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210 ents gained him admission to the court. Through business associations with the financier Duverney he acqviired a fortune, which he augmented by a wealthy marriage. His eloquent pleadings in a suit, broughl against him by the heir of his part- ner Duverney, rendered him conspicuous as a victim of injustice and a ciiampion of liberty. In 1775 he memorialized the king in advocacy of aid- ing the American colonies in their struggle with the British crown. He held negotiations with Arthur Lee, agent of the colonists, and finally per- suaded the prime minister, Maurepas, to sanction a loan of 1,000,000 livres and to secure the advance of an equal sum from the Spanish government. Arms and ammunition for the Americans were de- livered from the public arsenals to Beaumarchais, operating under the firm name of Roderique Hor- talez & Co., on his entering into an obligation to replace them. In the early part of 1777 he shipped, in three of his own vessels, 200 guns, 25,000 muslcets, and 200,000 pounds of gunpowder, and sent over on the "Amphritrite " 50 European offi- cers, among the number La Rouerie, Pulaski, and Baron Steuben. The shipments were continued, but, owing to an erroneous impression that the supplies were a gift from the French government, congress failed to make remittances, and the French government advanced another million francs to relieve Beaumarchais from his embar- rassments, and he persevered in forwarding sup- plies until 1779. The United States were indebted to Beaumarchais at the end of the transactions in the sum of 4,000,000 francs, an obligation which the American government was unable to meet, and which was finally compromised in 1835, by the payment of 800,000 francs to his heirs. He engaged in a variety of financial speculations, such as establishing a national bank of discount, supplying Paris with water, publishing the collected works of Voltaire, etc., which were generally successful. His writings are remarkable for their literary qualities, and some of them for their in- fluence on events. The drama "Eugenie" (1768) was founded on experiences that befell his sister; "Le Barbier de Seville " (1775) was very successful; "Le Mariage de Figaro" (1784) brilliantly satirized the aristocracy. During the French revo- lution he fell under the suspicions of the Montagnards and fied to England, whence he issued a memoir, entitled " Mes six epoques," vindicating his attachment to the cause of liberty. He returned and died suddenly during the directory. See " Beaumarchais and his Times," by M. de Lomenie, Paris, 1850 ; " Notice sur la vie de Beaumarchais," by Saint-Marc Girardin ; " Vie de P. A. Caron de Beaumarchais," by Cousin d'Avalon (1802) ; and " Essai sur la vie et les ouvrages de Beaumarchais," by E. Berger. His collected works were published by Gudin de la Brenellerie (7 vols., Paris, 1809 ; new ed., 1821-7). .

BEAUMONT, John G.C. [sic], naval officer, b. in Pennsylvania, 27 Aug., 1821 ; d. 2 Aug., 1882. He entered the navy as midshipman, 1 March, 1838, and obtained promotion as master, 30 Aug., 1851 ; lieutenant, 29 Aug., 1855 ; commander, July, 1862 ; captain, 1872. He participated as commander of the steamer " Aroostook," of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, in the severe engagement with the confederate batteries at Fort Darling, was attached to the South Atlantic blockading squadron in 1862-'3, was engaged as commander of a monitor in attacks on the fortifications in Charleston harbor, and took a prominent part in the capture of Fort Wagner. He commanded the steamer "Mackinaw," of the North Atlantic block- ading squadron, in the two attacks on Fort Fisher, when his vessel was badly injured by the shot and shell from the enemy's batteries.

BEAUMONT, William, physician, b. in Leba- non, Conn., in 1796; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 25 April, 1853. He was a surgeon in the U. S. army, and when stationed at Mackinac, Mich., in 1822, had occasion to treat a young man named Alexis St. Martin, who had received the discharge of a shot- gun in his left side. By good care the wound was healed, but an opening remained, about two and a half inches in diameter, penetrating into the stomach. Through this aperture Dr. Beaumont was able to watch the process of digestion and to make experiments, extending over a series of years, regarding the digestibility of the different kinds of food and the effect upon the stomach of alcohol" and various drugs ; and he was the first to obtain the gastric juice and study its properties. The re- sults of these physiological experiments were ])ub- lished in 1833, and attracted much attention in America and Europe. After resigning from the army. Dr. Beaumont practised medicine in St. Louis, and he continued the experiments upon St. Martin until his own death. ^

BEAUMONT DE LA BONNIERE, Gustave Auguste de, French author, grandson of Lafayette, b. at Beaumont-la-Chatre, department of Sarthe, 6 Feb., 1802; d. in Paris, 22 Feb., 1866, He was commissioned, with M. de Toequeville, to investigate the penal institutions of the United States, came to this country for that purpose in 1831, and published a report on " The Penitentiary System of the United States and its Application in France " (1832). He married his cousin, the grand- daughter of Lafayette, in 1836. He was elected to the chamber in 1840, was a member of the constit- uent assembly of 1848, and was sent by Cavaignac as ambassador to England. In 1851 he was im- prisoned for opposing the coup d'etat of 2 Dec. His principal, other published wi'itings are "L'Es- clavage aux Etats-Unis " (1835), of which a trans- lation has appeared in the United States, and "L'Irlande, sociale, politique, et religieuse" (1839).

BEAUREGUARD, Pierre Gustave Toutant, soldier, h. near New Orleans, La., 28 May, 1818; d. there, 20 Feb., 1893. He was graduated at West Point in 1838. Among his classmates were the future confederate generals Hardee and Sibley and the federal generals Barry, Nichols, Granger, and McDowell. He was assigned first to the artillery and then to the engineers, and in 1838-9 was assistant in the construct] on of Fort Adams, Newport. He was on engineeringduty at Barataria bay. La., in 1840-'l, at the passes of the Mississippi in 1841 -'4, and at Fort McHenry, Md., in 1844-'5. At the beginning of the war with Mexico, he was engaged in the construction of defences at Tampico (1846-’7),