BER 
whatever. The founder of this sect was 
Mr. Barclay, a Scotch clergyman. 
BERGAMOT, the name of a fragrant 
essence extracted from a fruit which is pro- 
duced by ingrafting a branch of a lemon- 
tree upon the stock of a bergamot-pear. 
BERGERA, in botany, so named from 
Berger, professor of Kiel, a genus of the 
Decandria Monogynia class and order. Es- 
sential character : calyx five-parted : petals 
five ; berry sub-globular, one-celled, with 
two seeds. There is but one species ; viz. 
B. koenigii. This is a very .leafy tree, with 
the bark of alder. It is a native of the 
East Indies. 
BERGIA, in botany, from Peter Jonas 
Bergius, professor of natural history at Stock- 
holm, a genus of the Decandria Pentagynia 
class and order. Natural order of Succu- 
lent®. Caryophylle®, Juss. Essential cha- 
racters : calyx five-parted ; petals five ; cap- 
sule one, globular with swellings, five-celled, 
five-valved ; valves resembling petals : seeds 
very many. There are two species ; viz. 
B. capensis, and B. glomerata : the stem of 
the former is extremely simple, half a foot 
high, the thickness of a pigeon's quill, erect, 
smooth, rather succulent. It is a native of 
Tranquebar, in the East Indies, and there- 
fore is misnamed capensis. The valves of the 
capsule continuing after it is ripe, form a 
kind of fine petalled wheel-shaped flower. 
The other species is found at the Cape. 
BERGSEIFE, in mineralogy, mountain- 
soap, is of a brownish colour, and is found 
in mass and disseminated. It is dull inter- 
nally, and its fracture is fine-earthy, passing 
into flat conchoidal. It is opaque, does 
not stain the fingers, gives a resinous streak, 
is very soft, adheres powerfully to the 
tongue, and is light. It is found in rocks in 
Poland and Bohemia, where it is used for 
washing linen, and in the Isle of Skye in 
'Scotland. 
BERKELEY (George) the virtuous 
and learned- bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, was 
born in that kingdom, at Kilcrin, the 12th 
of March, 1684. After receiving the first 
part ofhis education at Kilkenny school, he 
was admitted a pensioner of Trinity Col- 
lege, Dublin, at 15 years old ; and chosen 
fellow of that college in 1707, 
The first public proof he gave of his lite- 
rary abilities was, “ Arithmetics, absque 
Algebra aut Euclide demonstrata ;” which, 
from the preface it appears he wrote before 
he was 20 years old, though he did not pub- 
lish it till 1707. It is followed by a mathe- 
matical miscellany, containing observations 
BER 
and theorems inscribed to his pupil Samuel 
Molineux. 
In 1709 came out the “ Theory of Vi- 
sion which of all his works, it seems, does 
the greatest honour to his sagacity ; being, 
it has been observed, the first attempt that 
ever was made to distinguish the immediate 
and natural objects of sight, from the con- 
clusions we have been accustomed from in- 
fancy to draw from them. The boundary is 
here traced out between the ideas of sight 
and touch , and it is shewn, that though ha- 
bit hath so connected these two classes of 
ideas in the mind, that they are not without 
a strong effort to be separated from each 
other, yet originally they have no such con- 
nection; insomuch, that a person born 
blind, and suddenly made to see, would at 
first be utterly unable to tell how any ob- 
ject that affected his sight would affect his 
touch; and particularly would not from 
sight receive any idea of distance, or exter- 
nal space, but would imagine all objects 
to be in his eye, or rather in bis mind. 
In 1710 appeared “ The Principles of 
Human Knowledge;” and in 1713 “Dia- 
logues between Hylas and Philonous the 
object of both which pieces is, to prove 
that the commonly received notion of the 
existence of matter is false ; that sensible 
material objects, as they are called, are not 
external to the mind, but exist in it, and are 
nothing more than impressions made upon 
it by the immediate act of God, according 
to certain rules termed laws of nature. 
Acuteness of parts and beauty of imagi- 
nation were so' conspicuous in Berkeley’s 
writings, that his reputation was now esta- 
blished, and his company courted ; men of 
opposite parties concurred in recommend- 
ing him. For Steele he wrote several pa- 
pers in the Guardian, and at his house be- 
came acquainted with Pope, with whom he 
always lived in friendship. Swift recom- 
mended him to the celebrated Earl of Pe- 
terborough, who being appointed ambassa- 
dor to the King of Sicily and the Italian 
States, took Berkeley with him as chap- 
lain and secretary in 1713, with whom he 
returned to England the year following. 
His hopes of preferment expiring with 
the fall of Queen Anne’s ministry, he some 
time after embraced an offer made him by- 
Ashe, bishop of Clogher, of accompanying 
liis son in a tour through Europe. In this 
he employed four years ; and besides those 
places which fall within the grand tour, he 
visited some that are less frequented, and 
with great industry collected materials for 
