Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/618

 598 BETTERTON BEUKELS tical law which punished a violation of the pledge by excommunication was abolished un- der George II. Betrothment in England was a legal bar to marriage with another. Previous to Anne Boleyn's execution Henry VIII. obtained a decree of divorce in the ecclesiastical court on the ground of her alleged former betrothment with Northumberland. The only legal remedy against the violation of betrothment at the present time is an action for breach of prom- ise. In Scotland, however, betrothment when taking place with the free, deliberate, and clear "present consent" of both parties, may be enforced against the recusant party, and con- stitutes marriage itself. (See "Treatise on the New Divorce Jurisdiction," by Macqueen, 1858, and "Exposition of the Laws of Marriage and Divorce," by Ernst Browning, 1872.) In Germany betrothment is still more generally celebrated than in most other countries, and must be legalized by two witnesses. The pledges usually consist in the interchange of rings. The contract may be dissolved by mu- tual consent ; but a violation of it, once attended with severe penalties, is still punished. Chil- dren borne by the bride to the bridegroom are regarded as if born in wedlock, even if no mar- riage succeeds the betrothment. In the United States betrothment has only the moral force of a mutual pledge, and in case of a breach of promise the law provides for redress. Some peculiarities of betrothment among semi-civil- ized and savage races may be mentioned. The Arab sends a relative to negotiate about his intended bride, and the price at which she is to be had. The bridegroom of Kamtchatka has to serve in the house of his prospective father-in-law before an engagement is allowed to take place. With the Letts and Esthonians no engagement is considered valid until the parent and relatives of the bride have tasted the brandy which the bridegroom presents. Among the Hottentots, the would-be bride- groom is not allowed to propose without be- ing accompanied by his father. Father and son walk arm in arm, with pipes in their mouths, to the house of the bride, where the engagement takes place. Among some of the indigenous tribes of America it was customary to keep the betrothed woman in durance and on short allowance for 40 days, as the super- stition prevailed that she would exert an oc- cult influence upon anything she touched or anybody with whom she came in contact. BETTER/TON, Thomas, an English actor, born in 1635, died in April, 1710. He was the son of a cook in the service of Charles I., and was apprenticed to a bookseller in London, who obtained a license for a company of players in 1659, with whom Betterton commenced his career. He was engaged by Davenant in 1662, and became an established favorite. His personal appearance was clumsy and his man- ner unprepossessing, but he had a singular faculty of thoroughly identifying himself with his part. His last appearance, April 13, 1710, was the proximate cause of his death, as he performed when in ill health, in order to keep his engagement with the public. His widow, an eminent actress, whose first husband was Mr. Sanderson, soon afterward died of grief. BETTIiVELLI, Saverio, an Italian author, born in Mantua, July 18, 1718, died there, Dec. 13, 1808. He became a member of the society of Jesus in 1736. From 1739 to 1744 he taught literature at Brescia, and was afterward pro- fessor of rhetoric successively at Venice and Parma. He was noted for his eloquence as a preacher and his generous social nature. When the society of Jesus was abolished, he relin- quished the professorship which he then held at Modena, and returned to Mantua. His prin- cipal works are: DeW entmiasmo nelle belle arti (2 vols., Milan, 1769), and Risorgimento negli studj, &c. (2 vols., Bassano, 1775). A complete edition of his works was published at Venice in 1801, in 24 vols. His Lettere died di Virgilio agli Areadi were severely criti- cised on account of their depreciation of Dante and other great writers. His Versi sciolti are his best poems. BETTY, William Henry West, an English actor, popularly known as "the young Roscins," born at Shrewsbury, Sept. 13, 1791. In in- fancy he accompanied his father, who was a farmer, to Ireland. He made a successful de- but at the Belfast theatre as Osman when he was about 12 years old, performed at Cork with even greater effect, and was enthusiasti- cally received at Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 1804 he was engaged at Coven t Garden for 12 nights, at 50 guineas a night and a cle.-ir benefit, and at Drury Lane, on the intervening nights, on the same terms, though John Kem- ble's weekly salary was under 36 guineas, and Lewis's only 20. He drew immense houses in Hamlet and other characters ; and the ex- citement was so great that the university of Cambridge made Quid noster Rottcmt eget ? the subject of Sir William Brown's prize medal. In 28 nights, at Drury Lane, he drew 17,210, an average of nearly 615 a night, and at least as much more at Covent Garden. After he had secured a handsome income he passed three years at Shrewsbury school. Resuming his profession in 1812, he made an utter fail- ure. Lord Byron had predicted this on ac- count of his corpulence, flat features, ungrace- ful action, and his "muffin face." He then retired from the stage. HENET BETTY, his eld- est son, born Sept. 29, 1819, appeared, after sev- eral years' practice in the provinces, at Covent Garden in December, 1844, as Hamlet. BETWAH, a river of Hindostan, which rises in the Vindhya mountains, near Bhopaul, and flows nearly 340 m. mostly in a N. E. direction, finally joining the Jumna about 30 m. E. S. E. of Calpee. In a portion of its course are beds of iron ore. It is not navigable. BEUKELS, or Beukelszoon, Wlllcm. a Dutch fish- erman, born at Biervliet in 1397, died there in 1449. He is celebrated as being the first who