guenots, and, at his desire, he appeared, 1561, at the religious conference at Poissy, where he spoke in behalf of his party with a boldness, presence of mind and energy, which gained him the esteem of the French court. He often preached in Paris before the queen of Navarre and the prince of Condé; also in the suburbs. At the conference of St. Germain, in 1562, he spoke strongly against the worship of images, and, after the commencement of the civil war, accompanied the prince of Condé as chaplain, and, on the capture of the prince, joined the admiral Coligny. After the restoration of peace, he returned to Geneva, in 1563, where, besides discharging the duties of his offices, he continued to engage in theological controversies in support of the Calvinists; and, after Calvin's death, in 1564, became his successor, and was considered the first theologian of this church. He presided in the synods of the French Calvinists at La Rochelle (1571) and at Nismes (1572), where he opposed Morel's proposal for the alteration of clerical discipline; was sent by Condé (1574) to the court of the elector palatine; and, at the religious conference at Montpellier (1586), opposed the theologians of Würtemberg, particularly James Andreas. At the age of 69 years, he married his second wife (1588), and still continued to repel, with the power of truth and wit, the attacks and calumnies which his enemies, apostatized Calvinists (such as Volsec), Lutherans, and particularly the Jesuits, heaped upon him. They reported, in 1597, that he had died, and returned before his death to the Catholic faith. B., now 78 years old, met his assailants in a poem full of youthful enthusiasm, and resisted, in the same year, the attempts of St. Francis de Sales to convert him, and the alluring offers of the pope. In 1600, he visited Henry IV, in the territory of Geneva, who presented him with 500 ducats. After having enjoyed excellent health during almost his whole life, he died, Oct. 13, 1605, of old age. By a rigorous adherence to the principles of Calvin, in whose spirit he presided over the church of Geneva, he had become the chief of his party, and njoyed for 40 years the reputation of a patriarch, without whose approbation no important step was taken. In order to In order to preserve the unity and permanency of his church, he sacrificed his own opinions to the established dogmas of Calvin, and rendered the most important services by his various erudition, his constant zeal, nis active spirit, his brilliant eloquence,

and even by the impression of his personal appearance, which age made still more striking. He defended his doctrines with ability and enthusiasm, and often with merciless severity and obstinacy. Among his many works, his exegetic writings, and an able and correct, History of Calvinism in France, from 1521 to 63, which is ascribed to him, are still much esteemed. His correspondence with Calvin is to be found in the ducal library at Gotha. A catalogue of his works is given by Anthony la Faye, who has written an account of his life.

BEZANT; round, flat pieces of pure gold, without any impression, supposed to have been the current coin of Byzantium. This coin was probably introduced into coat-armor by the crusaders. Doctor Henry, in his History of England, estimates its value at 9s. 4 d. sterling. The gold offered by the king of England on the altar, at the feast of the Epiphany and the Purification, is called bezant.

BEZOAR (Persian, pazar, a goat, or pazachar, against poison); a concretion or calculus, of an orbicular or oval form, met with in the bodies of various animals. These substances are found in the stomach, gall-bladder, salivary ducts, and pineal gland, but especially in the intestines of certain animals of the order ruminantia. They were formerly celebrated for their supposed medicinal virtues, and distinguished by the name of the countries from which they came, or the animals in which they were found. They were considered as highly alexipharmic; so much so, that other medicines, supposed to possess the same virtues, obtained the name of bezoardics. So efficacious were these once thought, that they were eagerly bought for 10 times their weight in gold. Besides being taken internally, they were worn around the neck, as preservatives from contagion. For this purpose, it is said, that in Portugal it was customary to hire them at the price of about 10 shillings per day. On analysis, these substances are found to contain, for the most part, bile and resin. It is almost needless to add, that the accounts of their extraordinary virtues must now be considered as totally fabulous.-A strange origin was assigned to the bezoar by some of the old naturalists. The Oriental stags, when oppressed with age and infirmity, were said to feed upon serpents, which restored their youthful vigor. To counteract the poison which by this means was absorbed into their system, they plunged into some running stream, leav

casion, B. replied to one of his fellowcitizens, who expressed his astonishment that he made no preparations for his departure, “I carry every thing with me." B. remained in his native country, where he died at a very advanced age. His countrymen buried him with splendor, and honored his memory. Some of his sayings and precepts are yet preserved. He was numbered among the seven sages of Greece.

BIBBIENA, Fernando; a painter and architect. His father, Giovanni Maria Galli (a less distinguished painter and architect), named his son B. from his native town in Tuscany. The son was born at Bologna, 1657. Carlo Cignani (q. v.) directed his studies. B. was afterwards invited to Barcelona. The duke of Parma subsequently made him director of his theatres. Charles VI afterwards invited him to Vienna. Several beautiful buildings were erected in Austria from his plans. In his theatrical paintings, he has continued the vicious style of Borromini and others. His writings display extent and accuracy of knowledge. When considerably advanced in life, his weak sight prevented him from painting, and he occupied himself with the revision of his works, which he published anew at Bologna, 1725 and 1731, in 2 vols.; the first, under the title Direzioni a' giovani Studenti nel Disegno dell Architettura civile: in the second, he treats of perspective. He finally became blind, and died 1743. His three sons extended their father's art through all Italy and Germany. Antonio succeeded to his father's place at the court of the emperor Charles VI. Giuseppe died at Berlin, and Alessandro in the service of the elector palatine. A collection of B.'s decorations has been published at Augsburg.

BIBLE; a book, from the Greek ßißlos, which signifies the soft bark of a tree, on which the ancients wrote. The collection of the Sacred Writings, or Holy Scriptures of the Christians, is called the Bible, or the Book, by way of excellence. Some of these writings, which are also received by the Jews as the records of their faith, are called the Old Testament, or writings of the old covenant, because the Jewish religion was represented as a compact or covenant between God and the Jews, and the Greek word for covenant (dtaðñn) signifies also last will, or testament. The same figure was applied to the Christian religion, which was considered as an extension of the old covenant, or a covenant between God and the whole human race. The sacred writings peculiar to the Christians

are, therefore, called the Scriptures of the New Testament. (See Testament.) The order of the books of the Old Testament, as they are arranged in the editions of the Latin version, called the Vulgate (q. v.), according to the decree of the council of Trent (sess. 4), is as follows:-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth; I Samuel, or I Kings; II Samuel, or II Kings; I Kings, otherwise called III Kings; II Kings, otherwise called IV Kings; I Esdras (as it is called in the Septuagint (q. v.) and Vulgate), or Ezra; II Esdras, or (as we call it) Nehemiah; *Tobit, *Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, The Book of Wisdom, *Ecclesiasticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah and *Baruch; Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum (which, in our editions, is placed after Micah and before Habakkuk), Jonah (which we place after Obadiah), Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, *I Maccabees and *II Maccabees. (Those to which an asterisk is prefixed are, by Protestants, considered apocryphal. q. v.) The books received by the Jews were divided by Ezra into three classes :—1. The Law, contained in the Pentateuch, (q.v.) or five books of Moses. 2. The Prophets, comprising Joshua, Judges and Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, the 12 minor prophets, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. 3. The Cetubim, or Hagiographa, that is, holy writings, containing the Psalms, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. These books were written in the Hebrew language (q. v.), while those which are rejected from the canon as apocryphal by the Protestants, are found only in Greek or Latin. The books of Moses were deposited, according to the Bible, after his death, in the tabernacle, near the ark: the other sacred writings, it is further said, were successively deposited in the same place, as they were written. After the building of the temple, they were removed by Solomon to that edifice: on the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the autographs probably perished, but numerous copies were preserved, as is inferred from allusions in writers subsequent to the Babylonish captivity It is generally admitted, that the canon of the Old Testament was settled soon after the return from Babylon, and the reëstablishment of the Jewish religion. This work was accomplished, according to the traditions of the Jews, by Ezra, with the

assistance of the great synagogue, who collected and compared as many copies as could be found. From this collation a correct edition of the whole was prepared, with the exception of the writings of Ezra, Malachi and Nehemiah, which were added by Simon the Just. When Judas Maccabæus repaired the temple, which had been destroyed by Antiochus Epiphanes, he placed in it a correct copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, whether the autograph of Ezra or not is not known. This copy was carried to Rome by Titus. The division into chapters and verses is of modern origin. Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro, who flourished in the 13th century, having divided the Vulgate into chapters, for convenience of reference, similar divisions were made in the Hebrew text by rabbi Mordecai Nathan, in the 15th century. The present division into verses was made by Athias, a Jew of Amsterdam, in his edition of 1661. The punctuation is also the work of modern scholars. Biblical critics divide the Scriptures of the Old Testament into the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; the historical books, from Joshua to Esther inclusive; the doctrinal or poetical books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon; the prophetical books.-The most esteemed manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible are those of the Spanish Jews. The most ancient are not more than seven or eight centuries old: the famous manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch, in the possession of the Samaritans of Sichem, is only 500 years old: a manuscript in the Bodleian library is thought to be 700 years old: one in the Vatican is supposed to have been written in 973. In some manuscripts, the Masora (q. v.) is added.-The printed editions of the Hebrew Bible are very numerous. The earliest were printed in Italy. The first edition of the entire Hebrew Bible was printed at Soncino, in 1488. The Brescian edition of 1494 was used by Luther, in making his German translation. The editions of Athias, a Jew of Amsterdam, 1661 and 1667, are much esteemed for their beauty and correctness. Van der Hooght followed the latter. Doctor Kennicott did more than any one of nis predecessors to settle the Hebrew text. His Hebrew Bible appeared at Oxford, in 1776-1780, 2 vols., folio. The text is from that of Van der Hooght, with which 630 MSS. were collated. De Rossi, who published a supplement to Kennicott's edition (Parma, 1784–99, 5 vols., 4to.), collated 958 MSS. The German Orien

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talists, Gesenius, De Wette, &c., in recent times, have done very much towards correcting the Hebrew text. The earliest and most famous version of the Old Testament is the Septuagint, or Greek translation. The Syriac version, called the Peschito, was made early in the second century. It is celebrated for its fidelity. The Coptic version was made from the Septuagint, some time before the seventh century. The Gothic version, by Ulphilas, was also made from the Septuagint, in the fourth century. The most important Latin version is the Vulgate. (For an account of the principal polyglots, see Polyglot.)-The books of the New Testament were all written in Greek, unless it be true, as some critics suppose, that the Gospel of St. Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. Most of these writings have always been received as canonical; but the Epistle to the Hebrews, by an uncertain author, that of St. Jude, the second of Peter, the second and third of John, and the Apocalypse (q. v.) have been doubted. Eusebius distinguishes three sorts of books connected with the New Testament:-1. those which have always been unanimously received, namely, the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 13 Epistles of Paul, the first Epistle of Peter, and the first of John: 2. those which were not received, at first, by all the churches; of these, some which have been already mentioned, though at first rejected by some churches, have been since universally received; others, such as the Books of the Shepherd, the Letter of St. Barnabas, the two Epistles of St. Clement, have not been generally acknowledged as canonical: 3. books forged by heretics, to maintain their doctrines; such are the Gospels of St. Thomas, St. Peter, &c. The division of the text of the New Testament into chapters and verses was introduced earlier than that of the Old Testament; but it is not precisely known when, or by whom. (For the numerous translations of the Bible, in modern times, see the article Bible Societies, and the annual reports of these societies, particularly of the British and foreign Bible society.) In Biblical criticism, the Germans have, without doubt, done more than any other nation; and we should far exceed our limits, if we were to attempt an enumeration of their works in this department. (See Wette, Griesbach, Gesenius, Schleiermacher, Michaelis, &c.) The whole Bible was translated into Saxon by Bede, in the beginning of the eighth century. The first English translation, by an unknown

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hand, is supposed to have been made near the end of the 13th century. Wickliffe's translation of the entire Bible from the Vulgate, 1380, was first printed 1731. The first printed edition of any part of the Scriptures in English was a translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, published by Tindal, 1526. The whole impression was bought up and burnt by the bishop of London. The authorized version now in use, in England and America, was made by the command of James I, and is commonly called king James's Bible. Forty-seven distinguished scholars were appointed for this purpose, and divided into six classes. Ten at Westminster were to translate to the end of II Kings; eight at Cambridge were to finish the remaining historical books and the Hagiographa: at Oxford, seven were engaged on the Prophets: the four Gospels, Acts of the Apostles and Apocalypse were assigned to another company of eight at Oxford; and the Epistles were allotted to a company of seven at Westminster: the apocryphal books were to be translated by a company at Cambridge. Each individual translated all the books allotted to his class. The whole class then compared all the translations, and adopted the readings agreed on by the majority. The book, thus finished, was sent to each of the other classes. This translation occupied three years. Copies were then sent to London, one from each of the above-named places. Here a committee of six, one from each class, reviewed the whole, which was last of all revised by doctor Smith and doctor Bilson, bishop of Winchester. It was printed in 1611. The latest and most complete revision was made by doctor Blayney, Oxford, 1769. (For an account of the German translation, see Luther, and Reformation. As a general book of reference, relating to the literature of the Bible, Horne's Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures may be consulted. See also Harris's Natural History of the Bible.)

Bible, Geography of, describes Palestine, and gives an account of the Asiatic countries bordering on Palestine, and of the provinces of the Roman empire into which Christianity was introduced, during the age of the apostles. The sources of this science are the Scriptures, the writings of Josephus, the geographical authors of antiquity, Strabo, Ptolemy and Pomponius Mela, and the Onomasticon Urbium et Locorum Scripturæ Sacræ, written by Eusebius, bishop of Cæsarea, in the fourth centary, in Greek, and translated by Je

rome into Latin. Among the learned moderns who have cultivated this science, so important for the interpreter of the Holy Scriptures, are Bachiene, Wells, and the Dutchman Ysbrand of Hamelsfeld. (See Geography.)

BIBLE SOCIETIES. A clergyman of Wales, whom the want of a Welsh Bible led to London, occasioned the establishment of the British and foreign Bible society, which was founded in London, March 7, 1804. It was called the Bible society, because its object was the distribution of the Bible; British, because its operations were first directed towards the poor of Great Britain; and foreign, because it proposed, as far as its means would permit, to send Bibles, in all languages, to all parts of the world. The Bibles distributed by the society were to be without additions and explanations, in order to give them a more universal circulation. In the same year, the first general meeting was held in London, which unanimously adopted the proposed plan. Lord Teignmouth was chosen president, and many bishops, lords and members of parliament accepted the office of vice-president. In 1815, 484 similar institutions had been formed in all parts of Great Britain, and connected with the former as a parent society, to support it with pecuniary contributions, and to receive, in return, a supply of Bibles. There are, besides, several Bible societies among the lower class of people, the members of which pay, weekly, a penny or a halfpenny to provide themselves, their children or other poor persons with Bibles. In Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, America, similar Bible societies have been formed, and are connected with the British. The 24th annual report of the British and foreign Bible society in London, 1828, gives a list of editions of the whole or parts of the Scriptures, printed for the society, in the following languages: English, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, Manks, French, Basque, Breton, Flemish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Hebrew, Swedish, German, Polish, Greek (ancient and modern), Armenian (ancient and modern), Arabic, Coptic, Indo-Portuguese, Syriac, Carshun, Esquimaux, Mohawk, Ethiopic, Malay, Turkish, Hindostanee, Greenlandish, Amharic, Persian, Bohemian, Latin, Albanian. The same report gives the following summary of languages and dialects, in which the distribution, printing or translation of the Scriptures, in whole or in part, has been promoted by the so