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 621 BICKEESTAFF BIDDEFORD 1818. II. A fortified town, capital of the state, 240 in. W. by S. of Delhi ; ]>op. about 60,000. It is situated in a desolate tract, and is surrounded by a wall 3 m. in circumfer- ence, with numerous round towers and battle- ments. There are some elevated buildings and temples, and a citadel surrounded by a wall 80 ft. high, containing the residence of the rajah ; but most of the dwellings are mere huts with mud walls painted red. BICKERSTAFF, Isaac, a British dramatist, born in Ireland about 1735, supposed to have died on the continent late in the 18th or early in the 19th century. After having been one of the pages of Lord Chesterfield at the vice- regal court of Dublin, he received a commis- sion in the marines, in which service he was lieutenant when compelled to retire in dis- grace. He wrote numerous comedies and comic operas, which were produced under Gar- rick's management, and were at one time very popular. His best known pieces are " The Maid of the Mill," "The Captive," "Love in a Vil- lage," " The Padlock," and the comedy of " The Hypocrite." BICKERSTETH. I. Edward, an English cler- gyman, born at Kirkby Lonsdale, March 19, 1786, died at "Watton, Feb. 24, 1850. He was for several years a post office clerk in London, till in 1812 he began business as a solicitor in Norwich. Here he became interested in reli- gious and benevolent movements, and was or- dained in 1815 as a deacon in the established church. He was sent in 1816 to Africa to re- organize the stations of the church missionary society, and during the next 15 years he was secretary and chief acting officer of that so- ciety. In 1830 he resigned this position and became rector of Watton, Hertfordshire. He belonged to the evangelical section of the es- tablished church. His most popular manual, "The Scripture Help," has been translated into French and other languages, and reached a sale of over 150,000 copies. A uniform edi- tion of his principal works was published in 17 vols. in 1853, and there are 5 vols. more of his smaller publications. See "Memoir of the Eev. Edward Bickersteth," by T. R. Birks (2 vols., 1851). II. Henry, Lord Langdale, an Eng- lish lawyer, brother of the preceding, born June 18, 1783, died at Tunbridge Wells, April 18, 1851. He served an apprenticeship to his father, who was a surgeon and apothecary, after which he travelled on the continent as medical attendant to the earl of Oxford, sub- sequently studied law, and rose to eminence in the courts of equity. He was appointed mas- ter of the rolls and raised to the peerage in 1836 as Lord Langdale. As he died childless, the title became extinct. His widow, sister of the earl of Oxford, was licensed in 1853 to assume her family name of Harley, and died Sept. 1, 1872. III. Mward, an English clergy- man, nephew of the preceding, born at Acton, Suffolk, in 1814. After holding various eccle- siastical positions, he became in 1853 vicar of Aylesbury and archdeacon of Buckingham. In December, 18fi8, he was elected for the third time prolocutor at the convocation of Can- terbury, and he is a member of the committee appointed for the revision of the New Testa- ment. His charges at his different visitations between 1855 and 1870, as well as many of his sermons, have been published. IV. Robert, an English prelate, brother of the preceding, born at Acton, Aug. 24, 1816. He is a graduate of Queen's college, Cambridge, and has been suc- cessively curate at Sapcote (1841), at Reading (1843-'4), Clapham (1845), rector of St. Giles in the Fields (1851), and canon residentiary of Salisbury (1854). In 1856 he was appointed bishop of Ripon. His publications include "Bible Landmarks" (1850), "Lent Lectures, Means of Grace" (1851), "Sermons" (1 vol., 1866), and charges delivered to the clergy of his diocese. V. Edward Henry, an English clergyman and poet, son of Edward Bicker- steth, rector of Watton, born in London, Jan. 25, 1825. He studied at Trinity college, Cam- bridge, and became curate at Birmingham in 1848, and at Tunbridge Wells in 1852. In the same year he was appointed rector of Hin- ton Martell, Dorsetsliire; in 1855 vicar of Christchurch, Hampstead; and since 1861 he has been the private chaplain of his relative, the bishop of Ripon. His publications include " Poems " (1848) ; " The Book of Ages " (1858) ; "Yesterday, To-day, and For Ever," a poem in 12 books (1866) ; and "The Two Brothers, and other Poems " (1871). BIDASSOA, a river of Spain, 45 m. long, the last 12 m. forming the boundary between France and Spain. It rises in Navarre, and falls into the bay of Biscay near Fuenterrabia, watering the Bastan and other beautiful val- leys. The river is locally called Bastan Zubi in the upper part of its course, the name of Bidassoa being generally applied to it only af- ter its entrance into the valley of San Esteban. It has many small affluents. Near Irun, where the French had a tete-de-pont constructed in 1813, is the Pheasants' island, a sort of neutral ground, also called the Conference island from the many Franco-Spanish conferences held there. The treaty of the Pyrenees was nego- tiated at this place in 1659. The Spanish crossed the Bidassoa thrice in 1703, defeating the French, who in July were finally victo- rious. A French army of 16,000 men under Soult was defeated on the banks of the Bidas- soa at San Marcial, Aug. 31, 1813, by 8,000 British and Spanish troops under Wellington. On Oct. 7 of the same year AVellington drove the French from their strong intrenchments at the same point. BIDUEFORD, a city of York county, Maine, on the Saco river, at the falls, 6 m. from its mouth and opposite the town of Saco, with which it is connected by a bridge 500 ft. long ; pop. in 1870, 10,285. The water power is ex- cellent and inexhaustible, the fall being 42 feet. About a dozen cotton mills, situated on both