Part 35

After the victory of Prussia there was no place for Beust in Germany, and his public career seemed to be closed, but he quite unexpectedly received an invitation from the emperor of Austria to become his foreign minister. It was a bold decision, for Beust was not only a stranger to Austria, but also a Protestant; but the choice of the emperor justified itself. Beust threw himself into his new position with great energy; it was owing to him that the negotiations with Hungary were brought to a successful issue. When difficulties came he went himself to Budapest, and acted directly with the Hungarian leaders. In 1867 he also held the position of Austrian minister-president, and he carried through the measures by which parliamentary government was restored. He also carried on the negotiations with the pope concerning the repeal of the concordat, and in this matter also did much by a liberal policy to relieve Austria from the pressure of institutions which had checked the development of the country. In 1868, after giving up his post as minister-president, he was appointed chancellor of the empire, and received the title of count. His conduct of foreign affairs, especially in the matter of the Balkan States and Crete, successfully maintained the position of the empire. In 1869 he accompanied the emperor on his expedition to the East. He was still to some extent influenced by the anti-Prussian feeling he had brought from Saxony. He maintained a close understanding with France, and there can be little doubt that he would have welcomed an opportunity in his new position of another struggle with his old rival Bismarck. In 1867, however, he helped to bring the affair of Luxemburg to a peaceful termination. In 1870 he did not disguise his sympathy for France, and the failure of all attempts to bring about an intervention of the powers, joined to the action of Russia in denouncing the treaty of Paris, was the occasion of his celebrated saying that he was nowhere able to find Europe. After the war was over he completely accepted the new organization of Germany.

As early as December 1870 he had opened a correspondence with Bismarck with a view to establishing a good understanding with Germany. Bismarck accepted his advances with alacrity, and the new _entente_, which Beust announced to the Austro-Hungarian delegations in July 1871, was sealed in August by a friendly meeting of the two old rivals and enemies at Gastein.

In 1871 Beust interfered at the last moment, together with Andrassy, to prevent the emperor accepting the federalist plans of Hohenwart. He was successful, but at the same time he was dismissed from office. The precise cause for this is not known, and no reason was given him. At his own request he was appointed Austrian ambassador at London; in 1878 he was transferred to Paris; in 1882 he retired from public life. He died at his villa at Altenberg, near Vienna, on the 24th of October 1886, leaving two sons, both of whom entered the Austrian diplomatic service. His wife, a Bavarian lady, survived him only a few weeks. His elder brother Friedrich Konstantin (1806-1891), who was at the head of the Saxon department for mines, was the author of several works on mining and geology, a subject in which other members of the family had distinguished themselves.

Beust was in many ways a diplomatist of the old school. He had great social gifts and personal graces; he was proud of his proficiency in the lighter arts of composing waltzes and _vers de societe_. His chief fault was vanity, but it was an amiable weakness. It was more vanity than rancour which made him glad to appear even in later years as the great opponent of Bismarck; and if he cared too much for popularity, and was very sensitive to neglect, the saying attributed to Bismarck, that if his vanity were taken away there would be nothing left, is very unjust. He was apt to look more to the form than the substance, and attached too much importance to the verbal victory of a well-written despatch; but when the opportunity was given him he showed higher qualities. In the crisis of 1849 he displayed considerable courage, and never lost his judgment even in personal danger. If he was defeated in his German policy, it must be remembered that Bismarck held all the good cards, and in 1866 Saxony was the only one of the smaller states which entered on the war with an army properly equipped and ready at the moment. That he was no mere reactionary the whole course of his government in Saxony, and still more in Austria, shows. His Austrian policy has been much criticized, on the ground that in establishing the system of dualism he gave too much to Hungary, and did not really understand Austrian affairs; and the Austro-Hungarian crisis during the early years of the present century has given point to this view. Yet it remains the fact that in a crisis of extraordinary difficulty he carried to a successful conclusion a policy which, even if it was not the best imaginable, was probably the best attainable in the circumstances.

Beust was the author of reminiscences: _Aus drei Viertel-Jahrhunderten_ (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1887; English trans. edited by Baron H. de Worms); and he also wrote a shorter work, _Erinnerungen zu Erinnerungen_ (Leipzig, 1881), in answer to attacks made on him by his former colleague, Herr v. Frieseri, in his reminiscences. See also Ebeling, _F.F. Graf v. Beust_ (Leipzig, 1876), a full and careful account of his political career, especially up to 1866; _Diplomatic Sketches: No. 1, Count Beust_, by Outsider (Baron Carl v. Malortie); Flathe, _Geschichte van Sachsen_, vol. iii. (Gotha, 1877); Friesen, _Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben_ (Dresden, 1880). (J. W. He.)

BEUTHEN, or NIEDERBEUTHEN, a town of Germany, in the north of Prussian Silesia, on the Oder, the capital of the mediatized principality of Carolath-Beuthen. Pop. (1900) 3164. The chief industries of the place are straw-plaiting, boat-building, and the manufacture of pottery; and a considerable traffic is carried on by means of the river.

BEUTHEN, or OBERBEUTHEN, a town of Germany, in the extreme south-east of Prussian Silesia, on the railway between Breslau and Cracow, 121 m. S.E. of the former. Pop. (1905) 60,078. It is the centre of the mining district of Upper Silesia, and its population is mainly engaged in such operations and in iron and zinc smelting. Beuthen is an old town, and was formerly the capital of the Bohemian duchy of Beuthen, which in 1620 was ultimately granted, as a free lordship of the Empire, to Lazarus, Baron Henckel von Donnersmarck, by the emperor Ferdinand II., and parts of which, now mediatized, are held by two branches of the counts Henckel von Donnersmarck.

BEVEL (from an O. Fr. word, cf. mod. _biveau_, a joiner's instrument), the inclination of one surface of a solid body to another; also, any angle other than a right angle, and particularly, in joinery, the angle to which a piece of timber has to be cut. The mechanic's instrument known as a bevel consists of a rule with two arms so jointed as to be adjustable to any angle. In heraldry, a bevel is an angular break in a line. Bevelment, as a term of crystallography, means the replacement of an edge of a crystal by two planes equally inclined to the adjacent planes. As an architectural term "bevel" is a sloped or canted edge given to a sill or horizontal course of stone, but is more frequently applied to the canted edges worked round the projecting bands of masonry which for decorative purposes are employed on the quoins of walls or windows and in some cases, with vertical joints, cover the whole wall. When the outer face of the stone band is left rough so that it forms what is known as rusticated masonry, the description would be bevelled and rusticated. The term is sometimes applied to the splaying of the edges of a window on the outside, but the wide expansion made inside in order to admit more light is known as a splay.

BEVERLEY, WILLIAM ROXBY (1814?-1889), English artist and scene-painter, was born at Richmond, Surrey, about 1814, the son of William Roxby, an actor-manager who had assumed the name of Beverley. His four brothers and his sister all entered the theatrical profession, and Beverley soon became both actor and scene-painter. In 1831 his father and his brothers took over the old Durham circuit, and he joined them to play heavy comedy for several seasons, besides painting scenery. His work was first seen in 1831 in London, for the pantomime _Baron Munchausen_ at the Victoria theatre, which was being managed by his brother Henry. He was appointed scenic director for the Covent Garden operas in 1853. In 1854 he entered the service of the Drury Lane theatre under the management of E.T. Smith, and for thirty years continued to produce wonderful scenes for the pantomimes, besides working for Covent Garden and a number of other theatres. In 1851 he executed part of a great diorama of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and produced dioramic views of the ascent of Mont Blanc, exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, and in 1884 a panorama of the Lakes of Killarney. He was a frequent exhibitor of sea pictures at the Royal Academy from 1865 to 1880. In 1884 failing eyesight put an end to his painting. He died in comparative poverty at Hampstead on the 17th of May 1889. He was the last of the old school of one surface painters, and famed for the wonderful atmospheric effects he was able to produce. Although he was skilled in all the mechanical devices of the stage, and painted in 1881 scenery for _Michael Strogoff_ at the Adelphi, in which for the first time in England the still life of the stage was placed in harmony with the background, he was strongly opposed to the new school of scene-builders.

BEVERLEY, a market town and municipal borough in the Holderness parliamentary division of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 8 m. N.N.W. of Hull by a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 13,183. It lies in a level country east of the line of slight elevations known as the Wolds, near the river Hull, and has communication by canal with Hull. The church of St John the Evangelist, commonly called Beverley Minster, is a magnificent building, exceeding in size and splendour some of the English cathedrals. A monastery was founded here by John of Beverley (c. 640-721), a native of the East Riding, who was bishop successively of Hexham and of York, and was canonized in 1037. A college of secular canons followed in the 10th century, the provostship of which subsequently became an office of high dignity, and was held by Thomas Becket, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. Of the existing building, the easternmost bay of the nave, the transepts with east and west aisles, the choir with aisles and short transepts, and the Lady chapel, are Early English, a superb example of the finest development of that style. The remainder of the nave is Decorated, excepting the westernmost bay which is Perpendicular, as is the ornate west front with its graceful flanking towers. The north porch is also a beautiful example of this style. The most noteworthy details within the church are the exquisite Early English staircase which led to the chapter house (no longer remaining), and the Percy tomb, a remarkable example of Decorated work, commemorating Eleanor, wife of Henry Percy (d. 1328). The church of St Mary is a cruciform building with central tower, almost entirely of Decorated and Perpendicular work. Though overshadowed by the presence of the minster, it is yet a very fine example of its styles, its most noteworthy features being the tower and the west front. Beverley was walled, and one gate of the 15th century remains; there are also some picturesque old houses. The industries are tanning, iron-founding, brewing and the manufacture of chemicals; and there is a large agricultural trade. Beverley is the seat of a suffragan bishop in the diocese of York. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, and has an area of 2404 acres, including a large extent of common pasture land.

Beverley (Beverlac) is said to be on the site of a British settlement. Evidently a church had existed there before 704, since in that year it was restored by St John of Beverley, who also founded a monastery there and was himself buried in the church. In the devastation of the north of England which followed the Conquest, Beverley is said to have escaped by a miracle attributed to St John; the Norman leader, while about to enter and pillage the church, fell from his horse dead, and the king, thinking this a sign that the town was under the protection of heaven, exempted it from pillage. From the time of St John of Beverley until the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor and town of Beverley belonged to the archbishopric of York, and is said to have been held under a charter of liberties supposed to have been granted by King Aethelstan in 925. This charter, besides other privileges, is said to have granted sanctuary in Beverley, and the "leuga" over which this privilege extended was afterwards shown to include the whole town. Confirmations of Aethelstan's charter were granted by Edward the Confessor and other succeeding kings. In the reign of Henry I., Thurstan, archbishop of York, gave the burgesses their first charter, which is one of the earliest granted to any town in England. In it he granted them the same privileges as the citizens of York, among these being a gild merchant and freedom from toll throughout the whole of Yorkshire, with right to take it at all the markets and fairs in their town except at the three principal fairs, the toll of which belonged to the archbishop. In 1200 King John granted the town a new charter, for which the burgesses had to pay 500 marks. Other charters generally confirming the first were granted to the town by most of the early kings. The incorporation charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1573 was confirmed by Charles I. in 1629 and Charles II. in 1663, and renewed by James II. on his accession. Parliamentary representation by two members began in the reign of Edward I., but lapsed, until the corporation charter of 1573, from which date it continued until the Reform Act of 1867. In 1554-1555 Queen Mary granted the three fairs on the feasts of St John the Confessor, the Translation of St John and the Nativity of St John the Baptist, together with the weekly markets on Wednesday and Saturday, which had been held by the archbishops of York by traditional grant of Edward the Confessor to the burgesses of the town. Cloth-weaving was one of the chief industries of Beverley; it is mentioned and appears to have been important as early as 1315.

See _Victoria County History--Yorkshire_; G. Poulson, _Beverlac; Antiquities and History of Beverley and of the Provostry, &c., of St John's_ (2 vols., 1829); G. Oliver, D.D., _History and Antiquities of Beverley, &c_. (1829).

BEVERLY, a seaboard city of Essex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., situated on the N. shore of Massachusetts Bay, opposite Salem. It is 18 m. from Boston on the Boston & Maine railway. Pop. (1890) 10,821; (1900) 13,884, of whom 2814 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 18,650. The land area of the city is about 15 sq. m. The surface is the typical glacial topography, with a few low, rocky hills, less than 100 ft. in height. There are beautiful drives through well-wooded districts, studded with handsome summer houses. In the city are a public library, the Beverly hospital, the New England industrial school for deaf mutes (organized, 1876; incorporated, 1870), and the Beverly historical society (1891), which owns a large colonial house, in which there is a valuable historical collection. The city has an excellent public school system. There are a number of manufacturing establishments; in 1905 the total factory product of the city was valued at $4,101,168, boots and shoes accounting for more than one-half of the total. Leather and shoe machinery also are important manufactures; and the main plant of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation is located here. Market gardening is a considerable industry, and large quantities of vegetables are raised under glass for the Boston markets. Fishing is an industry no longer of much importance. Beverly is connected by a regular line of oil-steamers with Port Arthur, Texas, and is the main distributing point for the Texas oil fields. The first settlement within the limits of Beverly was made by Roger Conant in 1626. The town was a part of Salem until 1668, when it was incorporated as a separate township; in 1894 it was chartered as a city. In 1788 there was established here the first cotton mill to be successfully operated in the United States. The manufacture of Britannia ware was begun in 1812. George Cabot lived for many years in Beverly, which he represented in the provincial congress (1779); Nathan Dane (1752-1835) was also a resident; and it was the birthplace of Wilson Flagg (1805-1884), the author of _Studies in the Field and Forest_ (1857), _The Woods and By-Ways of New England_ (1872), _The Birds and Seasons of New England_ (1875), and _A Year with the Birds_ (1881). It was also the birthplace and early home of Lucy Larcom (1826-1893), and the scene of much of her _Story of a New England Girlhood_ (Boston, 1889).

BEVIS OF HAMPTON, the name of an English metrical romance. Bevis is the son of Guy, count of Hampton (Southampton) and his young wife, a daughter of the king of Scotland. The countess asks a former suitor, Doon or Devoun, emperor of Almaine (Germany), to send an army to murder Guy in the forest. The plot is successful, and she marries Doon. When threatened with future vengeance by her ten-year-old son, she determines to make away with him also, but he is saved from death by a faithful tutor, is sold to heathen pirates, and reaches the court of King Hermin, whose realm is variously placed in Egypt and Armenia (Armorica). The exploits of Bevis, his love for the king's daughter Josiane, his mission to King Bradmond of Damascus with a sealed letter demanding his own death, his imprisonment, his final vengeance on his stepfather are related in detail. After succeeding to his inheritance he is, however, driven into exile and separated from Josiane, to whom he is reunited only after each of them has contracted, in form only, a second union. The story also relates the hero's death and the fortunes of his two sons.

The oldest extant version appears to be _Boeve de Haumtone_, an Anglo-Norman text which dates from the first half of the 13th century. The English metrical romance, _Sir Beues of Hamtoun_, is founded on some French original varying slightly from those which have been preserved. The oldest MS. dates from the beginning of the 14th century. The French _chanson de geste_, _Beuve d'Hanstone_, was followed by numerous prose versions. The printed editions of the story were most numerous in Italy, where _Bovo d'Antona_ was the subject of more than one poem, and the tale was interpolated in the _Reali di Francia_, the Italian compilation of Carolingian legend. Although the English version that we possess is based on a French original, it seems probable that the legend took shape on English soil in the 10th century, and that it originated with the Danish invaders. Doon may be identified with the emperor Otto the Great, who was the contemporary of the English king Edgar of the story. R. Zenker (_Boeve-Amlethus_, Berlin and Leipzig, 1904) establishes a close parallel between Bevis and the Hamlet legend as related by Saxo Grammaticus in the _Historia Danica_. Among the more obvious coincidences which point to a common source are the vengeance taken on a stepfather for a father's death, the letter bearing his own death-warrant which is entrusted to the hero, and his double marriage.[1] The motive of the feigned madness is, however, lacking in Bevis. The princess who is Josiane's rival is less ferocious than the Hermuthruda of the Hamlet legend, but she threatens Bevis with death if he refuses her. Both seem to be modelled on the type of Thyrdo of the Beowulf legend. A fanciful etymology connecting Bevis (Boeve) with Beowa (Beowulf), on the ground that both were dragon slayers, is inadmissible.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_The Romance of Sir Beues of Hamtoun_, edited from six MSS. and the edition (without date) of Richard Pynson, by E. Kolbing (Early Eng. Text Soc., 1885-1886-1894); A. Stimming, "Der anglonormannische Boeve de Haumtone," in H. Suchier's _Bibl. Norm_. vol. vii. (Halle, 1899); the Welsh version, with a translation, is given by R. Williams, _Selections of the Hengwrt MSS_. (vol. ii., London, 1892); the old Norse version by G. Cederschiold, _Fornsogur Sudhrlanda_ (Lund, 1884); A. Wesselofsky, "Zum russischen Bovo d'Antona" (in _Archiv fur slav. Phil_. vol. viii., 1885); for the early printed editions of the romance in English, French and Italian see G. Brunet, _Manuel du libraire_, _s.vv._ Bevis, Beufues and Buovo.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] On double marriage in early romance see G. Paris, "La Legende du mari aux deux femmes," in _La Poesie du moyen age_ (2nd series, Paris, 1895); and A. Nutt, "The Lai of Eliduc," &c, in _Folk-Lore_, vol. iii. (1892).

BEWDLEY, a market town and municipal borough in the Bewdley parliamentary division of Worcestershire, England; 137 m. N.W. by W. from London and 17-1/4 N. by W. from Worcester by rail. Pop. (1901) 2866. The Worcester-Shrewsbury line of the Great Western is here joined by lines east from Birmingham and west from Tenbury. Bewdley is pleasantly situated on the sloping right bank of the Severn, on the eastern border of the forest of Wyre. A bridge by Telford (1797) crosses the river. A free grammar school, founded in 1591, was re-founded by James I. in 1606, and possesses a large library bequeathed in 1812. The town manufactures combs and horn goods, brass and iron wares, leather, malt, bricks and ropes. The town is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 2105 acres.

Bewdley (i.e. Beaulieu) is probably referred to in the Domesday survey as "another Ribbesford," and was held by the king. The manor, then called _Bellus Locus_ or Beaulieu on account of its beautiful situation, was afterwards granted to the Mortimers, in whose family it continued until it was merged in the crown on the accession of Edward IV. It is from this time that Bewdley dates its importance. Through its situation on the Severn it was connected with the sea, and in 1250 a bridge, the only one between it and Worcester, was built across the river and added greatly to the commerce of the town. From Edward IV. Bewdley received its charter in 1472, and there appears to be no evidence that it was a borough before this time. Other charters were granted in 1605, 1685 and 1708. By James I.'s charter the burgesses sent one member to parliament, and continued to do so until 1885. A fair and a market on Wednesday were granted by Edward III. in 1373 to his grand-daughter Philippa, wife of Edmund Mortimer, and confirmed to Richard, duke of York, by Henry VI. Edward IV. also granted the burgesses a market on Saturdays, and three fairs, which were confirmed to them by Henry VII. Coal-mines were worked in Bewdley as early as 1669, and the town was formerly noted for making caps.