Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/881

BEREZIN. fessor at the University of Kazan, and after 1848 spent some time in Siljeria. where he continued his studies in philology and ethnology. In 1855 he was appointed professor of the Turkish lan- jruage and literature at the University of Saint Petcrshurg. His more important works (in Rus- sian) include: Library of Oriental Avthorx, 3 vols. (184!)-51); Toar Throuijh Dayhcstan iind Trans-Caucasia (1850)-; A (Iraiinniir of the Per- sian Languar/e (1853) ; The Mongol Tnrasion of Russia (1852-54); Popular Turkish Mayings (1857). In French he wrote lieeherehes sur les dialectes Musulmans (1848-53). He also ed- ited Rashid Ed-Din's History of the Mongols, Vols. I.-III. (1858-65), and the Russian Encyclo- pedic Dictionary, 10 vols. (1872-70).

BERESINA, byer'yc-ze-na'. A river of Rus- sia, tributary of the Dnieper, rising in the north- ern part of the Government of Minsk. in a low, niarsliy region, near the town of Beresina (Map: Russia, C 4 ). It flows in a southeasterly direc- tion, and joins the Dnieper after a course of about 335 miles. It is navigable for the larger part of its course, but its commercial impor- tance has considerably decreased on account of the adjacent railway lines. The Beresina is con- nected by a canal system with the Dvina. The Beresina is memorable for two military passages. The first one was effected by the troops of Charles XII. of Sweden in .June, 1708, for the purpose of invading I^ittle Russia. The second and the more famous occurred on November 20-29, 1812. In his retreat from Moscow, Napo- leon reached the Beresina at Studyanka on November 25, and as the bridge at Torisov had been destroyed, he ordered the construction of two bridges at the former place. The work was completed on the 20th and the passage was begun immediately, covered by 1700 men (later increased by 4000 ) under Marshal Victor. On the 20th and 27tli, the corps of Oudinot, Ney, a part of the artillery, and the Guards succeeded in crossing the river. On the 28th the Russian artillery began to bombard the bridge, and in the panic which ensued among the crossing troops (mostly unarmed), a large number of French- men perished. It is estimated that over 10,000 Frenchmen, many of whom were sick and wounded, were lost, and that about 15,000 were made prisoners.

BEREZOV, byer-ya'zof. A district town of the Siberian Province of Tobolsk, situated on the Sosva, a branch of the Obi, about 700 miles from Tobolsk. It lies in a rough country, covered with thick forests, and has a severe climate. Among the noted personages exiled to this place in the Kighteenth Century were Mensiiikov, who died there, and Dolgoruki. Pojiulation, in 1897, 1073.

BERG, Burg, Burgh (AS. heorg). Words entering into the composition of many names of places. liurg, or hiirgh. means fort, castle, ci1n- del, probably from being situated on a hill or eminence. See Borough ; Burgh.

BERG, herK. A former duchy of Germany, now comprised in Prussian Westphalia, and situ- ated on the Rliine Ijetween Cologne and Coblenz. -A.ncienth- a countship, it became a duchy in the Fourteenth Century. Napoleon bestowed the duchy on Murat in 1800, but in 1815 it was ceded to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna.

BERG, Friedhicii Wiluelm Rembert, gen- erally known as Feodor Feodorovitch Bekq (1790-1874). A Russian field-marshal. He was bora at the Castle of Sagnitz, Livonia. He be- came a captain in the Russian Army after the entry of the -411ies into Paris, was advanced to the ranlc of colonel, and from 1822 to 1824 com- manded several e.peditions against the Kirghiz tribes. As major-general he took a conspicu- ous part in the Russo-Turkish campaign of 1828-29, and in that against the Poles in 1831. He was successively advanced to the rank of lieu- tenant-general, general of infantry, and quar- termaster-general on the Imperial General Staff. In 1849 he was Minister Plenipotentiary of the Russian Government to the Court of Austria. During the Crimean War he defended Revel and Esthonia against the Allied fleets, and in 1855, as Governor-General of Finland and commander- in-cliief of the troops stationed there, he repulsed (.ugust 8-10) a vigorous attack upon Sveaborg. For this service he was elevated to the nobility in 1850. Owing to his strenuous opposition to a liberal policy for Finland, he was compelled, in 1801, to resign his position as Governor-General of that province, and was transferred in the same capacity to Poland in 1803, where he soon suc- ceeded in quelling the insurrection. He became field-marshal in 1800.

BERG, berg, Joseph Frederick (1812-71). A Dutch-Reformed clergyman, born at Grace Hill, Antigua, West Indies, June 3, 1812. He was the child of Jloravian missionaries, and so was educated by Moravians in England and the. United States, to which country he came in 1825. He served in the ministry of the German-Re- formed Churcli, 1835-52, but from that date on was in the Dutch-Reformed Church, and from 1801 till his death in New Brunswick, N. J., July 20, 1871, was professor of didactic and polemic theology in the theological seminary of the de- nomination in that place. His reputation rests upon his intense opposition to the Church of Rome as a theological, ecclesiastical, and political or- ganization. Jlanyare his translations and original works ujion this theme. The best known, per- haps, is his translation of the Synopsis of the Moral Theology of Peter Dens, as Prepared for Romish Seminaries and Students of Theology (Philadelphia, 1842, new ed. 1856). He was a man of wide learning and considerable conversa- tional power. For a sketch of Berg, with bibli- ography, consult Corwin, Manual of the Re- formed Cliiireh in America (New York, 1879).

BERG-ADDER. The South African puff- adder ( q.V. ).

BERGAIGNE, brir'gan'y', Abel (1838-88). French Sanskrit scholar. He was born at Vimy, August 31, 1838, and died August 0, 1888. His name is a prominent one in the field of Sanskrit philology, in which he won distinctioUj especially by his contributions to the interpreta- tion of the Veda. He was professor of S.anskrit at the Sorbonne, and among his published works, Le religion vcdique, 3 vols. (Paris, 1883), is the most important. Mention may also be made of his excellent translation of the Sanskrit drama yagananda (Paris, 1879).

BERGAMA, lier'ga-ma (anciently, Gk. nipya. fiov, Pcrgiimon). A city of Asiatic Turkey. Vil- ayet of Sm.yrna, situated in a beautiful and fer- tile valley, on the right bank of the Caicus, about 40 miles north-northeast of Smyrna. In early