Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/875

BEOTHUK. They were called 'Red Indians' by the white settlers. They lived in very large tepees covered with bark or skins, and built a peculiar crescent-shaped canoe. Owing to their implacable hostility to the whites, they were hunted down like wild beasts until about 1820, when a handful of survivors crossed the straits and found a hiding-place in the frozen wilds of Labrador, where some of their descendants may still exist. From an investigation of the few words of their language that have been preserved, Gatschet comes to the conclusion that they constituted a distinct stock.

BEOTHY, ba'e-tl, Zoltán (1848—). An Hungarian novelist and writer on æsthetics. He was born in Komorn, September 4, 1848, and has been since 1882 professor of æsthetics in the University of Budapest. His novels, praised for then realistic treatment and clever analysis of character, include: Beszclyek (1871); A nevte- h'liek; KiiUzdi RcU (1875): Rajzok (sketches, 1879). A collection of his critical and dramatic essays appeared in Budapest in 1882. He is also author of a history of Hungarian literature, an important work upon tragedy (A tragikum, 1885), and a history of Hungarian prose fiction (1880).

BEOWULF, b.a'6-wi.ilf. An Old English poem, epic in theme and in tone, and one of the most interesting literary monuments of the Germanic race. The unique MS. of the poem, now in the British Museum, is usually assigned to the Tenth Century. But the composition of the poem, in its present form, is placed as early as the Eighth Century. The poem also contains mythological elements of still greater antiquity. The scene is Denmark, apparently Zealand, and the opposite coast of Sweden. The monster Grendel — half man, half fiend — comes every night from the fens into the splendid hall of Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and carries off to his subterranean dwelling a number of the King's thegns and devours them. Beowulf, a prince among the Geats (of south Sweden), hearing of this, crosses the sea with fourteen companions to rid Hrothgar of the sea fiend. In a mighty struggle in the hall at night Beowulf performs his exploit; Grendel, after having an arm wrenched from the socket, flees to the fens to die. The next night Grendel's mother comes to the hall to avenge the death of her son, and bears away one of Hrothgar's counselors. Beowulf, who is absent, is sent for in the morning. He descends to the caves of the sea and slays the water demon with a sword wrought by the giants. Beowulf returns to his country, where he becomes King and rules for fifty years. Then a dragon, having been robbed of a cup from an immense hoard which he had guarded for three hundred years, becomes enraged and devastates the land. Beowulf, though weakened by his great age, puts the dragon to death with the aid of a kinsman. But, severely wounded, he dies after viewing the treasures. Besides these three adventures, there are several episodes, and throughout graphic scenes of the social life of our ancestors before they left their ancient homes for Britain.

The literature on Beowulf is immense. For an account of the poem, with bibliographies of editions and dissertations and other articles upon it, consult: Morley, English Writers, Vol. I. (London, 1887); Beowulf, translated by Garnett (Boston, 1885); Ten Brink, Early English Literature, translated by Kennedy (New York, 1883); Beowulf, translated into English prose by C. B. Tinker (New York, 1902). For text, a facsimile of the MS., with transliteration and notes by Zupitza, made for the Early English Text Society (London, 1882). For editions of Beowulf consult: Thorpe (London, 1875); Arnold (London, 1876); Wülker-Grein, Bibliothek der Angelsächsischen Poesie, Vol. I. (London, 1883); Wyatt (Cambridge, 1898). The editions of Thorpe and Arnold contain translations. See.

BEP'PO. A satirical poem on Venetian social life, by Lord Byron, published in 1818. The title character is captured by the Turks, and after an adventurous career as pirate, returns to his native Venice. He there finds that his wife, Laura, has become interested in another gallant, but he persuades her to return to her home. A character of the same name occurs in Auber's Fra Diavolo.

BEPPU, bep'poi). A small seaport and cele- brated sea-bathing resort, situated on the north- eastern coast of the island of Kiushiu, Japan, 7 miles by rail from Oita (Map: Japan, B 7). It is celebrated for its hot baths of alkaline water, whose temperatures range from 100° to 132° F. The place is also a port of call for steamers.

BEQUEATH, be-kweTil'(AS. becweaþun, to say, affirm, leave by will, from pref. be + cweaþun, to say. cf. Engl. quoth). To leave personal property by will or testament to another, the gift so made being known as a bequest, or legacy (q.v.). In the law of real property, the corresponding term is devise; but the two expressions are in practice used interchangeably, and in English and American law with similar effect. In the Scotch law the terms bequeath and bequest are appropriate only to personal estate, and will not operate as a gift of real property. See.

BEQUEST'. See.

BERANGER, ba'rilN'zha'. (1780-1857). A popular French lyric poet of Royalist parents and Republican principles. He was born in Paris. Neglected in childhood, he watched from a roof the storming of the Bastille, and imbibed Republican prejudices from an aunt at Peronne, where he became president of a boys' Republican club. He helped his father in business until bankruptcy, and was for a time reduced to great straits. The patronage of Lucien Bonaparte relieved him in 1804, and procured for him a clerkship in the university. Gratitude was thus joined to admiration for Napoleon, though he gently satirized the despotic Emperor in his Roi d'Yvetot (King of Yvetot, 1813), a song that first made Beranger popular. His first collection of songs (1815) cost him his clerkship for its liberalism and praise of Napoleon, but earned him distinction. A second collection (1821) brought fame, imprisonment, and a fine. A third collection appeared in 1825, and a fourth in 1828, for which he was fined 10,000 francs, paid by eager friends. He was also imprisoned for nine months, only to find his cell a reception-room for the most eminent men of the time. Two years later the Bourbons fell, but, rejecting the honors proffered by the Orleanists,