pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
BEDELL, Dr William, a learned prelate, born in Essex in 1570. He went as chaplain with Sir Henry Wotton, the English ambassador to the republic of Venice, in 1604, and continuing eight years in that city, contracted an intimate acquaintance with the celebrated Father Paul. Of him Bedell learned enough of Italian to be able to translate the English Common Prayer Book into that language; and in return drew up an English grammar for Father Paul, who declared that he had learned more from Bedell in all parts of divinity than from any other person. He was accordingly much concerned when Bedell left Venice, and at his departure presented him with his picture, the manuscript of his History of the Council of Trent, and his History of the Interdict and Inquisition, with other literary donations. In 1629, he obtained the bishopric of Kilmore and Ardagh in Ireland, and, finding these dioceses in great disorder, applied himself vigorously to the reform of abuses. He was no persecutor of Papists, but laboured with great success to convert the better sort of the popish clergy. He procured an Irish translation of the Common Prayer Book, which he caused to be read in his cathedral every Sunday; and the New Testament having been translated by Archbishop Daniel, he caused a version of the Old Testament to be made, which was afterwards printed at the expense of the Honourable Robert Boyle. In 1624, he published a controversial book against the Roman Catholics, which he dedicated to Charles prince of Wales, and assisted the archbishop of Spolatro in finishing his famous work Be Republica Ecclesiastica. When the rebellion broke out in Ireland in October 1641, the bishop did not at first experience its violence, as the rebels had conceived a great veneration for him, and<declared he should be the last Englishman they would drive out of Ireland. His was the only house in the county of Cavan that remained inviolate, and it was filled with the people who had fled to him for shelter. About the middle of December, however, the rebels, pursuant to orders received from their council of state at Kilkenny, required him to dismiss the people who were with him; but he peremptorily refused to do so, declaring he would share the same fate with his guests.. Upon this they seized the bishop himself, his two sons, and Mr Clogy, who had married his daughter-in-law, and carried them prisoners to the castle of Cloughbough ter, surrounded by a deep fosse, where all except the bishop were put in irons; but this severity was soon discontinued, and, after a confinement of about three weeks, the bishop, his two sons, and Mr Clogy, were exchanged for some of the principal rebels. The bishop, however, died soon after, on the 7th of February 1642; his death having been occasioned by his late imprisonment, and the weight of sorrows which preyed on his mind. The Irish paid him unusual honours at his burial, for the chiefs of the rebels collected their forces, and, thus attended, accompanied his remains to the church-yard.
BEDFORD, the capital town of the county of that name. It stands on the river Ouse, fifty miles from London. It has five parish churches and several separatist chapels, a well-endowed and well-managed free school, and a number of benevolent institutions for the indigent. It is governed by a corporate body, and returns two members to the house of commons, who are elected by a numerous body of freemen, but so far influenced by the Duke of Bedford and Mr Whitbread as to secure a majority when their interests are united. The town is remarkably clean and well paved. The markets are held on Saturday for corn, and on Tuesday for cattle. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 3948, in 1811 to 4605, and in 1821 to 5466.
BEDLOE, WTlłiam, better known by his assumed title of Captain, was an infamous adventurer of low birth, who had travelled over a great part of Europe under different names and disguises, and passed himself among several ignorant persons for a man of rank and fortune. Encouraged by the success of Titus Oates, he turned general evidence, gave an account of Godfrey’s murder, and added many circumstances to the narrative of Oates. These villains had the boldness even to accuse the queen of entering into a conspiracy against the king’s life. A reward or L.500 was voted to Bedloe by the commons; and he is said to have asserted the reality of the papist plot on his deathbed; but the whole story is so overlaid with absurdity, contradiction, and perjury, that the only thing we can be certain about respecting it is the incredible wickedness of those who were concerned in getting it up, and the inconceivable folly of those who credited their story. Bedloe died at Bristol on the 20th of August 1680. Giles Jacob informs us, that he was author of a play called The Excommunicated Prince, or the False Relict, 1679. The printer of it having, without the author’s knowledge, added a second title, and called it The Popish Plot in a Play, greatly excited the curiosity of the public, who were, however, much disappointed when they found that the plan of the piece was founded on a quite different story. Anthony Wood denies the captain the merit, such as it is, of this play, and asserts that it was written partly, if not entirely, by one Thomas Walter, Μ. A. of Jesus College, Oxford.
BEDNORE, a town of Hindostan, in the territories of the rajah of Mysore. This was once a place of great importance, containing, it is said, 20,000 houses, besides huts. It was taken and plundered by Hyder in 1763, who changed its name to Hydernagur, and at that time it was estimated at eight miles in circumference. It was again taken in 1786, and given up to be plundered, by a British detachment, which was attacked in its turn, and destroyed or made prisoners, by Tippoo’s troops. At Tippoo’s death it contained 1500 houses, besides huts. Long. 75. 6. E. Lat. 13. 48. N.

The district of Bednore is situated on the summit of that range of hills, the Western Ghauts, which overlooks the provinces of Cinara and Malabar. In consequence of its elevation above the sea, and the steepness of the mountain chain, which rises like a wall to the height of 4000 or 5000 feet, the clouds of the western monsoon are here intercepted, and are precipitated on the ground below in deluges of rain, which continue for nine months in the year, and are extremely favourable to vegetation. Its products are pepper, betel-nut, cardamums, and sandal wood. Cattle of small size are also bred in the district, and exported to the sea-coast. The imports are salt, rice, cocoa nuts, oil, turmeric, and cotton cloths.
BEDOUINS, or Bedouγs, a modern name of the wild Arabs, whether in Asia or Africa. See Arabia.
BEDRIACUM, in Ancient Geography, a village of Italy, situated, according to Tacitus, between Verona and Cremona, but nearer the latter than the former. From the account given by that historian, Cluverius conjectures that the ancient Bedriacum stood in the place where the city of Caneto now stands. This village was remarkable for the defeat of the emperor Galba by Otho, and afterwards of Otho by Vitellius.
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BEDWIN, Great, a borough, formerly also a markettown, of the hundred of Kinwardstone, in the county of Wilts. It is seventy miles from London, on the Kennet and Avon canal. It returns two members to the house of commons, who are nominally chosen by the holders of burgage tenures, but in reality by Lord Aylesbury. The number of inhabitants in 1801 amounted to 1632, in 1811 to 1851, and in 1821 to 1928.
BEE-Eater. See Ornithology, Index.
BEECH-Mast, the fruit of the beech-tree, said to be good for fattening hogs, deer, and other animals. It has sometimes proved a useful substitute for bread. Chios is said to have endured a memorable siege by means of it.

Beech- Oil, an oil drawn by expression from the mast of the beech-tree, after it has been shelled and pounded. This oil is very common in Picardy, and is used there and in other parts of France instead of butter; but most of those who take a great deal of it complain of pains and a heaviness in the stomach.
BEEDER, a province of Hindostan, in the Deccan, situated principally between the 16th and 18th degrees of N. lat. It is bounded on the north by Aurungabad and Berar, on the south by the province of Hyderabad, o the cast by Hyderabad and Gundwana, and on the west by Aurungabad and Bejapoor. This country is comprehended in the dominions subject to the Nizam, and is governed by his officers. It is of an uneven and hilly surface, but not mountainous, and is watered by many sma ' rivers, which flow into the larger streams of the Beema, Krishna, and Godavery. The country is in general pio-ductive, and was flourishing and populous under the old Hindoo government; but it is now thinly inhabited, compared[7:4:537] with the British provinces. Although this province has long been ruled by princes of the Mahommedan persuasion, the Hindoos form the great bulk of the population, exceeding the Mahommedans in the proportion of ten to one. The largest rivers are the Godavery and Manjera, and the chief towns Beeder, Calberga, Nundere, and Calliany. After the Mahommedan conquest this province was the seat of a dynasty of Deccan sovereigns, who began to reign in a. d. 1347. Along with the other Deccan provinces, the country fell under the Mogul dominion towards the conclusion of the seventeenth century, during the reign of Aurungzebe, from whose successors it was separated in 1717 by Nizam ul Muluck, and has ever since remained in the possession of his posterity.

Beeder, the capital of the above province, is situated in an open plain, except on the east side, where the ground rises to the height of about 100 yards. This place is fortified with a stone wall about six miles in circumference, a dry ditch, and many round towers. The town is much decayed, but the remains of many old buildings are still visible. Before the Mahommedan invasion it was the seat of a Hindoo sovereignty. The travelling distance from Hyderabad is 78 miles, from Delhi 857, from Madras 430, and from Calcutta 980 miles.
BEEF, the flesh of black-cattle prepared for food. According to Dr Cullen, beef, though of a more firm texture and less soluble than mutton, is equally alkalescent, perspirable, and nutritious.

Beef-Eater. See Ornithology, Index.
BEELE, a kind of pick-axe, used by the miners for separating the ores from the rocks in which they are embedded. This instrument is called a tubber by the miners of Cornwall.
BEEMAH, a river of Hindostan, which has its rise in the mountains to the north of Poonah, not many miles from the source of the Godavery. It passes within thirty miles of the town of Poonah, where it is called Bewrah, and is esteemed by the Hindoos a sacred river. It is one of the principal tributaries of the Krishna, which it joins near the town of Firozegur, in the province of Beeder. The length of its course, including its windings, may be 400 miles.
BEER, or Bir, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in the government of Orfa. It occupies an elevated situation on the left bank of the Euphrates, which is here about 130 yards broad, deep and rapid, and is crossed by a bridge ofboats, where a pontage is exacted of passengers. The town consists of 500 houses, mostly in a decaying state, and is protected by a citadel, which stands on a precipitous eminence, and by a wall in a dilapidated condition, beer is a considerable thoroughfare from Aleppo to Orfa, Diarbekir, and Persia, and a considerable trade was formerly carried on to Bagdad by vessels descending the river. It is 144 miles north-east of Aleppo, and 115 southwest of Diarbekir. Long. 38. 6. E. Lat. 36. 48. N.

Beer. See Brewing.
BEERALSTON, a borough-town in the parish of Beer-feris and hundred of Roborough, in the county of Devon, 215 miles from London, and near the navigable river Tamar. It returns two members to parliament, who are chosen by the holders of ancient burgages, the majority of which are the property of the earl of Beverley. As there are few houses, the elections of magistrates as well as of members are held under a large tree.
BEER REGIS, a market-town in the hundred of Beer,! n the county of Dorset, 112 miles from London. Near it ls a hill, which was formerly a Roman encampment, and where is annually held one of the largest fairs in the west θ England, during two weeks in September. The inha-h>tants amounted in 1801 to 936, in 1811 to 953, and in 1 821 to 1080.
BEERING’S or Behring’s Island, an island in the Northern Pacific Ocean, which some geographers place in the Aleutian chain. It extends 104 miles in length by fifteen in breadth, and is mountainous and sterile. This 3 island is mostly frequented by vessels engaged in the fur trade, and is of dangerous access, having only two bays, which are shallow, and exposed to the north winds. The surrounding seas formerly abounded in whales, phocae, and multitudes of sea-otters and other animals. But most of these animals have been greatly diminished, owing to the avidity with which they have been pursued. This island was first discovered in 1740 or 1741 by Beering, a commodore in the Russian service. It is distant 192 miles north-east of the harbour of St Peter and St Paul in Kamtschatka.

Beering’s or Behring’s Straits, the narrow sea between the west coast of North America and the east coast of Asia, so named from Captain Beering, who, with Tshiri-kow sailed from Kamtschatka, on a voyage of discovery to the New World. They both discovered land near the north-west coast of America; and more recently the near approach of the American and Asiatic shores, the general bearing of which has since been ascertained by Captain Cook and other navigators. These straits, in lat. 66. N., are 13 leagues wide, beyond which they diverge to the north-east by east and west-north-west; and in lat. 69. N. they are about 100 leagues across. The depth of water in the middle varies from 20 to 30 fathoms.
BEEROO, a considerable kingdom of central Africa, lying to the north of Bambarra, and west of Timbuctoo. It is very little known, having never been visited by any European. The people are Mahommedans, and its capital is Walet, a large town, enriched by being the chief emporium of the trade in salt, which is conveyed from the tracts in the great desert where it abounds, to those along the Niger, where it is entirely wanting. That city has ever been stated to be equal in magnitude to Timbuctoo.
BEEROTH, a village of Judaea, situated at the foot of Mount Gabaon, seven miles from Aelia or Jerusalem, on the road to Nicoolis.
BEERSHEBA, or Bersabe, a city to the south of the tribe of Judah, adjoining to Idumaea.
BEESTINGS, or Breastings, a term used by country people for the first milk taken from a cow after calving. The beestings are of a thick consistence and yellow colour, seemingly impregnated with sulphur. D Morgan imagines them peculiarly fitted and intended by nature to cleanse the young animal from the recrements gathered in its stomach and intestines during its long habitation in utero. He supposes women’s first milk after delivery to possess a similar virtue; and hence he infers the necessity of the mother’s suckling her own child, rather than committing it to a nurse whose first milk is gone.
BEETLE, a term applied to most insects belonging to the order Coleoptera. See Entomology. Beetle also denotes a wooden instrument for driving piles, and for other purposes. It is likewise called a stamper, and by pavers a rammer.
BEEVES, a general name for oxen.
BEFORT, an arrondissement of the department of the Upper Rhine in France, extending over 341 square miles, and comprehending nine cantons and 191 communes, with 90,769 inhabitants. The chief place is the city of the same name, on the Savoureuse. It is strongly fortified by Vauban, and has a population of 4400 persons, employedin various manufactures. Long.6.46.40. E. Lat.47.38.18. N.
BEGA, Cornelius, a painter of landscapes, cattle, and conversations, was born at Haerlem in 1620, and became the disciple of Adrian Ostade. Falling into a dissipated way of life, he was disinherited by his father, for which reason he changed his paternal name, which was Begeyn, and took that of Bega; hence his early pictures are marked with the former, and his subsequent works with t latter. Bega caught the plague from a woman of whom he was deeply enamoured; but he showed so much sincerity of affection, that notwithstanding the expostulations of his friends and physicians, he attended her till the last moment of her life, and died a few days after, aged forty-four years.
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BEGGAR. See Mendicity.
BEGHERME, an extensive country in the interior of Africa, to the south of the Lake Tchad, and the southeast of Bornou. It has never been reached by any European; but the country appears to be fertile, and the nation warlike. The latter, engaged in almost continual contests with Bornou, have a well-trained light cavalry, in which both the riders and horses are completely cased in mail; but though the former display great skill in horsemanship, and in the performance of rapid manoeuvres, they exhibit no courage when attacked in close combat. Hence the Bornou spearmen, with a few Arab musketeers, are accustomed to put to flight large hosts of Begherme cavalry. The sultan of Bornou has thus been enabled repeatedly to overrun the country; but the Beghermis then retreat beyond a large river which falls into the Tchad, where they are received by a friendly nation, and, as soon as the Bornou army has retired, return, and take possession of their territory. The Beghermis individually are strong and muscular men; and their slaves in Bornou distinguish themselves as skilful and powerful wrestlers. The general state of population and society in this country is nearly the same as that which will be described as existing in Bornou.
BEGLERBEG, or Beglierbey, the head of one of the principal governments of the Turkish empire, and next in dignity to the grand vizier. To every beglierbey the grand signior gives three ensigns or staves, trimmed with a horsetail, to distinguish them from those pashas who have but two, and from simple beys, or sangiac beys, who have but one.
BEGUARDS, or Beghards, religionists of the third order of St Francis in Flanders. They were established at Antwerp in the year 1228, and took St Begghe for their patroness, from whom they derived their name. On their first institution they employed themselves in makinglinen cloth, each supporting himself by his own labour, and were united only by the bonds of charity, without having any particular rule. But when Pope Nicholas IV. had confirmed that of the third order of St Francis in 12b9, they embraced it the year following, and were greatly favoured by the dukes of Brabant, particularly John ÎI. and John III. who exempted them from all contributions and taxes. In the year 1425 they began to live in common, and in 1467 made solemn vows, after having taken the habit of the Terciaries of Liège, religionists of the third order of St Francis; and, in 1472, they became subject to the general of the congregation of Zepperen in the diocese of Liège, to which they were united by Pope Sixtus IV. But Pope Innocent X. having, in 1650, suppressed the general of the congregation of Zepperen, all the convents of the third order of St Francis, in the dioceses of Liège, Malines, and Antwerp, were submitted to the visitation, jurisdiction, and correction, of the general of Italy, and erected into a province, under the title of “the province of Flanders.”
BEGUINES, a congregation of female religionists or nuns, founded either by St Begghe or by Lambert le Begue, who died about the end of the twelfth century. They were originally established at Liège, and afterwards at Seville; and from this last settlement sprang the great number of Beguines, which spread over all Flanders, and thence passed into Germany, where some of these religionists fell into extravagant errors; persuading themselves that it was possible, in the present life, to arrive at the highest perfection, even at impeccability and a clear view of God. The council of Vienna condemned these errors, and abolished the order of Beguines, permitting such of them, however, as continued in the true faith to ve in chastity, either with or without vows; under cover of which permission the decree of the council was evaded, and communities of Beguines spread throughout all Flanders.
BEHABAN, a town of Persia, and capital of a mountainous district. It is pleasantly situated in the middle of an extensive valley, which is of considerable extent, highly cultivated, and watered by the rivers Zab and Jerahi. The walls are about three miles in circumference. It is the seat of a governor, whose palace is at the north-west corner of the town; and contains, according to the best information, 10,000 inhabitants. It is 153 miles from Shiraz, from which it is separated by a mountainous country, entirely uninhabited, and infested by banditti.
BEHEADING, a capital punishment, in which the head is severed from the body by the stroke of an axe, a sword, or some other instrument.

Beheading was a military punishment among the Romans, and known by the name of decollatio. The head of the culprit was laid on a cippus or block, placed in a pit dug for the purpose, beyond the vallum, and near the porta decumana; and preparatory to the stroke, he was tied to a stake, and whipped with cords. In the early ages the blow was given with an axe, but in aftertimes with a sword, which was thought the more reputable manner of execution. In England, decapitation is a punishment reserved for the nobility, as was formerly the case in France; being reputed less derogatory to their rank than hanging, which is the punishment inflicted on plebeian criminals.

In Scotland beheading was anciently performed by an edge dinstrument called the maiden, introduced into this country by the regent Morton, who was the first that suffered by it. This instrument has been preserved, and may still be seen in the apartments of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries. The guillotine, so called from the name of its inventor, Μ. Guillotin a physician, who is also said to have lost his head by his own contrivance, is an instrument somewhat analogous to the maiden; with this exception, that the knife descends angularly, and, cutting sawwise, is more instantaneously and decisively effective. In France beheading is an ordinary capital punishment for great crimes, and the guillotine, notwithstanding all the revolutionary horrors associated with it, is still the instrument by which decollation is performed.
BEHEMOTH, from the Hebrew díĩĭ, behem, and 1 τn,τn, behemah (bestia, pecus, jumentum), the plural of which, rnn∏a, behemoth, is used with a singular effect, says Buxtorf, to signify the elephant, on account of its great size, qua instar plurium est. Bochart, followed by Scheuscher, Shaw, and others, contends that the “behemoth” of Scripture is the hippopotamus or river-horse; but this notion could scarcely have been entertained if due attention had been paid to the words of Job, xl. 15, “Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox” a description that can scarcely apply to river-horses, which are not understood to be graminivorous. Hence Schultens, Buxtorf, and all the more recent lexicoraphers and commentators, render “behemoth” elephant. The term “mammoth,” which has been applied indiscriminately to all the largest species of fossil animals, appears also to be a corruption of the Hebrew word “behemoth.” Professor Buckland, it is true, states that mammoth is a word of Tartar origin, meaning simply “animal of the earth.” But we very much doubt the correctness of this etymology, and are somewhat confirmed in this suspicion by a collocation which occurs in Isaiah, xviii. 6, where we meet with the very words, yix.i πώ,ίϊ, bestia terroe, “ animal of the earth,” applied to the “behemoth,” by which the learned professor explains the supposed Tartar term “mammoth.”
BEHMEN. See Boehmen.