Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/483

Rh and melodious. (See Life of Seattle, by his friend Sir W. Forbes, 1806.)  BEAUCAIRE (i.e., Bellum Quadrum, the beautiful square), a town of France, department of Gard, and arrondissement of Nimes. Lat. 43 48 32&quot; N., long. 4 38 50&quot; E. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhone, opposite Tarascon, with which it is connected by a magni ficent suspension-bridge of four spans and 1456 feet in length. The town is generally well built, but has no public buildings worthy of notice, and the streets are narrow and crooked. Its ancient castle of Bellicadro is now in ruins. It gives name to the canal which communicates with the sea, and also connects it with the Languedoc canal, forming part of the line of communication between the Rhone and the Garonne. It is also connected with Nimes and Alais by a railway opened in 1839. The manufactures are few and unimportant. The town derives its celebrity from the great July fair, which has been held here annually since the 13th (or 14th) century, and to which merchants come from all parts of Europe, and even from Persia and Armenia. The extensive meadow, called Magdalen s, on the banks of the Rhone, is set apart for the gathering, and almost every kind of article, whether of convenience or luxury, is there exhibited. Though the fair is now less frequented than formerly, it is said that still as many as 100,000 persona attend. There are stone quarries in the neighbourhood of the town, and the manufacture of linen and -woollen stuffs is carried on. Population in 1872, 7858.

1em  BEAUCHAMP,, French historian and man of letters, was born at Monaco in 1767, and died in 1832. In 1784 he entered a Sardinian regiment of marines, but on the outbreak of war with the French Republic, he refused to fight in what he considered an unjust cause, and was imprisoned for several months. After being liberated he took up his residence in Paris, where he obtained a post in one of the Government offices. On the fall of Robespierre, Beauchamp was transferred to the bureau of the minister of police, and charged with the superintendence of the press This situation opened up to him materials of which he made use in his first and most popular historical work, Histoire de la, Vendee et des Chouans, 3 vols., 1806. The book, received with great favour by the people, was displeasing to the authorities. The third edition was con fiscated ; its writer was deprived of his post, and in 1809 was compelled to leave Paris and take up his abode in Rheirns In 1811 he obtained permission to return, and again received a Government appointment. This he had to resign on the Restoration, but was rewarded with a small pension, which was continued to his widow after his death.

1em  BEAUHARNAIS,, step-sen of Napoleon I., was born at Paris, September 3, 1781. His father, the Vieomte Alexander de Beauharnais, had been a member of the National Convention, and for soma time commanded the republican army of the north. Hia want of success in the field, however, brought him under the suspicion of thi- Revolutionary leaders ; he was tried on a charge of treason, and was executed on 23d June *794. After the marriagi; of Napoleon with the Vicomtesse Josephine Beauharnais. her son Eugene accompanied the army of Italy and acted as aide-de-camp to his step-father, by whom he was treated with the greatest affection and favour. He was rapidly promoted ; and after the establishment of the empire, was made prince and viceroy of Italy. In 1806 he was adopted by Napoleon. During the great campaign of 1809 he had the command of the Italian army, and by his skilful con duct materially contributed to the success of the emperor. In 1812 he commanded a corps of the grand army; and after the departure of Napoleon and flight of Murat, had the entire charge of the broken French forces. The disas trous campaigns of 1813 and 1814 deprived him of his viceroyalty, and he retired to Munich, the capital of the king of Bavaria, whose daughter he had married in 1806. There he continued to reside, with the title of duke of Leuchtenberg, till his death in 1824.  BEAUMANOIR,, a distinguished writer on French law, was born in the early part of the IStii century, and died in 1296. The few facts known regarding his life are to be gathered from legal documents in which, his name occurs. From these it appears that in 1273 ho filled the post of bailli at Senlis,and in 1280 held a similar office at Clermont. He is also occasionally referred to as presiding at the assizes held at various towns. . His great work is entitled Continues de Beauvoisis, and was first published by De la Thaumassiere in 1690. A second edition, with introduction, was published by Beugnot in 1842. It is regarded as one of the best works bearing on old French law, and was frequently referred to with high admiration by Montesquieu.  BEAUMARCHAIS., better known by his acquired title, the most distinguished French comic dramatist next to Moliere, andaman of much importance during the pre-Revolutionary period, was born at Paris in 1732. His father, who was a watchmaker, brought him up to the same trade. He was an unusually precocious and lively boy, shrewd, saga cious, and, like his sisters, passionately fond of music, and imbued with a strong desire for rising in tho world. At the age of twenty-one he invented a new escapement for watches, which was pirated by a rival maker. Young Caron at once published his grievance in the newspapers, and had the matter referred to the Academy of Sciences, who decided in his favour. This affair brought him into notice at court ; he was appointed, or at least chose to dub himself, watchmaker to the king, who had called him in to examine Mme. de Pompadour s watch. His handsome figure and cool assurance soon began to make their way at court, where he so earnestly desired to obtain a footing. Nor was it long before his wish was accomplished. The wife of an old court official, conceiving a violent passion for young Caron, persuaded her husband to make over his office to his rival, and on her husband s death, a few months later, married the handsome watchmaker. Caron at the same time assumed the title De Beaumarchais ; and four years later, by purchasing the office of secretary to the king, obtained a title of nobility. While employed at court his musical talents brought him under the notice of the king s sisters, who engaged him to teach them the harp. In this way he obtained access to the best society of the court, and by a fortunate accident was enabled to make use of the princesses friendship to confer a slight favour on the great banker Paris-Duverney. Duverney testified his gratitude in a most substantial manner ; he bestowed shares in several of his speculations upon Beaumarchais^ and the latter, whose business talen s 