B E S 



_j)aTt of tt to Eurorpc. They alfo fabricate a kird of jars 

 and j\:gs of earlhcii ware, which, from the peculiar luiture 

 of the clay in the adjiicent coii'.itry, are highly eftetmed, 

 and carried to all parts of the coaih Brown's Travels in 

 Africa, p. 377. 



Berytus, a town of Arabia, formerly called Diofpolis. 

 Stcph. By7.. 



BEllZl'-TIN, ill Geography, a town of Hungary, in 

 the dillritY of Gomor, not far from the river Sajo, and tor- 

 meriy noted as the refidence of many noble families. 



BERZETTO, a town and abbey of Italy, in the duchy 

 of Parma. 



BERZOWITZ, a town of Hungary, 12 miles N.N.E. 

 of'Leutl'ch. 



BES, or Bessis, an ancient Roman weiglit, containing 

 two thirds of the as, that is, eight iincitt. Sec As. 



The bes orijrinally weighed two aflTcs ; whence the origin 

 of the word quafi Linus as. Though Sealiger conjeclures it 

 to have been formed from ilius ; as helium from duellum, or 

 bonum from iluonum. Bes was alio a linear ineafure of the an- 

 cient Romans. Bes was alfo a mi.af\irc of capacity. 



Bes was alio ufed in the menfuration of lands, to denote 

 two thirds of Sijugerum, or acre. See Measure. 



Bes was alfo a money of account, and a current coin 

 among the ancient Romans. • See Coin, and Money. 



BESA, in rlncient Geography, an ancient city of the The- 

 baidc Lpon the Nile, confecrated to a god of that name, but 

 formed into a new city by Adrian, who built a temple in it 

 in honour of Autinous, and called it Ant'inoe or Anl'mop'A'u ; 

 which fee. 



Besa, in Mythology, a deity belonging to the city of 

 Abydub in the Thebaide, mentioned by Ammianus Maicel- 

 linus in his Hiftorj', lib. xix. The mode of confulting the 

 oracle of this deity was by writing the lubje£^s of inquiry 

 on fealed bilkti, which the priefts carried into the fanftuary 

 of the god, and to which they brought back the anfwcrs. 

 Ifaac Cafaubon has fuggeftcd, in confequence of a paffage 

 occurring in the Bibliotheca of Photius (Cod. 279.), that this 

 deity was adored at Anllnoe, or Aniinopolis ; which fee. 



BESAILE, or Besayle, Fr. denoting the father of 

 the grandfather, in the Common Law, a writ that lies where 

 the great-grandfather or great-grandmother was feifed the 

 day that he or flie died, of any lan<ls or tenements in fee-fim- 

 ple ; and after his or her death, a ftranger entered the fame 

 day \ipon him or her, and keeps out the heir. 



BESALU, in Geogriphy, a town of Spain, in Catalo- 

 nia, at the foot of the Pyrenees, ereftcd by pope Benedirt 

 Vni. into an archbifhopric, but foon after fuppreffed ; 7 

 leagues from the Mediterranean, and 5 north from Gerona. 



BESAN5ON, a city of France, and before the revolu- 

 tion the fee of an archbilhop, and capital now of Franche 

 Compte, of the department of the Doubs. This city is 

 Surrounded by mountains, and featcd on the river Doubs, 

 which divides it into the upp^r and lower town, joined by a 

 handfome bridj;c. Of the former, nothing remains except 

 the caille, or citadel, which is a long fquarc built on a fharp 

 rock, and comnianciing the city, which is defended by a wall 

 flanked with eight towers like baftlono. The latter has three 

 long and handfome llreets, which are adorned with houfes 

 built of free ftone, and covered with flate ; chiefly about the 

 fquare called " Battan," which is ornamented with a foun- 

 tain, whqix: water proceeds from the flatue of Bacchus. 

 The metropolitan cimrch is built at the bottom of St. Ste- 

 phen's hill, and is a handfome ftruflure, with a high tower 

 Ueeple. In the middle of the choir is the great altar, on 

 which they expofe at certain times, relics in filVer (hrines 

 enriched with gold and jewels. Near the church of Notre 



BES 



Darac is a triumphal arch, ereded in honour of trie empf« 

 ror Aurelian, on wiiich are leen fcveval mutiUited figures of 

 men and animals. This ferves as a gate to the cloillcr of 

 St. John the Great. The great hofp;tal of the order of 

 St. Efprit, lor foundlings, is a Itruclure worthy of notice. 

 The prifon is remarkable for its excellent economy, and the 

 humane attention paid to its unhappy occupier.s. The tovvn- 

 houfc Is a large edifice with four wings, having in its front 

 the ftatue of Charles V. in bronze, with a globe in one hand, 

 and a fword in the other. The imperial eagle i.s raifed over 

 a large bafon, and fpouts out water by both its beaks. The 

 governor's palace is magniticent ; and beyond it is a fountain, 

 adorned with the figure of a naked woman difcharging wa- 

 ter at her nipple.s. Under the Romans, this was one of 

 the mod magnificent places which they had in Gaul, and 

 many remains of their fuperb buildings are yet vilible. After 

 the death of Julian, it was ahnoft dellroyed by the Germans, 

 and a fecond time by Attila. It afterwards became an im- 

 perial city, till the time of Lewis XIV., who, in 1674, made 

 liini'.'clf mailer of it, repaired its fortifications, and united it 

 to France. The univerhty of this ci'y is an ancient and 

 celebrated foundation ; and in the year 1752 a hterary and 

 military fociety was inflituted in this place. It contains 3 

 parldies ; and the number of inhabitants, which was formerly 

 cflimated at 40,000, is now fuppofcd to be reduced to 

 30,000. The canton of noith Belain,on is laid to contain 

 15,618, and that of foulh Befan^on 16,662 perfons. The 

 territorial extent of Beian9on comprtliends 97^ kiliometrc.-^ ; 

 the former canton includes 3, and the latter 4 communes. N. 

 lat. 47° 13' 45". E. long. 6° 2' 40". 



About 20 miles from Belan^on, near the abbey of " Grace 

 Dieu," there isanatural ice-cellar, in a very romantic fituation. 

 On the highellpartof a mountain, covered with a thick grove 

 of lofty trees, is the opening of the cavern, which refeiiibles by 

 its depth, faid to be above 220 feet, and by the folemn gloom 

 of the furrounding wood, what poets have feigned of the de- 

 fcent into the infernal regions. The cavern itfclf is 60 feet 

 in length and height, and 40 in breadth ; the bottom is co- 

 vered with ice, of which vail pyramids rife from it, while 

 others appear fufpended from the arched roof, with their 

 points oppofite to thofe of the former. Within the cave is a 

 hole or well, always full of water, and never frozen ; and, at 

 the entrance, fome mould, which feems to have been accident- 

 ally thrown there, and adorned with primrofes and other 

 wild flowers. The ice, which in the cavern appears of a 

 beautiful azure, is, when feen by day-light, remarkably white. 

 From this natural repofitory, the ice-houfes in Befan^on are 

 fupplied, when the winters are too mild to freeze water in the 

 open air. This cavern has been the fubjecf of repeated iiivef- 

 tigation, the refult of which may be feen in the •' Memoirs of 

 the Academy," for 1712 and 1726. 



BESANT, or Bezant, Bizant, or Byzant, a fort of 

 coin, ilruck at Byzantium, in the time of the Chrillian empe- 

 rors, and well known in England, and indeed all over Europe, 

 for fonie ages before the Norman conquell. Few coins 

 ever had a longer or more univerfal currency than thefe 

 befants or byzantincs; having been current from the verv be- 

 ginning to the end of the eaftern empire, not only in all its 

 provinces, but alfo in all thofe countries which had been pro- 

 vinces of the weltern empire, and amongll others in Britain. 

 With us gold and hlver befants were received in payments. 

 But thougli they are frequently mentioned by all the hifto- 

 rians of the crufades, they are rarely fpoken of by ours. 

 Neither are they named in Domcfday book, nor in the public 

 afts of Henry I. or Stephen, nor in the lall will of king 

 Henry II. However, fome mention is made of them in pri- 

 vate deeds and kaft;s, and aUo in the Exchequer rolls under 

 •2 value. 



