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and reformed by St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, in 1116; and the Carthusians, from the Chartreux (hence Charter-house), founded by Bruno about 1080. The Benedictine order was introduced into

England by Augustin, in 596; and William I. built an abbey for it on the plain where the battle of Hastings was fought, 1066; see Battle-Abbey. William de Warrenne, earl of Warrenne, built a convent at Lewes, in Sussex, in 1077. Of this order it is reckoned that there have been 40 popes, 200 cardinals, 50 patriarchs, 116 archbishops, 4600 bishops, 4 emperors, 12 empresses, 46 kings, 41 queens, and 3600 saints. Their founder was canonised. Baronius. The Benedictines have taken little part in politics, but have produced many valuable literary works. The congregation of St. Maur published the celebrated "l'Art de Vérifier les Dates," in 1750, and edited many ancient authors.

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India Bill; Bengal made chief presidency; supreme
court of judicature established
Bishop of Calcutta appointed
Railway opened.

Awful famine in Orissa (which see)
Lieut.-governor, Hon. Wm. Grey
Geo. Campbell.

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16 June, 1773 21 July, 1813 15 Aug. 1854 1865-66 1867

1871

BENEFICE (literally a good deed or favour), or FIEF. Clerical benefices originated in the 12th century, when the priesthood began to imitate the feudal lay system of holding lands for performing certain duties: till then the priests were supported BENZOLE, or BENZINE, a compound of by alms and oblations at mass. Vicarages, rectories, hydrogen and carbon, discovered by Faraday in oils perpetual curacies, and chaplaincies, are termed (1825), and by C. B. Mansfield in coal tar (1849) the latter of whom unfortunately died in conbenefices, in contradistinction to dignities, such as bishoprics, &c. A rector is entitled to all the tithes; sequence of being severely burnt while experia vicar, to a small part or to none.-All benefices that menting on it (25 Feb. 1855). Benzole has become should become vacant in the space of six months, useful in the arts. Chemical research has prowere given by pope Clement VII. to his nephew, induced from it aniline (which see), the source of the 1534. Notitia Monastica. An act for the augcelebrated modern dyes, mauve, magenta, &c., and mentation of poor benefices by the sale of some of others; see Alizarine. those in the presentation of the lord chancellor, was passed in 1863, and an act respecting the sequestration of benefices and their union was passed,

1871.

BENEFIT OF CLERGY, see Clergy. BENEFIT SOCIETIES, see Friendly Societies.

BENEVENTUM (now Benevento), an ancient city in South Italy, said to have been founded by Diomedes the Greek, after the fall of Troy. Pyrrhus of Macedon, during his invasion of Italy, was totally defeated near Beneventum, 275 B.C. Near it was erected the triumphal arch of Trajan, A.D. 114. Benevento was formed into a duchy by the Lombards, 571. At a battle fought here, 26 Feb. 1266, Manfred, king of Sicily, was defeated and slain by Charles of Anjou, who thus became virtually master of Italy. The castle was built 1323; the town was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, 1688, when the archbishop, afterwards pope Benedict XIII., was dug out of the ruins alive, and contributed to its subsequent rebuilding, 1703. It was seized by the king of Naples, but restored to the pope on the suppression of the Jesuits, 1773. Talleyrand de Périgord, Bonaparte's arch-chancellor, was made prince of Benevento, 1806. Benevento was taken by the French, 1798, and restored to the pope in 1815.

BENEVOLENCES (Aids, Free Gifts, actually Forced Loans) appear to have been claimed by our Anglo-Saxon sovereigns. Special ones were levied by Edward IV., 1473, by Richard III., 1485 (although a statute forbidding them was enacted in 1484), by Henry VII., 1492; and by James I., in 1613, on occasion of the marriage of the princess Elizabeth with Frederick, the elector palatine, afterwards king of Bohemia. In 1615 Oliver St. John, M.P., was fined 5000l., and chief justice Coke disgraced, for severely censuring such

BEOWULF, an ancient Anglo-Saxon epic

poem, describing events which probably occurred in the middle of the 5th century, supposed to have been written subsequent to 597. An edition by Kemble was published in 1833. It has been translated by Kemble, Thorpe, and Wackerbarth.

BERBICE (S. America), settled by the Dutch, 1626, who surrendered it to the British, 23 April, 1796, and 22 Sept. 1803; and finally in 1814. It was united to Demerara and named British Guiana, 1831.

BERENGARIANS, followers of Berengarius, archdeacon of Angers, who about 1049, opposed the Romish doctrine of transubstantiation, or the real presence in the Lord's supper. Several councils of the church condemned his doctrine, 1050-79. died grieved and wearied in 6 Jan. 1088. After much controversy he recanted about 1079, and

BERESINA, a river in Russia, crossed by the French main army after its defeat by the Russians, 25-29 Nov. 1812. The French lost upwards of 20,000 men, and their retreat was attended by great calamity and suffering.

BERG (W. Germany), on the extinction of its line of counts, in 1348, was incorporated with Juliers. Napoleon I. made Murat grand-duke in 1806. The principal part is now held by Prussia.

BERGAMO (N. Italy), a Lombard duchy, was annexed to Venice, 1428; which chiefly held it till it revolted, and was joined to the Cisalpine republic, 1797. It was awarded to Austria in 1814, and ceded to Sardinia, 1859.

BERGEN (Norway), founded 1070; was the royal residence during the 12th and 13th centuries.

BERGEN (in Germany), BATTLE OF, between the French and allies, the latter defeated, 13 April, 1752.-(In HOLLAND) 1. The allies under

the duke of York were defeated by the French, under gen. Brune, with great loss, 19 Sept. 1799. 2. In another battle, fought 2 Oct. same year, the duke gained a victory over Brune; but on the 6th, the duke was defeated, before Alkmaer, and on the 20th entered into a convention, by which his army was exchanged for 6000 French and Dutch prisoners in England.

BERGEN-OP-ZOOM, in Holland. This place, whose works were deemed impregnable, was taken by the French, 16 Sept. 1747, and again in 1795. An attempt, made by the British under general sir T. Graham (afterwards lord Lynedoch), to carry the fortress by storm, was defeated; after forcing an entrance, their retreat was cut off, and a dreadful slaughter ensued; nearly all were cut to pieces or made prisoners, 8 March, 1814.

BERGERAC, France. Here John of Gaunt, then earl of Derby, defeated the French, in 1344, and here a temporary treaty of peace between the Catholics and Protestants, establishing liberty of conscience, was signed 17 Sept. 1577.

BERKELEY CASTLE, Gloucestershire, was begun by Henry I. in 1108, and finished in the next reign. Here Edward II. was cruelly murdered by the contrivance of his queen Isabella (a princess of France), and her paramour, Mortimer, earl of March, 21 Sept. 1327. Mortimer was hanged at the Elms, near London, 29 Nov. 1330; and Edward III. confined his mother in her own house at Castle Rising, near Lynn, in Norfolk, till her death, 1357.

On 27

BERLIN (capital of Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg), alleged to have been founded by the margrave Albert the Bear, about 1163. Its five districts were united under one magistracy, in 1714; and it was subsequently made the capital of Prussia and greatly improved by the sovereigns. It was taken and held by the Russians and Austrians, 9-13 Oct. 1760. Establishment of the Academy of Sciences, 1702; of the university, 1810. Oct. 1806, after the battle of Jena (14 Oct.), the French entered Berlin; and from this place Napoleon issued the famous Berlin decree, an interdict against the commerce of England, 20 Nov. It declared the British islands to be in a state of blockade, and ordered all Englishmen found in countries occupied by French troops to be treated as prisoners of war. Un 5 Nov. 1808, Napoleon entered into a convention with Prussia, by which he remitted to Prussia the sum due on the war-debt, and withdrew many of his troops to reinforce his armies in Spain. The railway to Magdeburg opened 10 Sept. 1841 The first constituent assembly held here An insurrection commenced here Berlin was declared in a state of siege . 12 Nov. The continuation of this state was declared to be illegal without its concurrence by the lower chamber

.

March, 1848

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25 April, 1849

wrote, while resident here, a poetical description of the islands. There was an awful hurricane here, 31 Oct. 1780, and by another, a third of the houses was destroyed, and the shipping driven ashore, 20 July, 1813. A large iron dry dock here, which cost 250,000l., was towed from the Medway to the Bermudas, in June and July, 1869. Governors, sir Fred. E. Chapman, 1867; gen. J. H. Lefroy, March, 1871.

BERNAL COLLECTION of articles of taste and virtù, formed by Ralph Bernal, Esq., many years chairman of committees of ways and means He died 26 Aug. 1854. in the house of commons. The sale in March, 1856, lasted 31 days, and enormous prices were given. The total sum realised was 62,680l. 68. 8d.

BERNARD, MOUNT ST., so called from a monastery founded on it by Bernardine Menthon in 962. Velan, its highest peak, is about 8000 feet high, covered with perpetual snow. Hannibal, it is said, conducted the Carthaginians by this pass into Italy (218 B.C.); and by the same route, in May, 1800, Bonaparte led his troops to Italy before the battle of Marengo, 14 June. On the summit of Great St. Bernard is the ancient monastery still held by a community of monks, who entertain travellers.

BERNARDINES, or WHITE MONKS, a strict order of Cistercian monks, established by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, about 1115. He founded many monasteries.

BERNE, the sovereign canton of Switzerland, joined the Swiss League, 1352; the town Berne was made a free city by the emperor Frederick, May, 1218; it successfully resisted Rudolph of Hapsburg, 1288. It surrendered to the French under general Brune, 12 April, 1798. The town has bears for its arms, and some of these animals are still maintained on funds specially provided for the purpose. It was made capital of Switzerland, 1848.

BERRY (the ancient Biturigum regis), central France, held by the Romans since the conquest by Cæsar (58-50 B.C.) till it was subdued by the Visigoths; from whom it was taken by Clovis in A.D. 507. It was erected into a duchy by John II. in 1360, and was not incorporated into the royal domains till 1601.

BERSAGLIERI, the sharpshooters of the Sardinian army, first employed about 1848.

BERWICK-ON-TWEED, a fortified town on the north-cast extremity of England, the theatre 21 June, 1842 of many bloody contests while England and Scotland were two kingdoms; it was claimed by the Scots because it stood on their side of the river. Here John Baliol did homage for Scotland, 30 Nov. 1292. It was annexed to England in 1333; and after having been taken and retaken many times, was finally ceded to England in 1482. In 1551 it was made independent of both kingdoms. The town surrendered to Cromwell in 1648, and to general Monk in 1659. Since the union of the crowns (James 1. 1603), the strong fortifications have been neglected.

A treaty of peace between Prussia and Saxony was signed

21 Oct. 1866

The victorious army entered Berlin, 20 Sept, 1866; and 16 June, 1871.

See Prussia, 1866, 1871.

BERLIN WORK, see Embroidery. BERMUDAS or SUMMERS' ISLES, a group in the North Atlantic ocean, discovered by Juan Bermudas, a Spaniard, in 1522, but not inhabited until 1609, when sir George Summers was cast away upon them. They were settled by stat. 9 James I., 1612. Among the exiles from England during the civil war was Waller, the poet, who

BESSARABIA, a frontier province of European Russia, part of the ancient Dacia. After being possessed by the Goths, Huns, &c., it was conquered by the Turks, 1474, seized by the Russians, 1770, and ceded to them in 1812.

BESSEMER STEEL, see Steel.

BETHLEHEM now contains a large convent, enclosing, as is said, the very birthplace of Christ; a church erected by the empress Helena in the form of a cross, about 325; a chapel, called the Chapel of the Nativity, where they pretend to show the manger in which Christ was laid; another, called the Chapel of Joseph; and a third, of the Holy Innocents. Bethlehem is much visited by pilgrims.-The Bethlehemite monks existed in England in 1257.

BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL (so called from having been originally the hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem), a royal foundation for the reception of lunatics, incorporated by Henry VIII. in 1547. The old Bethlehem Hospital, Moorfields, erected in 1676, pulled down in 1814, was built in imitation of the Tuileries at Paris. The present hospital in St. George's-fields was begun April, 1812, and opened in 1815. In 1856 extensive improvements were completed under the direction of Mr. Sydney Smirke.

BETHNAL GREEN, E. London, a poor, populous parish; said to have been the seat of Henry de Montfort, hero of the "Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green" (Percy Ballads). Many churches have been recently erected by the instrumentality of bishop Blomfield and others, and the district has been much favoured by the baroness Burdett-Coutts. The East London Museum here, a branch of that at South Kensington, was opened by the prince of Wales, 24 June, 1872. Sir Richard Wallace lent to it for a year a collection of fine pictures and valuable curio

sities.

BETHUNE, France, an independent lordship since the 11th century, was annexed to the monarchy by the treaty of Utrecht, 1713, after several changes,

BETTING-HOUSES, affording much temptation to gaming, and consequent dishonesty, in the lower classes, were suppressed by an act passed in 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. 119). A Pari-mutuel, or mutual betting machine, in Aug., and the "Knightsbridge Exchange," a betting company, 2 Nov., 1870, were declared illegal, see Races.

BHURTPORE (India), capital of Bhurtpore, was besieged by the British, 3 Jan. 1805, and attacked five times up to 21 March, without success. After a desperate engagement with Holkar, the Mahratta chief, 2 April, 1805, the fortress was surrendered to general Lake. By a treaty, the rajah of Bhurtpore agreed to pay twenty lacs of rupees, ceded territories that had been granted to him, and delivered his son as hostage, 17 April, 1805. On the rajah's death, during a revolt against his son, Bhurtpore was taken by storm, by lord Combermere, 18 Jan. 1826; see India.

BIANCHI (Whites), a political party at Florence, in 1300, in favour of the Ghibelines or imperial party, headed by Vieri de' Cerchi, opposed the Neri (or Blacks), headed by Corso de' Donati. The latter banished their opponents, among whom was the poet Dante, in 1302. "Bianchi " were also male and female penitents, clothed in white, who travelled through Italy in Aug. 1399; and were suppressed by pope Boniface IX., 1400.

BIARCHY. When Aristodemus, king of Sparta, died, he left two sons, twins, Eurysthenes and cedence' should be given, placed both upon the Procles; and the people not knowing to whom prethrone, and thus established the first biarchy, 1102 The descendants of each reigned for about 800 years. Herodotus.

B.C.

BIARRITZ, a bathing-place near Bayonne. Here resided the comtesse de Montijo and her daughter Eugénie, empress of the French, till her marriage, 29 Jan. 1853. It was frequently visited by the emperor and empress.

BIBERACH (Wurtemberg). Here Moreau twice defeated the Austrians,-under Latour, 2 Oct. 1796, and under Kray, 9 May, 1800.

BIBLE (from the Greek biblos. a book), the name especially given to the Holy Scriptures, The Old Testament is said to have been collected and arranged by Ezra between 458 and 450 B.C. The Apocrypha are considered as inspired writings by the Roman Catholics, but not by the Jews and Protestants; see Apocrypha.

OLD TESTAMENT.†

BEVERLEY, E. Yorkshire, the Saxon Beverlac, or Beverlega. St. John of Beverley, archbishop of York, founded a stately monastery here, and died 721; and on his account the town received Genesis contains the history of the world honours from Athelstane, William I., and other Sovereigns. It was disfranchised for corruption in 1870, after a long investigation.

Exodus

Leviticus.
Numbers
Deuteronomy

Job
Joshua
Judges.

Ruth

1st and 2nd Samuel
1st and 2nd Kings
1st and 2nd Chronicles

from B.C. 4004-1635
1635-1490
. 1490
1490-1451
1451
about 1520

BEYROUT (the ancient Berytus), a seaport of Syria, colonised from Sidon. It was destroyed by an earthquake, 566; was rebuilt, and was alternately possessed by the Christians and Saracens ; and after many changes, fell into the power of Amurath IV. It was taken during the Egyptian revolt by Ibrahim Pacha, in 1832. The total defeat of the Book of Psalms (principally by David) . Egyptian army by the allied British, Turkish, and Austrian forces, and evacuation of Beyrout (the Egyptians losing 7000 in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and twenty pieces of cannon), took place 10 Oct. 1840. Sir C. Napier was the English admiral engaged. Beyrout suffered greatly in consequence of the massacres in Syria in May 1860. In Nov. 1860 above 27,000 persons were said to be in danger of starving; see Syria.

BHOOTAN, a country north of Lower Bengal, with whom a treaty was made 25 April, 1774. After fruitless negotiations, Bhootan was invaded by the British in Dec. 1864, in consequence of injurious treatment of an envoy; see India, 1864-5.

from 1451-1420

1425-1120

1322-1312

1171-1017

1015- 562 1004-536 1063-1015

* In April, 1865, was published a proposal for raising a fund for exploring Palestine in order to illustrate the Bible by antiquarian and scientific investigation. The first meeting was held 22 June, 1865, the archbishop of York in the chair; see Palestine.

The division of the Bible into chapters has been ascribed to archbishop Lanfranc in the 11th, and to archbishop Langton in the 13th century; but T. Hartwell

Horne considers the real author to have been cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro, about the middle of the 13th century. The division into sections was commenced by Rabbi Nathan (author of a Concordance), about 1445, and completed by Athras, a Jew, in 1661. The present division into verses was introduced by the celebrated printer, Robert Stephens, in his Greek Testament (1551) and in his Latin Bible (1556-7).

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about 1456; the first dated 1462;-Coptic, 2nd or 3rd century; Ethiopic; Armenian, 4th or 5th century: Slavonic, 9th century; and the Meso-Gothic, by Ulfilas, the apostle of the Goths, about 360, a manuscript copy of which, called the Codex Argenteus, is at Upsal. The Psalms were translated into Saxon by bishop Aldhelm, about 706; Cædmon's metrical paraphrase of a portion of the Bible, about 680; and the Gospels by bishop Egbert, about 721; parts of the Bible by Bede, in the 8th century.

ENGLISH VERSIONS AND EDITIONS.
MS. paraphrase of the whole Bible at the Bodleian
Library, Oxford, dated by Usher.
Versions (from the Vulgate) by Wickliffe and his
followers (above 170 MS. copies extant)

1290

1356-84

[Part published by Lewis, 1731; by Baber, 1810; the whole by Madden and Forshall, at Oxford 1850.] William Tyndale's version of Matthew and Mark from the Greek printed, 1524; of the whole New Testament, 1525; 6 editions

1525-30

Miles Coverdale's version of the whole Bible; printing finished

4 Oct. 1535

[Ordered by Henry VIII. to be laid in the choir of every church, "for every man that will to look and read therein."]

T. Matthews' (said to be fictitious name for John Rogers) version (partly by Tyndale* and Coverdale)

Cranmer's Great Bible (Matthews' revised), the first printed by authority

1537

- 1539

Geneva version, "Breeches Bible," (the first with figured verses), 1540-1557; published

[Bible reading prohibited]

1542-57

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Archbishop Parker's, called

The Bishops' Bible"

1560

64

65

King James' Bible, the present authorised version -revision began 1604; published

(eight of the fourteen persons employed being bishops).

. 1568

. 1611

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The most ancient copy of the Hebrew Scriptures existed at Toledo, called the Codex of Hillel; it was of very early date, probably of the 4th century after Christ; some say about 60 years before Christ. The copy of Ben Asher, of Jerusalem, was made about 1100. The reputed oldest copy of the Old and New Testament in Greek, is that in the Vatican, which was written in the 4th or 5th century. Mai's edition appeared in 1857. The next in age is the Alexandrian Codex (referred to the 5th century) in the British Museum, presented by the Greek patriarch to Charles I. in 1628. It has been printed in England, edited by Woide and Baber, 17861821.-Codex Ephraemi, or Codex Regius, ascribed to the 5th century, in the Royal Library, Paris: published by Tischendorf in 1843.

The Codex Sinaiticus, probably written in the 4th century, was discovered by M. Constantine Tischendorf, at St. Katherine's monastery in 1844 and 1859, and presented to the present czar of Russia, at whose cost a splendid edition was published in 1862. The Hebrew Psalter was printed at Bologna in 1477. The complete Hebrew Bible was first printed by Soncino in Italy in 1488, and the Greek Testament (edited by Erasmus) at Rotterdam, in 1516. Aldus's edition was printed in 1518; Stephens' in 1546; and the textus receptus (or received text) by the Elzevirs in 1624.

TRANSLATIONS.

The Old Testament, in Greek, termed the Septuagint (which see), generally considered to have been made by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, about 286 or 285 B.C.; of this many fabulous accounts are given.

Origen, after spending twenty-eight years in collating MSS., commenced his polyglot Bible at Cæsarea in A.D. 231; it contained the Greek versions of Aquila, Sym

machus, and Theodotion, all made in or about the 2nd century after Christ.

The following are ancient versions:-Syriac, 1st or 2nd century; the old Latin version, early in the 2nd century, revised by Jerome, in 384; who, however, completed a new version in 405, now called the VULGATE, (which see); the first edition was printed (without date)

1609-10 1851-61

re

[Dr. Benjamin Blayney's revised edition, 1769.] Roman Catholic authorised version: New Testament, at Rheims, 1582; Old Testament, at Douay, Authorised Jewish English version . The revision of the English version now in use was commended by the bishops in convocation, 10 Feb. 1870. The committee, including eminent scholars of various denominations, appointed in May, held their first meeting at Westminster Abbey 22 June, 1870. MODERN TRANSLATIONS. †

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The British and Foreign Bible Society continue to make and print translations of the Bible in all the dialects of the world; see Polyglot.

He was strangled at Antwerp, 6 Oct. 1536, at the instigation of Henry VIII. and his council. His last words were, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes!" editions of his Testament had then been published. "The Bible of Every Land," ed. 1860, published by Messrs. Bagsters, London, is full of information respecting ancient and modern versions of the Bible.

14

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Hibernian Bible Society

City of London Auxiliary Bible Society

.

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1750

1780

1785

1792

1804

1806

1812

A bull from the pope, Pius VII., against Bible Societies appeared in 1817 BIBLIA PAUPERUM (the Bible for the poor), consisting of engravings illustrating scripture history, with texts, carved in wood, a "block book," printed early in the 15th century, was compiled by Bonaventura, general of the Franciscans, about 1260. A fac-simile was published by J. Russell Smith, in 1859.

BIBLIOGRAPHY, the Science of Books.
Gesner's "Bibliotheca Universale" appeared.
De Bure's "Bibliographie Instructive
Peignot, Manuel.

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1545 1763 1823 Horne, Introduction to the Study of Bibliography. 1814 Brunet's Manuel du Libraire, 1st edit. 1810: 5th ed. 1862-5 Scriptural, Orme, Bibliotheca Biblica, 1824; Darling, Bibliographica

Classical, the works of Fabricius, Clarke, and

Dibdin.

English, Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica
Lowndes, Bibliographer's Manual, 1834; new ed. by
Bohn

British Catalogues, by Sampson Low
French, Querard

1854-8

1824

1857-62 1835-62 1828-64

BIBLIOMANIA (or book madness) very much prevailed in 1811, when Dr. Dibdin's work with this title was published; see Boccaccio.

BICOCCA, N. Italy. Lautrec and the French were here defeated by Colonna and the Imperialists, 29 April, 1522, and Francis thereby lost his conquests in Milan.

BIDASSOA. The allied army under lord Wellington, having driven the French from Spain, effected the passage of this river 8 Oct. 1813, and entered France.

BIDDENDEN MAIDS. A distribution of bread and cheese to the poor takes place at Biddenden, Kent, on Easter Mondays, the expense being defrayed from the rental of twenty acres of land,

* An "Index to the Persons, Places, and Subjects occurring in the Holy Scriptures," compiled by B. Vincent, editor of the present work, was published by the queen's printers in 1848.

This society had issued 24,247,667 copies of the Bible or parts of it up to Jan. 1851; in May, 1863, the number had risen to 43,044,334; and in 1867 to 52,669.089. In 1857 they published a catalogue of their library, which contains a large number of remarkable editions of the Bible. The foundation-stone of their new Central hall, Queen Victoria-street, London, was laid by the prince of Wales, 11 June, 1866.

the reputed bequest of the Biddenden maids, two sisters named Chulkhurst. In 1656, Wm. Horner, the rector, was non-suited in an attempt to add the "Bread and Cheese lands" to his glebe.

BIGAMY. The Romans branded the guilty party with an infamous mark; and in England the punishment, formerly, was death. An act respecting it was passed 5 Edw. I. 1276. Viner's Statutes. Declared to be felony, without benefit of clergy, I James I. 1603. Punishable, by imprisonment or transportation, 35 Geo. III. 1794.

BIG BETHEL (Virginia, U.S.). On 10June, 1861, the Federals were defeated in an attack on some Confederate batteries at this place.

BILBOA (N.E. Spain), founded about 1300; was taken by the French and held a few days July 1795. It was delivered from the Carlists by Espartero, assisted by the British, 24 Dec. 1836.

BILL OF EXCEPTIONS. The still existing right of tendering such a bill to a judge, either to his charge, to his definition of the law, or to other errors of the court, at a trial between parties, was provided by the 2nd statute of Westminster, 13 Edw. I. 1284.

BILL OF PAINS, &c.; see Queen Caroline. BILL OF RIGHTS, &c.; see Rights.

BILLIARDS. The French ascribe their invention to Henrique Devigne, an artist, about 1571. Slate billiard tables were introduced in England in 1827.

BILLINGSGATE, the fish-market in London, is said to have derived its name from Belinus Magnus, a British prince, the father of king Lud, 400 B.C., but Stow thinks from a former owner. It was the old port of London, and the customs were paid bere under Ethelred II., A.D. 979. Stow. Billingsgate was made a free market, 1699. Chamberlain. Fish by land-carriage, as well as sea-borne, now arrives daily here. In 1849, the market was extended and improved, and a new one was erected in 1852, Mr. Bunning, architect.

since.

BILLS OF EXCHANGE were invented by the Jews as a means of removing their property from Bills are said to have been used in England, 1307. nations where they were persecuted, 1160. Anderson. The only legal mode of sending money from England, 4 Richard II. 1381. Regulated, 1698; first stamped, 1782; duty advanced, 1797; again, June 1801; and It was made capital to counterfeit bills of exchange in 1734. In 1825, the year of disastrous speculations in bubbles, it was computed that there were 400 millions of pounds sterling represented by bills of exchange and promissory notes. The present amount is not supposed to exceed 50 millions. The many statutes regarding bills of exchange were conbills of exchange passed 3 Vict. July, 1839. Great solidated by act 9 Geo. IV. 1828. An act regulating alterations were made in the law on the subject by 17 & 18 Vict. c. 83 (1854), and 18 & 19 Vict. c. 67 (1855). Days of grace were abolished in the case of bills of exchange payable on sight in Aug. 1871. Forgery of bills to a large amount to obtain discount was detected by the bank of England, 1 March, 1873.

BILLS OF MORTALITY FOR LONDON. These bills were first compiled by order of Cromwell, about 1538, 30 Hen. VIII., but in a more formal and recognised manner in 1603, after the great plague of that year. No complete series of them has been preserved. They have been superseded by the weekly returns of the registrar-general, since 1837.

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