BENZONI-BEOLCO.

sometimes used as medicine, particularly in chronic pul monary affections. It may be partaken of most pleasantly when beaten up with mucilage and sugar or yolk of egg. The name Asa dulcis (q.v.) has sometimes been given to it, although it is not the substance to which that name seems properly to have belonged. The milky juice of Terminalia Benzoin, a tree of the natural order Combretacea, becomes, on drying, a fragrant resinous substance resembling B., used as incense in the churches of the Mauritius. It was formerly erroneously supposed that B. was the produce of Benzoin odoriferum, formerly Laurus Benzoin, a deciduous shrub, of the nat. ord. Lauracea, native of Virginia, about 10-12 ft. high, with large, somewhat wedge-shaped, entire leaves, which still bears in America the name of Benzoin, or Benjamin Tree, and is also called Spice-wood or Fever-bush. It has a highly aromatic bark, which is stimulant and tonic, and is much used in North America in intermittent fevers. The berries also are aromatic and stimu lant, and are said to have been used in the United States during the war with Britain as a substitute for pimento or allspice. An infusion of the twigs acts as a vermifuge.

BENZONI, běn-zo'ně, JEROME: b. Milan, abt. 1520: Italian traveller. After having travelled through Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, he set out for America, 1541, and returned to Europe, 1556, as poor as before his departure, but with a rich store of facts and observations, which he published in a work entitled History of the New World, Containing the Description of the Islands, Seas, etc. (Venice, 1565, quarto). It has been translated into French and published at Geneva, 1579.

BENZOYL, ben'zoyl: the hypothetical radical C, H2O, supposed to exist in benzoic acid and many allied bodies. Thus, benzoic acid is regarded as the hydrate of benzoyl, and the oil of bitter almonds as the hydride of benzoyl, C,H2OH. As further examples of this group of bodies, we may mention benzoyl chloride, C,H,OCI, and benzoyl cyanide, C,H,OCN.-HYDRIDE OF BENZOYL is the volatile or essential oil belonging to the benzoic series. It is represented by the formula Č,H,OH: see ALMONDS, VOLATILE OIL or ESSENTIAL OIL OF.

BEOLCO, bă-ol'ko, or BIOLCO, be-ol'ko: 1502-42; b. Padua: Italian dramatic poet. He learned the rustic dialect of his country, studied the manners of the peasantry, and composed, in his native dialect, short dramas which he went to play in the villages with young men of good families. These young men concealed their real names and assumed those of the principal characters which they represented. B. excelled in that of Il Ruzzante (the wag), and was so identified with this character, that soon he was commonly known as the Ruzzante. His principal comedies are: the Pievana, the Anconitana, the Moschetta, the Fiorina, the Vaccaria, the Bodiana. After Riccoboni, it was he who introduced into the theatre the Venetian buffoon, the Bolognian Doctor, and the harlequin of Bergamo. The works of B. have been published under the title of Tutte l'opere del famosissimo Ruzzante, etc.

BEOWULF.

BEOWULF, be-o'wulf: Anglo-Saxon epic poem, one of the greatest literary and philological curiosities, and one of the most remarkable historical monuments in existence The date of the events described is probably ahout the middle of the 5th c.; and as the legends refer to the Teutonic races which afterwards peopled England, it is believed that the poem, in its original shape, was brought by the Anglo-Saxons from their original seats on the continent. Only one MS. of the poem is known to exist; that, namely, in the Cottonian Library, which was seriously injured by the fire of 1731. This MS. consists of two portions, written at different times and by different hands, and is manifestly a copy. executed perhaps about the beginning of the 8th c., from an older and far completer version of the poem. But even in the form in which it came from the hands of its last recaster, B. is the oldest monument of considerable size of German national poetry, and notwithstanding the Christian allusions which fix the existing text at a period subsequent to 597, a general heathen character pervades it, which leaves little doubt as to the authentic nature of the pictures which it presents of Teutonic life in ante Christian times. (It should be mentioned that some scholars hold that B is a translation from a Danish original.) Much learned labor has been bestowed on this strange relic by Sharon Turner; Conybeare; Thorkelin of Copenhagen, who published the entire work, 1815; and by Mr. Kemble, whose edition, pub. by Pickering, 1833, was followed, 1837, by a translation, with glossary, preface, and philological notes.

At first Mr. Kemble was disposed to regard B. as an historical epic, but his view of it latterly came to be, that though to some extent historical, it must be regarded, so far as the legends are concerned, as mainly mythological; and this remark he conceived to apply to the hero not less than to the incidents related. But Beowulf, the god, if such he was, occupies only a small space in the poem, and seems to be introduced chiefly for the purpose of connecting Hrothgar, King of Denmark, whom Beowulf, the hero, comes to deliver from the attacks of the monster Grendel, with Scef or Sceaf, one of the ancestors of Woden, and the common father of the whole mythical gods and heroes of the north. Sceaf is traditionally reported to have been set afloat as a child on the waters, in a small boat or ark, having a sheaf (Ang.Sax. sceaf) of corn under his head; whence his name. The child was carried to the shores of Slesvig, and being regarded as a prodigy, was educated and brought up as king. Between Sceaf and Beowulf, Scyld intervened, according to the opening canto of the poem; but when compared with kindred traditions, the whole genealogy becomes involved in extreme obscurity, and Scyld seems sometimes to be identified with Sceaf, and sometimes with Woden. But the view of the connection between Beowulf and Sceaf is strengthened by the following considerations. The old Saxons, and most likely the other conterminal tribes called their harvest month (probably part of Aug. and Sep ) by the name Beo or Beowod, in all probability their god of agri culture or fertility. Whether, or to what extent, this di

BEOWULF.

vinity is identical with the mythical hero of the poem, Mr. Kemble does not venture to determine, though he indicates a strong leaning to the affirmative.

But in so far as the main points of historical interest are concerned-viz., the date of the legends, and the race and regions to which they belong-the results of the historical and of the mythological view seem nearly the same. The poem falls entirely out of the circle of the Northern Sagas, and probably belongs to Slesvig. All the proper names are Anglo-Saxon in form, but not the slightest mention is made of Britain, the Ongle mentioned being manifestly Angeln (see ANGLES), and not Anglia. From these and many other considerations, the learned editor infers that B. records the mythical beliefs of our forefathers; and in so far as it is historical, commemorates their exploits at a period not far removed in point of time from the coming of Hengest and Horsa, and that in all probability the poem was brought over by some of the Anglo-Saxons who accompanied Cerdic and Cyneric, A.D. 495.

The poem opens with an incident which reminds the reader of one of the most beautiful of Tennyson's earlier poems, the Mort d'Arthur, and seems to show a similarity between British and Germanic traditions. It is here given in the simple words of Mr. Kemble's prose translation:

'At his appointed time then Scyld departed, very decrepit, to go into the peace of the Lord; they then, his dear comrades, bore him out to the shore of the sea, as he himself requested, the while that he, the friend of the Scyldings, the beloved chieftain, had power with his words; long he owned it! There upon the beach stood the ringedprowed ship, the vehicle of the noble, shining like ice, and ready to set out. They then laid down the dear prince, the distributer of rings, in the bosom of the ship, the mighty one beside the mast; there was much of treasures, of ornaments, brought from afar. Never heard I of a comelier ship having been adorned with battle-weapons and with war-weeds, with bills and mailed coats. Upon his bosom lay a multitude of treasures which were to depart afar with him, into the possession of the flood. They fur. nished him not less with offerings, with mighty wealth, than those had done who in the beginning sent him forth in his wretchedness, alone over the waves. Moreover they set up for him a golden ensign, high over head; they let the deep sea bear him; they gave him to the ocean. Sad was their spirit, mournful their mood. Men know not in sooth to say (men wise of counsel, or any men under the heavens) who received the freight.'

The following is a brief outline of the story. B. is intro duced, preparing for a piratical adventure. After a vivid description of the embarkation of the hero and his 'friendly Scyldingi,' the scene changes, and the palace of Hrothgar rises before us Here the Danish king has assembled his warriors, and holds a feast unconscious of the deadly peril in which he is placed The scop (shaper,' from scapan, to shape or 'create') sings a poem on the origin of things, and how evil came into the world This is

BEOWULF.

deftly used to bring upon the stage the 'grim stranger Grendel, a mighty haunter of the marshes, one that held the moors, fen, and fastness, the dwellings of the monsterrace.' Malignant and cruel, he hears with envious hate the sounds of joy echoing from the hall, and stealing into the palace after dark, when the revel is over, he seizes and destroys thirty of the sleeping thegns. In the morning, when the havoc wrought by Grendel becomes known, there is a fierce outcry, and Hrothgar is loudly blamed. Yet twelve winters pass by before the outrage is avenged. The king is continually seethed in the sorrow of the time;' but help is at hand. B. has heard of the crimes of the monster, and comes with his Geats (Jutes) to inflict punishment. The voyage over the waves, and the landing of the brave adventurers on the shores of Hrothgar's dominions, is finely told. After some parley with the coast-guards, an interview takes place between the monarch and the hero, who almost pleads to be allowed to deliver the land from the ravages of Grendal. Most tender and pathetic is the passage in which he asks-if fortune should be averse to him (if Hilda '-i.e. 'the goddess of slaughter '-' should take him away), that they would not mourn over the 'solitary rover,' but plant a simple flower' on his cairn, and send back his garments of battle' to his lord and kinsman, Higelac. The inevitable feast follows, in the course of which the 'scop' sings of the peace that is to be, and B. enlarges upon his past exploits. Then we have an exquisite picture of the Danish queen: "There was laughter of heroes, the noise was modulated, words were winsome; Wealtheow, Hrothgar's queen, went forth; mindful of their races, she, hung round with gold, greeted the men in the hall; and the freeborn lady gave the cup first to the prince of the East Danes; she bade him be blithe at the service of beer, dear to his people. He, the king, proud of victory, joyfully received the feast and hall-cup. The lady of the Helmings then went round about every part of young and old; she gave treasure-vessels, until the opportunity occurred, that she, a queen hung round with rings, venerable of mood, bore forth the mead-cup to Beowulf. Wise of words, she greated the Geat, she thanked God because her will was accomplished, that she believed in any earl, as a consolation against the crimes.' That night, when the shadows of darkness have fallen, Grendel comes swiftly to the palace from the misty moors, and assails Beowulf. A fierce struggle ensues, but the monster is baffled, and obliged to flee. Next day a second feast is held in honor of the hero's success, magnificent gifts are showered upon him by the grateful Hrothgar, the services of the 'scop' are again called into request, music and sports follow, and the queen once more moves through the crowd of warriors with courtesy and grace. The night, however, is not to pass without its tragedy. The mother of the monster secretly enters, and destroys one of the king's dearest thegns. B., in a magnanimous speech, undertakes to avenge him. Having sought the wild haunts of the 'hateful one,' he first slays the mother after a furi

BÉPUR-BÉRANGER.

ous combat, in which he would have been vanquished but for the apparition of a magic sword 'over the waves,' which came into his grasp. Grendel is then destroyed, and his head carried off as a present to Hrothgar. B. then returns home, and after a variety of other but less interesting adventures, succeeds to the throne on the death of his kinsman Higelac.

More recent editions than those above noted are that by Heyne (1863, 4th ed. 1879), Arnold (1876), Grein (Göttingen, 1867), and Holder (Freiburg, 1884). Wackerbart (1849), Thorpe (1855), and Lumsden (1881), the latter in ballad metre, have given English metrical translations. There are several German versions.

BÉPUR', or BEYPORE: seaport of w. India, 6 m. s. of Calicut. Its situation is very beautiful. It has considersiderable trade in timber, particularly teak, which is floated down the river for exportation. Iron ore is in the neighborhood, and iron-works have recently been established. B. is the terminus of a railway across the peninsula of India from Madras by way of Coimbatore, and will probably become a place of great importance. Pop. (1871), 5,858; (1881) 6,739.

BEQUEATH, v. bě-kweth' [AS. becwathan-from be, and owathan, to say]: to give or leave by will; to hand down to posterity. BEQUEATH'ING, imp. BEQUEATHED, pp. běkwithd. BEQUEST, n. bě-kwèst', something left by will; a legacy. BEQUEATH'ER, n. one who bequeathes. BE QUEATH MENT, n. the act of bequeathing; the state of being bequeathed; that which is bequeathed; a legacy. See WILL: LEGACY: DISPOSITION (Mortis causá): ŠETTLEMENT: REAL: PERSONALTY.-SYN. of bequeath': to devise; demise; transmit. In strict usage bequeath' applies rather to personal property, 'devise' to real estate (lands, buildings, etc.): yet the two are used often as synonyms.

BERAIN, v. bě-rān' [be, and rain]: in OE., to rain upon; to wet.

BÉRANGER, bã-ron-zha', PIERRE-JEAN DE: 1780, Aug. 19-1857, July 17; b. Paris, in the house of his grandfather, a tailor in the Rue Montorgueil, to whose care he was left entirely by his father, a scheming and not over-scrupulous financier. After living some time with an aunt at Péronne, to whom he appears to have been indebted for those republican principles which afterwards made him obnoxious to successive French governments, B., at the age of fourteen, was apprenticed to a printer in that place, where he remained three years, devoting all his leisure to the acquirement of knowledge. He now returned to Paris, where his father, a zealous royalist, was engaged in some questionable schemes of money-getting, which were mixed with conspiracy. B. assisted him in his money affairs, so far as he honorably could, and kept his political secrets; but he did not disguise his contempt for the royalist cause, nor fail to express his opposite sympathies. The business, however, was not one to the taste of B., who was throughout the