BEZA, Theodore, one of the principal pillars of the reformed church, was born at Vezelai in Burgundy on the 24th June 1519. He was brought up by his uncle Nicholas Beza, counsellor of the parliament of Paris, till the month of December 1528, when he was sent to study at Orleans, and afterwards at Bourges, where, under the care of Melchior Wolmar, he made extraordinary progress in learning, and imbibed the principles of Calvinism. His uncle intended him for the bar; but the law not suiting his disposition, he spent most of his time in reading the Greek and Latin authors, and in composing verses. In 1539 he took his licentiate’s degree, and went to Paris, where he fell into snares in his youth, and wrote some licentious things. But sickness awakened him to a sense of his folly, and he determined to perform a vow he had -formerly made of entering into the reformed church. With this resolution he went to Geneva and made a public profession of the reformed religion. In 1549 he accepted of the Greek professorship at Lausanne, where he also read lectures in French on the New Testament to the refugees of both sexes who dwelt in that city. Having settled at Geneva, he adhered to Calvin in the strictest manner, and became in a little time his colleague in the church and in the university. At the solicitation of some great men of the kingdom he was sent to Nerac to convert the king of Navarre, and to confer with him upon affairs of importance. This was when the Guises had got the authority, under the reign of Francis II., to the prejudice of the princes of the blood. The king of Navarre having testified, both by letters and deputies, that he desired Beza might assist at the conference of Poissi, the senate of Geneva consented. The assembly hearkened attentively to his harangue, till, speaking of the real presence, he said, that the body of Jesus Christ was as distant from the bread and wine, as the highest heaven is from the earth. This produced a murmur: some cried out, “Blas-phemavit ;” and others got up to go away. Cardinal de Tournon, who sat in the first place, desired the king and queen either to silence Beza, or to permit him and his company to withdraw. The king did not stir, nor did any of the princes; and leave was given him to proceed. Throughout the whole conference he acquitted himself with great ability. He often preached before the queen of Navarre, the prince of Condé, and in the suburbs of Paris. After [7:4:610]the massacre of Vassi, he was deputed to the king to complain of this violence. The civil war followed soon after, during which the prince of Condé kept Beza with him; and while the prince was imprisoned, he lived with Admiral de Coligni, and did not return to Geneva till after the peace of 1563. In 1571 he was chosen moderator of the national synod of Rochelle, and in the year after assisted at that of Nismes; after which he was present at the conferences of Montheliard, and at those of Berne. The infirmities of age beginning to fall heavy upon him, he seldom spoke in public, and at last left it off entirely in the beginning of the year 1600. However, in 1597, he wrote some animated verses against the Jesuits, on the occasion of a report that was circulated of his death, and of his having before he died made profession of the Romish faith. He lived till the 13th of October 1605, on which day he expired. Beza was a man of extraordinary merit, and one who did great service to the Protestant cause. This, however, exposed him to innumerable slanders and calumnies; but he showed, both to the Catholics and Lutherans, that he understood how to defend himself. He wrote, 1. A Translation of the New Testament; 2. A Version of the Psalms into Latin verse; 3. A Treatise on the Sacraments; 4. Some Sermons on the Passion of Jesus Christ and on Solomon’s Song; 5. A Version of the Canticles, in lyric verse; 6. A French tragi-comedy, entitled The Sacrifice of Abraham; and many other pieces.