Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/505

BEF bank shares to the value of ten times the amount. He died, after several hours' insensibility, at six in the evening, having received the last offices of the church two days before. He was interred at Währing, a village near Vienna, with great solemnity, all the musicians of the city assisting in the funeral rites, which were witnessed by a concourse of many thousand persons. Thus, the utmost honour was paid to his mortal remains; the homage of all time is due to his immortal memory; and this tribute of the generations his genius has enriched is paid with ever-increasing willingness, as the extending knowledge of his works enlarges the appreciation of their greatness, in the heart-throbs that vibrate with the impassioned strains of his creation.—G. A. M.  BEFFARA,, born at Nonancourt on the 23rd of August, 1751. Was made commissary of police in Paris in 1792, in which office he continued till 1815. His position enabled him to become intimately acquainted with everything and everybody connected with the drama, and he collected a vast quantity of curious and interesting matter in relation to the theatres, both in France and other countries. He published a considerable number of works and dissertations on the subjects, especially in relation to Molière, but the greater portion of his writings have never been printed. The manuscripts are in the Bibliotheque Imperiale, and Bibliotheque de la Ville, at Paris. He died at Paris on the 2nd February, 1838.—J. F. W.  BEFFROY DE BEAUVOIR,, a French military officer, and a member of the old convention, born at Laon in 1754; died at Liege in 1825. He took his place among the Montagnards, and voted for the death of Louis XVI., and other extreme measures. In 1816, being, in common with all the members of the convention who had voted for the death of the king, sent into exile, he retired to Liege, where he exercised the profession of an advocate until the time of his death.—G. M.  BEFFROY DE REIGNY,, better known by the name of (under which name he published the greater part of his productions), born at Laon in 1757; died in 1811. He produced in 1790, at the Théâtre Français, a comic and lyric piece, entitled "Nicodemus in the Moon," which is full of political allusions, and was represented four hundred times. His works, though full of spirit, sarcasm, and drollery, are now completely forgotten.—J. G.  BÉFORT,, a pupil of Sérangéli, painted several elaborate artificialities of the Parisian classical school, such as the "Parting of Hector," where Homer brings in that pretty fatherly thought of the child, frightened at the nodding menace of the Trojan's plume, "The Second Death of Eurydice," &c.—W. T.  BEG,, an Irishman who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries, was descended from Cormac Cas, king of Munster, and wrote some poems and prophecies which are still extant. His death is stated by different annalists to have occurred in 551 and 557.—J. F. W.  BEGA,, the son of a sculptor, born at Haarlem in 1620. He was Ostade's best pupil, Branwer being his companion; but painted in a larger style. He loved, like his master, alchemists' revels, drinking-scenes, and trim Dutch interiors; smokers and fiddlers were the creatures that filled his spirit-fired brain. He painted in a neat clean way, preserving transparency at all cost, paying great attention to clean palette, and unmuddied tints. But while his colours kept clean, his mind grew polluted. He took to a noisy tavern life of dissipation. After many remonstrances, his father disowned him, upon which he disowned his father, and altered his name from Begeyn to Bega. His figures are larger than those of Ostade. His end in some degree redeemed the selfishness of his vices. He caught the plague from his mistress, whom he would nurse and watch in spite of all the warnings and entreaties of friends and doctors. He died in 1664.—W. T.  BEGA,, a native of Ireland according to Butler, but Dempster asserts that she was born in Scotland, misled probably by the earlier writers on hagiology who were accustomed to call Ireland Scotia. Be this as it may, she was a virgin of great sanctity, and spent her life in retirement and devotion in Carlisle, where she died in the latter half of the seventh century. A religious house was established in her honour, and the 7th of September is observed in memory of her.—J. F. W. <section end="505H" /> <section begin="505I" />BEGEYN, flourished about 1650; died in 1710; imitated the landscapes of Berghem.—W. T. <section end="505I" /> <section begin="505J" />BEGGHE,, duchess of Brabant, married Anchises, son of Arnold, bishop of Metz. After the death of her husband she entered a community of nuns, and afterwards founded a religious house at Andenne. She was the mother of Pepin, surnamed Heristal.—J. S., G. <section end="505J" /> <section begin="505K" />BEGGI-JAN, or, a saint and ruler of Bokhara, who assumed the sovereign power of the state in 1783, and held it till his death in 1800. He refused to lay aside his ascetic practices, and during his whole reign continued the habits of a dervise. His administration was distinguished for its firmness, and the strict enforcement of Moslem law. His son Hyder, succeeded to his dominions, and took the title of king. <section end="505K" /> <section begin="505L" />BEGH or LE BEGUE,, reputed the founder of the Beguine order of nuns, was a priest of the diocese of Liege in the latter half of the twelfth century. His bishop, who was a notorious simonist, took offence at the zeal with which he declaimed against the corruptions of the clergy, and sent him to Rome to undergo pontifical censure; but the pope, Alexander III., knowing the character of his accuser, sent him back honourably to Liege, with permission to continue his ministrations. Shortly after his return, the first establishment of Beguines (so called from his name) was founded through his instrumentality at Nivelle in Brabant. It was imitated immediately in Flanders, Holland, and Germany, where the Beguines have for several centuries been recognised in history, in fiction, and in popular opinion, as among the foremost ministers of all that relates to piety and charity. The honour of founding this society has also been claimed for Saint Begghe, who lived in the seventh century. Begh died in 1177.—J. S., G. <section end="505L" /> <section begin="505M" />BEGUE,, a French heretic of the latter half of the thirteenth century. He maintained a theory of human perfectability, which allowed all manner of bodily indulgence, and dispensed with the forms of religion as well as the practice of virtue. His partisans, called Beguards or Beguins, were condemned at the council of Vienna in 1311.—J. S., G. <section end="505M" /> <section begin="505N" />BEGUIGNOT,, Comte, a French general, born near Ligny (Meuse) in 1747; died at Paris, September 30, 1808. He pursued a successful military career until 1802, when he became a member of the corps legislatif. In 1807 he took his seat in the senate.—G. M. <section end="505N" /> <section begin="505O" />BÉGUILLET,, a French agriculturist, born about the commencement of the eighteenth century; died in 1786. He wrote some historical tracts; but his works on agriculture are more esteemed. He is author of "De Principiis Vegetationis et Agriculturæ."—J. G. <section end="505O" /> <section begin="505P" />BEHADAR-SHAH,, Mogul emperor, born about 1642; died at Lahore in February, 1712. He was the second son of Aurengzebe, sixth descendant from Baber, known under the name of the Sultan Moazzem. Aurengzebe had five sons, and at his death, in 1707, he divided the empire equally between two of them, Aazem and Moazzem, the latter of whom took the title of Qoutb-oud-dine-Behadar-Shah. The former, however, was not satisfied with this allotment, and caused himself to be proclaimed emperor of Hindostan. The two brothers immediately put themselves at the head of their respective armies, and in a sanguinary battle, which was fought near the river Tchun, Aazem was defeated and slain. Behadar-Shah, now become sole master, applied himself to the consolidation of the empire. His reign, though not undisturbed, was prosperous. He triumphed over all his enemies, and at his death left his four sons to dispute possession of the throne.—G. M. <section end="505P" /> <section begin="505Q" />BEHADER-KHAN or BEHARDUR-KHAN, , a sultan of the Mongol dynasty, born 5th July, 1302; died 30th November, 1335. When engaged in an expedition against the Uzbecs, he was seized with a malady, of which he died, and with him perished the Mongol dynasty of Persia. <section end="505Q" /> <section begin="505R" />BEHAEGEL,, born at Ypres, 1795, became a pupil of David. He painted interiors, and engraved churches, picture galleries, and kitchens—a poor occupation for a thinking man, being generally mere ingenious problems of perspective. <section end="505R" /> <section begin="505Snop" />BEHAIM,, a German cosmographer, was born at Nuremberg in 1430 or 1436, and died at Lisbon, 29th July, 1507. As a merchant, he undertook great travels (as far as the mouth of the river Congo, on the western coast of Africa), and for a long time resided in Portugal, where he is believed to have lived on terms of friendship with Columbus and other great navigators. He constructed a large globe, which is still in the possession of his family.—K. E. <section end="505Snop" />