quantities of wool, pork, &c. It contained, at the same date, 25 flour and grist mills, 13 saw mills, 3 paper mills, 5 woollen factories, 4 manufactories of agricultural implements, 5 breweries, 18 tanneries, 4 iron founderies, and several other mills and factories of various articles. Area, 650 sq. m.; pop. 26,689. Capital, Beaver.

BEAVER, PHILIP, an English navigator, born Feb. 28, 1760, died April 5, 1813. When 17 years of age, he entered the royal navy, in which he served during the war of the American revolution. After the peace, finding himself out of employment, and impatient of repose, he conceived various projects, and settled at last upon founding a colony in Africa, the object of which should be not commerce, but to cultivate the land by free labor, to civilize the negroes, and to introduce among them the European religion, arts, and manners. He had read in a French author a description of the isle of Boulama, in the archipelago of Bisagos, on the western coast of Africa, and he judged this island the most suitable place for the execution of his scheme. He communicated with numerous persons, particularly with naval officers, and found a general sympathy for his project; an act of association was therefore formed, the subscribers met, and a plan was submitted to the minister Pitt, who gave to it his approbation. On the 13th of April, 1792, 3 ships, bearing 275 white colonists under the guidance of Beaver, set sail from the Isle of Wight. The expedition proved, however, a failure. Within 4 months more than a third of the colonists had died by fever upon the African coast, and more than half the survivors hastened to abandon the project and return to their country. Those who remained, and escaped the fever, suffered incessant embarrassments and discouragements. Beaver himself, several times prostrated by the scourge which threatened to annihilate his colony, still maintained his courage, struggled hopefully, though with failing strength, against all depressing influences, and had no thought either of giving up the enterprise, or leaving the fatal island. He hoped for new supplies of men and money from England, trusted to the energy of his character to achieve the prosperity of his colony, and the elevation of the African race. He planted numerous fruit trees and vegetables, some of which were flourishing; and numerous constructions necessary to the safety and well-being of the colonists were nearly completed. Not content with regulating and watching over every thing, he himself gave the example in all kinds of labor, and selected for his own hands whatever was most difficult and painful. As he saw the spirits of the colonists still continue to droop, he called them together, pointed out to them the difficulties over which they had triumphed, and strove to revive their courage by portraying the hopes which they could reasonably cherish for the future. Yet his efforts were in vain, and he saw that he must renounce his enterprise. He embarked,

Nov. 29, 1793, with his surviving companions, from the isle of Boulama, and arriving at Sierra Leone, was attacked anew by the fever and detained 2 months. When he again embarked for England, he had with him but one of all the colonists who had sailed for Africa under his direction. He arrived at Plymouth in May, 1794; and in June, a meeting of the shareholders of the association was held in London, and in spite of the losses which resulted from the ill success of the expedition, such was the admiration which the disinterested, resolute, and noble conduct of Beaver had inspired, that the assembly unanimously voted him a gold medal in testimony of their gratitude. The events of this expedition were described by Beaver in a publication entitled "African Memoranda," a work containing much curious and original information. He subsequently went again into the service, distinguished himself in the descent of Gen. Abercrombie upon Egypt in 1801, and in the capture of the Isle of France in 1810. In 1813 he cruised in the Indian ocean, in command of the frigate Nisus, and died at the Cape of Good Hope from too severe exposure and labor in exploring the coast of Quiloa. Beaver was not only most efficient in action, but was also a man of taste, and possessed a large fund of knowledge. It was said that he read through the entire "Encyclopædia Britannica" during one of his long cruises.

BEAVER ISLANDS, a group in Lake Michigan, near its northern extremity, and having one island of considerable extent (40 sq. m.), called Big Beaver. After their expulsion from Nauvoo, a dissenting branch of the Mormons established themselves there under Joseph Strang.

BEAVER LAKE, the largest lake in Indiana. It has an area of 25 square miles, and is situated in Jasper county, south of the Kankakee river.

BEAVER MEADOW, a village in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, and about 100 miles north-west of Philadelphia. It is connected with the Lehigh river by a railroad, over which much coal is sent from Beaver Meadow.

BEAZLEY, SAMUEL, English architect and author, born in Westminster, in 1786, died at Tunbridge castle, Kent, Oct. 12, 1851. He erected a great many theatres in England, viz.: 3 in London, 2 in Dublin, and 3 in the provinces, beside remodelling several, adding the colonnade to Drury Lane, and the Strand façade to the Adelphi, and supplying drawings for 2 in India, 2 in Belgium, and 1 in Brazil. The merit of all his theatrical constructions is that people can see and hear in them. Mr. Beazley also erected many railway stations, including the handsome terminus of the south-eastern railway over London bridge. He wrote over a hundred dramas, many of them successful in their day. The English libretto of the "Sonnambula" and of some of the other operas were from his pen. He also wrote two novels, "The Roué" and "The Oxonians;" the first of these has been erroneously attributed to Bulwer.

BEBAYH-EL-HAGAR, or BEBEK-EL-HADJAR, a ruined town of Egypt, in the delta of the Nile. It embraces more extensive remains of antiquity than any other town in that part of Egypt.

BEBIAN, AUGUSTE, an instructor of the deaf and dumb, born at Guadeloupe, W. I., about 1782, died about 1828. His father was an eminent French merchant residing on that island. At the age of 14 or 15, he was sent to Paris for his education, and placed under the abbé Sicard. He was sent first to a private boarding school, and afterward to the imperial lyceum, where he graduated. Boarding in the family of the abbé Sicard, he became interested in the education of the deaf and dumb, and after a time determined to devote himself to their instruction. He accordingly prepared himself for the work by taking lessons of the abbé and of M. Laurent Clerc, and when M. Clerc came to this country with Dr. Gallaudet, Bebian succeeded him as teacher. Subsequently, he was appointed censor of studies. This office he filled with great ability from 1817 to 1825, when he resigned it and devoted himself to literature. In 1819 he had received the prize offered by the royal academy of sciences for the best eulogy on the abbé de l'Epée. Subsequently he wrote several other biographies, among the rest one of the abbé Sicard. In 1827 he published a "Manual for the Practical Instruction of Deaf Mutes." After his resignation, he visited the institutions for deaf mutes in other countries.

BEBUTOFF, WASSILJI OSSIPOWITCH, prince, & Russian general, born in 1792, the eldest of 4 brothers, who have been more or less connected with the Caucasian war. Their father held the office of treasurer under the administration of Prince Julon, in Georgia; the grandfather was governor of Tiflis, and accompanied Nadir Shah in his expedition to India. For some centuries past we find the family, which originally came from Armenia, occupying a high position among the princely houses of Georgia. Wassilji, after having completed his education at the military academy of St. Petersburg, joined in 1809 the army in the Caucasus, and in 1812 accompanied the Caucasian governor-general, Paulucci, to Livonia, where he took a part in the operations against the French. In 1817 he acted as adjutant of the Russian plenipotentiary, Gen. Jermoloff, on his mission to Persia, on which occasion his familiarity with the Persian language and customs proved invaluable. The subjugation of the territory Akoosha, in the province of Daghestan, and of neighboring places, was due, in a great measure, to his exertions; and after having been raised, in 1821, to the rank of commandant of a Mingrelian regiment, he was appointed governor of the province of Imeritia, in Transcaucasia, which office he held from 1825 to 1827. In 1828 he distinguished himself by the active part which he took in the storming of Akhalzikh, in Georgia; and on being appointed commandant of this fortress, he VOL. III.-3

exhibited great bravery in holding out, in March, 1829, with a small number of soldiers, for 10 days, against the superior forces of the Turkish army under Achmet Pasha. Subsequently, he presided over the newly organized Transcaucasian Russian government of Armenia, and concluded, in 1835, a boundary treaty with Persia. From 1838 to 1840 he officiated at Tiflis as member of the Transcaucasian administration, and after acting for some time as commandant of the fortress of Zamosz, in Poland, he returned in 1844 to the Caucasus, and achieved, in Oct. 1846, a victory over Shamyl. In Nov. 1847, he became president of the civil government and of the administrative council of Transcaucasia. In 1853, on the outbreak of the war with Turkey, he was called upon, by the old Gen. Woronzoff, to take part in it. On Dec. 1 of the same year, he prevented the Turks from invading Armenia by defeating the forces under Abdi Pasha; and on Aug. 5, 1854, he achieved a much more important victory over Zarif Pasha, at Köruk-dere, although the Turkish army was over 40,000 strong, and his own only about 20,000. However, he incurred censure for not following up this victory by marching on Kars, and in 1855 he was relieved from his command by Mouravieff, and returned to Tiflis, to resume his duties as president of the administration. Subsequently, he baffled Omar Pasha's attempt to penetrate into Mingrelia, and for a short time he again replaced Mouravieff in the command of the Caucasian army, until the arrival of the commander-in-chief, Prince Bariatinski. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1843, and of gen、 eral of infantry in 1857.

BECCAFICO, the sylvia hortensis, or figpecker, a singing bird which feeds upon insects, figs, currants, and other fruits, and belongs to the order of sylviada (warblers), and is found in some English and even Scotch counties, but chiefly in southern Europe. It has a voice like a nightingale, lurks shyly in the thickest foliage, flies with singular grace, was eaten with much delight by the ancient Romans, and still is one of the most delectable morceaux on Italian, Grecian, and French tables, especially in Venice. Their usual market price is about $1 apiece, but they frequently sell as high as $3 and $5. An annual feast made on beccaficos is called Beccaficata. The term beccafico is applied in continental Europe, rather indiscriminately, to different kinds of sylvan warblers, when they are fat and in condition for the table.

BECCAFUMI, DOMENICO, an Italian artist, born at Sienna, in 1484, died at Genoa, March 18, 1549, whose real name was Mecherino, adopted the name of his benefactor, Beccafumi, who, struck with the talent which he displayed while pursuing the humble calling of a shepherd in drawing the figures of the sheep upon the sand, placed him in the studio of a Venetian. He studied at Rome the works of Michel Angelo and Raphael, and on his return to Sienna, executed a number of bronze statues and bass-re

liefs, and the mosaic of the pavement of the cathedral.

BECCARIA, CESARE BONESANA, marquis of, an Italian economist, born at Milan, March 15, 1738, died Nov. 28, 1794. His education commenced in the Jesuit college at Parma, which he left at the age of 17. He at once devoted him self to the study of Condillac, Helvetius, and the French encyclopædists, but soon found his master in Montesquieu, whose Lettres Persanes are said to have revealed to him his vocation. His first work, "Of the Abuses of the Coinage in the State of Milan, and their Remedies," was called forth in 1762 by a commercial crisis. Soon afterward, he formed a literary club, from which issued in 1764 and 1765 the Caffe, a periodical on the plan of the "Spectator." Among the papers contributed by Beccaria, was one upon style, wherein he attempts to prove that all men may, with equal culture, become equally successful in literature. The first portion of a more elaborate work in support of these views was published in 1770, but never completed. The essay upon crimes and punishments, printed in 1764, made Beccaria's reputation. "Never did so small a book," says the Biographie Universelle, "produce so great an effect." It went through numerous editions, and was translated into almost all the languages of Europe, including modern Greek. Diderot wrote notes, and Voltaire a commentary upon it. Baron Grimm called its author "one of the best heads in Europe," and spoke of his, as one of the few books that make men think." The academy of Bern struck a medal in honor of the marquis, and Catharine II. of Russia offered him an honorable station at her court. The essay upon crimes and punishments merits notice as the first work of its kind in modern times. It is more valuable as a criticism upon existing systems of penal law, and a statement of the principles which should guide in their reformation, than as an attempt to construct a system. Important problems in the ethics of crime are, however, touched upon, principles of evidence are laid down, and the spheres of judges and legislators respectively are discriminated. Among the most remarkable chapters in the book is that upon torture, wherein the practice, then in vogue, is severely ridiculed. "The problem may be better resolved," he says, "by a mathematician than by a judge, and may be thus stated: The force of the muscles, and the sensibility of the nerves of an innocent person being given, it is required to find the degree of pain necessary to make him confess himself guilty of a given crime." In another chapter, Beccaria declares himself opposed to capital punishment, and argues the point at length. He sums up his book with the following general theorem: "That a punishment may not be an act of violence of one or of many against a private member of society, it should be public, immediate, and necessary; the least possible in the case given; proportioned to the crime and determined by the laws." The opin

ions broached in this book became the property of Europe, and produced a marked impression upon its criminal jurisprudence, reforms greater or less in scope being soon afterward made in the penal codes of Russia, Austria, Tuscany, and Denmark. In 1768, the marquis was appointed to a professorship of public law and economics at Milan, specially created and endowed for that purpose by Count Firmiani, then governor of that part of the Austrian dominions. His lectures, which attracted much notice at the time, were published after his death in a compilation of Italian writings on political economy. He is an advocate of the laissez faire system, and some striking coincidences have been remarked between these lectures, both in style and doctrine, and Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations." In 1771, Beccaria was appointed a member of the supreme economic council, whence he was transferred to the magistracy of state, and subsequently to the board for reform of the judicial code. Such of his state papers as are preserv ed, are characterized by the clearness and precision which mark all their author's writings. In one of them it is for the first time proposed to use the decimal system in the application of that base for exact measurement which is derivable from the celestial bodies. Beccaria, though so bold as a writer, was exceedingly timid as a man. He wrote to his friends that, "although he was the apostle of liberty, he preferred not to be its martyr." He was twice married and died of apoplexy: His grave remains, it is said, without a name or an epitaph.

BECCARIA, GIOVANNI BATTISTA, an Italian mathematician and chemist, born at Mondovi, Oct. 3, 1716, died at Turin, May 27, 1781. He taught successively in the universities of Rome, Palermo, and Turin. The experiments of Franklin had at this time called the attention of the learned to the phenomena of electricity, and in 1753, Beccaria published a treatise on natural and artificial electricity, which was highly praised by Priestley. His subsequent and most important work, Dell' elettricismo artifiziale, was translated into English by Franklin himself. In 1759 he was appointed by the Sardinian government to measure a degree of the meridian in Piedmont, and published the result of his labors in his Gradus Taurinensis. He also wrote many small treatises on electricity.

BECCLES, a market town of England, founded in 1369. It is richly ornamented with sculpture, and contains several public buildings. The inhabitants maintain a good carrying trade in coals and corn, and are extensively engaged in the making of malt.

BECERRA, GASPAR, a Spanish sculptor and fresco-painter, born at Baeza, in Andalusia, in 1520, died 1570, studied under Michel Angelo at Rome, and executed, on his return to Madrid, several works in fresco for the palace, and adorned many churches. His master-work is a statue of the Virgin, made by order of Isabella de Valois.

BECHER, ALFRED JULIUS, one of the principal leaders in the Vienna revolution of October, 1848, born at Manchester, in England, in 1803, and shot by order of the Austrian government, Nov. 23, 1848, at Vienna. His father, a wealthy English merchant, took him in early life to Germany, where he studied law at Heidelberg, Göttingen, and Berlin. From political causes, he became obnoxious to the Prussian government, and was for some time subjected to imprisonment. On recovering his liberty, he practised law for some time at Elberfeld, and edited a mercantile paper in Cologne, but his love of art drew him to Düsseldorf, where he remained until he received an appointment as professor of music at the Hague. His services in that capacity obtained for him a call to his native country, and in 1840 he entered upon his duties as professor of a musical academy in London. In 1845, a lawsuit made it necessary for him to visit Vienna. In the artistic and literary circles there, Becher was in his element. He wrote musical and artistic criticisms for the papers. When the revolution of 1848 broke out, he became a member of the democratic central committee, and in cooperation with the leaders of the other democratic committees, he edited the "Radical," a paper which existed from June 16, 1848, until the storming of Vienna. After Windischgrätz got possession of the city, Becher was arrested, sentenced to death on Nov. 22, chiefly upon the evidence of his participation in the publication of the "Radical," and shot on the morning of Nov. 23, in the Stadtgraben, before the Neuthor in Vienna.

BECHER, JOHANN JOACHIM, a German chemist, born at Spire, in Rhenish Bavaria, in 1625, died at London in 1682. Although he had to struggle with many adverse circumstances, he acquired an extensive knowledge of medicine, physics, and chemistry, became professor at Mentz, and, in 1660, imperial councillor at Vienna, and first physician to the elector of Bavaria. His attention being also directed to politico-economical subjects, and particularly to the means of increasing the revenues of the state, he contributed, while at Vienna, greatly to the establishment of several manufactories, a chamber of commerce, and an Indian company. But the jealousy of some members of the Austrian government frustrated all his efforts. This jealousy he also experienced at Mentz, Munich, and in Würzburg, and he betook himself to Haarlem; but new misfortunes forced him to seek refuge in London, where he died. He was a man of original, but irregular, genius.

BECHER, SIEGFRIED, an Austrian political economist, born Feb. 28, 1806, at Plan, in Bohemia. He studied law, entered the public service, and in 1835 became professor of history and geography at Vienna. His "Manual for the Study of History," which appeared in 1833, and his "General Geography," for the use of schools, which appeared in 1842, and kindred publications, contributed to increase his reputation,

which was still more strengthened by the publication of a comprehensive history of the Austrian mint and currency. On the formation of a new cabinet in May, 1848, he became chief secretary of Doblhoff, the minister of commerce. In September of the same year he was appointed member of the states council, and when Doblhoff withdrew from office, in October, he officiated as minister until Dec. 1848.

BECHSTEIN, JOHANN MATTHIAS, a German ornithologist and forester, born at Waltershausen, in the duchy of Saxe-Gotha, in 1757, died in 1822. He studied theology at the university of Jena, but his tastes led him to the pursuits of the chase, and to the study of animals and plants. Having visited the most celebrated hunting-grounds of Germany to observe the methods practised in them, he opened at Kemnote a school of forestry, and published a journal, entitled the "Diana," devoted to hunting intelligence and kindred matters. In 1800, the duke of Saxe-Meiningen appointed him director of his academy of forestry, and placed at his disposal his forests, a menagerie, and a pheasantry. Bechstein left many works upon the subjects to which he devoted his life, among which is a "Natural History of Germany,' especially valuable in the department of ornithology.

BECHUANA (in the singular Mochuana, from chuana, free, with a personal prefix), a widely extended people in southern Africa, occupying the southern and south-eastern portion of the interior, divided into numerous tribes which closely resemble each other in physical features, in manners, customs, and superstitions, and which in these respects are distinguished, though not strongly, from their eastern neighbors, the Caffres. Their complexion is for the most part a coffee-colored brown, that of the Barolong tribe being the lightest. They are of medium size, symmetrically built, and have the crisped woolly hair which so generally marks the negro. They are of a gentle and unwarlike character, and their numerous feuds rarely have a bloody issue. Their weapons are only a light spear and a short shield, and they are often subjected, without offering much resistance, by their warlike neighbors, the Koranas and Caffres. Yet they are intelligent, manifest a love of independence, and surpass the Caffres in diligence and skill in manual labor. Slavery hardly exists among them. They are rich in sheep and goats, but possess fewer horned cattle, which, however, especially cows, they prize very highly. Where the soil permits it is diligently cultivated, and some of the tribes have considerable industry. They have some notion of deity, but temples, idols, priests, and consecrated objects are almost wholly wanting, though monkeys, snakes, and crocodiles are sometimes worshipped. They affirm that they originally sprang from a cave, which is still pointed out in the Bakoni country, and where the footmarks of the first man may be still seen in the

rocks. Their faith in the supernatural power of a class of wizards, termed rain-makers, one of whom at least is found in every tribe, they share with the other peoples of southern Africa. Polygamy exists to an unlimited extent, and circumcision is a general usage. Christian missionaries have obtained access to several of the most western tribes, and by their influence the women, who formerly performed all the agricultural work, have been relieved from the heavier tasks, only the labor of hoeing, driving away birds, reaping, and winnowing now falling to them. The government of the Bechuana is both monarchical and patriarchal, and of a mild character. Every tribe has its chief or king, who resides in the largest town, and is held sacred by reason of his hereditary right to that office. Under these chiefs are the heads of particular districts and villages, and again under these are the cosi, or wealthy men, who form the aristocracy of the nation. The power of the princes is very great, but is limited by the general assembly, called the picho, of the subordinate chiefs. The Bechuana formerly extended south as far as the Orange river, but were there met and driven back by the Hottentot races. At a recent period the Caffres made an incursion from the east deep into the Bechuana territory, devastated the country, destroyed cities, many of which had a population of 20,000, and effected for the time a complete political and social transformation. Some of the tribes were totally annihilated. More recently the Boers, or Dutch settlers, have founded establishments, one of which is known as the Orange River republic, within the boundaries of the Bechuanas. Among the most important and best known of the Bechuana tribes are the Basuto, which is the most easterly of them, occupying a table-land to the west of the Drakenberg mountains, partially civilized and Christianized, and whose capital, Thaba-Bossiu, has a population of 13,000; the Batlapi, among whom missionaries have had the greatest success, dwelling in a parched region, almost destitute both of wood and water, on the borders of the Kalahari desert, with Mamusa for their capital, their former principal city, Lithaco, being now depopulated; the Barolong, dwelling to the north of the preceding, formerly powerful, but now scattered and almost extirpated by the Caffres; the Bangwaketse, dwelling still further to the north, in a beautiful, fruitful, and well-cultivated valley, who were formerly wealthy, but have suffered severely from the incursions of the Caffres; the Bahurutse, dwelling westward from the preceding, in one of the finest districts of southern Africa, who had considerable industry in agriculture and raising cattle, till they were driven by the Caffres from their country, which, in 1837, was taken possession of by the Boers; the Batoana, dwelling on the northern coast of Lake Ngami, the remnant of the former powerful tribe of Bamangwato; the Bakwains, who occupy the fine hilly regions

along the rivers Notuani and Mariqua, and who have suffered from the Boers; and the Balaka, who are not of Bechuana stock, but, like the bushmen of the Hottentot race, live scattered among various tribes, and are generally despised. Under the name of Bakalahari, the Balaka dwell in great numbers in the Kalahari forest. The Bayeye, who dwell upon the borders of Lake Ngami, are also to be distinguished from the Bechuana. The latest and fullest information concerning the tribes of southern Africa is contained in the "Travels and Researches" of Livingstone.

BECK, DAVID, also BEEK, a Dutch portrait painter, one of the ablest scholars of Vandyke, born at Arnheim in 1621, died at the Hague in 1656. He painted with so much rapidity, that Charles I. of England, who employed him, exclaimed: "Faith, Beck, I believe you could paint riding post." Queen Christina of Sweden employed him in painting the portraits of the European sovereigns for her gallery, but chiefly her own portraits, which were then circulated all over Europe. He travelled extensively, and while once in Germany he was taken so ill that his servants thought he was dead, and prepared him for the grave, while they cheered themselves up in this melancholy labor by resorting to the bottle. One of the party poured, in a frolic, a few drops of wine into the mouth of what he considered to be the corpse of his master, when, to his surprise, the corpse began to revive under the effect of the wine, and was gradually restored to life. When he subsequently died at the Hague, his death was ascribed to poison.

BECK, GEORGE, a painter and ingenious writer, born in England in 1749, came to America in 1795, died at Lexington, Ky., Dec. 24, 1812. He was appointed professor of mathematics in the royal academy at Woolwich in 1776, on account of his reputation for ability in that department, but lost the office for not discharging its duties. After coming to America, he was employed in painting, by Mr. Hamilton, of the Woodlands, near Philadelphia. He was also a poet, and, beside his original pieces, translated Anacreon and large portions of Homer, Virgil, and Horace.

BECK, JOHN BRODHEAD, an American physician, born in 1794, died at Rhinebeck, N. Y., April 9, 1851. He graduated at Columbia college in 1813, at the head of his class, commenced practice in 1817, in the city of New York, and soon rose to distinction. In 1826, he was appointed professor of materia medica and botany in the college of physicans and surgeons, but exchanged it for that of medical jurisprudence, which he held at the time of his death. He published essays on medical subjects, and was associated with his brother, T. Romeyn Beck, in the publication of the great work on "Medical Jurisprudence."

BECK, LEWIS C., a distinguished American naturalist, born at Schenectady, N. Y., 1800, died at Albany, April 21, 1853. He graduated