouth, he pubiilhed them with the pious pieces of his ad- 

 \anced age. He died in 161 1. As a poet, he is ftated to 

 have been more natural and clear than Ronfard, more forci- 

 ble than Defportes, and more ingenious and polilhed than 

 either of his contemporaries. Some of his ftanzas are faid 

 to poliefs the eafe and elegance cf a more refined period. 

 His fondnefs for point, with which his pieces abound, he 

 feems to have derived from his attachment to Seneca. His 

 " Poetic Works" were printed in 1620, Paris, 8vo. He 

 left aUb a translation of lome books of St.Ambrofe, contro- 

 verfial tracts, fcrmons, and a funeral oration for Henry IV. 

 Nouv. Diet. Hitt. Gen. Biog. 



BERTH, in Seit Language. .See Birth. 



BERTHEAU, Charles, in Biography, an eminent 

 Frencti protellant divine, was born at Montpelicr, in 1660, 

 and after having lludied philofophy and divinity, partly in 

 France, and partly in Holland, was admitted a minilltr in 

 the fynod of Vigan in 16S1. His iiril fcttlement was as 

 pallor to the church at Montpelier, whence he removed to 

 be iiiiniller of the churcfe at Paris, which met at CharentjJn. 



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Upon the revocation of the cdici of Nantes, lie came over 

 to England, and in 1686, was chofen one of the minillcrs 

 of the Walloon church in Threadnecdle-ftreet, London, in 

 which capacity he officiated, with very general applaufe, for 

 44 years. He died, much regretted, in December 1732. 

 He was diftinguifhed by found judgment, by a retentive me- 

 mory, fo that he is faid never to have forgotten any thing 

 which he had fcen, read, or heard, by his accurate and cx- 

 tenfive acquaintance with ecclcfiaftical hillory, and by his elo- 

 quence as a preacher. Two volumes of his fermons have been 

 printed in French ; the firll in 171 2, and the fecond at Am- 

 fterdam, where the former was reprinted, in 1730. Gen. Dicl. 



BERTHEAUME Point, m Geography, the well limit 

 of the bay fo called, about li league eall from St. Mat- 

 thew's point, without the entrance into the road of Breil. 

 Within the point, on the weft fide of the bay, are the caiUe 

 and rock of Bertheaume. 



BERTHEVIN, St., a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Mayeune, and chief place of a canton, in the 

 dillricl of Laval, ^ of a league weft of Laval. 



BERTHING, in the Sea Language, denotes the raifing' 

 or bringing up of fiiip-lides. Thus they fay, a clinckerhatu 

 her fides berthed up before any beam is put into her. 



BERTHOLZ, in Geography, a town of Germany, in 

 the archduchv of Auftria, 5 miles W.N.W. of Zwelt. 



BERTHONCELLES, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Orne, and chief place of a canton, in the di- 

 ftrift of Bellefme, 13 miles north-call of Bellefme. 



BERTI, John-Laurence, in Biography, an Auguftiri 

 monk, was born in 1696 at Seravezza, a village in Tulcany, 

 and upon being called to Rome bv his fuperiors, was ap- 

 pointed affiftant general of his order in Italy, and prefect 

 of the angelic library. In a great work, entitled " De 

 Difciplinis Theologicis," printed at Rome, in 8 vols. 4to. 

 he appears to have adopted the fentiments of St. Augullin, 

 which involved him in a controvcrfy with the Jefuits, and 

 caufed him to be denounced to pope Benedict XIV. as adif- 

 ciple of Baius and Janfenius. Againll this charge he de- 

 fended himfelf in a learned apology, comprehending 2 vols. 

 4to. He afterwards compofed in Latin an " Ecclcfiaftical 

 Hillory," in 7 vols. 4to., which was afterwards abridged in 

 one volume, 8vo. In this work he reprefents the pope as 

 .fupreme monarch and arbiter of all kingdoms and empires. 

 He alfo wrote many other works, fome of which are Italian 

 poems, all of which were publiflied together at Venice in 

 folio. He was invited by Francis I. grand-duke of Tufcany, 

 to Pifa, and received a confiderable penfion, with a pro- 

 feiforfhip m the univerfity, under the title of " Imperial 

 theologiil," and here he died, in 1766, much lamented by 

 his colleagues. Nouv. Dict.-Hift. 



BERTIE, in Geography, a maritime county of Ame- 

 rica, in North Carolina, and Edenton diflrid, having for 

 its fouth boundary the Roanoke, and on the eall Albe- 

 marle found. In this county is fituated the ancient Indian 

 tower of Tufcarora. It contains 12,606 pcrfons, of whom 

 5141 are flaves. 



BERTI ERA, in Botany, Aen-Des its name from M; Ber. 

 tier of France, and was fo called in honour of him, by M. . 

 Aublet. Lin. gen. Schreb. n. 3041 Aubl. 69. Jufl". 200. 

 Clafs and order, pentanilria monogynia. Nat. Ord. Conl'jrtu, 

 Lin. ; Rubiiices, JulT.. Gen. Char. Calyx, perianth turbinate, 

 live-toothed.. Cor. one petallcd ; tube Ihort ; mouth villofcj 

 border five-cleft ; clefts ovate, acute, fpreading. Stam. fila- 

 ments five, very (hort, inferted into the tube beneath the 

 orifice ; anthers linear, eretl. Pijl. germ roundifh, inferior, 

 crowned by a gland ; ftyle filiform ; ftigraa two-plaited. 

 Per. berry globofe, crowned by the teeth of the calyx,. 



two— 



